Kailin's Keeper

Thank you all, for your wonderful reviews, I really appreciate it! Someone mentioned that they didn't see any quotation marks " " or apostrophes ' in my stories. I can only apologise for that, I definately put them in, and I can see them in the work. But I do know that if I access it from my phone, it's all messed up. I'm not sure how the formating changes. Eek.

Trigger warning: brief mention of underage sex, no description.

OooO Dinner OooO

“…I can’t believe you stayed with her.” Axial shook his head after hearing a brief rundown of Kailin’s visit with their absent mother. “I know I wouldn’t be able to stomach it.”

“It was different for me, I guess.” Kailin explained, standing at the side of the formal living room with his brothers, “After all, you must have some memories of her from your childhood, I never knew her.” Araz had been 12 and Axial had been 7 when Kailin was born and their mother left the kingdom.

“Rekking bitch,” Araz muttered. Axial nodded gravely in agreement. “I don’t think Father ever really got over it.”

“Well, how could you?” Axial demanded, “Imagine finding out the woman you bonded with wasn’t who you thought she was. Something as basic as her drive.”

Araz smiled indulgently and pat Axial on the shoulder. He reassured, “I don’t think you have to worry about that with Wen. That young woman is very comfortable in her submission.”

Axial ruefully shook his head and went with the change of topic, “Speaking of my lovely bondmate, I should go rescue Wen.”

Kailin glanced around. Lukin was standing at the side of the room a few feet from Axial’s bondmate. Wen was standing with her hands locked in front of her, head bowed, cheeks pale. Every once and a while, Lukin would say something and she would glance over, responding diffidently. “Rescue her? She’s with Lukin.”

“Exactly,” Axial said a little ominously.

Araz snickered at the middle brother and then teased, “Jealous?”

“What? Why would he be jealous?” Kailin interrupted, clearly puzzled by the comments. He looked at Axial and assured him, “Lukin doesn’t have a thing for Wen.”

“No.” Araz agreed with a mocking grin. “But she’s a submissive, and Paniz…is Paniz.”

Axial harrumphed.

Kailin frowned. It felt like his brothers were in on some joke he didn’t get. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, come on, Kailin. Even you can’t be that thick-headed.”

He just looked at them blankly.

“Paniz’s drive is dominant to an extreme degree,” Araz spelled it out. “There’s not a submissive around that doesn’t sense that and respond to it in some way. Bonded or not.”

Kailin knew submissives and dominants alike responded to Lukin’s drive. He had seen dominants alternately get their hackles up or bow down, seeing him as a challenge to their power. And he had seen even the most reserved submissives simper and stare and throw themselves at Lukin.

“It’s not only that,” Axial added. “He may stimulate her drive, but he also scares the hell out of her.”

“Oh, come on,” Kailin said, exasperated.

“Kailin, the man is terrifying,” Araz stated.

Kailin huffed and challenged, “You can’t say you’re scared of him.”

“No. But only because I know Paniz is loyal to me. I’ve grown up with him. I trust him. Otherwise….”

With a scoff, Kailin shook his head. “You two are crazy.”

Axial looked at his younger brother, really looked. “You’re serious? He doesn’t scare you at all?”

“No,” Kailin’s answer was immediate. The idea was ridiculous and his tone reflected his opinion of it. “Of course not.”

Both brothers stared at him until he began to squirm, uncomfortable, “What?”

Axial opened his mouth, but Araz cut him off before he could say anything, “It that something burning I smell?”

Kailin didn’t smell anything.

Axial didn’t appear to either, but he dropped the subject and called over, “Wen.”

She looked over at her bondmate immediately.

“Come, let’s check on dinner.”

She excused herself from Lukin and practically ran to Axial’s side. He slid an arm around her waist and they disappeared into the other room.

“Perhaps you should see if they need help,” Araz suggested.

“But – ”

“Kailin.” The crown prince’s tone was firm.

“Yes, Araz.” Kailin acquiesced and trailed after the couple.

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“Having fun yet?” Araz prodded as he walked up beside Lukin.

Lukin only grunted.

“Dinner should be served soon.”

“Let’s just hope it’s over soon.” Lukin grumbled.

“I doubt it.” Araz smirked slightly, “Six courses takes a while.”

“Six courses?!” Lukin almost choked on the words.

Araz merely nodded.

“I don’t see why any meal needs six courses.”

