Forever Caged
folder
+. to F › Ai no Kusabi
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
123
Views:
45,788
Reviews:
224
Recommended:
2
Currently Reading:
4
Category:
+. to F › Ai no Kusabi
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
123
Views:
45,788
Reviews:
224
Recommended:
2
Currently Reading:
4
Disclaimer:
I don't own Ai No Kusabi nor do i make any money from this fanfic.
Chapter 92
Disclaimer: I don't own Ai No Kusabi nor do I make any money from this fanfic. However, I do own all the original peeps I've chosen to invade the AnK world.
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Iason/Riki, Raoul/Katze, original characters and novel character pairings.
Parts: 92 of ?
Edited by Tiamate(´∀`)♡
~~**Forever Caged**~~
“How long are you going to keep petting me?” Riki moaned and shivered as slender fingers brushed across his nipple. The nub hardened under Iason’s attention, as did another part of him. His hands, pinned above his head, tightened into fists.
“For as long as I wish,” a silken reply remarked against Riki’s stomach.
His skin was still hypersensitive from emerging from the healing pod, but unlike the previous times, Iason had given Riki no time to recover. Waking up in their bed, Iason had laid next to him fully clothed. The Blondie had slowly stripped, one article of clothing at a time, each time Riki climaxed… And he came a lot.
Every brush of Iason’s lips Riki felt against his skin. Every lick, nip or feathered caress of blond threads over his chest… hips… thighs… Riki had thought nothing could ever surpass the sensations his old pet ring used to rip out of him. Now he did.
Years of training had honed his body to resist quickly releasing his seed, even without the painful restraints of the cock ring. However, held down under Iason’s skilled hands and tongue, his body being as it was, Riki’s powers of endurance against Iason’s onslaught of pleasure had become nonexistent.
Crumpled tissues and washcloths littered the nightstand and floor, evidence of his essence. The last few rounds of Iason’s velvet tongue and talented fingers had left Riki empty—his body drained, spilled or drunk by his demanding partner. Ordered to keep his legs spread wide, Riki dug his heels in the mattress as Iason’s exploring fingers dipped back down between his legs, caressing the tender spheres of his balls before circling his oiled hole.
Riki pressed his knees closed, trapping Iason’s arm and momentarily stopping his Blondie from entering him with his exploring digit. “Enough! I’m ready, so please…”
Biting his lip, Riki kept himself from saying anything more. It wasn’t as if Iason kept him from coming. Just the opposite. However, not once had Iason taken him fully. “What the fuck are you waiting for?”
Ice-like eyes lifted from his chest. “Do you remember the first time I took you? The pain I caused your body?”
Riki gulped. He remembered.
“When that animal hurt you the first time,” Iason whispered, spreading small kisses across Riki’s chest, "we healed, only what needed to be. The second time was just the same."
"However, this time…" Iason rested his head against Riki's chest. "This time we did not know what was wrong with you. You rejected our treatments to heal your wounds, and we were forced," Iason spat, "to rely on barbaric tools, time and nature to help you in your recovery."
Riki twisted his wrists until Iason released him. Lifting his Blondie's head, Riki looked into Iason's eyes. "What the hell are you talking about? I have flashes of getting incased in—"
"Our fifth attempt to heal you," Iason said.
"Fifth?"
"Every session had you experiencing excruciating pain, with no explanation why."
"And this is the reason you've been fucking me with your fingers for the past few hours now?" Riki said through clenched teeth as Iason slowly pushed his legs apart. "How much more prep work do I need?"
Iason leaned up and kissed him. "We did not know what was wrong," Iason continued against his lips, "so we healed you completely. Every scar. Every freckle. Any imperfection was fixed or erased. Time turned back to when your body had never known a man's."
"It's not like it's known very many anyway," Riki admitted. Frowning, he smoothed the crease between Iason's brows. "But so what? You've never held back before."
Iason said nothing.
Wiggling to the point of cursing Iason to move his ass, Riki wrapped his legs around his Elite's waist as soon as he got him where he wanted him. "Or are you punishing me?"
