“Look, why don’t you come with me to see your sister again? Erin misses you. She’s worried.”
Drekk’s concern made him want to punch something. Ryen didn’t want concern, he wanted... Hell, he didn’t know what he wanted.
Drekk blew out a breath. “Let’s go back to my place and talk. I want to help you, Ryen.”
I want to help you, Ryen, Synster’s voice echoed in his mind, memories of his Handler shoving a needle in his arm feeling all too real. Muted screams and white-hot agony flared.
Then the burning pain faded into a numbness that scared Ryen more than anything.
“Fuck off, Drekk,” Ryen snarled. “You’re not my Handler.” He slammed into Drekk in an attempt to push him out of the way. “He’s dead, remember?”
“How could I forget?” Drekk smiled, but amusement didn’t reach his eyes. Nor did the shove Ryen gave him make an impact. Drekk didn’t budge one step.
“Stop being such a pussy and fight me.” By the stars, Ryen needed to let go before he exploded. As he thought it, he knew it was too late. Unable to stop himself, he threw a punch.
Not surprised when Drekk caught his fist, Ryen waited with anticipation. Drekk did nothing, and Ryen caught him with a knee to his gut.
Drekk’s gaze darkened, his eyes going completely black. The light, delicious scent of pheromones pervaded, a talent Creations possessed to draw in their opponents and weaken their wills to resist. For Drekk to let loose meant Ryen had finally breeched the wall holding back Drekk’s precious control.
“Let it out, warrior. Go ahead, hit me.” Ryen didn’t understand his need to relentlessly pressure Drekk into battle. An instinctual urge to master another, he supposed. Though he’d been created to submit, Ryen couldn’t bring himself to bow down to anyone not his equal.
Erin he tolerated with love and affection, emotions that surprised him. His other sister, Anin he wanted to protect, which usually soothed much of his aggravation. When serving and protecting others, Ryen felt at peace. Or at least, he used to.
Battling Drekk’s lure, he pulled the male close, uncomfortably aware of the press of Drekk’s hard body against his. Without thinking, Ryen gave in to impulse and head-butted him, knocking him back.
Dark red blood dribbled from Drekk’s nose, and he let loose a full burst of pheromones.
A clear offensive manoeuvre Ryen had been waiting for.
“That’s it,” Drekk growled and clamped solid arms around him.
In seconds, black bands of time and space collapsed on them both. Ryen hated the pressure of teleportation, and Drekk knew it. The experience ended as soon as it had begun, but instead of fighting on the run-down docks in Easfra, Ryen found himself in a shadowed room that looked like the rooms in Blue Rim he’d known all too well.
Sudden, irrational panic took hold, and Ryen began to fight for real. Drekk met him blow for blow, blocking and countering with a sudden swift strike to Ryen’s chest that left him momentarily winded. Drekk released more of his pheromone, and as much as Ryen wanted to counter it, he found himself lost in the scent.
He took another deep breath and felt Drekk push him away. Ryen stumbled, wondering what the hell Drekk had in his system that allowed for such a drugging effect.
Before he could question the man who’d saved him not so long ago, Drekk lifted him over his shoulder.
Shocked Drekk could carry his weight, Ryen struggled for freedom. He stilled when Drekk landed a hand on his ass, holding him steady. That hand warmed, and a tingling sensation spread through Ryen’s body from his ass to his groin. What the fuck is that?
“There we go.” Drekk’s voice sounded very far away. “I’ve been waiting.”
“Waiting for what? For me to...” He wanted to argue, to force Drekk to hurt him, to make him feel something besides the dissatisfaction of his life, even if it meant pain. But the incredible arousal pooling within distracted him. Without meaning to, Ryen shifted his hips against Drekk’s shoulder, groaning at the fire spearing his cock.
Drekk tossed him onto a bed and smothered him with scent.
“What did you do to me?” Ryen rasped, blinking through slitted eyes at Drekk’s bent frame. Limp with a drowsy awareness, Ryen watched Drekk chain his ankles and wrists to bars on the head and footboard of the bed. “Tying me up like an animal? Like I’m back home,” he muttered.
“This is your home now, Ryen.” He thought Drekk might have sighed. “Get used to it.”
“What is this place? I’ve never been here before, have I?” Ryen blinked, trying to focus, but he could only make out shadows and darker forms against the five-walled room in which he lay.
“We’re back in Tekar. I should have done this as soon as we arrived. Stubborn drun.”
“I don’t understand.” Ryen licked his lips. A cup appeared at his mouth and he greedily drank down the sweet if overpowering liquid. Like lightning, another dose of fire shot through his groin. “Fuck. What did you give me?”
“Something you should thank me for. Something that will make you forget.” Ryen closed his eyes, impossibly sleepy yet physically aware. Something sharp edged close to his skin. A knife. Drekk is slicing at me? Dammit, I can barely move. He’d definitely pushed Drekk too far. Strangely enough, the thought proved arousing, and the constricting trousers over his cock aggravated him.
He sighed with relief when the pressure eased, only to wonder why the hell Drekk thought it necessary to remove his clothing. “Drekk?”
“You need healing, my friend.”
“No shit.”
During his escape from Blue Rim, Ryen had killed dozens without guilt, but he hadn’t come out unscathed. The impact of a cannon grenade against his back should have ended his life. He’d nearly bled to death before Drekk had healed him. By mixing his blood with Ryen’s, Drekk had managed to close most of Ryen’s wounds. But after several weeks, Ryen’s internal injuries still hadn’t healed properly, and somehow Drekk knew it.
Nearby rustling made him curious. “Dammit, Drekk. Why can’t I open my eyes?” He sounded as sluggish as he felt.
“Because you don’t need to, not for this.” Drekk joined him on the bed. Ryen could feel the heat of the male’s body bleeding into his own. Far from repulsing him, that heat had him squirming to get closer. “Remember when I healed you?” Drekk asked.
“You bled on me.”
“The healing agent I possess is in my fluids.” Drekk paused. “I know you’re still hurting. I see it when you move, and you don’t smell the same.”
“How do I smell?” The thought amused him, though he couldn’t have said why.
“Like you need me.” Drekk’s quiet answer puzzled him.
“What?”
“I’m going to give you something to ease your pain.” Drekk seemed to be waiting, for what Ryen didn’t know.
Ryen caught a different scent. Something soothing, a tangy wildness that lingered just beneath calm, centred male. Drekk. Ryen breathed deep, wanting more.
“That’s it.”
A hand stroked his face, and Ryen turned into the unfamiliar comfort of touch. Fiery need raced through his body.
“I didn’t want to do it this way, but you’re so damned stubborn.” Drekk sighed. “The sad part of it is you won’t remember it later.” Drekk shifted on the bed and Ryen sensed the male over him. “I’m going to give you the release you’ve been craving.” Ryen’s body tightened with understanding, even if he still felt fuzzy about what Drekk meant. Did Drekk mean release as in—
He hissed as a mouth engulfed him completely. Heat, delicious wet heat surrounded his cock. The suction stole his very breath before it disappeared. Ryen growled in frustration, arching his hips for more.