Tarth City, Di Lusso District
Nizamrak Building, Penthouse Level, "The Loft"
Jawk got out of the car last. He walked to the edge of the private parking deck and leaned both hands against it. They were on top of the tallest building in the city, and all the glitter of Tarth City lay below, white and clean in its splendor, all the central districts visible from here. Lights stretched to the horizon. From here, none of the squalor showed, none of the evil.
Wulf came up beside him. "Fabulous, isn't it?"
"When I was a kid, I saw this building go up." He leaned his forearms on the railing. "Always wondered what the view'd be like."
The breeze blew Wulf's hair. He brushed it out of his eyes and turned away.
"It's ffffftting beautiful up here, man." Jawk pushed away and gestured toward the array of hovers, from sport to 'sine. "Is this a private club? I hoped we'd get a chance to be alone. Kind of crowded."
"We are alone, except for my master. Those are all his hovercars. We're in his city loft."
"He owns all these, and more than one house?"
"Oh, yeah." Wulf's smile blazed, threatening to bring Jawk to his knees. The gusty breeze tossed hair into Wulf's eyes and he brushed it aside. "He owns a house in every district of the city."
Jawk laid back his ears. "There's a hundred and sixty five."
"Okay. He has a hundred and sixty, plus a mansion in Destiny Hills that makes this place look shabby."
"Oh, geez. My folks were glad to get a house of their own after years of saving. He must spend a fortune on hand soap alone."
Wulf burst out laughing, clapped a hand over his mouth and nodded toward the door. "We should go inside. He doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Inside, a medium-hued wood covered walls and floors. The scent of lemon oil made his nose twitch. A corridor stretched in either direction, the walls covered with pictures of music groups.
Wulf gestured to the left. "I go this way. It's the servant's entrance. You should go with McDoth."
"Who?" He stopped short when he realized a formally dressed man stood on his right. He'd neither heard nor smelled him approach. All humans had a smell. How'd he missed him? The man regarded him with an emotionless expression. He turned back to Wulf. "I'd rather stay with you."
"I'm sorry, Jawk. I--"
"Oh, wow." Jawk closed his eyes a moment. When he opened them again, Wulf tilted his head and stared at him with open curiosity. It was so Kin-like it made him smile. "You just said my name. It knocked me out to hear it. You say it so cool, man. I love it."
"Did I say it wrong?"
"Naw. Sounded good." He leaned a little closer, ignoring McDoth. "Say it again."
Wulf lowered his head, lifted it with a shy smile. It sent shivers over Jawk's entire body. The human opened his mouth to speak, and hesitated. "Jawk."
"Oh, ffffftt. I'm so gone over the way you say my name, man. I just can't help it. Say it again."
Wulf lifted a hand as if swatting away his words.
"No, serious. Say it for me." Jawk laid a hand on his own chest. "Please."
Watching that perfect mouth form another perfect smile almost did him in. "Jawk."
"Oh, damn. You knock my ears off. You are so hot."
Wulf laughed. "I have to prepare for my master." He motioned toward the servant. "Go with McDoth. My master wants to meet you."
"I don't want you to go." Jawk reached out and touched Wulf's cheek, stroking his fingers down it. So smooth. So tight. What would all that human skin feel like on his tongue?
Wulf took one step backward. "I'm a free man, Jawk, but I put my freedom aside when I come here. For tonight, I'm his slave. I obey his wishes. I'd like it if you went along."
Jawk stiffened his shoulders. "Hey, much as I like you, Wulf, slave games weren't part of the deal I made. I can understand why a man would want to watch you, but this is..."
Wulf bit his lips together and turned his head, gaze downcast.
Damn it! Stab me in the heart and twist the knife, why don't you. "Oh, what the hell. For you I'll make an exception." He caressed Wulf's cheek. "But I'm not into whips and such. I couldn't hurt you."
"Not a problem. Luc never lets anyone else punish me." He bowed away.
Punish him for what? The hell is wrong with Luc? He sure can't smell Wulf's pain, that's for sure. This human might go along with his master's game--but his heart wasn't in it.
"If you'll come with me, sir?" McDoth stepped back and bowed. He gestured in the other direction. "Mr. Saint-Cyr is waiting."
He followed McDoth down the hallway, around a corner and into a huge open space with glass to the ceiling. Leather furniture and thick rugs covered the wooden floors. Low lighting cast shadows across the dark walls. Spotlights picked out a few paintings. Big ones. Human in their strangeness. What is it they like about collections of lines and colors? It's not like they're pictures of anything. No one was present.