Iason chuckled. "The thought had crossed my mind when the alarm from your ring sounded. However…"
Riki tucked a lock of pale hair behind Iason's ear. "Going soft on me?"
Gasping, Riki bit his lip as Iason pressed the hard length of his erection against him.
"Soft, am I?"
"I can clearly feel you have no problem in that area," rasped Riki. "What I can't understand is: if my body's become all lily-white, why haven't you staked your claim yet? Unless virgins aren't your thing?"
They'd played the purity game the last time he'd been healed. But having Iason hold back because he was a little tight was laughable.
"You are correct," Iason said, smiling. "But you are no virgin."
Riki dug his nails into Iason's shoulders. His body stretched to an uncomfortable level to accommodate Iason's slow invasion.
It hurt, but it wasn't intolerable.
Iason sighed. "Just the tip of me within you, and you gasp with pain…"
"Sighing," Riki grimaced, "is not the noise I wanna hear from you. You've been working me over non-stop since I woke up. You are not going to fucking leave me hanging now."
"Who said anything about stopping?"
Riki's snicker changed to a groan as Iason pushed further into him. His rasps for Iason to wait—to let him adjust—were ignored. The bed creaked with the force of Iason's thrusts, and soon Riki's groans changed to moans of bliss.
There was nothing small about Iason. Not his attitude, rank, or body. And while the discomfort of Iason's cock in him remained, the building pleasure more than made up for any aches he may have felt.
"Do not hold your breath," Iason whispered. "Let me hear you."
Holding his breath wasn't something Riki was consciously doing, but each thrust shoved him closer to heaven and breathing became something he forgot to do.
Above him, he could see Iason trying to hold himself back, to get him off first before seeking his own blissful end. Tightening around his Blondie, Riki gasped out in pleasure as a whisper of a moan escaped Iason's pale throat.
Heated pale eyes narrowed, and Riki soon found himself empty, flipped over, then impaled deeper than before. Iason's hands uncurled his from the bedspread, and laced their fingers together.
Curled over his body, Riki shouted as Iason pounded into him. His hardened shaft rubbed against the sheets. Between Iason's cock nailing his sweet spot without remorse, and the silken friction under him, it didn't send Riki over the edge but threw him.
And not just him.
His near scream of release was joined by Iason's shout of triumph that ended with his Elite's sweat slicked body falling over him.
The both of them stayed in that position for a while, before Iason gently withdrew from him, and gathered him in his arms.
"Well, that was different," Riki breathlessly laughed.
"Mmm…" Iason agreed.
"And," Riki said, "as much as I'd love to roll over and fall asleep. I gotta ask… What did you do to Rio?"
Iason smiled.
oOoOoOo
"Where is he?" Marcus asked, handing his coat to his Furniture.
"The young master has locked himself in your closet this time," Simon answered. "He entered it the moment you left this morning, and he did not come out for breakfast or lunch…"
A muscle in Marcus's jaw ticked. He knew admitting Keita's fate would upset the mongrel. As wild, fearless to the point of stupidity, energetic, and optimistic as he was, Keita was a runner when frightened. A flock of birds presented less of a flight risk than his mongrel.
He had nearly strangled Keita after the mongrel had been healed, when he'd finally discovered how his lover had been harmed. Getting stabbed while "playing", as Keita had put it. And yet, staking his claim on the mongrel scared the boy more than a blade in the gut.
Walking into his bedroom, Marcus glared at the pile of clothing laid out on his bed.
"He was upset—"
Marcus held up his hand, silencing Simon. "There is no need to defend him. He will not be punished for this small act, so cease your concerns."
"Yes, Master…"
Marcus paused at the closet door as his Furniture continued to hover at his side. "What is it, Simon?"
Simon lowered his head. "The young sir has disabled the opening mechanism from the inside… and destroyed the computer override so we are incapable of entering without tech support…"
"Who you did not call?" Marcus asked tightly.
