Lover, Destroyer Read online

  Kite smiled. “My best friends.”

  Elarhe shivered. “My best friend’s dead. Everyone I love is dead.”

  “Stop,” said Kite. “No bad thoughts right now.”

  Elarhe couldn’t stop himself. Once the darkness latched onto him, he couldn’t fight it. “I miss them.” He began to cry. “I miss them so much.”

  Kite’s mouth crushed against his. Elarhe, weak and surprised, couldn’t respond for a moment. He just sat there, still as a corpse, while Kite’s hot tongue stroked his mouth with a tender, desperate grace.

  Elarhe snapped to as Kite began to withdraw. He sucked him back, deep into his mouth, and caressed him with his own tongue. Kite groaned, his whole body heaving with desire. Passion flickered through every broken corner of Elarhe’s body. He kissed Kite with eager and earnest abandon.

  Kite pulled away, breathing raggedly. He pressed his hot mouth against Elarhe’s ear. “If you weren’t so injured, I would fuck you right here.”

  “I’m not sooo injured.”

  Kite chuckled, running a thumb beneath Elarhe’s lower lip. “Poor baby. The only thing they seem to have missed hurting is your beautiful mouth.”

  “I think they missed a few other parts, too….” He began to struggle out of the blanket, coughing. “I’ll show you.”

  Kite covered him back up harshly. “Be still!” His eyes were as fierce as his voice.

  Elarhe sat perfectly still, blinking at Kite in awe. “I’m still,” he whispered, then added, a bit more robustly, “You should kiss me again.”

  Kite chuckled. “You imperious creature.” He planted a chaste kiss on Elarhe’s lips. Elarhe drew his tongue across Kite’s warm mouth. Kite pulled away and closed his eyes as if in pain. He pressed the side of his head against the window. His eyes opened with a weary sigh. He stared out the window. Elarhe felt chilled and miserable without the comfort of at least his gaze.

  “We’re almost to Rabbit’s. She’s a powerful green mage. A healing instructor at the academy. She should be able to heal you almost completely tonight.”

  And then that intense gaze turned on Elarhe and tore right through him. “And then I’m taking you to my place, and I’m going to fuck your pretty ass until it’s my own purple cave. I’m going to make a bonfire in there and paint horses on the walls with my cum.”

  Elarhe could only blink at him for a moment. And then he began to cry.

  Kite, who had been grinning cruelly, stopped. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I can…um… take you wherever you want to go. Or let me get you a room at a nice inn. Maybe a little money, too, so you can get back on your feet. I promise not to so much as lay a hand on you.”

  “Oh, no,” sniffled Elarhe. “I want to be fucked with horses.” He coughed. His chest hurt terribly. “I want to fuck you back. I want you on your knees with your ass in the air. I want to pound your eyes out of your skull.”

  At the moment, Kite’s eyes were huge in his chiseled face. “Squirrel,” he rasped. “I want to kiss you again—I would kiss you, but I’m already in such need I ache with it.”

  “Let me suck you,” said Elarhe. He coughed. “I want to suck your cock so badly.”

  “You’re coughing up blood,” said Kite softly, moving toward him and gathering him in his arms. “Just a little farther, my sweet. Save your strength. We’re almost there.”

  ***

  Elarhe woke to a feeling of sunlight baking through his skin. For a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was. A softly-curved woman with age-silvered hair and gentle brown eyes stood next to him. Her green-glowing hands were on his chest and an emerald green light arched over her shoulders like a peacock’s tail. The woman smiled at him. “We’re almost done.”

  He caught Kite out of the corner of his eye, and everything came flooding back. The fight, the carriage, Kite. He looked at Kite, worried he had dreamed the events in the carriage. “I don’t remember getting here. When did I pass out?”

  Kite watched him with his arms crossed over his chest and a stern, impassive expression. “I must have hurt you when I unloaded you. You cried out and lost consciousness.”

  Rabbit lifted her hands from him. She flashed a wary glance at Kite. There was no hint of friendliness in that look. She’s afraid of him, Elarhe realized and wondered why.

  Laying a soft hand on Elarhe’s shoulder, she said to him, “Can you sit up for me, dear?”

  Elarhe sat up carefully. Other than a vaguely bruised sensation, he felt fine. “I think I can go now. Thank you for helping me.”