“That’s the way Wen wanted it.” Araz explained, “Traditional.”

“She shouldn’t have a say.” Lukin muttered with a look of censure.

Araz snickered, “You know Axial dotes on her.”

“I know. I can’t believe he became the sort of dominant who bows down to his submissive, it’s unnatural.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Araz responded, “It’s tragic.”

“What’s tragic?” Axial came up behind them, holding two glasses of an effervescent wine. He gave one to each man.

“Wen claiming your balls in the bonding,” Araz explained with a sly grin as he took the glass.

Axial just laughed. “Just you wait, dear brother. You too, Paniz. One day…”

Araz lifted his glass mockingly, “To that day never coming.”

Lukin lifted his wine as well. Their glasses clinked. “I’ll drink to that.”

As Lukin toasted and took a swig, he could hear Kailin in the back ground, laughing at something Wen said to him as she set a serving bowl on the table. The sound made his stomach tighten.

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During the dinner, Lukin couldn’t help but stare at Axial and Wen. He couldn’t help it because they sat directly across from him. Wen knelt comfortably on a dove grey velvet cushion beside Axial’s chair. The dinner was only family, so the lower position wasn’t necessary. Wen had opted for it anyway, while Kailin, the only other submissive in the room, had chosen a chair at the other end of the table.

The soup course was almost over when Lukin noticed the cuffs. Wen was wearing delicate, matching platinum bracelets, one on each wrist. They were undoubtedly bonding cuffs.

It was an old tradition, harking back to a time when dominants would tie their chosen submissives up in order to explore their bodies and bend their wills after the bonding. Now, of course, in the 35th century, things were not quite so barbaric, though the traditional symbol lasted through the years. Nearly all bonded submissives wore them all the time. Wen’s cuffs sparkled in the light from the candles on the table. They were probably lined with some sort of colourless gemstone, Lukin surmised.

“Is everyone enjoying the food?” Axial inquired, his expression was proud, “Wen made it all herself. I have never eaten as well as I have since Wen agreed to bond with me.”

The slender woman on her knees glowed prettily at the praise.

Paniz realized then there were no servants or slaves in the suite. Unusual for a royal quarters. Wen must have taken over all those duties. Some submissives enjoyed that; cooking and cleaning for their dominants, serving them through domestic chores.

Each dominant and submissive had their own drive which was completely unique and different from anyone else’s. This apparently was theirs.

For a moment, a split second really, Lukin let himself consider Kailin’s drive.

The youngest prince was submissive, certainly, but not servile. Kailin would not receive much satisfaction from cooking and cleaning and washing for his dominant. No, Kailin would serve in other ways; pleasing his dominant with his wit and cleverness, with his determination… with his body.

Lukin bit back a groan, his prick thickening against the seam of his pants. Thankfully the table hid any evidence of his arousal.

Lukin frowned at his own offensive behaviour. He had no right to think about Kailin in that respect.

He dug into the fourth course and tried to ignore everything else.

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After dinner, they retired to the parlour. It was a quiet, intimate room with plush sofas and thick rugs. Large double doors opened up to a balcony and warm desert air wafted in. Wen had provided a spiced liquor to sip with a variety of after dinner pastries.

Lukin sat facing Araz and Axial on a pair of sofas. Unsurprisingly, the discussion had drifted casually towards military matters; a subject dear to both Araz and Lukin. Axial, much more interested by budgets and accounts, gamely offered his two cents when called upon.

Again, Wen chose to sit at Axial’s feet. Her hands, cuffed with the sparkling bracelets, were folded demurely on her lap.

Kailin sat across from her on the floor, long legs folded under himself, leaning back against the sofa Lukin was sitting on.

He was close. Very close. Lukin could feel the heat from Kailin’s body against his leg. It was distracting to say the least.

He was in the middle of describing tactical options for dealing with a series of minor rebellions on the eastern front when Lukin noticed Araz kept glancing down instead of listening. He followed the crown prince’s eye line to find out what was so distracting.

Oh.

He hadn’t even realized his fingers were methodically brushing the silken ends of Kailin’s short, honey-toned hair. He stopped at once and pulled his hand back, locking his traitorous fingers on his thighs.

Without stopping his own conversation, Kailin glanced up, curious at the sudden withdrawal. When Lukin refused to look down at him, Kailin dismissed it and turned back at Wen. Araz arched an eyebrow, but thankfully said nothing about it.