"No… I did not…"
"Good." All the Elites were already in a buzz after word had gotten out about Riki, Keita, and all the other mongrels being rushed to the hospital. To have tech support called because his mongrel had locked himself in his closet would just add another drop of blood to the pool of gossip-starved sharks.
However, for tech to be called because an Elite had destroyed something in his home wasn't worth thinking about.
Slamming his fist repeatedly into the smooth surface of the sliding metal door, Marcus peeled the steel back until he had enough room to fit both hands in. Exerting a fraction of his strength, Marcus forced the door open.
Light streamed into the pitch black room, spotlighting the large, wiggling, mound of clothing in the center.
"Another nest," Marcus hissed. Keita had stopped making the bothersome things a couple weeks after becoming his pet. "And you chose nothing but my expensive Lizquilum silk—" Marcus flinched at the sound of the mongrel blowing his nose.
"Keita!" Marcus gritted his teeth. Storming to the pile, Marcus unburied the boy. Only, the face he uncovered didn't have the mischievous grin he'd thought he would see. The interior was cool, as was the silk sliding out of his hands, but the mongrel's hair was plastered against his face from sweat.
Haunted eyes stared up at him, and Keita's pale face seemed that much whiter, framed as it was by the brilliant material surrounding him. "What have you done to yourself?" Marcus said.
A ghost of a smile whispered across the mongrel's handsome, pale, face. "Made myself remember…"
Marcus roughly grabbed Keita when the mongrel then tried to dodge his touch. He'd been wrong. Physically running away from him wasn't the only thing the mongrel would try.
In his arms he could feel the tension within Keita. The wall the mongrel was attempting to build within, to keep him away. Marcus would have preferred to have been struck at, yelled at or even openly defied than this slow withdrawal.
He had seen it, in a way, when Keita had been in the hospital. Laughing, but not at him. Teasing everyone else but him…
Marcus had ignored the warning bells, and now suffered the consequences of his 'mismanagement' of his mongrel. He would discover what Keita had meant by 'making himself remember'… Quite frankly, Marcus already felt rage from what he might learn, that would have his mongrel become so lifeless from being in a darkened closet.
However, the trembling young man in his arms was his biggest concern for the moment. Unlike the other mongrels, his could not be dealt with a heavy hand. Something he had known the moment he'd held Keita in his arms.
Carrying his mongrel from the closet, Marcus sat in the seating area in his bedroom. "Such a dramatic response, from hearing my desire to keep you by my side?"
Marcus had not expected an answer, but not hearing Keita snap out a witty comeback saddened him.
"Or does this have something to do with your brother?" Stiffening in the mongrel's back told Marcus he was correct.
"You may live in different apartments, but you are still together." Marcus hugged Keita tightly. "Is it not better here? The both of you need never worry about being harmed, "—not counting finding the boy stabbed, covered in blood, then screaming in pain—" scared or hungry ever again."
Marcus pinched Keita's chin until the mongrel spoke.
"You harm me by keeping me here," Keita stated. "You scare me with promises of a future you don't know. Just because you brought the light, doesn't mean anything."
Brought the light…? Marcus glanced at the destroyed closet door. He did not ask what horror Keita had tried to relive. Reasoning never worked on the mongrel—not a Blondie's way of reasoning, anyway.
Airheaded as Keita appeared to be, his mongrel's mind was clever and cunning, with just one flaw. His fidgety little mongrel trusted too much. The other mongrels had no doubt already told Keita his situation in Eos, but the young man had instead trusted in Marcus's words that his position in his household was only temporary.
After all, why would an Elite, one as high ranking as he, need to lie?
"You are right," Marcus agreed. "I cannot predict the future, so I cannot guarantee what I say to be true. Maybe one day our interests in one another will fade"—not likely—"and we will part our separate ways."
The mongrel glanced up at him. "Really?"
Hope rang in Keita's voice, and Marcus took a second to calm himself from hearing it. Unintentional as it might have been, Keita's hope was a form of rejection Marcus was not accustomed to.
"Really," Marcus said, trying to keep his tone light. "But until that time comes, stay here with me—with your brother." Lying wasn't new to Marcus, but never had he had to speak a falsehood to a mongrel.
