"I still don’t see why this is of any great importance, Raoul." Iason tried again, in his slightly irksome, diplomatic voice.

Raoul hid the curve of his lip behind the rim of his beverage, attempting to school his own expression into one of apathetic diplomacy.

"It’s really very simple, my dear friend. The city looks to you as a model—a kind of beacon if you will. The masses follow our example, and they consider you their leader, of sorts."

Riki felt surprised to hear Iason snort with contempt. "What care I for the masses, Raoul? I like to live my life according to my own--"

"You are the favored son of Jupiter, Iason. If I may remind you. And there was a time when you cared for the masses...." Raoul’s tone resembled that of an angry older brother, Riki observed, as he feigned interest in the couples dancing.

A writhing mass of young male bodies, adorned in various leather or see-through materials, moved together with one beat, one rhythm, one goal: seduction. Their pandering for their master’s attention made Riki’s stomach churn, but he continued to watch them, fascinated… if only to find himself one of them…

"Yes, you are right," Iason murmured. "And... it isn’t that I don’t care about the state of things—I do. But what I do on my own time..."

"This is about me isn’t it?" Riki’s voice broke in, his head still turned towards the dance floor. The blondes said nothing, and so he sighed and prepared to make his exit. "No need to be so subtle, gentleman, I can take a hint. I’ll just go get another drink and I assume Iason will let me know when he wants me..."

With that, Riki the Dark gathered up his petite frame and sauntered towards the bar without so much as a glance back, no matter how much he wanted to do so.

"I can’t even begin to understand what you see in that one."

"Someday you just might, Raoul."

"Jupiter help me then."

"Jupiter helps those who help themselves," Katze mumbled under his breath as he soundless slid into the chair on Iason’s right side and immediately faded into the background of the conversation as much as possible.

"We’ve been over this a thousand times, Raoul. I’m not giving Riki up. He’s mine, and as long as I fulfill my duties as a blonde, no one—not even Jupiter—has the right to interfere."

"But Iason. I’m not saying how you feel about Riki is wrong! What you do behind closed doors is your own business. But you’re so indiscreet! Coming to pet clubs like this. Walking around the black market. You don’t even deny that you have sex with him!!!"

Iason didn’t let this phase him. He kept his eyes on Riki, and squirreled Raoul’s over protective ranting away in the back of his mind. The very back of his mind.

"Are you even listening?"

"No," Iason said, as he watched Riki strike up a conversation with a barkeep.

"Never mind. You’re hopeless. Just give me our damned opera tickets so I can get the hell out of this place," Raoul muttered in disgust, sneering slightly at the thought of being seen in such a house of ill repute.

"Don’t worry, Raoul. I always take good care of Iason, as far as the black market is concerned. As for Riki..." here Katze signed, shoulders slumping slightly in defeat. "Some things, no matter the shame involved, cannot be denied. Better to accept them. You’re ruined, either way."

Raoul looked hard at the quiet, unassuming man who had served Iason for almost five years in silence and strict obedience. "Can I trust you?"

"I make it a safe bet not to trust any body," Katze answered quietly. "But that’s entirely up to you...."

The redhead simply grinned at Raoul, a sensual, teasing kind of look, obviously meant to rebuke, while at the same time neither disrespectful nor inappropriate. Raoul decided to examine his glass, as the weight of that particular furniture’s stare seemed to call a blush to his cheeks, for some unfathomable reason.

Iason, still fascinated with Riki, missed the first two attempts Katze made to draw him back into conversation.

"Ne, Iason?"

"Hm? Yes, what is it?"

"Am I here to discuss some sort of assignment? Or am I merely the chauffeur?"

Iason smiled genuinely for perhaps the first time in weeks. "I merely wished you here, to keep an eye on Riki... I believe he’s at the bar ordering drinks."

"Ah." Katze let his serious mask slip into place, instantly becoming all business and totally emotionless. "Shall I keep him company during this absence?"

Iason nodded knowingly. "I think it would be best, as he appears to be starting a brawl."

Katze and Raoul simultaneously snapped their heads around to gaze at the scene across the room. Riki crowed, mouthing off to the bartender, who in turn began crafting a serious attitude. Raoul simply rolled his eyes and finished off his drink.

Katze sighed and pushed himself up from the table, which began shaking with the percussion of the music once again. He walked over to the bar tender, dropped some kind words and a shinny new fifty credits, then cajoled him into two free rounds with his infamous ‘pissed-off-castrate’ look.

Riki had to smile at that one. Katze might seem like a mousy pushover at first, but after knowing him, it remained obvious he had balls where it counted, at least. Nobody stood up to a real glare from Katze, accept maybe Iason....

"I don’t suppose you will ever learn to stay out of trouble?"

Riki beamed up at his furniture. "And put you out of a job? Perish the thought!"

Katze smirked. "Well at least it got us two free drinks."

"Fucking piss-water that it is..."

The two young men, each born of the slum but meant to meet very different ends, settled back at the cushy table with the two blondies.

"Riki, I don’t suppose you’re ever going to stop giving me trouble?" Iason smiled.

The dark one titled his chin in challenge and sniffed.

Just then a waiter brought over two drinks, one for Riki and one for Katze. "The barkeep said to give the gentlemen whatever else they desired."

Immediately, Katze pushed the alcohol over to Iason, in accordance with his strict rule to allow himself only one vice: smoking. Iason accepted the drink and raised it to his full, lush lips when Raoul tipped the glass away and cut in...

"Enough. I want to go home. Give me the tickets and let me leave."

Iason sighed softly. "Surely you can afford one drink with us, old friend?"

Raoul fumed, but complied. Iason always had his way anyway. "Fine," he grumbled, taking a giant swig of Iason’s free drink. "This tastes like piss."

"See, I told you!" Riki chimed in.

Raoul glared at the pet that spoke in his presence, the very pet that put Iason’s livelihood in danger, and then chugged the remainder of the putrid liquid down his slender, elegant, aristocratic throat.

"Ticketsss," he slurred.

Iason laughed out loud. "You win. Here." Iason rummaged through his breast pockets, a baffled look branching across his visage.

Katze slid his hands in his coat and revealed two envelopes. "Here. You gave them to me, Iason. Said you would forget them."

"Ah, thank you Katze. What would I do without you?"

Katze shrugged. "Replace me," he said evenly, as if completely unaffected by the prospect.

"Cheery," Raoul said after studying the scar on the boy’s serious face.

Katze audibly swallowed and shrugged again. "I’ll go get the car."

Riki nodded, sharing Katze’s sentiments, and polished off his drink before the red-head’s steel-tipped boots were out the door and into the miserable, wet evening.

