Chapter Nine

Sletran had managed to wrangle a few extra hours off when he'd commed Erybet to explain the situation, so it was mid-afternoon when he left the Tuher ranch for the base. Conyod followed him.

Dresk had risen that morning, looking as if he hadn't been sick a day in his life. The kestarsh had made impatient noises at Conyod, pawed the ground, and swung his muzzle at the containment wall of his stall.

"Ha! You aren't running the corral, much less the fields, with the mares today, my friend. You may feel recovered, or you may want to convince me you're recovered, but you have at least two days of continued rest ahead of you," Conyod had warned.

Still, the animal was acting enough of his usual self that Tuher had judged Conyod could go home. "You need real rest, my son. I know you're wanted at work. Since Dresk is past the danger, you should take care of your own life. We can keep him on track now."

"I'll come home on my next regular day off," Conyod had promised his parents. Lafec and Vel had shown disappointment he was leaving, but they couldn't argue when it was their Dramok insisting Conyod do so.

Beyond their hearing, Conyod had told Sletran, "Hey, I gave the time I arranged off to an intern who's desperate for the hours to finish his residency sooner. I hate to take them back. Any chance I can stay on the base for more than one night?"

"Damn straight you can." Sletran was delighted at the prospect of having him as a guest the next few days. Returning to his quarters to Conyod at the end of each day's duty would be something to look forward to.

He commed ahead for an extended pass for his lover. Conyod packed the scant belongings he'd brought to his parents' home and followed the Nobek to the military base after a lengthy conversation with Dresk. Sletran couldn't help a rush of joy after they landed, and he greeted the man he considered his clanmate at the visitor shuttle pad. Especially when Conyod kissed him as if he hadn't seen Sletran in days rather than two hours prior.

They were headed for Sletran's quarters, the Nobek carrying their travel gear despite Conyod's protests he could carry his own, when a voice calling their names caught their attention. Sletran hid a knowing grin to note Erybet trotting to catch up to them.

"Hello, Dr. Conyod. Squad Leader Sletran," he grinned when he reached them. "I hope the emergency has resolved itself satisfactorily?"

"One champion kestarsh's life saved, sir," Sletran said.

"I've heard Dresk is an amazing animal."

Conyod appeared impressed Erybet knew the name. "He was beaten up by a bad respiratory infection. He scared us for a couple of days, but he seems well on the mend. Do you ride?"

"Sadly, no. It's one of those activities I've hoped to learn, but I never had time or opportunity to. I'm glad to hear Dresk is on the road to recovery."

Grateful for the extra hours of emergency leave, Sletran hurried to reassure his commanding officer. "I'm dropping off my things, then I'll resume my regular schedule, sir."

"It's close to lunch, squad leader. Did you eat?"

"No sir, but I can have the meal at my desk."

Erybet waved him off. "Enjoy your normal lunch, Sletran. I can't have my top soldier off his game from hunger. Speaking of meals…" His voice died off for an instant as unfamiliar uncertainty wavered his usual confidence. He cleared his throat and went on. "I'd like to invite the two of you to dinner tonight, if you don't have other plans. My treat, of course."

Sletran blinked. His top soldier? Dinner?

Conyod beamed, as if he wouldn't have expected less from the Dramok. "We haven't talked about dinner, so unless you have a different idea in mind, Sletran?"

"Dinner would be fine. Thank you, sir." Sletran masked his surprise, but not the pleasure he felt at being invited. He'd begun to hope a connection was being forged between himself and his striking superior, but he'd kept it under wraps in case Erybet's interest had been merely for Conyod's benefit.

"Excellent." Erybet's smile aimed his way before including Conyod. "Give me an hour after you and I go off duty? Would it be acceptable?"

It would. After additional pleasantries, Erybet jogged off to join fellow officers he was due to meet for lunch. Sletran and Conyod continued to the Nobek's quarters.

"Looks as if we've made an impression," the Imdiko chuckled. "You can't say it's just because of me, either. I saw how he looked at you."