To think one such as he twisted his words to try to keep one next to him was laughable, when Marcus though of all the times he had sneered in disgust when he saw Riki.
Thinking about Iason and his black-haired mongrel, Marcus did not want the chaotic romance they had. He didn't want to fight Keita for his affection or punish the mongrel when he did not receive it.
Marcus did not know the full ramifications of Iason and Riki's relationship, but thinking about Riki's rebellious nature and the many times word had whispered about the black-haired mongrel's new punishments, he could only imagine what went on between them. Marcus did not want that between Keita and himself.
Unlike the other Blondies, complete dominance would not work on his mongrel. So he'd lie as much as he needed to, until Keita slowly came to terms with this fate.
"I hold you with the deepest of affection," Marcus said softly, rubbing Keita's back. "And I wish to continue following this emotion to the very end. Good or bad."
"And if it's bad?" the mongrel mumbled.
"What do you wish to do, should your interest in me fade?" Marcus asked, forcing himself to ask the question.
"What if it doesn't?" Keita asked, his four words making Marcus happier than he cared to admit.
He wanted to say he'd keep Keita next to him forever, if that was the case. However, doing so could very well make his mongrel bolt, so instead Marcus said, "When that time comes, we'll speak again of your place here with me."
They sat in silence for a while. Marcus continued to pet the mongrel.
"Does this mean you luv me?" Keita finally said with a teasing tone.
I might, yes. "No," Marcus said with fake aspiration, giving an inward sigh of relief. Whatever the mongrel decided in that confusing head of his, he gave Marcus time to get closer to the boy. Maybe enough time to convince him to stay of his own free will.
"Can I have an aerocar of my own then?" Keita asked looking up at him, grinning.
"No."
The mongrel moved around until he straddled him."But if you hold me with "the deepest of affection" doesn't that mean you'll buy me anything I want?"
"Within reason, I might." Marcus smiled, his heart light as life shone again in the mongrel's eyes.
"How about opening a credit line for me to buy whatever I want, without getting your stamp of approval first?"
"No!" Jupiter knows what the mongrel would buy if he was allowed such luxury.
"Then… then how about letting me see my brother whenever I want?" Keita asked quietly.
Kissing his mongrel, Marcus lingered against his lips before answering: "I will never keep you from visiting your twin."
Nimble little fingers snuck into his shirt. "Good answer," the mongrel giggled. "And for a reward, how about I…"
Marcus gulped at the lewd words the mongrel whispered in his ear. Clearing his throat, Marcus said: "It would be ill-mannered of me not to accept your gift."
The mongrel giggled again and slid out of Marcus's lap to kneel between his legs.
oOoOoOo
"He is doing very well."
He struggled to open his eyes. Strapped against the cold steel table, his head rolled in the direction of the voice.
"Remarkably so," said another voice, one he knew to be the doctor. "I'm curious as to know why he is the only one to have survived the first trial, and not any of the others who came before him."
Platinum hair itched across his face as the 'doctor' leaned close. Half of the good doctor's face was covered, and smeared with his blood.
"Tell me, mongrel, what makes you more special than the rest of your unsavory brothers?"
He licked his dry lips and, instead of answering, asked: "What are you doing to me?"
The platinum-haired doctor pulled his mask down. "Have you ever heard the name 'Riki' before?"
He stilled. "Everyone in the slums has heard that mongrel's name, what of it?"
The doctor smiled coldly. "In that 'mongrel' lays a mystery I've been attempting to unlock for nearly a century. My benefactor had prolonged my life for the sole purpose of finding him, and I did.
"However, after finding him she took him away! Allowing her son to keep him as a pet! He is worth more than all her so called children, and she allows Iason,"—the doctor spat in disgust—"to treat him like a common whore like all the other pets in Eos."
"And you think you deserve him?" he asked calmly.
The doctor straightened. "I deserve very thing. But what I want the most is Riki's secrets. One that will unlock in you."
"You want to make me like him?" he asked.
