0 comments/ 107852 views/ 16 favorites Ben'hamin Ch. 01 By: NymzanSusauren "What have you brought me? I am in need of cheering, my friend," Ben'hamin proclaimed with a grin. The warlord, Derix bowed to him in respect as he stood from the chair of state before the small congregation of warlords. "My lord, I cannot show it to you here. If you would end this endless discussion and go to your chambers you will see it. Rescued from poachers to your territories, they have brought many like it and will doubtlessly keep doing so unless you order us to stop them," he petitioned softly. Derix had never liked slavery. Ben'hamin studied him carefully as he spoke. "If it pleases you, the creature is a gift, for it would have served a much more despairing existence if we had not saved it. Free it if you will, or keep it as your own forever." "I must admit you have made me curious," he stated with a wry chuckle. Then, he glanced at the warlords. "Am I so tiring that you must bribe me away from your presence? Am I to be given gifts to end discussions before they are finished?" There was a great deal of amused bickering. Ben'hamin sighed. "Alright, my good generals...I will think on your words, and come to you again in the morning. If my new present does not eat me when I enter my room," he teased as he rose to leave the room. Many of the warlords sighed in relief, causing him to shake his head in mirth. Little Avron came to take his robe as he entered the hall leading to his room. He placed a fond hand on the boy's shaggy brown locks and curls. "You may wish to stay outside, Avron; the generals have brought me a present without telling me exactly what it is. It could be very dangerous." The boy's wide brown eyes grew even wider. "My lord, should you go either?" His laughter rang out through the hall. "I hope it is dangerous, Avron! I go bored here..." "Yes, my lord..." Ben'hamin studied the boy's miserable face and lifted his young chin to see his misty eyes. "I would never grow bored with you, Avron. You have been good to me," he stated softly. A sweet smile lit his face causing Ben'hamin to chuckle. "Now, wait here so I know you are safe, pet." The eightteen-year-old folded his robe anxiously holding it to his chest in fear as the doors of the master's chambers were breached. "Blast them," the War Chief snarled. "Am I to seek it out in darkness?" There were only a few small flickering flames from raised candles across the room. "I can light the room, my lord," Avron offered eagerly. "No, Avron...stay outside. I will light them myself tonight." He gave the boy a cocky smile; even though, he had to turn his back to the room to do it. "You go on to bed, pet." He closed the doors behind him in case whatever was inside was left loose. He lit a taper from another beside the door and the room brightened a touch. A low, long growl warned him to keep his distance. He smiled at it. "Hush, pet...I will not cause you any harm." He lit the other taper on the opposite side of the door. There was only a tiny change in the light. He needed to get across the room to the abundance of candles that usually kept the room well lit and warmed throughout the nights. He carefully went towards the growl wanting to keep the creature in his sights in case it was not cowardly. The soft rattle of metal let him know it was not entirely free to do as it wished. Unarmed in his bedroom, a dangerous animal set loose would have been seen either as a challenge or a death threat. He liked Derix; he was glad the gift wore chains. Still, that did not mean he was safe. Just as he thought it, a white blur raced out to him and struck him in the face. The animal screamed in fury and retreated as he laughed. Its claws were wrapped in cloth padding it from any harm. His face stung only from the force of the hit! "Very well, pet, you win! I knew you would attack. Gods, you are a fast little thing! Let me look at you..." He knelt down as the cat beast crouched irritably not far away. "You are a beauty. Derix did well to save you." The animal was clearly male and pissed as he showed his gums in an angry snarl shaking his paws in an effort to get rid of the bindings. "Oh, you wish to harm me, do you?" He considered the anger in the beast's eyes. Ben knew talking might help to calm the creature's instinctive fear. He spoke more for that reason than the words he spoke. "If I cannot eventually tame you, I may give you the chance. It would mean your death, precious, but better to die fighting than executed for madness...Or perhaps, I would set you free." "Do you like that? Do you want me to give you freedom, pet?" The tiny beast was thin and short, but compact and muscular. Ben studied him imagining what he would be like in a fair fight. "What would you do if I let you go? Could you survive on your own?" It was so small, but black spots dotted its shiny white coat. That would aid it in hiding. Its fangs were long and sharp. Why hadn't it used those on him earlier when it surprised him? Had it been only a warning as before? "Yes, you are a fighter. I believe you could." He chuckled as the beast eyed him warily. "You don't know what to think of me, huh, pet? That is okay, few do," he told it as he stood again and the growl rose cautiously. "I will not harm you. That is a promise, pet." He moved away lighting only a dozen more candles as he passed them. "I guess I shouldn't have sent Avron to his room," he mused. "I could use a little thing to warm my bed," yet even as he spoke he saw a tiny form curled over the sheets through the gauze that hid it. "Perhaps I spoke too soon," he mumbled. He couldn't see very much in the darkness, but the light golden silk sheets glittered in the candlelight showing a more mundane patch of cream and white amidst them. Chains moved as the cat rushed him stopping between the bed and the lord that owned it! The snarl was far more pronounced and angry! The cat guarded the one in his bed. "Interesting...Mayhap I should give you your chance to attack me now, precious, because that is my bed and I am tired. Will you keep me from it? And where would the two of you be if my men had not taken you from your captors?" The animal hissed and lay down challenging him no more, but clearly displeased. "You understand my words...How odd?" He looked at the animal more closely. "Okay, I promise you this..." The intelligence in its bright black eyes made him curious. "Sight unseen, but I will be gentle with who ever you are protecting. If I am not...I will free you to challenge me as you see fitting, since you clearly won't be tamable if I treat your friend badly." The cat's black tipped tail thumped once in wariness. "You won't get a better offer. I am trying to be friendly here." The cat snorted in disgust and moved out of his way. He took only one step closer wondering what else they had given him. The fact that it lay on his bed docilely did not mean it was submissive or not a danger in itself. Avron had once been a gift from Petr, and he had nearly taken his head off the night he had been delivered. It was a fond memory. He smiled, but stayed where he was trying to see past the gauze and candles. He decided that whatever it was, it must have golden skin for it blended with his sheets. It must also be dressed in fine creamy white linen unless that was the creature's hair draped over it so lavishly. Then, he caught the gleam of dark black eyes watching him. "Ah, there you are. I thought you might be awake. The last time I made the mistake of simply pulling back the drapes to see what I had been sent, it tried to kill me. Are you going to try to kill me?" "What happened to the other that tried, my lord?" The voice was soft and sweet. Youthful and steady, only a touch afraid, he thought in pleasure. "Mayhap, I will not like the consequences," it stated coolly. He grinned lowering his head and raising one hand to his mouth to hide some of his amusement. He didn't wish to insult it. "It became my most treasured possession," he whispered as if he were conveying a secret. The cat growled irritably at him. "Do you believe me?" "Does it matter what I think? What do you intend to do with me, my lord?" He really couldn't tell the gender. Was it a young boy to be Avron's friend, or an older girl that would fight him tooth and nail for her virtue? "I haven't decided yet. I would have to see what I have been given." "Can you not see from there? Does the lord of this place have the eyesight of an old man? Surely not," the creature breathed with a smile. "Yes, well," he breathed dismissively, "that is why I have men to fight for me." The cat growled knowing just by looking at him that he lied. Ben'hamin had never been compared to an old man. He was a Pand'werain War Chief and the leader of his race of terrifying clans. His rich skin was stretched taunt over smooth muscles shiny in the candlelight with the oil that was habitually applied after each and every bath and gleaming with the sunlight he frequently bared his skin to as he practiced with his swords. Dark black hair was held back by only a thin brown band of leather from his face and his own black eyes. Braids of golden hair hung back to his waist among the black. A bright tattoo laced over one arm in the shape of a large lion raised on its back feet with wide wings spread behind it. The soft white linen of his pants brushed his leg, the only warning that something in the room had moved. Then, he caught the white cat that bore down on him fangs aimed at his throat in silence! He was overturned to the floor by the strength of the attack, but when he rolled to a crouch the cat's own throat was clutched in his powerful hand strangling the raging beast until its eyes bulged in terror. A sound from the bed caused his grip to lessen. "Will you have me spare your friend?" "Please, he meant well," the one on the bed whispered. Ben'hamin studied the suddenly passive animal darkly. "You said yourself your last gift attacked you." "So I did," the powerful war chieftain sighed. "I was hoping for a challenge. I didn't expect to have to tame two tonight. For the first time, Ben'hamin noticed the chains the cat wore were tied wrist-to-wrist. It wasn't the usual way to chain a captive animal. "Did Derix chain you, or your previous captors?" "I have no idea who brought us to this room." Ben'hamin looked up at the creature in his bed noting that it had not moved a single inch in all of this time. "Previous, my lord...Your man did not think to remove them, or replace them with his own. He did pad Ushas claws, though..." "Did he? I am grateful. Dangerous little beast, isn't he?" With his free hand he ran a hand over the cat's fur rhythmically. He curled the cats back along his body holding him perfectly by the throat alone as he made the animal very aware of who was bigger and stronger. It trembled against him growing afraid and still. "You are shape-shifters, the both of you. Ushas, is he a friend or a relative?" The animal made a sound of dismay. No one answered his question. "Very well...Ushas will be left out of tonight's entertainment." He hauled the animal away to a loop set in the stone floor and snapped a lock into the wrist chains to anchor it together. The cat lay there defeated and looked up at him pleading with him to let them go in silence. "I like wild things," he whispered to them softly, "but never would I release it unless I knew it would survive on its own. The two of you are too young, yet I will consider allowing you your freedom...in time. Not now, or soon, and not if you piss me off," he warned them both staring down at that cat firmly. The young male lowered his eyes. Ben'hamin walked toward the bed stopping as he did before just shy of reach from anything on it. "I will ask you again. Do you intend to kill me?" "If Ushas cannot, I cannot, my lord," came the reply. Still, it was soft-spoken and as gentle as a lamb. He didn't believe a word of it. The creature had yet to rise up from where it lay looking so docile and sweet, small enough to lay below the pillows and not manage to reach the foot of the bed. "What is your name, pet?" "Madhya, my lord...from Car'haven," was his answer. "I have never heard of it." A hand drew the gauze back carefully near the youth's feet to see more clearly. It was definitely white linen and it looked like a dress. He studied the long, golden hair that blended so well with his sheets that it couldn't be seen past the barrier of flimsy gauze. The eyes were brown, not the black that he had thought, wide and shiny with a trace of fear and tears. "Madhya, do you have any idea where you are?" "Locked in the chamber of a very terrifying male who takes children as slaves," it stated. Ben'hamin laughed softly as he studied tiny golden feet with black painted nails. "Now, pet, you were already taken as slaves. I did no such thing. As a gift from one of my men, your place here is valued much more highly to me than a mere slave. I do not keep slaves. I have few treasures, though." "Is that what you call them? They are retained without the leave to go. Hence, the term 'slave' applies to them, does it not?" "I will not have this discussion tonight. You are mine until the morning and that is because you were a gift. If you then wish to leave, it will be discussed, but as I have mentioned...I will not release you to simply die or be retaken into slavery. If that means I have to keep you against your will, so be it. You have one choice, however..." "What is that, my lord?" "I believe it is one you have already answered as you lay in my bed and not Ushas." There was silence. Those dark eyes glittered up at him. "Could you not simply sleep and pretend that you had enjoyed your gift, my lord?" "No, for you see...We are shape-shifters also. They would smell the lie." The chains across the room rattled. He backed up a step to turn and look, releasing the gauze as he did to warn him if the other attacked. A boy lay there, bared to the flesh and as pale as a ghost. His black eyes matched the black spots in his white hair. "My lord, please... leave her and take me." He was of a mind to take him up on the offer. The boy was exquisite! Yet he kept his tongue waiting to see if the girl would counter his request. "No, Ushas! You would be ruined! I will allow it," she whispered as Ben'hamin smiled wickedly. It was done. They had both offered to be the one to save the other...and succeeded in condemning them both; it was their law. Now even though he had excluded Ushas from tonight, and thereby saved the boy's reputation, he would be allowed to have him later. When before, he would have gone free the second the sun rose to its height, he mused in satisfaction. No need to explain their mistake just yet; they would learn soon enough. Ben'hamin turned back to the bed without haste. The two children were completely his now, by their own admission, and he had plenty of time to savor it. "So Madhya, you will lay there without trying to stop me. Is this what you are offering, because I can rescind my offer to let Ushas stay over there all alone," Ben'hamin asked quietly. "Or you must give me your word of honor you will not fight me tonight?" "No, Madhya! Don't do it! I will not let you do this," Ushas begged. "Too late," Ben'hamin stated bluntly, "too late for both of you." He pulled back the gauze and the girl rose up clutching her torn dress over her breasts. It was gaping to her stomach and there were scratches like claw marks down the center of her stomach from where it had been shredded away from her flesh. He frowned at it. There were no healers in his city. This was a warrior race; they had no need of superficial healing, but the girl's wounds disturbed him. He did not want to see them scar her skin. "Who marked you, pet? The men who stole you from your home..." She nodded. "Did they also hurt you in other places? You can tell me; I will see for myself shortly." She shook her head looking far too afraid to be telling him the complete truth. "Take that gown off, my pet. I will get you a brand new one, much prettier. We can throw that one away unless you wish for it to be repaired," he offered generously. "It may be the only thing you have left of your home." She hesitated stirring him more than he would admit with her sweet shyness. "Answer me one more thing, pet. How old are you and the boy?" "I am nineteen, and Ushas is seventeen," she whispered sadly. She was so tiny he almost couldn't believe it. "She was to be married! That is her wedding dress!" He looked back at Ushas in shock. That was all it took, deep furrows were torn down his back as the girl pitched herself on him digging deep. His breath hissed inwards in pain! "Oh, Gods," he growled as he turned and snatched up her chained wrists in his own. "Never bleed a Warlord unless you wish to die! Is that what you want?" He was holding her tight enough to bruise and he shook her in his grasp. "Is it," he snapped. "No," she finally sighed. He let her go after he finished ripping the gown down its seams in retaliation. She made a soft protest. "This will be burned for your insolence! Anything else," Ben'hamin snarled. He strode to the door and pitched it outside irritably. There he stood so angry he wasn't certain he should stay in the room. They were his. He should go to Avron until his temper cooled. He took several deep breaths laying his head on the partially open door with his eyes closed. Patience is a virtue. How many times had he admonished his men for this very thing? No, Derix would tease him in the morning about his gift. If anyone knew he had fled, they would all speculate about the reason. He sighed. "I should just kill you and keep Ushas for that," he stated sullenly. "He would make Avron a good friend and perhaps, eventually, learn to like it here." "Never," the boy growled desperately, "not if you kill her!" Ben'hamin groaned silently at his pleas. Obviously they were close. "Please, my lord, forgive her and take me. You said one of us, one night, and it was over!" "Did I? I am afraid that is no longer an option. You are both mine, until I release you. Not just for tonight, but for as long as I want." The boy moaned in despair. "Please, my lord, don't do this to us," he whispered. Ben'hamin turned slowly around letting the door shut and lock behind him. "What have I done? By our laws, you have done this to yourself. So tell me, Ushas, what have I done?" The boy stared at him solemnly. Then, he turned away. "Don't make me watch," he requested softly with tears in his eyes. "Was she to marry you when she was stolen, Ushas?" That was the only thing he would forgive. If she was his mate, he would understand everything. The boy's face pinched. "No, my lord...She was to marry someone else," he hissed just before his tears fell. "Then, you can stay where I put you." The tiny creature flickered with magic as he turned back into the cat he had first been to curl up miserably over his chained wrists. He looked so broken that Ben'hamin could not resist comforting him. He went to the cat kneeling to pet his fur as gently as he could. "I made you one promise I intend to keep, Ushas. I will be gentle with her, even if she is not gentle to me." The cat closed its eyes trying to ignore him. "I will gentle with you, as well, I promise." The animal shivered in his arms as he held and stroked it rubbing his face into the exquisitely soft fur with a pleased sigh. "Avron will be jealous of you, I fear. You are so beautiful." The cat's breathing escalated in fear and he knew he should leave Ushas alone. He was afraid, angry and hurting. The boy would not welcome his attention. He stood and went back to the bed. He let his white linen pants fall revealing a short white loincloth of the same material that had kept the pants from being entirely see-through. This time when he pulled the gauze back he knelt on the silk sheets, his brown skin offset by the gold. Ben'hamin Ch. 01 The girl was lying where she had begun, unresisting as she simply lay there in fear, watching him and knowing she was helpless. "Hush; pet...it is not so bad. You would have had much worse if Derix had not found you. I daresay you would have had worse if Derix had decided to keep you for himself. I imagine the only reason you are here at all is he knew I would want the boy. He hates to break up a set." Her eyes widened in shock. She glanced at Ushas and back to him suddenly uncertain. "My lord, I lied to you. Those men wanted me left virginal, but they did do other things. They said it would not affect my price. If this is what you want," she said frowning as she uncurled to let him finally view her body in full, "I would not mind so much." "Wouldn't you," he asked in mind amusement. She was far prettier than he had thought. It also tightened his loins to think that if she had been taken, so had Ushas. They were both impure. They had tasted rape in all of its bitterness. They would know that what he offered was a far most pleasant trade, but they were foreigners. They would not know it was their law to be offered up to anyone who saved their lives, yet most races held the same practice. "Come to me, Madhya. Show me that you would not mind," Ben'hamin whispered. "My lord, I cannot. I know little about the ways of men. If you want me, you must take what you wish or tell me of it." Her words made him close his eyes and draw in a deep breath to combat the sharp stab of desire that swept him. "Come, Madhya," he growled huskily, "I will tell you what to do." Hesitantly, she came. Her breasts were overly large for her tiny waist and size, but her hips made up for it swelling out almost as far as the top. The golden locks hung in wavy abandon to curl beyond her hips and down to her lower thighs. He wondered if it tickled or is she even noticed the familiar feel of it anymore. Ben'hamin held very still. "Touch me, Madhya. Anywhere you like, pet." He reached out and drew her hand to his chest. Since they were joined, both of them came. There was a little over a foot of chain between wrists. She did not do what other shy virgins did. No, this curious creature moved her hands down watching his face as she went. His eyes lowered watching her but hiding his expression. Her hands went down to the linen cloth where he was already blatantly exposed to her eyes. The cloth was still in place but had never done a thing to hide a fully aroused male, much less him. She wrapped one hand over his hot skin and it felt cool to be in her hand. Her palm was in no way as warm as his heated flesh. It would be like having an ice maiden, Ben'hamin thought in jest to his self with a tiny smile from the thought. "You are much larger than the others. I would almost think it would hurt less if you soiled my reputation, my lord." "That is probably true, Madhya, but you have already offered. Once it is offered, it is free to be taken...whenever, wherever, why ever...no longer matters. If you are willing to give it for one reason, it is our way to take it for whatever reason we want," he explained. "Never offer yourself to another of my men; I do not share easily. They will try to trick you into offering things," he told her caressing her cheek. "Keep your silence." He leaned down to lick at one soft nipple feeling the satiny texture beneath his rough tongue. She let him go, but that was okay. She was kneeling before him and she had come to him of her own free will in their way. He used one long arm to coil around her back keeping her in place as sucked in a larger bite teasing the peak into a tight point with his teeth and suction and rough tongue. Her knees would have given out if he had not held her tight. She slumped against his arm falling back to expose the graceful line of her throat. A teeny tiny sound escaped her parted lips. From somewhere down the hall, music began to boil with a hot rhythm. Ben'hamin let her go with his mouth to listen; laughing as he realized his warlords had planned an entertainment of their own tonight. "Be grateful the two of you were not left in my hall this night," Ben'hamin whispered feeling her shiver as he went back to her breast. His free hand pulled on her thigh until she spread her legs wider for him. Someone had nearly shaved her bare leaving only the smallest patch of hair to cover the crease between her legs. It was gone from all the places that counted and his finger rubbed over her like a breath of wind until she made a sound of protest. He could tell her nipples were highly sensitive. The barest tug sent a shiver of reaction down her entire body. He could feel muscles in her back making a tight indent of her spine as she moved against him. He could even feel her cloud of hair whispering over his arm, but it was the heavy mounds Ben'hamin held against his lips that fascinated him the most. She should not be so well-endowed with such a tiny form, yet she was. His hand came up from stroking her to cup the one he didn't nibble on. Her cry made his dick twitch in a painful spasm of desire. Ben'hamin brushed his lower body closer until he could feel a creamy golden thigh pressed firmly to his erection. He ground into it to rub at the ache. "Oh, gods, you taste like sunlight and honey," he whispered in fascination. Her skin was beginning to warm, but she shivered when his breath blew over her skin breaking out in chilled goose-flesh. "Are you truly cold, pet?" She nodded. "Just a moment," he said as he backed away to stand. Ben'hamin shifted the cloth to semi-conceal him as he went to the bank of arrayed candles. He lit several in each row from a single taper before moving down to repeat the gesture. The candles were set in six rows the one behind slightly raised from the one before it. There were far more than anyone needed to light the room because they also were his most common form of heating it, too. There was a fireplace, but it was only used in the dead of winter to keep others that shared his bed from sickening. It always left him in a heavy sweat. His breed was bred in the coldest mountains. This warm plain was mild compared to his homelands. When nearly half of the candles were lit and warming the air, Ben'hamin moved to a medium-sized chest and drew out a black necklace of precious stones set short enough to almost be a collar. There was a tiny metal loop attached to where it clasped in back to serve as that very purpose unseen by the wearer's hair. The rectangular stones were flat on one side and rounded on the other to fit against the wearer's skin properly. There were longer, smaller stones that dropped from it at the lowest point. Satisfied that it would do, he brought it to the bed. "Lift your hair. I wish you to wear this for me." The cold made her draw in her breath tightening the mounds of her breasts deliciously as he snapped it closed at the back of her neck. Ben'hamin did not explain that it was functional as well as pretty. The necklace would not break if pulled on no matter the force applied to it. It looked good on her; too delicate for the boy. Both hands filled with her ample bust as he nibbled at the edge of the stones teasing her and him by prolonging the foreplay. Ben'hamin wanted her to want him. He wanted her so willing to fuck him that she would agree to anything he demanded of her. And she would, without hesitation, he knew. His hands receded to her back as his mouth devoured her causing her body to arch provocatively. He knew it would heighten her arousal, which is why he did it. Such simple things, few people ever took advantage of them...The bow of the spine, the curve of the neck, a brush over the back or knee, buttocks or thighs, such tiny simple pleasures that heightened the response of any lover. One arm slid down to tug at her tense hip. She made a sound for him and he sighed in response. He heard an echoing sound of irritated displeasure growled from across the room. His own deep-throated, cat baritone growled in warning to the young male. Then, Ben'hamin reached around to the front and beneath her. He cupped the silken mound firmly lifting against her as he bit into her skin. One finger parted from the rest to trace along her solidly damp nether regions in satisfaction. He rubbed at it spreading it over her without breaching the soft lips. "That's a girl, pet. Mew for me," he requested. Ben'hamin nipped her breast as he began to make his way lower down her chest. She sighed looking at him in wide-eyed amazement until his grin turned wicked as he nipped her stomach in a leisurely pace. Ben'hamin slid down onto the bed until his chest was flush with it pushing up on only his hands letting his back bend sharply as he angled up to lick at the delicious cream she had waiting for him. She gasped and shivered, but she did not move. It pleased him that she stayed where he had placed her so docilely. Casually, he lapped at the outside cleaning up the mess he had just made. She tasted fresh and as pure as raindrops on his tongue beckoning him to delve deeper to partake of the drink he thirsted after. "Hmm...You taste of the cool mountain springs where we summered as children," he stated to her feeling her body relax against him as he spoke. Ben'hamin licked deeper past the exterior folds and she clasped his thick mane in both hands. It felt so good he began to purr as he licked up every slick fold until it was suddenly wet again only moments later as her body responded to him. It was entirely unnecessary, yet he enjoyed giving her pleasure. Her cries filling the room around them drowning out the flicker and sputter of the candles, even some of the music. He brought her to the edge and left her there as he wiped his face on the sheets and slid off of the bed quickly. She closed her eyes shivering, her body wanting to go over the edge but not quite able just yet to manage it alone. Still, she didn't move to do it herself. Ben'hamin was more than pleased by her conduct. "My lord, is it your wish to torture me," she asked cautiously. He chuckled as he rounded the bed slowly to get behind her. She did not turn to watch him. "Why do you feel it is torture, pet? I would never harm one of my treasures in such a way," he assured her voice roughed with need and softened by amused approval. She swallowed whatever reply she started to make. "Do you want me to return to you, pet?" Ben'hamin was already drawing back the hanging curtain. She shivered when he knelt behind her drawing her hair up and to the side over one shoulder. She broke out in chills again. "Still cold, Madhya? Shall I light more candles for you?" He was already starting to feel the heat against his warm skin. "No, my lord," she whispered shyly. "It will grow warmer, and I fear you would burst into flames if you warm any more than you are now." Ben'hamin's laughter erupted clear and sweet carrying down the halls to his men certainly for a great cheer went up behind it. Madhya flushed in embarrassment. Ben'hamin Ch. 02 "Hush, sweet Madhya, or this will take all night." He brushed her neck in a gentle kiss that made her lower her head to give him room. Willing, he thought closing his eyes as a wicked grin graced his lips. "Close your legs just a bit for me, pet," he growled up against her ear showing her with his hands how he wanted her to kneel. "That's right," he whispered hotly against her ear and she shivered along his skin prettily for him. "Gods, I bet those half-wits didn't enjoy this half as much as I am." She tensed against him and he could have cursed himself for a fool to have reminded her at such an inopportune moment. "Don't think of them," he ordered as his hands began kneading her breasts rolling the nipples between his middle fingers and the one closest to his pinkie. Ben'hamin gradually applied more pressure or pulled out against them further until she cried out for him forgetting her attackers. As he cuddled into the skin of her back warming her by his mere presence, he rubbed his dick beneath her down the dry crease. He was much taller than she was and what he wanted was not going to be found at this angle. "Lean forward; press your hands into the mattress, pet." As she fell forward, his erection slid over wet creases and the nub of nerves that had settled into a dull tight throb again. "Right there, pet. Don't move, Madhya, or I will slip and take your virtue." The cat snarled in anger at his soft teasing. Madhya shuddered in fear and held perfectly still as he worked his dick into a slick wetness on all sides also managing to work that bud into a frenzy of need against the ridge of flesh at the head of his dick. Several times, she barely caught herself from rolling her hips and letting him plunge into the aching depths he passed with every movement of his muscular hips. She was breathing hard wanting him so badly she could barely keep her lips from begging him to finish it. It was not enough. "Do you want me to take you here, Madhya?" His thumb brushed over her cheek and along the crease of her ass in invitation. He stilled his hips to carefully enter the mouth of her heated center until she cried out. It was far from hitting the barrier that blocked his entrance. "Or here?" She shuddered in conflicted thought hesitating in her answer until he drew out and back inside as before. She cried out trembling against him. "Say it, Madhya...Where do you want me?" "The back...please, Gods, the back," she cried. He met her eyes and there was no fear in them. "I want you there, where your thumb is..." Ben'hamin nodded approving of her choice of wording as he carefully withdrew from her. A rush of hot liquid followed him out draining down him until even the Great War Chief shivered in pleasure from it. "Good answer, Madhya," he stated nibbling her spine in reward. "One of only two I would have accepted from you." If she had not stated clearly that she wanted him, he would have been angry and punished her for the lapse, but she did it freely and for that she would be well rewarded by him. Steadying her with the palm of one hand against her supple back, he held the base of his dick in his hand and slowly, oh-so-carefully fed it into the open hole of her ass. She fell to her elbows crying out sharply barely keeping from shoving down over him as he went so slowly. When his thighs connected with her legs, he let go to flex his hips up further, tighter, and deeper until he was as far as he could go inside of the puckered opening. It squeezed him unbearably tight and he found his breathing had turned erratic shuddering out of his chest only to be sucked back in quickly. "Oh, Gods, you are tight, Madhya, too tight," he gasped. He curled into her with his eyes pressed shut hard enough to see stars as he resolved to keep his control. He groaned and it turned into a harsh feline growl of possession as his black eyes flashed gold in response to his heightened senses. Ban'hamin knew if anyone had been looking his eyes were that of a golden cat with black flecks mixed liberally within them. His teeth also grew without his consent until he was clamping his teeth down on the metal ring to keep from marking her sweet succulent skin with his fangs. One shift of her wide hips and he growled low and deadly. It was a warning; it was a claiming sound; it was a dominating growl of complete ownership. She relaxed in his grasp and he moved. She gasped followed by a scream as he plunged back in as deep and as hard as he could grind his hips. He paused to shiver in unprepared pleasure, but his animal side had been unleashed and it cared nothing for the control of the man. His voice rose in one long unending bout of growls and snarls as he fucked her as hard as he could possibly manage. Her cries spurred him faster and deeper; even though, he had been certain only seconds before that such a thing was impossible. She crashed over the edge with a strength and suddenness that forced his seed from his body in a burst of heat that he could almost feel entering her and certainly felt himself slide in on the second and third strokes. He released the collar to lick her shoulder almost regretting that he had not marked her as his own in the heat of passion. Ben'hamin collapsed on top of Madhya body coiled tightly even after the climax. His breathing was shallow, but long and forceful heaves of air. Already he was growing hard as his breathing and hers nudged him against her opening. He swallowed and groaned. It might have been shorter than he had preferred; however, there was no