Rest of In Enemy Hands

Rest of In Enemy Hands
* * * *
Several unit hours, and a pitcher of water for Varo’s parched throat later, Varo was to the part where he escaped.
“Maylar helped me to the shuttle and programmed the coordinates for Yesri space. Well, that’s the truth. He told me that it was a shuttle in for repairs. That was why it wasn’t missed immediately.”
“How did you get through their grid the second time?”
“I’m not exactly sure,” Varo said. “I didn’t exactly have time to ask, and frankly I didn’t care. Maylar programmed a code into the shuttle’s control panel. I’m not sure who it belonged to, but he said it was someone high-ranking. I’m also not sure how he kept me off their radar, but he managed. As I got to the grid, a portal opened. Out I went. As soon as I did, I went to warp.”
“Who is this Maylar?”
“ An ass. He’s part of the A’moor. They’re a group of males and females who make a living by volunteering their services to other Helkans who need to… feed.”
“So the rumors they drink blood are true. They have those who…?” King Drea asked.
“Basically let other Helkans feed from them. The A’moor provides a service and are paid.”
“And what other services do they provide? Sexual services too?”
“More often than not, yes.”
“Ah, We see. They’re blood whores.”
“Actually, Sire, they’re actually held in high regard.”
“You would argue with Us?” King Drea demanded.
“No, of course not.” Varo inclined his head to show submission. Had his father’s temper always been so short? “I’m just telling you how the Helkans regard them, that’s all.”
“The Helkans are little more than animas,” King Drea sneered. “We say the A’moor are blood whores, so thus they are. Now, how did you meet this Maylar?”
“As I told you, I was captured by the one called Adlar—”
“Their king’s brother, yes?”
“Yes, Sire. Maylar feeds Adlar. Because Adlar is the king’s brother, he’s required to use only those vetted by his king. He has two males and a female he called upon when he needed to feed. As I said, Maylar was one of those. We became friends. And…” Now look him in the eye and lie, lie, lie.
“And? Now is not the time to be coy, Varo.”
“This is hard, father. Adlar was… abusive. He slapped a slave collar on me, and believe me, he activated it often. He starved me. He denied me water. He locked me on a dark room. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave me there. I fought him, but he finally managed to break me. The pain that collar cause was indescribable.”
King Drea snorted. “We always knew you were the weak one.”
“Yes, Sire. > Frack you.Once I stopped fighting, he started raping me. He then… starting feeding from me. If I resisted, he activated the collar. I often passed out from the pain of the rape and blood loss. When I woke, I’d be bloody and bruised. Maylar was often there, and he helped… clean up.”
My the gods forgive me. The lies choked him, but the king was eating it up. The manic gleam in his eye scared Varo. How had he never noticed this? His father was getting off on his pain.
“We wish to know if you let the whore fuck you.”
Varo reared back> You’d think I wouldn’t want anyone fucking me if I’d been raped. What is wrong with him?“Of course not. Adlar would’ve killed Maylar.”
“That still doesn’t explain why this Maylar helped you.”
“Adlar had a female feeder, remember? The female was Maylar’s sister. Adlar abused her too. The male is a sadist. Maylar knew what was being done to me and tried to help. Especially after Adlar killed Maylar’s sister. Maylar told me this.”
“How?”
Varo swallowed his disgust as he made up a story. He worried this little tale wouldn’t stand up, but the king was buying it. He was obsessed with the pain and gore, so Varo gave him what he wanted.
Most with half a brain in their head would’ve questioned things more, but the king considered Varo too weak to try and fool him. Plus the king was enjoying the story entirely too much. It was disturbing how he hung every word of Varo’s pain and humiliation.
As Varo told his story, he noticed the king’s dilated pupils and flushed face. Was he… aroused? Gods. Varo took a long breathe as he tried to see if there was anything…. Yes. He smelled the faint sweet hint of faylay.
It was a greenish-gray mixture of the dried, shredded leaves and flowers from the Fayannabis plant. It could be smoked or eaten. It had a psychoactive chemical which caused hallucinations, anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic. It was also know to cause psychotic breaks.
If the king was abusing the drug, it would explain so much. It also meant he was in more danger than previously thought. His king was wasn’t in his right mind and held a lot of power. Never a good thing.
Suddenly King Drea stood and reached toward Varo. Varo tried not to flinch, but he couldn’t help it. Well, at least that fit the behavior of someone abused and broken. The king’s lip twitched as if he enjoyed that sign of discomfort, then he smoothed his hand over Varo’s hair.
