Forever Caged
folder
+. to F › Ai no Kusabi
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
123
Views:
46,675
Reviews:
224
Recommended:
2
Currently Reading:
4
Category:
+. to F › Ai no Kusabi
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
123
Views:
46,675
Reviews:
224
Recommended:
2
Currently Reading:
4
Disclaimer:
I don't own Ai No Kusabi nor do i make any money from this fanfic.
Chapter 121
Disclaimer: I do not own Ai No Kusabi nor do I make any money from this fanfic. However, I do own all the original peeps I have chosen to invade the AnK world.
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Iason/Riki, Raoul/Katze, original characters and novel character pairings.
Parts: 121 of ?
~~**Forever Caged**~~
“Keita—”
“No, I told you that I’m not talking to you.”
Marcus grit his teeth. “You’re speaking to me right now.”
Fidget hmphed and knocked Marcus’s hands away that reached out to grab his hips. “You had no right to take my mental breakdown from me.”
Marcus hissed out a breath. “You tried to eat one of the nurses.”
Fidget tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Were they wearing orange? I always get hungry when I see that color for some reason.”
Marcus sucked in a shaky breath. “I could not allow you to be in pain.”
“Which is why you’re in pain now,” Fidget said, flicking one of the Blondie’s hardened, pink nipples as he shifted his nude body further down Marcus’s naked lap. The state of the Blondie’s arousal was beyond comical, mostly because Marcus was allowing him to torment him. He wasn’t planning on torturing Marcus for much longer, just long enough to get the guilty and haunted look out of his lover’s eyes.
Fidget was grateful…even humbled by the fact that Marcus did what he had done. The Ruby doctor had told him—after he got control back of his mind—that Marcus had been given other options, but had refused them because his Blondie had wanted him back. Not his body, but him.
But, just because he was thankful Marcus didn’t turn him into a doll, it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to pick on him. He liked his prissy Blondie the most when he was about to snap. It was also his way to expression his appreciation.
Nothing like a little sexual frustration to show how much he cared.
And he did care, now more than he ever did for the Blondie. He had been lost in a nightmare, and Marcus had saved him. Landon had messed him over pretty bad, and had used the blood of his twin to break him. Keito had been the strongest tether he had anchoring him to reality when Landon had first began hurting him, until the Elite had severed that connection.
Fidget sadly doubted that Keito would have been able to rescue him this time. Despite what he had told his brother, he’d been on the brink of losing it for a while. He’d been scared—scareder than he had been in a long time. The fear of losing his twin to another Blondie. The fear of being trapped forever in Eos. The fear of the amount of affection he saw in Marcus’s eyes…
Being captured by that white-haired Elite had just been bad timing. The intense mind games side-by-side with Landon digging and twisting a scalpel in his body, feeling his skin slowly being pulled off, and the fire of whatever was in that injection the Elite shot him up with. It had all been more than he had been able to handle.
Even though it felt like years had past since it happened, he still clearly remembered Landon hurting his twin. And he remembered the all too familiar rage that overwhelmed him when he heard Keito scream. After that… After that, he could only remember flashes of him attacking the Elite, going somewhere dark, seeing the dude he fought with in Ceres, and Riki.
He remembered hazy screams from faceless men and the feel, smell, and taste of blood in his mouth, on his hands, and on his body. And the fire… He remembered fire. The way the flames flickered on the faces of the men, he knew he was the reason why they had screamed.
He had screamed as well… At least, he think he did.
He had burned in the fiery hell within his imprisoned mind. Chained in the memories of his past. Hearing his twin crying his name. Calling for help…
But Marcus helped to silence his terror. He—
Fidget gasped as Marcus bucked under him and as he tumbled backwards, his Blondie grabbed his arms, catching him before he fell back on the narrow cot.
“Stay with me,” Marcus said pulling him fully into his arms.
Rubbing against Marcus’s cock delightfully jabbing his ass, Fidget playfully bit the tip of his Blondie’s chin. “I am with you.”
“Just remember, there is nowhere you could go that I would not find you,” Marcus whispered into his hair.
“Aw, and I’m the one that is supposed to stalk you,” Fidget said touched by Marcus’s possessiveness. Gabbing Marcus’s hand, Fidget curled it around his hip and down the small of his back. “How about you come on in.”
He’d been teasing his Blondie for the past hour. Making Marcus watch as he pleasured himself while sitting on his lap. Sex with his Blondie had been the only thing on his mind the moment his mind had been given back to him. Mischievously punishing Marcus had been an added bonus.
Slipping Marcus’s fingers into him, Fidget bit his lip and moaned.
“Keita,” Marcus hissed.
“If you don’t give it to me, we’ll be late,” Fidget huskily said. “And I do, dearly, want to see my brother.”
Growling deep in his throat, Marcus flipped Fidget onto his back, hiked his knees over his shoulders, and entered him with one hard thrust.
“Too deep,” Fidget gasped but still dug his nails into Marcus’s ass, urging the Blondie on to go deeper. And, to his delight, Marcus did. Their hot breath mingled as their mouths clashed together. Marcus kissed him in a desperation Fidget understood, and responded in kind.
Raking his nailed up his Blondie’s back, Fidget sank his hands into the tangled mess of Marcus’s blond hair. Fisting the gold locks, Fidget turned Marcus’s head to better devour his lover’s lips all the while whispering dirty words to egg the Blondie on.
The cot creaked loudly—the bed scraped across the floor until the headboard banged against the wall so violently that dust and bits of the ceiling rained down on them. Slipping his legs off Marcus’s shoulders, Fidget wrapped them high around the Blondie’s waist so he could comfortable attack Marcus’s neck.
Fidget grinned as his elaborate and lewd moans caused Marcus to shudder. He pantingly whispered naughty things until Marcus curse at him under his breath, then bit the Blondie’s earlobe just as the cot buckled under their abuse.
Fidget gasped in pain and pleasure as the sudden fall had Marcus surging deeper into him—deeper than the Blondie ever willingly did before.
Marcus leaned up on his forearms on either side of Fidget’s head.
“Don’t!” Fidget rasped when he felt Marcus begin to withdraw, but the slight friction was enough to send Fidget over the edge and screamed in ecstasy as his release surged up and railroaded across him.
Marcus’s face appeared above him. His eyes were concerned, but his face was nothing but smug satisfaction. Panting, Fidget narrowed his eyes and wickedly tightened around Marcus’s cock. The Blondie gasped, slumped against his chest, and shuddered.
“Sir Ja—”
Marcus’s head snapped over his shoulder, and Fidget peeked around to see a shocked Ruby standing in the doorway.
“Sir Jayd. Sir Mink and Riki are on their way to the dining hall,” the Ruby said as he quickly shut the door.
Fidget and Marcus stared after the Ruby in silence.
“He saw your ass.” Fidget giggled.
Biting his shoulder, Marcus laughed.
oOoOoOo
Riki coldly looked through the dome glass encasing the Platinum Elite being healed in a HRP*. “He doesn’t need that part of him reattached,” he said, his words more of an order than a question.