Covering his face again, the doctor held his hand out. From the shadows a plain-faced, nondescript young man stepped forward with a syringe. "Yes."
Relaxing, Ghost smiled. "Then you have your work cut out for you, doctor. But, I will not fight you in your task." No, he welcomed it.
TBC….
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Iason/Riki, Raoul/Katze, original characters and novel character pairings.
Parts: 92 of ?
Edited by Tiamate(´∀`)♡
~~**Forever Caged**~~
“How long are you going to keep petting me?” Riki moaned and shivered as slender fingers brushed across his nipple. The nub hardened under Iason’s attention, as did another part of him. His hands, pinned above his head, tightened into fists.
“For as long as I wish,” a silken reply remarked against Riki’s stomach.
His skin was still hypersensitive from emerging from the healing pod, but unlike the previous times, Iason had given Riki no time to recover. Waking up in their bed, Iason had laid next to him fully clothed. The Blondie had slowly stripped, one article of clothing at a time, each time Riki climaxed… And he came a lot.
Every brush of Iason’s lips Riki felt against his skin. Every lick, nip or feathered caress of blond threads over his chest… hips… thighs… Riki had thought nothing could ever surpass the sensations his old pet ring used to rip out of him. Now he did.
Years of training had honed his body to resist quickly releasing his seed, even without the painful restraints of the cock ring. However, held down under Iason’s skilled hands and tongue, his body being as it was, Riki’s powers of endurance against Iason’s onslaught of pleasure had become nonexistent.
Crumpled tissues and washcloths littered the nightstand and floor, evidence of his essence. The last few rounds of Iason’s velvet tongue and talented fingers had left Riki empty—his body drained, spilled or drunk by his demanding partner. Ordered to keep his legs spread wide, Riki dug his heels in the mattress as Iason’s exploring fingers dipped back down between his legs, caressing the tender spheres of his balls before circling his oiled hole.
Riki pressed his knees closed, trapping Iason’s arm and momentarily stopping his Blondie from entering him with his exploring digit. “Enough! I’m ready, so please…”
Biting his lip, Riki kept himself from saying anything more. It wasn’t as if Iason kept him from coming. Just the opposite. However, not once had Iason taken him fully. “What the fuck are you waiting for?”
Ice-like eyes lifted from his chest. “Do you remember the first time I took you? The pain I caused your body?”
Riki gulped. He remembered.
“When that animal hurt you the first time,” Iason whispered, spreading small kisses across Riki’s chest, "we healed, only what needed to be. The second time was just the same."
"However, this time…" Iason rested his head against Riki's chest. "This time we did not know what was wrong with you. You rejected our treatments to heal your wounds, and we were forced," Iason spat, "to rely on barbaric tools, time and nature to help you in your recovery."
Riki twisted his wrists until Iason released him. Lifting his Blondie's head, Riki looked into Iason's eyes. "What the hell are you talking about? I have flashes of getting incased in—"
"Our fifth attempt to heal you," Iason said.
"Fifth?"
"Every session had you experiencing excruciating pain, with no explanation why."
"And this is the reason you've been fucking me with your fingers for the past few hours now?" Riki said through clenched teeth as Iason slowly pushed his legs apart. "How much more prep work do I need?"
Iason leaned up and kissed him. "We did not know what was wrong," Iason continued against his lips, "so we healed you completely. Every scar. Every freckle. Any imperfection was fixed or erased. Time turned back to when your body had never known a man's."
"It's not like it's known very many anyway," Riki admitted. Frowning, he smoothed the crease between Iason's brows. "But so what? You've never held back before."
Iason said nothing.
Wiggling to the point of cursing Iason to move his ass, Riki wrapped his legs around his Elite's waist as soon as he got him where he wanted him. "Or are you punishing me?"
Iason chuckled. "The thought had crossed my mind when the alarm from your ring sounded. However…"
Riki tucked a lock of pale hair behind Iason's ear. "Going soft on me?"
Gasping, Riki bit his lip as Iason pressed the hard length of his erection against him.
