Forever Caged

Disclaimer: I don't own Ai No Kusabi nor do I make any money from this fanfic. But I do own all the original peeps that I've chosen to invade the AnK world.
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Iason/Riki, Raoul/Katze, original characters and novel character pairings.
Parts: 40 of ?

Edited by the lovely Scarlet Tigress

Thank you for your reviews! - Ryn (sorry it took so long to update :)
alexxgalaxy - Hehehe i will have loads of fun with the twins, and i'm happy you like my MP! I had fun writing it. :D,
Sheleeta - hehe i'm glad you liked the two chapters and i hope that you like this one as well.

Thanks again!

~~**Forever Caged**~~

Staring out of the large window into the vastness of space, Lilly rubbed his aching shoulder. The blaster wound had already closed and mostly healed. Watching the chilly stars rush by, Lilly sighed. He had awoken alone, naked and in a strange bed with a meal on the table along with a note saying "eat".

The only thing Lilly knew for sure was that the ship he currently rode in was Mikhale's…it was the same vessel that had taken him from his adopted parents. He could tell by the nearly silent purr of the engine and the distinctive smell. Everything about the ship was maddeningly familiar and he had also been in this cabin before.

Lilly looked around the large room. Yes, he had been here once before. Three years ago after Mikhale had taken him away from Harold and Angel, in this very cabin and for the first time, he had performed for the Blondie. Nothing had changed, not the décor of the room or the overpowering, pressing feeling of the Elite sunk into the very walls.

Shivering Lilly gazed back out of the windows, out into the endless darkness, hugging the sheet around his nude form. He had expected to wake up and see the Blondie seated at the edge of his bed, like the Elite normally did after he had done something wrong. However, Mikhale wasn't there and Lilly could only imagine the punishment that was in store for him after his escape….

But it wasn't just the fear Lilly had of seeing his master again, a master that he had run away from. No, that fear was minor compared to what he felt for the others.

Riki…

Sky…

Fidget…

Jade…

And Violet…

Lilly leaned his forehead against the cold, thick glass of the shuttle window. In such a short time he had made friends, real friends. He hadn't had friends in such a long time….

Besides Jade, he had been alone on Amoi, in Eos. He didn't need to be told that the others weren't on the ship with him, he already knew it. The ship wasn't large enough to hold his make shift little family. Knowing Riki as Lilly now knew the mongrel, all of the mongrels, Mikhale's pleasure cruiser wouldn't have been strong enough to control them anyway.

It had been three days now and Lilly was sure he would have heard something if they had been on the small ship. Surely some kind of explosion or laughter, but the only thing he had heard was silence. At least he thought they weren't on the ship, totally silent, unless…

After so many hours of being by himself, it took the youth a few moments to realize that he was no longer alone in the room. Lilly literally jumped when he heard his name called.

"Jussal!" He exclaimed. Relieved, Lilly hurried from the bed and embraced the older servant. "Where are we? Do you know if the others are on the ship with us?" Lilly hushed when the kind Furniture placed his hand on his shoulder, and gave him a gentle smile.

"Yesterday we were informed that your friends landed safely on Amoi and where turned over to their respective owners." Jussal stated softly.

"Owners…?" Whispered Lilly, confused. The only ones of his band that had masters were Riki, Jade and himself… "What of the other three? What happened to the other mongrels I was traveling with?"

"As I said Sir Lilly, they were given to their owners."

Lilly tightened his grip on the sheet wrapped around his body. "They became pets…?"

"Yes."

Lilly turned away from Jussal's sympathetic gaze, his breath catching a bit. "And Master Mikhale? Where is he? Why are we not back on Amoi?"

"Master Mikhale has changed our heading, delaying our arrival back to Amoi…he has requested that I come to you and prepare you for a performance." The Furniture said softly.

Lilly spun back around in shock. "A p-performance? I thought that he had retired me…" Then again, the day Mikhale had retired him, he had run off… Lilly lifted his chin. Screw it. What was another show? His body needed it and even if they weren't going straight back to Amoi, the delay wouldn't change the fact that he would be whored off with another pet for his master's amusement when he returned.

Mikhale may have said he wouldn't be pairing him off with anyone else anymore, but that was before he escaped… all bets were off now.

"Do…do you know who he's brought to couple me with?" Lilly quietly asked, wondering why he bothered to ask when he saw the Furniture shake his head.