~*~

As Katze drove through the slick, oil-soaked streets, streaming with shinning rainwater and refuse, his eyes barely registered the road. Instead, their coal-black, murky depths peered at the silent blonde man in his rear view mirror. Raoul sat very still, suddenly quiet and contemplative. Katze could see the occasional glimmer of his eyes beneath layers of wavy yellow hair. He so wanted to see Raoul’s piercing blue orbs, but he felt afraid they might look up and catch him in his bashful voyeurism. The blonde tantrum of his heart did not look up at all, thankfully.

Iason’s arm draped around Riki, who shivered from the rain. He decided to ignore Katze’s blatant staring at his blonde companion for a moment, and concentrated instead on the shaking form beneath his embrace. Riki felt cold, so very, very cold, and he actually leaned into Iason’s hold, which if nothing else, conveyed a warning of the unusual. Iason felt Riki’s forehead, relieved at the cool, smooth flesh he found there.

"We’re home," Riki grumbled as the car stopped.

Iason broke out of his reverie. "Yes, so we are. Katze? Take Raoul home and then you may have the rest of the night. Thank you," Iason said absently as he helped Riki out of the door and unto the gray, granite curb. He briefly turned to duck back inside the car. "Good evening, Raoul. I shall see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Raoul attempted twice, before waving a hand to indicate what he seemed obvious.

Iason smirked at his inebriated friend and slammed the heavy door shut, eager to get Riki in out of this incessant rain.

Katze waited until Iason and Riki were safely inside, then resumed towards the other end of the Upper Side.

Raoul thought the hum of the car sounded very much like a large cat camouflaged in deep grass. You could hear it, but could never be sure where the noise came from. It sounded both mysterious and disturbing. Just like Katze.

"Can you give me directions to your apartment?" Katze spoke, his voice even and full.

Silence pervaded the thickly padded cabin for a few moments, which made Katze frown. He looked back to observe Raoul stretched out across the seat, totally oblivious to the world. Passed out. Katze signed. He supposed his place would have to do.

~*~

Riki’s arms became unbearably heavy and the floor felt suddenly unstable. Instinctively, he gripped Iason’s forearm, before defiantly pushing it away, and swaggering towards the glass elevator. He could make it to bed if he could just have something solid to cling to…

Riki looked pale, and his sudden unbalance disturbed Iason. It was not like his pet to be so affected by one little drink. Iason worried that Riki would become seriously ill. He stepped forward, just in time to see the small body spasm and fold upon itself.

"Ia---"

"Riki!"

Iason caught Riki’s wiry, chilled limbs as he slumped to the base of the clear, cold doors. Mind racing, Iason scooped Riki into his arms and carried him into the lift. Once inside their suite, he placed his pet on the soft satin sheets of their bed and lay gently beside him.

"Hmmmmm…..ah…" Riki began to pant, tossing slightly in his sleep. The tips of his fingers jerked slightly, curling into slack fists. "N…no…." he moaned, his tight chest heaving for breath.

"Riki?" Iason called, attempting to draw him from his delirium. "Riki, open your eyes….Riki….Riki…."

Riki could not find a safe place to hide from the pain that swirled around him. He felt as though frantic bats were winding all over his body, their tiny claws scraping at his exposed skin, their sharp teeth and high pitched noise driving him to frenzy. Cobwebs clung to his face and his hands were bound. So cold, and getting numb…

"Riki…"

Iason’s voice came like a beacon announcing light through the darkness… it called him… guided him…

"Ia…Iason?" Riki croaked.

"Riki?"

Riki’s eyes fluttered open and for a moment his vision blurred by his body’s uncontrollable shivering. "Iason, where are you?" He whimpered.

"Can’t you see me? I’m right here." Iason’s hand reached out to stroke back soft, wet bangs that plastered onto Riki’s brow. "I’m here, Riki," he said softly.

Riki forced his breathing to return to a semi-normal state and opened his eyes against the painful brightness of their bedroom. "The light…." He squinted.

Iason shifted over top of Riki and clicked the lamp off letting the natural light of the twin moons fill the space around them. "How’s that?"

Riki forced his eyelids further apart and then turned his head to peer at Iason. "Better," he whispered.

"What happened?"

"I…I don’t know….I was….so cold. I’m cold." Riki shivered again.

Deeply disturbed, Iason frowned. "You must be sick."

Riki whimpered again, biting his lip to keep from sobbing as the pain filled his innards yet again. He reeled towards Iason, shutting his eyes and trying to ignore the throb in his belly.

Iason leaned over Riki for the second time, now to reach the phone. He snapped the receiver open and dialed Katze’s instant message button, freezing as he felt Riki press into him. The boy moaned softly and lifted his arms to encircle Iason’s waist. Trembling hands pulled Iason further down to rest flush against his frame, and Iason swallowed hard.

"Riki?"

"So warm….warm….Iason…."

The phone rang and rang, to no avail. Where the hell was Katze?!?

~*~

At the moment, Katze gave aid to a certain quasi-conscious Blondie, helping him up the chipped and broken stairs leading towards his own apartment.

"Fuck, why’d you have to be so heavy?" he whispered under his breath, as he positioned Raoul’s arms more securely around the back of his neck.

"What?" Raoul glowered.

"Nan de mo nai," Katze murmured as he lifted Raoul up over the grimy threshold. "Here we are."

Raoul looked up and decided he did not like what he saw. Not one bit. "This is not my place. My place is…distinctly more tasteful. What horrid furniture…!"

Katze let a bitter smile form and bristled. "Excuse me, I never claimed to be anything exhilarating but…"

Raoul glanced up at him, realizing the irony in his statement. "I meant… the decor…"

"Oh." Katze grimaced, embarrassed by his defensive mistake. "Sorry."

Raoul attempted to straighten himself. "Why are you apologizing? It was I who said something offensive… My apologies…"

Katze, unsure of how to respond to that, stood perfectly still and waited to see what Raoul expected. He felt very aware of Raoul shifting his weight, failing to remove his muscular frame from Katze’s side.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Raoul tossed his hair over his shoulder.

"What?" Katze asked through labored breath, trying to keep them both from falling over.

"Where are we?"

"This is my place."

"You live here?"

Katze composed his manner carefully. "You passed out in the car. I didn’t know where else to go…. Do you want me to take you to your place?"

Raoul reflected on this unexpected hospitality for a moment and then sighed. "I would settle for being horizontal at the moment…."

"Are you dizzy?"

In response, Raoul hunched over and clutched his abdomen, forcing himself to keep the scream silent. Katze bent over with him, flinching to see the blonde in pain.

"What is it? What’s wrong?"

"It’s so…. Hot…..Are you hot, Katze?"

Glassy eyes-- ice sickles-- they stabbed at Katze’s very soul. This marked the first time Raoul had ever used his name, in all his years of working with Iason. The blonde was panting softly, his breath warming Katze’s cheek and ear. /Are you hot, Katze?… Hell yes./

"Um…."

