Tender
A strange sensation roused him. It took him a few moments to realise what it was.
Someone was kissing his shoulder.
Warm, gentle kisses from firm lips. He sighed as a hand brushed aside his hair, lips tracing a path up his neck to his ear, the beard and moustache almost ticklish against his sensitive skin. He shivered delightedly, his murmur deep and full of passion.
"Vejiita..."
Sharp teeth nipped lightly at his earlobe. Arms went around his chest, stroking softly downwards, tracing taut muscle, fingertips skimming over prominent hipbones: one hand cupped his balls while the other wrapped firmly around his erection. Zaabon moaned, his hips automatically thrusting upwards into the welcoming grasp.
"... Vejiita..."
Quivering, he froze, suddenly wide awake and remembering the nightmare...
He turned towards the body behind him, keeping his expression impassive. The king's deep dark eyes, twinkling with amusement, gazed at him - and Zaabon sighed and relaxed.
"Oh, don't stop." The Saiya-jin-no-Ou rumbled. "I like the way you moan my name."
Zaabon chuckled and kissed him, pulling the hard, strong body against his own.
"Vejiita..."
"Mmmm....." The king rolled him onto his back and nudged his thighs apart - then slid quickly down to take the alien's rigid shaft into his mouth. Zaabon gasped and clutched Vejiita's flame of hair as strong warm hands gripped his buttocks and kneaded, pulling the alien's hips closer as a supple tongue tantalised him. Shaking, he came within seconds, the sheer mind-numbing pleasure impossible to resist.
Vejiita licked his lips and pulled himself up to lie atop his lover, suckling his throat as Zaabon panted, his body still quivering. Feeling the king's erection hard against his groin, he spread his thighs wider and angled his hips upwards, inviting Vejiita to enter...
But instead the Saiyan rolled onto his back and guided Zaabon's head down to his groin, moaning as talented lips and subtle tongue pulled unfamiliar sensations from his aching flesh.
And Zaabon kept him poised on the brink for longer than Vejiita had believed possible, until the pleasure hovered on the very edge of over-sensitised pain, then the alien slid a finger into his body, pressing against that one magical place - and his Majesty was lost, convulsed as the deepest, most intense climax he'd ever known pealed though him, leaving him entirely limp and shaking in its wake.
It seemed to last forever - and took almost twice that long for him to recover. Heavy-lidded ebony eyes stared disbelievingly into a smiling golden gaze as the king fought to catch his breath.
"... how the... fuck... did you... do that...?"
Zaabon grinned.
"Natural talent." His smile faded as he lowered his eyes. "And a lot of practise."
Vejiita pulled him close, cradling his head in the crook of a warm bronzed neck, glaring angrily into space over the vibrant emerald hair.
'a lot of practise'. Furiizaa. Bastard Ice-lord.
The thought of Zaabon being forced to service the changeling suddenly, vividly, genuinely hurt. That this beautiful, powerful, sublime body should be subject to any torture King Cold's child felt inclined to inflict was intolerable.
There had to be something he could do about it...
"Vejiita? Is something wrong?"
He blinked and gazed down into worried golden eyes, suddenly realising he'd been growling, angrily, deep in his throat. He sighed and kissed his lover thoroughly.
"Just wondering how I can keep you with me."
Startled, for a moment Zaabon was silent, then he sighed.
"If only it were possible... Vejiita, no-one's strong enough to challenge Furiizaa. He won't let me go." The beautiful low voice was bitter. "Even if he didn't want me for my decorative value and the pleasure it gives him to hurt me, he'd never forgive anyone trying to take a possession away from him. And that's what I am. A useful, decorative possession. His whore. A strong body he can fuck any time he likes, in any way or any form he chooses. Oh yes, my skills as a warrior are useful too: I'm one of his most powerful minions." Golden eyes closed, trying to block the memories. "How he loves 'lending' me to those who have pleased him... Reinforcing his power over me while he binds others to his service..."
Zaabon fell silent, tense, shivering, as Vejiita held him tightly, nuzzling his hair, cursing himself for bringing up the subject. Sighing, he disentangled himself from the alien's arms.