“No,” Iason replied. “Your mongrel friend was justifiable in subjecting Landon to reconstructive surgery.”
Reconstructive surgery? Seriously? Riki looked at Iason. “He chopped his dick off. Yeah, it was with a scalpel, but surgery is a far cry from what V did to him.” Not that Riki blamed V. Shit, it was plain to see what Landon did to get his “balls and frank” lopped clean off.
Rape was a common thing in the Slums. If you didn’t have the brain or muscle power to protect your ass, your ass became the property of every predator walking on two legs in Ceres. And if you did get ‘tagged’, the rapists knew it was a matter of when, not if, but when, payback came their way. For a mongrel not to retaliate against a violation like that, it fell in the same line as being called a “beaten dog”. A title Riki had gotten when Iason pretended to set him free, and he returned to Ceres with his tail between his legs.
“V fucked him up real bad.” The Elite’s his face was so messed up Riki could barely recognize him. “Good for him,” Riki whispered, approving wholeheartedly on the damaged V inflected. The fact that Iason told him on the way down that the guards hadn’t dragged V off the Platinum, told Riki V had gotten his fill… Well, for now he did.
“In normal circumstances, a person would be unable to withstand the stress of accelerated healing a second time,” Iason said standing next to him. “This will mark Landon’s third session within twenty-four hours.”
“It ain’t gonna kill him, I’m guessin’,” Riki said.
“No,” Iason replied. “However, from certain genetic breakdowns within Landon’s cells, Jupiter has withdrawn his status. This will be the last emergency healing his body will be able to tolerate.”
“Withdrawn his status?” Riki frowned. “I always assumed the only way you could lose your position was if you died?”
“And you would be correct in your assumption. Our genetic code cannot be altered and is locked before we leave incubation. There are always threats from different worlds vying for perfection, and Tanagura Elites are perfect in every way.”
Riki rolled his eyes. “So what does that mean? If Elites can’t be ‘demoted’, how is it that this prick was?”
“Because he was not an Elite.”
Riki looked at the Ruby Elite that spoke. He’s spied the Ruby when they first entered, but had ignored him. “How can he not be an Elite?” he asked.
The Ruby didn’t glance at Iason for permission to speak, a fact that earned the Elite a bit of Riki’s respect. “The breakdown of the protein in his system, and the composition of those proteins, tells us he was Midas born. Someone continuously manipulated the chemistry of his body to fool us into thinking he was an Elite.”
Riki looked down at Landon’s messed up face as the Ruby tapped on the glass over the Platinum’s head.
“You cannot see it now,” the Ruby said, “but Landon’s hair has snapped off at shoulder length. And the blood on his scalp hides the brown soot of his natural hair color coming through.”
“So, either he was playing ‘mad scientist’ on himself,” Riki said, “or Jupiter’s been amusing herself with a pet of her own, and made him like this.”
“And you would be right, on the latter,” Iason said. The Blondie did not seem at all surprised that Landon was not who they all thought he was.
“So, what? Her dog got off his leash and now she’s punishing him?” Riki asked.
“I would say that Jupiter did not appreciate her ‘pet’ interfering in mongrel business,” the Ruby said turning away.
Riki narrowed his eyes at the Elite’s back. Glancing up at Iason, Riki noticed his Blondie’s eyes also followed the Ruby. The way the Elite had said, “mongrel business” spoke of a wealth of knowledge the Ruby shouldn’t know. Then again, he had been pulled ‘underground’ to heal his gang members—from both Ceres and in Eos—and shit like that was not normal in everyday pet life.
“If your grace has nothing further for me, I will depart to report to Sir Am with my findings,” the Ruby said, and departed after Iason nodded.
Riki watched the Ruby leave. “You don’t thi—”
“He knows,” Iason said in a low tone that gave Riki the chills.
“How much does he know, though?” Riki said. “I mean, if he knew everything, he would have reported us already, right?”
“He did not look me in the eyes,” Iason said instead.
“Ahh, that’s a normal thing for you, isn’t it?” Riki said.
“He is an Elite. And while I outrank him, we are, in a sense, equals.”
“You consider someone to be your equal?” Riki said.
“No,” Iason said with a smile. “I have no equal, but they believe otherwise.”
“Of course,” Riki muttered. “So what do we do about him?”
“As for right now we do nothing,” Iason said. “I will consult with Raoul. He chose the Ruby because he is the physician for all the mongrels.”
Riki frowned. “Just him? No one else?” Yeah, the—fuck, he couldn’t remember the Ruby’s name—Elite was always behind the clipboard, needle, or mask whenever he had to see the stupid doctor, but to be the dude for all his guys? That didn’t sound good.
“Yes.” Iason’s arm curled around his waist as the Blondie directed him away from Landon, and toward the exit.
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Riki asked as they walked down the hall. “Wouldn’t he notice that me and my guys are immune to certain sickness and shit from being in Ceres, that there ain’t no possible way any pet could get in Eos?”
“Yes,” Iason said, “he would.”
Riki didn’t know the Ruby all that well. The Elite did his job with minimum to no conversation exchanged between them. However, the Ruby treated him with respect. Acknowledged his existence and had never treated him as an object or rabid animal. If the Ruby did know about the gang—maybe even from the beginning—he kept his mouth shut. It was impossible to think that the Elite had their back—hiding them from exposure…
“We could be wrong,” Riki said, wanting to give the Ruby a chance just in case the Elite—for whatever reason—was on their side.
“Which is the reason why he is still free to move about,” Iason replied.
“That’s pretty generous of you,” Riki said with a smirk.
“I’ve had Michael watched from the moment Raoul brought him on board. Regardless if Landon was not an Elite, his betrayal was informative.” Iason stopped a few feet from a windowed room. Behind the glass, Riki could see V, Rio, and Sky talking to Julius. “I had already made the decision to terminate Landon before his true identity was revealed.”
“So?”
“Once resigned to the fact that I would be taking the life of an Elite, a decision like that can never be erased.”
“What does that mean?” Riki said, distracted as he watched Sky breakaway and walk toward a Blondie talking to Aisha.
“Jupiter,” Iason said cupping Riki’s face and forcing him to focus only on him, “conditioned us with the inability to do irreversible harm to each other. I have broken that conditioning.”
“Yeah, but Landon’s not an Elite,” Riki said. “And that Ruby isn’t Landon.”
Iason released him. “It makes no difference. If this Ruby is a threat, he will be dealt with permanently, if necessary.”
Riki glared at Iason. “Just because you broke some kind of fucking conditioning doesn’t give you permission to kill Elites, Iason.” To think he was trying to protect an Elite. “Leave the fucking doctor alone.”
Damn Blondie ignored him and walked away.
“You’re not going to kill him, Iason. Iason!”
Fucking Blondie!
oOoOoOo
Sky eyed the Blondie standing next to Aisha as he approached them. Sir Elliot Maress. The argumentative and disapproving Blondie he had met at the first—and last—Elite party the gang had been invited to. Within the group, V was their lure and muscle. His brother the map. And he was the intel gatherer and weapons maker. Sky knew all about the Blondie who took Ghost as his own. He was good at his job.
