Chapter 2

2

E ben spent the evening bent over and begging in the Ka -esh dyflissa , taking his relief however he could gain it.

There was never a shortage of options in the clan’s dark, well-equipped pleasure-room, most of all for an unmarked, unmated, eager Ka -esh with no limits or boundaries. Eben was more than happy to bend, to beg, to welcome whatever pricks might wish to use him, no matter the orc or the clan in question. And while Skai orcs still never came to the dyflissa — Eben had heard they had their own dedicated pleasure-room, deep in that Skai wing — these days there was usually a big, brawny Ash - Kai or two, and occasionally an adventurous, fat-pricked Grisk , too. And tonight, Eben had gained the attentions of a handsome, burly Ash - Kai named Othan , who stroked him with cautious, clever hands, as his hard, hungry prick plumbed deep inside.

“ Ach , sweet Ka -esh,” Othan grunted, falling free of Eben’s spasming body with a squelch, before plunging back inside, seating himself deep in a single unbroken stroke. “ Can you always take it this easy and deep? Ach , I ken I have reached your” — he gasped, as Eben purposefully clutched him — “your heart .”

It betrayed a shocking lack of anatomical awareness, or even basic education, but in this moment, Eben didn’t care. Not with this much hard prick buried inside him, taking pleasure with him, pumping its seed deep. Not as deep as that Skai would have gone, no, and Othan’s prick didn’t boast a single scar, either. But Othan was fucking Eben , now, and Eben belatedly, fervently nodded, clamping tighter against that thick pulsing prick.

“ You can go harder, too, if you like,” he breathed over his shoulder, his usual hesitations blessedly buried beneath the pleasure and the frenzy, the stark desperate craving. “ Use your claws and teeth, or a switch, or a whip. Whatever you please.”

But behind him, Othan’s chuckle was hoarse and disbelieving, his big hands carefully caressing Eben’s shivering flanks. “ Couldn’t harm you, sweet Ka -esh,” he gasped. “ Wish for your joy, ach?”

Eben had to choke down the surge of dark, bitter frustration, but he appeased himself with driving back deeper onto Othan’s prick, sinking into the sensation of it, the challenge of gripping it as hard as he could, locking it into place. And that was enough to make Othan wrench all over, crying out shocked and shrill — and yes, yes, there was his seed, flooding fast and abundant into Eben , filling his empty places from the bottom up, until he felt almost full, almost, almost content.

Afterwards , Othan wanted to kiss and cuddle him, but Eben suddenly couldn’t bear his touch, the longing in his eyes — and his desperate glance around the room thankfully settled on Gareth , who’d just finished with the excessively beautiful Julian , his first fuck of the evening. And Gareth was a good friend, a generous Ka -esh clanmate, because upon seeing the look on Eben’s face, he instantly came over toward them. Not sparing a single glance for Othan as he smiled at Eben , and reached to slide a slow, suggestive hand against his arse.

“ Ready for more, Eben ?” Gareth asked, and yes, he was already turning Eben around, guiding him away from Othan . “ Wish for some steel in your rump, this time?”

Eben furiously nodded, and shot what he hoped was an apologetic smile toward Othan’s rather crestfallen face. And when Gareth shoved Eben double, he gratefully arched and opened for Gareth’s familiar prick, hissing with the sweet, stunning pain of it slamming inside.

The pain was due to Gareth’s multiple solid steel piercings, which were embedded not only in his cleft, but all the way down his shaft. They’d sent more than one orc to the sickroom, Eben knew, but he usually had enough control to handle it, to make himself open when he needed to, and not to let that steel-studded head anywhere near the delicate tissues deeper within. But today, his control seemed frayed, lost somewhere else, and he choked aloud at the sudden scrape of pain, the distinct scent of it flaring in the air as Gareth drew out again.

“ All right, Eben ?” Gareth asked behind him, his voice sharp with genuine concern, and Eben had to drag in a shaky breath, squeezing his eyes shut. No . Foolish . He would not weep over being asked a stupid single question, and he knew Gareth didn’t care, not like that. As thoughtful and considerate as Gareth usually was, Eben knew how deeply he longed for someone who would fight him over the pain, who would greet his grating invading steel with vengeance and teeth. But Eben was not that kind of orc, had never been that kind of orc, Eben wanted… he wanted…

“ Ach , I am well,” Eben belatedly replied, and then he twitched and gasped at the sweet, surprising sensation of Gareth’s breath, his slick seeking tongue, delving into his open, dripping crease. A gift, truly, and Eben fought to keep Othan’s seed inside, away from Gareth’s lovely licking mouth. “ Th -thank you.”

He could already feel the pain prickling, fading beneath the wondrous analgesic of orc saliva, and when Gareth stood tall behind him again, perhaps hesitating, Eben blatantly arched and opened himself, as wide as he could. Shuddering at the feel of Othan’s hot seed escaping, streaking liberally down his trembling thighs, but he knew Gareth didn’t care about other orcs’ seed on his prick, and oh, he was already leaning forward and nudging in again, more gently this time.

“ You are sure?” Gareth asked, pushing in with a little more certainty, until Eben stopped it, clamped him tightly in place. “ Naught is amiss? I thought” — his voice dropped as he drew out again — “you should have welcomed an orc such as Othan ploughing you thus, and wishing to tend you and fuss over you, after.”