Sletran shrugged, but inwardly he was alight. If Erybet were serious about courting them, there was a lot to like regarding the situation. Especially if the three of them proved compatible together. Erybet could make Sletran and Conyod true clanmates, in name as well as hearts.

* * * *

Erybet looked at the laughing faces on either side of him at the low, round table he sat at in one of the area's better restaurants. Conyod and Sletran responded to his story of the joke he and others had played on a fellow soldier in his raw recruit days.

"…there the poor bastard sat, too stunned to pull up his pants, with the latrine walls collapsed around him. His hair had been fried by the explosion. What was left stuck out straight from his head."

"He wasn't hurt, was he?" Despite the attempt at compassion, Conyod continued laughing.

"A couple of first-degree burns, but that was it. It was a tame trick compared to some we got up to. Am I right, Sletran?"

Chuckling, the Nobek raised a glass of kloq to his lips. "No broken bones, no missing body parts, no reason for the C.O. to write a report. We used to straddle the line as close as we could when I enlisted."

"Same for us. Basic training was a bitch, but it had its good points." Erybet raised his glass to the Nobek and signaled for another round of drinks.

He thought the dinner was going well. The food in the cliffside inn was delicious if a bit expensive. The atmosphere was particularly lovely, overlooking the ocean. Conyod had been enraptured by the view, particularly as the colors of the sunset impressed their hue on the green sea. Erybet hoped he was tremendously impressed. To attract a young, handsome Imdiko beginning a career in psychology was a rare boon for any Dramok. Available members of the breed were so rare, in fact, Erybet had dismissed his chances to do so. Men of Conyod's designation could pick and choose Dramoks of far higher stations than Erybet's, so he'd focused his interest on the military and casual sex partners rather than chase actual relationships with an eye toward clanship.

Until Conyod had shown up in Sletran's company. It had rekindled Erybet's barely existing hope to meet an Imdiko who wasn't promised to anyone and had chosen the company of a rising but still low-ranking soldier. It had woken a slumbering desire to earn more than the rank of High Commander and the respect of the warrior Nobeks who bristled to have a Dramok in such a position.

If Sletran could have Conyod, then why couldn't Erybet?

Sletran himself was an okay guy. Getting to know the competent squad leader had shown Conyod had good reason to be attracted to him. Erybet's claim the Nobek was his top soldier hadn't been mere flattery. There were others as skilled as Sletran, but he had beyond mere decent leadership and fighting skills. His men were fiercely loyal to him, ready to do whatever he ordered in an instant. Ready to go beyond what he demanded, because Sletran asked nothing of his troops he wasn't willing to do himself. In fact, he was often in the thick of whatever action was called for. When they were victorious, Sletran kept none of the accolades but heaped them on his company. When they fell short, he accepted the blame as his own.

Erybet liked him on a personal level since he'd begun working to acquaint himself with the warrior who'd won the entrancing Conyod. Sletran was the height of decency, and they had a lot in common. However, Erybet was involved in an on-again, off-again affair. His connection to a Nobek of his own rank was currently on hiatus, but signs were pointing to them drifting together again in the near future. Since he enjoyed Group Commander Tox's company, he didn't see Sletran as a serious option for the long term. A temporary playmate, perhaps, until Tox came around again. Erybet's real interest was in Conyod.

Tox and Sletran were similar in many ways. The ways that counted most, Erybet thought. Conyod would enjoy getting to know Tox when his infatuation for Sletran waned, as it no doubt would. From what he'd been able to gather, Sletran was Conyod's first significant affair. Sooner or later, such a young Imdiko would be curious when it came to others of the warrior breed. If Erybet were lucky and smart enough to capture and maintain Conyod's interest, if it went well enough for them to clan, then they could choose a Nobek who was better than merely adequate. They could find someone perfect for them both.

As I suspect I've found in this Imdiko. Erybet caught Conyod's eye and winked, making his object of affection grin in overt flirtation.

* * * *

"Hero Nobek and beautiful Dramok. I won the date lottery tonight," Conyod enthused when he and Sletran returned to the Nobek's quarters after their dinner date.

