Retribution (5 page)

I should have never come back.

I could have gotten away sooner. I could have found a way to contact him.

He wouldn’t have listened. He thinks it’s your fault he was fucked over on DI.

No, the Alliance is to blame.

Were they?

He hated arguing with himself, but his subconscious played an evil game of tug-of-war with him.
Kain
could fight with himself all day, but it wouldn’t change the fact Rave hated him.
Kain
had known the minute he’d watched the
vid
of Rave in the hospital on DI that things wouldn’t be the same so he’d let the Alliance keep him away.
Kain
had been too afraid of the hate he would find.

But Rave’s hate had to mean something, right? Maybe there were some feelings still there. Did he want to explore that and risk his heart?

They both had more important things to deal with.

Would they be able to stop the plot to overthrow the Alliance? Should they? He wanted to discuss the Royalists with Rave before he made a choice on going against the Alliance. Hell, what did he care?
Kain
wanted nothing more to do with the government. He’d rather retire to a luxury planet and enjoy himself. He only wished he could talk Rave into joining him.

He hesitated outside his door. He really wanted to go to
Rave’s
room.

Fuck this.

 
Kain
turned from his door. When he arrived at Rave’s, he didn’t knock, just pressed pad next to the door to see if it would opened. His hand met no resistance, and he held his breath as the door slid open. Inside, Rave sprawled across the bed, still naked.

Kain
peeled off his clothes and headed to the man on the bed. Should he really be doing this? What did he have to lose? Rave might strike him again, but it would be worth it to feel like things were back to normal, at least for a little while.

The covers bunched under Rave.
Kain
shimmied them down, hoping not to wake Rave as the man lay still. He needed this little stop in time, even if it didn’t last into the morning. Once the covers were situated,
Kain
wormed his way underneath and pulled Rave against him.

Rave sighed in his sleep and cuddled closer.
Kain
kissed Rave’s shoulder and let
himself
drift to sleep. He’d worry about Rave’s reaction later. For now, he had the man he loved in his arms and nothing could go wrong.

* * * *

“Sir, the
Retribution
is out of range,” Ensign Rogers said, causing Seth to pause on his check of the ship’s status.

“Repeat that, Ensign,” Seth asked in disbelief.

“The
Retribution
is no longer in our radar range. They dropped off an hour ago.”

“Why am I only now being informed?” He kept his tone light. It wouldn’t do to show weakness in front of his crew.

“You asked not to be disturbed, sir.”

Seth closed his eyes.
What was going on?

“Can you track them?”

“I’ll plug their last known coordinates into the computer and run a search,” Ensign Rogers replied.

“How long will that take?” It took all Seth had to keep his cool.

“Not long, sir.”

“Did we place a tracking device on Sims before he left?”

“No, sir.
He left ahead of schedule, before we had a chance to put a tracer on him.”

Damn it.

He was surrounded by incompetence. Did he have to do everything himself?

This assignment should have been a cakewalk. All they had to do was follow the
Retribution
to
Seid
II and rendezvous with Anders after Sims convinced him to pass on the laser. Seth’s secondary mission was to kill the two men. A little revenge from the Royalists to show that the Alliance wasn’t as strong as people thought.
And a little payback for himself.

“They’re not in the general vicinity, Commander.”

“Put out the notice for Anders’ arrest. Make sure you note that he kidnapped an Alliance officer. They’re out there somewhere, and I want to know where.”

“Yes, sir.”

Seth calmed himself. He knew the
Retribution
had to dock on
Seid
II. There was no way either of those men would let a planet killer stay out in the open. They were too honourable.

 
At least, he knew Anders would never forgive Sims. Seth had made sure of that. He’d delighted in keeping the two apart and relished watching the
vids
of the hardship Anders had gone though on DI.

They both deserved everything he could dish out, and they probably didn’t even know why. He’d fix that.
Before this ended, they would know Seth Davidson.

Chapter Five

Rave awoke wrapped in warmth. His mind still fuzzy from the alcohol, he didn’t think anything of it. Someone nuzzled the back of his neck, and he wiggled his ass to get comfortable. He brushed against something hard, and a moan sounded behind him. He moved again.

“Keep that up, and I’ll be balls deep inside you before either of us can blink.”

Rave stopped moving and held his breath.

The arms around him squeezed tight. He’d dreamt of times like these, but in the bright glow of day, he was always hard and alone. Rave opened his eyes, expecting more disappointment, but when he looked down, two strong arms were draped across his chest.

Not a dream. Fuck.

For the first time in a long time, he was unsure of what he should do. As much as he wanted to sink into
Kain’s
arms, his mind told him not to. While he fought with himself,
Kain’s
hands began to wander down his body. Rave closed his eyes, savouring the feel of his lover’s hands once again.

Then he resigned himself to do what he had to do.

He couldn’t go through
Kain
breaking his heart or leaving him again. Rave still loved
Kain
, but he couldn’t trust him. Not yet. Rave needed more than the man’s word. He wanted proof.

The resolve to move away from
Kain
almost left him when his lover grasped his cock. Rave’s dick didn’t care about deception. It loved the familiar feel of
Kain’s
hands pumping it. He groaned, but shoved
Kain
away from him and jumped out of the bed.

“What are you doing here,
Kain
?”

He kept his back to the bed, afraid of what he would see if he turned around. Rave’s imagination worked overtime as he pictured
Kain
, the way he’d looked before the Alliance had fucked with their lives. The night before his life had turned upside down. Rave clenched his fists at his sides, waiting for an answer.

“I want you,”
Kain
said.

“Well, I wanted you, too. Two years ago. Hell, I would have been happy if I’d had you a year ago. Where were you when I needed you?”