Sky also knew the trigger that needed to break for a Blondie to sink their claws—and never let go—in the one they claimed. Ghost harmed his brother. Sky wasn’t about to let that slight go.
“Keito,” Aisha greeted. The Blondie leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, as Sky came to stand next to his side.
Sky noted the Blondie’s disgust at Aisha’s intimate gesture.
“Keito?” the Blondie, Elliot, said. “I was under the assumption his name was Sky.”
“Keito is my given name,” Sky said. “Only those who I have given permission, is allowed to use it.”
“And how many would that be?” Elliot asked.
“Aisha and my brother.”
“So ‘permission’ is not based on intimacy,” the Blondie sneered the word, but otherwise looked thoughtful.
“When one does not have much, the little bit that they have, they hold onto it,” Sky replied. He could see out of the corner of his eye Aisha staring at him—giving him a strange look—and he understood why. This was the most he had ever spoken to another Elite—not counting when he antagonized his twin’s Blondie.
“Cloning is a common occurrence. What is not is a natural splitting of a human egg, within a human body. Not on Amoi, at least.”
“I did not know you were interested in human genetics, Elliot,” Aisha said hugging Sky to his side.
“I’m not.” Elliot glared at Aisha. “I’m interested in the possible environmental factors that could have influenced the mutation in this mongrel’s host, thus resulting in her birthing twins.”
“Of course,” Aisha said dryly. “However, what interests me is how you discovered my Keito is a mongrel, Elliot.”
“It wasn’t hard to deduce, Aisha. William was conducting illegal experiments on mongrels in Ceres. Experiments he foolishly extended upon your pets. With that piece of information, connecting the dots were not difficult,” Elliot huffed.
“So, environmental factors?” Sky said, bringing the Blondie’s attention back to him, and back to the topic at hand. “So, you’re an ecologist?”
The Blondie blinked at him in surprise.
“No,” Elliot said slowly. “I could care less about the relationship between humans and the environment they live in. My interests is firmly in botany and, to an extent, bioenvironmentalism.”
“Because plants need water, so studying water pollutions is needed.” Sky smiled.
Elliot returned his smile. “You are correct.”
Of course he was. Sky had studied up on the Blondie. He listened to the pet rumor mills, security grapevines, and even strong-armed Aisha’s Furniture into giving him detailed information on Elliot—on all the Elites. He had found it interesting that this particular Elite seemed disinterested in watching pets bunny humping on stage. Elliot never house a pet for longer than a year, and in that time never attended a sex-show his pets were in. The Blondie’s focus was solely on his career.
What he needed to do was to get the Blondie interested. Elliot already took the first step by taking Ghost from Ceres. And unlike Norris and Cid—who were just brought back to be examined and healed—, Ghost was not going to be released back into the Slums. Sky just needed to activate Elliot’s passiveness to make sure Ghost could not go anywhere.
The arm around Sky’s waist tightened. “What are you doing?” Aisha asked, whispering in his ear.
Sky responded by digging his nails in the back of Aisha’s thigh. “Is that the reason why you’ve taken on the mongrel standing in the corner?”
The Blondie stiffened.
“I can understand why you would want to,” Sky said. “He is an interesting specimen. Sturdy. Long stemmed. I’ve never seen eyes like his before. What kingdom of plantae would you categorize him in, I wonder?”
“Epnorispicoum!” a chipper voice called out.
“Keita,” Sky whispered. His throat thickened with emotion as his brother—his completely healed and happy brother—pulled him from Aisha’s arms and hugged him tightly. Without thought, Sky quietly filled his brother in on what he was doing before Aisha pulled him back under his arm.
“Epnorispicoum? I’ve never heard of such a plant,” Elliot said, stepping closer to them, his interest snared. Sky just needed to make sure they were not the ones the Blondie became engrossed with.
“Well, I heard you guys talking about Ghost’s eyes, and it made me think of that plant. Its leaves are dark with jagged-yellow dotty stripes,” Fidget said. “We call it Black Root, because…well…the roots are black.”
“Really.” The light in the Blondie’s eyes as he stared at his brother caused Sky’s Blondie to stiffen and look around him. No doubt to make sure Marcus did not see Elliot’s fascination.
“Mm,” Sky said. “However, we were never very interested in looking too much into the local plant life in Ceres. We know a scant few names, but that’s it.” Not an absolute lie. Guardian kids were taught all about local plant life. What was poisonous and what wasn’t. The first few months after being kicked out of Guardian, that information kept V, his brother and him, from starving.
“Nope.” Fidget grinned. “I mean, they’re plants. Not much fun there.”
“He—” Elliot motioned to Ghost standing in the corner—“seems to know a great deal.”
“Well, we’re all different,” Fidget said rolling his eyes.
Sky shared a wicked smile with his twin. “It’s all in the matter of how we bloom as we age.”
“And we can tell you all about blooming, can’t we Keito.”
The Blondie eyed them suspiciously.
“That we can, Keita.” Sky would make sure of it. Before he left, he’d make damn sure the Blondie was educated, because Ghost wasn’t going anywhere.
oOoOoOo
Marcus narrowed his eyes at the entertained looks Aisha was throwing him over his shoulder. He’d allowed Keita to see his brother alone. He did this, not because the awkwardness he might have had facing Aisha for the first time since their fight, but because Elliot annoyed him greatly.
“From the glare I see aimed at Elliot, you still find his presence intolerable,” Jared said.
Wrist firmly locked in Jared’s grasp, the blond next to the Elite said, “How can anyone find that dude to be “intolerable”. He plays in the mud.”
“Exactly,” Marcus sneered.
“He’s a man that doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. There’s admiration in that,” Orphe’s mongrel muttered as he stared at his Blondie still being restrained—with a hand on his arm—by Raoul at the far side of the room.
“I find nothing admirable about abandoning ones dignity to roll around in filth,” Marcus said watching Iason and Riki into the room. Their esteemed leader and his black-haired mongrel seemed less the alpha pair, and more deadly enemies with the dark and thunderous expressions on both their faces. An observation made pointedly clear when the two glared at each other and made their way in opposite directions. Iason towards Raoul, Katze, and Orphe, and Riki striding to them.
“Trouble in paradise, old boy?” Rio snickered.
“If I didn’t know—for a fact—of everything you had done for my boys in those tunnels, Rio, I would punch you in the face,” Riki said in greeting to the blond.
Marcus agreed—silently, of course—to the depth of negative emotion Jared’s aggravating pet brought out of him. However, because of Rio, Niko escaped. Landon was rendered powerless to flee capture, and the quiet violet-haired mongrel was given the opportunity to avenge himself.
“You see where I get it,” Rio said to Jared. “How can you blame me for the things that I’ve done with role models like him?”
“Because we aren’t crazy,” Fidget said hopping to a stop next to Marcus.
“Your brain got fixed over an hour ago. Why you so late?” Rio asked.