"…. Let us go to the water closet, Sir Lilly, so that we may ready your body for your performance."

Lilly stared blankly at the bag Jussal held up for him to see and felt something deep and ugly twist in his guts. Numbly, Lilly nodded and let himself be lead away the few steps to the automatic doors of the shower room that slid open as they neared. Half in a daze, he walked into the washroom with the Furniture. The time he had been away from the pressures of being a pet had changed his life and habits so quickly. While he had been free the routines of performance had fallen away and he had forgotten all about the beautifications that were needed to prepare himself for the lewd acts he would be doing in front of the one he cared about.

But just seeing that bag had brought it all back in a heartbeat. The ritual of showering and having Jussal, fully clothed, under the hot sprays with him, scrubbing his body clean, washing every inch seemed so familiar. Being dried off and proceeding to rub his body with a special salve so that his skin would feel softer….

It was as if he had never left Mikhale's side.

Lilly just stood still and patient as Jussal worked on him, lifting his arms up when told, as if he were a child. He tried not to look at himself in the mirror, not wanting to see the pathetic man that would be staring back.

"I will take my leave of you. The room has been prepared for you." Jussal said quietly.

The room has been prepared…. Lilly smiled sadly at Jussal's gentle way of telling him that he pet he would be forced to fuck was already there, waiting for him.

As was their routine, Lilly felt the Furniture's hand on his shoulder and the comforting squeeze before the slight weight was removed. Lilly heard Jussal depart, giving him his privacy to finish the most intimate part of readying his body for the performance. His partners had always been females, but that didn't mean that he was never penetrated rectally by their fingers and he needed to prepare for that.

Grabbing the bottle Jussal had silently left on the sink, Lilly briskly applied the scentless lubricant between his legs. Letting the offending container fall to the floor, Lilly threw on the pale blue silk robe left for him. With a deep breath, he walked to the door and bravely stepped through the portal once it slid open for him, but his confident stride faltered badly when he saw who was waiting for him.

There was not some overacting, stuck-up, teenaged female anxiously awaiting his arrival, but there was someone in the room with him. Dread filled Lilly to the depths of his soul when, from the bed, burning aqua eyes met his.

Clothed in only a silk robe matching the one he had given his Furniture to leave for his pet to wear, Mikhale stared coolly at Lilly, who fearfully stared back at him. Mikhale knew exactly what his pet was thinking; he could practically hear it in his mind as if the boy had spoken aloud. On many, many nights he and Lilly had looked across the room, just as they did now. All of those times had been when he was about to punish the boy for some transgression.

"Come to me," Mikhale commanded softly. Leaning back against the headboard, Mikhale beckoned Lilly to come forward with his index finger. Lilly blinked, but seemed frozen. The boy trembled, but made no move towards him and Mikhale repeated his order in a firmer voice.

Mikhale had restrained himself for three days, purposefully keeping himself away from Lilly so that his pet could heal from the blaster wound he had sustained from a careless guard during capture. The elite knew that if he so much as saw Lilly, he would not have been able to keep from taking the pet's wounded body and claiming it as his own.

Now the wait was over.

Mikhale smiled at that thought.

Seeing that dark, savage, look on Mikhale's face, Lilly wanted to run and hide. It took every ouch of will power he possessed to stay were he was, having learned from past experiences that fleeing would only make his punishment all the more painful.

Lilly had to force his leaden body to move closer to the Blondie, stifling the whimper from escaping past his lips. His lack of courage shamed him. The fact that he couldn't even look away from those aqua orbs that, he didn't even try to fight…

"You know what to do," Mikhale said once Lilly stood at the foot of the bed.

Licking his dry lips, Lilly reluctantly untied his robe and slowly shrugged out it, letting it drop to his feet. Standing there, Lilly made sure to keep his hands glued to his sides, resisting the urge to cover himself with his hands. Trained to be a pet, and not be self-conscious about his body, Lilly never had a problem parading around in the nude. If he was ordered to go without clothing, it was no hardship…But with those eyes on him, eyes that burned through him, caressing his flesh with their heated gaze. Mikhale had a look that made him want to cover every inch of his skin for fear of getting burned.

Stiffly Lilly waited until the Elite was done with his 'inspection'.

"Crawl to me." The Blondie murmured.