"Oh. Katze…" Raoul’s breathing hitched in his chest and he began to double even further over, groaning into the tight ball of his torso.

"Here….lie down on the bed." Katze placed the blonde on his lumpy mattress, his eyes raking over the chiseled chest and hair streaming wildly over the pillows. "Raoul?"

"It’s so hot…..ohhhh." Raoul let his hands wander briefly over his upper body before he tugged at the hem of his tight-fitting shirt. "Off," he commanded.

Katze stared at Raoul, watching him rip his clothing off, exposing his pectorals and taunt, lean stomach to the cool air circulating within the damp darkness of the apartment. He almost forgot to breathe as the blonde began to absently stroke his sides, moaning into a pillow.

"So…hmmm….hot!" Raoul whispered and Katze shuddered to think of the situation he suddenly found himself in.

Raoul’s cheeks burned with shame. He knew he looked like a cheap whore, spread across a dirty, dusty bed, tearing off his clothing in utter desperation. The heat inside him pooled relentlessly, even against the stern walls of pride, and his trembling hands reached for the buttons of his pants.

Katze recognized the expression that fluttered across Raoul’s face, and not being able to bear it, he slowly slanted over and caught the hands up in his own.

"Here, let me."

~*~

"Let me...let me call Katze, Riki. He’ll take you to a hospital..."

Riki snorted at the thought of doctors actually taking the time to tend to a pet. A pet from the slums. He would have laughed, if ice hadn’t found his way into his lower bowels. "Cold!" His breath bulleted past his lips.

Iason thought for a moment. Then he began to undress, quickly, throwing his clothes to the floor without care. Coldness gripped Riki, and alleviating the symptom remained the most Iason could do. "Can you help me undress you?"

Riki frowned. "Not...not tonight, Iason..."

Iason stifled the need to snarl and quietly unbuttoned Riki’s pants. "No, not that. You need to get out of these damp clothes, now."

Out of sheer habit, Riki lifted his hips and allowed Iason the access needed to remove his garments. Warm hands swept his black tank top away, and then removed his socks and underwear. Riki could no longer keep his little sobs at bay. Fatigue overpowered him. "Why is this happening to me?"

"I don’t know," Iason said, as he covered Riki with his naked body. "But I think you’re ill. We’ve got to get you to a doctor, Riki."

Clearly the words weren’t registering as Riki nuzzled against Iason, practically purring into the newly discovered heat. His hands flattened the small of Iason’s back across his arctic lap, reveling in the precious warmth he stole. He knew Iason would not be this generous for long.

"You’re so warm, Iason. You always were..."

"Riki," Iason whispered.

Riki began to thrash against him, tears forming in the brink of his onyx eyes.

"It isn’t enough...I’m freezing to death…" his pet cried.

"Can you stand?"

Riki tried to push himself up onto his elbows, but soon found himself exhausted.

"Here, put your arms around me, little one."

Riki’s mind became clouded, but the words ‘little one’ ran in rings around the hollow of his brain.

Iason carried Riki into the bathroom and steadied him up against the cool, unforgiving tiles of the shower. One hand balanced his pet, the other turned on steaming hot water, at full force.

The battering of liquid fire made Riki groan with satisfaction; a sound Iason heard often, but never so freely given. He stepped into the shower and pulled Riki to him, turning them so that the water would gush unto his little one’s knotted muscles.

"Ah....so good...."

"Hm." Iason agreed, as he rubbed the tension out of Riki’s back. "Just relax...."

"Just relax," Katze heard himself say, a tremor in his voice. He told it to himself, as he twisted the nub of metal at the precipice of Raoul’s pants. /Oh God. That is not what I think it is, tenting his slacks./

Raoul’s eyes burned holes into Katze. If he could, his glare alone would have set the red hair aflame. How dare a piece of furniture touch him this way? How dare he condescend to help the second most powerful man in Tangura? The humiliation remained unthinkable. Raoul stared at Katze, helpless, the raging hell driving him to the edge of panic. He wrapped his hands in a vice around Katze’s arms, a final warning.

"Relax, Raoul. It’s going to be all right," Katze murmured as he covered the blonde’s hands with his own. He straddled the man temporarily, carefully lowering the zipper past the awakening erection. "Lift your hips."

Raoul growled at Katze, his shame quickly turning into hate.

Katze looked up, cocking his head to one side. Raoul looked like a very put-out lion with a thorn stuck in its paw. Even the golden mane fluttered about him. The thought made Katze laugh.

It had been the wrong thing to do. Before Katze even realized, the sound of the back of Raoul’s hand smacking across his cheek reverberated through the tiny room.

Katze froze, his expression shocked. His features melted into indignant anger and Raoul expected a slap in return. Instead, he felt surprised to feel Katze’s hands push his wrists to the bed with incredible strength. He watched as Katze hovered over him.

"Leave them there," the redhead ordered, in his most deadly voice. Then he focused his attention on the pants, sliding them down over the hourglass of hips and the peaks of robust thighs.

Raoul held his breath and left his hands above his head, a mixture of pure fury and insatiable curiosity battling inside him. Curiosity won. He lifted his pelvis and watched through hooded eyes, as Katze divested him of the rest of his clothing. The bed shifted as Katze got up and walked out of the line of sight. Raoul tossed his head, attempting to remove his tresses from his face, moaning as the slight movement brought lapping waves of heat to every corner of his flesh.

Katze tried to calm himself while he rummaged for a wash cloth. He would not let himself think about the blonde man slinked across his bed… firm legs spread wide, proud erection at attention, exquisite chest heaving under the burden of breathing. He would not think of the sweet smell of Raoul’s breath on his face, the softness of the hair that wandered aimlessly over the sheets, the scent of his sex and his cologne making a heady fragrance for his memory. Katze would not let himself think about these things as he dunked the small towelette into ice cold water and wrung it out.

He walked back into the bedroom and promptly felt his stomach somersault.

A very naked, very frustrated Raoul draped himself half off the bed, shivering with fever and want. He bolted at the first touch of cool, soft cotton on his back, and struggled to turn and behold the source.

"Be still," Katze whispered. He skimmed Raoul’s back and arms with the wet rag, taking great care to pause at places like the crooks of elbows and armpits, where heat gathered the most. He whipped the cloth around in circles and then proceeded to rub it across Raoul’s thighs and knee caps.

"Oh God that feels good," Raoul muttered, as he covered his eyes with his arm.

"Just relax. Trust me."

Raoul shifted to rest on his back, allowing Katze better purchase, delighting in the cold tingle that spread over his thighs. He whimpered when he felt the coldness disappear, and snapped his eyes open as Katze dabbed the towel behind his ear.

"Ammmh!"

Katze leaned over Raoul, recognizing his particularly sensitive spot. He set to work, bathing the small shell with the cool fingers of relief.