“I was having sex.”
Rio glared at his Blondie. “Is everyone having sex but me in this joint? What the fuck, Jared.”
“Where is Niko and Jade?” Fidget asked, looking around the room.
“Probably having sex,” Rio said still glaring at his Blondie.
Fidget smiled wickedly. “FYI, we broke the bed too.”
“Motherfucker.”
“Keita, what is your brother doing?” Marcus asked, watching Riki as he whispered in Orphe’s mongrel’s ear while gripping his forearm in a warrior-like grasp of greeting.
“He’s trying to manipulate that Blondie into devirginizing himself,” Fidget said, bringing Marcus’s attention back to the conversation.
Marcus brows furrowed. “With—.”
“—What.” Rio blinked when Marcus and Jared glared at him. “I’ve seen the toys you bastards have here, so don’t play the ‘outraged virgin’ with me.”
Staring at the blond, Marcus looked at the Jared and shook his head before turning back to Fidget. “You said something when you were there. What did you say?”
Fidget shrugged. “I just made a few comments about plowing fields and sowing seeds.”
“Elliot is a Botanist,” Jared said.
“I don’t think that’s the kind of “plowing” Fidget was talking about,” Rio said grinning.
“I think Ellie is kinda funny,” Fidget said. “Not at all dirt scared as you are, Marcus.”
Marcus’s eyebrows shot up. “I am not “dirt scared”. What I have is a genuine respect for cleanliness.”
Rio grinned. “So if I were to—”
“If anything of yours were to touch me, you would not get back.”
The blond stared at him, Marcus glared back, and Jared sighed.
“I like him,” Rio said after awhile, jerking his thumb at Marcus.
If Fidget had not taken such good care of him before they arrived, Marcus would have taken his frustration out on the blond…first by breaking the insulting digit pointing at him. He still might.
“Either way, I doubt Aisha’s mongrel will succeed,” Jared said capturing Rio’s other wrist and forcing the grumbling blond closer to him—and out of Marcus’s reach.
“He better,” Riki said. “If Sky fails to manipulate Elliot into keeping Julius—”
“His name is Julius?!” Rio laughed. “Sounds more like a fruity drink than a name.”
“And yours doesn’t?” V said.
“My name sounds like hot summer nights, scantily clad lovers, and sandy beaches, my friend.” Rio winked.
Marcus rolled his eyes.
“Anyway”—Riki glared at Rio—“We need to keep Julius in Eos. Elliot needs to cross that line all you motherfuckers crossed with us. Because if he doesn’t, Julius will be shipped off to a holding facility somewhere in Midas or Tanagura. And if that happens, he’s gone. He’ll escape with ease.”
Again, Marcus silently agreed with Riki—a detestable occurrence. Eos security was unhackable, impenetrable, and—thanks to the bombing incident*—indestructible. He did not know the extent of important the mongrel Elliot claimed. However, if Elliot used the mongrel only for the herbal knowledge he may contain, once he was finished with him, he would dispose of him.
Other than his feisty little lover, he could barely tolerate the other mongrels. Heathenness creatures. So, claiming the newest mongrel as a pet would be met with an absolute, and unarguable, no. Marcus could not see the others agreeing either.
However, they would need to find a way to keep him in Eos, under their close supervision.
Marcus sighed. “If—and I do mean this in the strictest of terms—If Keita’s sibling is incapable of manipulating the mind of a Blondie—” The thought itself was laughable—“I begrudgingly will offer my assistance.”
“See.” Fidget grinned. “My male is all heart.”
“As much as a shark does before he bites your legs off and eats it,” V muttered.
“Damn. Blood thirsty, questionably compassionate, and he puts out?” Rio looked at Fidget. “I’ll trade—”
Jared grabbed the blond by the nape and lightly shook him. “You are already standing on thin ice with me, Rio. Do not press your luck.”
“As much as I would like to watch Rio continue to put his foot in his mouth, I gotta talk to that asshole,” Riki said jerking his head to the mongrel of discussion, before departing to do just that.
Marcus nodded curtly and wrapped his arm around Keita. Julius fought side-by-side, and more than possibly, saved his love’s life down in that hole. However, it did not forgive stabbing Keita and leaving him to die. The only thing Julius’s aid did was halt the plans Marcus had of snapping his neck.
oOoOoOo
“You are planning on trying to keep me here,” Julius said the moment Riki came to a stop in front of him. “I would advise against such plots.”
Riki’s brows hiked up at the mongrel’s distracted tone. He followed the direction, across the room, where Julius’s eyes were aimed. “Just a friendly FYI, but Katze is taken. Raoul won’t treat you kindly if you trespass.” Not that Riki thought Julius’s interest went down that path. The look the mongrel was giving Katze was between curiosity and hostility.
“Body language, as you well know, can tell you a great deal,” Julius said, ignoring Riki’s comment but with his eyes still on Katze. “I knew from the very beginning that all of your lovers were Elites. Blondies. They consider you their property, they’re possessive, and their emotional connection to all of you makes them dangerous—more so than you or I will ever be able to comprehend.”
“Is that so,” Riki said, disinterested.
Those copper-flecked eyes graced Riki for a second before returning to Katze. “My original plan was to seduce Elliot—to manipulate him with my body. However, I know now that to do so would clamp the chains around my wrists even tighter than they are now.”
Riki frowned. He didn’t like where this was going. It was as if the fucker had been standing right next to them when they schemed on how to keep him here.
“I suspect this became your goal as well—getting Elliot to take me as his own—when Fidget’s twin engaged ‘my Blondie’ in conversation,” Julius went on to say. “It will not work. And I know enough about Elite prisoner protocol to know that once Elliot’s curiosity has been appeased, I will be moved to a different location. I suggest letting that happen.”
This motherfucker is too damn smart for his own fucking good. Riki glowered. “What makes you think Iason—or I—will let you go?”
The mongrel took his eyes off Katze and looked at him. “I’m more useful to you on the outside, Riki. My people have always fought alongside of yours, which is most likely why Katze took you under his wing.”
His people? My people?! What the fuck was this guy yapping about? Riki snorted. “Under his wing? Nah. Katze was under Iason’s orders to watch me.”
Julius shrugged. His eyes sliding back to watch Katze. “To watch you, yes, but not to teach you everything in his trade in preparation to take over for when he stepped down.”
Riki shook his head in denial. “Katze wouldn’t have been able to step down. Iason wouldn’t have let him.”
“But Iason would have allowed Katze to work under you,” Julius countered, and Riki could not argue that Iason wouldn’t have done just that.
Still…
“What the fuck does that mean?” This guy was putting way too much importance on him. He was a mongrel. There were thousands of fuckers like him running around the Slums. Other than being the leader of Bison and having Iason as his lover, he was nobody.
“You’re a leader,” Julius said. “Your hair color would have made you the alpha of your tribe. Katze may not know where he comes from, but instinctively he knew you were never meant to take orders.”
Now he knew Julius was crazy. “My hair color? I’m not a fucking Elite.”