“There, there. You have had a truly trying time, my son. We admit We assumed you’d take your life once We found out you’d been taken. You did try to do a worthy thing, it just didn’t work out. A shame, that. We would have most pleased if you had succeeded.”
If I had succeed I would have died. Varo suppressed a shudder at the king’s touch. “They told me you tried to ransom me. Thank you for that.”
“Yes, well, We did what we could. Go to your chambers and rest. And here. We assume you need a new comm.” King Drea held out the comm.
“Thank you. Mine is long since gone.”
“We will talk more. We wish to know more about your time with the Helkans and what became of your men. The men you left behind.” King Drea sniffed. “Until tomorrow, son.”
“Until tomorrow, Sire.” Varo stood and bowed to his king. He refused to react to the jab about leaving his men. Once his father had removed his royal person, Varo left the room too, only to be met by more guards. So maybe his father wasn’t as far gone was he thought.
The guards followed him back to his chambers. He shut the large, double doors to his chambers in the guard’s face. Leaning his head against the door, he listened but he didn’t hear footsteps leaving. So he had posted outside his door.
Were they assigned to him indefinitely? If so, there goes grabbing another shuttle and heading out of here. His father didn’t trust him, that much was obvious, but he wasn’t sure why. Had he somehow heard how things between him and Adlar really were? He sincerely hoped not or he would be in dire trouble.
He looked around his room. Not much had changed. He did notice some of his more expensive décor was gone, but that didn’t surprise him. A quick glance in his closet told the same story. His brothers had taken the things they liked.
Well, not a great loss. He didn’t plan to say here long, but the old Varo would’ve thrown a fit. So that’s what he had to do. A tired sigh escaped him. What he really wanted was to go to bed and hide under the covers. Fall apart. Worry about Adlar and what was going on at the Helkan palace.
Instead he prepared himself for a major fit.
A unit hour later he’s screamed the walls down on his and his brother’s wing. Lars, the heir, was elsewhere in the palace, so he’d attend to that brother later. He did find Wrief in his rooms and stood shrieking at him for a full two unit minutes.
Finally Wrief curled his lip and slammed the door in his face. Wrief had always been the more unpleasant of them. Maybe it was a middle brother thing. He was satisfied he’d done all he could to uphold the spoilt prince image.
He slunk back to his chambers. He did a quick search of his rooms, just to be safe. Even though he didn’t find anything, he couldn’t take the risk there was a bug in the room he’d missed. Although why and how one would have gotten there was beyond him.
As much as he hated to, he took a quick shower to help his body relax. He ached from being stunned, but that also meant he washed the scent of Adlar from him. He turned his face to the water cascading down on him and let the tears flow.
The water from the showerhead should hide his tears and sounds. For a brief moment he let himself go. Let anger take him. Cussed Maylar to the very depths of the blackest black hole. And he grieved. Grieved for what had been taken from him.
He’d get back to Adlar somehow. And may the gods help anyone fool enough to get in his way.
* * * *
The next morning he’d barely managed to dress before someone was demanding entrance to his chambers. Not in the mood for the games to start this early, he debated not answering. But knowing his luck, whoever it was would override the central computer and force the chamber doors open.
He jerked the doors wide, ready to blast whoever stood there… and barely managed to shut his mouth. “Get lost?”
Lars, the heir to the throne, just raised an eyebrow. “Greetings to you too, brother dear.” He motioned to one of his guards who stepped forward with a box. “Here.”
 “Oh a welcome home gift.” Varo’s sarcasm floated down the hall as he looked in the box. He snorted. “You gifted me with my things? How… charming. Nice of you to return them.”
Lars shrugged. “We were told you were taken by the Helkans. No one comes back from that so really, I didn’t think you’d mind. Not like I could ask you.”
Varo nearly swallowed his tongue in an effort not to respond. Instead he took the box, but stayed squarely in the doorway. “Yes, well. Thank you for bringing back the things of mine you helped yourself to.”
Lars inched closer. “Ask me in.”
Varo ignored Lars and stared in the box, poking around. “I’d just as soon not.”
“I’d just as soon you did.”
Varo sighed and looked at Lars. “Right. It doesn’t matter what I want. Fine. If that’ll get you out of my hair faster, then come in.” He stood back, let Lars in, and then promptly shut the door in the guards face. He took perverse pleasure in the startled eyes of the closest one. Small of him, yes, but it felt good.
Still, it promised to be a really going to be a long day.
“What do I owe this early morning visit to? Besides bringing back my things you took.” Varo walked back into his chambers.