  Rabbit smiled at him. She laid a palm aside his face. “You’re not a whiner, are you, beautiful? I saw that wince. There’s no reason for you to leave here with even a hint of pain.”

  He closed his eyes as she passed the light over him, enjoying the warm sensation of it.

  Rabbit stopped and lifted a mat of hair off his head. “Lord Kite, I need to do a more thorough examination of his skull. This blood-soaked hair is getting in my way. Could you get me some towels from the chest down the hall?”

  Kite glared at her.

  “Please?”

  With a snort, he stalked out of the room. Rabbit watched him leave, then pressed her face close to Elarhe’s ear and said in an anxious whisper, “Whatever he’s paying you, you don’t deserve to be treated like this.”

  Elarhe whispered back, “He didn’t do this. He saved me.”

  Rabbit sighed. “Right. I heard. You tripped. Listen to me, I’ve treated too many of his boys. He’s escalating.”

  She straightened suddenly, drawing a great breath as Kite entered the room with an armful of towels. She took one from him and soaked the end of it in a pot of water that had been cooling on the hearth. With a disgruntled sigh, Kite threw the remaining towels in a heap on the nearest chair.

  As Rabbit made a show of wiping off his hair and feeling his head, he realized she had only made up an excuse to send Kite out of the room so she could speak freely. He sat through the rest of the examination trying not to make eye contact with anyone. The worst explanation for what Rabbit had told him was that Kite was impossibly cruel. He couldn’t believe that. But the best was that Kite had a habit of rescuing boys from the streets. Elarhe didn’t like that idea either. He had hoped he was special, hoped Kite liked him as much as he liked Kite.

  Rabbit squeezed both his hands and wrapped him in a heavy green velvet robe when she was finished. “Go in good health, my dear.”

  As they left, Kite handed her a heavy pouch of coin. “For your fine work. And for your discretion. As always.”

  A chill licked up Elarhe’s spine as he climbed into the black carriage.

  Chapter 6

  Elarhe, bundled in a blanket, tensed as Kite sat beside him in the carriage. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore. He wasn’t sure of anything.

  For all of his bold talk before Rabbit’s house, Kite was now quiet and subdued. Rabbit’s words, the fear in her voice, ran circles around Elarhe’s mind. He was trapped in a coach with a stranger. A stranger who—

  “Are you sleepy?”

  The gentleness of Kite’s voice disarmed him. Elarhe could only blink at the man stupidly.

  “Healings always make me tired. You can rest your head on my shoulder if you want.”

  Elarhe resisted the offer for a couple of breaths, then sank against Kite’s firmness. There was something grounding about Kite’s body. He felt all of his anxiety ease. A small, weary sigh escaped him.

  “I know,” Kite whispered, his voice like honey on velvet, “but you’re safe now.” He stroked Elarhe’s hair with a delicate touch, as if he were afraid of breaking him. “I know we made plans earlier, but maybe we should scale them back, hmm?”

  He wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m very grateful to you for…all of it…. I….”

  “Shhh. Save it.” He heaved a sigh, describing Elarhe’s cheekbone with a lightly-calloused finger pad. “It’s nothing. Trust me.”

  Elarhe’s eyelids felt heavy as Kite caressed him. He w
anted to trust Kite. He wanted to believe this wasn’t a dream, that there would be more for them than this night. “Earlier, you sounded so forceful.”

  “You were in shock. I was just trying to keep you awake.”

  Elarhe couldn’t help himself and giggled. “Is that what that was?” He sat up to see Kite’s face. What he saw surprised him. It could have been the shadows, some trick of the light, but Kite looked wary.

  That was the moment Elarhe fell in love. He found confidence sexy, but vulnerability made his heartstrings quiver. He swept a hand up Kite’s thigh. He grinned all over when Kite’s eyes sparkled in the dark as if a fire had been kindled. “So, you didn’t mean any of those things you said? You’re just all words and hot air?”

  Kite caught the back of his head and pulled him into a rough kiss. The moment their lips touched, everything melted. They kissed as if drinking each other’s souls. Elarhe let Kite’s tongue seduce him, then he invaded Kite’s mouth, easing past his firm lips and gliding down the side of his muscular tongue. All the while, Kite’s hand massaged the back of his head.

  Elarhe climbed on top of Kite as they kissed and straddled him. Kite held Elarhe’s face and kissed his eyes. Elarhe, on the verge of a swivel, held still, transfixed.