Julius looked again, this time the fucker’s eyes seemed to illuminate a faint, eerie glow. “No, but where do you think Jupiter got the idea from?”
TBC…
*HRP-Healing and Recuperation Pod
*Bombing incent was in the way early chapters when Guy tried to ‘rescue’ Riki.
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Iason/Riki, Raoul/Katze, original characters and novel character pairings.
Parts: 121 of ?
~~**Forever Caged**~~
“Keita—”
“No, I told you that I’m not talking to you.”
Marcus grit his teeth. “You’re speaking to me right now.”
Fidget hmphed and knocked Marcus’s hands away that reached out to grab his hips. “You had no right to take my mental breakdown from me.”
Marcus hissed out a breath. “You tried to eat one of the nurses.”
Fidget tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Were they wearing orange? I always get hungry when I see that color for some reason.”
Marcus sucked in a shaky breath. “I could not allow you to be in pain.”
“Which is why you’re in pain now,” Fidget said, flicking one of the Blondie’s hardened, pink nipples as he shifted his nude body further down Marcus’s naked lap. The state of the Blondie’s arousal was beyond comical, mostly because Marcus was allowing him to torment him. He wasn’t planning on torturing Marcus for much longer, just long enough to get the guilty and haunted look out of his lover’s eyes.
Fidget was grateful…even humbled by the fact that Marcus did what he had done. The Ruby doctor had told him—after he got control back of his mind—that Marcus had been given other options, but had refused them because his Blondie had wanted him back. Not his body, but him.
But, just because he was thankful Marcus didn’t turn him into a doll, it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to pick on him. He liked his prissy Blondie the most when he was about to snap. It was also his way to expression his appreciation.
Nothing like a little sexual frustration to show how much he cared.
And he did care, now more than he ever did for the Blondie. He had been lost in a nightmare, and Marcus had saved him. Landon had messed him over pretty bad, and had used the blood of his twin to break him. Keito had been the strongest tether he had anchoring him to reality when Landon had first began hurting him, until the Elite had severed that connection.
Fidget sadly doubted that Keito would have been able to rescue him this time. Despite what he had told his brother, he’d been on the brink of losing it for a while. He’d been scared—scareder than he had been in a long time. The fear of losing his twin to another Blondie. The fear of being trapped forever in Eos. The fear of the amount of affection he saw in Marcus’s eyes…
Being captured by that white-haired Elite had just been bad timing. The intense mind games side-by-side with Landon digging and twisting a scalpel in his body, feeling his skin slowly being pulled off, and the fire of whatever was in that injection the Elite shot him up with. It had all been more than he had been able to handle.
Even though it felt like years had past since it happened, he still clearly remembered Landon hurting his twin. And he remembered the all too familiar rage that overwhelmed him when he heard Keito scream. After that… After that, he could only remember flashes of him attacking the Elite, going somewhere dark, seeing the dude he fought with in Ceres, and Riki.
He remembered hazy screams from faceless men and the feel, smell, and taste of blood in his mouth, on his hands, and on his body. And the fire… He remembered fire. The way the flames flickered on the faces of the men, he knew he was the reason why they had screamed.
He had screamed as well… At least, he think he did.
He had burned in the fiery hell within his imprisoned mind. Chained in the memories of his past. Hearing his twin crying his name. Calling for help…
But Marcus helped to silence his terror. He—
Fidget gasped as Marcus bucked under him and as he tumbled backwards, his Blondie grabbed his arms, catching him before he fell back on the narrow cot.
“Stay with me,” Marcus said pulling him fully into his arms.
Rubbing against Marcus’s cock delightfully jabbing his ass, Fidget playfully bit the tip of his Blondie’s chin. “I am with you.”
“Just remember, there is nowhere you could go that I would not find you,” Marcus whispered into his hair.
“Aw, and I’m the one that is supposed to stalk you,” Fidget said touched by Marcus’s possessiveness. Gabbing Marcus’s hand, Fidget curled it around his hip and down the small of his back. “How about you come on in.”
He’d been teasing his Blondie for the past hour. Making Marcus watch as he pleasured himself while sitting on his lap. Sex with his Blondie had been the only thing on his mind the moment his mind had been given back to him. Mischievously punishing Marcus had been an added bonus.
Slipping Marcus’s fingers into him, Fidget bit his lip and moaned.
“Keita,” Marcus hissed.
“If you don’t give it to me, we’ll be late,” Fidget huskily said. “And I do, dearly, want to see my brother.”
Growling deep in his throat, Marcus flipped Fidget onto his back, hiked his knees over his shoulders, and entered him with one hard thrust.
“Too deep,” Fidget gasped but still dug his nails into Marcus’s ass, urging the Blondie on to go deeper. And, to his delight, Marcus did. Their hot breath mingled as their mouths clashed together. Marcus kissed him in a desperation Fidget understood, and responded in kind.
Raking his nailed up his Blondie’s back, Fidget sank his hands into the tangled mess of Marcus’s blond hair. Fisting the gold locks, Fidget turned Marcus’s head to better devour his lover’s lips all the while whispering dirty words to egg the Blondie on.
The cot creaked loudly—the bed scraped across the floor until the headboard banged against the wall so violently that dust and bits of the ceiling rained down on them. Slipping his legs off Marcus’s shoulders, Fidget wrapped them high around the Blondie’s waist so he could comfortable attack Marcus’s neck.
Fidget grinned as his elaborate and lewd moans caused Marcus to shudder. He pantingly whispered naughty things until Marcus curse at him under his breath, then bit the Blondie’s earlobe just as the cot buckled under their abuse.
Fidget gasped in pain and pleasure as the sudden fall had Marcus surging deeper into him—deeper than the Blondie ever willingly did before.
Marcus leaned up on his forearms on either side of Fidget’s head.
“Don’t!” Fidget rasped when he felt Marcus begin to withdraw, but the slight friction was enough to send Fidget over the edge and screamed in ecstasy as his release surged up and railroaded across him.
Marcus’s face appeared above him. His eyes were concerned, but his face was nothing but smug satisfaction. Panting, Fidget narrowed his eyes and wickedly tightened around Marcus’s cock. The Blondie gasped, slumped against his chest, and shuddered.
“Sir Ja—”
Marcus’s head snapped over his shoulder, and Fidget peeked around to see a shocked Ruby standing in the doorway.
“Sir Jayd. Sir Mink and Riki are on their way to the dining hall,” the Ruby said as he quickly shut the door.
Fidget and Marcus stared after the Ruby in silence.
“He saw your ass.” Fidget giggled.
Biting his shoulder, Marcus laughed.
oOoOoOo
Riki coldly looked through the dome glass encasing the Platinum Elite being healed in a HRP*. “He doesn’t need that part of him reattached,” he said, his words more of an order than a question.
“No,” Iason replied. “Your mongrel friend was justifiable in subjecting Landon to reconstructive surgery.”