"Are you saying I'm not beautiful?" Sletran waited until the door closed behind him to strike a model's pose and make a face Conyod supposed was meant to be seductively pouty. On Sletran's strong features, the expression made him appear in the midst of passing a kidney stone.

"Of course you are." Conyod's snickers sounded suspiciously like a child's giggles. He'd been drinking bohut rather than the less alcoholic kloq his dinner companions had stuck to. He was slightly tipsy.

Sletran draped himself languidly on the back of his worn but comfortable lounger. "Tell me I'm pretty. Go on. Lavish me with adoring acclaim for my incredible allure."

Conyod's knees weakened under the force of his laughter as Sletran fluttered his lashes and blew him kisses. He gasped, "Your…your charm has no equal. They invented the word exquisite just for you."

"Songs should be written of my splendor. Go ahead, write them. Odes of a million pages."

Conyod sat on the floor before he could fall. Sletran rarely indulged in outright silliness. When he did, it was an event. What would have been merely amusing from anyone else was the height of hysteria from the typically stoic Nobek.

"Stop," Conyod wheezed. "You're killing me."

Sletran chuckled and slid to the floor. He crawled toward the Imdiko on all fours. "I love it when you laugh so hard. I want to see you happy for the rest of your life."

"As long as I have you, I will be." Conyod didn't care how sappy he sounded. He meant every word.

"And maybe a certain gorgeous Dramok?" Sletran had drawn close. His fingers walked from Conyod's boot toe to the ankle, where he began tugging it loose.

"If he is what he seems to be, it would be a bonus," Conyod acknowledged. "I like what I've seen so far."

"Me too." Sletran pulled his other boot off. He tossed them both over his shoulders, so they thumped across the floor. "Which surprises me."

"Why?"

"I've wanted to wrap myself up in you. Nobody else, including shockingly pretty Dramoks who possess the badassery of Nobeks, need apply. Erybet's caught me by surprise."

"It's like a story, us getting together, then finding him so quickly." Conyod licked his lips as Sletran's fingers crawled up his legs. "Can the perfect clan actually happen this fast in real life?"

"I guess we'll have to wait to find out." The Nobek paused at his knees. He drew slow circles that progressed steadily up Conyod's inner thighs toward the growing bulge at his crotch. "Meanwhile, you'll have to imagine his sleek body pressed against yours. Erybet's pretty face hovering over your cocks. Those full, luscious, wet lips kissing them."

A fine trembling had taken hold of Conyod's frame. Sletran's touch was a hairsbreadth from his cocks. "Where will you be, my Nobek?"

"Holding you helpless while his tongue licks you from base to tip. First your secondary, then your bigger shaft. I'll watch you strain, trying to drive yourself down his throat. He'll stop because you're misbehaving and order me to turn you on your belly and spank you until he says enough."

Instead of rubbing him where he wanted it most, Sletran yanked Conyod's trousers to his knees. He yanked the startled and aroused Imdiko onto him, putting his midsection on the Nobek's muscled thighs. His hand pinned Conyod. The other peppered his backside. Conyod yipped at the smarting blows, jerking under Sletran's firm palm.

"That's it, naughty Imdiko. Pay the price of your misbehavior until Erybet is satisfied."

An exciting image of the lovely Dramok watching as Sletran spanked him overwhelmed the stinging hurt of discipline. Conyod gasped as desire engorged his shafts. He writhed more from arousal than an attempt to escape.

"Bad, bad Imdiko. If he were here, Erybet would make you suck him while you're punished. He'd choke you on his primary because you're so disobedient."

The idea of Erybet's cock filling his mouth while Conyod submitted to the pair drove him crazy. The warmth of Sletran's harsh hand slapping his ass transmitted straight to his lengths. Conyod's hips rose to meet the blows of their own accord.

When Sletran moved, it was too quick for Conyod to immediately register. One moment he was spanking him. The next, the Imdiko found himself on elbows and knees, his lover's thighs wedged between his. Sletran's slick primary shoved in him in a single smooth motion, forcing taut muscles to yield. A thunderclap of passion erased any pain Conyod might have experienced from the abrupt taking.