"Soft, am I?"
"I can clearly feel you have no problem in that area," rasped Riki. "What I can't understand is: if my body's become all lily-white, why haven't you staked your claim yet? Unless virgins aren't your thing?"
They'd played the purity game the last time he'd been healed. But having Iason hold back because he was a little tight was laughable.
"You are correct," Iason said, smiling. "But you are no virgin."
Riki dug his nails into Iason's shoulders. His body stretched to an uncomfortable level to accommodate Iason's slow invasion.
It hurt, but it wasn't intolerable.
Iason sighed. "Just the tip of me within you, and you gasp with pain…"
"Sighing," Riki grimaced, "is not the noise I wanna hear from you. You've been working me over non-stop since I woke up. You are not going to fucking leave me hanging now."
"Who said anything about stopping?"
Riki's snicker changed to a groan as Iason pushed further into him. His rasps for Iason to wait—to let him adjust—were ignored. The bed creaked with the force of Iason's thrusts, and soon Riki's groans changed to moans of bliss.
There was nothing small about Iason. Not his attitude, rank, or body. And while the discomfort of Iason's cock in him remained, the building pleasure more than made up for any aches he may have felt.
"Do not hold your breath," Iason whispered. "Let me hear you."
Holding his breath wasn't something Riki was consciously doing, but each thrust shoved him closer to heaven and breathing became something he forgot to do.
Above him, he could see Iason trying to hold himself back, to get him off first before seeking his own blissful end. Tightening around his Blondie, Riki gasped out in pleasure as a whisper of a moan escaped Iason's pale throat.
Heated pale eyes narrowed, and Riki soon found himself empty, flipped over, then impaled deeper than before. Iason's hands uncurled his from the bedspread, and laced their fingers together.
Curled over his body, Riki shouted as Iason pounded into him. His hardened shaft rubbed against the sheets. Between Iason's cock nailing his sweet spot without remorse, and the silken friction under him, it didn't send Riki over the edge but threw him.
And not just him.
His near scream of release was joined by Iason's shout of triumph that ended with his Elite's sweat slicked body falling over him.
The both of them stayed in that position for a while, before Iason gently withdrew from him, and gathered him in his arms.
"Well, that was different," Riki breathlessly laughed.
"Mmm…" Iason agreed.
"And," Riki said, "as much as I'd love to roll over and fall asleep. I gotta ask… What did you do to Rio?"
Iason smiled.
oOoOoOo
"Where is he?" Marcus asked, handing his coat to his Furniture.
"The young master has locked himself in your closet this time," Simon answered. "He entered it the moment you left this morning, and he did not come out for breakfast or lunch…"
A muscle in Marcus's jaw ticked. He knew admitting Keita's fate would upset the mongrel. As wild, fearless to the point of stupidity, energetic, and optimistic as he was, Keita was a runner when frightened. A flock of birds presented less of a flight risk than his mongrel.
He had nearly strangled Keita after the mongrel had been healed, when he'd finally discovered how his lover had been harmed. Getting stabbed while "playing", as Keita had put it. And yet, staking his claim on the mongrel scared the boy more than a blade in the gut.
Walking into his bedroom, Marcus glared at the pile of clothing laid out on his bed.
"He was upset—"
Marcus held up his hand, silencing Simon. "There is no need to defend him. He will not be punished for this small act, so cease your concerns."
"Yes, Master…"
Marcus paused at the closet door as his Furniture continued to hover at his side. "What is it, Simon?"
Simon lowered his head. "The young sir has disabled the opening mechanism from the inside… and destroyed the computer override so we are incapable of entering without tech support…"
"Who you did not call?" Marcus asked tightly.
"No… I did not…"
"Good." All the Elites were already in a buzz after word had gotten out about Riki, Keita, and all the other mongrels being rushed to the hospital. To have tech support called because his mongrel had locked himself in his closet would just add another drop of blood to the pool of gossip-starved sharks.
However, for tech to be called because an Elite had destroyed something in his home wasn't worth thinking about.