Reconstructive surgery? Seriously? Riki looked at Iason. “He chopped his dick off. Yeah, it was with a scalpel, but surgery is a far cry from what V did to him.” Not that Riki blamed V. Shit, it was plain to see what Landon did to get his “balls and frank” lopped clean off.
Rape was a common thing in the Slums. If you didn’t have the brain or muscle power to protect your ass, your ass became the property of every predator walking on two legs in Ceres. And if you did get ‘tagged’, the rapists knew it was a matter of when, not if, but when, payback came their way. For a mongrel not to retaliate against a violation like that, it fell in the same line as being called a “beaten dog”. A title Riki had gotten when Iason pretended to set him free, and he returned to Ceres with his tail between his legs.
“V fucked him up real bad.” The Elite’s his face was so messed up Riki could barely recognize him. “Good for him,” Riki whispered, approving wholeheartedly on the damaged V inflected. The fact that Iason told him on the way down that the guards hadn’t dragged V off the Platinum, told Riki V had gotten his fill… Well, for now he did.
“In normal circumstances, a person would be unable to withstand the stress of accelerated healing a second time,” Iason said standing next to him. “This will mark Landon’s third session within twenty-four hours.”
“It ain’t gonna kill him, I’m guessin’,” Riki said.
“No,” Iason replied. “However, from certain genetic breakdowns within Landon’s cells, Jupiter has withdrawn his status. This will be the last emergency healing his body will be able to tolerate.”
“Withdrawn his status?” Riki frowned. “I always assumed the only way you could lose your position was if you died?”
“And you would be correct in your assumption. Our genetic code cannot be altered and is locked before we leave incubation. There are always threats from different worlds vying for perfection, and Tanagura Elites are perfect in every way.”
Riki rolled his eyes. “So what does that mean? If Elites can’t be ‘demoted’, how is it that this prick was?”
“Because he was not an Elite.”
Riki looked at the Ruby Elite that spoke. He’s spied the Ruby when they first entered, but had ignored him. “How can he not be an Elite?” he asked.
The Ruby didn’t glance at Iason for permission to speak, a fact that earned the Elite a bit of Riki’s respect. “The breakdown of the protein in his system, and the composition of those proteins, tells us he was Midas born. Someone continuously manipulated the chemistry of his body to fool us into thinking he was an Elite.”
Riki looked down at Landon’s messed up face as the Ruby tapped on the glass over the Platinum’s head.
“You cannot see it now,” the Ruby said, “but Landon’s hair has snapped off at shoulder length. And the blood on his scalp hides the brown soot of his natural hair color coming through.”
“So, either he was playing ‘mad scientist’ on himself,” Riki said, “or Jupiter’s been amusing herself with a pet of her own, and made him like this.”
“And you would be right, on the latter,” Iason said. The Blondie did not seem at all surprised that Landon was not who they all thought he was.
“So, what? Her dog got off his leash and now she’s punishing him?” Riki asked.
“I would say that Jupiter did not appreciate her ‘pet’ interfering in mongrel business,” the Ruby said turning away.
Riki narrowed his eyes at the Elite’s back. Glancing up at Iason, Riki noticed his Blondie’s eyes also followed the Ruby. The way the Elite had said, “mongrel business” spoke of a wealth of knowledge the Ruby shouldn’t know. Then again, he had been pulled ‘underground’ to heal his gang members—from both Ceres and in Eos—and shit like that was not normal in everyday pet life.
“If your grace has nothing further for me, I will depart to report to Sir Am with my findings,” the Ruby said, and departed after Iason nodded.
Riki watched the Ruby leave. “You don’t thi—”
“He knows,” Iason said in a low tone that gave Riki the chills.
“How much does he know, though?” Riki said. “I mean, if he knew everything, he would have reported us already, right?”
“He did not look me in the eyes,” Iason said instead.
“Ahh, that’s a normal thing for you, isn’t it?” Riki said.
“He is an Elite. And while I outrank him, we are, in a sense, equals.”
“You consider someone to be your equal?” Riki said.
“No,” Iason said with a smile. “I have no equal, but they believe otherwise.”
“Of course,” Riki muttered. “So what do we do about him?”
“As for right now we do nothing,” Iason said. “I will consult with Raoul. He chose the Ruby because he is the physician for all the mongrels.”
Riki frowned. “Just him? No one else?” Yeah, the—fuck, he couldn’t remember the Ruby’s name—Elite was always behind the clipboard, needle, or mask whenever he had to see the stupid doctor, but to be the dude for all his guys? That didn’t sound good.
“Yes.” Iason’s arm curled around his waist as the Blondie directed him away from Landon, and toward the exit.
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Riki asked as they walked down the hall. “Wouldn’t he notice that me and my guys are immune to certain sickness and shit from being in Ceres, that there ain’t no possible way any pet could get in Eos?”
“Yes,” Iason said, “he would.”
Riki didn’t know the Ruby all that well. The Elite did his job with minimum to no conversation exchanged between them. However, the Ruby treated him with respect. Acknowledged his existence and had never treated him as an object or rabid animal. If the Ruby did know about the gang—maybe even from the beginning—he kept his mouth shut. It was impossible to think that the Elite had their back—hiding them from exposure…
“We could be wrong,” Riki said, wanting to give the Ruby a chance just in case the Elite—for whatever reason—was on their side.
“Which is the reason why he is still free to move about,” Iason replied.
“That’s pretty generous of you,” Riki said with a smirk.
“I’ve had Michael watched from the moment Raoul brought him on board. Regardless if Landon was not an Elite, his betrayal was informative.” Iason stopped a few feet from a windowed room. Behind the glass, Riki could see V, Rio, and Sky talking to Julius. “I had already made the decision to terminate Landon before his true identity was revealed.”
“So?”
“Once resigned to the fact that I would be taking the life of an Elite, a decision like that can never be erased.”
“What does that mean?” Riki said, distracted as he watched Sky breakaway and walk toward a Blondie talking to Aisha.
“Jupiter,” Iason said cupping Riki’s face and forcing him to focus only on him, “conditioned us with the inability to do irreversible harm to each other. I have broken that conditioning.”
“Yeah, but Landon’s not an Elite,” Riki said. “And that Ruby isn’t Landon.”
Iason released him. “It makes no difference. If this Ruby is a threat, he will be dealt with permanently, if necessary.”
Riki glared at Iason. “Just because you broke some kind of fucking conditioning doesn’t give you permission to kill Elites, Iason.” To think he was trying to protect an Elite. “Leave the fucking doctor alone.”
Damn Blondie ignored him and walked away.
“You’re not going to kill him, Iason. Iason!”
Fucking Blondie!
oOoOoOo
Sky eyed the Blondie standing next to Aisha as he approached them. Sir Elliot Maress. The argumentative and disapproving Blondie he had met at the first—and last—Elite party the gang had been invited to. Within the group, V was their lure and muscle. His brother the map. And he was the intel gatherer and weapons maker. Sky knew all about the Blondie who took Ghost as his own. He was good at his job.
Sky also knew the trigger that needed to break for a Blondie to sink their claws—and never let go—in the one they claimed. Ghost harmed his brother. Sky wasn’t about to let that slight go.