With his heart booming in his chest, Lilly climbed up onto the bed and once again did as he was told. Trying to shove the welling emotions of humiliation down as he reached the Blondie's side, Lilly swallowed hard. With trembling hands, he untied Mikhale's robe and slid the shimmering blue silk down over broad muscular shoulders.

Lilly had purposely, as difficult as it was, kept his glaze locked with Mikhale's so that he wouldn't have to look at the Blondie's perfect body. However, once he drew the robe down Mikhale's biceps, Lilly couldn't help looking down, and immediately froze. His hands locked, fisting the blue material hard, unable to continue drawing the robe down Mikhale's arms. He stared with growing fear at the towering erection the Blondie had hidden beneath the silk.

Gulping, Lilly's breath hitched and his gaze shot up to Mikhale's.

Slowly Mikhale pried his pet's hands off the lapel of his dressing gown, grasping Lilly's wrists and pulling him closer. "It's time," Mikhale whispered huskily, smiling when Lilly's pale eyes widened.

Scared, Lilly finally tried to get away from the vice-like hold only to be dragged onto Mikhale's body. It certainly wasn't the first time his naked flesh had met that of his master's, but it was the first time it had happened with Mikhale physically aroused. Once upon a time he had wished for this very thing to happen between them, but as the days passed into years, the punishments, and the sex performances began to tally up… Lilly's heart and the love he felt for the Blondie had taken such a beating that all he had wanted to do was disappear. He didn't know if he could withstand the hurricane of emotions again. Lilly knew that if Mikhale took him that he would get sucked back into that whirlpool of lust, love and lies and that he would never emerge.

Lust that he felt for the blonde that had never lifted. Love that chained him to the Elite that would never be returned, and the lies he told himself to make the anguish bearable. He couldn't do it again.

Seeing Lilly's frightened gaze hardening with determination, Mikhale released his pet's wrists and locked his arms around the boy to keep him from bolting. Mikhale spread his legs so that Lilly sunk between them allowing him to wrap them around the boy further, trapping him.

"No, no," Mikhale whispered. "We have unfinished business you and I." Mikhale forced Lilly to look up at him. "You should have known that we would end up right here sooner or later. There is no escaping, no being free from me. You're mine until death claims you and even in the next life you will be mine."

Mikhale captured Lilly's lips when the boy opened his mouth to argue. He didn't want to hear his rejection, not that Mikhale could blame Lilly for wanting to say the words. All because of his damnable jealousy, he had driven Lilly to fight him and the Elite knew it was his fault that Lilly wanted nothing to do with him. If he were kind he would just let the boy go. Find a safe place where he could live his life in freedom, unbound by the chains of slavery…But he wasn't kind, and he had no intention of ever releasing him.

Forcing Lilly's mouth open wider to summit to his, Mikhale moaned. Slowly, as he demanded more from those sweet lips, Mikhale began to breathe in the fragrant scent of Lilly's acceptance. Physically, the elite felt the boy's arousal as Lilly's member hardened against his stomach.

Mikhale trailed his hands down Lilly's smooth, soft, back and grasped his firm buttock, squeezing and arching his hips up at the same time. Unashamed to use Lilly's 'condition' to get the reaction he wanted, Mikhale ground against him. He used Lilly's need to silence the boy's voice and any misgivings he had, wanting the need to fill his mind with lust until all Lilly could think about was utilizing his flesh to sate his desires.

Lilly felt like shouting out in frustration with himself and his lack of willpower. He knew exactly what his master was trying to do…and he let him, not fighting the effect that those talented hands had on him. He could not even squelch the heat that every touch brought to his already fevered body. The act was going to happen even if he fought the Blondie…so why deny himself? What if this was the only time he would ever feel this again?

With trembling hands Lilly cupped Mikhale's face and deepened the kiss.

A low growl of victory sounded from the back of Mikhale's throat and he scraped his nails back up Lilly's back. He moved his hands under Lilly's arms to pull the boy higher up onto his chest, forcing his pet to saddle him. Three years of longing, of restraining himself. Mikhale couldn't bring himself to take it slow. Later he would, but not now. If Lilly were any other pet, he would have had to prepare them until their body softened to accept him, but Lilly was no ordinary pet. Granted there would still be pain, but with the way Lilly healed it would be a minor hurt. Confident in the boy's safety, he angled himself perfectly and swiftly entered his pet without any warning.