Slamming his fist repeatedly into the smooth surface of the sliding metal door, Marcus peeled the steel back until he had enough room to fit both hands in. Exerting a fraction of his strength, Marcus forced the door open.
Light streamed into the pitch black room, spotlighting the large, wiggling, mound of clothing in the center.
"Another nest," Marcus hissed. Keita had stopped making the bothersome things a couple weeks after becoming his pet. "And you chose nothing but my expensive Lizquilum silk—" Marcus flinched at the sound of the mongrel blowing his nose.
"Keita!" Marcus gritted his teeth. Storming to the pile, Marcus unburied the boy. Only, the face he uncovered didn't have the mischievous grin he'd thought he would see. The interior was cool, as was the silk sliding out of his hands, but the mongrel's hair was plastered against his face from sweat.
Haunted eyes stared up at him, and Keita's pale face seemed that much whiter, framed as it was by the brilliant material surrounding him. "What have you done to yourself?" Marcus said.
A ghost of a smile whispered across the mongrel's handsome, pale, face. "Made myself remember…"
Marcus roughly grabbed Keita when the mongrel then tried to dodge his touch. He'd been wrong. Physically running away from him wasn't the only thing the mongrel would try.
In his arms he could feel the tension within Keita. The wall the mongrel was attempting to build within, to keep him away. Marcus would have preferred to have been struck at, yelled at or even openly defied than this slow withdrawal.
He had seen it, in a way, when Keita had been in the hospital. Laughing, but not at him. Teasing everyone else but him…
Marcus had ignored the warning bells, and now suffered the consequences of his 'mismanagement' of his mongrel. He would discover what Keita had meant by 'making himself remember'… Quite frankly, Marcus already felt rage from what he might learn, that would have his mongrel become so lifeless from being in a darkened closet.
However, the trembling young man in his arms was his biggest concern for the moment. Unlike the other mongrels, his could not be dealt with a heavy hand. Something he had known the moment he'd held Keita in his arms.
Carrying his mongrel from the closet, Marcus sat in the seating area in his bedroom. "Such a dramatic response, from hearing my desire to keep you by my side?"
Marcus had not expected an answer, but not hearing Keita snap out a witty comeback saddened him.
"Or does this have something to do with your brother?" Stiffening in the mongrel's back told Marcus he was correct.
"You may live in different apartments, but you are still together." Marcus hugged Keita tightly. "Is it not better here? The both of you need never worry about being harmed, "—not counting finding the boy stabbed, covered in blood, then screaming in pain—" scared or hungry ever again."
Marcus pinched Keita's chin until the mongrel spoke.
"You harm me by keeping me here," Keita stated. "You scare me with promises of a future you don't know. Just because you brought the light, doesn't mean anything."
Brought the light…? Marcus glanced at the destroyed closet door. He did not ask what horror Keita had tried to relive. Reasoning never worked on the mongrel—not a Blondie's way of reasoning, anyway.
Airheaded as Keita appeared to be, his mongrel's mind was clever and cunning, with just one flaw. His fidgety little mongrel trusted too much. The other mongrels had no doubt already told Keita his situation in Eos, but the young man had instead trusted in Marcus's words that his position in his household was only temporary.
After all, why would an Elite, one as high ranking as he, need to lie?
"You are right," Marcus agreed. "I cannot predict the future, so I cannot guarantee what I say to be true. Maybe one day our interests in one another will fade"—not likely—"and we will part our separate ways."
The mongrel glanced up at him. "Really?"
Hope rang in Keita's voice, and Marcus took a second to calm himself from hearing it. Unintentional as it might have been, Keita's hope was a form of rejection Marcus was not accustomed to.
"Really," Marcus said, trying to keep his tone light. "But until that time comes, stay here with me—with your brother." Lying wasn't new to Marcus, but never had he had to speak a falsehood to a mongrel.
To think one such as he twisted his words to try to keep one next to him was laughable, when Marcus though of all the times he had sneered in disgust when he saw Riki.