“Keito,” Aisha greeted. The Blondie leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, as Sky came to stand next to his side.
Sky noted the Blondie’s disgust at Aisha’s intimate gesture.
“Keito?” the Blondie, Elliot, said. “I was under the assumption his name was Sky.”
“Keito is my given name,” Sky said. “Only those who I have given permission, is allowed to use it.”
“And how many would that be?” Elliot asked.
“Aisha and my brother.”
“So ‘permission’ is not based on intimacy,” the Blondie sneered the word, but otherwise looked thoughtful.
“When one does not have much, the little bit that they have, they hold onto it,” Sky replied. He could see out of the corner of his eye Aisha staring at him—giving him a strange look—and he understood why. This was the most he had ever spoken to another Elite—not counting when he antagonized his twin’s Blondie.
“Cloning is a common occurrence. What is not is a natural splitting of a human egg, within a human body. Not on Amoi, at least.”
“I did not know you were interested in human genetics, Elliot,” Aisha said hugging Sky to his side.
“I’m not.” Elliot glared at Aisha. “I’m interested in the possible environmental factors that could have influenced the mutation in this mongrel’s host, thus resulting in her birthing twins.”
“Of course,” Aisha said dryly. “However, what interests me is how you discovered my Keito is a mongrel, Elliot.”
“It wasn’t hard to deduce, Aisha. William was conducting illegal experiments on mongrels in Ceres. Experiments he foolishly extended upon your pets. With that piece of information, connecting the dots were not difficult,” Elliot huffed.
“So, environmental factors?” Sky said, bringing the Blondie’s attention back to him, and back to the topic at hand. “So, you’re an ecologist?”
The Blondie blinked at him in surprise.
“No,” Elliot said slowly. “I could care less about the relationship between humans and the environment they live in. My interests is firmly in botany and, to an extent, bioenvironmentalism.”
“Because plants need water, so studying water pollutions is needed.” Sky smiled.
Elliot returned his smile. “You are correct.”
Of course he was. Sky had studied up on the Blondie. He listened to the pet rumor mills, security grapevines, and even strong-armed Aisha’s Furniture into giving him detailed information on Elliot—on all the Elites. He had found it interesting that this particular Elite seemed disinterested in watching pets bunny humping on stage. Elliot never house a pet for longer than a year, and in that time never attended a sex-show his pets were in. The Blondie’s focus was solely on his career.
What he needed to do was to get the Blondie interested. Elliot already took the first step by taking Ghost from Ceres. And unlike Norris and Cid—who were just brought back to be examined and healed—, Ghost was not going to be released back into the Slums. Sky just needed to activate Elliot’s passiveness to make sure Ghost could not go anywhere.
The arm around Sky’s waist tightened. “What are you doing?” Aisha asked, whispering in his ear.
Sky responded by digging his nails in the back of Aisha’s thigh. “Is that the reason why you’ve taken on the mongrel standing in the corner?”
The Blondie stiffened.
“I can understand why you would want to,” Sky said. “He is an interesting specimen. Sturdy. Long stemmed. I’ve never seen eyes like his before. What kingdom of plantae would you categorize him in, I wonder?”
“Epnorispicoum!” a chipper voice called out.
“Keita,” Sky whispered. His throat thickened with emotion as his brother—his completely healed and happy brother—pulled him from Aisha’s arms and hugged him tightly. Without thought, Sky quietly filled his brother in on what he was doing before Aisha pulled him back under his arm.
“Epnorispicoum? I’ve never heard of such a plant,” Elliot said, stepping closer to them, his interest snared. Sky just needed to make sure they were not the ones the Blondie became engrossed with.
“Well, I heard you guys talking about Ghost’s eyes, and it made me think of that plant. Its leaves are dark with jagged-yellow dotty stripes,” Fidget said. “We call it Black Root, because…well…the roots are black.”
“Really.” The light in the Blondie’s eyes as he stared at his brother caused Sky’s Blondie to stiffen and look around him. No doubt to make sure Marcus did not see Elliot’s fascination.
“Mm,” Sky said. “However, we were never very interested in looking too much into the local plant life in Ceres. We know a scant few names, but that’s it.” Not an absolute lie. Guardian kids were taught all about local plant life. What was poisonous and what wasn’t. The first few months after being kicked out of Guardian, that information kept V, his brother and him, from starving.
“Nope.” Fidget grinned. “I mean, they’re plants. Not much fun there.”
“He—” Elliot motioned to Ghost standing in the corner—“seems to know a great deal.”
“Well, we’re all different,” Fidget said rolling his eyes.
Sky shared a wicked smile with his twin. “It’s all in the matter of how we bloom as we age.”
“And we can tell you all about blooming, can’t we Keito.”
The Blondie eyed them suspiciously.
“That we can, Keita.” Sky would make sure of it. Before he left, he’d make damn sure the Blondie was educated, because Ghost wasn’t going anywhere.
oOoOoOo
Marcus narrowed his eyes at the entertained looks Aisha was throwing him over his shoulder. He’d allowed Keita to see his brother alone. He did this, not because the awkwardness he might have had facing Aisha for the first time since their fight, but because Elliot annoyed him greatly.
“From the glare I see aimed at Elliot, you still find his presence intolerable,” Jared said.
Wrist firmly locked in Jared’s grasp, the blond next to the Elite said, “How can anyone find that dude to be “intolerable”. He plays in the mud.”
“Exactly,” Marcus sneered.
“He’s a man that doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. There’s admiration in that,” Orphe’s mongrel muttered as he stared at his Blondie still being restrained—with a hand on his arm—by Raoul at the far side of the room.
“I find nothing admirable about abandoning ones dignity to roll around in filth,” Marcus said watching Iason and Riki into the room. Their esteemed leader and his black-haired mongrel seemed less the alpha pair, and more deadly enemies with the dark and thunderous expressions on both their faces. An observation made pointedly clear when the two glared at each other and made their way in opposite directions. Iason towards Raoul, Katze, and Orphe, and Riki striding to them.
“Trouble in paradise, old boy?” Rio snickered.
“If I didn’t know—for a fact—of everything you had done for my boys in those tunnels, Rio, I would punch you in the face,” Riki said in greeting to the blond.
Marcus agreed—silently, of course—to the depth of negative emotion Jared’s aggravating pet brought out of him. However, because of Rio, Niko escaped. Landon was rendered powerless to flee capture, and the quiet violet-haired mongrel was given the opportunity to avenge himself.
“You see where I get it,” Rio said to Jared. “How can you blame me for the things that I’ve done with role models like him?”
“Because we aren’t crazy,” Fidget said hopping to a stop next to Marcus.
“Your brain got fixed over an hour ago. Why you so late?” Rio asked.
“I was having sex.”
Rio glared at his Blondie. “Is everyone having sex but me in this joint? What the fuck, Jared.”
“Where is Niko and Jade?” Fidget asked, looking around the room.
“Probably having sex,” Rio said still glaring at his Blondie.