Lilly screamed in pain and surprise at Mikhale's sudden invasion, ripping his mouth away and squeezing his watery eyes tightly. Panting he tried to lift himself off of the Blondie's massive length only to have Mikhale hold him down by his shoulder, forcing him to go even further down, taking all of him.

Mikhale gasped at the molten heat, the sensation of being grasped so firmly. The sensation was more than he ever dreamed it would be, and the instinctive need to move in that hotness was fierce, but he quelled his need, allowing Lilly to get accustomed to his size. Mikhale knew Lilly was in pain, but he felt no sympathy for what he did. What he did feel was an overwhelming sense of pleasure and not just by finally becoming one with the pet that had stolen his heart from almost the very first moment he saw him.

"Hold onto me tighter."

Lilly could only thank his training that he had prepared himself in the restroom before coming out. As for Mikhale telling him to hold onto him tighter, Lilly didn't think that was possible. His arms were wrapped around the Elites neck, his hands fisted in those silky trees, his knees had to have been paining Mikhale as they were digging into the Blondie's ribs. He couldn't get any closer even if he wanted to. Being what he was, the pain faded fairly quickly, but Lilly's body felt filled to the very brim. His body was stretched to the point of being uncomfortable.

The hold Mikhale held over himself began to crack, the desire and pleasure overcoming his ridged elite control. Despite himself, Mikhale began to move, thrusting his hips up and his eyes nearly rolling back in his head at the bliss that the small movement shot throughout his body. He was swiftly losing himself in Lily's body, but before he surrendered completely Mikhale untangled Lilly's left fist from his hair. He straightened his pet's tightly clenched fingers, so he could slip on Lilly's pet ring that the boy had removed the day he fled from his side.

Lilly still needed to answer for his crimes, but for now that wasn't the main thing on his mind. With the ring secured on Lilly's ring finger, Mikhale kissed the symbol of his ownership before putting that hand on his pet's shoulder.

"Move with me," Mikhale commanded as he finally began to move, controlling Lilly's hips, making sure the boy didn't try to escape the ecstasy he created with the friction of their bodies. "Now you're mine, forever mine."

Meeting Mikhale's heated eyes through his own passion filled gaze, Lilly kept their eyes locked together even as the pleasure grew all-consuming. Keeping his eyes open with all his will because Lilly knew that if he closed them he would fall away from reality, and would keep falling with the knowledge that there would be no safety net to catch him. He couldn't deny that he would never be able to resist Mikhale, but that didn't mean he hadn't learned his lesson.

You couldn't trust a Blondie.

Lilly chanted that line over and over in his mind, as Mikhale broke their eye contact to lick his neck, repeating the mantra even as his head fell back from the pleasure-pain building within him. Crying out when he felt Mikhale bite him viscously where his scar still remained, and sucking loudly.

Even when Lilly came in a shuddering heap the Blondie continued to move, starting the process, the need, to rise back up. All those years of holding back….

Lilly knew that he was in for a very long trip back to Amoi.

oOoOoOo

Seated across the huge Blondie, Sir Gideon Lagat, Jade picked at the sliced fruit on his plate that the Elite's Furniture placed in front of him for breakfast, amongst other dishes. He didn't know what to say to the powerful Blondie. Didn't know how to ask Sir Gideon why he was in his apartment and not back with his Onyx Master, Sir Jerico Ervic.

So Jade just sat there in awkward silence, fidgeting and every now and again peeking through his lashes at the gorgeous Elite. Despite his nervousness and noticeable fear, one of the many reasons Jade didn't say anything was because he couldn't. His voice was still pretty screwed up, and while he could croak a few words out of his abused voice box, doing so only prolonged the healing process….at least that is what the physician had told him during his visit earlier that morning.

With their communication at zero, Jade couldn't do anything. He could write something down perhaps, but that would bring attention to the fact that he was not illiterate as all pets were. Riki had drilled it into his head repeatedly that you never show your hand, winning cards or not, to anyone.

The situation was not that Jade wanted to go back to Sir Jerico. That was the last thing he wanted to do, but he did want to know what was going to happen to him. Was he going to be sent back to the Onyx or back to the lab where he would be poked and prodded for the remainder of his life?

What he would give to talk to Riki right about now.

"You've been pushing your food around on your plate for the past fifteen minutes, Jade," Gideon commented as he watched the lovely pet's even lovelier eyes widen when he spoke. "You must be wondering why you are here and not back down on the lower levels of Eos or back with your former master."