denying it had been explosive. "Sweet kitten, I think my animal nature approves of my choice this once," he teased. Her face flamed as he muscled her over onto her back without much moving. "How do you feel?" "Sore and...more sore," she said moving beneath him uncomfortably. "Not satisfied," he rumbled in complaint. "Well, I think I can solve that." He placed his limp member rather firmly into her front opening. She stiffened expelling him. He replaced it defiantly. This time it was harder and stayed where he had put it. "No, please, my lord...I beg you," she whimpered. He leaned very close to her ear and nipped at it playfully, "Too late, much too late," he whispered. "You are already mine for the taking." He was growing and he felt the barrier constrict against the head of his dick as he moved gently in her. She seemed to be frozen between sheer terror, anger, and pleasure as his movements rocked him against the swollen knot of nerves. "You really should have said 'Oh, my...my lord, that was great!' or something along those lines. Now my pride is pricked." "Something is pricked, but I doubt it is...well, maybe it is your pride," she gasped in a little squeal of pain as the barrier stretched against him painful to both of them, but delicious too. "Hmm...hush, kitten," he teased gently, "If this is anything like the last time, you will be screaming my name before you are finished!" She stiffened. "Not likely," she snapped waspishly without thinking first. "Oh, you little minx," he laughed pulling back as he grew to full size at her goading. "I know you did not just say that!" Her eyes widened in shocked realization as his hips speared forward tearing deep and hot. Beginning a swift stroking that seared every inch of her inner walls, he used his hands to lift one leg even to his abdomen persuading the other to curl along his leg. His muscled thighs flexed and bunched beneath her skin and she clawed at him! Ben'hamin heard the loud male protest of a cat and his animal nature responded as it would to the challenge of any feline rival. He growled viciously in warning and his eyes flashed gold with power! "Ben'hamin, say it! Say it," he snarled. The other male snarled and spit in fury. Ben'hamin's powerful magic rose in his blood stream changing his eyes, teeth and much of his muscle mass. He grew even more golden as his skin shimmered with silken strands of hair. Ben'hamin's hands burst into longer clawed versions that tried to mimic both of his forms simultaneously. He snarled irritably as enormous wings shot out of his back and his face changed into a beastly parody of a lion-like creature. That was not all that changed. When his body was in this form, his dick was much longer reaching all of the way to the end of her lithe young channel to strike it hard with every stroke. She bucked beneath him screaming mindlessly, not all of it in pain, but the pain was there in her sweet cries growing with every strike. His long canines closed over her throat growling threateningly as he drove into her with the force at his disposal moving flesh as far as it could be moved; bruising it to drive deeper to the very bones of her! "Ben'hamin!" The cat creature stilled eyes flashing as it glanced down at her. The growl gradually faded. Still, he did not move watching her closely. After what felt like an eternity of watching each other, she moved beneath him restlessly. He swallowed teeth still gripping her throat as he waited. She moved and he closed his eyes. She moved ever more restlessly causing her slick clutching flesh to slip over him like hot candy. He started to purr, but he still didn't move as she worked herself onto and off of him beneath his hindering weight. When she could no longer satisfy herself with the slow movements, she growled upset with him. "Ben'hamin, move!" His purring grew loud and sweet in her ear as he let go of her throat to curl her legs over his upper waist. Ben'hamin carefully worked them into a fast rhythm that didn't hurt her, or leave her unsatisfied with his performance. He showed her how fast a cat man could move in a very precise, controlled rhythm. She was screaming again in minutes, but it had nothing to do with being painfully overwhelmed, so much as the swift escalation of her body into a shattering orgasm. This time, he rode through it, past it driving her higher and higher without hesitation, or growing the least bit tired! "Oh, Gods, Ben...please!" He shuddered and his great, golden cat eyes looked down at her approvingly. It did nothing to stop him as he continued to drive her higher gratifying himself by watching the way she writhed and the tension in that cute kittenish face. "Ben! Ben! Oh, Gods, Ben," she screamed as wave after wave of intense pleasure cut her to the depths of her soul. Only then, did he allow himself to once more drive deep enough to hit the bones, deep enough to beat himself against a solid wall, deep enough to shatter into a release so powerful his beast roared to the heavens in a voice that held nothing of the man and everything of the mighty king he was...a pand'werain lion king! The hall had grown silent hours ago. The door to the master's secondary bedchamber with an attached bath swung open silently. Avron slipped out of his room, and down the darkened hallway with a soundless tread of bare feet. He saw the torn dress and glanced at the sealed door curiously. Avron knew not to approach the door when his master had bid him to bed. He wanted desperately to go to his lord Ben'hamin to curl at his side and sleep, but it was forbidden. Despite the warnings, he was tempted to intrude to see what gift Derix had brought. Avron was in no mood to be found unfavorable; his cherished war chief might decide to replace him more permanently than one mandated night. So, he crept noiselessly into the hall to view the chaotic disarray left behind by the warlords' festivities. The remains of the morning's prepared food, mostly meat, littered the long room. Broken crockery, from their beer no doubt, lay empty and strewn about, as well. The cook would be irrationally displeased by the excessive waste after slaving so long to make the meal perfect for the ungrateful beasts. Avron began to pick up anything left out in the open. It was already spoiled, but as open as these great stone houses were, it would attract undesirable creatures into the house. Avron made no attempt to touch the broken jugs. One sound would wake the slumbering giants and the mere idea sent his sharp eyes looking to see if all were asleep! Drunken warlords were even more unpredictable than normal ones and he had no wish to see that particular sight ever again. They had been drunk the night he was taken from the slavers. Only Petr and Derix had stopped the senselessness of that one night. Even grateful to the dark warrior who had led him away to a form of freedom and blissful happiness, Avron refused to look directly at the man, Petr. Of all of the warlords, he was the one he avoided the most. He silently cleaned what he could and made his rounds one last time as close to the men as he dared beginning farthest from Petr. This was the real reason he dared the wrath of the men. He needed to know how their lovers fared! Avron crept in closer studying the man before him. Dur'dan, chief of the Great Southern Tribe that ruled the very mountains Ben'hamin had been born from. Ben'hamin often remarked that his eyes reminded him of the snow in the mountains. He was the oldest of the warlords, cradling a delicate wife in his arms covered by his cloak to conceal her beauty from everyone in the room. At his back slept a young boy. The lad looked unharmed and slept peacefully amidst the long, thick blonde mane of his chieftain. There was a look of the woman to his face. Was the boy his son? Had he brought his heir to see the infamous Pand'werain War Chief? Avron moved to the next sleeping giant far more carefully. His name was Favr'ish, chief of the Lesser Southern Tribe that ruled the dense trees of the Forest Ish'tam. His eyes were the color of those trees, a bright and angry green filled with specks of brown and gray. He was the most ambitious of the warlords, coveting more than he was able to take without angering this council and his king. He held a sexy siren with her dainty white wrists locked in metal chains. Obviously a recent acquisition, she had bruises on one cheek and around her upper arms. This girl was likely stolen from slavers, if she was one of those rescued from the same skirmish as Ben'hamin's new gift. Her hair was to her knees and as scarlet as a hot flame over Favr'ish's dark bronzed hide and hair. She did not sleep easy, but she also did not twitch with every breath in terror. Then there was Vir'dasar, the chief of the Far Eastern Tribe that ruled over the Sea of Rashid. Like the sea his eyes were a sparkling blue and his mane a perfect white of the sea foam at high tide. His skin was the perfect pale of an angel, and by far he was the loveliest of the warlords! Still, he was strong enough to win his place on this council by deeds alone. If he was an angel, he was a perilous warrior prince of one. His intelligence alone made him dangerous. Medr'ainder was the next in line, the chief of the Western borderland Tribes that ruled the edge-land plains. The many tribes had been broken long ago by feuding and unified once more under his brutal embrace. Though he was the cruelest and most vicious warlord, he was third in line for the most powerful. That alone allowed most people to sleep better at night. He was the darkest of the clan chiefs with his knee-length, black mane and dark copper-colored skin. Medr'ainder's eyes were that of a shiny penny, but his enemies swore they would glow red at night by the light of the fires he started. He ruled with an iron fist! As expected, the boy in his grasp shivered even his sleep. Avron laid a gentle hand on this boy's shoulder. He knew very well what it felt like to be taken by Medr, without any hope of being rescued. Thankfully, Avron had been saved despite all evidence that he would not ever be happy again. He wished to save this boy, too. Honey wheat hair on the youth's head had been shorn to the height of his ears. It was an embarrassment to the poor darling who had likely done nothing to deserve it. Oak toned skin ran over thin arms and legs, and the boy's ribs showed clearly down the length of his spine. Was Medr starving him, or had slavers? The boy looked like he could eat a half-grown child and still not be the size he should be after! It was a disgrace for any warlord chieftain to treat their subjects in such a way! Avron made a mental note to check whether or not the child ate later on when he brought all of them some food. Quarrel of the Northern Loeb Tribe and Sru'garit of the Northern Surit Tribe were cousins, raised together in much the same fashion as Ben'hamin and Darix. They feuded about everything and swore they could not stand one another, yet teamed up in battle the second they were threatened. The two were lesser lords, the two weakest here tonight, in fact. That did not mean they were less deadly. These two Pand'werain were designed for stealth and could charm a snake to sleep with their heady words. They were rarely trusted by anyone who knew them, but not many did. These lords brought a pair of twin females: neither of the two looked ill content to be their lords' chosen ones. In fact, they looked quite satisfied with their place at these powerful, wealthy men's sides. He barely glanced at the two cream color blondes as he studied the warlords and glanced back at Medr's boy in concern. Derix played with his cherished pet, Lil'mihr as he watched Avron circle the room. He had yellowish-brown skin, a reddened shade of blonde-brown hair liberally dappled with darker black strands, and peaceful red-brown eyes. Derix always had a ready smile and watchful eyes. He usually chose shadowed corners to lurk in when Ben'hamin was not available. He was the strongest warlord present, defeated only by his War Chief and best friend since early childhood, Ben'hamin himself. Derix ruled over a tiny island and a small isolated clan that had needed direction, but little in the way of protection. He didn't mind as he rarely strayed from Ben'hamin's side. Ben'hamin was the only warlord present who had yet to claim a territory of his own. Some people thought it was silly since he ruled them all so easily. Others imagined he had designs on going across the oceans to challenge other kings and choose his people from foreign lands. Derix didn't care. He would follow his leader into certain death with a roar on his lips, blood on his claws, and death in his eyes...imagining triumph, because they had yet to be defeated...especially when they were together. Lil'mihr moved in her sleep causing him to look down at her fondly. Her hair was dirty-looking shades of brown-white and gray-white. The pale skin cast a light bluish tinge in the moonlight, a light greenish one now in the yellow light of the torches. Mihr was a Mermaid who lived near the shores of his island. Derix had caught her sunning her lovely skin on the long, flat rocks beneath this very stronghold. Her eyes were as yellow as the stones wet reflection of sunlight. He didn't love her, yet he was reluctant to give her up. It nearly drove him crazy to be near her; she was a fish! She made him hunger for much more than simple sex! Yet, he tried desperately to not harm her. It would be so easy to just eat her up during sex one day and keep right on eating. "Mihr," he called sliding back until she fell gently to her backside beneath his hovering form. Avron stilled hearing his voice. The girl slept soundly. He huffed a little in amusement. Then, he rolled to his feet to stalk the young boy watching him warily. "Avron, pet...it is dangerous to be up so late. One of our warlords might mistake you for his own in the blur of beer they were in earlier," he teased. The boy flushed as he moved more carefully away from the male he was near. Derix noticed he paid close attention to the warrior at his feet, only moving his gaze to Derix when he was out of the creature's immediate reach. Ben'hamin Ch. 02 "I was being careful, my lord Derix," the boy stated softly. "Now, pet...Is that any way to talk to me?" He touched the youth's chin tipping it up to let him see Derix's teasing grin. "You get so shy when the others come to visit." "Yes, my lord..." Avron mumbled the words keeping his eyes lowered from his inquisitive eyes. Derix's frown returned eyes filled with concern. "You are not upset about my gift, are you, precious?" Avron almost answered, but he hesitated. It was one of their rules to keep silent if you could not answer honestly. "The girl, my lord..." "My gift was a pair of kittens, Avron. Two...a matched set I rescued less than four miles from us. There is a girl, and there is a boy, too," he explained not wanting Avron to worry, but owing him the truth. "You will like him, pet. He is as white as snow and barely older than you," he stated with a teasing smile. "I will like him, my lord," he asked in concern still not raising his lovely eyes. "Is that why you gave him to my lord Ben'hamin?" "Avron," he said even more gently, "we give gifts, pet. It is what we do for each other. If we did not, he would not have you." "But he does have me," Avron hissed in distress. His eyes flashed up biting in sudden anger. "Why would you give him two more when he has one? Do you take others? No, just Lil'mihr," he stressed determined. "Why would you do such a thing?" Derix sighed. "Avron, you are the son of a noble clan chief. One of the Pand'werain Tribes," he pointed out sternly. "Orphaned and captured and rescued...but still one of us! You are old enough to train at the sword. Do you not wish to become a warlord?" He studied Avron as he did not answer. It seemed some of the anger had lessened. "Do you believe Ben'hamin will love you any less for learning? I am a warlord! Use your eyes, Avron...and your ears, it is what he wants! He is very attached to you, young man." "Are you jealous?" Avron was shocked to have spoken. He had not meant to say it! The question long on his mind had just slipped out and hung now in the air between them. Derix considered his answer carefully. "No, Avron," he whispered. "I do not believe I am. I still spend a great deal of time in his company. You have no clue how many times I am 'chastised'." Derix slid an arm around Avron's shoulders and hugged him up tight. "Besides, you are my friend, too. Are you not, pet?" Avron blushed. He lowered his eyes from Derix's unique face. The back in his hair and the black that circled his red-brown eyes gave him an exotic look that the other huge warlords did not possess. Derix had never slept with him. He had recognized him and helped to rescue him, but he had never tried for anything more than friendly caresses. "I hope you are too embarrassed to answer, Avron. I might very well be offended, otherwise," he stated wryly in resignation. "Avron, do you even like me?" The boy didn't answer. "You do not avoid me the way you do Petr." "I do not know what to think of you, my lord," Avron whispered admitting it guiltily. "You did not deny that you are avoiding Petr, pet." "I am sorry; I cannot..." "Avron, allow me to walk you back to your room." The arm on his shoulder guided him rather firmly away from the hall and any eavesdropping ears. "Petr is directly below me in the pride. If there is a reason you dislike him, I would be grateful if you kept me informed of it. Is that alright, precious? Can you tell me what the matter is?" "When you told me to leave with Petr, I went...I was grateful to you both. You stopped them, my lord." He twisted away from Derix looking a little pale as he entered the second master suite. Derix followed him pausing briefly in confusion. "You never speak of it," he stated softly. "Did something happen that I do not know about, Avron?" He sat comfortably upon Ben'hamin's bed seeming quite at home in his lord's bedroom. Derix patted the spot beside him. "Come, sit...I have never purposely harmed, or offended you, pet." "No, my lord...but you are Petr's friend." Derix's exotic black-lined eyes widened and fell hiding what ever emotion he felt. "Each of us must befriend and guard against the warlords closest to their own strength. Ben'hamin regularly puts me in my place. I must know all I can about Petr, so yes...I try to be his friend. What is it that I do not know, Avron?" The boy studied him uncertainly, wondering if he could trust him to hear what he wanted to say. Derix grit his teeth in utter frustration. "Why can't you tell me?" "I don't..." Avron backed up, scared and running for the door without even noticing he was doing it. It was cowardly! Pand'werains were not cowards. Derix came to his feet not threatening him in the slight lest way, but Avron frowned and moved back another step from him. "I never speak to you alone, pet. You never allow it and I have never pressed you to do so. Why do you not like me?" His red-brown eyes narrowed and the black lines on his face grew more pronounced as they widened growing red at the centers. He had stripes on his face and arms! Avron shivered knowing he was gorgeous before; why did he have to go and get even more delicious? "I like you, Derix," Avron rasped his throat closing in a husky growl. "Do you? You are running from me, pet." Derix moved forward and Avron held still for about three steps before he backed up again. "You never run from me. What has gotten you so spooked today?" Avron's frown got tenser. "Is it Petr? Did he hurt you, Avron? Did he mess with you the night he took you to Ben'hamin?" Avron ducked his head hiding in those tight brown curls that brushed lovingly over his face. Derix rushed him throwing him into a rock wall heavily hung in cloth and velvet. It cushioned the blow as he followed him with his own body pressing him daringly into the dark brown drapes. "Did he do this?" Avron bit back a scream trying hard to look brave even though his heart was pounding in his ears! "Please, let me go, Derix," he requested hating the tiny tremor in his voice. Derix growled low and threateningly deep in his throat yanking off the thin shirt barely draped over the boy's shoulders with a very wide neckline. It was sheer white linen and didn't hide his flesh anyway. Avron trembled in his grasp. "Did he do this?" "Derix, please, don't do this!" The tremor had grown to a higher form of panic now. Derix gripped the back of his neck painfully pulling him back to see the fierce anger blazing in his eyes. He twisted and ripped his pants enough that they fell away when he pitched him closer to the huge pool. Avron crouched like a good warrior, using only four fingers on the ground to steady his balance. Derix nodded approvingly as he walked closer, not coming all of the way across the room. "Derix, what are you doing?" Derix's anger cooled as he watched the sweet kid, crouched to hide his near nakedness more than from knowing it was the proper stance to defend himself. His instinctive reaction had been perfectly on the mark. "What do you think I am doing? You don't trust me, pet. You never have. What I don't understand is why you don't trust me? I have never given you a reason." "This is a reason! You are deadly and scary," he growled. "You are always scary!" "You are not afraid of Ben'hamin. He is far scarier than I am, pet." He lunged and caught Avron flipping him into the water behind him as he twisted him about and let go. The boy cried out, but it was cut short as he went under the water. Derix slid out of his own linen pants of black and strode into the pool in his own black loincloth. Avron came up for air and found Derix above him. He screamed, but it was cut short as he was shoved under again. Avron grabbed at his thighs and even in his panic stilled as he saw more stripes in his deeply tanned flesh. Derix brought him up. "Tell me! Did Petr touch you," he growled in him ear whispering like a sexy demon to his choice lover. Avron breathed loudly in the silence, but he did not answer. Derix pitched him into the side of the pool bending him forward over it and following him to growl at him. "Did he do this?" "You are hurting me, Derix," Avron whispered. "Am I, pet? You don't know the meaning of pain." A hand brushed down his spine so softly he almost missed it. It made him tense up in surprise. "I can be what you fear, Avron. I am a warrior and I can hurt you. You don't trust me. You think I am mean to you. I haven't done a thing to earn it! I can be a monster, Avron, but I am not," he hissed. Then, he moved away to sit on one of the many seats in the bathing pool. Avron fled the water and the room in haste. Derix cupped water to brush over his face letting him go. "You are so wrong, Ben," he whispered to the room. He had no idea that Avron had not run very far and could hear him. He sat there only around ten minutes letting the heat relax him before he got out and carefully dried himself. He was restless and it showed. Derix pulled on his linen pants and strode back down the hallways. Before he could go to Mihr, he saw Petr. Ben'hamin Ch. 03 "Petr," he sighed softly. The other warlord came up very close invading his personal space with a tinge of an arrogant smile. "Derix, you look in need of my attention." They were close enough to kiss, but warlords never openly displayed more than friendly brushes of flesh in public between each other. "In private, I don't want to discuss this out here," he stated coolly. Petr laughed wicked even to his ears. "Don't piss me off, Petr," he warned softly. "I won't, Derix. I know my place...beneath you, right?" His clever eyes were mischievous. They were tri-colored split from top to bottom with green centers, red and blue on the sides with the blue on the inside corners. His hair was a burnt yellow-orange falling straight down his back. His skin was pale, but not snow white like the little cat he had delivered to Ben. "Always," Derix growled but the tone had softened to a friendlier one. Petr chuckled at him and turned about to tread silently to his room. Derix followed him trying not to notice how the black leather clung to his ass in all of the right ways. "Why don't you just wear normal pants like the rest of us, you pervert?" "Because regular pants would not have gotten your attention or rated a comment," he explained amused. "Why were you staring at my ass, lord Derix?" He never even turned around as he laughed the words out to him. Derix shook his head at him in resignation knowing he had fallen straight into that one. Petr didn't close the door. He paused beside it like he would, but when Derix passed he did little more than lessen the width of the opening. "You look worked up. Do you need me, Derix? You know I am always happy to help...in any way that you need," he taunted as he moved closer brushing his hard body against Derix. "Gods, I love you when you show your stripes! You are so wickedly beautiful, my lord Derix." He trailed a hand along his skin. When he came back around toward his front, Derix grabbed his throat and lifted him up. His eyes grew wide, but not in fear. "Did you hurt Avron? After I specifically asked you not to do it," he snarled. "Why, Petr? Ben'hamin wants the boy to like us! I thought the three of us had a chance because we had never touched him! You have, haven't you? His brother wasn't enough?" "Gees, Derix, of course I did! We saved him; it was our right to take a night with him. All of us did," he hissed. "It is our way!" "I asked you to take him to Ben'hamin, not fuck his brains out!" "I did nothing wrong!" "You hurt him," Derix growled, "just like you hurt all of your lovers. You cold ass, after what they did to him, you honestly think you didn't do anything wrong? You just grabbed him up, tossed him around, and hurt him while you raped him! No questions, or explanations, or sympathy," he hissed angrily. "Gods, he is Ruhl'ark's son, you fool! I told you not to touch him!" "The old one...the king...Why didn't you tell me?" "I shouldn't have had to tell you. I thought I could trust you. Why did you lie to me, Petr? He fears you now. I should have guessed sooner. I suspected, but I knew when you showed up this time with Kir'sis in tow. He flinched! He fucking flinched when you walked in the door, Petr. What did you do to him?" "You know what I did to him, Derix. You have been in my bed too many times to hold any illusions on that score." "You will never touch him again!" "Of course, I am not stupid! He is under Ben'hamin's protection; it would be suicide. I would never touch him now! I wouldn't have before you told me who he is, but now I would have to be really, really stupid, and I am not, Derix. You know I am not!" "Tell that to the kid. Avron, step out here, please," he growled still holding Petr captive off of the floor. Petr looked over at Avron and paled in shock. "Oh, thank you. Now you are embarrassing me in front of a child," he snapped in irritation. "Don't think you are sleeping with me after this, Derix!" "I did not come to sleep with you, Petr. You have caused me enough trouble." He lowered him letting him go warily. "If I can't trust you to do what you say you will, then I cannot trust you with anything, my friend." Petr's face blanked in stunned disbelief. Derix turned to walk out of his room. "Derix, you can't mean that! I did not do anything against our laws," he repeated in certainty. "No, Petr...You did something wrong against our friendship, and in my eyes that is far worse." He never turned around as he touched Avron's shoulder and guided him into the hallway shutting Petr's door behind him softly. "I am sorry, Avron. I should not have left him in charge of you, but your brother was to be his. I thought I could stay to chastise the others and leave him in charge of taking you to Ben'hamin. He swore to me he would not harm you. I thought that meant he would leave you alone. My mistake, you were right to distrust me." Derix stopped at Ben'hamin's large bedroom and did not try to enter it again as he held it open for him. "This is your stop, kid. Do not worry about the present I gave to Ben. He likes you far more than those two. Trust me," he whispered with a tiny smile, "I have seen the gift I gave to him. He is much like me and I would not give you up for them." Avron touched his face and Derix held very still to allow it. "Thank you," the boy stated softly. "Would you like to come in? I am not tired and you are the only one awake except Petr." "You are still worried Petr will hurt you," he sighed. "Yes, I can stay with you for a bit, Avron." He came inside looking around almost sadly. "You did not finish your bath, my lord. Feel free to use the pool." Avron went to lie down on the bed with a good view of the bathing pool. Derix smiled at him as he casually stripped away layers of linen for the boy's eyes to feast upon. "I thought you didn't like me." "I never said that, my lord Derix. Ben'hamin thinks you are quite beautiful. He is right about that; you are." Derix settled into the water sitting comfortably facing the bed as the pool seats were designed to do. "You never finished your own bath, Avron. Why do you lay up there lording over me, when you could come down here with me?" "Lording, my lord," he asked. "I am merely the entertainment. See, I lie here for your pleasure. Does it not please you to see me spread across a bed?" "It would please me more if you would simply learn to be my friend, pet." He rubbed the water over his face making sure to get his hair completely soaked. "I would teach you the sword if you allowed it. I would teach you strength and courage and how to listen to your heart." He looked up and noticed that Avron was entirely engrossed with the spots of water trailing over his flesh. "You are not my diversion, Avron. I do not seek you simply to sleep with you like some whore for my pleasure. You never were that to me." "Yes, I am beginning to see that." Avron rolled to his back letting his head drop back off of the bed to look at him upside down. "Playful, pet," Derix asked slipping off of the seat to swim lazily in the deeper depth of the pool to work away excess energy. Avron watched avidly from his place. He finally rolled to his feet and began to undress to his own loincloth. Derix didn't notice as he continued to swim vigorously flexing miles of muscles with his efforts. The moment Avron touched the water to sit at the bathing seat, Derix knew it. He stopped and turned to watch him sit down. "My lord, you tempted me to join you," the boy stated with a mischievous smile. "How could anyone watch you swim in such loveliness and not be tempted to come closer to the very thing that fascinates them so?" Derix laughed shaking his head. "You are possessed of a poet's tongue, boy." Avron ducked his head turning scarlet from his own remarks. "Anyone looking at you would speak with eloquence, my lord...I did worry if I could trust you, but it was not lack of trust that has always made me so afraid to be alone with you." The boy's gentle eyes came up to trace all of the stripes still visible upon his skin. "You are like a dangerous tiger living among lions. Where do you get your stripes, my lord Derix?" "From my father who was of your tribe," Derix stated softly. "Why do you think Ben'hamin has such a curiosity for your people?" "I have no clue. You should scrub off more; you smell like sex." Derix came up to sit beside him with a smile on his lips. "Yes, Mihr...She is really kinda good if you can manage to not eat her long enough," he teased. Avron's eyes widened in amazement when he tried to consider Derix's comment objectively. "I couldn't do it. A cat only plays with his food," he stated dryly. "I don't know, pet...I tend to play with my lovers before I eat them, but I do not consider them food." Avron flushed. "Doesn't Ben'hamin ever play with you? I know for a fact he likes to play with his lovers more than most men around here." Derix grinned wickedly. "I have been busy lately with Mihr. I think I actually miss Ben'hamin." "I thought you said you got to see him all of the time." "I do, just not in his bed much lately. Maybe when the warlords leave, Ben will let you toy with his little cat. Then, I will have Ben all to myself for a night." Avron held his breath uncertainly. "What if I don't like him?" "You will, precious, he is a little wild, though. I think Ben'hamin will have a hard time taming him." "I think he is up to the task," Avron stated through clenched teeth. "He tamed me." Derix touched his chin and brought it up to look into his eyes worried by his tone. "You are jealous, precious. I can see it in those eyes like hatred burning you up. There is no point to it. Ben'hamin loves you. He loves me. He will probably come to care for them just as much. If you are cold to them it will create a wall with you on one side and them the other. Don't force Ben to have to choose between you, or he will throw all three of you out and come back to me." Avron's eyes glistened and he tried to pull away from his wise gaze. "Listen to me, I know Ben'hamin better than even his own parents! If you want to keep him, show no jealousy to him and learn the path you must follow as all Pand'werain before you have done throughout history." "I am too small to be warrior, Derix! My dad told me so! I was the runt of the litter, so to speak and he sold me himself to the slavers! My brother was where he hung all of his hope, not me. I am just good at being Ben'hamin's pet," he snarled. "You should not have given him your gift!" Avron stood up to go and Derix grabbed his arm firmly. "I did it for a very good reason! Stop acting like a child, precious, and listen to me for a minute!" "Why? You saved my life only to ruin it!" "You are too old to think like that," he snapped angrily. "One: I did not save your life, Avron! I simply stopped something you did not like from happening. Two: Petr was right...By our ways, none of them did anything wrong." "By your ways, they did," he added softly, "and by my own. Three: Ben'hamin believes in both ways, just as I do. Four: We were hoping we could teach you to honor the ways of both people and make you a strong fighter. Are we wasting our time?" "Yes, you are." Derix stared at him his soft concern turning cold. Avron let his face and eyes fall. "I can't do it, Derix. My old master used to beat the crap out of me for fun. I am too small to fight. I can't even lift a stupid sword! Kir'sis is a warrior; teach him." "I don't even like Kir'sis," Derix growled. He shook the arm he held and Avron looked up with a hint of fear in his eyes. "You can be stronger than him, you know," he whispered, "if you just tried to be." "You don't know me." "Actually, I do, pet. Who do you think spied on your family and stole Kir'sis from your father? The only warlord of Ben'hamin's tribe that could pass for a tiger if he did not change into a lion would be me, Avron. Kir'sis is Petr's pet because I stole him!" "You! Why would you do that? Are you trying to start a war? My father will come to get him the second he finds out where he is!" "We are counting on that...but we were also counting on you, too." Derix let go of his arm. "If you cannot learn to fight before he comes, Avron, what will your father do to you? Will he free Kir'sis and leave you here to be his enemies' whore?" "No," Avron whispered scared to death by the idea and swallowed several times before he could answer him properly. "He will kill me." "It is my duty to make certain that never happens, pet. Let me try to teach you," he offered as seriously as he could manage. "I can't even lift a sword," Avron complained bitterly. "How old were you? You are much bigger than the tiny child I saved from the Bull Minotaurs that day, Avron! Why do you think Ben'hamin has been making you do chores while we are all practicing? You are stronger than you think." "And weaker than you see me," Avron screamed at him. A soft laugh at the door caught Derix's attention. He stiffened and ran to it on swift, silent, bare feet to throw them wide! It was Kir'sis standing there and his eyes widened in fear as he backed away from Derix in alarm. The warlord stared at him in disgust. Avron turned away from his brother hating the sight of him. "Get away from this door! If I ever catch