Zaabon looked up sharply as Vejiita slid from the bed. The king smiled.
"Stay here. I'll only be a moment."
In the bathroom he found what he was looking for, a bottle of a warming, sweetly scented light oil sometimes used for muscular aches, but far more often by Saiyans to make their bodies more... appealing to their mates. The fragrance was - enlivening. Almost an aphrodisiac. Not that the average Saiyan male needed such a thing, but, even though they'd never admit it, they liked the effect. The way light shimmered on a deliciously oiled body, the way that body moved and teased, fragrant skin smooth over taut muscle beneath - to a tactile, highly-sexed species it was exciting, energising, arousing...
On the way out Vejiita paused, then opened a small, almost forgotten casket tucked away in the corner of a shelf, smiling at what was revealed. Making a careful choice, he returned to the bed.
Zaabon was sitting up, arms wrapped around his legs, chin resting on his knees, expression remote but bordering on desolate. He glanced at the king as Vejiita came through from the bathroom and tried to smile.
The Saiyan scowled and kissed him.
"You don't need to pretend with me. If you don't feel like smiling, don't smile. If you want to cry, cry. You should know by now I won't think any the less of you for being honest with yourself. Or with me."
Zaabon hugged him hesitantly.
"Thank you." It was an almost soundless whisper. "Of all things, I need that most..."
Vejiita held him for a moment, then gently pushed him back, fingers brushing lightly at the tears on the pale blue cheeks.
"Lie down. On your stomach."
Obediently Zaabon turned over, resting his head on crossed forearms. Vejiita straddled his narrow hips, pushed his hair over his shoulder, and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck.
"Just relax..."
With long, slow, sensuous strokes, the Saiya-jin-no-Ou massaged the sweet oil into the smooth blue skin of the beautiful, sensual creature below him.
By the time Vejiita had worked down the muscular legs to the shapely feet, Zaabon was positively trembling with a mixture of well-being and arousal. Smirking, the Saiyan indicated he should turn over. Sure enough, he was almost painfully hard.
The king poured more oil into his cupped palm and began to work his way back up the powerful body, carefully avoiding the groin, aware of Zaabon's frustration (not to mention his own: he could hardly believe how arousing this was!) but determined to finish what he'd started before giving in to their shared desire...
He paid special attention to the swollen nipples, very carefully working the oil deeply into the sensitive scarred skin, easing it along the ring shafts and into the piercings themselves, soothing the ever-present dull ache the barbs caused even when not being pressed or pulled. Zaabon sighed, his eyes closing in unconscious relief - only to open, startled, as the king carefully clipped - something - to each of the rings.
"What...?"
Raising his head a little, the alien frowned down at his chest. His eyes widened and he gazed at Vejiita, who smiled, a little sadly, and moved back so Zaabon could sit up and examine himself more closely.
"They were my mate's - the prince's dam's. It would... please me if you would wear them. Just for a little while."
Raising one of the surprisingly heavy things into the light, Zaabon gazed down at the startlingly delicate and very beautiful jewel on his palm, a central facetted gemstone the same colour as his hair encircled by a silver metal hoop with a firm clasp (currently attached to his nipple ring), from which strands of tiny silver gems descended almost a handspan, tinkling quietly together, tickling his skin. He raised his eyes to the king, inclining his head.
"Earrings?"
Vejiita nodded, gaze fixed on the sparkling jewels now shimmering against Zaabon's gleaming chest. The alien frowned.
"I thought... Saiyan's don't wear jewellery.
"Not usually. But she was a little - different. She appreciated beautiful things." His eyes flickered briefly to Zaabon's, then lowered again.
"She would have appreciated you."
Zaabon laid a gentle hand on the king's shoulder.
"Thank you. I will wear them for you."
Vejiita kissed the hand on his shoulder then glowered at the alien.
"I'd like you to keep them..." He shook his head as Zaabon started to remonstrate. "No, I know you can't take them back with you. But... Would you wear them while you're here?"
