Chapter Six
“What a night,”
Mitag enthused. Detodev followed him into his apartment after Ilid had dropped them off. “Can you believe we were so lucky to meet a pair like them? Beautiful woman, handsome Dramok?”
“Planning your clanning ceremony, Mitag? You should find yourself the right Nobek too, if that’s the case.”
Maybe I have. The problem was, Detodev didn’t agree.
Mitag looked the big Nobek over as Detodev conscientiously pulled his boots off and left them by the front door next to Mitag’s. There wasn’t a speck of dirt on those boots. Experience had taught Mitag they were the pair the Nobek saved for going out after work. Fieldworkers were used to taking their shoes off so as not to track in dirt. Habit or not, Mitag was convinced that deep down, Detodev was thoughtful.
His companion was a tough nut to crack, however…impossible, thus far. Another Imdiko probably would have given up on the stolid Nobek who usually kept his distance. Mitag would have too, under normal circumstances.
He knew Detodev had no contact with his family. He didn’t know why. His friend…damn it, Detodev was his friend despite the Nobek’s attempts to prove otherwise…had formed an attachment to Clan Amgar. Thanks to being remanded to their care when he’d gotten in whatever trouble had landed him on Haven, he had their support. Nonetheless, they couldn’t properly be called his family.
Like Mitag, he was alone. Mitag was convinced Detodev was as despondent about his isolation as he was.
Both of us are orphans, in some fashion. He needs a confidante. I need a confidante. Why doesn’t he see it?
Detodev was already looking at his boots in the entryway, no doubt reconsidering whether he should stay the night. Mitag wouldn’t give him the chance to change his mind.
He pulled off his jacket meant more for fashion than warmth and tossed it to a nearby chair. He approached his target. The Nobek ceased considering his footwear to watch Mitag slink toward him, his feet making no sound on the hardwood floor.
He spoke no words. Detodev wasn’t chatty on his most sociable days, so Mitag quelled the flood of niceties his nature tended to. He simply wrapped his arms around the Nobek’s thick neck and pulled him close for a kiss.
Detodev came willingly.
Mitag was convinced he was his companion’s first real lover. By his own admission, Detodev had only been intimate with fellow Nobeks prior to his and Mitag’s initial sexual encounter. He’d been damned near terrified the first time the Imdiko had seduced him, afraid he’d somehow hurt the smaller man. It should have been funny to see such an intimidating Nobek shaking as Detodev had. Mitag had found it pitiful…and also sweet. His crush had been so worried for his welfare. Maybe it had been that moment when he’d become determined to convince Detodev they could be a couple.
Nearly a year in, he was still trying to persuade the stubborn lug they should be more than an occasional fuck.
He poured his lust for sex and an emotional connection in the kiss, as he always did. Detodev responded, his arms tight around Mitag’s waist, pulling him in, letting him feel his growing desire against his belly. Their lips performed a sinuous dance, matched by the twining choreography of their tongues. Mitag moaned and moved to excite the Nobek the way he’d learned the man responded to. He was rewarded by his lover lifting him off his feet. Detodev carried him down the polished floor of the hallway to the bedroom.
Detodev paused in the doorway to consider his surroundings. Mitag held off a grin, worried it could be taken the wrong way. He wasn’t amused, but anticipatory.
Mitag’s bed was clan-size, big enough for four to sleep on. The coverings were lush and soft, and double rods festooned by sheers and heavier curtains spanned to carved wood columns at the corners. When the canopy drapes were drawn, it gave the romantic illusion lovers were shut off from the rest of the world in a private oasis.
Detodev eyed the bed, then the grouping of cushions before a fireplace on the near wall. Many of the cushions were billowy and some had firmer supportive forms. They could be moved to any number of configurations lovers might choose for comfort and play.
“Do you think it’s too warm in here for a fire?”
the Nobek asked.
“A fire would be nice. Why don’t you light it while I strip you?”
Mitag invited. He unleashed his eager grin when Detodev’s eyes darkened in excitement. A hint of spicy-sweet arousal teased his nostrils. His and his companion’s.