  Kite kissed his mouth again, then behind his ear. His breath trembled. “I thought they’d killed you.”

  Elarhe put his arms around Kite’s neck and drew him close. “They didn’t,” he said softly. “They didn’t because of you.”

  “I try not to kill anymore.” Kite’s tone was confessional.

  Elarhe kissed his mouth. He knew Kite had killed one. He remembered the black ooze leaking out of the boy’s face. He held Kite’s face with both hands and stared into his eyes. “They were going to kill me. You did nothing wrong.”

  Kite looked at him and seemed on the verge of tears. “I should have killed more.”

  They laughed, holding each other. Elarhe writhed on Kite’s lap, grinding into Kite’s swollen cock. His own cock throbbed, tight with need.

  Suddenly, Kite grabbed him by the waist, swooped him up in a surprised swirl of cloak and hair, and deposited him on the opposite seat between the two huge dogs. Elarhe didn’t like being thrown about, but as he started to protest, he realized Kite was on both knees.

  Kite lifted up Elarhe’s robe. “May I?”

  A chill climbed over Elarhe’s shoulders. “Yes,” he said softly, charmed. Gooseflesh pricked over his thighs as Kite’s warm hands rubbed up them. Kite gave the head of Elarhe’s erection a loving stroke, then ignored it completely, turning his attention to Elarhe’s full sack. Kite lifted it slightly, as if testing the heft, while tonguing Elarhe’s hipbone. Elarhe shifted his weight with a soft intake of breath. He pushed his cock against Kite’s head. Kite’s tongue felt great on his hip, but he wanted that wet, warm organ playing his cock.

  Kite edged a finger beneath Elarhe’s scrotum. He gently kneaded Elarhe’s perineum. Elarhe moaned, hungry for more. Before he realized what he was doing, he grabbed the back of Kite’s neck and directed him to his bobbing cock. Kite glanced up at him, one brow arched. Elarhe pushed his pelvis toward Kite. “I need you.” He meant it to be plaintive, but it came out a bit pouty and demanding.

  Kite caught Elarhe’s cock in his mouth. He gnawed down the side of it and mouthed the root. Elarhe gasped and bucked against him. The knuckle of Kite’s finger ground into Elarhe’s perineum. Waves of pleasure rocked through Elarhe’s body.

  Ragged whispers clawed up his throat. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck….”

  Kite’s wicked mouth, so hot and wet in the dense cold of the night, seduced Elarhe’s cock from every angle, but avoided his sensitive, desperately needy head. Elarhe moaned in frustration. Evil Kite left Elarhe’s throbbing cock dancing in the chill air and lifted him up to tongue his hole.

  “You fucking bastard,” Elarhe gasped. A deep shudder ran through his body. If Kite had wanted to take him right there, Elarhe would have let him.

  He realized suddenly that he had shut his eyes. He opened them in time to see Kite lick his fingers. Kite kissed down one thigh and nuzzled Elarhe’s cock and balls. His lips flirted mercilessly with Elarhe’s aching head.

  Elarhe writhed in despair. “Suck me, you fucking beast!”

  Kite’s shoulders shook with amusement. He held a finger to his lips and nodded toward the driver’s seat.

  Elarhe rolled his eyes and snorted. “Fine. Suck me, you fucking beast,” he said in a snarling whisper. He was set to spew a bit more venom when Kite’s tongue tip swabbed the precum from his slit. Something revoltingly close to a squeal escaped Elarhe’s lips. His pelvis lifted as Kite took Elarhe’s throbbing head into his warm mouth.

  Pleasure spiked through Elarhe’s body. His toes curled in his boots, a shudder ran through him. Kite’s tongue swam around the edges of his glans. Kite’s moistened finger invaded his wet hole. A thumb grazed the lower edge of Elarhe’s sack.

  “Fucking Kite!” Elarhe cried, straining to be quiet. He moaned as the head of his cock hit the lush soft palate of Kite’s mouth just as Kite’s finger found his prostate.

  For a moment, he thought he would slide into Kite’s mouth, simply disappear inside him. Twinkling lights and shivers floated through his belly. He felt like a drop of dew clinging to a blade of grass, getting so heavy, so full, and then—

  He pumped cum down Kite’s throat. Before he knew what he was doing, he grabbed Kite by his shorn nape and held him in place. Elarhe ground his pelvis against Kite’s face. Kite gulped each volley of cum, then reached up and caught Elarhe’s wrist.