Lars took out a slim, black devise and started walking around Varo’s quarters. “Oh, you know. Thought how we could talk about, oh I don’t know…. My youngest brother crash landing on Helkan, gets himself taken as a slave, and then manages to escape as pretty as you please.”
Lars put a finger to his lips then shook his head when Varo frowned at what he held in his hand. Lars continued, “Of course I wish to see how you were.”
“Right.” Varo finally figured out what Lars held was a devise that found bugs. He followed Lars into his bedroom as Lars checked out the chamber.
Lars continued speaking as if they weren’t stalking through Varo’s rooms. “I wish to hear what is surely a grand tale.”
Varo followed Lars into the master bath and then out again. “It’s not all that pretty.”
“I’m sure.” Lars returned to the living area and turned the device off. “Okay, it’s clear. We can talk safely.”
As if he was going to fall for that. Varo sat on a couch. “What in the stars are you doing ?”
Lars sat on another couch across from Varo. “I’m glad you’re safe, Varo. I really am. And if yo need to talk, I’m here. But first, there’s something more important to talk about.”
“More important than my time with the Helkans?”
“You’ve met with our father since you returned, yes?”
“Oh yes. Just as soon as I arrived.”
Lars nodded. “Then you must know Our Highness is crazier than a madden batar bitch. That’s more important than anything you could tell me about the Helkans.”
If that was what Lars thought, then who was Varo to correct him?
* * * *
Several unit hours later, Lars left. They’d had first meal in Varo’s chambers and it wasn’t settling well. The picture Lars painted wasn’t nice. Their father was abusing drugs and making outlandish decisions.
The people were very vocal in their unhappiness. The advisors were threatening to resign. All this he knew. And the coffers were empty. They, the royal family, were flat broke. That was news to him.
He was appalled. Lars went on to tell him the king’s answer to the problem was to offer his middle son’s hand in marriage…. to the highest bidder in a few days time. Well, Varo just thought he’d been appalled earlier.
He was wrong.
This was truly appalling. Arranged marriages weren’t unheard of, but this was beyond what was acceptable. And Lars just kept on with the bad news. Varo had returned, and Lars had no doubt Varo would be offered up for sale too.
The scary thing was there wasn’t much they could do. The king had the final word, and he was desperate. If they didn’t get the economy rightened, there was a chance civil war could break out, Lars said. Varo knew what already.
But what he didn’t know was Lars planned to overthrow their father and take over before King Drea could arrange the sale of the two younger males. Lars wanted Varo’s support. What in the worlds had been going on since his capture?
After Lars left, Varo paced in his chambers. Did he trust what Lars told him? Was this a trick? His father was going to host an auction for Wrief and now possibly him? Really? How could their father think this was a good idea? And what did that say about them as a royal family?
It said they were desperate and no better than the rank and file, that’s what it said. Who in their right mind would think this was a good idea? But then, that was the problem. Their king didn’t seem to be in his right mind.
Varo had noticed the smell of faylay on the king last night. There was no mistaking that sickly sweet scent. Was he as bad as Lars hinted, though? Then Varo remembered the look in his father’s eyes as he told his tale.
Goddess, he was afraid Lars was correct. But what if he wasn’t? Varo clenched his fist. He hated intrigue. Give him a ship to command and he was in his element. This? This was colossal pain in his royal ass.
His comm chimed, and he answered. A recorded message played informing him that his Royal Highness wanted him to adjourn to the royal dining room where his father and Wrief waited. Lovely. This day continued to spiral downward.
He hurried to the meeting, knowing better to be late. He entered the formal dining area where food filled the grand table. It more than the three of them could possibly eat in one sitting. Varo bit back the words that sprung to his tongue.
They couldn’t afford this. That was bad enough, but the food they didn’t eat ended up being thrown away. It was a waste. King Drea wouldn’t let the kitchen staff have the food, or staff members, either. He said the food was too good for the servants.
Varo had never really thought much about it, but now he wanted to take one of the five different pies sitting out—why did the three of them need five pies anyhow?—and slam it in his father’s face. Instead he carefully schooled his features.
“Ah good, Varo is here,” King Drea said. “Come, sit. We wish to tell you of Our plans.”
“Planning to sale him too, father?” Wrief snarled from the other end of the table, the anger and blatant disrespect clear in his voice.
Varo cringed. And here we go.
“Silence!” King Drea roared.
Varo jumped. A quick glanced showed the fear on the server’s faces.
King Drea picked up the serving knife next to his plate and threw it at Wrief. Wrief dodged the knife. It lodged in the wall behind him.
“While your mate might not mind if you couldn’t speak, they might miss what you could do with that tongue of yours. So if you wish to keep it, We suggest you shut up!”