Zaabon cradled him close, once more realising there was rather more to the Saiya-jin-no-Ou than he'd originally thought. His voice was soft, loving, when he answered.
"I would be honoured."
Vejiita kissed his throat.
"So would she. And so will I..."
Zaabon pulled back a little.
"I can't be her..."
"I wouldn't want you to try."
The delicate chiming of the jewels was enchanting, Zaabon thought, distantly, as the king thrust into him over and over again. Vejiita, with his far more sensitive hearing, must be loving this...
Zaabon was on his hands and knees for the third time in as many hours - and now in pain. Whether it was the oil, or his mate's earrings, or simply the sheer joy of having a compliant and uncomplaining partner Zaabon wasn't sure, but Vejiita was insatiable tonight. And regardless of what the Saiyan had said, obedience and submission had been beaten into Zaabon so thoroughly that the thought of making his discomfort known was simply impossible.
Vejiita growled, gripped already painfully bruised hips hard and rammed home one last time, collapsing heavily onto the strong blue back below him with a sigh.
"... Zaabon..."
His arms trembling as he forced himself to bear the king's weight, the alien gritted his teeth, dreading Vejiita's recovery. But the Saiyan seemed to have finally exhausted himself. Slipping out of his lover he sighed and settled himself on the bed, making a brief and cursory effort to pull Zaabon down against him then sliding immediately into sleep.
Zaabon watched him for a moment, then carefully slid from the bed and limped through to the bathroom, aware of the uneasy dampness that meant he was bleeding, that he'd soon feel the pain of torn tissue inside. Again.
He leaned over the basin for a moment, then raised his eyes to the mirror. Biting his lip to force back tears as he stared at his reflection.
Despite the throbbing ache their weight had caused, tugging on the barbs, the shimmering, sparkling jewels hanging from his nipples just served to accentuate his beauty.
He closed his eyes with a sob. If only he'd been born ugly. If he looked like Dodorya... How much longer could he bear to be used like this, to go on with the farce called 'living'?
When he opened his eyes again Vejiita was behind him, staring at him in the mirror.
"Zaabon...?"
The king sniffed soundlessly, scenting, then gazed downwards, eyes widening. Zaabon felt a hand slide between his thighs... Seconds later Vejiita stared at his bloodstained fingers, bronzed face paling, eyes horrified as his gaze swung back to the mirror.
"Zaabon... I... I didn't... oh gods..."
The alien suddenly found himself swept into strong arms and carried back to the bed, weeping soundlessly as the king held him close, stroking his hair, murmuring quietly against his neck.
"Zaabon... I forgot myself. I am sorry..."
He pulled back a little, frowning, gaze fixed on the downcast golden eyes. After all he'd said, he'd behaved no better than that bastard changeling...
Zaabon glanced at him, looking away again quickly, and shrugged. Vejiita bit his lip at the frightening hopelessness in the quiet voice.
"It doesn't matter."
Vejiita pulled himself half-upright and one-handedly unclipped the heavy jewels from his lover's nipple rings.
"Idiot. Of course it does."
Zaabon lay quietly in his arms, watching him impassively. Vejiita bit back a sudden jolt of anger, both at himself for being so selfish and Zaabon for not bloody saying he was hurting! He closed his eyes momentarily, the realisation - that of course Zaabon would never say anything, ever - hitting him hard. How could he? All that had ever done was make his suffering worse...
Those beautiful golden eyes were still watching him, warily, as though trying to anticipate where the next blow would land, and Vejiita's jaw clenched as he fought back his own tears. He'd betrayed his lover, the alien who'd somehow managed to find his way all unconsciously into the Saiya-jin heart. The beautiful, vulnerable being who'd put himself between Furiizaa and the Saiya-jin-no-Ouji, and suffered so cruelly for it.
How could he possibly redeem himself?
He carefully pulled Zaabon up into a gentle embrace, holding the trembling body close, kissing the silky emerald hair.
He'd find a way. Somehow.
He had to.
© 2002 March 12th Joules Taylor
Loneliness