Fidget smiled wickedly. “FYI, we broke the bed too.”
“Motherfucker.”
“Keita, what is your brother doing?” Marcus asked, watching Riki as he whispered in Orphe’s mongrel’s ear while gripping his forearm in a warrior-like grasp of greeting.
“He’s trying to manipulate that Blondie into devirginizing himself,” Fidget said, bringing Marcus’s attention back to the conversation.
Marcus brows furrowed. “With—.”
“—What.” Rio blinked when Marcus and Jared glared at him. “I’ve seen the toys you bastards have here, so don’t play the ‘outraged virgin’ with me.”
Staring at the blond, Marcus looked at the Jared and shook his head before turning back to Fidget. “You said something when you were there. What did you say?”
Fidget shrugged. “I just made a few comments about plowing fields and sowing seeds.”
“Elliot is a Botanist,” Jared said.
“I don’t think that’s the kind of “plowing” Fidget was talking about,” Rio said grinning.
“I think Ellie is kinda funny,” Fidget said. “Not at all dirt scared as you are, Marcus.”
Marcus’s eyebrows shot up. “I am not “dirt scared”. What I have is a genuine respect for cleanliness.”
Rio grinned. “So if I were to—”
“If anything of yours were to touch me, you would not get back.”
The blond stared at him, Marcus glared back, and Jared sighed.
“I like him,” Rio said after awhile, jerking his thumb at Marcus.
If Fidget had not taken such good care of him before they arrived, Marcus would have taken his frustration out on the blond…first by breaking the insulting digit pointing at him. He still might.
“Either way, I doubt Aisha’s mongrel will succeed,” Jared said capturing Rio’s other wrist and forcing the grumbling blond closer to him—and out of Marcus’s reach.
“He better,” Riki said. “If Sky fails to manipulate Elliot into keeping Julius—”
“His name is Julius?!” Rio laughed. “Sounds more like a fruity drink than a name.”
“And yours doesn’t?” V said.
“My name sounds like hot summer nights, scantily clad lovers, and sandy beaches, my friend.” Rio winked.
Marcus rolled his eyes.
“Anyway”—Riki glared at Rio—“We need to keep Julius in Eos. Elliot needs to cross that line all you motherfuckers crossed with us. Because if he doesn’t, Julius will be shipped off to a holding facility somewhere in Midas or Tanagura. And if that happens, he’s gone. He’ll escape with ease.”
Again, Marcus silently agreed with Riki—a detestable occurrence. Eos security was unhackable, impenetrable, and—thanks to the bombing incident*—indestructible. He did not know the extent of important the mongrel Elliot claimed. However, if Elliot used the mongrel only for the herbal knowledge he may contain, once he was finished with him, he would dispose of him.
Other than his feisty little lover, he could barely tolerate the other mongrels. Heathenness creatures. So, claiming the newest mongrel as a pet would be met with an absolute, and unarguable, no. Marcus could not see the others agreeing either.
However, they would need to find a way to keep him in Eos, under their close supervision.
Marcus sighed. “If—and I do mean this in the strictest of terms—If Keita’s sibling is incapable of manipulating the mind of a Blondie—” The thought itself was laughable—“I begrudgingly will offer my assistance.”
“See.” Fidget grinned. “My male is all heart.”
“As much as a shark does before he bites your legs off and eats it,” V muttered.
“Damn. Blood thirsty, questionably compassionate, and he puts out?” Rio looked at Fidget. “I’ll trade—”
Jared grabbed the blond by the nape and lightly shook him. “You are already standing on thin ice with me, Rio. Do not press your luck.”
“As much as I would like to watch Rio continue to put his foot in his mouth, I gotta talk to that asshole,” Riki said jerking his head to the mongrel of discussion, before departing to do just that.
Marcus nodded curtly and wrapped his arm around Keita. Julius fought side-by-side, and more than possibly, saved his love’s life down in that hole. However, it did not forgive stabbing Keita and leaving him to die. The only thing Julius’s aid did was halt the plans Marcus had of snapping his neck.
oOoOoOo
“You are planning on trying to keep me here,” Julius said the moment Riki came to a stop in front of him. “I would advise against such plots.”
Riki’s brows hiked up at the mongrel’s distracted tone. He followed the direction, across the room, where Julius’s eyes were aimed. “Just a friendly FYI, but Katze is taken. Raoul won’t treat you kindly if you trespass.” Not that Riki thought Julius’s interest went down that path. The look the mongrel was giving Katze was between curiosity and hostility.
“Body language, as you well know, can tell you a great deal,” Julius said, ignoring Riki’s comment but with his eyes still on Katze. “I knew from the very beginning that all of your lovers were Elites. Blondies. They consider you their property, they’re possessive, and their emotional connection to all of you makes them dangerous—more so than you or I will ever be able to comprehend.”
“Is that so,” Riki said, disinterested.
Those copper-flecked eyes graced Riki for a second before returning to Katze. “My original plan was to seduce Elliot—to manipulate him with my body. However, I know now that to do so would clamp the chains around my wrists even tighter than they are now.”
Riki frowned. He didn’t like where this was going. It was as if the fucker had been standing right next to them when they schemed on how to keep him here.
“I suspect this became your goal as well—getting Elliot to take me as his own—when Fidget’s twin engaged ‘my Blondie’ in conversation,” Julius went on to say. “It will not work. And I know enough about Elite prisoner protocol to know that once Elliot’s curiosity has been appeased, I will be moved to a different location. I suggest letting that happen.”
This motherfucker is too damn smart for his own fucking good. Riki glowered. “What makes you think Iason—or I—will let you go?”
The mongrel took his eyes off Katze and looked at him. “I’m more useful to you on the outside, Riki. My people have always fought alongside of yours, which is most likely why Katze took you under his wing.”
His people? My people?! What the fuck was this guy yapping about? Riki snorted. “Under his wing? Nah. Katze was under Iason’s orders to watch me.”
Julius shrugged. His eyes sliding back to watch Katze. “To watch you, yes, but not to teach you everything in his trade in preparation to take over for when he stepped down.”
Riki shook his head in denial. “Katze wouldn’t have been able to step down. Iason wouldn’t have let him.”
“But Iason would have allowed Katze to work under you,” Julius countered, and Riki could not argue that Iason wouldn’t have done just that.
Still…
“What the fuck does that mean?” This guy was putting way too much importance on him. He was a mongrel. There were thousands of fuckers like him running around the Slums. Other than being the leader of Bison and having Iason as his lover, he was nobody.
“You’re a leader,” Julius said. “Your hair color would have made you the alpha of your tribe. Katze may not know where he comes from, but instinctively he knew you were never meant to take orders.”
Now he knew Julius was crazy. “My hair color? I’m not a fucking Elite.”
Julius looked again, this time the fucker’s eyes seemed to illuminate a faint, eerie glow. “No, but where do you think Jupiter got the idea from?”
TBC…
*HRP-Healing and Recuperation Pod
*Bombing incent was in the way early chapters when Guy tried to ‘rescue’ Riki.