No one moved for several unit seconds.
By all that’s holy, what have I walked into?Varo slowly made his way to the table as the staff scrambled sprung into action. Wrief was pale, but okay. And he wasn’t talking. Varo looked around. No one else seemed as freaked as he was over the fact the king just threw a knife at one of his sons. Just how common was this?
“Now,” King Drea smiled as if nothing had occurred. “As it just so happens We had planned a royal ball to be held on Virus II in three days. Wrief will find a mate there. Since you’re not mated, We’ve decided that you will also take part. We have high hopes the two of you will line Our coffers very nicely. Start packing after the meal, Varo. We leave tomorrow.”
Varo goggled. Lars had warned him, but still. This was insanity.
“We also wish for you to describe the places you saw while held captive. Start with the Helkan palace. You will be working with someone to draw up schematics of the palace.” King Drea snapped his fingers and a male hurried forward to take notes and draw the palace.
Wrief rolled his eyes. Varo wanted to agree.
“We want you to also tell Us about how the Helkan Satellite Surveillance Network went down, in detail, that first time. You may begin.” King Drea waved his hand indicating for Varo to start.
Frack. What am I going to do now? Varo started talking. What choice did he have? That didn’t mean he was entirely truthful in what he told King Drea.
Chapter Nineteen - Adlar
“What do you mean, he’s missing?”
“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory,” Omori said. “Maylar wasn’t at the client’s home as we thought.”
A day had passed since Adlar’s life stopped. His temper was fast eroding as was his patience. He wanted Varo home. Now. And his mate wasn’t, and that was driving him slowly insane.
Adlar pinched the bridge of his nose and counted silently before answering. “I know what it means, Omori. Where is he?”
“If I had an answer to that, don’t you think I’d tell you?” Omori waved at the table in front of Adlar. “Sit before you have an aneurysm. I have men looking for him. An announcement was made at all space ports on Helkan. Command knows to scan all vehicles’ requesting permission to leave the planet. He’s not getting off the planet, Adlar. Not if I can help it. Now, eat.”
Adlar dropped in the seat and made an effort to rein in his temper. “I’m worried. We haven’t heard one thing from the Yesri. I thought by now we’d hear something .”
“No news is good news. They obviously don’t know Varo is your mate. If they did…”
“They’d use that.” Adlar finished for Omori. Adlar ran a hand through his hair. At this rate he’d be bald shortly.
“Indeed they—” Omori’s comm signaled and he glanced at it. “Hmm, it’s an incoming message. Do you mind if I take it?”
“Please do. It might be important.”
Omori opened the comm and read the message, a frown crossing his face as he read.
“Is it about Varo?”
Omori looked up. “It is. I just received information about an up-coming ball held on Virus II. One Wrief Kutchif and one Varo Kutchif, Yesri princes, are going to be offered in separate auctions as mates to the highest bidder two days from now.”
>“What!”</i> Adlar stood so fast his chair flew backward and tipped over.
Omori sipped his drink. “Calm down, Adlar. This is perfect.”
“Prefect? Are you insane?” Adlar slammed his hands down on the table and leaned forward. “They plan to sale my mate to some… to some… aw, gods!” He couldn’t wrap his head around the horror of that. Just couldn’t.
“They plan to, yes, but we’re not going to let that happen. Now sit down and listen to me.”
Adlar grabbed his chair and fell into it, unable to speak.
“They have to get there, right? Maybe luck is on our side and they haven’t left yet.” Omori tapped some commands into the comm. “I’m going to have someone check to see what airships have left Yesri air space lately. If they haven’t left, we may have a chance to intercept them before they land on Virus II.”
Adlar suddenly grin was just this side of feral. “And take back what’s mine.”
“Indeed.”
* * * *
When word came that the Yesri royal family hadn’t left their planet, Adlar took a moment to celebrate. Then he went to the Helkan landing bay where the crew was assembling. Soon they would ready one of the Helkans biggest battleships.
Adlar was no pilot so he wasn’t in command. He was fine with that. As long as he got Varo back, he didn’t need to rattle his balls at anyone. Besides, he had Omori for that. He laughed quietly. Omori had caused a slight panic when he announced he planned to go too.
That had cause a stir of unimaginable proportions. Everyone from the captain, to the Royal Guard, to Omori’s advisers threw a fit. Having the king off planet was dangerous. They all knew that, but Omori put his royal foot down. He was going, and that was the end of that.
Adlar didn’t argue. He just assigned several D’noir to patrol the starship and stick close to the king. His D’noir was good at blending into the shadows and few noticed them. Omori had his personal guard on board too.