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
Detodev carried him to the hearth and set him on his feet. Musky scentwood was already stacked properly in the fireplace. The Nobek knelt and took a small portable torch from its pouch on his belt while Mitag loosened the belt itself.
As Detodev lit the wood, Mitag pushed his companion’s trousers down and admired the rounded cheeks of his perfectly carved ass. He cupped them in his palms and sighed. Not for the first time, he wished Detodev’s personality was as warm as he was gorgeous. He slid his hands up, bunching the other man’s shirt toward his shoulder blades. The narrow waist, the complicated and exciting hills of muscles widening Detodev’s torso as he traveled up, the surprisingly few shiny scars displaying the history of his development as a member of Kalquor’s warrior caste…the individual elements composing the masterpiece named Detodev made Mitag’s pulse thunder. He licked a path behind his hands, up Detodev’s spine.
He reached the Nobek’s neck as Detodev finished lighting the fire and switched off his torch. Mitag swept the shirt over his head and off his powerful arms without pausing. Detodev turned and grabbed him. Mitag melted in the hungry kiss as the waking flames crackled and released the heady scent infused in the wood.
Detodev bore him onto the softness of the large floor cushions. Mitag experienced a jolt of warmth to his dual manhood to feel the bigger man’s weight on him, pinning him. He was equally happy to top or bottom, depending on his lover’s needs. He loved all forms of lovemaking, relished pleasing and being pleased in equal measure.
It was the closeness that mattered most, rather than the act itself. He wanted so much to be close to others, to know the uncompromising love and security lacking for most of his life.
He pretended he’d found it in Detodev. He pretended this wasn’t another isolated instance of the Nobek succumbing to mere lust.
Detodev paused kissing him to part the resealable seam running along the front of Mitag’s expensive shirt. Some Nobeks got so animalistic during sex, they tore their partners’ clothing. Detodev never had, at least where Mitag was concerned. He was probably worried he’d have to replace stuff he couldn’t afford. The Imdiko had expensive tastes.
Or was there another reason he was more cautious than the Nobeks Mitag had known in the past? Even Detodev’s rougher play had a sense of him holding back. As always, he speculated about the layers of thin scars on his lover’s forearms, crosshatched ladders that climbed the flesh from elbows to nearly his wrists.
Mitag’s wonderings broke off as the other man licked and kissed his chest in eager abandon. No, not as rough as his breed was characterized, but there was no doubt the Imdiko enticed him. He sucked Mitag’s nipple hungrily, his tongue rubbing the sensitive flesh so excitement zinged straight to his stiffening cocks.
Mitag moaned encouragement. His fingers tangled in the Nobek’s wavy hair. His grip tightened as Detodev slurped a path downward. He shoved Mitag’s trousers to his knees. Work-roughened hands gripped the Imdiko’s ass and kneaded.
Detodev wasn’t harsh as far as handling went, but he wasted little time on niceties. Finesse had never been his style, so it was no surprise for him to suck in a mouthful of Mitag’s smaller cock, making no attempt to tease. His head tilted to the side to keep from stabbing himself in the face with the larger frontal shaft, lifted high like a banner. Mitag shouted and writhed at the enthusiastic blowjob. Detodev’s attentions shot him to excruciating arousal in an instant.
Mitag was young enough to come easily, needing very little in the way of play prior to losing control. His gyrations were a desperate attempt to escape before it could happen, but Detodev was too strong for him to slip free. Telltale heat filled the shaft Detodev gobbled and began its inexorable journey to his primary, where his seed would erupt in less than half a minute if he couldn’t get free of the hot, demanding mouth.
Detodev released the grip on one of his ass cheeks. He lazily curled his fingers around the base of Mitag’s larger length as the thread of passion reached it. He squeezed.
The Imdiko’s climax still threatened, but it was dammed from release by his lover’s grip. He thrashed, now in an attempt to get loose so release could happen. The need to come overwhelmed Mitag, and he squalled an inarticulate demand to be allowed to do so.