Lukin tried to get the conversation back on track. Regrettably, his body wasn’t in agreement. The heat, the close proximity, the temptation was physically painful.

Without warning, Kailin’s head butted softly against his thigh. Like a pet looking for their owner’s touch or like a submissive looking for their mate’s attention. No doubt the boy didn’t even realize he was doing it.

Lukin did though. So did his traitorous prick, which tried to stand up and take notice.

Nearing his breaking point, Lukin stood abruptly. “I should be going; I have training early in the morning.”

Shifting up to her feet, Wen bowed her head. “Can I get anything for you to take with you, Commander? More pastries, Sir? I can put some – ”

“No.” Lukin cut her off, “Thank you. It was a wonderful meal, Wen. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten something that didn’t come out of the cafeteria.”

Kailin unfolded his legs and rose as well, addressing his brother and Wen, “Thank you for –”

“Sit.” Lukin snapped, “You can stay, Excellency.”

“But –”

“I’m sure one of your brothers can take you back to your rooms later.” He needed out of Kailin’s vicinity, now. Burning Suns knew when his self-restraint would snap; at which point he didn’t know what he would do. But it wouldn’t be pretty.

“I –”

“Stay!” Lukin ordered bad-temperedly, before charging out of the rooms.

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Though Lukin’s rooms were in the royal tower, as Axial’s were, he took the first exit from the building, escaping out into the night air. Burning Suns, he needed to clear his head. He started walking away from the tower.

He left the high walls around the courtyard and started walking towards the training gym. Maybe someone would be up still and looking for a fight. He could let off some steam by knocking a few recruits around.

Halfway to the gym, he found a release that might prove even more satisfying.

Several of his men were standing in the shadows behind the barracks. They were out of uniform, smoking, and drawing a little crowd. From a distance, Lukin watched as several different men walked past, chatted up one of the men loitering by the building, and then left with him. It became quickly clear, there were looking for sex.

Lukin stalked over silently and then spoke, “Gentlemen, good evening.”

He could tell the moment they realized who he was, a wash of terror appeared over their faces. Cigarettes fell from fingers; several of them sank back on suddenly unstable legs.

Lukin let his gaze slide over each man. Ah, there, near the back. Filix J’In. J’In was a section leader, a good fighter, mid 20s, handsome enough despite a crooked nose and thin lips. More relevant was the fact J’In was a submissive and he had propositioned Lukin numerous times in the past.

“I was under the impression curfew passed a few hours ago.”

There was a chorus of ‘Yes, Commander’s.

“I’m not inclined to let this pass again. Not so near to the royal tower. Am I understood?”

Nods. A glimmer of hope that perhaps they wouldn’t be punished for their obvious rule break.

“You are all dismissed.”

There was a mass exodus as they pushed past each other to escape their commander’s disapproving stare.

Lukin stopped one of them. “J’In. Stay behind for a moment.”

The section leader jumped when his name was spoken. He froze in his tracks and looked to Lukin. Not one of his friends had the guts to try and stay behind and wait for him.

Lukin gestured to him, “Come here.”

J’In walked closer, nearly tripping over his own feet. “Commander, I can expl…”

“Are you looking to be used?”

Mouth opening and closing in surprise, J’In looked over at him, sure he was hearing wrong.

“I want you to service me,” Lukin clarified.

“What…? I…Uh…”

“For the night. Not even the night.” Lukin amended, “An hour. You can say no. If you do, you won’t be penalised. We’ll never mention this again.”

“No! I mean, yes.” J’In’s eyes flared with arousal and excitement. “I want to. Rek!”

“One session.” Lukin cautioned, “I don’t want you to think it means anything more.”

The section leader nodded, head bobbing quickly, submissively, “I wouldn’t presume…”

Lukin’s smile was predatory. He walked around the man and moved into an unlit corridor used only for supplies that led into the barracks. J’In followed behind him.

Lukin stopped when they were out of sight of the street. He let his dominant drive out of play, “Get down on your knees.”

Needing no other prompting, J’In slid down to the ground. Aqua eyes stared up at Lukin under a fringe of blond hair. Lukin’s jaw flexed. It was a blessing and a curse that all Arathrians shared those similar physical traits.

“Take my cock out.”