Adlar knew his brother well enough to know there was no changing his mind. Frankly he was relieved Omori was there, just in case this thing went tits up. From the moment they found out about the ball and auction, everyone stayed on the battleship.
They had to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. Once the Yesri king and his sons left the planet, they had to be ready too. Adlar knew the wait wouldn’t be long, not with the ball coming so soon.
Omori settled in one of the larger quarters. At Omori’s request, Adlar had joined him. They debated taking the Yesri king and the middle son prisoner, but decided not to. It was more trouble than Omori wanted to deal with, but he wanted Adlar’s thoughts on the subject.
Adlar agreed. What he didn’t tell Omori was he’d privately deliberated killing King Drea, but also discounted the idea. Killing his mate’s father might be considered in bad taste by some. Maybe. Lucky for the two Yesri men, Adlar didn’t want either of them anywhere near Varo nor their blood on his hands. Maybe.                                    When word came the Yesri were leaving their planet, Adlar breathed easier. Finally. His training was such that he was used to long periods of time passing with little to no movement—both physically and mentally. He could play the waiting game as well as anyone else. He’d never had a problem with that. But this was different.
This was the male he loved.
Earlier Omori had showed him the schematics of the Yesri battleship. Their was much bigger than the Yesris, and from what he read of the specs, they were not only bigger, but badder—badder weapons, badder and more efficient engines, and more speed.
But the ultimate weapon in their arsenal was that they’d figured out how to use stealth technology. It was a technology that used selective bending of light and other forms of energy to render a starship completely invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum and most sensors.
In other words, they could cloak their starships. That made them extremely dangerous. They might not leave their planet often, but when they did, they had the best technology had to offer.
Adlar stared out the portal window in his quarters. They’d just left Helkan airspace and jumped. The plan was to drop out of warp near the planet Virus and stay cloaked. When the Yesri battleship appeared, they’d decloak. Using their laser cannons, they’d take out the Yesris weapons and shields.
Then they’d use a tractor beam on the Yesri ship to keep it from jumping back into warp and escaping. With the shields down, the transporter room could scan for Varo. They’d lock onto his DNA and beam him aboard. Once they had him, they’d jump and head home.
Time passed quickly as he waited. He tensed as an automatic message appeared on his comm alerting him they would be dropping out of warp soon. Hopefully this would be all over before the Yesri could summon help from their planet’s surface.
But if the Yesri did, the Helkans would just disarm the other ship too. Adlar hurried to the Transport Room One. They’d agreed Omori would be on the bridge in case he needed to speak to King Drea for some reason, and Adlar would wait for Varo to be beamed to him.
He barely entered the Transporter Room when he heard the first laser cannons fired.
The Senior Transporter Chief working the transporter looked at Adlar. “I have him, my Lord. I’ve locked onto him and about to bring him over.”
“Any problems?” Adlar asked.

“Not as far as I know. The plan was to hit them and hit them quick. Last thing we wanted was to give them a chance to try something stupid.”
“Good idea since this is the Yesri king we’re dealing with.”
“Yes, sir. Okay, transporting now…”
Adlar stood quietly by, waiting, repeating in his head that he wouldn’t attack his mate. He wouldn’t attack his mate. He wouldn’t attack his mate. On the transportation pad a blurry figure slowly condensed in a sitting position. Adlar shifted from foot to foot. The figure became solid and the transport ended.
Varo landed on his ass, blinking hard. In his hand he held a piece of food frozen halfway to his mouth. Again he blinked as he looked around. His gaze settled on Adlar and shock covered his face. “A—Adlar? Oh stars, Adlar? Is that really you?”
Varo threw what looked like a fried leg of some animal over his shoulder. He lurched to his feet and looked around. “Adlar? What’s going on? How’d I get here? Um, where is here? Why… why aren’t you… um…” Varo blinked again.
Adlar unstuck his feet from the floor when tears appeared in Varo’s eyes. Varo’s shaking voice and confusion got him moving toward his mate. He raced up the platform and leaped onto the pad where Varo stood shivering. He hauled Varo into his arms.
“Oh gods, oh gods. I’m so glad you’re here. I was so worried. I love you, Varo. Nothing and no one will ever keep you from me.” Adlar dragged Varo’s head back by his hair and kissed the ever-loving frack out of his mate.
When the need for air drove them apart, Varo collapsed against Adlar. “Oh thank the goddess. I was so scared. Maylar… Maylar kidnapped me and set the shutter to take me to Yesri space.”