There were no further thoughts of Dramok Erybet. Conyod was very aware of his present surroundings; of the fact they were both mostly clothed, which showed the desperate need Sletran felt for him. He noted the Nobek's incredible strength in the hands holding his hips lifted for the powerful strokes that clapped groin to ass. Sletran's secondary moving against his own added enthralling friction. Mostly, he responded to the thick intruder applying brutal friction to his cumspot, sending surges through his cocks and up his spine.

"My Nobek," Conyod moaned, helpless under Sletran's weight and hunger. His lover growled in response. The primal sound lit delicious anxiety. Conyod's feeble instinctive attempts to wiggle free, to save himself from the beast despite the growing ecstasy insisting he yield to whatever he might do to him, only seemed to excite Sletran more. His feral lover grabbed the nape of his neck and forced his cheek to the carpeted floor.

Though the Nobek had yet to touch Conyod's cocks, they pulsed a steady warning they'd soon erupt. His throaty cries betrayed the oncoming surrender.

Again, Sletran was too quick to be discerned until Conyod realized he'd pulled free and rolled him onto his back. The warrior straddled him. Sletran's tight passage enclosed Conyod's primary, sliding to capture his entire length.

Conyod gasped as violent passion surged. Sletran loomed tall, snarling so his fangs showed. The Nobek pinned his wrists to the floor. He rose and fell over the younger man, his taut entrance rubbing Conyod's cock, demanding his capitulation.

Rapture engulfed the Imdiko. A tsunami of bliss shot through his loins, then overcame his senses. He came shouting, his body straining at the vicious pleasure shattering him.

He was just quieting when Sletran shifted. He spun, twisting from his position on top of Conyod and ending between his legs, his knees bracketing the Imdiko's hips. In a flash, Conyod's knees were draped on the bigger man's shoulders and Sletran was in him again. It took only a few pumps. The Nobek uttered a groan, and his brutal expression transformed to elation as his primary jolted in Conyod, filling him with warmth.

After nearly a minute, Sletran slowly collapsed on top of Conyod. His kiss was deep, the kiss of sheer love. He rolled them so they lay facing on their sides, legs tangled as they sighed breaths of completion.

Sletran chuckled. Conyod gazed at him, adoring him as he had for years. "What's so funny?"

"I was imagining thanking Erybet tomorrow for enhancing the mood."

Conyod laughed at the idea. "You know, even if he turned out to be a shitty candidate for our Dramok, he's at least an inspiration for sex. Not that you needed help."

"Oh, listen to you, charmer. You have no shame."

"None at all."

* * * *

"Your whole family was in the military? Including your mother?"

Erybet grinned as he escorted Conyod from the sim arena, where squads in basic training could fight holographic enemies in a myriad of simulated settings. "She was a specialist who tracked enemy movements remotely and kept battalions informed."

"She never saw battle then."

"No, but she was combat trained. Back when she enlisted, there were only two squads of Mataras in the ground forces. The military kept them from actual fighting, of course, but they went through boot camp the same as the men."

"I bet there aren't females now in any capacity."

"They're so few, and they're too precious to chance no matter how safe we feel we can keep them." He felt a twinge of sorrow for his mother and her career, cut off too soon. "The ground forces forcibly retired the last of them twenty years ago…my mother dressed her high commander down for it in no uncertain terms, but it was out of his hands."

It was on the tip of Erybet's tongue to invite Conyod to meet his parents, but he knew it was early for such a move. Especially if Sletran came along, which the Dramok suspected Conyod would want.

Erybet had experienced his share of infatuations. He knew how intense obsession with a new lover could be. Wasn't it the case now for him where the handsome Imdiko was concerned? Though he could see it developing into more as they spent time together.

He'd grabbed the opportunity to get Conyod alone when Sletran had to report for battleground drills in the field. Conyod had been agreeable to the tour, especially where the base's mental health facility was concerned. It was where Erybet was leading him.

Erybet was almost certain he could build on the interest he had in Conyod. He was older and had no expectations of perfection when it came to a potential clanmate. Attraction, respect, and the nameless something that felt better than right when one enjoyed the company of another…he felt those were the ingredients capable of building a lasting relationship and ensure love. Unlike infatuation, the hungry feeling in a man's heart that often burned out after a few months.