Thinking about Iason and his black-haired mongrel, Marcus did not want the chaotic romance they had. He didn't want to fight Keita for his affection or punish the mongrel when he did not receive it.
Marcus did not know the full ramifications of Iason and Riki's relationship, but thinking about Riki's rebellious nature and the many times word had whispered about the black-haired mongrel's new punishments, he could only imagine what went on between them. Marcus did not want that between Keita and himself.
Unlike the other Blondies, complete dominance would not work on his mongrel. So he'd lie as much as he needed to, until Keita slowly came to terms with this fate.
"I hold you with the deepest of affection," Marcus said softly, rubbing Keita's back. "And I wish to continue following this emotion to the very end. Good or bad."
"And if it's bad?" the mongrel mumbled.
"What do you wish to do, should your interest in me fade?" Marcus asked, forcing himself to ask the question.
"What if it doesn't?" Keita asked, his four words making Marcus happier than he cared to admit.
He wanted to say he'd keep Keita next to him forever, if that was the case. However, doing so could very well make his mongrel bolt, so instead Marcus said, "When that time comes, we'll speak again of your place here with me."
They sat in silence for a while. Marcus continued to pet the mongrel.
"Does this mean you luv me?" Keita finally said with a teasing tone.
I might, yes. "No," Marcus said with fake aspiration, giving an inward sigh of relief. Whatever the mongrel decided in that confusing head of his, he gave Marcus time to get closer to the boy. Maybe enough time to convince him to stay of his own free will.
"Can I have an aerocar of my own then?" Keita asked looking up at him, grinning.
"No."
The mongrel moved around until he straddled him."But if you hold me with "the deepest of affection" doesn't that mean you'll buy me anything I want?"
"Within reason, I might." Marcus smiled, his heart light as life shone again in the mongrel's eyes.
"How about opening a credit line for me to buy whatever I want, without getting your stamp of approval first?"
"No!" Jupiter knows what the mongrel would buy if he was allowed such luxury.
"Then… then how about letting me see my brother whenever I want?" Keita asked quietly.
Kissing his mongrel, Marcus lingered against his lips before answering: "I will never keep you from visiting your twin."
Nimble little fingers snuck into his shirt. "Good answer," the mongrel giggled. "And for a reward, how about I…"
Marcus gulped at the lewd words the mongrel whispered in his ear. Clearing his throat, Marcus said: "It would be ill-mannered of me not to accept your gift."
The mongrel giggled again and slid out of Marcus's lap to kneel between his legs.
oOoOoOo
"He is doing very well."
He struggled to open his eyes. Strapped against the cold steel table, his head rolled in the direction of the voice.
"Remarkably so," said another voice, one he knew to be the doctor. "I'm curious as to know why he is the only one to have survived the first trial, and not any of the others who came before him."
Platinum hair itched across his face as the 'doctor' leaned close. Half of the good doctor's face was covered, and smeared with his blood.
"Tell me, mongrel, what makes you more special than the rest of your unsavory brothers?"
He licked his dry lips and, instead of answering, asked: "What are you doing to me?"
The platinum-haired doctor pulled his mask down. "Have you ever heard the name 'Riki' before?"
He stilled. "Everyone in the slums has heard that mongrel's name, what of it?"
The doctor smiled coldly. "In that 'mongrel' lays a mystery I've been attempting to unlock for nearly a century. My benefactor had prolonged my life for the sole purpose of finding him, and I did.
"However, after finding him she took him away! Allowing her son to keep him as a pet! He is worth more than all her so called children, and she allows Iason,"—the doctor spat in disgust—"to treat him like a common whore like all the other pets in Eos."
"And you think you deserve him?" he asked calmly.
The doctor straightened. "I deserve very thing. But what I want the most is Riki's secrets. One that will unlock in you."
"You want to make me like him?" he asked.
Covering his face again, the doctor held his hand out. From the shadows a plain-faced, nondescript young man stepped forward with a syringe. "Yes."
Relaxing, Ghost smiled. "Then you have your work cut out for you, doctor. But, I will not fight you in your task." No, he welcomed it.
TBC….