Page 28 of Solomon's Ransom
“Someone has to,” Sol said, and began to move.
As slick as Remma was, it was a sweet, easy slide. Sol was shocked by how good it felt to rub their cocks together. He was more aroused than he had realized, maybe, or maybe he had just been missing out all this time, so focused on getting Remmainsidehim. Other things were good, too, and this was great: rolling his hips to rub himself off on the rigid length of Remma beneath him, feeling Remma’s body shift and flex against his own, both of them breathing hard.
“You’re incredible,” Remma said. His hands slid over Sol’s ass, claw tips gently teasing at the crease. Sol knew Remma would never hurt him, but the implied threat of violence never failed to make him shiver. He pressed back into the touch, wanting more even though he couldn’t have more; more would hurt him. He wanted it anyway.
He rubbed off against Remma in a slow, heated glide. He didn’t remember Remma being wet like this in the past, and maybe that was because Remma had forced himself out early, before he was completely ready. Sol liked how slick he was—like he was wet because Sol had been patient and gotten him ready.
“I could come right now,” Remma said, eyes closed. “At this exact moment.”
Sol grinned down at him, feeling soft and foolish. “Already? Poor stamina.”
“It’s not—thatquick. And besides—” Remma dragged his eyes open. They looked very dark. “How can I hold out when I’ve got you on top of me and doingthat?”
“Good point,” Sol said, feeling pretty breathless himself. “Well. Go on and do it, then,” and he watched every flicker of Remma’s expressions as Remma rolled his hips up and up and came with a heartfelt groan.
No need to draw things out. Sol let go, too, and it was so good; it was the best he’d ever had.
ELEVEN
Denna’s tiny receiving room was claustrophobic at best, which Remma knew was the point. The rest of the rooms in Denna’s suite were of a normal size, even spacious, but he’d deliberately picked this erstwhile storage room and rearranged some doors to use it as his office. It was about intimidation and making people uncomfortable: Denna’s favorite pastimes.
Remma sort of hated him. More than sort of. It was past time to get off this ship.
He didn’t usually get this treatment from Denna. More often they met in Denna’s sitting room. But Denna stayed seated behind his desk and made no moves to open the door behind him. The message was clear: Remma had gotten on Denna’s bad side somehow, and he could easily guess what he’d done.
“Well, spit it out,” Denna said without looking up from the tablet on his desk.
Remma managed not to heave a sigh. “The job went well, eh? The cloaking device worked. How was the haul from the merchantman?”
Denna looked up at him finally, his eyes narrowed. “You’ll get your cut, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“My cut is guaranteed by my contract. If I wanted to ask about that, I’d ask.”
“So you’re just making small talk? Don’t waste my time, Remma.”
He was in a bad mood—this was a bad time. But it would be worse to try again later, because then he reallywouldbe wasting Denna’s time. Remma squared his shoulders. “I wanted to ask about your timeline for heading back to Mirolasor system.”
“Ah, yes. Your little human’s moon.” Denna leaned back in his chair, smirking. A bad sign. “Idowant that tesseract core, but if you couldn’t find it after a year, I doubt we have much hope of retrieving it. And I don’t really believe you that the human’s people will pay a decent ransom for him. He seems so… useless.”
“And yet you’ve kept him alive this long, so you must think he hassomevalue.”
Denna shrugged. “I’ve been busy with other things. He doesn’t eat much, and we have plenty of room. It’s never a bad idea to keep a potential bargaining chip on hand. Worst case, we can sell him for organs.”
The thought of turning Sol over to a wholesaler made Remma sick to his stomach. “We don’t do that sort of business.”
“We haven’t historically done that sort of business,” Denna said. “But it’s lucrative. No reason not to get into it if we’ve got the opportunity.”
It was immoral, and also illegal, but so was most of what they did, so that argument wouldn’t hold any water. Remma ground his teeth. He couldn’t think of anything to say.
Denna laughed at him, an obnoxious bray. “Look at your face! Don’t worry, I won’t sell him off for his kidneys.Yet. I’m very interested in why this boy matters to you so much, Remma, and I have a feeling I can guess. You’re not a very complicated person, are you.”
“Is there something wrong with that?”
“Not at all. It makes my job easier when my underlings are so transparent. The human is important to you, enough so that you would do anything to keep him safe.” Denna’s eyelids lowered, giving him a smug, satisfied look. “Except lie to me about his mother’s wealth. You would never do that.”
Remma managed not to squirm. He should have known better than to try to manipulate Denna, who had been manipulating people since before Remma was born. “I know better than to lie to you.”
“You’re a smart boy,” Denna said, obnoxiously: Remma was well into adulthood by Tozren standards. “I know you’d never do anything to damage my trust in you.”