Retribution (8 page)

“I never stopped,”
Kain
stated as he went into Rave’s arms.

Kain’s
lips hovered over his. Their breath mingled, and Rave couldn’t stand to wait anymore. He grabbed
Kain’s
head with both hands and pressed their mouths together. The kiss started slow, and they savoured each other. Rave didn’t want it to end, but he broke the kiss so he could move to the bed.
Kain
used to feel incredible inside him, and he wanted that again.

“No more dancing around this. I want you inside me. Get the lube. Please.”

“Baby, you don’t have to beg. I want in as much as you want me there. I’ve been dreaming of this moment for—”

“No. No talking.
Action.
Make me forget.” Rave ended on a whisper. He didn’t wait, he grabbed the lube himself. Before tossing the bottle to
Kain
, he
drizzled
the cold liquid over his opening, preparing for his lover.

Kain
groaned. “That is so fucking sexy.” He moved over Rave, settling the weight of his lower body and pressing down.

 Rave tensed. He couldn’t do this. It was too much. He wriggled out from under
Kain
.

“Hey. Where are you going?”
Kain
asked.

“Change of plans.”

“I don’t understand.”

Rave closed his eyes for a second, shutting out
Kain’s
puzzled look. He didn’t want to talk about his problems. He pushed
Kain
down on the bed and went for his cock. Maybe giving him a blowjob would stop the questions Rave didn’t have answers for.

He wrapped his lips tightly around
Kain’s
cock, swallowing him down to the root. He’d always loved the way
Kain
tasted. The sounds coming from his lover turned him on, and he hummed his pleasure.
Kain
groaned louder.

“God, yes.
More,
Rave.”

Rave didn’t disappoint. He added a finger to his mouth, getting it good and wet before he rimmed
Kain’s
ass and slowly entering his lover.
Kain
thrashed on the bed, as if he couldn’t decide if he wanted to fuck Rave’s mouth or finger.

Rave closed his eyes, losing himself in the sensations.

Kain
tapped his shoulder, and he looked up.

“Turn,” He panted.

He backed off
Kain’s
cock. “What?”

“I want to taste you, too.”

Understanding came in a rush. Rave scrambled to get his dick in
Kain’s
mouth. The only sounds in the room were moans and groans as the two men showered attention on each other. A familiar sensation settled in Rave’s balls. His cock throbbed, and before he could warn
Kain
, he shot warm liquid into the man’s mouth. It must have triggered
Kain
because Rave soon had salty goodness coating his throat. The two collapsed, and Rave moved to settle beside
Kain
and pull him close. Their breathing synchronised and slowed as they drifted to sleep.

Chapter Eight

Kain
bolted out of bed.

Why am I always falling asleep with Rave?

He shook his head and looked
around,
trying to find out what had woken him. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he glanced back at the bed. Rave tossed and turned. He mumbled something, but
Kain
couldn’t make it out.

Could this be one of the nightmares Se had told him about? Should he wake Rave or would it make matters worse?
Kain
was tired of being kicked out of Rave’s room, and he wanted to avoid that. They’d made some progress. He knew it and didn’t want to backtrack.

When he’d come to Rave’s room earlier, it had been to tell him what the General had said, but once Rave’s clothes had come off,
Kain
had needed to have the man.

“Rave.”
Kain
knelt on the bed, taking things slow.
“Rave?”
He tried again when Rave didn’t wake.
“Rave, wake up, baby.”

“What—”

“
Shh
…it’s okay. I think you were having a dream. You awake now?”

Even in the dark,
Kain
could make out Rave’s hand as it moved over his face and traced his lips.
Kain
wanted to reach out, but he feared Rave wasn’t completely awake.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to crash on you,” Rave said.

“I slipped under myself.” He heard the grin in his own voice.

“How long?”

“I’m not sure. It couldn’t have been too long. Rock isn’t here yet, at least Se hasn’t contacted you. I don’t think so, anyway.”