"Mr. Saint-Cyr will join you in a moment, sir." McDoth gestured to the multitude of couches and chairs in the oversized room. "Please make yourself comfortable. May I offer you a drink?"
He touched his dry lips. "Water, please. No ice."
McDoth bowed and exited the room via another doorway.
Jawk wound his way through the maze of seating and stopped before the wall of windows. From here, Destine Pietan Stadium's dome shone like a ball of white blazing in the darkness. A string of public hovers wound up to it and away, picking up passengers. He had missed both Iron Soul concerts tonight. Un-fucking-believable. His favorite group next to Wind and Thunder and he'd passed it up to complete a mission and let Nij kiss NETway ass.
I must be getting old. Putting money before fun. He let out a long sigh. After his father's illness, he'd done whatever he had to. I just hope my folks never know how I get the money. The myth of his having two legitimate jobs was becoming harder to maintain.
"Sir."
Jawk flinched. McDoth stood right next to him, offering a small glass of water and a napkin. He took a deep sniff toward the man. No smells at all, not even the starch of his dress clothes. Almost as if he weren't there.
"Thank you." He took the drink. "Uh, are you some kind of hologram?"
"No, sir. I'm android. If you'll excuse me?" He bowed and made his way toward the exit.
Best android I ever saw. Jawk turned to follow his progress and brought the drink to his mouth. He stopped before tasting it. A tall man in black stood near a couch, as still as a statue, face hidden in shadow. Luc. Jawk's heart kicked into overdrive. Everything he'd been working for culminated in this moment. Don't blow this, Jawk. This is it.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Jawk." The man's voice had a deep timbre befitting his size. Tall as a Kin, taller than Jawk even. Broad shoulders filled out his tux. Wulf was elegance; Luc was power. "Thank you for accepting my invitation."
He inclined his head, one ear back.
"So we're clear, you would not be here if Wulf hadn't agreed. My own attraction to you might have found us in a different arrangement, in a different place. But I wanted Wulf to experience a Kin. There are few of you who engage in same sex coupling. I was glad to find you."
Jawk sniffed in his direction. More human-smelling than McDoth, although not the same smell he associated with most of them. The man still hadn't moved.
"You have excellent references. I'm impressed."
College grades hadn't been the only part of his cover Jawk had perfected. He gulped. "References? My friends told you they'd been screwing me for money? Or did they just say I was a good lay?"
A soft chuckle sounded in the darkness. "You have quite a mouth. Which was another thing your 'friends' said about you. They also advised me you have expensive taste in clothes, do not accept gifts of jewelry, like to bathe after sex and want tradestandard cash or non-traceable debit chips."
If his clients had talked, it was a matter of time before his father found out. Or his mother. Damn, damn, damn.
"You like Wulf." Luc walked toward him, head erect, shoulders back. He carried himself like royalty, proud as a Kin warrior.
"Yeah." He still couldn't see Luc's face. The shadows hid it. Knowing the man had watched him shoot into Wulf's mouth made his cock half erect.
"I wanted to speak to you before we join him. Give you the rules."
"Okay. I'm listening." Jawk drank all of the water, wiped the corner of his mouth with one thumb.
"I've known Wulf since he was a child. His father was my business partner. When he died, he left Wulf in my care. I sent him to the finest schools, educated him." Luc stopped beside a lamp-lit table, but none of the illumination reached his face. "Wulf wanted a career far different from what his father had chosen. I didn't have the heart to deny him." He turned his head away from the light. "I could have opened doors for him, but Wulf made it with his skills and talent. He reached the pinnacle of success in his chosen field without my help."
Jawk caught the whiff of a lie in those words, as if it were true--from a certain point of view. People did that without ever thinking how it might smell to a Kin. His hand shook, so he set the glass down on a table.
Luc patted his fingertips together. "For years, I followed Wulf's career. When he grew tired of it, wanted a change, he sought my advice. I offered him a job. Lucsondis has not been the same since. Wulf is intuitive, quick, aggressive. The skills that made him a top model are what make him a brilliant producer. He's changed the face of music."
"So how'd he go from a responsibility to a slave?"
A flare of animosity heated the scent in the room, almost like a match being struck. Wetting his lips, Jawk reached one foot behind him, but the emotion died as quickly as it had been born.
"Wulf is my slave when we're engaged in play. He's thirty-five. He knows what he wants." If Luc was an adult when Wulf was a child, and Wulf was over thirty, how old did that make Luc?
Jawk coughed to clear his throat. "How long have you been together?"
"Five years." He clasped his hands behind him. "Any other questions?"
"You never went over the rules."
"Wulf wants--he needs to feel he's captured. Forced to obey another's wishes. It's important you comply."