“I know, I know. I knew you didn’t leave me.”
 Varo gulped, struggling to speak. “Then… then that auction my father set up, and…. Adlar, I-I just couldn’t believe my father could do such a thing. I—I need you. Please. Oh gods, need you so b-badly. Hold me.”
Adlar snapped at the fear and pain on Varo’s voice. He swept Varo up into his arms and stormed out of the transporter room. Adlar’s long legs carried him down the corridors to his quarters. Varo hung on, his arms wrapped tightly around Adlar’s neck.
Varo buried his face in silky hair and whispered, “I knew you’d come for me. Somehow, someway, I knew you’d fine me. Save me.”
Adlar vibrated with the depth of his anger. Varo sounded terrified.“Always. I will always come for you.”
Crewmembers hugged the sided of the corridors, their eyes on the floor as the predator Adlar had became swiftly passed them. Adlar snarled the command to open his quarters. Moments later he dropped Varo on the bed and followed him down.
The thin material of Varo’s shirt was no barrier against their driving need to touch. The sound of material ripping filled the room. The desperation surrounding them was a living thing. Varo kicked his shoes off, and Adlar sat up.
He pulled a knife from a sheath, but paused. “Is this—”
“Fine.” Varo’s smile lit up the room. “It’s fine. You would never hurt me.”
Moments later Varo’s pants fared no better than the shirt. Adlar hurled the scrapes across the room. A hoarse, low growl came from Adlar as he wrapped a hand around Varo’s shaft.
“This is mine.”

“Yes!” Varo nodded, hips arching. “Yours.”
 Adlar stroked Varo, his hand trembling with urgency. His fear, his anger, and his desperation threatened to overwhelm him. He needed Varo to come for him. He needed…. a sob broke from him. Horrified he glanced at Varo.
“We’re okay.” Varo calmly wrapped a hand around Adlar’s. “Shh. It’s okay. I’m okay. You save me. We have all the time in the world, Adlar.”
“Yes, okay. Yes. Gods.” Adlar dropped his head on Varo’s hip. “Crying all over you was not how I wanted this to go.”
Varo sat up and pulled Adlar up too. He hugged Adlar. “We’re together. That’s all that matters to me. So… this can go however you want. Or we can just… snuggle. As long as I can touch you, I’m fine.”
Adlar took a deep breath, calming down. The fear and anger bled out of him. “I… Sorry. Had no idea that was lurking around, just waiting to pop out. I’d…. Varo, I want you to make love to me.”
Varo cupped Adlar’s face. “I can so do that.”
Adlar kissed Varo’s palm, a grin playing around his lips. “Don’t think you’re getting it. I want you to top me.”
Varo’s mouth fell open, and he reared back. “Holy frack!”
Adlar laughed outright. “Picked up my favorite word, have you?”
“Holy frack!”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Adlar snickered at the look on Varo’s face.

“Are you serious? You want me to top you?”
“Very much so. And you should know this is a first for me.”
“Holy frack!” Varo repeated and fell back on the bed. “You… you… I’d be honored, Adlar. Thank you for such a gift. I’m… stars, I may cry all over you now.”
“No crying.” Adlar lay back on the bed too and wiggled his eyebrows at Varo. “Well? Come and get me.”
With a laugh, Varo lunged. They rolled around on the bed, wrestling for Adlar’s pants and shirt. Adlar didn’t fight too hard. He wanted skin-to-skin contact as much as Varo did. He did laugh when his shirt ended up thrown over a lamp, thrown there by a gleeful Varo who hooped and hollered about his prize.
The urgency had passed, and now they were much more relaxed. Adlar ended up on his back again, his hair spread out around him. Varo knelt at his side, his own long hair falling down his back. Had there ever been a more beautiful male? Adlar didn’t think so. And that male was his.
Varo grasped Adlar’s cock. Adlar held his breathe as things turned from playful to serious. Varo licked the head, his tongue trailing through Adlar’s precome. Rubbing the wet tip against his lips, Varo met Adlar’s eyes. Chocolate brown stared into eerie yellow.
Adlar stuffed some pillows under his head so he could watch. Even then he rose up on his elbows. As he stared at his mate, Varo tongued the tiny opening at the top of Adlar’s shaft. Adlar grunted. That felt incredible.
Adlar panted as Varo sucked and licked. The sensations drove Adlar crazy. His hips bucked, and he grinned when Varo held them down. Adlar was beyond happy Varo felt he could do that without worrying about punishment for stepping out of bounds.
There were no bounds now. Then Varo took Adlar’s cock all the way back into his throat. He swallowed, and Adlar’s mind went blank. He moaned, long and loud.