Detodev came off his secondary and eyed him for a moment. Then he slowly, deliberately swallowed Mitag’s larger cock to where his fist grasped him.
The Imdiko’s sexes jolted, a lightning bolt of vicious yearning turning his insides to lava. His feet thudded against the cushions. His fists beat on them. He screamed as his vision turned white.
His surroundings abruptly reasserted themselves. His cocks throbbed desperately at his inability to orgasm.
Mitag swore. He begged. He fought, raining blows on Detodev’s shoulders, yanking his hair, the heels of his hands shoving his broad forehead. The muscled farmer’s head continued to bob relentlessly as he swallowed Mitag again and again. The Imdiko might as well have been a fly for all the effect he had on the bigger man.
“Please, Detodev, you’re killing me. Please, damn you, you asshole, stop! Let me get off or—hateful bastard—please, Detodev, you have to, don’t be mean…”
There was no way to shake the brutal beast loose, no matter what Mitag did.
Detodev waited until the Imdiko’s struggles and voice weakened to relax his grip. It disappeared. He went all the way down on Mitag. There was an instant when the trapped man felt the entirety of his primary enclosed. Detodev’s throat drew on him, swallowing.
The world shattered. Mitag shattered with it. Cataclysmic convulsions filled him, breaking him apart. Climax hurt after being held off for so long. It was sheer paradise as well, emptying him of the horrific pressure that had built so high. He sensed he was disappearing in jolts of purest elation.
The waves of pleasure hadn’t quite abated when he became aware of the monolithic figure of a huge man rearing up in the dancing firelight. Pressure returned but elsewhere, an insistent burrowing demanding entrance. Despite the ache blooming from Detodev’s determined invasion, Mitag offered no resistance. No denial. He was too wasted and euphoric from what had gone before.
Detodev grunted a happy sound as his slick sex filled Mitag. He propped the Imdiko’s calves against his shoulders and held them there. He slowly thrusted and retreated, thrusted and retreated. His eyes, usually cynicism-sharp, were soft and unfocused as he watched where they joined.
Mitag loved witnessing the Nobek surrender to the moment. It was only during sex he saw Detodev appear vulnerable. Not helpless, but accepting of what had been given to him and grateful to have it. It was a peek into the feeling soul usually hidden behind Detodev’s implacable shell.
Detodev was barely a year older than Mitag and as susceptible to a quick end. The Imdiko watched for the priceless moment that made getting past the farmer’s formidable defenses worthwhile. The seconds passed and his pace quickened. The steady clap-clap-clap of their flesh meeting as the Nobek fucked him counted down the seconds.
Detodev’s face squeezed tight, an expression speaking of pain rather than bliss. It lasted a brief instant. A moan left him in a breathy rush. Tension was erased at the first jerk of the thick cock in Mitag, at the first spurt of hot passion filling him. Sweet calm, then utter euphoria suffused the Nobek’s features as he lost himself in climax. It was the joy of the soldier reaching home after years of battle, the place he’d dreamed of and feared he’d never see.
Like he had during such prior transformations, Mitag fell a little more in love with Detodev.
Minutes later, despite initial insistence he had to go home and get some sleep so he could work in the morning, Detodev pinned Mitag, ready for another round. Just as their youth meant speedy ecstasy, it also granted them quick recovery. It was quite late before they’d truly exhausted themselves.
Spooned from behind, Mitag waited for sleep. He was at once satisfied yet already worrying when he could lure Detodev to his bed again. He clutched the thick arms wrapped around him, willing the Nobek to relinquish the reluctance that demanded a new seduction at every encounter.
* * * *
To his chagrin, Ilid’s mother and Dramok father had waited up for him in the rented house’s kitchen. He did his best to answer Diju’s questions about his night on the town offhandedly, but she seized on the companions he’d ended up among and had flown home.
“They must have been very interesting men for you and Jennifer to have stayed out so late. A Nobek and an Imdiko?”