  Elarhe released Kite immediately, feeling ashamed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me—”

  Kite wiped his mouth on his sleeve with an amused scoff. “Truly?” He eased Elarhe’s robe down and joined him on the seat. “You’re the sexiest creature I’ve ever encountered.”

  “And you’re a fiend.” He laughed as Kite wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close.

  “You will stay with me at my castle. You’ll be safe there.”

  Elarhe didn’t object. He’d had enough of the streets.

  “And no more digging ditches. No more bodies. As long as you stay in my house, no one will ask for your papers. It will be as if you didn’t exist at all.”

  Although said with splendid sweetness, that last line sounded ominous. Elarhe tried to ignore the chill that ran down his shoulders.

  ***

  Perhaps it was just the rainy night, but Kite’s castle looked gloomy and haunted. Once they were inside, it was little better. Elarhe followed Kite through dark hallways. The cold, damp air made it seem nearly as inhospitable as the outside. Finally, Kite led him to a great fireplace. It was as tall as a man and the length of two racehorses.

  Kite invited Elarhe to sit beside it. Kite stoked the coals. In minutes, he had brought the fire back to life. He added a few more logs, then joined Elarhe on the hearth. He reached out and touched Elarhe’s face.

  Elarhe bent his head into Kite’s touch. He kissed Kite’s wide palm and felt a deep stirring of sentiment for him. He liked the way Kite kept staring at him—like a pilgrim gazing at some holy shrine. There was something strange and pure about it.

  Kite leaned over and kissed his neck beneath his ear. It started out as a tender sweep of tongue but ended in teeth. Elarhe pulled one of Kite’s hands to his groin. Kite growled softly as he chewed Elarhe’s neck and wrapped his fingers around Elarhe’s clothed cock.

  Elarhe gasped as Kite gnawed his collarbone. He pulled up his robe and guided Kite’s hand to his cock. Kite cupped his balls instead. His other hand grasped Elarhe’s thigh. His mouth covered Elarhe’s like a lid.

  Elarhe’s breath caught in his throat. He had been ill-prepared for Kite’s rough touch. The man squeezed his balls as if he were juicing lemons. Pain shot through Elarhe’s body. He tried to push Kite away. Kite held him close. He sucked Elarhe’s mouth with a ruthless yearning. And then he rubbed the ridge of Elarhe’
s glans, over and over, with sure, steady pressure.

  Elarhe’s back arched, his hips rose closer to Kite. Confused feelings swarmed his body. Below his navel brewed a painful storm, rising from his bruised balls to flood his aching stomach. But myriad fireflies twinkled through the storm, and his cock felt full of blood and light.

  Kite dragged his teeth down Elarhe’s lower lip and nipped it gently. Elarhe wanted to tell Kite to stop, but he couldn’t. His body wanted Kite to continue.

  With a single hand, Kite tore Elarhe’s robe open and grabbed his chest. His other hand rubbed from Elarhe’s root to his ridge like a slow, methodical pulse. Kite squeezed Elarhe’s chest in a harsh grip. His short nails bit into Elarhe’s skin. Elarhe’s nipple, lifted and exposed, puckered in the cold.

  Kite licked it like a dog, then blew on it. The skin tightened until it ached. Kite set his teeth around it.

  “Kite,” Elarhe breathed. He didn’t relish the idea of having his nipple bitten off.

  “You have sensitive nipples,” Kite said with the enthusiasm of a fat man about to devour a huge meal.

  “Kite, don—”

  Kite’s thumb invaded the slit in Elarhe’s cock while, at the same time, slurping Elarhe’s nipple. Elarhe’s eyes rolled back in his head. He pumped precum on Kite’s fingers. With a small moan, he pulled Kite off his nipple and pushed him onto the other one. Still vandalizing Elarhe’s cock and sucking Elarhe’s nipple purple, Kite tugged on the wet, abandoned nipple.

  Elarhe felt as if he were losing his mind. He wanted Kite to simply devour him. He wanted to exist only as sensations and flashing lights. He barely noticed as Kite moved him to the floor and set him on his hands and knees. Kite squeezed his glans and licked his balls. Licked up, and up until his tongue found Elarhe’s rim. His tongue stroked, so gently, like a virgin might kiss. So soft. Like eiderdown.