With a look of hunger, the submissive man unfastened Lukin’s pants, adjusting the material until Lukin’s prick sprang free. Thanks the torturous evening, it was already half-hard and darkening in colour.

Without being asked, J’In took a hold of Lukin’s shaft and started pumping it in his fist. The younger man moaned as his own eager cock pulsed, trapped in his pants. He simpered gratefully, “Thank you for letting me serve you, sir.”

No bothering to respond, Lukin let J’In stroke his cock until it hardened fully. Once his shaft was thick and hard and curving up, Lukin knocked the man’s hand off.

Then Lukin grabbed that golden hair with both hands and jerked the man’s mouth closer. From Lukin’s new sight line, the man’s features were obscured, he could be anyone. Anyone with a slender-strong build and gold-blond hair.

Lukin growled and pulled the hair again. “Unless you tell me ‘no’ right now, I’m going to shove my cock down your throat.” He felt a shudder of arousal from the submissive. So J’In liked it rough. That was good, because Lukin had no intention of being gentle tonight.

Instead of a verbal response, Lukin felt the warmth of the submissive’s lips wrapping around the ridge surrounding the head of his thick cock. A tongue swirled over the tip. Uncaring of the man’s comfort, Lukin bucked his hips, shoving his prick deeper into the wet hole surrounding it. J’In was clearly very experienced. He gagged slightly but quickly accommodated the new girth, relaxing the back of his throat and inhaling through flared nostrils.

Lukin tightened his fingers in the hair, feeling the softness. He groaned, closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, letting the pleasure wash over him. Letting his mind drift to places it shouldn’t go.

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Later, Lukin lay in bed, hands propped behind his head. His dark hair was still wet from the scalding shower he had taken when he got home. It was close to two in the morning, but he was restless and wide wake. Apparently he wasn’t the only one, as a knock resonated on his door.

He rolled out of bed and cracked the door open a few inches. Kailin stood in the hallway.

“What are you doing here?”

The young prince was wearing wrinkled sleeping pants and a white robe knotted tightly in front. His hair was a tousled mess and his eyes looked dry and red. “I can’t sleep.”

“And because you can’t sleep, I can’t sleep?” Lukin growled.

Hands fisted. “Fine. I’ll leave.”

Lukin sighed and swung the door open. “You might as well stay now that you’re here. It will save me having to get dressed and escort you back to your rooms.”

Needing no other encouragement, Kailin came in. He made himself at home in Lukin’s rooms, just as he had always done.

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18-year-old Lukin knew who would be at the door when a knock sounded.

He groaned, shoving a panting, rutting, naked body off himself.

The other man fell back on the mattress, flushed and slick with perspiration. He cursed violently, giving his short, but thick, erection a pump with his fist, the organ was almost purple with engorgement. “What the rek, Paniz? It was just getting good.”

Lukin narrowed his eyes, climbing off the bed and scooping clothes off the floor, he threw some of them at the sweaty, winded man. “Get dressed.”

“You’re kidding?!” the man rolled out of the bed, his erection bobbing, dark and painfully hard looking.

Lukin’s prick was just as hard, he brutally pushes it down in his pants, jerking his clothes on. He grit his teeth as the knocking came again. “Get dressed!”

“Just ignore them.”

“Get dressed. Now!”

“You don’t tell me what to do!” the tall, older Arathrian baulked at being ordered around by the younger, darker Arlonite.

Lukin slammed his hand against the other man’s chest, staring him down. “Get. Dressed. Now.”

The man pulled his clothes on, with a glower of disgust.

The knock came more insistently. Lukin took a moment to snap the sheets over the rumpled bed, trying to make it look more presentable and less sleazy; he raked his fingers through his black hair trying to do the same.

Once the other man was clothed, Lukin opened the door. As expected, two guards stood in the hallway, he looked down and Kailin stood between them, head barely reaching their waists.

“It took you five knocks to answer the door.” The little boy gave him a disapproving look.

Lukin didn’t answer he merely stood aside and let the other man pass through the door out of the room.

“Filthy Arlonite tease.” The man snarled, deliberately bumping up against Lukin on the way out. “You’re so getting it tomorrow at training.”

Lukin grit his teeth, holding his temper in check.

“Who was that?” The little prince demanded, a ridiculous lordly voice considering he was wearing light blue footed pajamas, his blond hair was a sleep-tousled mess – and of course considering he was only six. “What was he doing in your bedroom?”

