Chapter Four

Ari got very little sleep that night, a fact he would have liked to have attributed entirely to anxiety over the significant risk and high stakes of their upcoming journey. He could confidently say all of that was definitely a factor.

However.

He glared down the length of his body at his tented trousers as though the sheer force of his disapproval could rectify the situation. He was abysmally unsuccessful.

Deciding on the course of ignoring the situation until it improved, he busied himself with organizing the freshly delivered supplies, checking everything off on his pad as he went.

When Orin returned to the ship in the afternoon with a parcel under his arm, Ari ducked into his laboratory, face burning with the effort not to guess at the contents.

When they met at the table to discuss star maps and codes and compare calculations, Ari allowed his tension to melt away under the soothing repetition of mathematics.

Until Orin met his eyes with a slow smile, brushing broad fingertips over his own lips as if trying to wipe it away.

The situation resumed with an intensity bordering on painful.

The only thing that relieved the tension was the gut-wrenching moment when they strapped into their seats as Ari got his first chance to witness Orin’s capabilities as a pilot.

Used to the sensation of turbulence and ominous quaking upon takeoff, Ari could only observe in astonishment as they broke atmo without a tremor.

Orin shot a cheeky wink in his direction, eyes wild but hands steady on the controls.

“Like a hot knife through butter, baby!”

Nothing about that should have exacerbated Ari’s situation.

And yet.

He watched Orin pilot the craft with nothing short of exemplary skill as they set a course designed to avoid the notice of any Enforcers patrolling the Verge.

A course that necessitated long stretches of nothing at the slowest pace they could stand.

Ari hung back in the corridor as Orin checked and double-checked the autopilot before declaring them fit for a rest period.

Attempting to appear as though he had business standing there, Ari focused on his pad, tapping the screen every time it went blank from disuse.

Every muscle of his body went rigid as the sound of Orin’s footsteps headed in his direction.

Ari stared at the blank screen until his eyes watered as the footsteps slowed, stopped, and then continued into Orin’s bunk with a hiss of his door sliding shut.

Ari almost dropped his pad in disappointment.

Instead, he opened his door with a heartfelt sigh and tossed his pad to bounce on the bed. He had just turned to close the door but paused at the hiss of Orin’s door sliding open again.

He found honey eyes watching him, crinkled at the edges in a knowing smirk.

“You coming, Red?”

Ari followed Orin into his room like a man sleepwalking, body in motion before his mind could catch up.

He surveyed the bed anxiously, relieved when Orin stopped and turned as soon as his door hissed shut. Relieved until he realized he was stuck between Orin and the bulkhead just behind him, with very little room to move in either direction.

Orin leaned in slightly, resting one hand on the wall over Ari’s head. His expression was open and inquisitive, searching Ari’s face.

“Ever done this before, beautiful?”

Ari tensed. “Of course I have, don’t be ridiculous.”

Orin tilted his head, chocolate-brown hair flopping with the motion, making him resemble nothing so much as an overlarge puppy.

“Naw. You’re greener than those pretty eyes, darling.”

Ari studied the floor, clammy hands clasped behind his back in an effort to curb the trembling.

“Will that be an issue for you?”

He closed his eyes as a large hand grazed over the top of his head, circling around to rest lightly against the nape of his neck. Orin tapped his index finger gently just under Ari’s hairline.

“Just means I gotta be a little more thorough, is all. I’ll take real good care of you, baby, don’t you worry about that. I just gotta ask though. How?”

Ari finally met Orin’s warm gaze, steady beneath the dark shaggy fringe of his hair. “How, what, precisely?”

“How’d a pretty thing like you make it all the way to my big paws completely untouched? Doesn’t seem possible.”

Ari shrugged uncomfortably. “The opportunity has never presented itself. No one has ever been interested in me in such a way before.”

Ari neglected to mention he’d never been so lonely before in all of his life, having been used to the constant companionship of his twin. The loneliness left behind after Theo’s disappearance kept him up at night. He would not squander the opportunity to press close to another person until the loneliness faded, if only for a few moments.

Orin’s grip tightened infinitesimally around Ari’s neck.

“Bull. Shit. They weren’t interested. I been all over the Core, past the Verge and through the dark and I’ve never seen a sight as good as you, gorgeous. Hell, I was ready to beat down three pieces of flotsam who were sniffing after you over at the saloon the moment we met.”