“Good, good.”

“I want you to know that I didn’t come here for this. I stopped by your room to tell you about my talk with the General.” He settled next to Rave and pulled the man into his arms.

“Damn. I hate to say it, but I forgot you were making that call.”

“I’m glad you did. I want
us
to be more important than the Alliance. I think we both deserve it.”

“At this point, I’m all for saying, ‘fuck the Alliance
and
the Royalists’.”

“I agree.”

Rave sighed, “Tell me about the call.”

“I have the name of the person who issued the warrant. The general wasn’t aware of the situation and thinks the man went rogue on them. Seth Davidson, ring any bells for you?”

“No.
You?”

“It sounds familiar, but I’m not sure,”
Kain
replied. He wished it would come to him.

“Computer, search for Seth Davidson, Alliance Commander.”

“Searching,” the mechanical voice responded.

“I’m not sure how long the search will take, but I should head to the bridge and relieve Se.” Rave sounded reluctant to leave, but duty called.

Kain
hugged Rave to him before getting out of bed. “We should clean up first. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to see Se smelling like sex. She’d never let us hear the end of it.”

“Great idea.
Maybe we should conserve water. I’m not sure how much we have stored.”

Kain
smiled when Rave winked at him. Here was the Rave he remembered, the carefree man who’d always worn a grin.

Rave tugged on his hand and led him to the shower. That was something else he remembered, a shower on the day before all hell had broken loose. They’d just made love that day and had taken an afternoon to themselves. Whenever he had bad days, he thought of the last time they were together.

“What are you thinking about?”

Rave’s voice brought him out of the past.

“Nothing.”
He followed Rave into the shower and let the water wash his troubles away.

Rave closed his eyes when
Kain’s
hands wandered over his body. Why did he feel as if his happiness wouldn’t last? His gut told him something bad hovered on the horizon. He shook it off and enjoyed the moment.

Se’s
voice broke through his musings. “Rave, Rock is here and docking.”

“Thanks, Se. I’ll be right there.”

He waited for the computer to click off the
coms
before talking to
Kain
.

“You can stay here if you want. Or, you can come to the bridge.”

“You take care of Mel. I’ll monitor the search for Davidson.”

Rave nodded and pulled
Kain
to him for a kiss before stepping from the shower. He didn’t take long to dress, and he was on the bridge minutes later.

Rock looked the same. The man never changed. If Rave’s heart had been in it, he would have taken up the man on his offer of sex. The timing always seemed wrong for the two. Rock was so different from
Kain
. He was tall and muscular, rough looking with tattoos, and long dark hair he pulled back to keep out of the way—most gay men’s wet dream.

Rave caught Se looking at Rock with lust in her eyes. So, Se had a thing for Rock. He wondered why she’d never said anything before. He’d have to remember to ask Se about it later.
 

“Rock!
I’m glad you’re here.”

The big bear of a man turned and pulled Rave into a hug, lifting him off the floor. Rave laughed. Not many men could pick him up like that.

“You called. I’m here.” Rock sounded matter of fact as he put Rave down.

“We don’t have much time. I hate to do this to you, but I can’t have my sister in danger.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

“If things were different—” Rave stopped when Rock caressed his face.

“He’s back, isn’t he?
The man who broke your heart.”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“You’re different. Happier than the last time I saw you. I’ve never seen you this way unless you’re talking about your man.” Rock gave him a sad smile. “He’d better be good to you.”

“Thank you.” Rave squeezed the man’s hand and turned to see Se staring at them. He gave her a wink. “Se, could you call my sister to the bridge? We’ll get her boarded then head out.”

“She’s on her way. I paged her when Rock showed up.” This time he really looked at Se. She blushed and stumbled over Rock’s name. He didn’t have time to say anything because his sister came on deck. Se deserved some of her own happiness. Maybe Rock could help her out with that.