you spying again, I will cut your throat with my bare hands," he warned the boy just before he allowed him to flee. He slammed the door and saw the stricken look in Avron's eyes. "Stay here, precious," he ordered him softly, "I have some business to take care of tonight. Don't worry about Petr; he is going to be too busy to worry about you." He shut the door behind him and the entire building soon echoed with horrifying screams for hours into the night. Several of them sounded like Kir'sis, but most of them belonged to Petr. There was no doubt in Avron's mind who was causing those pain-filled cries. He curled up in the bed and shivered unable to sleep even after they stopped. Warmth slipped into the bed behind him and as tired as he was, he drifted into sleep before the scent registered in his mind. When he woke, he recognized it, but the owner was long gone as sunlight streamed into the open bedroom. Avron heard the sounds of metal striking metal and flinched. He knew he should have been up hours ago. Doubtlessly Ben'hamin had come in for his bath and dressed alone while he slept. He growled at himself irritably and got up. When he went to his lord's usual sleeping chamber, the door was still firmly locked. Avron swore and turned to gather up the discarded dress. "What am I to do with this?" The lock snapped undone and the door opened behind him. Avron turned startled. "My lord," he gasped in surprise. "I heard the sound of swords and thought you were outside already. You are not training with the men today?" "Avron," Ben'hamin greeted him happily catching him up in his arms. Avron almost stiffened up in his embrace, but instead he relaxed and accepted a ravenous kiss that had him smashed against a wall. Avron's nose flared. "Did you enjoy her, my lord," he gasped along his lips. Ben'hamin groaned. "Oh, Gods, yes," he purred as he practically lifted him off of the ground for more hot kisses. "Unfortunately, I missed you while I was sleeping. I slept restlessly without you purring into my chest the way you do so sweetly. Did you miss me, baby?" Avron didn't answer. He turned his head and tears streamed down his face. "Whoa, pet, what is this," he asked in alarm. Ben'hamin traced the path of his tears with a hand. "Tell me," he growled angrily. "It isn't anything like that," he mumbled. "No one would dare hurt me and risk your wrath." Avron glanced at the closed door. "Can I see them, my lord?" "Oh, it is like that, is it? Yes, you can see them. Do you want to now? They are sleeping." Ben'hamin pulled back letting his feet hit the ground. Their hands locked and Ben tugged on it eagerly. "The boy is so pretty, but you can only see him as a cat. He is mad at me." He pulled Avron into the room and over to the tiny white cat. "He has spots," Avron sighed kneeling down to run a hand in the thick fur. The cat stirred beneath his palm and Ben'hamin pulled him swiftly away. Avron was flung back hard. It pissed him off until he saw Ben'hamin struggling to cage the cat away from him. "You will not touch him," Ben'hamin hissed furious in seconds. He threw the cat towards the bed where it lay irritably looking at him. "Avron, are you alright?" He turned his back on the newcomer to look him over. "Did he get you?" The white linen would have showed the slightest speck of blood. "Baby, did he hurt you?" When he still didn't answer just standing there watching the white cat behind him, Ben'hamin came to him turning him slowly and gently as he checked for blood. "You are fine," he sighed in relief hugging him carefully. The boy behind Ben'hamin was watching them with puzzled eyes filled with fear. He really was beautiful as he blinked those black eyes at them laying in a way that hid his naked state. There was anger, Avron could openly see that, but he was also warily confused as he watched Ben'hamin reassure himself that Avron didn't have the slightest scratch on his skin. His love for the boy was very apparent. "Come on, let's get out of here and have some fun, huh? Just you and me," Ben'hamin requested with an ever-so-slightly, shaky voice. Avron looked at the boy's pale white wrists locked in chains. They looked so tiny. This boy made him look huge, Avron thought suddenly. "Hey, you...Look at me, Avron," he whispered until Avron's wide brown eyes met his black ones. "Can I go watch you train today? Can I watch all of the warlords try to defeat you in the courtyard? I want to see you kick their asses," he swore vehemently. Ben'hamin laughed. "Yes, you can watch me kick their asses, precious. Are you turning into a blood-thirsty warlord on me already?" Avron studied him seeing the pleasure the idea brought him. Derix was right again, he saw. Avron smiled at him and didn't agree or disagree, but right then he resolved to try. "Come on, maybe we can get there before Derix finishes knocking all of them flat. He looks so good when he has sweat dripping all over him, don't you think?" Avron blushed and nodded at him. "So, what did you do last night, pet?" Ben'hamin leaned down to smell his skin. "Hmm...I smell him on you. Did he throw you into my bed and have his wicked way with you, then? I have been wondering when his resolute self-control would begin to crack with you. He likes you so damn much," he pointed out. "I think he is actually shy around you, Avron. Isn't that the cutest thing?" "Yeah, cute..." Derix? Shy? That would never happen! "You don't believe me, pet? Come, watch him practice and see for yourself if you don't distract him. I would bet he misses a swing the second you walk into the courtyard." "Of course he will, my lord," Avron protested, "because you will be right by my side!" "No, I won't be," he suddenly decided resolutely. "I am sending you in without me. I am going to wait to go into the courtyard after you do, pet, because I want to prove it to you." Avron smiled secretively ducking his head. "I think you are wrong. I still think it will be because he is looking for you." Ben'hamin tugged off Avron's shirt and let it fall to the ground at their feet. "Now, he can't help but notice that it is you entering the yard. I'll wait. He will look at you even after he knows it is not me. I promise you. Unless you did something to make him ignore you last night, he will love seeing you there. He wants to train you, Avron." "He told me, my lord," Avron whispered. "Did he?" Ben'hamin picked him up and encouraged him to wrap his legs around his waist. "Will I get to watch both of you swinging sweat across each other like lovers and madmen," he teased pressing their foreheads together. Avron groaned playfully. Ben'hamin Ch. 03 "Only if I don't have to pick up a sword to do it, my lord," he answered. Ben'hamin laughed merrily. "Oh, honey! I will get you a practice sword until you grow muscles. That is the way we do things here. This is not Hestos! This is Diverla..." He kissed him lovingly, as always slowly carrying him to the doors. "I am not expecting you to be a great swordsman the second you pick up a blade, precious. It is hard work," he whispered all the while he kissed him and kissed him greedily. "Oh, Gods, Avron...I missed you last night!" Drawn by the sounds of ringing metal past the open doorway, Avron walked out as casually as he could to view the men practicing. Only two of the warlords were missing: Ben'hamin and Petr. Avron shivered as eyes turned all around the assembly to glance at his naked chest speculatively. Curious of what they were seeing, Derix glanced behind him nearly failing to parry a heavy-handed reverse swing towards his abdomen. Derix swung back excessively aggressive angered by his own lack of attention. His opponent was the calculating cruelty of the black lion warlord, Medr'ainder. They made a striking pair locked in nearly mortal combat. Avron had little doubt that Medr'ainder would kill Derix the second he got an opportunity. He knew Derix thought the same thing of the deadly warrior. Avron continued around the courtyard until he could see Derix better. His muscles bulged shining in wetness and sunlight as he moved. Large stripes flared on his skin with red centers and similar bands of black encasing it. The stripes were much larger than last night and Avron studied each one in complete fascination. Then, he saw the blade angled to take Derix's head! Derix was looking at Avron and didn't see the blow, but he saw Avron's eyes and knew Medr'ainder would aim for a killing strike. Derix's eyes widened in surprise even as his voice cried out firmly over the men, "Hold!" Medr'ainder pulled the strike only half an inch from his skin. Derix didn't flinch. "Tired, my lord Derix," someone teased trying to keep Derix from turning to see the fury aimed at him on the face behind him. "Distracted," the powerful warlord admitted with a wry smile as he pointed to another half-bare warrior to take his place. "Go easy on him, Medr'ainder." Then, he turned back to Avron. The boy ducked his head in embarrassment. "Good morning, pet...Have you decided to join us, or watch the show?" Derix's head twitched to the side catching a glance of Ben'hamin out of the corner of his eye as he came striding into the courtyard. Avron's flush immediately told him why the boy was stripped down like the warlords. "My lord, you are awake quite late this morning. Did you treasure your gifts so highly?" A round of laughing and good-natured teasing jeers went up to greet him. "I have not touched the boy. The girl was prize enough for one night." "Only one, you jest," Derix said shaking his head in surprise. "Did you not like him?" "I have plenty of time. He will be mine, old friend. He is in a disagreeable mood after I took the girl. Anger is not a good thing to mix with fear and confusion when trying to woo a potential lover...Besides, would you hurry a seduction when the girl was virginal?" Derix's smile changed from teasing to one of complete satisfaction. "Then, the present was worthy of you, Ben'hamin." "You flatter me, but I did enjoy it." Ben'hamin pulled Avron back into his supple body hugging him up to take away any sting of jealousy the conversation may have stirred within him. As always, Avron felt himself tremble in his grasp lowering his head shyly. Ben'hamin frowned as he noted Petr missing. "Was there any trouble last night? I smelled your scent on Avron and now I find that Petr is gone. Tell me what has happened," he demanded softly. Derix grinned slowly as his eyes traveled over his best friend's, little treasure. "Come, away from all of these inquisitive ears. My news is private and nothing to concern all of our great friends with, my lord." Ben'hamin's brows rose curiously as he turned and led them back down the hallway to his much larger, day bedroom. It still had open access to the courtyard, but anyone caught snooping would be killed for the direct challenge to their authority. "Okay, now tell me." Derix looked hesitant which never happened between them. Ben'hamin raised a hand and sighed. "This is going to take a while. Avron, pet, stay near the windows and tell me if anyone approaches it, please. The two of us need a bath, so if you will join me." Derix almost smiled as he watched Ben'hamin casually disrobe. When they had the same amount on, Derix followed his motions with his own until both of them stood naked beside one another. Ben'hamin smiled. It was the exact same as the one Derix had almost used. There was old love between these two. It was in their eyes when they stood naked beside each other. Avron realized that Ben'hamin had successfully succeeded in banishing the hesitation in Derix over what he had to say. They slid into the water and discussed the issue while cleaning the sweat and smells off of those beautiful bodies. Avron watched them far more than the window, but he listened carefully and would have known if someone had been snooping at any time. Ben'hamin was clearly agitated that Petr had betrayed them and just as upset by the idea that Derix blamed himself for that betrayal. "I won't hear your arguments, Derix! We both knew that Petr might not be the most faithful of our men, but he is the closest in power and therefore the one we had to trust until this. He has shown that he cannot be trusted with anything more than complete warfare, so let it be on his head when we lower ourselves to one of the others for more private matters such as these. Who stands below him? Oh, never mind...I know the answer to that, don't I?" "Yes, my lord...If you think we can trust him any more than Petr, you are wrong!" "Medr'ainder," Ben'hamin grumbled, "perhaps his ways have corrupted our Petr. Who else have we got that stands close in power to him?" "We can trust Dur'dan and Vir'dasar." "Dur'dan is too old and his son is too young. I would not set them up to be murdered in their sleep. From here on out, we will go to Vir'dasar when we need another to carry out our plans. Agreed?" Derix nodded with a little, wistful smile. "What is it?" "Now, my lord, I must guard my back even more closely. I will have two men trying to kill me to claim your bed," he teased wickedly. Ben'hamin grinned. "They would not enjoy it as you do, old friend." Derix laughed at his suggestion, but he stilled his laughter when he saw a shadow of concern cross Ben's face. "You would hold a grudge for me," he asked pleased by the thought. Ben'hamin's face darkened as his teasing grew more solemn and he nodded darkly. "Good, I will tell them that," he added softly, "perhaps it will discourage them." "They should never even think it! I would slay them as they slept," Ben'hamin hissed. "You are the only reason I put up with these foolish politics, Derix! I am a more solitary beast and I do not like the company, much less the deceptions. I put up with all of this for you. I only ever need my lovers nearby. If they are not, I can't stomach to put up with them, and you know it!" "You slept with Medr'ainder? When," Derix demanded. "That is like bedding a bag of swords, Ben! Why would you have done it?" "He was much younger," Ben'hamin stated with a wistful look in his eyes, "the first time. After that, I guess he just liked me." "Medr'ainder! I do not believe you ever found him when he was not deadly, my lord," Derix protested in revulsion. "He is an excellent prize, but he hates being bested at anything," Ben'hamin added mischievously. Ben'hamin didn't tell him that Medr'ainder had been the one to find him. He had simply taken advantage of it. "I am afraid the two of us would never work out unless we were completely, equal partners," Ben growled in amusement. "The Gods only know how useless it would be for me to try doing that sort of thing!" Derix's dark, black eyes glittered with dangerous jealousy. "I would not like it much if you tried, my lord," he stated very, very softly to Ben'hamin. Ben hid his grin pretending to consider it causing Derix's jaw to firm even further in distress. "No? Why wouldn't you like it? I think the two of us mastering you would be quite pleasurable to all three of us," he suggested with a husky timbre. Derix stood to leave the pool, but Ben'hamin caught hold of his arm gently and looked up at him fondly. "Why do you flee me, Derix? Lately, I see little enough of you." "If you want Medr'ainder, my lord, I can fetch him for you!" His growl was sheer irritation and full of dislike. Ben'hamin hated that the two of them couldn't even pretend to be friends, at times. "If you don't, I suggest you stop pretending that you do." Ben'hamin frowned slowly at him, not liking how close that resembled a threat. "I will not share you with him...I do not like him." "You will do as I ask of you. Medr'ainder is not as bad as you believe. Why does he irritate you so swiftly? You knew I had touched him before or I would not have allowed him into this council. I despise those I have not fucked at some point or another!" Derix tensed under his arm. "Answer me this: When did you fuck Medr'ainder last?" "When you were away stealing Kir'sis," he answered easily. Ben'hamin saw the pain that sparked in Derix eyes and it confused him. "You are my closest friend and most intimate confidante, Derix. You will never be replaced by me; no one could fill your loss." "I am certain Medr'ainder would try for you, my lord!" His scathing contempt caused anger to spark in Ben'hamin's eyes dangerously. "Why are you carrying on this torment? You know I don't like him! Yet you sit there and rub it in my face that you have slept with him," he growled bitterly. "Step down, Derix," Ben'hamin warned. "You have not come to my bed in years, and rarely do I get the chance to correct that with stolen moments out-of-doors. Medr'ainder is a fairly good friend to me." Derix hissed in fury. "You may be the closest friend I have, but you step dangerously where my beast is concerned. You know I will never stand for a challenge of any type," he stated with a touch of regret. "I do not want to hurt you, or have to drive you away from me." "You keep pushing it," Derix whispered to him guiltily. "You know that Medr'ainder is my breaking point. It is almost like you want to send me away!" "No," Ben'hamin hissed at him furiously. "That will never be the reason, Derix!" He was shaking with rage and his eyes flashed gold in warning. Derix sat back down on the pool's little bench, quite unafraid, but unwilling to risk being driven from Ben'hamin's presence all over again so soon after the last time. "You are my friend! Damn it, why can't you act like it?" Avron shivered at the anger in his voice and felt alarm for Derix as he sat there pale and defiant under that golden-eyed stare. Ben'hamin was angrier than Avron had ever seen when he snarled, "I like Medr'ainder." "More than me, my lord," Derix asked without looking up in a very soft, sad voice. Ben'hamin looked startled and worried even as he shook his head in distress. "If..." "Don't say it!" The bitter fury in that shout stopped Derix and closed his eyes as he grew still under that angry heat of magic and anger. "I cannot..." "Please, don't say it, Derix!" His best friend finally looked up and those black eyes met black eyes. Both of them looked scared to realize how much they could stand to lose over one ridiculous argument. Both of them looked worried and defiant at how much they could force the other to bend on one silly subject. "You would leave me?" Derix closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. "I do not want to...ever...do such a thing," he whispered raggedly. "Derix," Ben'hamin lifted up Derix's face and leaned in close, "You would leave me?" "I was just a kid when I made you that promise," he hissed frustrated by his insinuation. "Do you truly expect me to allow you to break it," Ben'hamin asked with a hint of a cold, yet playful, smile on his lips. Derix looked up at Ben'hamin suddenly angry. The smile fled Ben's face for a look of gentle concern. "Do you make all of us swear the same promises? Am I fooling myself to think I mean more to you than they do?" "Derix, you are the one...the only one...I would ever allow to get away with this. You have been with me since you were cub. I would miss you...I do miss you...when you are away from me. I meant what I said; no one could fill your loss." Ben'hamin grunted in disgust. "You know better than this," he swore. "Why are you testing my patience?" "Medr'ainder," Derix growled. Avron could see his point. The dark warlord was greedy, cold and cruel. His ambitions would never leave Derix a moment's peace. "You know why I can barely stomach him!" A warning growl from that throat that looked so much like a normal man warned him not to restart the discussion. "Barely," Ben'hamin snapped in wrath. "The three of us were friends once! I will not allow us to be separated because you two idiots remember how to hold a grudge, longer than anyone of the face of this continent throughout our entire history!" Avron gasped having not known they had been friends with that despicable creature. Not a one of his slaves ever did more than tremble and quake in fear and unquestioning terror, Avron thought as his own skin turned clammy. Medr'ainder had hurt him during that night the warlords had taken him, but he had held back most of his dangerous nature for which Avron had always been thankful. Their little treasure could not see Medr'ainder as a true friend to anyone, much less these two. On impulse, he turned to look out of the window into the courtyard and saw with surprise that the warlords were watching Medr'ainder warily as he stood between them and the bedroom windows. Medr'ainder's back was to him and far enough away to give the semblance of privacy to the two snarling in the chamber beyond. Surely, all of the warlords could hear some of the angry retorts. Were they curious why Ben'hamin was arguing, or why Derix was allowed to question him? Perhaps, he thought in concern, they were curious to know why Medr'ainder was the basis of that argument. Avron shuddered as a dark pair of eyes turned over that coppery shoulder to glance back at him in angry amusement. He gasped again and took a frightened step back from him. There was something in his face, Avron thought. There was something in that look he recognized, but he couldn't place what it was as Medr'ainder turned back away to watch the dangerous crowd before him. Avron pulled his linen pants off and stepped down into the water between the men. Ben'hamin looked amused as he held out an arm to wrap around him. "Hello, precious...You are not watching the window." "I don't need to," Avron replied with a nervous frown, "because Medr'ainder is watching it." Derix looked dumbfounded by this information. Ben'hamin grinned. Derix still looked irritated, but he nodded at them. Ben'hamin leaned in and whispered in Avron's ear. The boy turned red and stared at him for several minutes before standing up and turning around. He didn't look at Derix. His eyes stayed on Ben'hamin until he sat slowly on Derix's lap. The huge man was tense beneath him, but Avron touched his face gently turning it up so he could lean down to kiss him. Derix's entire body shivered beneath him. "Did you tell him to do that?" Avron looked up and glanced at Ben'hamin in concern when he growled the question. "Avron prefers to be told what to do," Ben'hamin stated carefully, "If he didn't want to do it, he knows he has the right to complain. There are few things that I force him to do." Derix frowned at Avron oddly. "I promise you, he wanted to kiss you, Derix." Avron started to get up, but Ben'hamin glanced at him irritably. The boy sat where he had been more nervous that he had been beforehand. "Gods, do you always treat him like this? He mentioned that you made him nervous!" "No, I scare him, Ben," Derix stated darkly. "You are scaring me! Relax a bit and stop frowning," he ordered. "The boy likes you; you like him. What is the problem?" "I don't know. It doesn't feel right to me," Derix growled. "Does this have anything to do with being his father's lover while you were..." A sharp splash broke off his comment as Avron leapt back further into the pool to glare at them! "What," he hissed, "you fucked my father?" "Not likely, I'd say he had me..." Both of them were now glaring at one another! Ben'hamin rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "As I was saying...while you tried to steal Kir'sis!" Derix glanced down uneasily. "Yeah, it does." Avron's dismay didn't fold into anger like Ben'hamin expected. Instead, he shook his head and there were tears in is eyes. "Oh, Gods, Derix...I am sorry." "For what," he asked sullenly. "For wondering why you allowed someone like Petr to touch you," Avron whispered. "It must have made for good practice." Derix looked up surprised. "Do a lot of spying into your dad's sex life as a kid?" "No," Avron whispered with an edge of some indefinable emotion shadowing his eyes. "I just know..." "I'll take that for an answer if we drop the subject," Derix growled softly. "I really don't feel like talking about it yet." Avron nodded, his face going all soft as he looked at Derix. He moved closer until he knelt around Derix's thighs. "Avron, what are you doing?" "Kissing you," the boy stated calmly. He raised his arms to draw Derix's damp hair away from his cheeks to see his face clearly. "Do you mind?" Derix shook his head bemused by his sudden lack of fear and embarrassment. The boy leaned in slowly until he finally allowed his lips to gently breeze over the warrior's firmer set. He sighed relaxing into him as the brushes gradually got harder. Then, Derix eventually opened his lips to him allowing Avron to deepen his efforts dramatically. The effect was explosive. "It is about time," Ben'hamin mused wryly. They both ignored his sarcasm. Derix raised his arms running his hands up the boy's lightly muscled back. He might not have been born big, but what muscle tone he had was fairly firm, Derix thought in surprise. Avron's bone structure was so delicate, though. Avron sighed slowing the kisses as his eyes opened to study Derix's face. The big guy was trembling...It was subtle, almost not noticeable and his linen loincloth was being shoved aside with a fairly, rigid erection. Ben'hamin Ch. 04 Avron took a chance and reached down between them. Derix's body jerked slightly as his hand closed around him. Derix stopped kissing him and rested their foreheads together. His breathing was slow and heavy and unmistakably aroused. "Oh, baby, you keep doing that and I promise you I won't hesitate to fuck you," Derix whispered nearly groaning as he said it. Avron let his knees fall into the water and fell to the pool's floor dipping his head to drop below the surface of the water. Just as his mouth closed over the tight skin, the loincloth floated free. Derix had undoubtedly snapped the side strap as it should have been lowered without being able to just fall free in such a way. The idea of him ruining his clothing in a moment of lust thrilled the boy as he slowly took in the thick meat of him. Derix was full and uncut as most of the warlords were; his foreskin only shorn at the very base to allow pressure at the sensitive area where it connected to his groin, scrotum and thighs. Avron accidentally began to notice spots of flesh that were more sensitive than others by running his tongue over them repeatedly. "Avron, pet, you can't keep doing that to me!" The words were blurred by the water, but Ben'hamin heard them. Derix's hands caught the sides of the boy's face and lifted up. "No more, precious, no more...please!" He dragged him up and Avron looked down surprised to see tiny black stripes on his dick that literally coincided with the more sensitive bits of his desires. Avron grinned in pure carnal mischief, delighted to realize how easy it would be to drive Derix mad with lust. "Uh, oh...Now you are in for it," Ben'hamin chuckled, "I recognize that face." "Later," Derix growled as he lifted Avron up into his arms and carried him to the bed both of them still soaking wet from the pool. Ben'hamin got out and toweled off somewhat while grinning out the window. "Is Medr'ainder still out there?" "Yep, he is still keeping everyone from being nosy about our business. Doesn't that earn him a few points to the good with you," Ben'hamin asked not glancing back at them as Derix looked up from Avron in annoyance. "Yeah, sure...whatever you say, my lord," he snorted derisively. Ben'hamin gave Derix a dry, humorous look that told him he would learn to regret that comment, and someday soon at that. Derix shrugged it away and turned back to Avron. Ignoring Ben'hamin in favor of his delicious pet, Derix focused down on the young man. He had been dying to sink his teeth into Avron since giving him to his best friend. Only he had to leave almost immediately for the coast. Avron arched his body up nearly rubbing its lithe length along his bare skin like a wanton creature begging for attention. Derix lowered his mouth for short, sweet sips at those lush, little lips of his. It nearly stole his breath just taking tiny nibbles from him. Avron took hold of his head trying to pull the much larger and much stronger man down for more, but Derix denied him taking complete control. Derix did not feel Ben'hamin's eyes on them as they lay together, yet Ben'hamin's stare was not entirely fond and amused. His eyes were narrowed in deep concern as he studied his best friend, Derix, with the eyes of one who had known the man for hundreds of years intimately. He could tell something was very wrong with him, but only Avron's stricken eyes when he had apologized to him earlier gave him any clues as to what. Ben'hamin only knew a small portion of what had happened when Derix went to kidnap Kir'sis. Derix had told him the short version of the story in a calmly, amused tone like it had been a fun, little lark to him, but clearly Derix had lied to him. Derix never lied...not to him...not like this. Yet the obviousness of his lies stared Ben in the face, distressing him far more than he knew he could be disturbed about one of his men. Except this wasn't one of his men, this was Derix and he loved him! Derix slid forward just far enough to reach far down between the bed and wall grabbing the silken ties that always lay there. Ben'hamin often used them on him. They were not as fragile as they looked. He knew they would never break, no matter how hard Avron pulled upon them...or even Derix, if he were the one bound. "Don't get scared, baby. I won't keep you in them long," he whispered to the boy as he drew them into sight. "I just want you to lie still a minute for me." Avron went tense. The boy's eyes widened as he looked up. When he saw the gauzy scarf material, he relaxed against him. "It is alright. I don't mind," he said with an amused laugh, apparently not getting that they were enchanted. Derix wrapped an end around the boy's wrist and it sealed together automatically. The boy jumped and looked at it more closely. Derix began to wrap the other one, but Avron gasped and jerked at the first one in sudden fear now that he knew the binding would be for real! Derix hesitated. "Derix," Avron called to stop him. "What are these things?" Derix leaned down and kissed him gently. He kept kissing until he felt the boy relaxing beneath him. A longing groan rumbled out of Avron and his wide eyes fluttered closed. "Change your mind," Derix asked him amused. "No," the boy grumbled. His other hand was instantly wrapped up and sealed. "Oh, Gods, Derix," he gasped breathlessly his soft brown eyes wary with apprehension. "I promise I won't hurt you, Avron." His kisses drove them both crazy until the only time they remembered the binding was when Avron wanted to pull Derix down and wasn't allowed to do it. Derix kept chuckling happily as he tortured them both with little touches. Then came the real torment, Derix began to trail slowly down his body. Avron's cries grew as he tried to free his hands. His struggles held only a little fear that grew and fell in direct proportion to whatever Derix was doing to him at the time. When Derix got down to his upper chest, having licked and laved every spot of him in between, Avron was struggling pretty desperately. His voice heightened Derix's arousal as Avron made those little cries in the back of his throat! When he got to the boy's taunt little nipples, Avron was crying, great tears just streaming down his face, in frustration. Yet, he loved every second of it! Avron's erection was no longer contained within his clothing. Derix pulled the tiny scrap of linen away to stare down the unbroken line of the as yet unmuscled form below. A low animal growl of approval rumbled up from his throat vibrating the very air of the room in the stillness of the day. Avron was tempted to beg him to skip the foreplay. He hadn't needed any to begin with and Derix was making matters far worse with his clever seduction. The huge warrior was making love to him in a way no one else had ever done, except Ben'hamin. He was even better at it than his best friend. Derix had more patience, more control, and more passion; it was a heady combination! He also used all of the senses when arousing his chosen victim. Not that Ben'hamin was bad, he thought suddenly in horror, but Derix was more skilled at the very same techniques. Ben'hamin didn't move. He was afraid to even twitch a muscle. Derix hadn't taken this much initiative with a pet in a very long time. Something about the boy, Avron, called to him until it stirred his great depths of passion from their usually slumberous ardor. There was something he was missing. Until the Great War Chief figured it out, he did not want to draw attention to the fact that they were being watched by him. It seemed both had temporarily forgotten he was in the room. Derix cupped the boy's upper back in his hands massaging his fingers into the meat of him as he preceded down to trace the ridges of exposed ribs. Having drawn Avron's arms above his head, they were very pronounced. Derix drew his body down tugging on the wrist restraints and nearly lifting his light little form off of the bed. Avron's cry was one of complete distraction, not fear or pain, but desperate passions driven to the brink of his control. Derix drew in a bite of the soft skin over his belly button and slowly sank his blunt teeth into the skin until he was certain it would leave a mark. When Avron struggled, Derix's eyes flashed red and he growled low as his eyes rolled up to see Avron more clearly. The boy's head was thrown back; eyes squeezed shut as tightly as they would close. "Derix," he whimpered shivering in obvious enjoyment. Then, his brown eyes opened and met the black gaze staring up at him. The heat in the boy's look as he marked him sent a surge of lust into the very marrow of Derix's bones. "Patience," he whispered nuzzling the bite mark to lick away stray drops of blood. The bite wasn't deep, but deeper than he had intended. Avron gasped drawing in great gulps of air. "I have none! Please," Avron begged. "Stop tormenting me!" Derix chuckled looking up at him highly amused by his impatience. He faked a great big cat yawn of boredom. "I was enjoying taking my time, pet." A ragged groan escaped the desperate boy. Derix nipped his side sharply in reprimand for not having the patience to take his attentions. "You need to work on that, love. I like to take my time." Ben'hamin tilted his head slightly. Derix's idea of taking his time usually involved a slow screw for a few strokes before going back to fucking like mad! Since when had he decided he liked to take it slow, his best friend wondered in question. "Turn over, precious," Derix whispered as he rolled off of the boy to the side. "You are not the only one in the room getting impatient, it seems." Derix looked over at Ben'hamin who grinned wryly. The tilt of his head had been enough to distract his cautious friend. Avron glanced over as he rolled to his stomach and flushed a deep red as he caught sight of Ben'hamin still standing at the window. It was obvious he had forgotten him entirely. "Yes, sir," Avron mumbled sheepishly as he hid his face in the silky sheets. Both men laughed at his embarrassment, only making it worse! "It is perfectly alright to enjoy yourself, precious," Ben'hamin stated trying to ease his dismay. "Derix is very distracting on any normal day. On an abnormal day, it seems he is even more so..." "You are just jealous," Derix teased. His black eyes were serious as he studied Ben'hamin's face. His best friend looked both amused and concerned, unable to decide what had changed Derix's attitude. Then, Ben'hamin grinned suddenly. "Yes, maybe I am," he agreed. "You never wanted slow from me." Derix ducked his head. For just a moment, his cheeks flushed a touch pink. It pleased Ben to see it. "Are you done distracting me?" "Please, do not let me interfere! I was enjoying the show." Derix chuckled and caught the boy's waist pulling him up to his knees. Avron looked away from Ben'hamin to the side that Derix was kneeling on. He looked like an angel, but a very unbalanced one. "Release," Derix murmured and the silken ties fell away like they had just been tangled temporarily. Avron looked at them in startled amazement. "Where can I get a pair of those," he asked in awe. Both men burst out laughing, causing him to flush once more. "Plan to tie up someone?" Derix's question made Avron's eyes close. His face couldn't get any more