Ari’s face twitched against a smile, attention split between Orin’s steady regard and the rosy flush of his full lips. Lips that parted slowly to reveal the edge of a long tongue peeking out to moisten them.

Ari’s heart engaged in rigorous calisthenics.

He shook his head slightly, wrenching his focus from Orin’s lips. “False flattery is entirely unnecessary. I assure you of my willing participation, regardless.”

Orin blinked so slowly Ari thought for a moment he had simply shut his eyes. “Pardon?”

Ari sighed. “I refer to all of this ‘sweet talk’”—he lifted both hands to bend his index and middle fingers into air quotes to emphasize his point—”you have been directing at me. I do not require flattery and falsehoods to garner my favor, Mr. Stone.”

Mr. Stone frowned, moving a step closer until the heat of him emanated down the length of Ari’s body. A heat rivaled only by Ari’s resulting blush.

“You calling me a liar, Red?”

Ari shook his head, pressing his hands flat against Orin’s chest; it felt like pushing against a wall, having an immediate negative impact on the structural integrity of his knees.

“No. Not as such. I simply. I understand that such words are well intended, but I am also aware of the deficiencies in my physical appearance. You do not need to pretend I am anything other than what I am to gain access to my body, Mr. Stone.”

The solid wall beneath his hands rose and fell in an exaggerated deep breath, the exhalation ruffling the hair at the top of Ari’s head regardless of his carefully applied pomade.

“Yeah, that’s enough of that.”

Ari took a sharp breath of his own as the hand that had rested behind his neck circled around to cup his jaw, spanning from ear to ear with thumb and fingertips. Orin’s irises were molten bronze.

“Think I already told you to call me Orin, sweetheart. You can also call me lots of other things if you want to, but this Mr. Stone shit stays out of the bedroom, understand?”

Ari nodded as best he could within Orin’s grip.

“Good. Now, as for what I’m calling you, you got a choice in that too. You don’t like something I’m saying, you tell me. But don’t you think for a minute that anything I’m telling you is a lie. I say it how I see it and damn, honey, I don’t see nothing but perfection when I look at you.”

Ari had to close his eyes against Orin’s earnestness.

Orin shifted a little closer, fingers readjusting on Ari’s jaw, the thick edge of his thumb sweeping back against one earlobe.

“That’s alright, sugar, we’ll work on that. We got all the time we need and nobody around to interrupt.”

Ari couldn’t suppress the shiver that started in his fingertips and ran a course through his entire body until his lower lip trembled against the webbing between Orin’s forefinger and thumb. He kept his eyes shut tight as he attempted to will it away.

Orin lowered his head to drift his lips down Ari’s hairline to his ear, making gentle shushing noises as he circled Ari’s waist with his other hand. He walked them backward a couple of steps until the cool panels of the bulkhead supported his back.

The hand around his jaw turned his head up and to the side, everything pausing for a breathless moment until he lifted his lashes to find Orin studying his face like he had all the patience in the galaxy.

“Yeah?”

Ari felt the question more than he heard it, Orin’s voice soft and deep within the rumble of his chest, standing close enough that they pressed together with every breath.

Ari swallowed, Orin’s hand stroking gently down his throat as though chasing the motion. “Yeah. Yes,” he whispered.

The heat of Orin’s lips hit Ari’s senses before the weight of them. Ari froze for a second, body tensing until he realized that Orin had paused, just like that. Lips a subtle pressure against Ari’s own, large hands rubbing tiny circles up and down Ari’s back and arms.

Ari relaxed in increments. First, his fingers released from fists to curl tentatively around Orin’s heavy biceps, then his neck released to lean his head back against the metal panel, followed by a slow unraveling of his entire body.

It felt a little like he imagined a solid mineral might upon reaching the melting point, were such a mineral to have somehow achieved sentience.

Orin seemed to have been waiting for Ari to relax, the release of tension sending him into motion.

He dragged his lips slowly across Ari’s before taking his lower lip between his own and sucking gently. Ari gasped and Orin’s tongue slid inside his mouth, just barely meeting Ari’s tongue.