He had the desperate gnawing sensation for Conyod, but beneath the dizzying fascination were the important pieces, the real foundation for a long-term bond.

Conyod was smart but young. He'd admitted Sletran was his first important relationship. Erybet figured the Imdiko's infatuation for the Nobek hadn't established the building blocks necessary for an enduring connection. Conyod had spoken of Sletran as his hero…certainly an overblown description reality would eventually tarnish. Sletran was a fine officer and a decent man…but Conyod's adoration had the markings of a mere head-over-heels crush. Erybet couldn't take it seriously.

"Here we are," he smiled at the Imdiko whom he increasingly hoped to entice to a real love affair. He escorted him into the state-of-the-art mental health facility Sletran had neglected to show Conyod on his previous visits.

Conyod couldn't help but be impressed by the tour Erybet took him on. The base was more than a mere physical training facility for soldiers, which had been his impression beforehand. During past visits, Sletran had taken him to the safe locations where he drilled his soldiers, his office, and the mess hall, so those areas were familiar to Conyod. As were his quarters, where they tended to rush as soon as possible when Sletran's duties were finished for the day. They saw too little of each other in the flesh. Lovemaking was usually their focus when they could manage it, as well as the intimate talks in sex's sweet aftermath.

Erybet showed him areas he'd had little care for in Sletran's company. He was amazed by the technological side of battleground warfare, by the intellectual training that was just as vigorous as the physical preparation, by the support facilities without which successful combat and care for the troops couldn't be achieved.

He was dazzled by Erybet. The man's beauty was matched by his careful attention to Conyod and how easy the Imdiko found him to talk to. There was a sense of respect from the group commander. He never talked down to Conyod's ignorance of how the ground forces performed their duty to the empire. He spoke to him as an equal, though there was a sense of him assuming casual control…similar to Tuher's easy Dramok command of his ranch and clan.

Conyod had been wrapped up in Sletran for so long, he hadn't considered any Dramok for a romantic partner until recently. Erybet, who'd interested him from the start, was making major inroads to challenge his past lack of noticing the leader breed.

"How often do you get called to actually fight?" he asked when they stopped for a snack in a small shop on the site.

"In the last decade, about once every couple of years. Bi'is and Asicar have been fairly quiet as of late, so our battalions cycle through the bases on the border with them every six months…my group isn't due for its turn for a couple of years if our enemies don't start serous shit."

"The Tragooms?"

"Only when we discover they've entrenched themselves on a planet or moon near the empire or Plasius or Joshada. If the fleet can't simply blast their ships and call it done, we go in and remind the bastards where they belong…in pieces."

"It sounds like it doesn't come up much."

"The flyboys are pretty good about keeping tabs on where the Tragoom chieftains are cruising. The last time I was called to fight them, I was still just a squad leader. It was a couple years ago."

Conyod thought. He recalled Sletran had been off-planet around that time for a four-week stretch, though the Nobek hadn't said why. He must have been part of the force Erybet was discussing.

"It's a good thing you don't have clanmates stuck on Kalquor while you maintain the empire's safety for the rest of us. They'd be worried sick while you're gone." The idea of Sletran having to fight murderous enemies while Conyod waited and wondered if he'd return home brought him pause. The idea of falling for a second clanmate in the military and agonizing over him too…

"I'd stay in touch as much as possible to keep my clanmate left at home at ease." Erybet's fingertips briefly touched Conyod's arm as it rested on the low table they sat at. "Sometimes there are top secret missions, and we have to hide our whereabouts, even from clanmates. Fortunately, it doesn't happen often. Almost never, in fact."

"Good." Conyod smiled. "Otherwise, the wonderful mental health facility you showed me would have to take on the civilian clanmates losing their shit."

"Any soldier who has a clanmate who cares so much is a lucky man, and I envy him."

Erybet's gaze on him was intense. Conyod wondered if his statement was in general…or if he were speaking of how he'd feel if he were Conyod's Dramok.