“Will you let me tell you this time?”
Kain
sounded resigned.

Rave sat back down on the bed but couldn’t turn to face
Kain
.

“I’ll listen, but I’m not guaranteeing I’ll forgive you.”

“Fair enough.
I’ll start at the beginning. The day the Alliance arrested you, I was taken to the planet’s headquarters. They detained me until you were secure and on the way to trial. Once you were under lock and key, Commander General Fritz approached me and told me I was to do whatever he said or he would kill you and Se. I didn’t believe him at first, but the panel fast-tracked your trial. They took me to watch, and Fritz made sure to point out the snipers. There were two. One trained on you and one on Se.

“When I heard the verdict, I tried to go to you, but again, Fritz stopped me. He told me the whole thing was a farce and I had to play along. If I didn’t, they would have you killed in prison. I knew they’d do it, too. Things have changed for the worse within the Alliance. They shipped me off to an outer planet with little to no communications where I sat at a desk, my every move watched. I tried to get off planet once. Fritz showed up two days later with a
vid
.
You.
God, Rave
, it was you, unconscious in the hospital ward of the prison. They said if I behaved, they’d protect you better until your time was up. I had to stay. I remained on that planet until a couple of months ago. Every so often, someone would come back with
vid
of you, to show me they could hurt you at any time. I was told that you hated me, that you’d been informed the whole thing was my fault. I couldn’t come back after that. You’d been through enough.”

Kain
paused for a moment, and Rave took in
everything .
Could this have happened? He wanted to believe.
God, how he wanted to believe.
It could be another trick.

“Why now?” he whispered.

“Fuck, Rave. I should have come to you sooner. I know that, you know that, but I had to wait and hope you’d forgive me when I could finally get to you. Once I knew we were in the same port, I jumped ship. My orders were to wait, but I was done waiting. Fritz told me about the Royalists’ plans by communiqué before we docked. I know Mel lives on New Moon. I had to tell you as soon as possible. They’d fucked with us enough. I couldn’t let your sister be collateral damage in a war neither of us wants a part of.”

“Is that why we’re headed to New Moon?”

“Yes, we’ll get her off planet then go to
Seid
II to collect your cargo.”

“What are the plans? I’m supposed to have kidnapped you.”

“That’s how the Alliance plans to take the laser. The kidnapping report went live the moment I left, but the information about who took me won’t go over the waves until the weapon is on this ship. They are supposed to confiscate it, dismantle it then clear your name.”

“And you believe that bullshit?”

How could someone as smart as
Kain
fall for the Alliance’s crap, again? It had to be a trap. Was
Kain
in on it? He hated that niggling doubt in his mind.

“I have no choice. I have to have faith in something.”

“Your faith is misguided. No
fuckin
’ way we’re coming out of this alive. We need a plan.”

“Did you say ‘we’?” Hope laced
Kain’s
voice.

Rave managed a small grin as some of the ice around his heart started to melt.
Kain’s
hope was contagious. He still had his back to
Kain
.

He turned to face the man who had meant so much to him.

“I did say ‘we’. I’m still not sure I can trust you. I see the Alliance’s fingerprints all over this. They played us like puppets on a string. The Royalists are no better.”

“Will you tell me about it?”

“About what?”

“What happened on Devil’s?”

He froze at those words and pushed back the memories so close to the surface. He was ashamed of what happened. He didn’t want to remember or taint the new beginning he might be able to forge with
Kain
.

“I’m not talking about it. Not now. Maybe never,” Rave made himself force out.

“I understand.”
Kain’s
hushed tone washed over him.

Rave didn’t think
Kain
really understood, but it wasn’t Rave’s problem. He changed the topic. “I’m going to go pick up Mel. We can drop her off on a planet en route to
Seid
II.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No, you’re supposed to be the victim of a kidnapping. We can’t have you running around.”

“What about you and me?”

“What about us? There
is
no us. Not right now. There can’t be. Let’s finish this mission and go from there.”

Kain
bowed his head and looked defeated. Rave couldn’t help himself. He crawled over the bed until he reached
Kain’s
side. He placed his hands on the side of
Kain’s
face and forced him to look up then he caressed
Kain’s
lip with a thumb. When the tip of
Kain’s
tongue snaked out, Rave pulled him closer. He had to have a taste.

Their lips clashed.
Kain
tasted good. Better than Rave remembered. He couldn’t get enough. He pulled
Kain
closer, but it still wasn’t enough. Rave needed more.

“Rave, this is your friendly wake up call.”
Sela’s
voice filtered through the room.

The two broke apart, panting.

“Goddamn it.”

“What was that, Rave?”
Se’s
laughter made its way through the
coms
.

“Nothing, Se.
I’ll be out shortly.”

The men looked at each other. The lust in
Kain’s
eyes echoed what he felt. It had been too long.

“We aren’t finished.”
Kain’s
husky voice raised goose bumps along Rave’s arms.

“No, we aren’t,” he agreed.

“We can start planning once Mel is safely onboard.”

“Let’s just hope I can get her here.”

Kain
chuckled. “She does have your stubborn streak.”

Rave found no humour in the comment because it was the truth. He didn’t relish the fight he knew he had on his hands. His sister
was
stubborn, and he knew she wouldn’t want to leave her home just because he said so. “Maybe I should send you. She always liked you better, anyway.”

“Not me. Maybe you should send Se.”

It was Rave’s turn to laugh. “You might be right.”

He got off the bed to dress, but not before running his hands through
Kain’s
hair. He’d missed this easy camaraderie they’d always shared. He wondered if they would ever truly get back to where they’d been or if he even wanted to be back there. Too much had changed. He had changed. Rave would never be the man he once was.
Kain
had changed, too.