"I trust you," Raoul whispered, gazing up into Katze’s endlessly black eyes.

Kate looked down, hesitating a moment, registering that this point in time marked a decision from which there was no going back. He gently bent his head, and brushed his lips over Raoul’s.

~*~

Riki couldn’t believe how gentle Iason was being. /This man tied you up and fucked you like a dog! He’s no different from the rest! Get off him! Get off him! He made you do such horrible things. Don’t believe this crap for an instant./

Riki pulled away from Iason. "I can take care of myself!"

Iason signed heavily. /Always the same struggle./ "You can barely stand!"

"Then I’ll sit on the floor!!" Riki sobbed as he realized how asinine that sounded. "I don’t need you." He whined.

Iason could hear the pain in that voice—the fear, the anger, the desperation. He cupped Riki to his chest and held him in an iron-locked embrace. Slowly, he shifted weight back and forth between his feet. He pivoted Riki gently away from the water in tiny increments, all the while humming softly, deep in the recesses of his throat.

Like a dance. A slow, sensual dance. Riki felt sheltered; strong arms held him up. The sway soothed his nerves. He began to melt against his master, too tired to resist the seduction of warmth.

/Like a nervous race horse. I must proceed carefully, but confidently./ Iason gently raked his fingers through Riki’s black mane, pausing to swirl the strands of hair at the top of Riki’s neck. He crooned to Riki, his smooth baritone ushering the tension right out of that suffering, shuddering body.

Riki knew there remained only a matter of time before Iason’s will triumphed. Always the same, and always he resisted until the last minute. But he spent himself now, and he didn’t want to resist; he didn’t want to question the motives behind Iason’s tender, albeit dominating, behavior. Riki let his head fall to Iason’s chest, and he tucked his arms around those slim, familiar hips. He sighed and snuggled into the bridge of Iason’s shoulder and neck, closing his weary eyes as they pivoted into a stream of warm water.

Riki sighed again, and tried to bury his head deeper into the crook of Iason’s clavicle, wanton and shy all at once. The prickling of an old unattended urge coursed through him and he became uncomfortable at the prospect of losing control.

Iason let out a small puff of air, pleased to feel Riki relax into him. He delighted in his pet’s unprecedented affections—the nuzzling, the returned embrace. Fleetingly, he wished Riki got colds more often. Then he gasped as he felt Riki’s hand travel lightly over the dimples of his lower back.

Riki froze. Iason’s small intake of air frightened him. The consequences of his actions were indeterminable, and yet, he longed to explore the body that so often bent him to its will. Sheepishly, Riki slid his hands over Iason’s back; one hand traveled northward, to press a shoulder blade firmly forward into their entanglement. The other hand boldly wandered south, lightly brushing Iason’s firm round flank.

Iason understood it to be a question, unspoken, on Riki’s part. He did not move at all, waiting to see what more Riki would do. He could feel himself harden at the sheer imagining of what might occur, and he patiently repressed his impulse to attack and devour the dark child in his arms.

Riki waited—for rebuke, for teasing, for encouragement. The nothingness disturbed him. His heart began to beat with worry—nothing would ever be the same again he was sure of it!

Iason resumed his humming, turning them slowly so that the water splashed onto their sides. The maneuver forced Riki to lift his face, and when he did so, Iason captured his lips in a sweet, soft kiss.

"Iason..." Riki breathed, more aroused by the tenderness than anything else.

"Hmm."

Riki tentatively explored Iason, barely brushing his hands over Iason’s silken, slicked skin. Soon his timidity became the conquest of desire, and Riki firmly cupped Iason’s flesh wherever he could. Inspired by Iason’s occasional moans, Riki began to trace little nipping kisses all over the blonde’s chest, collar bone and neck. The dark boy took one of Iason’s globes in each hand and rolled them in circles, rocking his master’s pelvis into him. He moaned and then delicately bit his lover’s right nipple. Once the pink pebble surrendered to his onslaught, becoming teak hard and jagged against his tongue, Riki abandoned Iason’s chest and settled for sucking on his neck.

Iason’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, which at the moment, dipped back as far as it would go. Pleasure coursed through him as gently as rain from the edge of a roof. "Riki....Oh, Riki..." he whispered, petting his little one’s head in his right hand.

"Iason....mmmmm...." Riki licked Iason, sliding his tongue upwards, over the chin, the cheek, reaching the lips. He wrapped his hands around Iason’s neck and settled in for a long overdue making out session.

~*~

Sheet lightning exploded behind Raoul’s retinas as he realized Katze bent to kiss him. It began as a simple exploration—the touching of two palms in a pilgrim’s greeting. Quickly however, the kiss morphed into the frantic meshing of two hungry mouths, warring with each other in their famine. Suddenly Katze stopped, jerking upright violently.

"What are we doing, Raoul? This...this isn’t right.... You’re not yourself and I’m...."

Raoul waited, trying to find his voice in the rubble that once created his composure. "You’re another man’s property," he finished.

The sadness that gathered in the ducts of Katze’s eyes sent pangs of terror into Raoul. He forced himself up on his elbows and took the other man’s chin firmly in his hand.

"Look at me," he commanded.

Katze lifted his eyelids and gazed wantonly at the blonde god before him. He blinked as the alien feeling of slim, trembling lips pressed against his own. Strands of Raoul’s hair tickled his forehead and eyes, and the waft of the man’s scent toyed with his nostrils. When Raoul pulled back, Katze found himself lost again in the pools of iris, now so unsure, so exposed.

"I trust you," Raoul repeated as he sent the tip of his tongue heralding atop the line separating Katze’s lips.

Katze opened his mouth to the invasion, and the floodtides of passion found their release. The redhead pushed Raoul back down on the mattress, this time covering him with his entire frame, demanding little noises escaping from the back of his throat.

Raoul discovered that he loved the taste of Katze’s mouth—not sharp and choking with the stink of cigarettes as he expected—but warm and salty and firm and delicious. The peach of Katze’s lips beckoned like ambrosia to a starving man, and Raoul tilted his head to thrust his tongue deeper into that feast.

Katze moaned as he gave himself up to Raoul’s ravishing kiss. He ground his hips downward, pressing his own want into the blonde’s hardness.

Raoul instinctively opened his legs, letting the smaller man settle in between his thighs. Katze began a rolling motion patented of tiny circles, rubbing their aching cocks together in a maddening friction, forcing Raoul to break the kiss and exclaim, "Fuck!"

Katze grinned. "Such language from such a fine, respectable, upstanding man." He chuckled.

A dangerous glint flashed across the surface of Raoul’s eyes as a stern hand playfully swatted his insolent lover’s bottom.

"Oh!" Katze shouted. "Why you little...!"

"Kiss me, Katze," Raoul begged.

Smiling, Katze gently bit at the corners of Raoul’s lips, never fully satisfying the requirements of a true kiss. "Do you want to see how we kiss in the slums of Ceres, Raoul?"