red with embarrassment. Ben'hamin couldn't resist adding, "You can use mine anytime you feel like it." Avron decided he didn't like being teased by the playful pair, especially when they were ganging up on him! He turned around opening his dark, chocolate eyes with hot heat burning in them. Derix stopped laughing. Avron grabbed his head in his now freed hands kissing him with every ounce of stored up frustration from his earlier teasing. Derix groaned and caught him closer as he deepened it wickedly. Ben'hamin caught his breath suddenly, but definitely not to distract them. He decided once more to endeavor not to distract them again from their frivolously erotic pursuits. It was a good deal more entertaining to observe. "Okay, Avron," Derix rasped as he came up for air, "you win, love." Derix turned the amorous boy back towards the headboard positioning himself between the spread legs as he held him gently in place. Avron shivered at the feel of Derix's damp dick sliding over his buttocks. "Still impatient," he teased against the boy's ear causing him to shiver again in added pleasure. Avron swallowed closing his eyes and breathing faster in anxious anticipation as Derix's hand moved over Avron's rump. "Gods, yes, Derix," he growled too irritated by his stalling to bother with hiding his strong emotions. Derix moved both hands down his waist trailing his thumbs between his cheeks as he went. To his surprise, Avron pushed back into his thumbs when he pressed them against his opening. Derix obliged him by pushing back and parting him to the tune of two thumbs. The boy gasped in delighted surprise. As he pulled his thumbs back out, he used the rest of his hands to spread his ass as wide as he could manage. The moment his thumbs left the hole, the moistened head of his thick erection pierced through it slamming home quicker than Avron could register it! Avron cried out sharply nearly falling as his limbs went weak in sudden pleasure so intense he couldn't contain it. Derix slid his hands up his body holding him up close to his chest. Avron's body trembled like the coat of a fly-bitten horse. It was nearly borderline convulsions. "Are you alright, Avron? I didn't mean to hurt you," Derix whispered petting him soothingly as he waited for the shivering to stop. Several times the boy swallowed trying to muster up the ability to talk. His eyelids fluttered. When he spoke, it was barely air through his lips. "Could you say that again, pet?" "You didn't hurt me," he rasped panting for a spare bit of air. Finally, a gentle laugh registered and a slow, soft purr as he spoke again filled his voice. "That felt better than anything all of my life." Avron raised his eyes and Derix's heart nearly stopped from the look held within them. Derix hugged him closer and leaned down to erase that expression with delicate kisses that fed into more deliberate, fiercer and hungrier, ones. Avron met him step for step as the intensity swiftly grew yet again leaving both of them gasping for air. Derix opened his eyes during their kiss and they flashed bright hot. A rumble of a deep-throated growl rose from the depths of his soul as his kiss deepened until he couldn't quite say if he was kissing him, or eating him alive. It wasn't enough! He wanted to push himself into every pore of his body. Derix was afraid the beast inside of him intended to try it. His mind felt Avron being overwhelmed to near pain, but he couldn't control the fury of his passions. The sensations had risen out of his scope of feeling into something else entirely, something he did not recognize. Hoping to drive out some of the intensity, he jerked his hips back only to be nearly overwhelmed himself. Trembling, his body took over slamming him home. Again...and again...and again as the growling grew into a raging beast. Derix tried to stop himself, but before he could argue with his mind on the matter he felt his teeth lengthen and bite deep into the boy's neck! Avron shrieked. It started as pain and fear and grew alongside the growl. It was no longer pain, and only a touch of fear. It was too intense! It was sheer heaven and hell. Neither seemed entirely certain if they enjoyed it, nor could they stop it. The growls and screams almost drown out the sound of their movements. It was there if you listened very closely to it. Derix listened. He wanted to hear the sound, to focus on the rush of his body as he mechanically flexed his hips over and over with every single muscle being used to drive his body up! No small wonder the boy was screaming! Derix tried to ease the power of his thrusts, but it was impossible. He was not in control of his own skin. Derix felt the fur flow over his body dragging his beast out. The animal didn't bat an eyelash when it heard a soft intake of breath nearby. Avron stopped screaming suddenly. The snarls of the animal were much softer, but far more aggressive as it shifted the boy beneath its deadly flesh. Avron fell to the bed under the suddenness of the added weight. The beast didn't seem to mind as it followed him down still pumping its hips forcefully into the tiny lad beneath it. Avron muffled a whimper of fright. Ben'hamin wanted desperately to go to the boy, but the best option for this circumstance was to allow the huge creature to finish what it wanted first. Otherwise, it would see his interference as a challenge. It would meet that threat without consideration. Ben really didn't want to kick Derix's ass just because he lost control during sex. The boy wasn't too afraid, or too hurt, so he waited. All the while, he wondered why Derix had lost control. He never changed during sex. Not even to his half bestial form, he added thoughtfully. This whole cat version was not by choice, meaning he had not been able to stop it, or lessen the effects, once his control slid from his grasp. His rich sable coat was banded by thick scarlet stripes and black-brown areas. His long tail was tufted and spiked with a sharp bone protrusion. His heavy black-brown and red-gold lion's mane was fully extended to its natural length. Sharp red claws were drawn back to keep from scoring the delicately soft skin; Derix only concession to lessening the damage he could do. Gradually the animal began to grow less distinct. The predatory, leathery black wings disappeared first, followed closely by the lashing black tail. The fur remained, but the flesh beneath it began to alter, becoming more like a man than a beast. Impressions of Derix face gradually appeared within the animal's mask. The paws that pushed Avron's arms up over his head, ended up as heavily furred hands that laced into the boy's, holding them into place as the creature buried its nose in the skin where Avron's neck and shoulder muscles met. The growls changed to a purr that settled into the slower rhythm of his hips. Derix's face changed back to nearly normal. He began licking at the wounds bitten into Avron's neck almost immediately, no doubt contrite at having caused them. "I am sorry, Avron. Are you alright?" The boy nodded limply beneath him. "I have never done that before," he admitted sheepishly. Avron laughed low and slurred like he was drunk. "Are you sure you..." "Yyyyyeeessss," he sighed slowly beneath him sounding languorous and sleepy. Derix shifted a knee up and under the boy raising one side of him slightly and drew Avron's leg up until his knee was even with his waist. The fur began to recede as Derix's perfect, pale body reformed. Avron's testis were scalding hot and hung loose beneath him jarring back into Derix as he moved strongly but slowly into his reddened behind. Derix curiously trailed a hand down the line of Avron's body and beneath him. A startled bark of laughter jerked his body making his rhythm falter momentarily. "When did you cum, pet?" Derix raised a hand wet with thick white sperm rubbing in into the mattress beside them. "Right after you changed inside of me," he mumbled embarrassed. "It felt so fucking good," he gasped moaning at the memory of the white-hot swelling that had filled him far more than most people could have taken willingly! "It is not the first time I have been taken by a male in cat form." "Not Ben'hamin...who," Derix asked curiously. Avron hid his face turning his body onto his side and hooking his raised leg around Derix's waist to urge him deeper and faster again. Ben'hamin Ch. 04 Derix closed his eyes shivering at the added tightness this position afforded him. It squeezed his erection to the point of pain, but he didn't complain. Derix came up fully on his other knee driving down deep and hard. It nearly brought him on the spot. His purring faltered long enough for a ragged sound to escape his throat. "Gods, baby," he groaned as he rapidly moved fucking him the way he usually did it. The boy's cries restarted jarring him out of his passionate daze! "Derix! Oh, Gods, Derix," he screamed just before feeling the swollen staff pistoning into his body explode into hot jets of fire! The huge warrior locked his arms around Avron almost bruising him as he moved slowly several more times to let his body suck out the last of it. "You could kill me, pet," he finally rasped into his ear. Avron shivered as pleasure washed through him. "Good...We could die together," he teased softly. Then, they both heard the sound of soft clapping and amused laughter. "Oh, shit..." Derix turned to look at Ben leisurely. He was happy and sated and nothing else seemed to matter at that moment. He was content, but just looking Ben'hamin smiling down at him made him feel even happier. Derix loved his best friend... "Bravo," Ben'hamin called. The clapping halted to the delicious sound of his chuckling. Derix laughed and caressed Avron's heated skin to remove some of the bold boy's embarrassment. "I was extremely worried for a minute. I wondered if I was going to have to save my precious little pet from your wicked lust," Ben'hamin told him sternly before his smile ruined the effect, "but you handled it quite nicely, Derix." "Thank you," he answered respectfully. "I don't know happened." "Your beast wanted him," Ben'hamin explained casually. "It is understandable, but very strange for you." Ben came up to sit on the bed near them. "Are you alright now? You got control of it." He sounded puzzled and worried by the statement. "I have never seen anyone do that," Ben explained. "I didn't want to hurt him and it..." Derix flushed slightly. "It, ah...You were watching," he admitted with a little shrug. "Did it embarrass you to be seen with so little control, my friend?" Ben'hamin studied him oddly expecting the uneasy duck of Derix's head to his question. "You have been gone a long time, but I thought you were content with your little Mermaid...until I saw this. Why haven't you come to me," Ben asked. Ben'hamin stroked Derix's back lazily playing with the smooth, firm, sweat-dotted skin. Derix did not look like he wanted to answer, but knew he had to regardless. A War Chief did not like to be ignored; they were used to getting what they wanted. Ben'hamin was no different than most in that way. He expected an answer no matter how difficult it was to explain. Derix stared up at him with a very puzzled expression. "I don't know. You were busy with your pet. We were expecting company. I just didn't think it was the right time, I guess," Derix whispered inadequately. "Derix," Ben'hamin sighed frustrated. "You know better." "You have never been away from me for so long." The wording suddenly gave him an idea that made him frown. Then he asked, "Do I have to keep you under my nose to keep you as my lover?" His teasing caused a wicked grin to spread over Derix's extraordinarily, handsome face. "Maybe you should," Derix mumbled. "I don't feel right coming to you. You sent me away," Derix stated irritably, "so you should be the one to come to me, I would think." "I would never send you away, Derix," Ben'hamin declared sternly, "unless I fully expected you to return to me!" Ben'hamin hissed in frustration. "You knew I wanted you back. I have been waiting for your return!" Derix flushed and looked down almost as shyly as Avron. "Silly you," Ben'hamin said as he smacked his ass summarily. "I should beat you for even thinking you were not appreciated in my bed," he warned cantankerously. With his hand still on his rump, he felt the shiver that raced through Derix's large frame at the mention of him being punished. "I think I punish you way too often." It was true that lately the only time they had sex was when he was 'punishing' him. Derix had a tendency for wayward mischief in front of the other warlords. "Perchance, I should jog your memory on what you represent to me," Ben suggested softly with an edge of intimidation in his tone. "Are you going to jump in and fuck us both," Derix asked Ben'hamin in pleased interest still holding Avron lightly against his muscled form. The boy went red in the face, his breathing straight away wedging in his upper body making him cough to free it. Then, he was nearly panting in eagerness. "I doubt either of you would mind," Ben teased thoughtfully. It sounded like a very good idea, but he had missed Derix. His best friend's reactions tonight were disturbing to him, yet it was due to Avron that Derix was lying naked in his bed for the first time in over a year. "Come to me, Derix." As always, Derix swallowed hard and sat up to be more easily within reach of Ben's hands. Their black eyes met with centuries of intimate encounters lying in the air between them. "I never did get to properly thank you for my first present. Now, I have two more to say 'thank you' for getting." Derix smiled that sexy, little grin of his. Derix always reminded him of a clever Loki with that smile. "You never have to thank me, my lord," he murmured humbly, "but I certainly do enjoy it when you try." Ben'hamin burst out laughing. "Try? Only try? Why Derix, I do believe that is the closest thing to a challenge you will ever admit to in my presence! Shall I 'try' to thank you for three delicious treats, then...my sweet, clever cat?" Ben'hamin impelled Derix to his lips, kissing him intensely and abruptly, without asking for any consent, or to allow him to ease into it more slowly. Derix didn't take offense. He moaned and cupped Ben's jaw and collar willingly. Neither of them had soft lips, but it was a feeling they were very familiar with as their tongues clashed and caressed, further and further until it nearly hurt to do it. Ben'hamin rumbled with a deeply, satisfied hum, his vocal chords practically purring up the sound with a thick, hollow resonance to it. Ben pushed Derix back crawling up over him as he flattened them both down to the bed. Derix gasped beneath his great weight, feeling smothered as usual, but it turned him on like nothing the worlds over! He shivered in delight allowing Ben'hamin to dominate him, containing him with his deadly, addictive strength. "Gods, I missed the taste of you," Ben'hamin growled between a kiss as Derix sucked in a much needed breath of air! Then, Derix was smothering again. It sent a rush of sexual adrenaline through him that tightened his body with heat. "Fuck, Ben, you are killing me," Derix gasped nearly choking on his lack of air. Ben'hamin chuckled, backing up long enough to trail delightful stings of pleasurable pain down his jaw and throat. "Those are going to leave marks," Derix grumbled not really caring, even if he did get teased for them later. "Hmmm...I know," Ben purred with a possessive grin. He continued the line of sharp, red circles down his collar and straight to a nipple, already so tense that it jerked Derix's body when his tongue swept over it. "You respond so fast to my touch," Ben chuckled enjoying his easy ability to make him gasp and jerk in wanting. Ben'hamin closed his teeth over the sensitive nub, rolling it gently enough to cause Derix to tense and contort beneath him, before biting down sharply. A high-pitched cry was ripped from Derix, who always tried to limit his vocals during sex. Ben'hamin then moved down his body leisurely taking hold of one of Derix's hands. He pressed several light kisses to it before biting down on the muscles between the thumb and forefinger. Derix lost his breath and Ben felt his erection stiffen to painful proportions. Ben'hamin relaxed his grip and let his hand go with a clever smile. Derix moaned helplessly. Few knew about that one... "I am going to make you scream for me, Derix," Ben'hamin warned softly. Derix smiled despite the implications of his words. "I will never hear the end of it if you do," Derix panted. It was a rare treat these days, to be tormented by someone who knew his body so well the person could cause him to cry out, when he was restraining himself. The mere idea of it turned him on. "You know I don't care about that." Ben'hamin raked his pointed nails up Derix's calf muscles leaving wicked, red marks from his claws deep enough that several spots of blood dotted the scratches. Ben ducked his head to lave the back of the knee he had raised up. Derix sucked in a swift gasp of air. He cried out when Ben went back to nip and tease it relentlessly. It was a long string of sound until he began to leave marks up and around his thigh, curling up obviously towards his groin. "You are not going," Derix groaned, "to leave any doubt for them..." He broke off the sentence as he gasped. Only to continue it when he had managed to regain enough air to finish it, "to wonder about...oh Gods...what ...you are doing to me," he growled fiercely. "Are you?" Nuzzling his very taunt groin, Ben'hamin chuckled. "Why should I? You are mine. Every one of them knows it by now. If they doubted it by your recent absence from my bed, they are fools," he growled. "You know every one of those marks is going to show when I am dressed," Derix complained, secretly loving every red impression of his adoring overlord. "Uhm...humm...I do," Ben'hamin whispered happily staring at his next choice bit of dessert and wondering where to begin. "I think I will give you a taste of your own medicine," Ben'hamin growled low and with a sexy hint of a threat in his voice. He reached up and secured Derix's arms tightly above his head bound together in an intricate knot that hurt more, but only when pulled on. Derix automatically pulled. His eyes fluttered nearly shut in delight a rich, dark moaning sigh rumbling up from his chest. He gasped, "Gods, I love that!" "Uh, huh...I know," Ben'hamin whispered in his ear before kissing the fuck out of him. Derix was naturally aggressive, but had always submitted willingly to Ben'hamin's possession of him. Ben trailed his way back to where he had stopped, eyeing the uncut length in appreciation. "You know, I will never get tired of feeling that in me, but right now...I think you need cleaning. Avron, will you run get me a soapy washcloth?" The boy groaned. It was the first complaint he had ever voiced to a request. Ben'hamin's eyebrows raised in mild surprise. "Am I going to have to give him to you just because you finally touched him? I can't tell which of you wanted it more." Avron turned red and hissed in an angry, embarrassed gasp. He leapt to his feet, nearly fell flat on his face, regained his balance, and ran to get the linen for his lord. "That is much better, pet," Ben'hamin teased softly, but he was watching Derix not his reluctant favorite. Derix shook his head barely enough to see signaling that he did not want the child. He hated being responsible for people. He thought it would do Derix a world of good to be in charge of a pet that needed him desperately, but the creature he knew so well had never wanted that option. The mermaid was different. She could take care of herself; he was only borrowing her. Ben'hamin frowned. Ben'hamin really wanted Derix to adopt a young male. After centuries of pleading with him to try it, he still refused. "Don't start on me," Derix hissed, "I don't need a pet!" "No," Ben'hamin sighed, "but what will you do when you run across one who needs you? Will you turn him away, just because you don't want to deal with it?" "No," Derix countered just as dismayed, "I will bring him to you...like I always do." "That figures." Ben's disgruntled comment made Derix looked perplexed. "It isn't that I don't like them, Derix. I miss you! If I have to spend all of my time with half a dozen young pets, you have no one to be with...and I feel like I am losing you!" Ben shook his head distressed by his own admission. "I didn't mean it like that. I don't want you to think you can't bring me people who need help! You know me better than that...but..." Ben'hamin sighed heavily and took the washcloth from a hesitant Avron, who looked upset by their argument. "You said it yourself, Derix...There never seemed to be time for just the two of us." Ben'hamin leaned over and kissed Avron's cheek to lessen the impact of his words on the young boy. Then, he turned back to growl at Derix, "I can't believe you haven't bothered to come to me once in an entire year!" Ben wrapped the warm, wet cloth around his erection, massaging it to keep him from getting soft and to clean it too. Derix's breathing quickened immediately. Derix moaned as Ben'hamin purposely squeezed and rubbed just the way he liked it. "I have had to steal a moment or two during business," he continued softly. His face told him how upset that made him. Derix closed his eyes feeling touched by an unfamiliar wave of guilt. "I want you here, in my bed, all night long," he whispered huskily, "where you belong. Or so I thought..." "It is where I want to be," Derix groaned. "Then, tell me why you haven't been." Ben'hamin tossed the rag away dipping down before he could answer to nibble along the most sensitive spots distracting him lazily. One of his best features was his heavily-striped foreskin. Derix hissed in a wisp of air. "You want me to hold a conversation? Now...Oh, Gods, Ben...I can make noise, but a conversation is out of the question!" Derix jerked in sudden tension crying out loud enough for the entire courtyard to know something was going on between them. Ben'hamin Ch. 05 "Yeah, why not," Ben'hamin teased. "I love the sound of your voice when I do this." Avron was curious and moved just enough to see what Ben had done. It drew Ben'hamin's eyes, ever watchful even during this for a threat. He drew back enough to allow Avron to watch as an extended talon drew another bloody line along the red center of another stripe. Ben'hamin kept doing it until every stripe on Derix's foreskin was bleeding slightly. Every mark of his claw drew the same hoarse, nearly orgasmic cry from Derix's lips. By the time he was done, the great warrior lay there shaking eyes almost entirely rolled back into his head. "You are much more like your brother than you want to admit, Derix," Ben growled before sucking that heavy length between his lips, automatically deep-throating him to lick away all of the blood on the first attempt. Derix completely ignored the comment, possibly missing it as his body jerked and writhed beneath his lord helplessly. When he pulled on his wrists, they tightened painfully and he cried out in pleasure forgetting the warlords gathered nearby. Ben'hamin sucked him hard working more blood out of the cuts. It turned Derix on more than many of the normal things he liked. A relic of his odd past, he knew. Besides which, the cuts on top of the highly sensitive striping hurt a great deal, but Derix refused to admit he liked the pain. Ben'hamin rose up to look at him. He would die of pleasure if Derix and Medr ever attempted to best him together. It was a thought Ben had often. In fact, lately it had been haunting his dreams. It was a fantasy doomed from the beginning of time. Still, once...They had been friends. Medr had come to him while Derix had been at the other end of the battlefield. They had fought, but Medr had recognized Derix's scent on his skin and faltered. It had been easy to best the enormous creature after that. Medr hadn't wanted to hurt him without knowing why he had smelled Derix on him, but Ben'hamin had not known that at the time. He had battled wickedly nearly killing the poor creature and taking him hostage. Medr had been hard to tame. He had feared having a male lover, but once it was done...Things had changed between them. Then, Derix had come home. The two pretended to be civil with each other, but it was obvious they shared a past and secrets. They were wary friends, at best, but they had tried to get along. It had been wonderful...for Ben, but it hadn't lasted more than a dozen years. There was one comment made in a drunken moment that ruined everything. Ben hadn't heard anything wrong with the taunt, but it had sparked old hatred. They had started growling at each other in a language so guttural he had been unable to make out the words. Then, blood had flown! Ben'hamin had stepped in to stop it. Medr'ainder had been much larger then, and he had feared Derix would be killed. It was the opposite these days. "Gods, Ben," Derix growled, "stop or I will explode!" He rose startled to find Derix beginning to pulse between his teeth. He grasped the base to keep him from spurting his control all over his face. "Sorry, love, I got carried away," Ben'hamin teased as he held him tight. "You know how much I love doing that." He didn't want to admit to thinking about Medr'ainder during that little scenario. Derix would likely run away and never forgive him for it. "I didn't mind," Derix laughed huskily. "Gods, you are too good at that." Obviously, Ben thought irritated at his lack of attention. He had missed Derix for so long, and then thought about someone else while making love to him. "I'll try to be even better at the rest," Ben stated very seriously, but Derix groaned in mock complaint. Keeping to his teasing mood he asked, "Do you want me to suck at it?" Derix laughed uproariously. "Bad pun," he agreed dryly. "If you suck any more, you are going to have a face full of cum," Derix told him point blank. "Be my guest," he offered happily, "but you seemed determined to stop it a moment ago." Derix relaxed beneath him quite content to allow it if that was what he intended to do to him. Assuming that Derix had his very firm control back; Ben'hamin decided to test his reactions. "That is because," Ben'hamin said carefully, cautiously releasing his hand to let go of his tight restraint, "I intended to make you squirm beneath me until you begged me for it." "Not a chance," Derix laughed. "That would take a very long time, my lord." "Would it?" Ben'hamin sighed in mock disappointment at his observation. "Avron, could you do me a favor, pet?" Derix narrowed his eyes at his best friend's amused tone of voice; years of knowledge leading him to be quickly suspicious of his suddenly mysterious behavior. "What are you up to, Ben?" "You will see, won't you," Ben stated proprietarily grinning at his wrist restraints. "What do you need me to do, master? I will help you any way you want," Avron offered eagerly coming up to kneel on the edge of the bed. "That is what I like to hear," Ben growled happily. Leaning over to catch up the boy, he kissed his cheek and whispered something very softly in his ear knowing how good Derix's hearing was. The boy giggled and his mischievous eyes lit up as he studied Derix speculatively. "Just like that," Avron purred enjoying the idea completely. Derix shifted in apprehension at the look in their eyes. "Are you sure that is all you want me to do?" The boy glanced at Ben'hamin with a wicked smile. "I can do a lot more, my lord." "No," Ben said thoughtfully. "I don't think he could handle anything more despite his bravado. Just do as I asked, pet, and we will work on the rest later." Avron sighed. "Okay, I guess..." Avron sat down closer to Derix kneeling comfortably. Derix let out a restless breath of air waiting for that first touch anxiously. Avron grinned knowingly emboldened by Ben'hamin's confidence. Avron reached out and gently cupped Derix's cheek. The big warrior closed his eyes leaning in to that touch like nothing else in the worlds meant more to him. He had always loved the softest touches. They sensitized his skin for what was to come later. Avron slowly moved his hands to lightly rub over his bare skin. Derix began to purr instinctively, his vocal chords automatically shifting to cat form for it. Avron kept moving his hands over new skin going slow, keeping the touch light, and paying careful attention to the way Derix was reacting to it. Soon, Derix started to gasp at every stroke. Then, he groaned in realization. "Oh, Gods...You told him to pet me! Ben," he whined upset at his devious ploy. "That has got to be the rudest thing I have ever seen you do, you bastard!" Ben'hamin burst into spontaneous laughter at Derix's disgust, as Avron continued to pet his helpless warrior. "Oh, you poor, little kitten," he drawled adding his hands to the torture. Derix purred hissing at them and loving it, even as it irritated the shit out of him. It was hilarious. Ben'hamin was completely amused by his attitude. "Do you need a little lovin', pet? Have you not been getting enough attention, little darling?" Derix growled low in his throat at him, but the helpless purrs continued to erupt from his throat. "You are so fucking rude; you are a complete asshole. Do you know that," Derix mewled in utter surrender. "Better than a half an asshole," Ben'hamin chuckled, "What would you do with just a half?" Derix groaned in defeat. "You have been away too long. Even Avron thinks you are deprived of unselfish attention," Ben'hamin informed him. "Not that this is completely unselfish on my part," Ben'hamin purred finally laying his heavier, taller body over Derix. Derix moaned raggedly. "Gods, that feels good," he whispered nearly gasping at the sensation of his weight pressing down on him. "I am so glad you like it, pet, but this is not how I want you," Ben'hamin fussed. "Turn your ass over for me." Derix twisted beneath him and Ben'hamin turned holding him tight until he was on bottom with his back flat on the bed. Derix looked back at him curiously lying on top of him and feeling very odd at his choice of positions. "And this is..." "Exactly," Ben told him using his hands to trace his muscles as he adjusted Derix until he was lying comfortably on his chest. "I love it that you are so much shorter than me and I can actually get away with doing this." "Jerk, you point it out often enough," Derix growled eyes nearly closing in pleasure. Avron stroked his skin where Ben couldn't reach. "Ahh, Ben..." "Is there something you wanted to say, love?" Derix groaned and it made Ben laugh. "I will take that as a 'no'." He shifted his body again and an even more ragged, helpless groan was torn from Derix's throat as Ben'hamin rubbed his erection along the crease in Derix's buttocks. "That is it...beg for me, baby." "That is not begging," Derix panted already wanting to comply. "Not yet," Ben sighed, "but you will." Avron giggled uncontrollably. "You think this is funny, you little shit," Derix threatened amused, but half angry too. Avron paled. "Wait until I get you tied up again," he warned. "I wouldn't know what to think of someone just petting me because they loved me," the boy whispered. "No one has ever done it before." Derix frowned at him and looked back at Ben in surprise. The Great War Chief groaned. "It never occurred to me," he admitted. "It only came to my mind with you over the way you gave off the impression you would be so damn reluctant to cuddle up in my bed with me." "I am never reluctant for that," Derix protested dismayed that he would even think it of him. "You sounded like you were," Ben'hamin pointed out. "Didn't he, Avron?" The boy nodded his head flushing in embarrassment to contradict a warlord's word. Derix hissed in irritation, glaring at him. "Do not blame the boy," Ben warned perceptively when Avron almost flinched, "blame me for asking him." "Sorry, Av...I didn't mean to blame anyone but myself on that one!" Derix smiled apologetically at the kid. The boy turned beet red. "Damn, you both get so nervous with each other," Ben pointed out in amusement. "It is so God-awful cute!" Avron was frowning having expected Derix to make some rude, sarcastic or teasing comment about it. Ben'hamin grinned at him wickedly, knowing exactly why his lover had missed the opportunity. Derix didn't pay much attention to what Ben was saying because of what he was doing. Ben'hamin was flexing his hips casually against his rump. His hot, hard shaft was wedged rather perfectly along Derix's ass cheeks, but he could think of a much better place for it to slide so fluidly. Derix closed his eyes keeping a tight jaw against saying what he was thinking. "What is the matter, Derix? Is there something you want, love," he growled in Derix's ear suggestively. Derix nearly moaned. It was inaudible, but Ben'hamin felt the vibration before his lover could completely control it. "All you have to do is ask for it, baby," Ben informed him firmly licking at his ear. Derix's ass was getting damp from the movement. "It is all the same to me. I can go like this, or I can go in you when and where you ask me to," Ben'hamin reminded too sweetly. Derix closed his eyes and growled in frustration. "Fuck you, Ben," Derix gasped gritting his teeth. Ben'hamin laughed. "Was that an invitation, love," Ben'hamin teased. "You know me, I have to have specifics...Maybe you should rephrase it just a bit until I am sure of what you meant to say to me." "I said 'you can go fuck yourself'," he growled angrily. "I am not begging you, you conceited prick. I am not that damn desperate!" "You will be," Ben whispered, "just wait a little longer. I know you too well, love. You want me so bad your teeth are about to crack." "That would be because I'm gritting them," Derix growled irritably. "Exactly the point I am trying to make, you stubborn fool," Ben'hamin sighed. "You are only mad because you want to give in," he teased. "I would love the satisfaction of it. You know I would." "You are so damn stubborn, Derix! It has been too long," Ben'hamin whispered into his ear licking at the outer ring aggressively in a way Derix loved. He felt Derix tremble uncontrollably above him. "Give up your pride," Ben advised softly, "or you know I will make you seriously regret it later." Derix groaned grinding his ass down into Ben's massively, swollen erection. "Gods, okay," he hissed giving up because he knew he would never withstand the both of them much longer, "please, Ben...just fuck me!" That was all Ben needed, or wanted. He looked at Avron and nodded. "Now, pet," he purred happily. Avron's hands stopped petting Derix as he repositioned himself. Derix swore realizing Ben'hamin had preplanned his surrender all along. Avron's lips nipped up Derix's dick in painful, little bites of skin alternated with sexy, little laps of his hot tongue. It caused a raggedly, hoarse cry from Derix! "Oh, Gods, Av...What are you doing?" Following swiftly on the boy's assault, Ben'hamin began to force himself inside of Derix's rigid body enjoying the extra tight feel of him, because Derix could not find a way to relax no matter how hard he tried. It brought forth cry after cry until Derix could no longer catch his breath at the pleasure they forced upon him. Avron ate at him mercilessly as he writhed back into Ben unable to get free of them! When the boy's mouth closed solidly over him, Derix lost any discipline he once thought he had. His hips pistoned helplessly compelling his desire acutely down Avron's throat, and then to the hilt of Ben'hamin's shaft incapable of stopping or even slowing down his motions as the sensations drove him mad. "That is it," Ben panted gritting his own teeth as he continued to hold back for him. "That is it, baby..." Derix screamed. His body was so tight it felt like it was going to rip right into little pieces if he didn't do something soon! "Oh, Gods...Oh...my...Gods, Ben," he screamed helplessly nearly growling the words. "Fuck," he swore angrily as his body twisted in involuntary shape-shifting. Avron choked, but quickly readjusted to his bigger size glancing up to see the fur flowing over Derix's striped skin in swift waves. "Ben, you bastard," he continued to swear over and over again as his body became half man and half cat. "I will fuckin' get you for this shit!" Derix