M. Lee - Dark Read online

  Dark

  IT WASsupposed to be a fuckingvacation. He could picture his boss, hands waving as he smiled jovially. Take a week somewhere, Dark, relax! Everyone needs time off. Dark, properly Darkian Vanderbelt, scowled and flattened himself against the wall. His vacation plans hadn’t included running into a clan of orcs. That was bad enough, but Dark knew this particular clan oforcs. He had last seen themas he was fleeing through the window of their homestead, carrying a questionably legal amount of enriched uranium. As far as the orcs were concerned, it was a sacred artifact. According to Dark’s sources, it was a vital piece of the advanced weaponry being built by a warlord. Dark hadn’t stayed to debate the matter.

  Who thought they would need a disguise on vacation? It wasn’t, he acknowledged wryly to himself, as though the orcs were going to mistake him for someone else. Well over six feet tall, Dark’s skin was so black there were blue undertones, with hair and eyes to match. The spiraling blue tattoo that covered most of his right armmade himevenmore distinguishable. When he’d first joined the Earth Service Protection Agency, there’d been talk of having it removed, but Dark had refused. He wasn’t sure he believed in magic, in the power of the designs inked on his skin to protect him, but he did believe in psychology. He’d invested too much energy in thinking of his tattoo as safety to have it disposed of.

  The orcs hadn’t seen himyet. It was possible they would go the other way. The Vicouer was mammoth, closer to being a resort than a simple hotel. Chance was practically a swear word in his line of work, though. Dark kept his ears tuned to their conversation and slid his eyes down the corridor. His roomwas on a high-end wing. There were only five doors in this hallway. He might be able to hack his way into another guest room. His own was a level down. And if the orcs spotted him, he’d be leadingthemright there.

  His eyes latched onto the door at the end of the hall. Unmarked, it didn’t look like the entrance to a suite. Perhaps a janitor’s closet? He ghosted down the hall, lightlytouchingthe handle. It was locked. Sparinga quick look behind him, Dark pulled out the lock picks he’d stored in his belt automatically. Thank the gods for old habits! The sound of voices got closer. He could hear footsteps now. Any minute—there! The lock opened, and Dark darted inside, shutting the door behind him. He crouched and set his ear to the door. There was no outcry. After a long moment, Dark breathed a sighofreliefand straightened.

  From behind him, a low, amused voice asked, “CanI help you?”

  Dark spun, hand going to his hip. He stopped short of drawing a weapon. The man who’d spoken was perhaps a foot shorter, skin the color of caramel, black hair cascading loose down his back. He was also damp and wearingnothingbut a towel.

  This was not a closet.

  Dark thanked his ancestors for the skinthat hid his blush. “Sorry. I… think I’mlost.”

  “Mmm,” the man answered. “I am fairly certain I locked the door.”

  Dark fought not to shuffle his feet. “Oops?”

  He spent an uncomfortable minute under the man’s regard.

  “Jaime,”he said, extendinga hand.

  Dark reached out and took Jaime’s hand in his. “Dark,” he said. Jaime’s eyebrows started inching up. “Because ofmysense ofhumor.”A small, startled laugh slipped past Jaime’s lips.

  “Of course,” Jaime said. “Clearly.” His eyes slid over the form-fitting black clothes Dark was partial to. “You’re in the on-call chamber for this wing, in case youwere wondering.”

  Dark took a moment to take in the bed, couch, and food heating unit, as well as the bathroomthat was obviously attached. Something caught his eye, and he stepped forward before he could help himself. “Are those books?”

  Jaime nodded. “Mysecret vice,”he confessed.

  “Not at all,” Dark said. There were nearly fifty of them lined up neatly on three shelves. Mostly hardbound, they looked well cared-for. “I’ve never seen so many in a private collection. They’re lovely, aren’t they? The weight, the feel, the smell….”

  Jaime smiled shyly. “My father’s a librarian,” he said.

  Dark felt his eyes widen. “Really? That’s amazing! Whichcollection?”

  “Earth301-Z.”

  Dark nodded knowledgably. “That’s the one with medieval scripts, and the oral traditions from Africa, isn’t it?”

  Jaime looked at him with astonishment. “I know there are only a hundred or so libraries left, but how did youremember that?”