Adlar’s moan was echoed by Varo.
“I can feel your throat muscles constricting around my shaft. Best thing I’ve ever felt, princeling.”
Varo hiked an eyebrow at the name. He bobbed up and down on Adlar’s cock, staring into Adlar’s eyes.
Adlar’s moan quickly turned desperate. “Don’t make me come yet.”
Varo let Adlar’s cock fall from his mouth. He held it up so he could mouth Adlar’s sac.
Adlar’s body tensed. He threaded one hand through Varo’s hair, tugging gently until Varo moved away from his cock and balls. “It’s all too much. I… give me a unit second to calm down or this is going to be over before it starts.”
Varo moved closer to Adlar’s chest. He circled one of Adlar’s nipples. “Wound tight, are you?”
Adlar’s hiss startled them both. “Gods, that feels good.”
Varo rolled one nipple then leaned down to kiss it. He quickly nipped the hard tip then sucked it into his mouth.
Adlar arched into the touch and his cock jumped on his belly. Varo’s hands were everywhere. On his nipples, feathering down his ribs, ghosting over his hips… the little touched built a fire in him. He fell back against the pillows, raised his knees, and spread his legs, offering himself to Varo.
“Oh,” Varo whispered. “That… takes my breath away.”
Adlar turned toward the nightstand and pulled open a drawer. Fumbling, he raked his hand through the junk in it until he found the lube. He held it out to Varo. “Here. Going to need that.”
“Oh yeah.” Varo moved between Adlar’s legs.
Varo squirted lube on his fingers and gently rubbed Adlar’s entrance. Adlar tensed, but Varo didn’t enter him, he just played there, getting Adlar used to a touch in a place he’d never been touch before. Need built.
“More,” he demanded.
Varo laughed softly. “I should’ve known you’d you be a bossy bottom.”
Adlar was saved from replying when a slick finger worked into him. It felt odd, but not unpleasant. Varo moved his finger in and out, twisting and turning. Slowly Adlar’s body relaxed. He hadn’t noticed he tensed up.
Varo entered him with another finger, stretching him more.
Adlar moaned at the sensation. Now it burned a little, but not bad. Varo worked the two fingers in and out of him. There was something building, but… he needed something else. Something more. He grunted, legs moving restlessly. He didn’t know what to ask for.
“Easy, easy.” Varo scissored his fingers inside Adlar.
Adlar moaned again.
“I know, my sinfully sexy mate. I know.”
Adlar gasped when Varo turned his fingers and hit something inside him. “Frack!”
He knew it was his prostate. He knew that. What he hadn’t known was how good it felt.
“Again!” He pulled his legs up to his chest.
“Oh gods, you’re killing me.” Varo moaned. “If only you could see yourself. You are so sexy spread out like this.”
Adlar’s cock smeared precome over his belly. His head thrashed back and forth on the bed. “I... get in me. I need… Varo, take me. Hurry! I… frack, that feels good.”
“Not gonna hurt you.” Varo slid his fingers out and slathered more lube on his cock. On his knees, he leaned over Adlar. “I love you.”
“Mine!” Adlar snarled, fangs gleaming as he wrapped his legs around Varo’s hips. He reached up and grabbed a handful of Varo’s hair. His other hand grasped Varo’s throat. “Love you too. Only you. Now take my ass.”
Varo snorted. “Only you.”
Adlar tightened his legs around Varo’s waist as Varo pressed his cock inside. He felt his body opening up, letting Varo enter him. Nothing had ever felt like this. Varo filled him perfectly. Varo panted as he leaned over Adlar.
“Okay?” Varo asked as he bottomed out.
“Almost. Need you to move.”
Varo took a few deep breathes, and then gently thrust his hips.
Adlar moaned as Varo hit his hot spot immediately. “Good. So good.”
Varo quickly picked up the pace. “You hold me so tightly.”
Adlar kept a hold of Varo’s hair, making his mate look at him as Varo moved in his body. A light sweat covered them both. Adlar watched pleasure spread over Varo’s face as he drove into Adlar’s body. Pleasure flowed through Adlar. He drew closer to the edge, but didn’t break eye contact.
“Close.” Adlar warned as Varo stared back. “So close.”
Varo sped up, striking Adlar’s hot spot every thrust. His spine tingled and desire exploded in his mind. His vision grayed, and his toes curled. He finally had to let go of Varo’s hair. This was the ‘more’ he needed. He writhed on Varo’s cock, gasping, undulate wildly under Varo.
