He hadn’t returned until later that evening. Tarr had been dozing, having stretched his chains out far enough to allow him to stretch out his legs in relative comfort. As soon as the sun went down on Lycanus 3, the winds started up, and they had come through his barred window high on the wall and cooled his cell to the point that he was almost shivering. He heard the door open and cast a glance at the door. Larsson stood inside with a blanket in his hands.
He unlocked the cell and came in, stopping about three feet away and tossing the blanket down beside him. “Here,” he said. “I could see you shivering. ” He nodded up at the camera in the corner of the room. “You should have asked for a blanket if you were cold. We’re not cruel—we would have given you one. ”
Tarr picked up the blanket with his cuffed hands and tried to shake it enough to open it up. “Maybe you’re not, but I’m not so sure about the rest of your family. ”
Larsson made a little sound of impatience, snatched the blanket away and shook out its length. He spread it over Tarr and even tucked it around and under his legs before he started to turn away. Tarr’s voice stopped him.
“Don’t go. Not just yet. Talk to me for a few minutes. Explain to me why you think I’m your mate. ”
Larsson turned back around and made an impatient move with his hand. “Stop worrying about that. It’s nothing. ”
“Nothing? No one ever called me their mate before. I think it’s…nice. ”
“Nice?” Larsson said, his voice incredulous. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s damn near tearing me apart! How can I be so attracted—and to you, of all people? What I should be doing is choking the damn life out of you, and all I want to do is…”
He fell down beside Tarr, who had raised his head to look at him. Tearing the blanket away from his body, Larsson shoved Tarr against the wall and his gaze raked over the length of his body, naked and exposed in the cool, night air of the cell. It came torest on Tarr’s impressive cock, which had swollen rapidly to its full girth under his regard. Larsson bent over his prize and Tarr raised his cuffed hands to clutch at Larsson’s soft hair.
Larsson’s lips fastened around Tarr’s cock and took him in, deep throating him like he was only a few inches instead of the more than respectable size that he was. Tygerians were somewhat famous for their long, thick cocks, and Tarr was justifiably proud of his own, but Larsson had no trouble taking it deeply into his throat. And the boy was talented—Tarr had to hand him that. Larsson’s throat caressed the length of his shaft as Larsson’s lips kept up a steady pressure. He moved back and Tarr’s cock slid from his throat, but his slightly roughened tongue slid up and down Tarr’s shaft, making him shiver and groan. Sometimes Larsson stopped at the head to nibble with his teeth or slip his tongue down into Tarr’s slit. Gods, if this kept up, Tarr was going to embarrass himself by coming in minutes.
Tarr gasped for breath as Larsson reared back a little to look directly at him and fan his hands down his thighs and between his legs, his tongue darting out to still lick greedily at his cock. His hands moved up to fondle his balls, and Tarr shifted his legs to open them wider and give him access. Larsson looked up at him and slowly and deliberately wet his index finger. A soft touch on his hole made Tarr widen his eyes and clench around the burn from the finger that had slipped up inside him.
The Lycan’s spit wasn’t enough to lubricate him, so Tarr groaned and squirmed at the invasion. Larsson unerringly reached up his finger to find his prostate and rubbed his finger across it, making Tarr’s eyes roll back in his head. He brushed over it again and Tarr bucked his hips and cried out through the burn.
Before the sounds of his voice had a chance to even echo around the room, Larsson had pulled his finger away. Hepulle
d Tarr’s bound wrists over his head andpressed himself to Tarr’s chest, angling his head up to takeTarr’s mouth. He thrust his tongue inside to taste him and explore him, effectively muffling any of Tarr’s groans. With one hand, he pushed his own pants down and ground his naked cock againstTarr’s. One big hand went around both of them and Larsson began to move quickly and firmly up and down their shafts, the friction of his cock and his hand driving Tarr half-insane with pleasure. In seconds, Tarr was arching his back and crying out into Larsson’s mouth. Larssonswallowed his cries, whispering, “Come on,” against his lips once, and keeping up the slow, steady movement of his hand.
Tarr came hard, banging his head back onto the rough wall behind him and straining his hips toward the Lycan. Larsson came too and lay on Tarr’s chest afterward, panting for breath as his cock softened.
Finally, Larssonslid down Tarr’s body, taking his time kissing and biting his way down. He wiped at the mess on Tarr’s stomach with the edge of the blanket, staggered to his feet, and stood looking down at Tarr for a long moment. Then he dropped the dry part of the blanket back over him, pulled up his pants and strode from the room.
That had been the last time Tarr had been alone with Larsson, for all practical purposes. He’d seen him once more when the prisoner exchange had finally been made. Kyle had heard about what was happening and had tricked his Tygerian lover so he could get away. On the morning of the exchange, Larsson’s beautiful red eyes had been almost black with some strong emotion, but he made no move to stop Tarr from leaving. It took some time, but Tarr had eventually put together the whole story.