screamed again in powerless enthusiasm, but it sounded more like the wail of a tempestuous, undomesticated creature this time! Avron stepped up his tight suction as Derix drove up into his mouth ruthlessly adding the firmness of his tongue to the underside of his thick dick mercilessly. "Oh, shit, Av," Derix growled loudly, "oh, Gods, yes!" Derix snarled in pain as he yanked on the ropes that held his wrists and they tightened down sharply. "Oh, fuck, yeah...Oh, please...please...please!" He screwed back and forth between them desperately. "Ben," he begged. Ben'hamin bit down sharply on the nape of his neck laughing and purring and growling all at once. He jerked his body in a way that nearly snapped Derix's bound wrists as he slipped further down the bed. Derix grunted and gasped. "Oh, Gods, yes," Derix sighed ridiculously pleased by the tiny shift that brought his flesh into such sharper focus around him. "Come on, Ben...fuck me, baby" he pleaded wickedly knowing he could count on his best friend to know exactly what he needed at the exact second he required it. Ben's legs raised to latch around his ankles and spread them letting Avron sink down lower giving him access to Derix's relentlessly, stretched skin constricting his sultry, engorged orbs underneath his jaw. Derix gasped sucking in his breath through his teeth as slowly as he could manage as his body heated up unmercifully. It was cut off abruptly when Ben'hamin's powerful arms wrapped around his chest and throat. Ben squeezed until Derix was breathless and a spurt of irrational fear unexpectedly seized him. It shot adrenaline into Derix's bloodstream forcing his blood to pound in his veins swiftly. Derix snarled like a caged animal roaring past the restriction as his powerful form was squeezed cruelly. The oxygen deprivation starved his adrenaline soaked cells heightening the sensations to an unbearable state of hyper reality. "Oh, Gods, Ben," he choked feeling his lover swell massively to excruciating width and length as his own beast took control. "Fuck, baby, I love it when you do that!" Derix coughed straining his pinched vocal chords past the pressure being exerted upon them to complement Ben's technique in delight. Claws raked over Derix's chest ripping it to shreds. Ben growled barely holding off a substantial orgasm as he tried deliberately to wait for Derix's willpower to cave in before him. Avron sank slightly sharpened teeth into Derix's dick, scraping deep furrows down the sides to remind him that Ben'hamin was not the only person contributing to the pulsating waves of orgasmic pleasure beginning to vibrate along his spinal chord! Derix cried out in shocked gratification! "Av," Derix mewled, "oh, please...Av...do it...again!" Ben'hamin compressed his teeth tasting blood as a splash of heat swept into his mouth. Derix jerked above him grinding down hard as his skin broke beneath the fangs both above and below. "Aaaaaauuuuuuugggggghhhhhh......" The long sound lasted for an eternity before Derix's skin felt like it was peeling away straight down to the very bones! Then, he shook as wave after wave of intense emotions practically caused seizures while he felt the head of his dick split open. He actually felt the tiny opening spasm around his seed as thick jets of it raced straight down Avron's greedy throat. Avron was not the least bit content with his offering as he sucked it down. He sucked even harder begging Derix for more. It was an impossible feat if ever he knew one, Derix decided in a distant part of his mind as it splintered into a thousand consecutive thoughts; he was spent. Vaguely, Derix felt the violent tremors in Ben'hamin's supple body as he pulsed and spewed into him. Derix could even feel the oddity of Ben'hamin's body sliding along his skin sleek with a sheen of sweat. A deep bite and a groan later, Derix felt a dampening at his knee, where the boy had suddenly rubbed his hard erection intently. It was almost cold against his own heated skin, he realized abstractedly. A part of Derix mind was pleased they had found pleasure, but most of it just plain didn't give a fuck! It was too busy enjoying the rapture of the best sex it had ever experienced in its' lifetime. His body shivered one last time in what was nearly a second orgasm. Maybe it was, he thought in surprise as Avron licked at him again. It felt so good. He didn't have the words to express it. Derix floated on a fuzzy cloud of bliss that casually reached up from the depths of his soul to engulf him in a sensation of euphoric peace unlike anything he had known before it. Derix's breathing steadied out to a slow even pace as he sighed contently. Ben'hamin grew still underneath him puzzled for a second. "Oh, my Gods," he breathed in amazement almost noiselessly as he tried not to disturb Derix. "Is he awake, Avron?" The boy was slow to stir. "He doesn't look like it," Avron rasped huskily, throat savaged and raw from its previous usage. He stretched his legs out more comfortably letting his dry eyes fall shut. Ben'hamin carefully shifted enough to allow Derix's side to rest on the mattress. "I will be damned," he whispered in awe, "he passed out on us, baby." Ben's delighted laughter softly filled the room for half a dozen minutes. He only gave up his merriment when his own exhaustion dragged away the very last of his energy coercing him gently into a much needed slumber. Ben'hamin Ch. 05 Avron was smiling at the sound of it as he curled into Derix's stomach asleep long before his master. Derix lay there at the edge of the bed until he knew Ben'hamin was entirely asleep. His mind still troubled him and he got up carefully. The moon highlighted the room drawing him to the open windows and courtyard. Four sides of it were left open, three to bedrooms and one to the hall beyond. He saw lights on in the third bedroom. A heavy sigh escaped him. It seemed his brother slept uneasily too. A gentle hand startled him and he was shocked to see Avron standing behind him! How had he not heard him move? He checked to be sure Ben'hamin was still in bed. "Damn, boy...you are as quiet as a cat stalking prey," he whispered. "What are you doing up?" "You looked like you could use a set of ears," Avron stated with a trusting smile and a shrug. "Or at least a friend," he added sounding tired but determined as he leaned on the window sill. His expression grew as troubled as Derix when he glanced across the long yard and saw lights. "Is that Medr'ainder's room?" "Yeah, it should have been reserved for Petr, but Ben'hamin put him in there instead." He sounded a little upset about it. "I guess things really changed while I was gone. I need to talk to someone. Would you mind tagging along with me?" "Sure," Avron said cheerfully without asking who, or going back to bed when he obviously wanted to. He didn't even consider saying 'no'. "I am hoping if someone else is there, we won't say a few things that need to be said between us. It can wait, but what I need to say now...can't." Avron followed him down the dark hallways as silent as a ghost floating over the stones. "You are going to see Medr? But he is with his slave," he protested in concern. "Pet," Derix corrected automatically. "He is with his pet, love." The correction earned him a firm glare. "Yeah, I have seen him." "Then, how can you say 'pet' with a straight face? He hurts that boy! The kid is more slave than anyone I have ever seen," Avron hissed. Medr opened the door only wearing a sheet and a disapproving look of anger. "Medr also has really good ears, boy," the dark warrior snapped. "I don't like to be talked about by two idiots slinking through the hallways in the dark! Especially when one of them is you," Medr'ainder added tilting his head at his brother. "Can we talk?" Avron hid behind Derix defiantly meeting the surly male's eyes. He stepped back. The boy fled to the dressing alcove with a second sheet and a very scared look at everyone. "That damn kid is as timid as a mouse," Medr'ainder complained looking fairly disappointed in him. They heard a hiccup come from the kid behind the screen. "Have a seat. All I have is the bed, but I am pretty convinced that it wouldn't bother the two of you any." Since he could probably smell the sex on their skin, it wasn't hard to figure out what he meant. He moved back to the dressing screen to pull on his pants and they heard the boy make a soft sound of protest. "Well," he called. The kid came out swiftly before becoming hesitant pale and not meeting anyone's eyes. Instead of stating his reason for being there, Derix addressed the frightened boy. "Go on to the kitchen and grab yourself something to eat, kid." His gentle tone made the boy less nervous as he ran for the door. Medr came out as the boy was closing it. He gave Derix an odd stare looking irritated. Derix sat at the far end of the bed and waved Avron over to sit beside him. "A couple of months ago, I was traveling through several western and southern regions. I have never hidden the fact that I do not want any knowledge of your past, but..." Medr's expression went wary and blank as he waited to find out what this was all about. "I ran into someone who knew you. I sort of, stepped into one of your secrets by accident." A tense muscle jerked in his brother's jaw and he turned to lean on the windowsill much the way Auron had earlier. He was looking up at the nearly full moon. "Do you mind? I really feel I need to tell you this..." "Well, little brother..." Medr glanced back with a rueful half-smile. "You are stronger than I am now, so we will talk about anything you like," he said softly as he looked back out the window. "Medr, I never asked..." "Don't," he warned as casually as he had stated the first. "I stopped in this really, large trade town on the coast. Not this continent, but right across from where we were born." Medr's eyes trailed back to him, patient, but there was and edge of some other emotion waiting for his next words. "I know you have been there. I had to go to the place to see a man named Everest Sinedien," he paused as anger flashed across his brother's tight expression, "to charter passage across the ocean home. There was a girl..." "Stop," Medr rasped. "I don't want to hear this!" "She was bleeding to death, and I couldn't leave her to die," Derix argued. Medr flinched looking pale for the first time...ever, as far as Derix knew. "I made certain she would live and be safe for several months so I could deliver Kir'sis here, but if someone does not return for her..." "Gods, Derix...Why was it you? Why her? Of all of the places to go, how could you just stumble upon her?" He looked like a man struck by lightning. Derix stood up worried about him, but he held out a hand to keep him away. "Don't go getting all brotherly on me! I don't need it, Derix!" "I think you are wrong," Derix said softly, "and more importantly I know I am...You needed help. You didn't have anyone to turn to...That was my fault. I am sorry, Medr'ainder." "Unless you want to help me kill Sinedien, there isn't anything you could do!" Derix looked at the floor and back up to his face solemnly. "Do you want to hear about it, or not? If you choose to return to help her, I won't stop you. She seemed...really, sweet...once." Sighing, Medr'ainder sat on the bed and Derix mirrored him as he sat on the other side and started telling him exactly what he had seen. Derix didn't edit anything out of his narrative to help Medr understand how bad the situation he had seen truly was. He wanted his brother to know all so he could make the best decision possible. Avron lay down on the bed between them and eventually fell asleep listening to the gentle drone of their voices above him. Ben'hamin Ch. 06 CHAPTER 6 -- DIRGE OF DESTINY I am called Dirge of Destiny. I do not know why, nor do I have any control of my life. The people who coming looking for me see me as some haughty queen to kneel before and worship, yet I am no more than a slave in this place...a whore kept on display for the amusement of others. Sometimes, I dream. I do not like my dreams. They fill me with sadness because they reflect a more pressing reality than the one I see, or those who come to see me see...In my dreams, I am no more than a pampered and jeweled whore in a glass room being watched by others as men come to me. No one ever speaks in these dreams; no one came for the words. They came to see, to touch, to taste, to feel. They do not care what I say. They no longer have to be patient or polite to garner my favors, nothing. They know what I am; they see the real me and not this illusion that has been set about me. I am a whore. It was not always so, but it is the truth of it now. I am not even allowed to choose my own lovers. This is how I see myself. Strange enough for me to believe, but others do not see me as I see myself. No, they really do see a haughty queen. They see a cold, emotionless icon that sits before them in jewels and lace and gauzy fabric looking sexy and alluring to all who see her. I am not the person they see. She is not real. "Dirge, you look bored. Shall I send you some toys to play with until my business is concluded?" The laughter would not come. The insane sound of it held at bay through centuries upon centuries of practice. "Oh, no...I insist. It will take me a while to finish this trade agreement. I would hate for either of you to be bored. Dirge, you will take care of him, won't you?" Like she had a choice, she wondered emotionlessly. "I think you have had enough wine, my sweet wife. Perhaps you should try a slice of the fruit," he suggested. Oh, yes, the fruit... She plucked up a slice from a bowl and let it trail lazily along her skin. The very juice of it tingled as the toxins in it set to work on her before she had even lifted it to her lips. "We mustn't forget the fruit," she whispered in amused sarcasm. "Pardon me?" The short little man was balding and he had a little bit of a pot belly, like a bug-eyed pig. He was wearing what Everest made all of his guests wear, even the ugly ones. He sat down on her enormous bed-styled couch hesitantly. "The fruit, did you say?" "No," Everest said softy. "You don't want those. I promise you." His laughing voice receded across the room, where Everest sat down with the merchant's hagglers determined to do business. The silly merchant got curious, clever little pig, that. He took up a slice of the fruit and his eyes widened in sudden understanding. Oh, the piggy was quick! Usually, it took time to understand that they had been left alone with a drugged woman scantily clad. The pig was clever, and therefore dangerous to Everest. He drew the fruit over her skin touching stomach through the parted folds of the gauzy outfit. It traveled up lazily circling a breast before being brought up for my tasting. I hated that fruit, but I loved the taste of it. While it was dissolving in my mouth, his hand had already traveled the same path to close around the hardened nipple. He leaned down to take it into his mouth unwittingly ingesting the hazardous drugs into his own flesh. I was so sore I could feel it through the pain-dulling haze. Everest had outdone himself today. Business was heavy passing swiftly through the hall far faster than usual. What was he planning that was so important? Usually, she did not care, but even numb...she ached in her very womb. Who was this perfect woman who gazed so docilely out of my eyes? Who allowed this little pig to carefully draw his hand down to that tight nest of curls to press food greasy fingers into slickened folds? "You are bleeding," he whispered very softly into my ear. I did not respond. That would explain the ache. Maybe this was the end of me, I wondered. Could I die if the little pig got rough and caused the light bleed to really flow? "Do you care?" "I care about absolutely nothing," the woman using my lips whispered. It must have looked like a sexy flirt to those watching further away. I laughed and there was the edge of madness I have heard for too long to wonder at it. He heard. This little pig was very clever. He understood. No else did. Just the clever, wide-eyed pig and the royal whore, she thought. Piggy did not wait for his invitation, because there certainly wouldn't have been one. It had already been given when Everest told him to wait and entertain himself, besides. His hand simply pulled the ties of his silky, opaque pajamas. Piggy pushed them down as he settled between those pale gold, uninviting yet unresistingly, open thighs with pleasure. My eyes fluttered closed; I did not want to see his ugly, obese shape. He parted the robe further and lifted one of this queen bitch's legs as he pressed along my body. Piggy positioned himself to rub a half limp member in the wetness the drug caused. I left the leg up when he let go. I did not care. This is what Everest wanted him to do. The haughty queen couldn't resist looking down her oh-so-bare flesh to stare at him. She knew that stare unnerved people, even ones who knew she would never bother to protest. He rubbed the suddenly stiff head over her waiting lips enthusiastically and was thoroughly soaked in seconds. Piggy must get off on her high and mighty gaze. He continued to chafe against her, over and over. She got the idea Piggy was not exactly petite. No, the head of his dick felt as fat as his engorged waistline as it pushed in just a little ,speeding over those wet lips, enjoying the moment...so-to-speak. Only went an unwilling sound had parted my unforgiving silent lips did he seem content to continue onward. By now, my body was not just wet; it was pulsing with impatience, too. He pushed at the hole he had been racing along against and it opened to allow him entrance. As soon as he pushed in, he hung. The flesh stopped opening and tugged inward denying its ability to allow it. He used his hand to work his member in tiny little circles as his hips gave only millimeters of movement back and forth, working himself deeper despite my body's endeavor to keep him away. It began to burn and sting, but I called out in something other than pain as he continued to drive his dick down efficiently, yet uncompromisingly. Then, he was all the way through the resistance and descending down far more deeply, slowly but oh-so-deep. An untamed gasp fled my lips! I could not help feeling what was being done. How could the little pig be so good? Hundreds had gone before him, half of them today. Yet, she could not pretend that this one was invisible! Piggy was anything but a bad dream. He was ugly beyond belief, but when he touched her...there was unexplainable heat. A harsher sound escaped my mouth! "Turn," he ordered her pulling back out. Piggy maneuvered me onto my stomach and pushed one leg up like a sultry, little vixen. It was one of her favorite positions to watch the room propped up on one arm and leg as the rest lay straight. He came between her thighs and carefully slid himself back into her. It felt wicked; it felt full. It felt like she was clenched on him so tightly she would crush him, while he was inside of her! Again, there was the sting of a hint of pain, but the fruit's drug dulled it. He moved casually and powerfully. His pot belly kept pushing into her ass keeping him from seating himself all the way to the end, and it was still so deep she groaned even louder in surprised dismay. How big could he piggy get? How big if he didn't have that huge tummy to get in his way? Would it be too big? He kept at it until he realized she would not look at him in this position. Piggy pulled the leg up and around his chest until it was nearly on his shoulder. From there, he continued to drive ever deeper until she squeezed her eyes shut and moaned. A part of her mind analyzed the sound. It was a strange mixture of utter exhaustion and pain with a measure of pleasure through it all that scared her. Would she just lie here until Everest killed her? The drugs numbed the higher peaks of pleasure until his finger began to rub circles over that knot of nerves as his hips pounded out a separate rhythm. She started to pass out just as the orgasm folded over her and she grunted harshly to keep from screaming as her sore, overworked body clenched once more. She shook from the tension locking her channel around him, causing the invader even more pleasure...even as he harmed her. She felt how hard he had to work to expel his semi-hard member as she faded away and there was pain with it. The pain had finally caught up! She knew by the sudden alarm in his gasp that the moisture pouring out of her body as he exited was blood, and not what he had expected it to be. A happy memory surfaced as Dirge drifted in drug-induced dreams. It was so strange to even remember a happy moment anymore that the details of it completely shocked her out of it for a second before she allowed it to drift over her again. It was the ball her parents had held for her in the very same hall where she lay every day, only her mind practically effused to admit it because it looked and felt like a totally different place. There were pink and burgundy and red roses everywhere dappled with white to really affect their blushes. The hall was draped with shimmery silver cloth on white to match her parents' royal dress. Her long hair hung in dusty-blonde splendor on a sequined dress of pink and burgundy. In fact, the burgundy roses had to be ordered special because she had not wanted a pale pink ball gown. It was an old tradition in her family for her sixteenth year and they insisted... Thankfully, the dressmaker had mixed the two into a lovely creation that only a fairy princess could have expected. Dirge had been so terrifically delighted to wear it that she was still spinning wildly on the dance floor in it when the room seemed to darken. Laughing in delight, she assumed it was growing late and continued to enjoy her night... Dirge surfaced from the memory enough to interject a very morbid thought. She had been so stupid that night, but at least she had enjoyed every moment. It was her last free night as the darling princess for soon Everest would make her the whore queen. She felt someone pressing on her lower abdomen before she heard a voice..."Absolutely not," the male stated furiously. "She needs complete bed rest and not so much as a finger touching anything down there..." He had to be standing directly over her to be heard so clearly. He moved away and the words grew mumbled. The dream washed up to swallow her. "Destiny," her father called delighted by her happiness. "Come meet Everest Sinedine..." She obeyed coming up to sweep him a lovely, perfectly practiced curtsy in her glittery dress. "How do you do, Mr. Sinedine? I am pleased to meet you. What brings you to my fabulous nation?" Her father's indulgent laughter trailed over the room bringing smiles to all of those who heard it. "You do, princess," Everest stated chivalrously. "Would you like to dance with me, my darling, little, blue-eyed nymph?" She blushed as ridiculously as the roses and held out her hand. Her father raised his eyebrows in mock disbelief at his fawning description. Then, he winked and waved to her. They made quite a pair evenly matched on the dance floor. She noticed right away that her feet never seemed to falter and the room around her seemed to grow dim and distant and indistinct. There was only Everest Sinedine and he smiled at her like she was the most treasured gem in her treasury...The silly blush remained on her cheeks... She slipped out of the dream as pain brought a gasp to her lips. They still spoke of that night when they came to see her. These people she was supposed to count on to protect her in a time of need. How does one know that a queen sometimes needs to be protected from her very husband, their king? That same voice was above her again...so soft and soothing to her hypertensive nervous system. "No, no more drugs! You must let these wear off before you give her any more. Are you trying to kill her, hour highness? If you are, you nearly succeeded..." Who was this dear knight to talk to a king in such a gruff manner? Dirge certainly didn't want to be there when her only savior in centuries was killed for his blatant misconduct. So even hating the dream, she slipped back into Everest's waiting arms. Everest was wearing the same crisp white and silver that the royal couple wore only whiter. His pale yellow-blonde curls spilled down around him to his lower back. His eyes were sanguine green and he was only an inch taller than she was. Destiny thought he was divine, and he danced like a silken dream. Her own hair kept spinning heavily around her as his bounced to his movements like a cloud of light. Destiny asked him how she could make her own look so carefree. He had frowned and stated it would be impossible. Everest said the only way to do it would be to cut her knee-length locks shorter. A woman's hair is her dignity and a queen's must remain long, he told her solemnly. She looked over at her mother thinking she must have been the most dignified lady in the land. Her amused laughter tinkled out like bubbling champagne... Dirge nearly cried real tears as she fought to remember that so long forgotten face. Her mother was always dressed in a long train that swept the ground behind her. Over that white material, her mother's hair had laid in waves and waves of beautifully beribboned curls. "Her insides are so thin the slightest movement could cause severe hemorrhaging, your highness. Do you not understand what I am trying to tell you?" So her knight still lived, did he? She made a point to remember his voice. If they both lived through this, she would thank him with her loveliest smile and one gentle kiss. It might not be a pleasing gift to him, but it would be all she could give him without acting like a slut, which he clearly disapproved of. Thank the heavens someone did! "Complete inactivity and bed rest...Your lady is a queen. Have the sense to force her to act like one until she heals," the voice stated throwing his disgust on her head instead of where it belonged. A sinister laugh carried from somewhere in the room making her long to escape him, but she had learned long ago that could never, ever...ever happen. Another memory dragged her down into its depths. Dressed only in her night rail and a dressing gown, Destiny ran towards the sound of her mother's scream. When she arrived, a panting Everest, now her husband, was standing over three bodies of guardsmen, one dead pair of royalty and a bleeding, gasping best friend. "Andy, no," she screamed as she ran to him, crying too hard to see. "Get away from him," Everest stated jealously. "What happened? Who did this?" She obeyed by surreptitiously not touching him; even though, she wanted to hold him and never let go. "He is dying!" "Good riddance," Everest growled. He called the guards to come take Andy away. "Take him outside and kill him first," he suggested angrily. "Make certain I never see him again!" "No, Andy, no," she screamed going to Everest to beg for his life. "He didn't do this! I know he did not. Please, Everest, do not kill him! I will do whatever you ask, but don't. He protected me throughout my entire childhood...He has saved my life more times than I know how to recount! My people owe him at least one boon...Let him be taken out of my nation never to return so long as you are the king! Please..." He had nodded stiffly. He could not say anything less in front of the household, but Everest had made certain to later show her Andy being beaten and stabbed. He had murdered him before her very eyes and paid slavers to get rid of the body outside of her home land... Dirge shivered as she woke to darkness and silence. A figure moved in the shadows. "Please, lie still, my queen...I fear you are gravely wounded." So her knight remained alive, after all. If he was as handsome as his voice, Everest would be certain to kill him the second she saw him. "Your husband does not know I have remained at your side." "You are foolish if you believe he will not know," she sighed while feeling inexcusably exhausted. "He is not the only powerful psychic, my lady." He knew Everest's secret. "Then, surely you must know I did not do this to myself." "I know...I read it as I stopped the bleeding." He purposely kept to the shadows and she was grateful. "Unfortunately, you made your problem my problem." "I don't know what you mean," she stated softly. "You don't have to...I know. You are safe for two months. I told him you would die if you were allowed to move from this bed, or have sex before then. The rest is for the two of you to work out. I have matters to deal with...I don't know if I can help you." "I didn't ask for help." "No," he sighed, "you didn't." Then, he was just gone. She was not certain how he had left, but he had. "Dirge, my lovely wife," Everest came in looking as good as always as he poured on the charm. "It has been three whole months since your unfortunate accident. He came to lean over her bed. "How are you feeling?" "I am fine, Everest. You know you don't have to coddle me like this. I will be alright." "No more bleeding," he asked firmly. "I asked last month and you were still getting some smears of it every time you checked. We want our queen healthy so she can help us." Everest pulled away the covers checking to see if she was wearing anything. "I am a little sore, but no blood, just when I move." "Really," he said looking doubtful. "Get dressed and come out to the yard to have lunch with me. Your subjects are getting worried. They don't see you. There are rumors of your death going around. "He picked out a lovely burgundy night gown that fell to my upper calf, only inches longer than my hair. "Sit up. I will help you dress." "I can do it," I protested afraid of him when he was being so charming. "No, no, sweetheart..." He pulled it over her head and down to her waist. "Sit," he ordered gently. "I will get you a robe to put on over it." He chose one of royal blue. The two colors brought a blush to her pale skin tone and drew out the blue of her dark eyes, almost causing her blonde hair to have a red tint in certain lights. "There you go...my beautiful queen." He helped her up from the bed to keep any undue stress off of her stomach. "Tell me if you get more than a tiny pain while we walk," he advised. Dirge couldn't help the tiny glances she gave him as they walked along the hallways to a garden door. The staff all stopped to watch her as they passed. Everest was smiling like an attentive husband as he touched her arm peacefully. "I told them to place the softest reclining seat they could find out on the lawn for us." He led her to a very soft couch with a minimum incline for their backs to rest on. He helped her sit down and then sat with her. A couple of male kitchen helpers carried up trays to set up over their laps and food-filled plates. "Thank you, Dev and Kiev," Everest said with an amused grin. The two helpers snickered and fled. Dirge frowned at Everest strangely. "Are you okay?" He blinked and looked at her again. "What am I doing wrong?" His wide-eyed amusement was loveable in the extreme. She caught herself smiling. "Baby, I haven't seen that smile in a long time." "That is probably because you haven't made me lately." He almost laughed and then solemnly nodded his head in agreement. "So when do we get back to work?" Ben'hamin Ch. 06 "Surely you are not in a hurry," he teased. "Eat and rest...enjoy the day for a change. I need a break, even if you do not," he admitted ruefully. He picked up a piece of baked fish and held it up to her lips letting her nibble it from his fingers." That is my baby...eat up," he encouraged happily pulling more food off of his own plate to feed her. Before long, he had her giggling and relaxed right where the household could see them together. One of the kitchen helpers returned with enormous drinks for them. "Thank you, Kiev." The boy hesitated before leaving glancing back several times. "What? I don't say 'thank you'..." He looked bemused by his odd reaction. "No," Dirge informed him. "In the time I have known you...hundreds of years...and you have never called the kitchen staff by name." "I did, too," he protested indignantly. "Right after our wedding..." "Oh, yeah...right before you killed my parents and best friend," Dirge stated coolly trying to boost her immune system against his charming nature. "Me," Everest said with a mild grin. "Okay, say I killed your parents, sweetie...I know for a fact your best friend is still alive, because I personally escorted him to his home. His father was royally," he chuckled frowning as he tried to keep a straight face, "pissed." "Andy is alive! Why did you go through so much play acting to make me think he was dead? You are such a despicable bastard!" He held up more food watching her face leisurely. "Am I really such a jerk? People keep telling me I am," he mused thoughtfully. "You liked me once. Was I a bad husband before your parents died?" He widened his eyes for a second making a funny face as he asked. "No," Dirge whispered, "you were a wonderful husband before they died, Everest. What I don't understand is why you had to kill them! Your business meant so much to you that you could not wait to work out the trade contracts another way? Why do you do this? I hate it!" Everest frowned, again looking contemplative, as he pushed a piece of shrimp around. "Destiny...I..." "You never call me that!" He blinked startled by her outburst. "I have," he stated angrily. "Yeah, before their deaths...Everest, what is going on? You can't snap into 'evil twin mode' for centuries and then just go all 'nice man I married' without a very good explanation!" His gorgeous lips tilted up in surprised mirth. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Why do you know the kitchen helpers names when I know you have not once bothered to care in the last two centuries?" He sighed. "Can we not discuss this? Honestly, I have better things to be doing than hashing out history!" His irritation chilled her to the bone, but brought on an odd sense of relief. Nice Everest wasn't an Everest she knew how to accept any more. The last one had ended in misery worse than his usual petty cruelties. She ate off of her plate until she was too full to eat more. "I didn't mean to snarl at you...Tell me," he searched visibly for a topic, "about your best friend. How did you meet him?" "You don't want to hear this," she protested. His sweet smile flickered into a sullen glare. "I asked," he stated shortly. "Alright, I was kidnapped when I was six months old," she sighed. "My parents told me this story, obviously, since I do not remember it. They searched and searched frantically, but couldn't find me. My Andy found me..." The sound of her voice was enough to tell him how much she loved him. "The man who kidnapped me hired a wet nurse to take care of me, but a plan is only as good as its perpetrators. The men couldn't leave the nurse be, and accidentally killed her with the frequency of their attentions." Ben'hamin Ch. 07 For the first time since hearing this story, Dirge prayed the nurse had not suffered too much that night. "When they woke camped along the road the next morning, they had a dead nurse and a squalling babe, and no clue what to do." He smiled in sympathy, probably for the poor pitiful male. "They took me into the nearest town asking around for a new nurse. As luck had it, Andy found the dead nurse and carried her body into town for a claiming. He didn't know any who knew her and speculated about the new men in town. But," Dirge held up a hand to pause the story, "Andy says he knew exactly what had happened." "When we passed near where she lay, I stopped screaming and reached toward her with a grin. None of the kidnappers noticed this. Andy was a young warrior and his temper grew hot at the mistreatment of the unknown nurse, but it grew more so when he discovered their intent to hire a new nurse." "Honorable, young man," Everest mumbled, "most people would not have made it their problem." "Well, I don't know where he was beforehand, but as it were...Andy's father is there and Andy says, 'These men are attempting to lure another unsuspecting young mother into the same fate. Dear father, we cannot allow this! The poor babe needs caring for, but we cannot allow them to use the infant to kill young women in such a shameless way.'" "His father asks him if he is more concerned for their women, or the little baby." "Andy frowns not understanding. He tells him 'both' fiercely and asks if it makes a difference." "His father states cautiously that 'the most honest thing to do also requires the most work'. He then goes on to explain that if they leave the babe with the men, it will need a nurse putting women in danger. If they take it away, it will need a nurse, no danger, but someone must adopt the poor child." "His words did not have the intended reaction. Andy's father wanted him to think about what he was doing more carefully because of the potential consequences." "Andy swore foully and raced away! Andy rushed up and killed all of the men except one who he questions about the infants relatives. Only the man was too afraid to talk," Dirge explained. "Finally, he kills him too and questions the locals trying to trace their path backwards. It takes him months to learn that the men had traveled on a ship from this continent and had traveled overland to that ship from the capital city." "By now, I am nearly two-years-old and constantly at his side." "He walks into the capital with me asking his usual questions about missing men and an infant. Because of the items wrapped in the blanket, they recognized who I was and several people attacked him for various reasons." "Andy was captured three times trying to rescue me. It is a long story about how brave, determined, and downright stubborn a pissed off male can be," she said with a fond smile. "Then eventually, he grabs me up and runs to the castle seeking sanctuary. He prayed in the church for ten whole hours before my father came...as he did every day...to pray for my return. They talked for a long time." "My dad didn't immediately realize that the infant was his lost daughter until Andy explained the entire story. My father told his own tale hoping against all odds that this stranger held the key to finally being reunited with his child." "Andy showed him the babe..." "The king was stupefied. He told Andy he would never want for anything his kingdom could grant so long as he lived. Andy was a hero of the realm. He told him that he would personally see to it that Andy could never be harmed in this kingdom so long as Andy lived," Dirge stated ruefully. Not wanting her to dwell on the end of that, Everest mused thoughtfully, "That is quite a story." Everest escorted her back to her own room in silence. "You should rest, sugar, you need your sleep." Everest didn't return for nearly three days where she practically slept the entire duration to make up for the energy she spent getting up. Then, he roused her for dinner once more. "I hope you feel better, my queen. People are asking about you all over town," he teased. "Would you like to come to the hall after dinner? No business," he was quick to assure her, "not for you, anyway. I just think people should see you are alive." She nodded letting him chat away for several hours before walking with her to the hall. Her bed chaise was gone. In its place was a much smaller, softer chaise. It was still big enough to accommodate two people. She lay down on it trying to ignore everyone's stares of surprise...and curiosity. Everest began to discuss business almost immediately. Dirge found herself slipping in and out of sleep. Before long a familiar sound woke her and she sat up just enough to scan the room. It was filled with the usual regulars and many who were unknown to her. There was the usual collaboration of uniquely gorgeous men in showy, flashy outfits that bared a great deal of skin to anyone curious enough to look at them. It was fairly normal for people to look and dress that way, so Dirge ignored them despite the lust-filled eyes that followed their movements. There was a tall, brawny male with dual swords crossed at his back. Unusual because he wore only a loincloth and gauzy pants over his leather boots, she thought as she studied him. His bared chest was a picture of rippling manhood like sculpted stone that seemed to gleam in the light of the halls torches. He had hair as white as his skin that curled in a riot of motion. There was a harem of youths dressed outrageously in flashy outfits of every color in a far corner of the hall. They were loud and happy, a motley crew of boys and girls with hair and skin as colorful as the outfits they wore. None of them were too young to be sex slaves, or old enough to be warriors. They were thin, lithe and supple. Someone paid good money for them. Someone was not worried they would be stolen away, or escape either, she noticed. Also, a tax collector stood ill-at-ease waiting impatiently for Everest's attention. Everest would not be happy to see him standing there! Obviously, the tax collector had been waiting long enough to grow sullen and irritable. Usually, it was her job to comfort him while he waited, but due to her absence he knew better than to ask. Two slaves stood at his elbow holding files and mountains of paperwork that the tax collector was too lazy to carry himself. The two looked miserable. It was apparent they did not like belonging to him. It was shame to waste the two. They were lovely. There was a bulky figure standing against a wall near the banquet table with his head bowed. The large slave was sporting thick chains on his thick, bronzed wrists heavily cloaked and concealed by a thick material from head-to-toe. Only those overly large, manly hands were within sight. There was a very short, frail boy...He stood in the concealed, muscleman slave's shadow huddled there even though the big slave ignored him. Brown-white hair with a touch of red-yellow shorn to the height of his ears peaked out of his own thick, concealing cloak. She could see olive toned, brown-white skin running over the boy's thin, far-too-scrawny arms. And there...that must have been what woke her, she thought in amused disgust as she looked beyond them to the banquet tables. Piggy was back. The short, balding man was just as chubby as ever. He was eyeing the banquet table and talking to two other men who were regular traders in town. "Are you hungry?" Dirge gasped and turned back to Everest with pinkened cheeks. He was smiling patiently. "You sleep well among the noise." "I have had a great deal of practice," she murmured. "Have I treated you so abysmally? You should spank me for that," he advised with a sly sort of grin. "I will consider it if you bring me a bowl of fig pudding," she begged adorably. "Done, princess..." Everest leaned over and kissed her lightly before striding across the room to dish up a bowl of her favorite dessert. Piggy met him there and Everest grinned speaking to him at once. The others around the room remained content for the king to call them forward. Piggy's more friendly nature was not normal behavior. If he had that much in common with Everest, he was certainly bad news. A shudder of apprehension passed through her when Piggy's glance swiveled in her direction, obviously curious. Everest finally left the table and brought the bowl of pudding to her with a spoon. "What did he want," she found herself asking. "Who? Piggy," he whispered with a smirk. She flushed realizing he had read her rude thoughts about the man. "He says he wanted to know if you were better. It was genuine concern. He says you looked very bad when he was here last...and much better today," he informed her. He studied the flush on her face and nodded. "He is right. You do look better. How are you feeling?" Everest certainly knew how to play the role of a concerned husband, Dirge thought sourly. "No more soreness or bleeding...just tired," she answered truthfully. There was no point in trying to lie to a psychic. "Your little pig is unusual, sweetie. I cannot browse through his mind like I usually do most people. His prisoner is completely blocked. All I get from him is a dark rage," Everest stated with amusement. "The man in chains," she asked startled. "What did he do to be treated so?" "Last time he was here...Piggy, I mean...he was with a boy that was in chains. Now, he has a boy slave and a big man...I don't really know. I am curious, too." "Why don't you ask him? I am surprised you let him wander around when you don't know what business he is in." "He is in the business of trafficking live flesh...non animal." Everest smiled at her grimace of displeasure. "I am merely interested in the details of it. Who does he run them for...what purpose? That kind of thing," he speculated. The pudding was making her thirsty. She refused to ask for a second item from him, but he realized she had a need and went to fetch it. It gave him another opportunity to talk to his resident slave trader, Dirge noticed. Everest escorted her to her room early on so she could regain the strength the day's excursion had taken from her. She slept off and on for the remainder of the day. During the night, Dirge felt a familiar presence close around her. She didn't wake. In fact, she slept more deeply than she had since her parent's deaths. Dirge woke feeling warm all over and her body still felt the impression of a man curled up against her back. There was no one there, but Dirge could almost smell him. It didn't feel, or smell, like Everest. The fact that she woke up content with a feeling of security and happiness baffled her. She must have dreamed it, Dirge decided dismissively after a lengthy contemplation. When she dressed and wandered around the room, Dirge found a small, white flower sitting on her vanity table. The tiny bloom was smaller than her fingernail just sitting there where it used to sit so long ago. Dirge held her breath in surprise, not daring to breathe, as if it would make the tiny flower flutter away if she exhaled. She darted a glance around, but there was still no one in the room. Everest came to see her later in the morning advising her attendants to lock her in soundly and only open the doors when hell froze over. She asked him what had happened. He told her Piggy's prisoner had escaped in the night. The merchant was hunting him down and fully expected to find him soon. He was still loose that night, however. It disturbed Dirge deeply wondering if he had been the one in her room. It made her sleep more restless that night. Again, Dirge nearly surfaced from sleep with the impression of arms...a large arm curled and locked over her stomach and a thick, muscular arm pillowed under her head. The chest breathed evenly comfortable with simply holding her. The presence was like an old remembered dream, but she could not remember why. When she recalled the escaped prisoner, her heart raced in fear. Sharp teeth nipped lightly on the back of her neck and latched on gently as a low, rumbling purr tugged her back to sleep. Dirge woke this time to the feel of a light kiss on the side of her neck and a man rolling away from her. His scent was sharp this time and she recognized it! Before she could turn over and see him, she heard his voice in the early dawn. "Sleep, Destiny...just sleep for me." Andy, her mind screamed. Andy really was alive! He had come back to her! She woke the second time that morning groggy from too much rest as Everest walked in, but then she remembered and her heart leapt in excitement! Everest sat on the bed and studied her. His expression told her distinctly that he knew. "I am sure I am wrong," she said swiftly in his defense. "It can't be him...Why would he come back?" "Maybe he didn't have a choice," Everest said thoughtfully. "He came back in chains. Perhaps seeing you only gave him the motivation he needed to escape," he suggested. "Then, he couldn't resist. Maybe he heard you were injured," he mused, "that would do it." "Or he just saw you the other day and realized he missed you." Everest shrugged. "I have no doubt it is him, and he is not very fond of me right now, I would think." "I have already called in extra people to hunt him down. Perhaps," he stated firmly, "he will simply be driven away again without any harm." "Maybe," she agreed, but silently she disagreed. Andy had curled up to her when she was a child, but when she began to really notice the feel of it...it had stopped abruptly. Now, it was Andy reminding her of what he once did not want her to feel. "He had come for you, hasn't he? It may have been an accident, but news of your near death concerned him. I think he is planning to steal you if you will agree to leave us." Everest fingered the sheet absently. "Are you going to leave, Destiny?" "Why are you calling me that? You haven't acted nice, or called me Destiny, in a long time, Everest," she complained in confusion. "Shh...don't ask that, princess." His finger tapped her nose and lips before stretching back to run lazily over her cheek and jaw. It was an old move that he had done often while courting her. Sure enough, it curled around the nape of her neck just as his face descended for a kiss. Her breath left in a rush! "Oh, my Gods, you are really going to kill him this time!" He pulled back to frown down at her as he felt the sudden fear tense her body. "Aren't you? You are only sweet when you are planning murder! I knew..." Everest hushed her with gently persuasive kisses nibbling his way over her obstinate mouth with the skill of a man who had once won her vulnerable, young heart. "Everes..." He took advantage of that momentary protest to push deeper into her shifting his body closer as he used both hands to carefully cup her face. The chemicals on his tongue instantly set a dull throb to aching in her nether regions. Dirge shivered as chills rushed along her skin! "Destiny," he teased as he pulled on her lips with his teeth to infuriate her, "you taste just the way I remember you!" "Funny," she panted unable to catch her breathe, "I don't recollect you at all!" It was a lie...Oh, he knew it was a lie! Everest laughed trailing deliberate kisses down her collar. "Then, I think it is past time I reminded you." He laved attention to her breasts, dipping his head for a very long stroke of his tongue as he held and moved it in his hand. "Gods, Destiny," he whispered enjoying the view. "You filled out better than I expected, you know?" "No, I do not know...You have been fucking me for hundreds of years, Everest. I have been right here!" "True, you were here being fucked," he agreed distractedly. Then, he glanced up at her with a heated look of lust. "You haven't been made love to by me in a long time, princess. Relax...I won't hurt you; I know what I am doing." "That is what I am afraid of, actually." Everest chuckled pushing away the sheets as he continued to explore her voluptuous little form. "Gods, you are so soft, sweetie," he purred petting her skin everywhere he could reach and nibbling over her sensitive ribs and tummy. His hands were driving her crazy. No one but Everest knew that subtle brushes of skin caused her blood to race quicker than suckling a pert nipple! The sound of his voice was the icing on the cake. His vocals moved and her body was his to command! That gentle purr was wicked! "You smell so sweet, princess. I forgot how wonderful you feel in my arms. You tempt me to stay curled up in your lap for eternity," he whispered making her mind fill with silly dreams of him loving her gently for the rest of their days. Then, she gasped and moaned in a desperate protest, "Oh, Gods, no, Everest!" It was too late! He seized her between his teeth and purred sending a gentle vibration around the knot of bundled nerves. Her entire body trembled in response flowing with moisture that met his probing fingers the instant they parted her flesh! He turned her over on a sudden impulse to ram his fingers deep into her ass. Dirge jerked in surprise! "Everest, what are you...Oh, my..." Everest fed his dick into her carefully. He knew it had never been done to her before, but he also knew that many fingers had been worked into it often enough in the past to widen it for him. The entrance was far smoother than he would have believed possible and her tight ass clenched him as hard as a virginal youth...male, of course, he added in a sudden, wicked thought. "Oh, Gods, princess...that is fine! So tight and perfect," he whispered coarsely in a daze of barely contained lust. He moved gently, spreading her legs and working the clean fingers of his other hand into her front. He massaged his own dick up in there stretching her entrance around his fingers as he did so. The side of his hand tugged along her swollen clit as he fucked both ends slowly but forcefully, and using more skill than she had thought he would have knowledge of. When she orgasmed, it was so hard she found herself screaming and seeing dark spots framed by light in her vision. Everest moved far faster and harder against her sending her muscles into meltdown as orgasm after orgasm rolled over her. The spots grew and she fell to the bed. Everest removed his hand and spread her legs wider as he shoved up hard and deep clamping his arms down over her shoulders to help pull his body up. Then, he ground his hips at the top of the upstroke and swelling within her to bursting! A growling groan and a gasp signaled his loss of control before bursting in harsh spasms inside of her. He nibbled her neck in exhausted pleasure purring against her as he held her close. "I should have done that to you the second I saw you," he sighed. "I don't want to spoil the moment," Dirge gasped content to lie there with his weight collapsed upon her, "but who the Gods are you?" Everest laughed merrily cuddled up slightly to the side of her. "I am your husband, princess...just your husband." Dirge sighed shaking her head as she drifted into a peaceful sleep. Everest waited before he could fall asleep with her. He felt the other presence in the room and quietly ignored him. He could also sense how disturbed the man was mentally. Everest waited to see if he would make a move. When he did not, he carefully disentangled his limbs from his wife and left the room, leaving the creature he assumed was Andy alone with his wife. He instead went in search of the kitchens. Dev and Kiev were there, but Dev was quick to excuse himself, leaving the room quickly behind him. "My lord, can I get you anything?" "Yes, please...A full carafe of wine, a small loaf of herb bread, and some very rare meat. You can bring it to my room when it is done," he said waving distractedly at him over his shoulder as he left. Kiev looked nervous and he didn't want to give the young man a reason to back out of it. Ben'hamin Ch. 07 Everest went to his room and lay down content for the first time in a long while. When the young kitchen servant came in, he pretended to sleep. The curious male got closer than he should have. Everest read his purpose very clearly, so he didn't need his eyes. The house staff was also wondering at his sudden and strange shift of personality. Kiev went so far as to touch his riot of white-blonde curls in admiring curiosity. It was a severe breach of space. Everest caught his breath and the male moved away as he opened his eyes. Kiev looked scared. "Oh, sorry," Everest purred sleepily, "did I drift off to sleep on you?" He lay there perfectly relaxed as he watched the young male turn red and then deathly pale. "I am sorry," Kiev stuttered. "It is not important. Did you bring the food?" Everest could smell it in the room so it was silly of him to ask, but he wanted the youth to settle down. The young male pointed to where he had set it down. "Was there something else you wanted?" "No! No, sir, I..." "Just curious," he drawled lazily in amusement. Kiev shook his head, not so much denying his words as upset that he had been caught. "My lord, the castle is...just wondering," Kiev stated nervously trying to explain, "if you are well." "They are wondering if I will stay as I am." "Yes, my lord, that too..." Everest smiled. Kiev was bold. He approved of it, but bold men led to challenges in this land. "Would you like me to stay like this?" "My lord," the youth looked confused, "I do not know. You have seemed very curious about me lately. I do not know why and it scares me." "Very honest," Everest pointed out dryly. "You are rather innocent to be nearly thirty, aren't you? I have noticed that you are too are curious about me, and bold...It makes an older alpha very anxious. Do you plan to challenge me, young Kiev?" The boy gasped and shook his head quickly denying such a thing! "No, then why are you so curious...so bold...Why, Kiev?" Everest touched his hair to remind him of his own actions and the boy paled in fright. "My lord, please forgive me! I meant you no harm, I swear! I just wanted..." Kiev faltered, seeking the right words to say. "To touch me," Everest finished sternly. "Are you curious because you seek to lie in my bed? I would not disapprove of that," he offered leadingly. The creature flinched. Then, he lowered his eyes and swallowed as he thought swiftly of a way out of this without angering the king. "My lord," Kiev hesitated. He wanted very much to leave and forget he had gotten himself into this mess. A flash of white in Everest's eyes warned him just before Everest softly called him closer. Knowing if he refused he would be marked as a challenger, Kiev automatically obeyed. "No, Kiev...lie down beside me," he told him firmly. The youth started to step away, but Everest's watchful eyes waited with complete indifference for him to decide what to do. "You are the king, my lord," Kiev stated woodenly as he tried to causally lie back on the soft bed. Everest propped up on his elbow to lean over him. "Am I your king, Kiev?" His mischievous amusement caused a shiver of alarm to race through the young warrior. "Yes, you are my king..." The breathless whisper did not sound very firm. Everest dipped down and lightly bit into Kiev's lower lip. The tense young male jerked closing his eyes, but he remained passive beneath him. "You have too much pride," Everest noted stroking a large hand down his body. Kiev shook his head not daring to open his eyes. "Look at me, Kiev..." Tears streamed down his face as soon as he opened them. "Never violate the space of an elder unless you are invited, wish to be killed, or you are stronger than he is..." "I didn't mean anything by it," Kiev whispered. Everest knew he was telling the truth, but an elder that was not psychic would not know. Kiev would be punished for his error. "That is a good way to become a slave, or a dead warrior. You are old enough to know better." "Yes, my lord," he whispered. Everest chuckled at the youth's obvious fear. "You are afraid enough to not dare challenge me, but you are strong-willed and defiant." Everest leaned close, hovering over Kiev a hair's breadth away from his face. Kiev made a tiny noise. The youth lay tensing and trembling as Everest's hand massaged over the bare skin of the youth's crotch. Kiev closed his eyes as Everest dropped down to lick the droplets of blood off of his bitten lip. Then, he kissed him more fully. Fear rolled off of him. There was no room for distaste, or even lust; the boy beneath him felt only fear. "Don't hurt me, my king," Kiev begged. "I am new here and I am too curious; I know! Please, forgive me. I didn't think you would mind! Honestly, I didn't..." There were tears on his face again. "You looked nice and you kept watching me..." "How new, Kiev?" The young warrior's face twisted in surprise. "Am I supposed to remember when you came?" "I am the son of Gislain Garl," he stated softly. "Am I supposed to remember him, too?" The young male gasped and went dead still beneath him. "Several months ago, my king...You stole me away from my hunting party. I assumed you knew who I was." "I might have...at the time," he added vaguely. "I don't remember much before Destiny's accident..." He frowned confused. "I don't even remember how she got hurt to be truthful. I remember clearly the day I met her to the day her parents died...and now. These last few months," he admitted, "I have been trying to remember." Kiev's face turned completely blank. "You hurt her, Everest Sinedien. It was you who nearly killed your wife." "Say I did...Why would I do such a thing? I know my rule depends upon her life. If she dies and I have no child by her to raise, I lose control of the castle." "Perhaps you were trying to get her pregnant," Kiev suggested. "No, she must choose to do that. I cannot force her hand. She has to pick the time and male, or no matter the effort she will lie barren." Now that the boy was more relaxed, he feathered a light kiss over his lips. The disgusted distaste welled up immediately. It was followed by shocking embarrassment and alarm. Kiev hid his eyes, but he couldn't hide the miserable humiliation he felt. "Go on," Everest growled in irritation, "get your ass out of here." Kiev sat there stunned. Everest moved to the side and the young warrior sat up too afraid to believe his own ears. "My lord," he inquired. "I said 'get out', Kiev..." The young male got up looking worried rather than relieved. "Now, what," he asked. He knew he sounded annoyed, but everyone's reactions to him were starting to get on his nerves. "Are you going to kill me?" The whisper startled him. Everest read the boy more thoroughly and realized he was completely serious. He thought he was going to die! "Why would I kill you, Kiev?" He made the question as gentle and curious as he could manage trying not to alarm him any further. "Dev said you killed a servant once for flirting with you. You beckoned him closer, kissed him, and he was dead before he had time to enjoy it." Everest began to understand the young man's confusion and fear. He sighed. "I am not going to kill you, Kiev, but I highly suggest you find somewhere else to go...and soon." "I don't understand." Kiev knelt beside the bed. "Why do you want me to leave? You purposely stole me; won't you need me here? When my father brings the ransom," he added. Everest groaned. "I am ransoming you? No, you can't leave," Everest sighed in frustration. "Is there any way to speed up your father's tribute?" Kiev shook his head looking even more disgusted. "You don't want to go home, do you?" "I don't want to go. I don't want to stay," Kiev said with a sad laugh. "I am not free to run on my own either." Everest shook his head in complete exasperation. "Before my wife was injured, how long were you here? What all did you see, or hear, about me?" Kiev shrugged uncertainly. "Only about a week, I guess. You were pretty gruesome and fearless when you attacked us. You took me out before I had time to see much more than a couple of our men fall...I woke in the infirmary." "You were knocked out?" "Yeah," Kiev winced touching a spot on the upper left side of his head. "You walloped me pretty hard." Everest sat up holding Kiev between his knees as he moved his hair to the side. Kiev's scalp looked very white beneath his black hair, but then he saw a place that was red. There was a healing gash in his scalp not very deep, but long enough to lay his entire hand across. Kiev relaxed against him. "You really do not remember?" "I am afraid not. The day after her injury until now is very clear to me, but the week before and the day of it are a total blank. A blank I really want to fill in," he added earnestly. "I woke up in the infirmary pretty dazed, but I heard people talking. They were saying so many things...I don't recall most of it. They were telling me and Gordon that you were terribly unpredictable, irritated easily, and had a violent temper." Everest held up a hand. "Who is Gordon?" "My older brother," Kiev told him. "You sent him home with the ransom note. He was badly injured and you didn't want him to die here." The words left Kiev tense. "I am sorry. I personally disapprove of fighting, but obviously my...'alter ego'...does not mind in the least. Go on..." Kiev frowned up at him. "I stayed away from you for the most part. I was assigned to the kitchen crew two hours before the screaming started. The guy who was...with her at the time is here...He left, but he has come back." Everest looked closely into the boys mind seeing himself offering the pudgy, balding, short merchant he had seen earlier his wife's bed. Kiev had actually seen the man frown at his bloody fingers before covering her. Everest's eyes narrowed in anger. "I think I should talk to them." "Be careful, my lord," Kiev warned him. "I have heard he is dangerous. I took him his lunch, and he has a slave that looks half-ghost he is so frightened. The boy is very small..." "You go on, Kiev. I will find his room. I need to speak to him personally." Kiev stood up and hesitated. "I can show you where he stays, my lord." When Kiev moved, he adjusted his pants. It reminded Everest of the feel of the boy's bared skin in his hand. Everest sighed sullenly tearing his eyes away. "Fine, show me," Everest growled rolling to his feet. The young warrior hesitated at the door and padded swiftly down corridors with the king trailing behind him. Kiev flagged a door by knocking on it as he passed disappearing quickly afterwards. Ben'hamin Ch. 08 It was opened by the slaver. He was dressed in a towel and held one in his hand. "My apologies, I have called you out of your bath...I was hoping to talk with you about your last visit." Pudgy nodded letting him inside without hesitation. "Ahmi...bring the king a drink," he said sharply. A boy rattled the dishes harshly and carefully poured a glass. It was not filled to the top. It would have spilled before he could have brought it if it had been filled any more. The boy was shaking like a tree sapling in a stout wind! Everest took the cup and sat down in a companionable dining area. "You were with my wife. Someone said she was bleeding before you...had sex with her." He shifted in the chair uncomfortably. "Was she?" "It was only a few small smears. She said she was not hurting, but yes...she was bleeding. I didn't know at the time that she was being ridden like the village whore, or I would have been far more concerned, my lord." Pudgy's tone was derisive. Even being completely polite, he managed to convey where he thought the blame should be placed...on Everest's head. The slaver cocked his head at the king deciding to just simply say what was on him mind. "Why did you offer every one of your business partners a go at her that day?" "Did I? I don't know. I don't remember why I hurt her, or even if I meant to do it." "You appeared to be in a very good mood, but slightly malicious towards her. Were you angry at her for something?" "Maybe..." Everest tried to read him and sat up straighter with a look of alarm. "You are psychic!" "You knew that before you came to my room," the man chided him gently. "For shame, my king, have you already forgotten my name? I am curious when you figured it out. You couldn't read me the last time, and yet you were simply puzzled about it. This time, you just knew..." "Yes, it is strange, I would imagine," Everest stated with a small wry smile. "If you knew she was injured, why didn't you stop?" He couldn't help asking. It was the entire reason he was sitting here. The slaver stared at him solemnly. "That is my business. Your business is why you allowed it to go on for so long. She is your wife. She is the nation's queen. If you are tired of being a king, just leave her." "Tired of being a king..." Everest sighed thoughtfully. "Is that really what you think it was? I tried to kill her because she angered me, and I was tired of being a king..." "It was my impression at the time." The slaver frowned. "I have been watching you since I returned. You feel very concerned for her. Also, very fond of her," he added sounding rather unamused. "Has her near death changed you so much, my king?" "It must have," Everest shrugged vaguely. "We got along great when I met her. I adored Destiny with all of my heart. She was very sweet, very loving, and very fun when she was smiling. So pretty, both inside and out," he stated with a long sigh. "I am wondering if she is still that sweet girl I married so long ago." "I am wondering," the slaver stated carefully, "how a person could be after the way you treated her. I have been asking around, too, my king. The people say what I saw when I was last here is an everyday occurance. That day alone it got out of hand and a bit more extreme than usual, but it was common." "Yeah, I am getting that by now. It was all my fault..." Everest got up pacing the floor like a caged tiger. "You are restless. You do not like being kept contained." "I have never liked it," Everest agreed. "I feel like this castle is suffocating me." "Then, go outside," the fat slaver told him firmly. "I cannot! I have to have a whole legion of guards when I leave." Everest growled in irritation noticing when he did that the little slave boy shrank further into the corner he was hiding in. "I am scaring your lad," he pointed out in frustration. "He is always scared," the slaver waved it aside as inconsequential. "Come, my lord, this room is not big enough for your restless soul." The pudgy male stood up very slowly. "Ahmi, bring me my clothes." The boy shot off of the floor and flew over to a small chest. Ahmi drew forth dark black cloth and leather. Pudgy dropped the towel clearly not the least bit embarrassed by his short physic or overly large paunch. The boy dropped the pile at the slaver's feet and began to wrap a silky, black, skirt wrapper around his waist for him. It was barely large enough to fit him. Ahmi tied it in place carefully. The slaver sat back down letting the boy have one of his legs. The material Ahmi pulled over his muscular calves to his fat thighs was styled in an unusual fashion. It was tied up almost to the length of the wrapper hiding his legs from view. Then, a suede short boot was tied tightly over the leggings. When both legs were properly covered, he stood up again. Ahmi pulled a sleeveless shirt over his head and straightened what was left of the slaver's hair over it. "Thank you, boy," the slaver sighed. "You know I can't leave you here alone, so grab your cloak." Ahmi hesitated before he went back to the chest for the thick, brown thing. "I am not taking a chance with this one." Ahmi and the slaver escorted Everest out. They went down the hallway and several long, twisting corridors. Everest began to chuckle softly until they both looked at him with quizzical expressions. "Are you trying to get me lost within my own realm? This is my castle and you know it better than I do," the king told them in mirth. "No, is it working?" The slaver sounded equally amused by the suggestion. He motioned to a guarded set of stairs. "Here we are...after you, your majesty." Everest paced up them quickly smelling the fresh air, even before he came out on a stone balcony hundreds of feet wide. He breathed deeply beginning to relax. The king paced around the balcony finding it continued on in smaller sections endlessly around the castle's exterior. Satisfied with it, he turned to regard the other man in pleased contentment. "Thank you," Everest said to him. "Can I ask you something else? Can you tell me about the slave that escaped from you?" Everest knew he saw a sudden hesitancy in the little, fat man's demeanor, and a swift, worried glance from the tiny slave boy that quickly swung to his master. "What do you want to know about him? A brief description..." The slaver appeared completely calm and curiously patient. The king gave them a slow and thoughtful nod. "I only saw him in a cloak, much the same as your boy. A description would help us be on the lookout for him. I already know he is immune to being read by psychics." "Yes, he is psychic, too," the short man agreed glumly. "It makes for a devil of a time trying to nab him when he sees you coming." "I bet..." The king rested on the high, wide stone parapet looking out over endless miles of ocean and rolling blue-green hills. It was peaceful and made him want to simply jump over the rail and be gone from this stone enclosure. "He is fairly tall," the short slave trader mumbled thoughtfully. Everest laughed looking back at him to tease, "To you everyone is probably tall." "Oh, yes, well then...His is about your height, maybe larger..." The slaver grinned at his good-natured comment. He grumbled thinking of the right thing to say. "He is pretty big, too. About three of you, I would think. You would not want