“I had plenty of willing women in the labs, Drekk. I have Nebite blood in me.”
“As do I. Yet not a hint of it’s in my face.” Drekk grinned, his lips full and kissable.
Kissable? Alarmed, Ryen changed the subject. “So what’s with this? Jerking off? Making me watch? The sex talk? You think you can seduce me into succumbing? Hell, Drekk. You want to prove you’re better than me? Just take off the cuffs and fight me like a man.”
“No can do. This, my friend, is the way to go. A fight is an easy, physical solution. One that involves pain. We won’t associate pain with your surrender. It needs to be voluntary.”
“Coward.” Ryen enjoyed the brief anger that passed through Drekk’s clear gaze.
“Believe what you want, but you know, deep down, you want to give in. You want to bow to a master, to fulfil the ultimate purpose behind your existence. To Serve. I know because I’m the same. I fought, as you do. It’s not the sex so much as the desire, Ryen. I love women and I love men. We shared Glaia, didn’t we?”
“Yes.” Ryen would give anything to have her hot mouth again. He felt like he would explode.
“But she wasn’t really there, not in here.” Drekk tapped his head. “I was fucking you, Ryen.”
A wet spot on Ryen’s trousers attracted Drekk’s attention.
Drekk smiled. “Lesson number one, your dick is going to lead you into trouble.”
“Asshole.”
“Lesson number two, we’re going to will that arousal away. With meditation.”
“Shit.”
“Don’t you have a better vocabulary than that?” Drekk winced at the words Ryen threw at him. “Fine. But if you won’t let me touch you and you can’t touch yourself, how do you intend to get rid of that?” Drekk pointed at his arousal.
Ryen gritted his teeth, not amused by any of this. Much as he wanted Drekk to touch him, he held back. “I’ll deal with it.”
“Yes, until you break out in a violent rage, the way you normally do. You have to learn to control your needs, Ryen. So either I touch you or we meditate. Your call.” Knowing if he let Drekk touch him he’d go off like a shot, Ryen relented. The sooner he gave Drekk what he wanted the sooner Ryen could get out of the cuffs and kill him.
“Show me how to meditate.”
“Pity.” Drekk flexed his hands. “Cuffs, down on the floor, cross-legged, Petal One hand position. Ryen, close your eyes and breathe...”
Several tedious days later, Ryen had nearly grasped the technique. Creations were quick to learn, but even Drekk seemed surprised at Ryen’s progress.
“Very good. It took me a lot longer to focus. Takes most people months if not years to get to where you are now. Another difference between us and the rest of society.” Drekk smiled, as if pleased to be in a class all their own.
“Drekk, tell me. How is it you’re so accepting? So glad to be different?”
“I wasn’t at first. Remember, I’ve been around a lot longer than you.”
“How long?”
“A thousand years, give or take.”
“So how long did it take you to relax and ‘submit’?” Drekk frowned. “That’s not important.”
“I think it is. You’re asking a lot of me and you never share information about yourself. A few days ago you told me about this Master guy. Why is that?” Drekk remained quiet but murmured a command to allow Ryen the complete use of his body again. Fucking magnecuffs.
Though the urge to take Drekk down and give him some payback was strong, Ryen appreciated this new clarity of thought. He wouldn’t admit it, but Drekk’s meditation crap might have some merit after all.
“What do you want to know?” Drekk asked.
Bemused, Ryen wondered how to phrase his questions. He asked the one that bothered him more than the others. “How is it you like men? Women talk about you. Hell, they practically throw themselves at you. And I watched you fuck Glaia.” Ryen took a deep breath, forcing himself not to linger on the memory. He’d just regained control of his body.
Drekk shrugged. “They used to force me into the same situations you faced in the labs.
Except I fought other Creations as well as artificial intelligence. They hadn’t quite progressed to the machines you battled.” Drekk frowned. “Fighting hand to hand has a different effect on you than you’d think. It makes you hungrier.”
Drekk clenched his fists and flexed, his muscles prominent. Though he stood a head shorter and was less brawny, Drekk had a frame filled with strength. Clear lines denoted the hard abdomen and steely pectorals of his chest. His biceps and forearms had been as solid as iron when wrapped around Ryen’s neck a few days ago.
“When done fighting, I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I released. The rage would leave me, but the hunger for more grew. It would take several women before I’d ease. Like you, I had a hard time giving in to my raging lusts.
“I served my Handler well for years while I battled my inner fury. It took a long time for me to free myself. When the lot of us rebelled, we—” He suddenly stopped, uncomfortable.
“We what?”
“It’s not important. You wanted to know why I like men. It started with Master. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t kill him. We fought long and hard, and I nearly defeated him,” Drekk said quietly. “Thank the stars he prevailed. I was a wreck, close to madness after our battle. My blood mingled with his during our fight, allowing him to heal.” Drekk smiled.
“And then he fucked me.”
Ryen shifted. “Rape?”
“No. A savvy seduction that showed me a whole new world. With Master, I learned to sexually submit. In doing so I released the anger, the pain, everything that held me back from the normalcy I craved. He hurt me and he helped me. With him, I could be as rough as I needed. He handled what those other women couldn’t.”
“There must have been some time between fleeing Eyra and finding that guy. If you never took anyone by force, you must have found some women who—”
“Who could take that pain? Yes, there are women out there who can handle anything.
Some like to be beaten, caned, flogged to the point of death. It’s a sickness, Ryen. There are those out there who worship true pain for pain’s sake, not for pleasure.” He shuddered. “Our kind should never have that. Ever.”
Ryen wanted to press him but sensed now was not the time. “So how did your master seduce you?”
Drekk left the bedroom and Ryen followed. Fetching them both something to eat, Drekk nodded Ryen towards the dining area. He answered Ryen between bites of succulent fruit.
“He seduced me with word and deed. You’re very interested in my sexual submission.” Ryen flushed and kept his attention on his food. “It’s just odd. You’re a strong guy. Why would you want a man when you can have a soft woman?” Drekk chuckled. “What you really want is an explanation as to how you can want me when you’ve been warned against it your whole life.”
“Not true, I—”
“It’s not a weakness to admit what you want, to accept it. I love women too. I love their softness, their curves, so different from my own. To be deep inside a female as you suck from her breasts, to kiss her lips as you drive deep... What’s not to love? Unlike most males, I have no need to procreate. I use sex as a release, not as a drive to produce young. The same as you, Ryen. Why then are males not acceptable as receptacles for our lust?” He had a point. Ryen chewed his food, lost in thought.
“Your Handler told you it was wrong, as did mine. My master showed me another way. In certain males I can loosen that hold on my control. I don’t need to worry about how hard I grab, how deeply I thrust. Within reason, of course. Master was very strong.” The jealousy Ryen experienced shocked him. What did he care how much Drekk felt for another? A male at that?