Former master…? Jade opened his mouth, but shut it quickly when the Blondie narrowed his pale turquoise eyes at him in disapproval.

"If you are confused by the words I just said, then I will explain it to you. You are no longer Sir Jerico Ervic's property, you are mine. Per pet laws, because your 'collar' was removed and you left the planet, you ceased be Jerico's possession. This state of affairs allowed me the opportunity to take you as my own." Gideon smiled patiently as the young man opened and closed his mouth repeatedly before finally lifting his hands up in question.

"Why?" Gideon put his eating utensils down and dabbed the corners of his mouth with the napkin that had been on his lap. Using that time to thoroughly think of an appropriate answer that silent question, and coming up with only one thing. "You…fascinate me, and not just on a physical level."

Gideon sighed at the panicked expression on the boy's face. "That is not to say that I chose to make you mine just to take you to my bed. If it were only curiosity, I would not have bothered with the underhanded means that were used to obtain you. Curiosity is not worth the unpleasantness that your former master would undoubtedly cause once he was notified of my deceit."

Unpleasant was a mild word for the reaction Gideon knew the Onyx would have. The lower ranking Elite had been a thorn in Gideon's side since the moment the Onyx discovered he would be setting off to retrieve the runaways.

Sir Jerico Ervic knew the gem he had and Gideon didn't need to be told that his claiming of the pet wouldn't be fought about. Gideon was not in any way worried that Jade would be taken away from him, he had made sure of that there was no way such a thing could happen, but he was curious about Jade's relationship with the Onyx. The Elite's strong emotional reaction seemed to be more than that of an outraged Master.

"What did you do while you were in the home of Sir Jerico?" Gideon stopped the boy from talking once he finished speaking, not because of the foolishness of the question, but because the boy could not talk without feeling pain.

"Let me rephrase. You were the only pet in Jerico's household, were you not?"

Jade slowly nodded.

"You've been a pet for quite some time now, but I've never heard of you. One would think with your beauty you would be in demand for performances. Did Jerico only have you perform privately for him?"

Jade nodded again.

Gideon paused for the barest of a second before asking his next question. "Did he touch you in any other way besides for training?"

Jade blinked at the Blondie. He didn't know how to answer that question. If he nodded yes, which would be the truth, what would happen? But if he lied and shook his head and the Elite were to discover his fib… Jade shuddered.

"From your silence I can only assume that you were?" Gideon coldly replied. "The first time I saw you, the day I cornered you and inspected your body, I had discreetly made inquires. You haven't had a performance in almost a year. As horrible as this may sound, I had hoped you were just being abused by your master."

In a way I was... Jade winced. Even though he had not been with Sir Jerico very long after the first rape, he had been with the Onyx long enough become very intimately familiar with the Elite's body. It was true that Jade's performances with other pets were limited and the list of his partners was rather pathetic from a pet's point of view. Still, the couplings he had with them had been pleasant, while the sex he had with his Onyx master had been painful to say the least…

"How far did it go?" Gideon asked trying to speak calmly and not frighten the boy with the tremendous rage he felt.

Another question Jade couldn't answer, and not just because he couldn't talk. Unlike Riki, he was a low ranking pet…although it seemed that his worth had now risen. Pets did not have intercourse with their masters, period. It wasn't really a law that said they couldn't, but a moral principle, a set of ethics, that Elites held and never crossed.

His father and his powerful Blondie might have been able to get away with it, but that was because Riki's master was The Iason Mink. No one would dare shun the Syndicate Leader. That wasn't the case with the lower ranking Elites, and if a pet of said Elite were to be discovered doing the forbidden dance…if the pet admitted the crime and Elite were to loose face because of it…. The pet would be the one to suffer….

Jade lowered his head, staring at the intricate designs on the table cloth. He shrugged his shoulders in answer to the Blondie's question and hoped that his answer was sufficient.

Gideon let the question go, though he still wanted to know the extent of Ervic's activities with Jade. The Elite decided to find his answer somewhere else, from someone else, which lead to his next question. "Were you romantically involved with Riki?"

Jade's head snapped up. He quickly and vigorously shook his head, his face twisting in disgust.

Curiously, Gideon's body relaxed at the boy's almost violent denial. Still, he couldn't stop thinking about the tender moment he saw between the black haired beauty and Jade. That was another question Gideon would be investigating, whether Iason liked it or not.