to mess with the likes of him." "I did not intend to mess with him if I can avoid it. I just want to be able to recognize him if I see him," Everest assured him casually. "Well, he is not a hard one to miss. He has coppery-tan skin with long, black hair and eyes. Usually, he has a rather surly expression on him, too," the slaver added. "No," someone hissed at him angrily. It startled both of them and they looked around to see who could have said it. "Ahmi," the pudgy male asked curiously, "do you have something you would like to add to my description?" "Sad..." The slaver looked like he had suddenly swallowed something foul. "I suppose he is sad...Either way, it doesn't put him in a really good mood," the slave trader growled sourly. Except for the foul temperament, Everest thought sadly, it sounded like Andy. What had happened? Everest remembered taking him across the ocean. Once Andy had woken up, he had not mentioned what had been done to him, but Everest knew by his attitude that it had not been pleasant. That was to be expected, but why had he returned after all of this time? Andy knew better than that. Destiny would not leave with him, not then and not now. Poor Andy, Everest thought irritably. He had been so much fun to be around once. Always smiling, always friendly...Everest had really liked him. Destiny accused him of murdering the man. Right in front of her face, on purpose so she would see it. Is that what had happened? How could he have survived such a thing if he had? Of course, Destiny had no reason to lie. It must be the truth. Everest rubbed his face upset by the idea. Andy had been his friend back then, but he rather doubted that was still true. Everest looked back at the foul creature that had recently held the slave's leash as an irrational anger grew within his breast. "I doubt you will catch him anytime soon, will you?" "Highly unlikely," the pudgy, short man stated slowly. "He was very hard to catch the first time." Good, Everest thought in relief. Only a part of him was dismayed, he realized. What would he do if Andy was mad at him? Andy had not attacked the last time, but that did not mean he wouldn't do it now. "Excuse me, but could you leave me alone for a while?" Everest turned catching a puzzled look on the fat, little face behind him. "I think I might take your advice. Disappear for only a little bit, if you won't tell anyone about it." The slave trader bowed leaving by the stairs without another word. Ahmi glanced at the king uncertainly before he scurried away behind him. Everest shifted almost instantly changing into a solid white creature almost twice the size of a tiger and nearly the same shape of one. It was much more muscular, and had huge, feathery, white wings. "Stop," he heard snarled from a dark, shadowy corner behind his back. The animal turned its sharp, black eyes around scouting the darkest shadows for others that could ambush him while one distracted him. The long wings on his back fluttered nervously, prepared to take flight if necessary. "Everest Sinedien," a man whispered so very softly as he stepped into his eyesight more clearly. Everest felt his heart leap in excitement only to nearly falter in immediate alarm. It was Andy alright...and he looked pissed! Everest's first reaction of happiness faded swiftly. He was unhappy to realize how much he had missed the powerful warrior. The cat crouched threateningly as it growled a harsh warning to prevent Andy from acting foolishly. Everest really did not wish to harm his once friend over a misunderstanding that he couldn't explain fully to anyone. Knowing Andy was psychic, the cat thought a question at him. Why have you come back? Why are you here? Andy paused obviously reading much more than the question in his mind. "You know the answer to that," he stated simply. Everest felt an unexpected pit of rage at those words and he felt sorrow that Andy had not returned as a friend. "How could I when you hurt her? You nearly killed her, you son of a bitch!" The cat looked out at Andy with the saddest, oldest eyes the seasoned warrior had ever seen. It was in his mind that Andy would never understand. That thought disappointed the creature thoroughly. Everest's usual nonchalance was gone in the debilitating wave of disappointment that he was feeling as he stared at Andy with those disconcerting eyes. The king realized long ago that he had severely missed Destiny, but he ached even worse at the loss of his friend, Andy. They had once been very close and the only true friend Everest could claim. "It isn't so hard. Just explain it to me, Everest...Why would you do such a thing? What could she have possibly done to cause you to harm her like that?" Even in Andy's anger, Everest could sense a small desire to forgive him if he could come up with a good excuse. It nearly broke his heart, because he didn't have one. The cat launched itself into the air over the side of the balcony. Andy raced up to the ledge in a furious rage at his abandonment. "Coward," he screamed up at him as he watched him disappear. Andy could have followed, but Everest was grateful he had not. He wasn't ready to have this discussion with him just yet. Perhaps, he thought, his one-time buddy was as shaken by their encounter as he was. The animal flew away swiftly with regret in his heart. It was too late to explain. Andy was able to read in the minds of the staff and regular visitors how hateful Everest had been treating his queen these last twenty years. He would blame the very person he saw committing these horrid acts upon her...he would blame the king. In a uniquely strange fashion, he would be right. Yet Everest could not help himself from thinking that Andy would also be...terribly, irreparably...wrong, too. The cat touched down on white sands that looked beige against his snow-white purity. Suddenly not liking the symbolism behind that thought, he sent his beast form violently away from him falling to the sand as a man once more. The king sat up to watch the waves washing endlessly to shore. He was soon surprised when he discovered his face was damp. Thinking he was sitting to close to the powerful undulations of the surf, he wiped at it about to move back only to discover that he was crying. It was an alien sensation. His disbelief faded almost as swiftly as it had arisen. Then, he felt his frozen heart cracking in two. "Oh, Gods...the worlds must be nearing their ends," Everest remarked in sarcastic humor. "I never cry...not anymore." He froze as he felt a movement in the calmness of his ordered mind creeping along at the edges of his thoughts like a thief or a murderer in a darkened alleyway. The king could hear his own voice mocking him with evil laughter...calling him a weakling. "Maybe I am," Everest sighed in agreement. "I must be...Why else would I stand aside for you for so long?" The laughter vanished like the ghost of a really bad nightmare leaving an uneasy wariness and fear in its wake. "Yeah, you make a mess...Why don't you come clean it up for once? Instead, you leave me to straighten it out for you, you cowardly wretch! You are too damn lazy to finish it..." "Who are you talking to, my king..." Hissing in a startled breath of air, Everest turned to see a half a dozen or more of the palace guards behind him scattered over the grassy rise that led to the beach. They looked angry as they watched him with furtive eyes. "Are you well, my lord?" Everest recognized the hatred in the captain's heart. More than one of his subordinates was contemplating the death of a king as several approached him under the guise of protecting him from harm. "I am fine. What are you doing outside of the palace? I came out to be alone...to think," the king growled angrily hoping to head off the uprising about to occur. The leader of the motley group frowned at him. "You are in danger when you go outside all alone, sire." "I was not in danger until you men arrived," Everest stated boldly in challenge. The captain tensed knowing they had given away their intentions to the wary warrior losing the element of surprise they had counted on having. Seconds later, they were on him with swords drawn. Everest leapt away shifting as he went letting his tiny body contort into a much larger one. Several behind the lead two were changing forms also. Everest had to run several yards down the beach to give his body time to make the necessary adjustments. When he was ready to fight, the large cat turned around to face them roaring defiantly in aggressive anger. In the time it took to flap his wings, he had the leader's throat torn out to gape in the breeze. The droplets of blood spraying over him looked black in the shadows. Two cats jumped on him. One scored a deep wound on him as he was twisting the other cat's neck. The satisfying sound of the bones breaking traveled up through his teeth. It caused the other, smaller cat to leap away in fright. Everest stood over the body covered in the blood of his first kill as three cats and a sword-bearing guard encircled him. Two more cats waited at the rise probably watching to be certain no one saw them murdering their employer. The king roared a challenge at them fearlessly, daring them to attach him again. None of the foolish warriors looked anxious to be the next victim to feel his teeth piercing their skin. The two corpses lay as silent sentinels showing how quickly this could backfire upon the hunters. When none moved in on him, he picked the man who looked the most prepared for his attack and leapt out at him swiftly. The sword flew jarred to the side by a well-placed side kick of one of his hind les as the little cat thrashed dying while the swordsman's guts hit the sand with a heavy thump. The gutted guard stumbled back from the fighting, but his eviscerated intestines were bleeding too badly for him to go very far away. That left him with four angry, wary tiger-like creatures circling him with leathery black wings and multi-colored striped bodies. Everest curled his own feathery white wings as he stood arrogantly on the sand between two more corpses. His tail flipped almost in lazy amusement as he watched them calmly. When none else moved to press an attack, Everest chose the man most likely to bolt in cowardice. The cat fell in a brilliant shower of blood staining the once pretty sand. Two more fell beside him and Everest paused just before he leapt at the last one standing. The cat rolled beneath him scoring his side as his head was twisted between powerful teeth with a resounding crunch. The white beast stood panting. The bodies of his men scattered the beach around him. Everest was annoyed at the stickiness of the blood on his perfect, white pelt as it dried in the wind. The king decided to race into the crashing surf, playing for a while among the waves. He was completely unconcerned by the destruction he left lying in his wake. Everest was nearly dry when he landed on the highest balcony of the palace some time later. The cat shook out its thick fur coat one last time stretching lazily to ease a small cramp caused by the wound on his shoulder. He changed back into his two-legged, quiet king body. Everest walked back down the stairs into the castle feeling less at peace the moment the cave-like gloom descended around him. The guard looked startled to see him, but he quickly hid his reaction. "Your highness...you are as silent as a ghost! I didn't hear you coming down the stairs, sire," the man admitted snapping to instant attention. "That is alright. I would hope you could catch someone else if they tried to get past you." The man looked worried, but nodded glancing up the stairs behind him warily. Everest couldn't decide if he was in on the attack or not, but the guard obviously knew others had gone up and never returned. Everest refused to disturb Destiny at this hour hoping that Andy had chosen to go to her room. Instead, he entered his own vast bedroom. It was as dark and humid as he expected it to be, causing an involuntary shudder to ripple down his spine. Everest wrinkled his nose at the sharp, bitter spice he smelled. He sighed. Telling the servants countless times to remove the sachets obviously wasn't working. The damn things messed up his keen sense of smell and caused intolerable migraines. After hunting each one down, he pitched them out the window he opened to dissipate the scents. Everest rubbed his temple staying by the fresh air as a headache already started to take root between his eyes. The call chord for a servant thankfully didn't hang far away. He gave it a violent tug. Ben'hamin Ch. 08 Instantly, he heard the light tapping sounds of a tiny child running down the stone corridor to his summons. "Yes, my lord..." The tiny boy stuck his head in eager, yet half afraid to call attention to himself. "Oh, Brayden, thank the Gods it is you, boy. I don't feel like arguing. Could you run get me a glass of room temperature water?" "Not your usual wine, sir?" Everest smiled wryly. His dramatic change in attitude was still throwing everyone on the staff off of their routines. "No...no wine, Brayden..." The boy frowned at him nodding despite his confusion. "Could you bring me a small loaf of herbal bread, too?" "Yes, your highness...Are you sure that is what you want?" Brayden sniffed the air and looked around the room in concern at the fading scent. "No more of those things, do you hear me? They have been giving me headaches! I keep telling you that." "But, sire...my master tells me you insist on them and I have to put them here!" "Brayden," Everest pointed out patiently, "how can I insist on them if I am the one telling you to get rid of them for me?" The boy's frown grew. "I do not know. I am not allowed to make decisions, only follow my master's orders. He says I must give you wine, even when you tell me you do not want it. He also says you always have wine...lots of it!" "Have you seen me drink wine, Brayden?" "Only one glass with your meal at suppertime, my lord," Brayden answered succinctly. "No more, and rarely less," he added softly. "I understand the sachets are an herbal drug that...relaxes you, your highness. Are you trying to stop taking the drugs you habitually consume?" "Smart lad," the king bragged softly. "If your master counters my orders again, have him bring the items to me personally. I will take care of his insubordination myself." The boy bowed respectfully with a small grin on his face as he backed out of the room carefully. Brayden was not gone long, but by the time he returned his shoulder was bleeding again. Everest found himself sighing again as he dragged himself away from the fresh air at the window reluctantly. He sank down into the bathing pool fully clothed sipping at the glass of water Brayden handed him. The boy set the serving plate with the bread on it within his reach watching the king with a worried look. "Sire, if I may...You are injured." "It is not bad, Brayden. Please, don't mention it to anyone." Everest pulled the covering shirt away throwing it out of the pool to show him the damage. Both of them frowned as they saw the swollen red edges that had venomous lines tracing away from the cut. "Damn..." Brayden firmed his little jaw up rebelliously. Everest finished undressing as Brayden ran to a little used alcove across the room. He returned with a five-inch-long, porcelain chest. "You need to clean those wounds! There is salve and bandages in here, sire. Do you want to do it, or me?" "I can help, but I am going to be one-armed. I could use the help," Everest admitted with a wry grin. "Do you know anything about first-aid?" Brayden nodded. "My master won't like it. I am not allowed to stay in your room long," he muttered as he knelt at the side of the pool. He touched his small hand to the wound. "This is hot to the touch. That is a bad sign, my lord." "I own this castle and everyone bound to it. You serve the castle, do you not?" The boy nodded warily. "Has Destiny ordered you not to stay long in my room?" The boy's eyes grew puzzled and Everest read why in his mind. "Dirge, the queen...my wife," he clarified. "Has Destiny told you to leave quickly?" Brayden shook his head with the harsh frown beginning to fade as he realized where his questions were leading. The boy had the softest, little face. He couldn't be very old at all, Everest thought. "Then, who do you believe you should obey, Brayden?" "You, my king..." Brayden's quick grin flashed down at him. "Everest Sinedien...glad to meet you," Everest teased. Brayden flushed, but there was now a happy smile to replace the ugly frown lines. "Please do not feel frightened to speak around me, Brayden. I grow tired of being alone all of the time. Right now, I will even accept the attention of a child." Ben'hamin Ch. 09 An unhappy wince crossed the boy's face after hearing the king call him a child and he focused his attention on the wounded shoulder instead. The wound was longer than the child's arm. It wasn't more than a scratch, but the heat, swelling and lines indicated infection. It was too soon for that. "You know this is poisoned, don't you?" Everest closed his eyes lying flat in the shallow water with his shoulders and upper chest lying out on the pool's sloping ledge. "You look tired, sire." The king groaned low in agreement. There was a tiny sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead and upper lip. "Your side is bleeding..." Little hands pressed at the shoulder around the length of the scratch. "It isn't poisoned, though." That was all he heard. Everest tried to stop himself from falling asleep, but it did little good. Brayden felt the king's face. "Oh, boy...you are not doing well here." The tiny lad ran to the linen closet and took out a small rag. He ran back and scrubbed at the wound desperately trying to get the poisons out of the raw flesh. "Come on, come on..." The wound started bleeding. Brayden pushed at the edges as hard as he could. When he was satisfied, he dressed both wounds properly. The one on his side really had needed stitching. Much later, Brayden realized the poisons had begun to defeat the king's immune system and desperately he had to run the edge of a knife along the swollen skin and to press out more of it. It oozed a clear fluid that he guessed was the poisonous venom. He knew if he could get enough of it out without further damaging the king, Everest would have a fighting chance as his own body and magic fought to counter the deadly toxins. Brayden slowly redressed the king's shoulder carefully. "My lord," he called to him repeatedly shaking him hard to wake him. "King Sinedien, wake up, please..." All he got were a couple of muffled complaints which really worried him as a fever set in. "My lord, please," he kept begging, "just help me get you to bed. You cannot sleep here! You will turn over and soak the dressings!" Finally, his persistence paid off when Everest crawled out of the water and stumbled over to his bed. Thankfully, it wasn't far to go or they wouldn't have made it before Everest collapsed. Brayden took towels and dried him as much as he could. There wasn't much help for it. The king was dripping onto the sheets. Trying to move him was exhausting to someone as small as the boy tending his wounds. Brayden lay back on the bed when he was done worn out by his efforts to make the much larger adult comfortable. Brayden stayed by his side all night making him drink sips of water when he was able and occasionally tearing off small pieces of the bread to feed him. Everest woke up delirious and tossed about as he slept, even with Brayden trying to hold him down to the bed to keep him from falling into the floor. Toward morning, the fever grew more severe. To make matters worse, the head master was beating on the door angrily trying to find him. Brayden covered the bandages with the sheets and curled up against the man's chest trying to keep as much bare skin showing as he could pretending to sleep just as the door burst open. The house master's horrified gasp of shock nearly made him grin, but Brayden was too scared to try one just that second. The large man's muttering made his skin crawl in terror. Brayden practically prayed for him to leave without coming up closer to the bed or trying to wake Everest. Had he cleaned up the blood smears on the pool's ledge, the boy wondered frantically. Just then, he heard the door close behind the huge slave keeper and relaxed in relief. Brayden got up to run to the pool in order to check and wet a clean cloth. He began to bathe the king in an effort to lower his temperature. Brayden ran the linen over the king's bare skin thoughtfully. The child knew he was too young for this new Everest to seriously consider keeping and he also knew he was too male for the old Everest to be keen on, but he liked the gentle man he had suddenly turned into. "Who are you, Everest Sinedien? I don't know who you are lately," Brayden whispered as he leaned down and touched his lips to the king's fevered skin. "I don't mind. I like the new king you have become." Sighing, Brayden knew he would have to leave the room. He didn't do it until he had bathed every drop of the toxic sweat off of Everest's skin, though. He didn't know when he would be able to get back to the room if the headmaster caught him out of it. When he finally slipped out of the room, the entire house was in an uproar. Brayden snuck into the kitchen as quiet as a mouse to get more food and water for the king. Quiet wasn't good enough, Dev was lying in wait for him there. "You were supposed to help me make breakfast, you little worm!" Dev wouldn't let him escape grabbing his arm painfully in a tight grip. Kiev came up behind Dev and Brayden jerked at his arm afraid they were about to gang up on him. "Hey, Dev lay off!" Dev looked as startled as Brayden that Kiev would come to the boy's rescue. "I helped you, so it is okay. Besides, Shriv said he was in Everest's room all night. I already know how moody he has been lately, so the boy has probably had enough trouble this morning." He pushed past Dev to gather up half of the stuff Brayden had gathered up. "Come on, kid, I'll help you with that." Dev stared at them both dumbly as they left the kitchen together. "I can get this. You can go away now," Brayden protested warily. "It is fine," Kiev stated ignoring Dev's snicker. "Everest is in a foul mood. You shouldn't have been left alone with him in the first place." "I said I don't need your help," Brayden hissed upset with him. "Please, just give me the stuff and go away." He couldn't let Kiev know the king was ill. "Look, I am trying to help you. Everest is...I don't know what his problem is, but I assure you he can be in a sweet, charming mood one second and a complete asshole the next! You are far too young to have to deal with that kind of stuff!" "I am nine," the boy snarled at him moving along the halls trying to lose him by walking faster. Kiev sped up in exasperation. "I can probably take care of him better than you can!" He turned to glare at Kiev who stopped startled by his sudden angry assault. They were just outside the door to the king's chambers. Kiev glanced at the doors in fear. "I didn't mean to imply..." "You did," the boy protested. "Listen, you little mutt," Kiev growled growing angry by his attitude, "I meant grown up business, not servant stuff!" He grabbed him as swift and unexpected as only a cat can move by the arm and shook him. Brayden jerked away not liking it that the older male could catch him like that. "You will deserve it if he throws you down and has his way with you. I was trying to warn you and help, but you won't listen, you stupid brat!" "He isn't gay," Brayden whispered turning suddenly pale as he realized what the other servant was saying. Obviously he wasn't the only one to notice the king's sudden shift in attitude. "No," Kiev asked belligerently. "I thought that too, but you know what...I was wrong...and so are you." He turned around striding away from Brayden after he laid down the items he had helped him tote. Kiev turned back at the end of the hall. "Just be careful, fang face, he is fast and strong." "Thanks for the warning, catnip," Brayden drawled irritated. "Fur ball," Kiev snarled as he turned again to leave, but he stiffened mid-turn when he heard Brayden whisper 'kitty, kitty' behind his back. "See if I ever try to help you again," he warned in a low, dangerous growl. "My name is Brayden, Kiev. Maybe the next time you want my attention, you will use it. I don't like being called 'fang face'." "Where the heck did he steal you from? I want to know, so I never end up going there to meet anyone else like you!" Kiev turned around, but wished he hadn't when his words scored deep with the kid. "I don't think you have to worry about that one," the boy whispered softly. "They brought me a long way for the novelty of owning their own dog. I don't think it was well planned since their buyer chickened out. Everest bought me cheap." The nine-year-old had hard eyes for his age. Kiev suddenly wondered why he had never noticed them before now. "It must be lonely..." Kiev looked down. "No...this is easy. Hard was the slavers who brought me here," the child stated plainly with an angry gleam in his eyes. "Hard was my life before that scum saved me from a horrible death. This...is...easy. I think I would rather just be left alone." "Listen, Brayden," Kiev stated solemnly seeing the boy almost smile when he used his name, "if you ever need someone, come to me." He looked embarrassed by the comment as soon as he said it, so he 'tucked tail and ran'. Brayden grinned as he gathered up the stuff and went inside. He stopped instantly seeing a guy leaning over Everest's unconscious body. "He has been poisoned," the man stated to him like they were friends. "I know," Brayden agreed warily. "Did you clean and dress his wounds?" Brayden nodded at the man coming further into the room sensing no threat from the creature hiding in the shadow of the room. "You do good work, lad. Be careful your patient doesn't bite your hand off for it. He can be a royal jerk without much provocation." Brayden smiled not used to the praise, so he concentrated his remarks to the rest of the comment. "He is unusually nice...and lonely. The king feels sad to me, but sad in a highly complicated way." "Being a king is a lonely business," the man said thoughtfully. "Being a bad king is a very dangerous business." Brayden set the stuff on a table and came up to the bed on the far side to check on Everest himself, making sure he was okay. The stranger only backed up a few steps in surprise. Usually, they moved much farther when he got near enough for them to notice his peculiar differences. Brayden was impressed, but he didn't show it. "I don't think I have ever had the pleasure of meeting anyone with your unique scent. What are you?" "I will answer you if you tell me who you are," Brayden countered boldly looking the man straight in his gorgeous eyes. "My name is Derix." Brayden finally got a good look at him. He smiled shyly thinking the guy was utterly beautiful standing there so confidently. More importantly, his thickly muscular arms made the king look weak by comparison. "You are big," the boy noticed breathlessly in awe. The man's lazy grin sent a thrill through the boy. Brayden slowly edged around the foot of the bed towards him. "I could be your pet," he offered hopefully. "I have one, thank you," Derix stated not even considering it before answering in his usual haste to deny any possibility of such a thing. Brayden frowned frustrated by the firmness in his tone and the swiftness of his rejection. "Not a werewolf," he argued persistently. "That is what I am...a werewolf. The man the slavers stole me for said I stunk! No one wants me around for long...They don't like the way I smell!" Derix studied the kid and leaned down to sniff playfully around his collar bone. "You do smell unusual, but it is not a bad smell. Just don't get wet near me," he teased. Brayden frowned until he ruffled his hair again without seeming the least bit offended by what others considered a serious problem. "Sure, puss..." Derix chuckled at him amused by the angry growl. "You have spunk, kid. I like that. You don't want to be my pet. Living with me is not easy. I have a mean pet right now who wouldn't like you at all. It would cause fights." "I can take care of myself," Brayden growled offended by the idea of being seen as weak. "I doubt that," Derix mused playfully. "Don't be so put out with it. You haven't met my pet. If you had, you would see what I meant by it. It wasn't an insult, kid. She is almost too wild for me." Derix hugged the boy when he sidled up against him and petted his hair in a fond friendly fashion, but then he pushed him back away a little to let him know he knew what he was doing. Brayden huffed and moved back to Everest's side in annoyance checking the wounds to make certain the bandages hadn't been moved or damaged. Derix unexpectedly followed him, once again touching his hair only this time the trailing ends of it. It confused him and it must have showed in his eyes when he looked up and back at Derix in surprise. "Don't be mad. I don't like pets. I don't even like the concept of it. The one I have is able to take care of herself. She can come and go as she pleases. It is more like a lover than a pet, but I am not allowed to call her that," Derix explained patiently without any anger. "Why don't you like pets? It seems like standard practice in this world to keep as many as you can." Brayden didn't give him a second to answer as he thought of something else to say. "Aren't you bothered by everyone disapproving of you because of it?" Derix raised a questioning eyebrow looking like he was about to deny that anyone would dare. "I know they do! I have seen people picked on for having too few. They must be extremely rude about not having any at all!" "Boy, what do I look like to you?" Brayden stopped his hurried words to consider Derix with approval. "I am a Warlord. No one in their right mind is rude to me regardless of their opinions." "Still, I am sure the other Warlords have said something about it," Brayden pressed, and Derix didn't deny it. Ben'hamin kept at him to adopt one, but Ben didn't understand why he would deprive himself of something usually seen as a pleasurable distraction. "There is always a bigger, stronger Warlord somewhere." "Not always," Derix stated thinking of Ben'hamin with a smile. That gentle smile settled it. Brayden was frantic to go home with him. "I can take care of myself! All I need you to do is claim me as your own! Take me with you and give me a place to stay!" Brayden saw the hesitant thoughtfulness in Derix eyes and tried hard to make it grow. "Then, forget I am there unless someone asks if I am yours...Please! I won't cause you any trouble. I swear!" Derix studied his desperate face in concern. "Boy, you don't know who I am or what I will do to you. It is dangerous to simply offer yourself to anyone willing to have you. That kind of behavior where I live will likely get you into some serious trouble. Probably here, too, but I don't know the customs well enough to say for certain." "No one here will challenge him," Brayden informed him nodding down at Everest. Brayden poked his lower lip out in a gesture of childish petulance and defiance sulking at him in annoyance. "I will keep to myself and keep my mouth closed. You won't even know I am there." "I am sorry, Brayden, but I can't do that. How do you expect me to steal you when I am trying to get all of my other business done? I can't have any distractions right now; it is too confusing already." Brayden made a rude noise turning away from the handsome giant in disgusted frustration. "I need someone big to take care of me. Everest won't do it; you won't do it. Someone has to, or I won't survive here. I can't get home. I am too small to fight." Derix frowned at him again. "How did you say you got here?" "Slavers," Brayden answered loudly hating that he had to repeat it at all. "They stole me from my world and brought me here, but now no one wants me. They keep saying I stink and it makes them all foul-tempered." "No, I can't do it. I just can't," Derix muttered more to his self than anything else. Derix trudged out of the room slipping out the door after listening at it to make certain there wasn't anyone out there to see him leaving. Curious, Brayden slipped out of the bed only after he was confident Derix was long gone to follow his scent down the corridors as quietly as his bare feet would allow him to move. He knew Derix would be listening for anyone following him, so he was extra careful to not be heard. Outside the door to his room, he stopped listening to the room the way Derix had with the hall. He could hear movement inside and was concentrating on it hard. Then, someone equally enormous as Derix picked him off of his feet while he let out a shrill squeak in surprise. "What have I found? You are too cute to be a spy. Oh, please...be a spy," that someone whispered softly in his ear with a teasingly playful tone. Brayden was quick to note how the thick arms bound him up to a chest that rolled with more curves than the queen. The hard muscles were hot and any pressure would probably crush him like being pressed into a rock. He held very still to keep the man from moving. "I am just a kitchen boy," Brayden whispered as the door flew open in front of them. Derix glared at them only to look startled when he saw what the man behind him held so closely. "Oh, no," Derix gasped in dismay. "Did you follow me?" "I'm sorry," Brayden pouted. They guy behind him tightened his arms making the boy flinch in fear, but they didn't hurt him as he expected. Instead, it felt more like a cuddling hug of comfort. Brayden turned his head. "Oh, my...Gods," Brayden sighed in awe. "Who are you?" The male chuckled softly at his stupefied reaction. "That is a good question my lovely young friend. I could ask the same of you." The man's eyes were practically dancing with mischief and amusement. "Were you spying on Vish? You look like you could be one of his boys." "Vish? What is a Vish? I was hoping to be Derix's pet...if I could figure out a way to convince him to keep me," Brayden stated softly wondering if this new male would have him instead. He didn't look quite as big as Derix, but he was close enough and sinfully good looking as well. "Oh, you were, were you?" The amusement turned on Derix doubtfully. "Does your new pet have a name?" The man's tone changed while he asked the question deepening to a much darker and less amused timbre. "Brayden...he isn't my pet," Derix was swift to hiss in annoyance. Brayden flinched at the sound of it knowing he had succeeded in pissing the man off badly. "No, is that right? He is a young thing, isn't he? What is the matter? Is he too youthful for you? I know you like boys. What about Avron? He is young. Too young for you, or so I thought," the man growled viciously, "but I have been wrong too often where you are concerned." Derix glanced down the hall and stepped back into the room pointedly. After they were both inside, the door was shut and locked. Brayden found his feet were gently placed on the floor as the man who held him knelt to let him stand on his own. Brayden turned while still in his arms to look at him. 