An eyebrow twitched in curiosity. "Show me--"

No sooner were the words spoken then Katze’s teeth sunk into Raoul’s delicate throat, tiny rose petals of blood brimming up and then into the red-head’s mouth. Katze sucked and sucked and sucked, licking and chewing on the man beneath even as Raoul thrashed and clamored for more, exposing his neck and grinding his hips up and up and up again, needing....needing...

"Ahn! Katze! Ka...."

Katze lapped up the last of the little droplets of crimson wine, before tracing Raoul’s cheek with the tip of his nose. "Where I come from that kind of kiss has a meaning," he murmured.

Raoul’s sex-starved eyes glazed over as Katze finally answered his rough humping with a slow, erotic rhythm of his own. "What does it mean?"

Katze’s lips rested a millimeter off of Raoul’s, sending electric pulses with each word spoken. "It means you’re mine."

"Ohhhh!"

Katze plunged his tongue into the blonde man’s hot, wet mouth, meanwhile he let his right hand wander down to Raoul’s left thigh, scouring it with all the speed of dripping molasses.

Raoul broke the kiss. "Oh God Katze! Please!"

"Please? Please what, Raoul?" Katze breathed back to his lover.

/Not yet! Not yet Raoul!! Get a hold of yourself!/ "Your clothes?"

"Ah…."

~*~

"Ah! Riki!"

The boy devoured him. And Iason couldn’t be happier. He let his little one nip and kiss and touch anywhere—anywhere his heart desired. Iason glowed, ecstatic that Riki finally showed some responsiveness, some susceptibility. But he worried for Riki’s health, and the it drove him crazy, staying completely still. /How did Riki manage to do it, for 3 long years?/

Riki paused in his ministrations to glance up at Iason. His master’s eyes were tightly shut, head back, jaw hanging open, fists clenched at his sides. Riki became drunk with power and decided to test his limits. Without warning he dropped to one knee and engulfed Iason’s huge penis whole.

Iason screamed and fell against the wall. No one. No one in years had ever given Iason Mink a blow job this good. Riki’s tongue tickled and then whipped his cockhead, swirling it around and around and around, at a devastating pace. His little pet flicked the head of his manhood with obscene precision, stopping only long enough to scrape the edge of front teeth over the vein and fleshy tissue there.

"Riki! Riki, Riki, Riki!" Iason babbled, totally helpless. The feeling didn’t overpower so much, although Riki remained quiet possibly the best he’d ever had, but the fact that Riki came to his knees voluntarily... That made Iason’s rock hard dick pulse and sputter out thick white precum, a foreshadowing of what would come.

Riki lapped at Iason’s small spending, spreading the wet goo down over the shaft. Iason looked huge— his breathtaking maleness flagging before him—so delicious, so satisfying, so damned good. Riki sucked Iason down as far as he could, using his hand to stroke the rest of his master’s steely pole with deliberate, excruciating tardiness.

Iason watched his boy suck him off with dedication and pure unbridled lust. He watched Riki’s head bob to and fro and felt the dizzying sensation of soft, squeezing suction play upon his horn. He could not forgo the ecstasy of thrusting deeply into that expert mouth, fucking Riki as Riki took him even further in. No teasing remained in Riki’s demeanor anymore.

No longer about power, Riki mused. He wanted to please Iason, he knew that now. Thus, with this knowledge, Riki glanced up at the altar of Iason, squinting through the stinging shower-rain, and promptly stopped his worship of the twitching, purple cock.

~*~

Katze knelt above Raoul, suddenly very unsure. He asked a simple request—remove your clothes. But Katze felt afraid. "Raoul..."

Raoul frowned, confused by Katze’s hesitancy. /What could it be? Is he ashamed of his body?...Oh..../ Raoul brushed his thumb over Katze’s lower lip. "I want you. I want to see you. Just the way you are..."

Katze blushed, but he untucked his shirt, gripping the rim of his top until his knuckles turned white. Slowly, he pulled the material up over his chest and head and then dropped it carefully to the floor. He shivered as Raoul’s hand rippled over his muscles, the other’s obvious interest making him heady and a bit more confident.

"More. Keep going."

Katze turned his face away slightly and unhooked the first button to his jeans. He stopped. /He won’t want me now. He doesn’t even know what he’s doing.../

Raoul patiently took over where Katze’s fingers halted, methodically unbuttoning Katze’s fly. He sneaked his hand in and rubbed Katze’s warm mound over his underwear.

Katze gasped and leaned back, riding the hand that fondled him, covering Raoul’s fingers gently with his own, pressing it down for firmer contact. "Oh....Raoul....Raoul...."

Raoul decided he liked the way his name rolled out of Katze’s mouth and so he placed little pinches in between his rough strokes. "Katze...more, my love. I want to see more....Give me more," he whispered.

Katze closed his eyes and nodded, coming up on his knees again to pull his jeans and underwear down with one smooth stroke. He pushed the material down to his kneecaps and let his dripping cock dangle in the open air. He kept his eyes closed, knowing that disappointment soon followed.

Raoul took the leaking purple prick in his hands and tugged lightly, testing Katze for sensitivity. Katze gasped and bit his bottom lip, involuntarily giving quick little humps into the tunnel of Raoul’s fingers. Raoul laughed, amused, and he gently smashed Katze’s smooth, throbbing dick against two flattened palms.

"Oh sweet fuck!" Katze bit out, rabid eyes snapping open and fixating Raoul with the raw craving embedded in their depths.

"Hm? Hey Katze?" Raoul purred. "Who says you get to be on top?"

Katze eyes widened as Raoul flipped him over, sprawling him on the sheets and quickly mounting his lap, forcing him down with all his weight. "Want to see how we kiss where I’m from?"

Katze audibly swallowed. "You know I do, Raoul," he spoke, his voice husky.

The blond man grinned and then pounced between Katze’s legs, pushing the slender limbs up to his chest and holding them there. Raoul sent the tip of his very moist tongue down the head of Katze’s rod, over the long shaft and then stopped, right where the scar that marked the dwelling of Katze’s balls at one point in the past.

Katze went frigid with fear. He felt as if someone found his secret wound and seeped his confidence out of its gape. He could not believe Raoul wanted to do this. "Stop!"

"Why?"

"Not there. Not ever down there."

Raoul thought for a few seconds. "No. Here. Always here." Then he licked the slit of flesh between the base of Katze’s erection and the pucker of his entrance. He nipped and suckled and ravaged him, meanwhile he kept his hands running in smooth circles over Katze’s thighs, comforting him as best he could without words.

Katze broke into pieces. Unbid tears cascaded down his face, streaming past the scar on his cheek in a hot torrent of hurt-thunder.