Taz had been planning a military action to rescue his brother, even though it would have escalated the already violent war between Tygeria and the Alliance and possibly killed or at least injured his nobyo’s relatives in the process. Kyle hadn’t been willing for anyone to get hurt, so he’d taken matters into his own hands. As it turned out, Kyle had bribed an old friend of Tarr’s, a Nilanium named Robosium Jex, to help him sneak away from his lover and bring him back to his family so he could explain the truth of the situation to them in person.
Jex had helped Kyle escape his brotherTaz’s home, after Kyle Balenescu had promised Jex he would return as soon as he was able to convince his family he was in no danger and truly wanted to be with his mate.
Predictably, Taz wanted to go after Kyle right away and Tarr had agreed to help. Tarr even had some vague notion of capturing Larsson to explore the issues between them. Try as he might, he hadn’t been able to forget that one night in his cell with Larsson and no one else had satisfied him since—and he’d tried plenty.
The attempt to take Kyle and Larssonsimply hadn’t worked out as planned. The Lycans had been expecting them. Taz was captured and Tarr had barely escaped, but not before sending Larsson a message through the compnet, telling him he would be back for him. At the time he’d meant it as bravado, a taunt, or a simple thumbing of his nose at the Lycans. But as time wore on, taking Larsson became all he could think about, even long after his brother and Kyle happily returned to Tygeria together to resume their lives there.
Now as Tarr waited impatiently for his men to intercept Larsson’s transport, he received a subspace message telling him the Lycan ship had been spotted, and the Rogers were using their cloaking mechanisms to hide from the Lycan ship in order to intercept and board it. Taz sent back a message reminding them that Larsson was not to be harmed in any way. They were to incapacitate the two Lycans, leave Blayde on the ship, and bring Larsson to him.
He wasn’t sure what he’d do with Larsson once he got his hands on him again—he just knew he had to have him. He’d never yearnedfor anyone like he did for the Lycan, though he’d have to be careful not to let him know just how much he wanted him. That could be a weapon for the Lycan to use against him, and whatever happened, Tarr had to protect himself. After all, he’d never loved anyone before,and he wasn’t about to start now. He’d have his fill of this Lycan and then perhaps keep him as his nobyo or even send him on his way. It would be easy enough—he was almost sure of it.
Chapter Two
Larsson was sleeping when the alarm sounded. The noise went right through him, shocking him awake with a harsh, blaring sound that made his heart race. He jumped to his feet, biting down so hard on his lip that it brought blood. Racing to the door, he flung it open and was met by the sight of three huge Jolly Rogers coming down the corridor toward him. Before he had time to shift to his wolf, before he even had time to figure out what he was seeing, one of them lifted a hand-held disruptor and fired.
The disruptors, mostly used by the Nilaniums, caused damage by exciting the molecular bonds of targets—this one must have been set to stun its victim, not kill him, and Larsson dropped to the floor in a twitching heap. His mind wasstill working perfectly, and there wasn’t even a great deal of pain—at least not yet. He knew that laterhis chest would feel like he’d been kicked by a Leerian mule, and he’d have a bruise the size of his fist.
Larsson wanted to shout at them, to ask them about his cousin Blayde, but they gave him no chance to recover. Hewas hauled up and slung over the biggest one’s shoulder like a sack of Ionian coffee beans. TheRogers’ shoulder was bony, and hanging upside down over it was painful. His position stole what little breath he had away. Partially blacking out, he was only vaguely aware of being carried off his ship and onto theirs. They threw him face down on their deck and trussed his arms and legs up tightly, but made no move to harm him any further.
He could hear their shouts and laughter close by as he lay there. They were Nilaniums, all right, the bastards. Commonly known as Jolly Rogers from the skull and crossbones they painted on the sides of their ships, they’d been given the name by humans in the Alliance who said the logo was like the old Earthen pirates of ancient times. They were ruthless outlaws whose home planet had been destroyed long ago and who roamed the galaxies now in their huge ships. Larsson knew Tarr frequently worked with the bastards and some of them were his best friends and made up his crew.
Larsson was gradually coming out of the disruptor-induced paralysis. None of the Rogers came any closer to him, though hewondered how long they’d leave him alone. One of them approached him and he tensed, but the man merely rolled him half over with the tip of his boot, as if checking his breathing. When Larsson snarled up at him and tried to spit on his boots, the man laughed and walked away again.
Within another thirty minutes or so, Larsson felt the bump and vibration on the deck beneath him, letting him know they’d docked with a larger ship. Almost immediately, they came back, hauling him to his feet. Two of the larger men took him under each arm and dragged him between them over onto the new ship. From the looks and size of it, it was a transport, much like his own. Though this one was a Roger ship from the markings he saw on the walls of the corridor they were dragging him through, it was cleaner and more stowed away than most of the ones he’d boarded in the past.