Gideon had long since put aside the nagging examination of himself and his staggering need to have this particular boy. He only knew that he wanted him in his presence and now that he had Jade, the possessiveness had only grown.

Being the Commander of all Military forces, Gideon did not have as soft or comfortable a life as his Elite brethren. His had physically built his body beyond those of the others; needing more then just the enhanced strength he was born with. Invaders seeking to come to their world sometimes needed a visual demonstration of power, and not with the battle ships they were confronted with.

One of Gideon's jobs was to get rid of any potential planetary problems before his Commander-in-Chief, Iason, was forced to step in. His was a life of Spartan harshness, and so Jade and the gentleness that shone in the boy, was like a breath of fresh air.

Jade didn't know what to make of the Blondie staring so fixatedly at him. Jade resolved to do has he had always done, wait and observe. Turning to the Furniture that appeared at his side with his medicine, Jade smiled softly and nodded his thanks. He tried to think of away he could excuse himself from the table and maybe find a way to get out of the apartment, just to see what floor he was on.

Gideon nodded his head slightly in approval when Jade silently thanked Evan, his Furniture. All of his pets had been spoiled, demanding and disorderly when interacting with his servant. Evan had been his first Furniture and Gideon held the castrate in high regard, so he was pleased when he saw the boy give Evan his appreciation.

He had told Jade that he found him physically attractive and that the attraction didn't mean he would take him to his bed, but he had lied a bit. Gideon would bed the boy, but slowly. Gideon wanted the softness of Jade's nature, not his fear, and from just the mention of Jerico Evric's name he knew he would have to tread very carefully if he wanted that soft-heartedness, that tenderness, to be washed over him willingly.

There were only two problems; Gideon wanted the boy with a powerful, demanding need he never felt before. And the second problem:

"Master Lagat? Sir Jerico Evric is at the door wishing an audience with you. Are you receiving this morning?"

Gideon watched as the rosy color drained from Jade's face.

His second problem was at the door waiting.

oOoOoOo

Drowning….

Heavy…something holding him down…. Rope, no seaweed….Seaweed tangled around his body, around his face.

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't breathe!

Gasping, Niko's eyes snapped open and gagged as he inhaled strings of sun kissed hair. Sputtering out the golden treads, Niko franticly tried to move the massive arm and its crushing weight that was draped across his chest.

Struggling hard, it took a few wiggles and well placed jabs before Niko could finally suck in a lung full of air. With a sinking heart, he looked over to the frighteningly beautiful face of the Blondie sleeping next to him.

I never learn! Niko silently scolded himself.

After the elevator fiasco, Niko had told Sir Gabriel that the event would be the last time they ever 'came together' again. Especially now, after he had been caught by Katze trying to sneak back in the apartment with tale tell marks all over his chest that he couldn't hide with his destroyed shirt, he needed to keep his head. Talk about embarrassing.

Last night had been his first night back in the Lazen household. Niko didn't know what happened. He had served the Blondie dinner, cleaned up and then he had found himself in the Elite's bedroom and in his bed…

A sense of déjà vu came over Niko as he noiselessly slid out of the warm, rumpled, bed and his legs folded under him. Only this time when he sneaked a peek up at the Blondie, he didn't find the Elite still sound asleep, but propped up with his head on his hand, staring at him. Staring and smiling, a smug little, irritating upwards tilt of his disgustingly perfect lips.

"I see that you're going to make it a habit of sneaking out of my bed," Gabriel said, his voice low and still husky from sleep.

Niko nervously laughed. "Sneaking? I wasn't sneaking out of b-bed." Trying to stand with his noodle like legs, Niko reached out to grab the sheet to cover his nudity. He grunted when he was grabbed instead and pulled onto the bed, back into the arms of the Blondie who held him down easily.

"Really? Then pray tell what were you about to do when you withdrew so silently?" Gabriel asked as he tucked the resisting little Furniture into his arms, spooning him. It was becoming harder not to feel insulted by the boy's attitude, how he constantly rejected him and tried to deny what they did together.

It was getting tiresome, and the problem only worsened because the stubborn boy was allowed to leave his place and run back to Raoul Am's apartment. Back in the home of his previous master, Niko figuratively shed any footing he had made with the Furniture. The whole situation was a botheration that ate at Gabriel because he had yet to formulate a plan to make Niko a permanent fixture in his home.