Raoul felt more than heard Katze’s cries, and he leaned up over his lover, licking the path of sutured flesh where once Iason had marked his furniture. Lovingly, Raoul ate of Katze’s quaking lips and dried his tears with a makeshift cloth of golden hair, slowly nursing trust back up from the pit of Katze’s anguish.

"Ra...Raoul!"

"Shhhh, baby, shhhhhhh. Don’t stop."

~*~

"Don't stop!" Iason pleaded, fear washing like ice-water over his heart. /Was Riki doing this to humiliate him? To make him beg for it? Why was he...?/

Riki abruptly turned and crouched on all fours, facing the back of the tub, offering Iason his exposed entrance and all the pleasures he could take with it.

Iason realized what this must have cost Riki, to so willingly display himself to his owner. Riki’s openness moved him, and Iason bent down to cradle Riki against his chest, before mounting him amid the blanket of a waterfall and the intangible pillows of steam.

Riki spread his lithe legs, and stared at the porcelain tub, unsure just what catalyst drove him to this point, this action of utter submission. He wondered why he didn’t regret it. Why he felt only excitement at the nudge of Iason’s passion at his gate. He welcomed Iason, for once; once in all of three years, he needed Iason to take him.

Iason pushed in more carefully than he ever had before, rutting deep, so that Riki would notice only stretching but no pain. Surely, Riki did not have his wits at the moment, but he could not pass up the opportunity to cling to the fantasy of a willing, wanting, waiting Riki in his arms. Iason buried himself to the root and held perfectly still, planting rows of newly cropped kissed along the back of Riki’s neck.

Riki died and rose only to die again each time Iason cautiously crossed his threshold. /God, he feels so good. He always feels so good! I can’t lie to myself anymore....Oh, Iason!/ Riki could not bare the wait any longer. He began to roll his hips in a circle, jabbing Iason’s cockhead against all his inner walls, pleasuring himself with the stiff spear of Iason’s girth.

Iason sucked in his breath and then began to pant, gripping the lip of the tub as each passing roll of Riki’s hips got wider, longer, deeper, better, closer, faster...

"Uh! Oh.....Ri....Rik.......yes yes yes yes for the love of Jupiter! Ah! Ah! Yes, come back to me, come back to me, little love!"

At those endearments, Riki thrust forcefully back, fucking himself on Iason’s sensitive organ. Riki set a furious pace, and soon Iason’s resolve melted.

On the porcelain floor of a tub, sopping with scalding water, Iason Mink made love to his dark-haired pet from the slums. Panting, the two lovers merged together, reaching for that one plane of shared passion and soul. Iason jerked Riki’s penis back and forth in his hand, hoping to God that he could hold off his orgasm until Riki took his pleasure. Hoping to keep his promise that Riki would always come before his own need, Iason recklessly plunged his arousal deep into Riki’s bowels, staving off his explosion as long as he could.

Still Riki could not come. Now sobbing fitfully, his moans bouncing off the ceramic tiles of the bathroom, Riki screamed and collapsed onto polished chrome.

Iason had never known fear like he had at that second. /Was Riki dying? Why? Why was this happening? Why couldn’t he come?/

Riki huddled on the base of the tub, quaking with want and humiliation. "I’m sorry Iason...I....I just can’t!" he wailed.

The lightning of realization struck Iason at that moment. "It’s not your fault Riki. You were drugged. At the club tonight. Your drink....Yes...and Raoul took my drink....Oh, poor Katze!" Iason chuckled.

"I’m so glad you find this all amusing, Iason!" Riki shouted, truly angry. Here he lay, totally without shame in offering his ass to the man he had been forced to call master, thinking only of his master’s needs, and feeling guilty because he could not fulfill them. Here he thought Iason had been making love to him, and it became just a goddamned game to him.

Iason peered down at the dripping, dark, elf-like creature cowering in the corner of the tub bellow him. "Riki?"

"Just... leave me alone, Iason. I’m tired now. I’m just...." Riki felt too emotionally drained to even complete his protest. He shuddered when Iason covered him with his own frame, nudging his cheek against the top of the darkly crowned head.

"I know, my love. I can see you’re raw. Tell me, how can I make it easier?"

The tone, the words, the voice-- all harbors from the stormy sea of illusions—a temptress Riki had dodged for three years. Of all the nights for this fragile hope to attack him, it would be the one when his defenses deserted him. "You love me?"

Iason blinked. He had just said that hadn’t he? "Yes, Riki. Oh, yes, my stubborn little one. Since the day I met you, I have loved you, Riki..."

Riki gave a little shout, his penis twitching as clear white precum jetted out of him, as clear salty tears soaked though him, beyond his flesh, and deep into his spirit. "Iason..don’t...don’t lie to me!"

Iason grabbed Riki and hurled them both to their feet, slamming the shower off and hoisting Riki over the tub’s rim. Then he marched to the bedroom, Riki in tow, kicking the door open and pushing Riki face down onto the bed.

"So help me, God. I am going to get through to you Riki. I have been saying it all along. Listen! Listen to me!"

With that, Iason dived into Riki, dog-style, dipping his cock into the heat and tightness of his only obsession, his only love, his only one.

Riki wanted to scream and beat the mattress with his fists, but instead he closed his eyes and listened. Not with his ears, but with his heart.

Every thrust into Riki became a concentrated assault on his pleasure center. Every withdrawal meant tenderly and swiftly. Iason’s lips branded his neck and shoulders with searing kisses. Panted breaths played in his ears like waves. Riki could hear the sounds of ships laden with abandoned joy breaching against the tide in his mind. The sound of his own cries, shipwrecked.

"Iason, my darling...."

~*~

Katze gripped the spikes of his headboard and pressed his head into his pillow, his heels digging into the mattress even as his hips propelled skyward. Towards Raoul, towards that blistering sun god and towards the completion that he had never known could exist for him.

He screamed. Raoul had him screaming. Sweat trickled down his forehead and his breathing became erratic.

/Poor Katze. It’s only just begun.../ Raoul let go of his prize and flattened his lover’s hips to the bed once again. He turned Katze to his left side, then positioned himself so that his head rested in Katze’s lap, and Katze’s mouth was within reach of his own stiff ache. They suckled one another, delighting in the moaning, the whimpering, the wanting. It became a test of will to see who could make who come first.

Katze took Raoul’s erection in hand and tugged on it while he bathed the blonde’s balls thoroughly. He pumped the hardness in his hand and mashed Raoul’s scrotum, bringing his lover to the edge more efficiently then Raoul ever would have credited him for.

Suddenly Raoul pulled out, stopping his own attentions as well. Without warning he mounted Katze’s cock, dribbling with saliva and sticky precum, and stabbed himself deep within.

"Katze!"

Katze flinched and jerked up to face Raoul. The pain scribbled over the blonde’s handsome features made Katze’s chest ache. He traced the back of his fingers across his partner’s cheeks, stroking away the wetness there, painting in the picture of love and trust.