Lukin didn’t respond to that. He sighed, “What are you doing here, Kailin? It’s past your bedtime.”

“I couldn’t sleep. I want to stay in your room.”

“You can’t do that, Kailin.”

“You let me before.”

He had, too. Last week the young prince had been sick with a cold. The bug had wiped him out, so he was sleeping frequently and was weak in between naps. As Kailin’s keeper, he was charged with looking after Kailin during the day. He had let the boy sleep in his bed during the day, and when night came he couldn’t be bothered to move the boy, so Kailin had spent the night a few times.

“You were ill.”

Greenish eyes stared up at him mutinously; he feigned coughing sound. “Ack..ugh.”

Lukin sighed and addressed the guards. “You can go. I’ll take it from here.”

The guards withdrew and Kailin raced into the room, making a beeline for the bed.

Lukin stopped him with a roared, “Stop!”

The little blond skidded to a stop inches from the bed. He craned his head around to look at Lukin.

Lukin pointed a finger at him. “Don’t move.”

The boy froze like a statue.

Lukin went to a small closet in corner of the room, he pulled out fresh sheets. There was no way he would let Kailin touch the sheets that were covered in sex and sweat and…ugliness.

He quickly changed the sheets, all the while Kailin stayed completely motionless, treating it like a game. When the task was complete he picked the boy up and placed him in the center of the bed, tucking him in.

“Good night, Kailin.”

“Good night, Luk.”

Lukin took the dirty sheets to the chair by the door, sitting down and propping his feet up on the table, settling in for another uncomfortable night sleeping in the hard chair.

“Luk?”

“Go to sleep, Kailin.”

A soft little yawn came from the direction of the bed. “But, Luk?”

A sigh. “What Kailin?”

“Were you going to have a sleepover with that man?”

Lukin winced in the dark; the hate-filled, hormone-driven sex Kailin had interrupted had not been a sleepover. The man in question was one of his supervisors, a narrow-minded bigot who, Lukin assumed, was just going slumming…Maybe just to tell his buddies he fucked an Arlonite in general, or Lukin specifically, as the young man had developed a reputation as being a rough but easy fuck. He knew they called him the Arlonite Whore. He was handsome enough, his 18-year-old body was muscular and fit, and he was exotic here with his distinctive dark Arlonite features and matching temper.

Growing up with so little, he learned to use any little advantage he could get. And if could use his body and his sex to get ahead in any way, he would do it.

He had first discovered this bargaining chip with a 29-year-old division leader. Lukin had been 14 at the time. He figured out his division leader would let him have extra time on the training range in exchange for blow jobs. Since then he had slept with dozens of men to gain privileges. It was all tactics and little pleasure. Many of them he didn’t remember or deliberated had blocked out.

When Lukin failed to answer, Kailin instructed in a dictatorial tone of voice, again at odds with his young age. “I don’t like you having others sleep over.”

Lukin had never felt dirtier.

“Unless they are me,” Kailin continued. When no response came, the little boy prompted, “Luk?”

“What now?” His voice was sharper than he intended, his self-directed anger bleeding out.

There was a hesitation, Kailin’s tone changed to tentative, “Thank you for not sending me away.”

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“Thanks for letting me stay.” Kailin lay on his side on the bed, Lukin’s navy sheets pulled up half way up his chest. “It’s so weird being home again.”

There was a silent moment as Lukin shifted on the sofa, attempted to find a comfortable position. The barely-padded arm of the sofa stuck into his back no matter how he stretched out. “You’ll get used to it again.”

“I guess so.” There was a long silence; Lukin was almost convinced Kailin had fallen asleep, then the young prince spoke again, “What do you think happens now?”

“Now?”

“Yeah. I’m 22. I’m finished school. I’ve seen the world. What now?”

“Now? Now, you go to sleep.”

Kailin groaned, “You’re no help, Lukin.”

“Has anyone ever told you, you talk too much?”

“You. Nearly every day of my life.”

“Good night, Kailin.” Lukin’s firm tone broke no arguments this time.

Kailin shifted, sheets rustled, and then he closed his eyes, “Good night, Sir.”

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Please do review if you have time, I love to hear what you think. Big changes next chapter, a bonding promise made on Kailin's behalf by his father is revealed. Hint: Lukin doesn't take the news well :P