Eben couldn’t hide his wince, or his shameful, foolish reply, not with the beautiful strength of Gareth’s steel dragging deep inside him. “ Ach , I should have welcomed this,” he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut. “ But today, I was in the — Skai wing, and I —”

His voice failed him there, his thoughts blooming with the vision of the tall Skai’s fat, scarred, dripping prick, his quick, approving smile. While behind him, Gareth’s thrusts slowed, and Eben could feel his focus now, could taste the surprise in his scent. “ You did not — mate with a Skai , did you?” he asked. “ I cannot scent this upon you…?”

He left the question dangling, and Eben shook his head, shoved back a little harder onto that scraping steel. “ No ,” he said, too insistent, too betraying. “ But I —”

He … what? He could have done it? He’d wanted to do it? He’d wanted to wander aimlessly about the Skai wing, and then turn around, and find that tall, smiling orc again. And in another realm, one where Eben was calm and confident and desirable, he might have smiled and said, It turns out I am lost after all, good sir. Would you show me the way?

Foolish , his distant thoughts chanted, and he again shook his head, focused on staying soft for that sweet sliding steel. “ It was foolish,” he croaked. “ There was just one who was — kind. Helped me. Not like — I thought.”

He winced again, shaking his head, because a moment’s kindness in a corridor had nothing to do with an entire clan’s sins, with the path of Ka -esh grief and devastation the Skai had left in their wake for the past half-century. And it made no sense for Eben to even notice that Skai , or care, let alone to have him ruin a perfectly good evening of perfectly good ploughing pricks.

“ You ken we cannot judge a whole clan upon the actions of some, many years past,” came Gareth’s slow, thoughtful voice behind Eben , in strong contrast to how his steel-studded prick was sinking in faster now, scattering out jolts of pleasure around it. “ You ken the Skai have new leaders now, and they are seeking these new ways, ach? And seeking to make amends for their past sins.”

Eben nodded, shifting his upper body heavier against the wall, feeling the welcome scrape of rough stone against his sweaty skin. “ But they still aren’t even following the rules,” he gasped, because it was the only safe statement he could grasp at, in the whirling mess now clouding his thoughts. “ They were openly fucking in the corridor!”

His voice came out sounding inordinately irate, and he fully deserved Gareth’s amused chuckle behind him, the sharper thrust of his hips. “ I had you outside the forge just last week, did I not?” he said wryly. “ What is the harm, if there are only orcs of age within scenting distance? We all know what is afoot, whether it is before our eyes or no.”

But there was a harm, Eben’s aggravated thoughts pointed out. A harm of some clumsy, unsuspecting fool Ka -esh walking past, and not being able to look away. Not being able to stop thinking of that tall, stunning Skai , and his beautiful scarred prick. A prick that would be a true joy to milk and squeeze, to welcome deep inside, into one’s most tender places…

And it would be a joy to drink from, too. For those scars, those teeth-marks, laddered up the Skai’s prick, meant that he often offered the gift of his fresh blood and seed together — and there was no other taste like it in all the realm. Eben’s own extensive research had suggested that there was no other nourishment like it, either, nothing else that would better fatten a sick or weakened or weary orc.

And even the thought of it, of that stunning smiling Skai offering it, was drawing up Eben’s bollocks, coiling the longing tight and close. But he suddenly couldn’t bear to empty himself on the vision of this, the too-powerful memory of this, and therefore welcome even more of that Skai’s destruction, his devastation, without even a touch —

“ Could you use — the switch,” he gasped over his shoulder. “ Or the whip. Please .”

Gareth’s breath huffed against Eben’s sweaty back, but he accordingly reached up to the well-stocked wall beside them, and pulled down a short, coiled whip. But even as he unfurled it, giving an experimental little snap into the air, his other hand stroked at Eben’s flank, perhaps felt the heavy dragging of his gasping breaths.

“ There is naught wrong with broadening your view of others, as you grow older and wiser,” Gareth’s low voice said, even as the whip’s fall gently teased at Eben’s back. “ And naught wrong with desiring a Skai , either.”

Eben knew that, of course he knew that — broadening views along with desires was embedded deep in the Ka -esh clan’s very soul, was it not? And he rapidly, fervently nodded, but the lash still didn’t strike, just kept taunting and trailing like that, making him pay attention, making him listen.

“ I ken you only need to learn more,” Gareth continued, slower. “ To mayhap watch them for a spell, and see what they do, and how they live. How they treat their kin and those they care for. What they long for, in their kin, and their mates. And then, after this” — a very gentle, teasing swat of the lash — “you can choose what to do with this. Whether you should welcome a Skai into your life, or your bed.”

It was sound advice, Eben could admit, and far more generous than he likely deserved. And far more presumptuous, too, because Eben wasn’t nearly interesting or compelling enough for any Skai to want in his bed, most of all a Skai like that — but even so, he couldn’t help his swift, grateful smile over his shoulder, his eyes warm on Gareth’s flushed face. Feeling how Gareth’s cock had swelled larger, too, scraping his walls with that sweet sharp steel, while the whip raised high, quivering in the air…

And with a hiss and a splatter, Eben was breaking beneath the lash, the Skai finally, blissfully forgotten amidst the pain and the screams.