"Listen, I'm a plain speaker, so let's screw these head games, all right?" He folded his arms. "I like to say how it is right up front."
"Very well." Luc seemed to grow taller. "I respect honesty. Speak your mind."
"He says he has to obey you." Jawk rubbed a claw across his lower lip. "You say he wants to be treated like a slave. What if he doesn't?"
The man stepped a bit closer. The light revealed white teeth as perfect as Wulf's. Dark skin, almost black. His upper face remained in shadow, but the firm mouth showed no age lines. "Do I smell like I'm lying, Jawk?"
"Not about this, no." If anything, he had the smell of leather about him when he talked about enslaving Wulf and even among humans, leather indicated pride. "What is it you want me to do?"
"Wulf humbles himself before me. Don't try to stop him. Whatever I tell you to do, carry it out without his approval." Luc moved to one side, his head turned. The light didn't reach his eyes. He wore his black hair cut close to the scalp. "Can you comply, for Wulf's sake?"
He'd played bondage games with other clients. One liked to be beaten before sex. Another joined them for the whipping; Jawk's part was sexual.
"No one ties me up or holds me against my will. If you want that, get someone else. I don't do that for any amount of money."
"Understood and accepted. Those items are not required of you. Wulf and I use a safeword. He can stop everything any time he wants by saying it. So can you. When we meet with him, we'll go over it, so you feel comfortable."
"Fair enough. Any other rules?"
"For the record, Wulf and I are both clean of drugs and disease." He held out a small card. "This is your proof."
Jawk took it, turned it over in his hands and brought it closer to read. The standard format medi-card one could obtain with a quick scan at any corner drugstore, perfect for this sort of liaison. "Your goons scanned me before I got in the car."
"Yes. You're clean. But I'd had you checked out before I even offered."
Which doesn't surprise me. He tucked the card into a pocket. "What else?"
"What happens here stays here. Unlike your other friends, no one will hear details about you from me. If you please us and enjoy your time here, you'll be invited back on a regular basis. I'll provide a weekly retainer for you equal to eight times what I paid you tonight. We would want exclusive use of you, of course."
Holy ffffftting cow. Jawk swallowed. A shitload of money. With that much money he could give his parents a fresh start. And Luc was inviting him into his inside circle. How amazing is that? After all our planning. All our scheming worked. "Uh ... what is it you want from me?"
"My needs are simple. I prefer to use rather than be used. Unlike Wulf, I do not enjoy being at the mercy of others."
"So, you just want your cock sucked and a willing hole."
His mouth twisted in a wry smile far different from Wulf's. "Tactless, but true. Wulf prefers same sex relationships. Since you want a blunt declaration, I prefer a woman for intercourse, but males give better head. Kin males decidedly better. Wulf, as you've already discovered, is a master."
"Ffffftt, yeah." His knees were still weak from the experience. I wonder if Luc taught him. If so, what will he do to me? Oh, ffffftt ... "Okay. Yeah. Can't guarantee I'm available for exclusive work, but I'll think about it. Fair?"
"It suffices. I like your integrity, Jawk. Some would have tried to bluff through. After we've concluded tonight, Wulf and I will decide whether we want you to return. We can discuss your availability then. Once you agree, I'll give you four weeks pay as a sign-on bonus."
"Geez." Jawk flicked his ears back. "A sign-on bonus? You make it sound like a business deal."
The man never cracked a smile. "This is a business deal." He swept a hand toward the door. "Shall we join Wulf?"
Jawk walked past him toward the door, which opened to reveal an elevator. At Luc's direction, he stepped inside. The man joined him, and the doors shut.
"Please remember Wulf is mine. He belongs to me and me alone. You are here to pleasure him at my will and my discretion. Do not interfere with anything I do to him. Understood?"
He folded his arms to ward off the sudden chill. "Sure thing, Mr. Saint-Cyr."
"One more detail, Jawk. Do not refer to me by my formal name. If you must address me, use Luc, or sir." The man turned straight toward him and looked down. The light hit his upper face.
When he'd seen him in the club earlier, he'd worn dark glasses. None of the pictures he'd studied had prepared him for what he faced now. Nothing could.
Where eyeballs should be were glossy, solid black orbs. Head tilted a bit, Luc closed those cold eyes and reopened them in the exact likeness of a black-feathered Kin vulture. A hunter that fed on prey brought down by others. When a Kin died, loved ones ritually exposed the body to them. Sacred birds of the sky. Mortay Wahn. Eaters of the Dead. Jawk backed into the wall.
"Good. I see I'm understood." The man showed his teeth. Not even humans would call that display a smile. "Welcome to the Loft."