"Raoul....You feel so wonderful, Raoul," Katze said earnestly.

Raoul opened his eyes and leaned forward, kissing Katze as deeply as he could between stuttering breaths. "Oh, Katze....no one’s ever made me feel like this!"

Katze kissed Raoul for several minutes, giving him time to adjust. Then he rolled them backwards, so that he remained in Raoul, but this time over him. Gently, he placed Raoul’s ankles over his shoulders and began to move in and out in a medium rhythm. Finding a steady pace, he drilled into the blonde, their eyes never leaving each other.

~*~

Iason pounded into Riki so hard that the bed threatened to break. Both of their legs hung over the side, pushing against the floor. Iason fucked Riki’s tight, hot hole over and over, each tattoo wrenching a delighted mew from his pet.

Riki burned now. Lust licked his whole body from inside out and soreness threatened to make him pass out, but Iason felt so good, he did it so right, always so damned hot and hard and fast. /God it should never end, this should be heaven and we should stay like this forever. If only I could come!/

Iason couldn’t take it anymore. It had been so long, and Riki had been driving him insane with little whimpers and freely gifted touches, that Iason’s resolve to never come before his pet melted like butter under the trail of molten lava.

Shot after slippery shot of thick, creamy seamen coated Riki’s anus, splurging over to run down his ass and thighs. Riki trembled, aware that this had been the first time Iason had ever come before him in three years. The thought slapped him hard; the reality of it sunk in his stomach like a stone. Iason had always taken care of him first. Not just usually. Always. And Riki had never noticed it.

Iason whimpered and fought to keep from collapsing on his frail lover. He rested his forehead against Riki’s shoulder, then brought his lips up to Riki’s ear.

"I’m sorry, Riki." he said, mournfully. "I couldn’t....."

"Iason. Once in three years?" Riki grinned. "Forgivable."

Iason smiled and licked at the sweat dripping down Riki’s neck. "What shall I take as my punishment, my dear one?"

Riki thought about that, feeling Iason’s limp member slip from his seeping shelter.

"May I....?"

"Yes."

"You haven’t even heard it yet, Iason."

Iason nuzzled his dark one like a kitten. "I’ll do it. Whatever it is."

Riki smiled and shook his head. As Iason slid off his mount and nestled beside him, Riki lifted his head and looked deeply into Iason’s eyes. "I want to take you."

~*~

Katze reveled in the velvety feel of Raoul’s tightness, letting the sensations wash over him like a tall oak weathering a storm. He dove into the blonde man beneath him, staring deep into those icy blue pools that were reading his very soul. Far more than lust… he wanted Raoul and Raoul alone.

Raoul tried to comprehend the mysterious black mirrors of Katze’s eyes as they reflected all his swelling insecurities and insane longings. "Katze.....Katze...." He moaned again and again, the sound of his voice and the slapping of their bellies the only noise in the dark room.

The redhead took Raoul into his right hand and massaged him as sensually as he knew how, trying to hit every nerve and vein along the way. Katze wanted Raoul to feel mind-boggling pleasure, to be so overcome with sated desire, that his cup would run over and he would never, ever forget him, no matter what the morning might bring.

"Raoul....my love!" he said, as he bolted into the willing body beneath him, cramming his dick into that endless chasm. Katze gripped Raoul’s hips and slammed them forward to meet his cadence of thrusts, shaking them both and the bed so hard that pillows, hair and resolve came tumbling down.

"Oh, my love!" Katze shouted as he came, clear, white-hot lava gushing out of him, pouring seedless lust into Raoul’s bowels.

Raoul’s long arms held Katze to him, and he fought to hide his own unfulfilled need for as long as possible, maybe until Katze fell asleep, so that he wouldn’t disappoint him.

But Katze could not miss the steel hard cock throbbing against his belly. "Raoul?" he said, amazed. "Does this happen for all Blondies? Do you guys hold out this long?"

Raoul shook his head.

"Then what? Did you take an aphrodisiac or something?"

Raoul shook his head again, then his eyes widened with horror. "The drink! Oh, my dear Katze, the drink!!" <1>

Katze gave that some time to sink in. /So. It was something someone slipped in the drinks tonight. Maybe the bartender. Maybe the waiter. Damn! I should have kept my eyes open....Poor Riki! I guess.../ Katze looked down at Raoul, his sorrow unmistakable. /I guess this means he never really wanted me. Makes sense. Who the fuck wants a scarred eunuch?/

Raoul smiled, understanding playing on his face. "No, love. Not at all. I’m surprised I didn’t cum all over my pants the moment you touched me. God knows...I’ve wanted you..." Raoul ran his hands up and down Katze’s arms soothingly, trying to calm them both.

"You’ve...wanted--"

Raoul kissed him then, tilting his hips up in supplication. "Katze....I’ve dreamed about you for so long, baby...."

Katze almost cried, he felt so full and complete. He rained sexy little nips all over Raoul’s neck and

chest, before rimming his tongue all over the inner map of Raoul’s ear.

Raoul growled and convulsed, his weak spot having been discovered and used mercilessly. He bucked his hips and clawed at Katze’s back as his fiery-haired lover sucked, licked, blew on and utterly demolished the single most erogenous zone on his body. Crazed, Raoul ripped Katze up by the hair and cornered as much air as he could into his lungs.

Katze stood dumbstruck as he gazed at the totally primal face of his blonde god. He trembled and made a small sound of surrender, as Raoul tossed him off and sank, no, slithered, to the floor. One index finger beckoned Katze forward and so he followed, entranced by the beast he had awakened.

When Katze got to the end of the bed, Raoul slunk on all fours like a large cat over to the other end of the room, and beckoned again, this time with a low, honey-toned purr. "Come here, Katze," he called.

Katze rose off the bed and flew to Raoul like a moth to flame, aware of the danger, but the attraction… irresistible. Katze felt no surprise when Raoul jumped up from the floor and rammed him into the wall just left of his closet. Katze felt no shocke when Raoul grabbed his thigh and flung it over his hipbone. And Katze had hoped—dreamed—prayed for the moment when Raoul shoved his aching, weeping shaft deep into him. Katze even lifted his other leg, hooking them behind his beloved’s back, so as to feel it more.

Raoul grunted each time he pummeled into Katze’s impossibly small, unprepared cavern, his purchase utter perfection. Their bodies slammed against each other, their gasps borrowing the breath from each other’s lungs. Raoul held Katze tightly, grinding his cockhead against the spongy nub of prostate without fail. They were screaming, clawing, biting, anything, anything, to express the feeling of this ancient ritual of union and desire.

~*~

Iason took a deep breath and smiled at Riki. Brushing his bangs back he said, "Well. It’s about time."

Riki smiled back. "I hope I’m up for the task..."

