Page 38 of Clan and Command

The answer was startling. “Do you get that often?”

“Only with the important ones.”

Lokmi made a wild guess at who might be giving Kila so much grief. “Like Admiral Piras?”

Maybe it wasn’t such a crazy supposition after all, because Kila glared at him without answering.

Lokmi didn’t want to piss off the Nobek, not when he was still immobilized in cuffs. In the most offhand tone he could muster, he said, “It seemed like there was something between you two yesterday.”

“There’s something, all right. It’s messed up as hell though.” He sighed and rubbed his hands over his eyes.

Lokmi’s Imdiko nature pounced. “Do you want to talk about it? I can keep secrets.”

“I should hope so, you being part of a spy mission.” Kila stared up at the ceiling and shook his head. “No. I’m not at liberty to discuss the more private details. There’s too much personal shit.”

“Okay. How about letting me out of these cuffs then?”

Kila looked over at him. His signature mocking grin spread over his face. “I don’t know. I enjoy you like this.”

Lokmi’s temper flared. “I don’t enjoy it. If the punishment is over, let me up.”

Kila choked on a laugh, but he sat up and worked on removing the cuffs. “You didn’t enjoy it, huh? Tell me why I need these bed linens washed then. You came all over my mat.”

Lokmi shot him a dark look as he sat up, rubbing his wrists. They’d been chafed from him straining against them. “Fine. It had its moments. You’re a lot more talented in the sack than you appear to be.”

Kila bellowed laughter at that. The way humor lit up his face extinguished the worst of Lokmi’s temper at having been dominated. In fact, it was impossible not to laugh a little himself.

“Chief, you overwhelm me with compliments.” Kila eyed him with a mischievous glint. “How soon can I expect to have to discipline you again?”

The devilish look sent heat spilling into Lokmi’s groin once more. Damn, what was with him today? Why was he finding himself responsive to this overbearing thug? This man who had controlled him exactly as he disliked?

I didn’t dislike it though, because his need spoke to the side I refuse to acknowledge. But I can’t be taken advantage of. I refuse. In fact, I’d like to show Kila that as soon as possible. And how will he respond to being on the receiving end when I win? Can I make him enjoy it as much as he did me?

The idea had his cocks standing at attention again, which he hid from Kila by turning his back. Pretending to be unaffected, he gathered his clothes. He responded in a lofty tone, “That all depends on if we get to fight for dominance again. Don’t think I won’t be ready for your tricks next time.”

Kila growled and managed to make the sound happy. “Challenge accepted. I look forward to our next round of discipline.”

Lokmi threw his clothes back on the floor. “No time like the present, Captain.” He sprang at the startled Nobek.

Chapter 12

Piras managed a second night free of Kila. He pretended the tossing and turning he did between uneasy bouts of sleep was because he’d made a difficult decision. He pretended his bed didn’t feel huge and lonely. He pretended he didn’t care that Kila had made no attempt to contact him after their last meeting. He pretended he didn’t dwell on how that encounter might have ended up had Chief Engineer Lokmi not been present.

Morning dawned, and Piras continued to make believe. When he commed Kila soon after rising, asking for an early meeting in his office, he told himself it was because they needed to move along with their mission. He didn’t need to know what Kila had been doing, why he hadn’t gotten in touch, or how he now felt about Piras. He most certainly didn’t want to see Kila because he missed the brute.

Piras was an old hand at imagining others no longer meant anything to him. Yet just as in the past, he knew the sham for what it was: a cover for hurt.

When Kila showed up for their meeting, Piras looked at the bruises, cuts, and bite marks on the Nobek’s exposed neck and arms and feigned disinterest. He tried to ignore the jealousy that sent the taste of acidic bile to fill his mouth. He forced himself not to grind his teeth at Kila’s relaxed satisfaction that spoke of a recent intimate tryst. It was a ridiculous response anyway, he counseled himself. He’d invested no time in Kila. He’d not lost sixteen years to a pointless affair this time. Why should he care that the man showed all the signs of a torrid sexual encounter?

His business-like performance over the next half hour as he presented his plan was one for the books, he thought. It helped that his feelings were so mixed about what was to happen. The distraction was a welcome one, helping him to get through the meeting so that Kila could get out of his sight.

When he finished his presentation, Kila regarded him with interest…but not of the personal nature. “Laro Space Station. That’s a fascinating target,” he mused.

“Hopefully, the Basma will agree.” Piras gave him a small records drive. “Here is the shift schedule, the crew turnover schedule, and when the destroyers do their fly-bys. Also included is everything I told you; my case that Laro is a prime acquisition in the Basma’s battle against the Empire.”

“All right. That will save me having to remember the many points you made.”

“You can report that I will continue to work to get the control codes for the unmanned defensive stations. I anticipate few problems in doing so. It will just take time.”

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