Adlar’s body burned with pleasure, he was hot all over. Everything prickled and tingled. One last jab to his prostate and Adlar yelled. He came, the essence spurting up his chest.
Varo’s yell followed. “Oh, oh… gods!”
Jets of Varo’s come filled Adlar. Shuddering, Varo eased his weight down on Adlar, trembling. Adlar held Varo close. Contentment spread through his body and the throbbing inside him slowly stopped. Varo’s cock slipped out, and he rolled over onto his side.
“That was…. An exploding star isn’t that magnificent.” Varo snuggled in and petted Adlar’s chest. “Um, you might want to take a shower too. Clean up, you know.”
“Now I see why you head to the shower so fast.” Adlar winked at Varo. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll change the sheets. There seems to be a wet spot.” Varo laughed at the look on Adlar’s face when he stood. “Hurry.”
“Yes, I most definitely I will.” Adlar did hurry to the shower.
He cleaned up quickly. There were things they needed to talk about, and he wanted to make sure Varo wasn’t hungry. When he returned to the bedroom, he found Varo lying on the clean sheets. For a moment he was tempted to dirty them again, but decide not to. Instead he sat on the bed.
Varo patted the space next to him. “I need you close.”
Adlar knew the feeling so he lay down. “Are you hungry?”
“No, I was eating with when I was suddenly beamed over here. My father isn’t going to be happy, you know. Thank the gods.”
“Your father can—” The beep of his comm stopped whatever he was going to say. Adlar read the incoming message out loud to Varo. “That was Omori. Your father tried to contact us shortly after we decloaked. Once we had you, Omori answered his hails and told him we’d removed you.”
“And he hasn’t opened fire yet?”
“Can’t. We disabled his weapons.” Adlar laughed as he continued reading. “King Drea demanded payment since we took you. We messed up his plans, it seems.”
“Stars.”
“And my brother told him what you are to me, warned your father to leave us alone, then threatened to blow up his ship,” Adlar said. “Hate I missed that.”
“Me too. So now my father knows. Not sure that’s a good thing.”
“He’d figured it out at some point anyway.” Adlar shrugged. “Now. Tell me what Maylar did to you that morning.” 
Varo played with a hank of black hair near his arm. “You’re so sure I didn’t leave you, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.” Adlar leaned down and lightly kissed Varo. “I trust you. You and Omori are the only two I fully trust. Now tell me what he did.”
With a sigh, Varo started talking.
Epilogue - Varo
“Stop jumping around,” Adlar complained. Varo glanced up at Adlar. His mate gave him a naughty wink and a smile.
“Easy for you to say. I got to piss. Again.” Varo just shook his head as Adlar snickered.
“There.” Adlar stepped back after closing the earring he’d had made from Black Phospolrock.
Adlar piercing him had been… entertaining. Hair-raising, but entertaining.
“If you need to go, better do it now,” Adlar said.
The palace was full of Helkans celebrating the joining of Adkar Mondur and Varo Kutchif. The newly mated couple was about to join everyone in the palace gardens.
“Be right back.”
Rumors had flown when the announcement was made, but the story of how the unemotional Adar had raced to save his lover won several hearts. Many raised an eyebrow about how Adlar’s lover was a Yesri prince, but those who had met the male stood by his side. His name was spoken with affection and honor by those who knew him.
It helped that the Helkan king also freely showed how much he liked his brother’s mate.
Other planets took note of the stories and the joining of Varo and Adlar. Some sent congratulations to the happy couple. Others not so much. The Yesri king was said to be beyond furious over the mating.
But the Yesri king had other things to worry about… like his heir trying to overthrow him.
Varo and Adlar spent the trip back to Helkan in Adlar’s quarters. He told Adlar how Maylar stunned him and of the secret passages. They discussed who Maylar’s helpers were and who he might have as a friend in Command.
Varo spoke of his fear, his helplessness… of how he could hear what was being said but couldn’t respond. Adlar shared his anger toward Maylar and how came close to losing control, he talked about his fear too.
Adlar told of how Maylar was missing and what was being done to find him and the others who helped. Omori stopped by once to check on them, then stayed away the rest of the journey home. Once home, they stated making plans to join their lives. Now it was time to celebrate that love.
On his way back to join Adlar, Varo stopped by a window in their chambers that overlooked the palace grounds. So many people were there. Some were accepting, some weren’t. He didn’t care. He had his lover, and that’s all he needed. He might stick out with his blond hair and tanned skin, but he was well-loved.
Varo walked around the corner and Adlar was there, waiting. Adlar held his hand out, and Varo took it. Never had he been so glad to be in enemy hands.
The End.