“Ready to go, sis?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he hugged her to him.

“I’ll be back as soon as everything is cleared up. I’m sorry about this,” he said.

“It isn’t your fault. Stay safe.”

He nodded, went back to Rock and held out a hand. “Thanks, man.” Rave tugged him into his body and hit his back while whispering in his ear. “Don’t be a stranger and maybe you should talk to Se.” He pulled back and grinned at the man as he looked over at Se.

With a nod, Rock left, Mel close on his heels.

“What was
all that
tough guy man-hugging about?”

He didn’t answer
Se’s
question.

“After they’ve left, engage the autopilot for
Seid
II. I’ll be in my quarters. I’m not sure what we’ll find when we get there. We’d better all be prepared.
Kain
is following a lead on the warrant right now.”

“Don’t think you can ignore me, Rave. I’ll plot the course, but before you go, what was going on with Rock?”

“I offered him a little advice. That’s all.”

Se didn’t look convinced but continued working at the computer.

“You can go back to your quarters if you want. I’ll take over,” he offered.

“No, I got this. Go see if
Kain’s
found anything else.”

Rave left her to it. He hoped
Kain
had found out something about the person who’d jumped the gun on the warrant. Rave thought he should know that name, but nothing came to him. He shrugged and headed to his room where his lover waited.

Chapter Nine

Seth paced in his quarters. Things weren’t going as planned. The
Retribution
had slipped through his fingers on New Moon. The stupid planet guards had fucked that up.
Kain
and Rave would be on the defensive now.

The calls from both the Royalists and Alliance kept coming through, but he’d managed to dodge them so far. He pawned the Alliance off on a subordinate and ignored the Royalists. They shouldn’t be contacting him anyway, no matter how secure they thought the message. Didn’t they know Peters didn’t want any contact until
after
the mission was complete?

He didn’t relish the wait on
Seid
II. His crew had docked yesterday, and he’d given them shore leave. Seth had to play his cards right, or he’d be the dead one. What would happen when Earth exploded? Fritz had no idea the Royalists already had the weapon. Seth almost wished he would be around to see it. The laser waited for the push of a button, resting comfortably in a hidden cave on the planet. He’d put it there himself weeks ago.

The com beeped, but he ignored it again. There wasn’t anyone he wanted to talk to right now. He had plans to make. If he couldn’t capture the men alive, he would blow the
Retribution
right out of the universe. He would have his justice before retiring. The beeping sounded again followed by the computer.

“Commander, you have an urgent message.”

“Store the message. I’ll contact them later.”

“Message stored.”

The computer turned off, leaving Seth to his thoughts until a ring sounded at his door.

What now?

“Enter.”

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but the planet guard wished to have a word with you.”

“I thought you were on shore leave, Ensign.”

“The guard cornered me in a local bar, or I’d still be there.”

“Carry on. I’ll take care of the guard.”

He watched the Ensign leave and asked the computer to relay the message.

“Message to follow—Seth, contact home base immediately or your ship will be called off mission. You are not following orders, and I will not have it. Message finished, signed General Commander Fritz.”

He couldn’t contact Fritz. Too much needed to happen first.

“Computer, send a message to General Commander Fritz letting him know I am out of range.”

“Message confirmed.”

Now, he had to deal with the incompetence of the planet guard. They were all alike, barely trained with a gun. He stormed off the ship to deal with this new problem. The only thing he wanted to do was sleep until the
Retribution
docked and he had Rave and
Kain
right where he wanted them.

* * * *

Kain
couldn’t believe what the computer showed him. Seth Davidson had gone through cadet training with him and Rave. No wonder the name rang a bell. He still didn’t remember the guy. Maybe Rave would know him.

The man looked like a decorated officer, but that didn’t explain why he’d jumped the gun on the warrant. Fritz didn’t have any answers, either.
Kain
wondered if he should contact the office again. He should talk to
Rave
first. He wanted everything in the open between them.