Diju all but danced in her delight on the white tile floor amongst the gleaming appliances and a small, cozy table in the middle of the spacious room. “Close to your age, no less.”
“Jennifer had better rapport than I did when it came to Mitag. They’re both interested in clothes and parties. Detodev came off as barely sociable. I think Mitag’s more into him than vice versa. He barely spoke two words at a time to any of us.”
“Oh, what else would you expect from a Nobek? They prefer their actions to speak for them. If he stuck close, he’s interested.”
“It was a random encounter at the bar. He and Jennifer had become acquainted on the farm. He works for Clan Amgar. For all I know, we won’t run across either him or Mitag again soon.”
“You didn’t exchange com frequencies?”
At last, disappointment showed up.
As much as he hated to burst his mother’s bubble, it was for the best. Ilid avoided telling her Mitag had his contact information. “I hardly thought a first meeting involving a number of drinks warranted it.”
“Well, what does? Plenty happens between available Kalquorians after a few drinks.”
“I really don’t want to have this conversation with my mother,”
Ilid groaned.
“Diju,”
Codab spoke quietly from the wooden chair he occupied at the matching table. “He hasn’t reached legal age to clan unless we give permission. There are plenty of Nobeks and maybe even Imdikos for him to meet here. Let him look around.”
“I wasn’t offered the option, nor was I of age to choose to clan,”
she returned, glaring at him. “I was nineteen. You were barely twenty-five. It was an arranged clanning.”
“Times have changed. The traditional clan of four isn’t a guarantee any longer, no more than arranged clanships. He deserves the opportunity to forge his own path.”
Codab smiled at her, his gaze soft. Arranged or not, their relationship was full of love. Dramok Codab had no problem displaying it.
She continued to scowl, but the heat lessened in the face of his adoring regard. “I want the best for my son. You have to admit, the support of a protector and caregiver can’t be underestimated.”
“I have no complaints. However, Ilid isn’t me. Or you.”
She rolled her eyes and turned to their child. “At least grant them a chance if they make an effort to see you again. They might be perfect for you.”
“All right. If we cross paths, I’ll see if they’re interested in a real outing, where drinking isn’t the main event of the night.”
Ilid smiled. Her love was a beacon of warmth in a cold universe. While her meddling wasn’t entirely welcome, he basked in the caring behind it.
“Excellent. I’m going to bed. Codab?”
“In a moment.”
Diju paused long enough to shoot him a suspicious glance. She turned to her son and cupped her palm around Ilid’s cheek. She left them, murmuring good night. They listened to her go up the softly creaking stairs.
As soon as her footfalls quieted, Codab stood and looked at Ilid. The younger man’s heart sank.
Sure enough, his father had read through his attempts to downplay the night. “Were you truly unimpressed by Detodev and Mitag, or is it a matter of what happened to you?”
Ilid knew he had no choice but to confess. “I don’t want a clan. Or at least, I don’t deserve one. I have no right to play the part of a Dramok to fellow Kalquorians.”
“You do fine when it comes to Jennifer.”
“She’s an Earther. She doesn’t have the expectations our people do of a clan leader. I may fall short of what she wants, but it won’t be because I don’t fit a particular mold.”
He looked away, unable to meet the gaze of Codab, a true Dramok.
“Ilid, you were strong when you had to be. You survived what no one else on your ship could. If yours isn’t the heart of a Dramok, then I have no idea what is.”
His father’s voice was intense, as if he could etch the words on Ilid’s brain through sheer force.
“I fell apart on Kalquor. I tried to kill myself so you and the rest of my parents wouldn’t have to watch me scream and cry and break down. Now I’m hiding on Haven. How does any of it equate to the heart of a Dramok?”
Ilid rubbed shaking hands over his face. “In the bar, I couldn’t stop looking for those damned Darks, though I’m certain they haven’t made it onto the planet. My mind insisted they were in every shadow. Detodev noticed, unsurprisingly. How could a Nobek miss my fear?”
“You were tortured by those things, my son. No man would escape such a situation and be unaffected for months or years afterward.”