"Ahh…. Sir Gabriel? I need to leave to begin my duties," Niko muttered as he tried to scoot his butt away from the growing hardness of the Elite's lower anatomy.

Not to be turned away, Gabriel tightened his arm around Niko's waist and pulled the boy's hips back against him. "Then you will be late in starting your extra tasks for the day."

You are the extra burden of my day, Niko grumbled to himself, trying not to squirm so he wouldn't further excite the Blondie.

"Besides, I highly doubt Raoul or his cold paramour will notice if you do not return today at all, not with Riki and his merry little band of mongrels back in Eos." Gabriel whispered nuzzling Niko's neck.

Niko stilled. "Riki is back?"

"Mmm… Not just him, but his friends. Orphe, Aisha and Marcus have been bitten by the mutt bug, the same as Iason has. They have taken it upon themselves to take the three mongrels and introduce them into Elite society as their pets."

"Wait… how do you know that?" Niko asked turning his head to look at the Blondie over his shoulder. He proceeded to glare at the arrogant Elite when Gabriel captured his lips in a searing kiss.

Gabriel chuckled at Niko's scowling face, running his hand down the boy's naked thigh. "I'm sure all Elites or maybe just the Blondies, know that the little 'show' last month as a successful escape, pulled off by Riki and his pack. What we don't know is why Jupiter saw fit to cover Orphe's failure. It is only because of that, that we have all been silent."

Niko was also silent, although he did make a few hissing sounds when the Blondie's exploration began to go a little farther southeast on his body. His wasn't sure what to do with this information. Certainly it was only natural for there to be talk about the fireworks Riki caused, but no one should know that it had been successful, nor should anyone know that mongrels had been involved.

Niko stopped the Blondie's hand from moving further down his belly. "You shouldn't know any of this," Niko whispered. "Katze made sure that if anyone were to search for information they would discover only the lies-" Niko clammed up.

"The lies that Jupiter decreed to all of us as the truth?" Gabriel said softly, completing the boy's sentence as he nipped on Niko's pale shoulder, smiling when the Furniture shuddered. "Maybe… it is just me that knows this? And just maybe I was able to get the information from a source that bypassed the little program Raoul's lover made so curious minds would believe Jupiter's fabrication of the truth. What will you do to find out what I know?" Gabriel asked playfully.

"Me?" Niko asked, using both of his hands this time to stop the Blondie's wandering hand. "I won't do anything…wait, yes I will." Niko grinned. "I'll go straight to Master Am and tell him that you've been gossiping about it with everyone."

Gabriel grunted and switched positions so that the young Furniture lay under him. "And how do you plan to tell him if you're here?"

"Master Am-"

"Is busy," Gabriel finished, gently working his body between Niko's legs. "I'm sure Raoul is overwhelmed at the moment with the secret work Iason has him doing and will take no notice that you haven't returned."

Niko covered Gabriel's descending mouth with his hand. "That's not part of the deal!" Niko desperately cried as he felt his body begin to respond to the Blondie's maddening rocking.

Removing the panicked boy's hand from his mouth, Gabriel kissed him hard before lifting his head back up. "Every deal can be renegotiated," Gabriel grinned.

The Blondie didn't say it, but Niko could hear the unspoken words of "you know you want it" in Gabriel's every action. If he allowed himself to be truthful, like he had been in the elevator, Niko did want every delicious, wicked little thing the Elite could give him. But his fear was not being trapped in Gabriel's apartment all day, but what would happen when was when he was outside… What was going to happen when Sky or V saw him or horrifyingly enough what would happen if Fidget saw him!

Riki not recognizing him was one thing, the dark beauty hardly remembered anyone from his youth in Guardian, none that wasn't apart of his tight knit group. Niko's appearance had changed drastically from when he was a baby, but he had spent more time with V and the twins…. They might be able to point him out when Riki couldn't.

"Look at me Niko," Gabriel ordered when he saw how far away the boy was moving mentally. "Concentrate, and look only at me."

Niko gave the Blondie a wobbly smile, surprising Gabriel when he willingly wrapped his arms around the Elite's shoulders.

It probably would be the last time Sir Gabriel would embrace him once the cat was out of the bag and it was made known that he was a mongrel too.

Only a matter of time….

TBC….