'Wow' escaped him as he saw the gold and black tattoo on his arm. It fascinated him that it wasn't a tiger, too. "I am Medr'ainder. Derix is my half brother by way of my mom," the guy explained still kneeling to allow Brayden's astounded scrutiny. Medr touched Brayden's pale white-blonde hair looking just as fascinated by him. "He looks like..." "Yeah, he looks like my little brother," Derix growled irritably. "Funny you should notice that. Get the hell away from him!" "You said you didn't want him," Medr teased. "Did you change your mind?" Derix's expression tightened in anger. "Because you know, that is the only way I won't take him. Either you claim him, or he is mine." Brayden grinned not caring who won him so long as one of the two big males took him away from here. "Gods, Derix...He even has a dimple!" Brayden giggled and ran his hand over the large image of a lion. It was so dark on his bronze skin it was hard to notice, but the gold in it shimmered. "You are not a tiger! Is this what you change into? It is so pretty," Brayden whispered as he leaned into Medr's arm. Medr met his eyes and his breath stilled in his lungs as their gazes met and held. Medr'ainder had to force his eyes closed to draw in a breath, but it shook as he inhaled. Ben'hamin Ch. 09 "Damn, he has turned on the charm, hasn't he?" Medr shook his head as if to clear it and stood up suddenly. Derix was looking at both of them in angry concern. "So, are you going to be the only cat I know with both a dog and a fish for pets?" Brayden laughed out suddenly before clamping his hand over his mouth in dismay at his audacity. Brayden's laughter made Medr'ainder grin happily. It lit up his eyes from the inside the way real laughter can do with some people. Even Derix began to smile for a moment as he watched his brother's face light up. Another child in a deep cloak moved drawing attention to himself. Only Brayden looked having not known the person was there beforehand. The kid looked out from the depths of the cloak barely allowing a glimpse of light flashing off of those wide eyes. Brayden didn't even have a chance to see the color of them before they were gone once more. The little nine-year-old rarely hid his curiosity, so he started to go to the other kid. A gentle hand stopped him and Brayden turned to Medr forgetting the other youth in the room as he stared up at the man. "Do you want to be my pet, boy? I don't mind adopting sweet, young things like you to take care of." "Yeah, that would be great!" Brayden jumped into the gorgeous male's arms in happiness hugging him up when he leaned down to lift him back off of his feet. Derix growled in anger. "I told you let him go! I won't stomach watching you with him after what you did the last time," Derix hissed furiously. "Put him down, Medr!" Dark eyes snapped with power as Medr turned back to his brother. "What did I do last time? Do you even remember it? I was a stupid kid, Derix! I didn't mean to hurt him! Surely you realize that by now..." The fury on Derix's face didn't change. "You really think I meant to kill your brother, don't you? My Gods, you bastard...What do you think I am?" Medr hugged Brayden up far more gently. The change was subtle, but it was a much different feeling. "You came into my life with my mother who had been kidnapped, raped and returned in humiliation with two children in tow, one of them not even her own. What did you expect me to do? I was angry. I was being taught to kill for the very first time that week and I didn't realize what it meant yet." "You picked at him and picked at him like he was an animal! I can still hear the things you called him to see him cry! I hated you for what you did to him. I hated you for being the son of the man I hated most in the world. I hated you for a thousand reasons, but I pitied you too. Still, you asked for his death. You begged for it every time you beat him up and threw rocks like insults, carelessly. Every time you called attention to him, you asked for him to be killed and you should have known it!" "I didn't know my father would kill him. I didn't know what kill meant, not really. I was a kid! I was pissed off that your father stole my mother away from me! My anger fell upon your brother because he didn't share my blood the way you did, so he was the only target my hatred could choose that wasn't complicated..." "You hated a child? A child younger than that boy you hold in your arms," Derix pointed out flatly in disgust. Medr trembled from the accusation, but it was plain to Brayden that Derix had not seen it. "You stood there and watched him die..." "I did," Medr whispered. "My dad told me I didn't have to watch, but it was my fault he was going to kill him." "You never cried. You sat there with that hard look in your eyes as he was tortured to death! You never ran or even flinched..." "It was the least I could do. I caused it with my ignorance," Medr said softly. "I didn't know my father hated you both for being there too." Medr met Derix's eyes defiantly. "I forced myself to watch out of respect for a life being ended because I was a silly asshole! I shouldn't have done it. I should have left him alone, but I was a child, Derix. Barely thirteen years old and trying to become a warrior to make my father proud. All I wanted to do was cry in my mother's lap! But I couldn't, could I? Because she was practically dead from what your father did to her! Did I ever blame you for what he did to her?" "No," Derix swiftly cut in with derision thick in his voice, "you were too busy blaming my six-year-old brother! A boy I had to take care of because your mother wasn't mentally well enough to know he existed!" Medr turned his back. Brayden could see the pain in his eyes, but Derix was oblivious to it. "I was ten! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to see him cry every time you tormented him? How hard it was for me to feel responsible for his suffering when I couldn't even stop myself from getting tortured every damn day?" "I didn't know about that either," Medr whispered almost too softly to be heard by anyone in the room. "You blamed my father for hurting your mother! Should I blame you for what your father and his friends did to me? Should I blame you for what you did to me, too, Medr? Your father killed my entire family! My father raped your mother and had a kid by her that he raised as his own son! He did nothing nearly as bad as what your dad did to us! You had no right to blame us for a damn thing! Your fucking asshole of a father started it when he killed my father's brother and then he killed my father's mate! My brother's mother...and came back to kill everyone except me." "He would have killed you too if you had not escaped when you did." His next words were whispered in a voice so soft they probably weren't meant for his brother's hearing. "After I saw what he did..." It stopped Derix. Obviously he had heard it. "You didn't seem to care when you found out..." "What could I have done, Derix? He was my father." There was a silence between them that practically vibrated with unspoken questions...old fears and tears. It was a long silence as both tried to work up the courage to say a million things that needed to be spoken and couldn't. "I was too small to try to kill him for what he did...and he would have denied it if I had told anyone." "You didn't care," Derix accused him, but it was a shaky sound. Anyone who knew Derix would have heard the uncertainty in his voice. He didn't know if it was true or not, despite throwing it out as if it was set in stone. A large part of him feared it was the truth. "How can you say that to me? I came looking for you, didn't I?" "I don't know what you did! How in the Gods' names could I know? We were fighting your kind winning like we always did! I got separated from Ben'hamin by some zealous ass. By the time I found him again, he was back at his house and suddenly he had a new pet! Only it was you..." "You jealous bastard..." Medr'ainder turned about furiously to glare at him. "Is that all you can see? I lost and Ben took me..." Derix's eyes narrowed in irritation. The fact that he still seemed to blame him bothered Medr. "You should have asked sooner if it bothered you so much, little brother," he spit angrily. "I didn't want to know," Derix snapped furiously. Medr considered him silently for a full minute before deciding he was calm enough to try explaining, but even then it came out bitter and sarcastic. "I purposely signed up for that mission, because I knew you had gone that way when you left us. I was looking for you!" "Why? Did you want to finish off what your father couldn't do?" Medr was at the end of his patience. That was exactly what Derix wanted. "I didn't want anyone to accidently kill you, you fool" Medr shouted forgetting in his anger that others down the halls might hear him. "I wouldn't have bothered had I known you were perfectly happy being buggered!" Medr clenched his teeth down to stop the rest of the hateful things he was about to say. He regretted that last sentence the moment it left his mouth. Medr'ainder sighed and tried again, but his voice betrayed his feelings. "I gave up my pride the second I smelled your scent on him," Medr explained not realizing how much that sentence admitted. "I thought I could help you and..." Medr sighed harshly when he saw Derix's expression, turning his back on him again as he stopped that sentence short. Medr'ainder did not see the stricken look in Derix's eyes, but Brayden did. The kid was carefully watching everything. "Oh, what is the use," Medr sighed shaking delicately. "You won't believe a word I say, will you?" "Happy being buggered," Derix repeated blankly trying to cover his astonishment with anger. He put a hot look in his eyes as he snapped the words tightly. "I can't believe you would even say such a thing to me. What right do you have to judge me for anything I have done?" "I guess I don't have one, do I?" Medr turned to face him again. The sadness in his eyes was apparent only to someone who had been told it wasn't anger already. "I have no right to interfere in your life at all, do I, little brother? It doesn't matter to you in the least that you are the only family I have left..." Derix dropped his head to hide his face. Medr took it to mean he didn't care at all. Medr left the room still carrying Brayden. The child in the boy's robes scurried out of the room on his heels, making haste to not be forgotten or left behind by him. Medr waited long enough to hold the door for the kid as he glanced at Derix. When his brother didn't look up at all he closed it between them. The sound had a distinctly final note to it. Medr'ainder looked sick with grief, disgust and frustration as he started down the hall to his own room further along. "Medr," the cloaked child whispered touching his arm gently as they moved. "I am okay," Medr'ainder assured the child softly placing his hand over the tiny one grasping his sleeve in concern. "I expected him to feel that way." "What will you do now? You don't give up. I know that. Even when I think you should..." "Perhaps the boy will force him to talk to me about it; he has been putting it off for far too long," Medr'ainder mused. "But it hurts you to remember him," the kid at their side remarked rather pointedly with a irritated look in his eyes as he glanced at Brayden. "Yes, but I need to get over that...just as he does." Medr hugged Brayden and smiled at him weakly. "Brayden really does look like Micka'tiar. Too bad he doesn't smell anything like a tiger, huh?" The kid in the thick cloak laughed tugging at Brayden's thin pants playfully. "He doesn't smell too bad, just different." Brayden snuggled up in his arms as the last few days began to catch up to him leaving him exhausted. "I think we need to put him to bed and figure out what to do next," Medr stated softly opening the door to their room quietly. "That is easy. We are going to kill a king," the kid teased. Brayden shivered hoping these two hadn't been the ones to poison King Sinedien. "It might not be that simple, Sahl'mina...I wish it was." Princess Destiny Dirge Shin'lee...She was so excited and happy as she twirled in the loose sheer silk peignoir that she was wearing as she watched the intense, bright gleam in her eyes. Today had been a day of dreaming and happiness. It could not get any better than this. Andy had been waiting for them at the ceremony with a strange sadness in his fond amused eyes. And her husband...oh, my...her husband...he had looked much too elegant and sophisticated as he stood before her parents swearing to love and adore her for the rest of their days. Her parents had simply wished her well, kissed her cheeks and promptly disappeared. It was perfect. In minutes, he would be up here with her and it would always be this perfect. There was only one thing that could make it more wonderful. Andy...Andy loved her; she knew he did. He also loved her husband. If the three of them could always be together like this...now that, would really be perfect. It would be sheer heaven and she wasn't the only one of the three to think it, either. Everest had simply swept her off of her feet, but she wasn't silly enough to have missed the longing looks he gave Andy when no one was around to notice them. They were the same looks Destiny had been giving him for years and years. It was amazing that Andy never seemed to act or look as old as he claimed to be. Excited beyond words, Destiny left the room to look over the balcony to the lower floor. Where was Everest? Why was he taking so long? Only Andy could have distracted him for so long, she knew. When she looked at the shadowed foyer below, she had her answer. Everest was rolling around on the ground wrestling with Andy in good-natured drunkenness. Neither of them wore shirts. They looked so good together that her mouth watered at the idea of being down there among them, but Andy had been clear to her when he had informed her he could never see her that way. In his eyes, she would always be a child he had raised. Unable to take her eyes from the dark coppery bronze on Andy's corded, lean chest, Destiny slowly made her way to the stairs wanting to go closer. She had to stop herself several times as she watched them working up a sweet sweat below. Everest was so gorgeous, but Andy...Oh, my Gods, Andy was a dream in those tight black pants he habitually wore from his homeland. Everest pinned him to the floor and Andy was laughing about it until Everest kissed him. Then, Destiny recognized the tense stillness that fell into Andy's body. It had startled him. It had confused him completely throwing him off his guard and causing him to reevaluate and assess the situation before reacting. She knew he wouldn't react until he knew how to react, but he also would not allow Everest to go much farther until he made up his mind. Andy shifted uncomfortably as Everest got bolder by his lack of disgust or trying to push him away. Destiny prayed Everest was smart and didn't push him too fast. Andy was picky about that. He never liked to be rushed on anything. She saw Andy extracting Everest's hand from the front of his pants carefully. Shoot, he was going to blow it! Everest suddenly stopped kissing him and grinned before rolling Andy into a much more submissive and painful position. Andy didn't like it and fought harder to escape. Destiny found herself several steps lower as the two wrestled again with a much different attitude than a few moments before. Andy hadn't been offended, but he was still confused and that made him wary of Everest's every movement right now. Everest was being careful, seeming to know beyond a shadow of a doubt how much Andy would take before running on him. He would press his luck trying blatantly to seduce his half naked friend before pulling away to continue their friendly brawl. Andy had never liked losing to Everest. Everest wasn't treating Andy like he was a more powerful older male either. He was playing with him like Andy was the younger of the two. Destiny bit her lip as Everest suddenly untied those black pants Andy wore and the waist fell loose showing off a set of cute dimples at the top of his rump and the smoothness of his ass cheeks for several delicious inches of bared skin. Even Everest paused to savor the sight and nearly lost his prey. Andy slipped out from under him finally deciding to escape as he tried to worm his way out of his grip. Everest locked down on him holding him with every ounce of power in his muscled upper arms to prevent it. "Everest, let me up. This isn't funny anymore," Andy growled sternly. "Easy, Andy," Everest purred chuckling. "I am not your dad, pet." Andy froze from his words looking both stunned and horrified. It was just long enough for Everest to get him back under him and contained by his body. "What the hell did you mean by that," Andy whispered without any fight in him for the moment while he stared at him with that confused, petrified glare. "Nothing," Everest sighed. "I just meant...I am not a heartless bastard who won't wait...or stop...should my lovers ask it of me. You should know that by now." "You damn well know my dad! How the fuck is that possible, Everest? Shit, why the hell have you never mentioned it to me before fucking now, anyway?" Destiny froze in terror. She had never heard Andy talk so angrily to anyone, or so foul. It wasn't like him at all. Last she knew, Andy had liked his father. What had happened to cause either male to talk so bad of him? "You aren't the only one with relatives in low places," Everest crooned gently. Andy looked like he was going to be sick as he apparently agreed with that description. Everest then leaned down slowly, watching Andy cautiously, as he started nuzzling him under his sensitive chin. Andy closed his eyes nearly moaning as a sigh escaped his lips. "Am I doing anything you don't find pleasing?" Everest was purring again knowing how well Andy liked the sound of his voice when that heavy sound laced all through it. "You like me, Andy. I know you do." "Not like this..." but the words were a partial lie. Destiny perked up hearing the defiant denial in his softly hesitant voice. Meaning Andy had dared to imagine it! In his kingdom, sex with any male was forbidden, so he had never even acted curious about such a thing. This was not the Andy she knew...He had changed. Everest purred with a teasing grin on his face. "No, are you so sure? I like you like this." "Yeah, I can tell," Andy whispered breathlessly looking away from Everest slightly embarrassed as he said it, and leaving little doubt to what he meant by the comment as he looked towards the door not far away. "Everest, please...let me go." "Why," Everest drawled out lazily as he continued to gently persuade the helplessly contained male he was still rather tightly holding to him. "You feel like you are enjoying this as much as I am," Everest remarked with a gloating sound in his voice and a smirk on his face. Destiny had to hide the little gasp of surprise that left her lips. Andy was enjoying it? There was only one way Everest would be so certain of that and it was much as Andy had already mentioned about her new husband. Oh, my... Andy fought, succeeding in freeing himself enough to buck Everest off of him and move away several feet. Everest wasn't giving up, though. Andy would have been better off staying where he had been. Andy was closer to the door, but by the time Everest had once more pinned him...Andy was in a far more dangerous position. Everest used the pad of his hand to push his own pants down a few slight inches. Destiny could see the shiny tip of it just before he rubbed the thick swollen head of his dick down into the long crease between Andy's now fully bared ass. Andy shivered for a second, before he twisted about. The two of them went rolling in a mass of tangled limbs and torn clothing. Everest growled in nearly uncontrolled lust as he smacked down to the floor rather hard on his stomach. Andy fell down heavily upon his back to hold him there with his weight. Both were naked now. The pants were down and ripped into nothingness around their legs. Everest stopped fighting and lay there placidly as Andy purposely exerted all of his strength to keep him there while he thought frantically about things. Everest looked up and met Destiny's eyes. His red eyes were happy, teasing and arrogant as he stared at his young bride's passionate gaze. He waited rather patiently while Andy was likely debating whether or not he intended to fuck the newly crowned prince on his wedding night. From the look in Everest's eyes, he wanted Andy to do it and dared not move lest he chicken out entirely and run for the door again. It was close enough he might make it this time. Destiny prayed he would have patience and not rush him again. In the end, Everest gave up waiting first pushing Andy to decide in haste. He twisted his upper body leaning back until he could grasp Andy's head and tug him down for a heated kiss to help him make up his mind. It was a stupid mistake. Andy would never rush a decision this important to himself and his own future. Ben'hamin Ch. 09 Again, Andy shivered like a wet cat trying to get the water off of his fur. A harsh moan escaped him as he almost fell for the ruse. Destiny held her breath as Andy kissed him urgently. Just when she was about to congratulate Everest on his decision, Andy gasped and leapt away from Everest in anxious dismay. As he suddenly scrambled to his knees fleeing the foyer in his haste, Everest realized he had succeeded in escaping his captor, this time... Everest sighed groaning in resignation as he flipped over and stared up at her with a very content and pleased smile upon his face. Destiny started laughing uncontrollably. She had never seen Andy squirm so badly with indecision. "Now, that was a very exciting show," she drawled lazily looking down at him. "I am wondering if you intend to seduce your bride as vigorously, my love..." She couldn't believe she had the nerve to say that to him. Everest growled down below in lustful warning before flipping to his stomach and coming up on all fours. He began to stalk the stairs as slowly and dangerously as a tiger on the prowl. She giggled before slowly stepping up one of the stairs she had previously descended. One never ran from a tiger...It tended to make them pounce. She turned and ran for her room laughing... Dirge woke up with a gasp of dismay at the memory. What had followed was the steamiest night in her life. Everest had never been so turned on before or since. She had always assumed he had put on that little show for her benefit, but perhaps he hadn't. Perhaps he had really enjoyed it, wanting Andy more so than the bride he had married. That thought didn't add up when the Everest she knew so well was a strictly homophobic asshole. The Everest she knew killed men for flirting with him. He had done it several times in the last few hundred years. He would smile and let the male come closer and closer pretending to be flattered or amused. In the end, the poor creature suffered like no one she had ever met for the offense. Everest hated gay men. He always had, so why had he once openly made a play for Andy and why was he now flirting with the kitchen crew? He was vicious to her when he hated men and sweet when he was flirting with them. It didn't make any kind of sense to her. There had to be an explanation for his strange behavior somewhere. And chances were she knew it already, it was just a matter of thinking of the clues she was missing. A faint memory tickled at her mind trying to tell her. The clue was there if only she could wade past the drugs and fear and depression that made up much of her life to find it. After two hundred years, surely she knew it. What was it? Where was the connection? What could she be missing? It was probably something simple. Something she wouldn't have paid much attention to at the time it was said or done...an insignificant fact or action that would break the mystery wide open. Then, her mind had the answer. She didn't know at first why the memory surfaced, but the longer she thought about it...the longer she remembered it...she knew it was the clue she had been looking for all along. Over and over she ran it in her mind until she knew for a fact she was right in her guess. "Oh, my Gods," she hissed in fury, "no wonder!" She saw it happening. Dirge knew where it was going, but she couldn't even move enough to warn the sexy, young male he was in serious danger. The boy was new and the king was a sexy sinner who looked like a fallen saint. Everest was beautiful enough to tempt anyone and he knew it, but the kitchen boy was hot and his eyes looked heated too. No one was around. Everyone had gone home. All she could do was lie there and watch. Dirge was sore and exhausted from the heavy procession of business deals Everest had made today. But that wasn't what held her paralyzed; she was fucked up on drugs. She had consumed more than the usual amount of the sweet fruit in an attempt to escape the sheer hell of fucking everyone Everest sent her way. It was pitiful to see the young fellow trying to interest Everest and smiling so innocently at the king who smiled at him so skillfully in return. The boy was young, but old enough to know what he wanted. No one had ever said Everest was ugly and undesirable. Quite the contrary, he exuded sexual awareness like a potent drug. It had been her downfall and she wasn't the last to be fooled by it. Nor would the boy be his last idiot... Just as Everest got up and snatched the young male up against his chest, his face began to change into mocking anger. The boy saw it, but it was too late to run now. Everest had him in his strong grip. Few could escape him after being caught. The boy screamed in fear. Somewhere in that scream, Everest muttered, "You are as disgusting as my whiney brother!" throwing the boy to the ground. Instead of falling on him to fuck him as the youth wanted, Everest pulled a dagger and drilled it into the young male's collarbone. The pain-filled shrieks grew and grew. And then the dagger slammed into the youth's ribs and then his chest...over and over and over as the young male screamed in horrified terror. Rolling in pain in a pathetic attempt to get away from the king who was killing him so mercilessly... Dirge tried to turn away, but the best she could do was close her eyes. Dirge was desperately trying to pass out to get away from the sickening smell...and grisly sight...and the various piercing sounds of it... Dirge continued to shiver as she slowly threw off the effects of the memory to focus only on one single sentence. Everest had said 'my whiney brother' in that sentence. Everest didn't have a brother much less one he spoke of, so who had he meant? Her parents had checked out his background including a thorough questioning of anyone who could have known his family. No one had mentioned him having a brother. Why would Everest say 'my brother' with such disgust in his voice and eyes if he didn't have one? Clearly, he hated the person he spoke of... Perhaps she should ask him, she thought. He wasn't in his 'hate' phase, but his much more appealing 'teasing' one. "Do you think he will tell you?" Dirge gasped and looked over into the darkest shadow of her room to the familiar voice that had spoken from there. There couldn't be a mistake of who it was; she would know that voice forever. "You...You are back. Why?" "I had to bring your Andy back to save you, didn't I," the voice teased softly. "You did that?" Dirge couldn't hide the surprise in her voice and didn't see a reason to do it even if she could. "But I thought the slaver...with the missing slave...How do you know Andy? Is that why you helped me when I was dying?" "I helped you because it was the right thing to do and I knew I could." He purposely avoided any mention of 'piggy' as he chose to answer only the last of her many questions. "I have known 'Andy' for most of his life. We have something in common there, I think? Only I am starting to wonder if you are the one he needs to save," the man added even more softly. "I am starting to wonder myself," she mumbled in confusion. "I don't think it will matter in the end. Andy can't ignore that he used to love Everest; they were best friends and nearly lovers. It won't matter who really needs saving at all, because he will try to save the king before he bothers to think about saving me. Everest is so confusing. I don't think Andy understands him any better than I do!" "Is it possible that Everest has a twin? Or do you think he is mentally ill?" The man stepped out of the shadows, easily recognizable as the man who had saved her life when she was bleeding out months ago. He looked as if he had aged since they had last met despite it not having been all that long ago. He also looked thoughtful and agitated. "What is your stake in this? Why did you make it your problem when you said you didn't need this kind of trouble?" Dirge sighed. "No one does. You said you were too busy. What stopped you from washing your hands of it entirely?" The handsome knight smiled ruefully. "I couldn't pass on this one. It turns out it is my problem, after all. I simply didn't know it at the time." He didn't sound at all happy about that. In fact, he sounded vastly tired and enormously sad. "If you married him in his, as you called it, 'teasing' phase," he pointed out solemnly, "then that one is your husband. Now all we have to decide is whether he is mentally ill, or has a twin lurking about somewhere. That is going to be our second issue to ponder." "How do you intend to figure it out? You don't know him, or do you?" He shook his head with a slight smile. "You do," he pointed out. "Is it possible for there to be two of them?" She frowned trying to figure out how she could say 'yes' or 'no' and mean it. "Has he ever switched personalities without disappearing first?" "He has only 'switched' twice in the whole time I have known him," Dirge fussed grumpily as she thought about the fuzzy past. "And yes, he disappeared before each one. When he came back, it was like he was someone else. Do you really think that means he has a twin brother? How, when no one has ever mentioned one before? How could they hide it for so long? You would think someone would have seen them together by now..." "Not exactly conclusive...He may have a split personality that he thinks of as a brother," he explained objectively. "He will know there is another person, but he might not know it is simply another aspect of his own sub-consciousness. It is possible that he isn't ill enough to make it a noticeable problem, but he would still feel it happening. Something caused the switch," he pointed out thoughtfully. "Your near death was likely the case of the last one, but what caused the change the first time?" "I haven't a clue. Everything was perfect. Then, one morning...he killed everyone." "He never gave you any indication that there was a reason behind the deaths?" "Power," Dirge snorted angrily. "They stood in the way of him being my king." She saw the doubtful frown and decided to explain further. "He had trade agreements he needed signed quickly or he would have lost them. The Everest I know would never let anything stand between him and that. The Everest I know killed my parents to become king, because they refused to endorse the venture when he proposed it to them." "You are absolutely certain of that?" She nodded at him without the slightest doubt in her head. "So he switched to gain power, because someone was forcing him to accept that it wasn't his place to be what he expected to be after marrying you. Is it possible he seduced you simply because he needed these trade agreements to go through and nothing else? Where were the agreements in question? What nation?" "It is a far tribe in the east of this continent. No one knows much about it, but since the agreement there has been a great deal of people coming here from there. All of them are very secretive and never discuss much of their country with others. I suppose it could be possible, but the Everest I married didn't seem to have ulterior motives. I guess he could have been a better actor than the one I know..." "Have you ever been to this country? Has Everest?" "No, I never leave the castle. Ever since I was kidnapped, my parents told the guards to not let me out of their sight, or out of these walls, were I couldn't be killed." There was derision in her voice as she said the last of that sentence, but the guy grew thoughtful at the way her parents had worded it. "Everest has been there often..." "So, he knows this place very well then. Is it the country he came from?" "Yes, it is...but my parents questioned everyone about his background. No one ever mentioned a brother to the people who went to check him out." "Everest is psychic. Chances are good that anyone they asked was also, and therefore the information is useless. They told your parents whatever they wanted your parents to know and nothing more. It doesn't prove that Everest is one person, nor does it prove anything else except how little we truly know about him and where he came from." "I could send someone to go gather information for you," Dirge offered. "No, anyone that you sent would be as useless as the ones your parents sent. It would also let them know we are looking. No, what I need is a psychic spy they can't read who is good enough to hide what he is doing there from anyone who is watching for trouble." "Who can I send? Everest is the only one I know and he will be expecting trouble from anyone who is a stranger, especially now that this has happened!" "Yes, but the Everest you know is not the one you married," he stated pointedly. "We may eventually have to deal with him before this is all over, but at this very moment it is the one you married that we must contend with." Dirge frowned even harder as she thought about it the way he was suggesting. When she considered them that way, she could understand what he was saying far better. It put things in a far more complex perspective, but made also it easier to cope with by not treating the two 'phases' as one person. "Regardless of two bodies or one," he pointed out softly, "it is the one you don't know that has Andy so confused right now." "Yeah, that is the one who confuses the fuck out of me too, so I can empathize with him on this one. I know mean Everest, but the nice one...he didn't stick around long enough for me to get to know him." "You married him..." Dirge studied the man's face carefully looking for and not finding the condemnation she expected to see on his handsome face. "You must have cared for him a great deal at some point in time. You must have thought you knew him." "I loved him. He swept me off of my feet pretty swiftly," Dirge agreed ruefully. "It is the one you married who lies in his room dying of poisons in his bloodstream." Dirge didn't look the least bit surprised by that news. "He is the only one we must think about right now. It won't matter if there are two of them, or if he is insane just yet. The last switch took hundreds of years to occur. There is no way to know how long this one will last either. So, it is the one who you don't know that we must decide whether or not to save, or kill," he pointed out without the slightest inflection in his voice to suggest he had any emotions about it. "The other Everest I would allow to die without even considering the consequences," Dirge whispered softly. "But you are right...this isn't the Everest I know. If there is the slightest chance to save one and kill the other, I can't just let him die like this. If there does end up being two of them, it would be a grave mistake. Yet if he is insane and both of them are really and truly Everest, how will you make one personality go away and leave the other here without him coming back again and again?" "You can't," the man informed her softly. Dirge looked down at her sheets sadly as she sat thinking. "Then, I would rather he died than have to deal with this. It isn't worth the risk. I cannot allow it to continue if I have a chance to make the choice. It isn't right for me and it certainly isn't right for my kingdom. My parents would be appalled at the things he has done here." "It may not be you who decides," the man warned her. "I came here for your Andy, and I will likely defer to his wishes on this. However, we do need a spy in Everest's homeland. I will see what I can do about finding out a little more about this dual king you have sided yourself with for so long. There has to be a way to decide this logically." "You never told me your name. Who are you?" The man smiled softly. "I am simply a guardian taking care of what I need to keep safe." "Yes, but even guardians have names," Dirge pointed out hopefully. The man smiled at her before stepping back into the shadows of the room again. "Why won't you tell me? Your name cannot possibly be that important." "Around psychics, even such a thing as simple as a name can have far more importance than you would believe possible." "I have seen your face and would know your voice anywhere," Dirge stated. He chuckled softly as his features faded with the darkness that surrounded him. "Oh, lovely...those things can be changed like the very wind that blows about your courtyard."