Iason looked down and grinned. "I would say so."

Riki rolled his eyes and hugged his master, his tone one of mock retribution. "Punish you, indeed!"

"Hmmmm."

"Iason?"

Riki paused, suddenly so unsure. This felt... different and.... "Are you sure?"

Iason nodded his head and took Riki’s swollen length in his hand. He stroked, using the familiar rhythm that always brought Riki to the pinnacle before. "Yes.....yes, Riki. I’m sure," Iason whispered.

Riki parted Iason’s legs with his knee, then rested on top of his master’s chest, simply lost in the totality of it. As a gentle reminder, Iason groped his ass and pushed him slightly forward, stoking the fire in his loins.

Iason melted as Riki stared down at him—small, child-like face rapt with wonder. Iason wanted to hug him and tell him it would be forever. Instead he pressed his lover onward, afraid that any lull would rob him of his courage. He let out a small hiss as Riki entered two fingers and unlocked his opening.

Riki removed the fingers and sucked on them, lubricating them as best he could. He reinserted them and stretched Iason a little more. This time, when he removed his fingers, Iason captured them in his mouth and sucked powerfully, his eyes never leaving Riki’s as he did so. Riki could feel himself grow even harder.

Unable to wait any longer, he brought his tip to the hull, and gave Iason a little kiss before breaking into the blonde’s unimaginable secret.

"Sahhhh" Riki caught his breath as Iason’s tight, tight, squeezing walls enveloped his cock, pinching it within the impossible clench of a virgin.

"Iason?" Riki asked.

Iason could not speak. He could not move. Riki… finally inside him. After all this time. All this waiting. His beloved took him. Something inside Iason sensed the equilibrium, and something else shattered, and a far away voice seemed to call him back....to... Iason?

"Iason?"

"Riki," he mouthed.

"Are you all right?"

Iason dipped his chin up and down twice.

"You’re so...tight...........Are you… a virgin?"

Iason hesitated. "I’ve had lots of sex, Riki," he said in a slightly pained voice. "But I’ve never been on bottom."

Riki’s mind broke like a window in a tornado. The drug-induced haze of his mind cleared with the gale of such news and he froze, staring down at the man who had told him so. The man who had saved his life. The man who had brought him out of the slums. Given him everything he asked for. Pleasured him endlessly every night. The man who risked his status and safety just to keep him by his side. The man who gave him his virginity.

"I love you."

Iason balked on the inside. Riki had confessed love for him. Simply. Plainly. Perfectly. The first tears in Iason’s life spilled with the blood of his being taken possession and he cried all the while Riki carefully rocked inside him.

The world and universe in its entirety became Iason and Riki, moving in rhythm together, focused on the need of the other only, and in doing so, becoming as one need—two opposites merging in the act of union, in the rite of love, drowning in the cup of desire.

"Touch yourself Iason. Show me."

Iason’s cheeks flushed, but he brought his hand down, as he had so often asked Riki to do, and he pleasured himself thoroughly, understanding that Riki would feed from that.

Riki’s heart burst out of the cage of his ribs, soaring into a sky filled with twin moons, one pale and dark, the other golden as the sun. He filled Iason to the brim and seasoned his kisses with spices accompanying every thrust. His Iason. His. His forever. His love.

Iason’s hand flew up and down his shaft, urging Riki to follow his speed and so his dark changeling—half human, half raw soul--released all his spirit, and joined Iason’s frantic, tortured, blissful oblivion of claiming. The spent themselves together, calling each other’s name, and intertwining their hands in a wordless promise of forever.

~*~

/Forever. I want this forever, Raoul./

"Yes my darling. Forever!" Raoul chanted.

/Had he said that out loud? Or was Raoul in his mind now? It didn’t matter./

"Katze, Katze!" Raoul invoked his mantra as he grappled at Katze’s legs and pounded their bodies into the wall.

Reds and golds splattered on the canvas behind Katze’s eyes as he came for the second time that evening, this time drenching his lover’s abdomen with the slick thick paste of his fruitless spending.

Feeling Katze’s ring of muscle constrict, pinching his penis with impossible strength, Raoul finally joined with his beloved. His cum erupted into Katze’s gorgeous ass, spurting his hot sperm up into the soil of Katze’s amazing softness. Raoul collapsed to the floor, taking his fiery lover with him.

They sat there on the floor, clinging to one another, unable to break the lull-a-bye of the other’s heartbeat. Raoul hugged Katze to him, trying to convey his gratitude, and he thought he felt his lover’s arms fold about his neck, but then the sweet abyss claimed him for her own and darkness ruled his vision.

~*~

Iason awoke from his semi-conscious slumber and held Riki tightly to him, their legs still draped over the side of the bed, Riki’s body boneless against his own. /Oh beloved. Will you remember this when you awaken?/ Thinking Riki still asleep, Iason cradled him comfortably into the length of the bed and pulled the covers up over them both. Iason played with Riki’s dark hair, occasionally sneaking in a soft kiss here or there.

Moments later, Riki stretched with the first rays of sun… and then promptly rejected the morning and burrowed against Iason’s chest, earning a deep chuckle from his master. He peered up at the blonde through slited eyes and smiled sheepishly.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, rubbing Iason’s firm rear.

"I’m fine. But more importantly, how are you feeling?"

"Me?" Riki blinked. "Just fine, actually. Na, Iason?"

"Um hm?"

"Can we stay in bed all day?"

Iason let the laugh tumble out onto the bed. "Yes. I think I would like that very much."

"Hm." Riki butted his head against Iason. He wrapped his arms around that sculpted back, twining his hands in locks of spun gold and cuddling close.

Iason breathed in the scent of this moment—this fragile, gossamer, perfect atmosphere—the perfect taste of this sliver of a lifetime, and then curled into his lover’s embrace and settled in for a lazy day of napping.

~*~

Raoul awoke in an unfamiliar bed, every muscle of his body screaming in agony and his head protesting its place above his neck. However, none of that mattered much, because to his right slept a certain redheaded rogue who had captured his heart and somehow replaced it with one much brighter and bigger than his own. Raoul didn’t wish to disturb Katze, but the need to touch overwhelmed him. He stroked the flame of silk back from sleepy eyes and tucked it behind a convenient ear.

Katze’s eyes fluttered open and he dazzled Raoul with a genuine smile. "How do you like your eggs?" he asked. "Or I can do whatever else the gentleman desires...."

-end-

Mail the Author!

Shakespeare duh!!!! Oh my dear Hamlet. The drink! The drink! (dies)
Yes. Yes, I know Katze was castrated. In my world, he got his balls cut off, but not his penis, and in my world, he can shoot clear semenless ejaculations b/c I’m the author and I have that power. Wohohohahaha! (winks, love roo)
Dedicated to RazorQueen— a fantastic author and an even better friend!