The sensation was electric, shooting all the way down directly to his cock. Ari made a noise in his throat as his hips jerked without his intention. Orin crowded closer, lowering one hand to grasp Ari’s hip as the other rose to hold the back of his head, providing a cushion between Ari’s skull and the bulkhead. He pulled back his head, brushing their lips together a few times before trailing his lips down Ari’s jawline to his ear.

“That’s it, beautiful, just like that.”

Ari keened, Orin’s deep voice and soft words sending a rush of warmth through his entire body. Orin nodded against his neck, grazing the edge of his teeth over Ari’s skin.

“Knew you’d be sweet just like this. Already so good for me, baby.”

Ari moved his hands from where they had been clawing Orin’s biceps to coast over the wide crest of his shoulders, leaving one there as he tentatively explored the span of his back with the other, enjoying the muscles rolling under his hands. Orin huffed quietly as Ari slid his hand under the open hem of his shirt, fingertips barely brave enough to make contact with his skin.

“Good. That’s good, gorgeous. Love it when you touch me.”

Ari nodded mindlessly as the words lifted him higher and higher, growing braver with his hand on Orin’s back, rolling his palm into the firm skin as he dug in with his fingertips.

Orin slid his thigh between Ari’s legs, pressing even closer together until he rubbed against Ari’s throbbing cock. Ari tried to swallow a moan as he shifted restlessly beneath the answering length of Orin’s cock pressed hard against his abdomen.

Orin returned to his lips, less controlled than before, his movements firmer and more insistent. Ari opened to him, thrilling at the reintroduction of their tongues. He tentatively followed Orin’s as it left his mouth, tracing the pillowy inner flesh of Orin’s bottom lip with the pointed tip of his tongue.

Orin groaned into Ari’s mouth, the sound of it rumbling down his throat. Ari grasped at Orin with both hands, sliding the one at his shoulder into the open collar of his shirt, seeking skin. His fingertips eagerly explored the contrast between the silk of Orin’s skin and the rougher texture of his scars.

Orin pulled back to watch him, the amber of his iris nearly swallowed by the dark of his pupil until it was just a halo of gold. Ari panted, attempting to lift his head to follow, but the hand supporting the back of his skull held him in place, broad fingertips scratching gently through his hair. Orin licked his lips, chest heaving with his breath.

“Look at you. Never seen something so good, baby, I swear.”

Ari surged forward, mashing his lips inexpertly on Orin’s until Orin grunted quietly, reclaiming control of the kiss with gentle lips, his hand guiding Ari’s movements at the base of his skull.

Something rose within Ari, something wild and uncontrolled. The notion should have terrified him, but he felt nothing but safe in Orin’s arms, sheltered beneath the bulk of his body.

Ari moved his hand from Orin’s shoulder to shove his shirttails out of the way and glide over the ridges of Orin’s abdomen. Orin tensed as Ari traced the top edge of the belt riding low on his hips and slid slender fingertips just beneath the buckle. A feral sound growled from Orin’s throat as he shifted his grip on Ari’s hip, long fingers reaching back until he cupped his ass, squeezing slowly. Ari made a noise that should have been embarrassing, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Orin tilted Ari’s hips, pulling until Ari was rocking into the solid length of Orin’s thigh. Ari gasped, fingers digging into Orin’s flesh as lightning surged down his spine.

Orin spoke directly into his mouth, words traveling from his tongue to Ari’s. “Perfect. So perfect for me.”

He sucked on the tip of Ari’s tongue just as he rocked forward with his thigh, and Ari cried out sharply, hips moving uncontrollably as he spilled into his trousers. The sudden euphoria set his entire body to shaking under Orin’s hands.

Orin pulled back, a smile curving his swollen lips. “Did you just—”

Ari shoved him away, the surprise of it moving Orin’s body far more than Ari’s meager strength. Orin lifted his hands to hold his palms out to Ari, moving slowly and speaking quietly as though he were gentling a frightened animal.

“Hey, now. It’s okay, you’re okay, gorgeous.”

Ari shook his head, face burning at the mortification. He shouldered past Orin roughly, fumbling at the door controls before stumbling down the corridor to slam his hand against the entry panel to his doorway, tensing in anticipation of the sound of heavy footsteps that never came as he escaped into the solitude of his bunk.