  The adrenaline fromhis escape tilted onthe axis of Jaime’s beauty, softening into something else. He managed to keep his tone light when he spoke. “I learn fast, and I needed to research libraries a few years back.” The details of the arson were best forgotten. “Plus, Africa.” He gestured at his face. “Five generations back or so, before the Blending.”

  Jaime blinked. “Well, this is the last place I expected to run into a fellow book lover. We don’t get many here.” He paused. “To be honest, we don’t get many humans here. Orcs, fairies, elves, goblins, but not manyhumans.”

  Dark shrugged. “Everyone wants to go somewhere exotic for vacation.” Considering the amount of world-hopping he did, Dark didn’t particularly feel the need. Jaime must have sensed something, because he didn’t ask the obvious question.

  Instead, Jaime turned toward the small bureau next to the bed. “Well, I came out to get some clothes, so….”

  Dark trailed his eyes over Jaime and the bed. “Do youwant some help withthat?”

  There was a flicker ofsurprise inJaime’s eyes, but he gave Dark a vixen’s smile. “With getting dressed?” he teased.

  Dark returned the smile with interest. It wasn’t all that rare for someone to catch his attention, and he’d grown confident in his ability to pick out who would respond well to a casual suggestion. “Something like that.” Jaime laughed and tilted his head invitingly. Dark stepped forward into his space. He could smellthe faint scent ofdamp skinrisingoffJaime. He set a hand lightly on Jaime’s waist. His eyes lowered to the beginnings of an erection tenting Jaime’s towel. “Or perhaps you need help withsomethingelse?”

  Jaime’s laughter was musical. Dark wondered if he had fairyblood somewhere. “That is anawfulline.”

  Dark leered comically. “I suppose, given your position, youshould service me.”

  Jaime groaned, shoulders shaking with mirth. “Stop, stop! Please, I’lldo anything.”

  Dark bent down and crushed their lips together. Jaime met himeagerly, openinghis mouthand slidinghis tongue along Dark’s bottom lip. Dark hummed his approval, giving up his initial dominance and letting Jaime lead the kiss. He was a fantastic kisser, moving his hands into the tiny braids covering Dark’s head and angling their heads closer together. A soft scrape of teeth made Dark’s breath hitch. Jaime proved he was paying close attention by doing it again. Dark felt blood pool lower in his body as Jaime experimented with pressure. He didn’t seem satisfied until Dark was gasping noisily into his mouth, hand clenched at his waist. Dark desperately wanted to see how Jaime’s boldness extended to other activities.

  When Dark pulled back a fraction, Jaime looked pleased. His eyes glittered in the low light spilling from the bathroom. Dark could tell his lips were swollen, bruised from Jaime’s attention. He took the moment without distractionto loosenhis grip and runbothhands up Jaime’s naked chest. Jaime was sculpted and slim. The muscles and skin felt lovely under his hands, a welcome joy after months without this sort of contact. Pleasure, Dark had always thought, was there to be sought after. He fully intended to enjoy its arrival in his life. Carefully, Dark lowered himself so he could set his lips to work. He trailed lazy kisses over Jaime’s shoulder, watching his eyes go half-lidded. He moved lower, circling Jaime’s nipples before licking over them one by one. Jaime gasped, arching his back. His towel slipped
lower. With a predatory smile, Dark dropped properlyto his knees.

  Jaime’s hand tightened inhis hair, and Dark leaned into it. Arousal shot down his spine. He palmed his crotch lazily, watching Jaime watch him. Jaime licked his lips.

  “Tease,” he said. His voice was thick with lust. Dark wanted to rollinit.

  “Only ifI don’t follow through,” Dark said. He left off, moving both hands to bracket Jaime’s waist again. “So,” he said, thumb toying with the knot of Jaime’s towel.

  Jaime’s breathing went heavy. “So,” he said. “I’m clean, but there’s a medical station here if you’re worried.”

  Dark raised an eyebrow. The AIDS virus that had plagued his ancestors was thankfully a thing of the past, and nothing had arisen to take its place. The wave of illnesses that had swept through the five worlds when they first Blended left people either dead or immune. The few remaining diseases were only nuisances, so even if Jaime harbored some fairy blood, it wouldn’t affect them. This wasn’t time to dwell, though.

  “Likewise,”he said. “Now, about this towel.”

  Jaime blew out a shaky breath. “Thought you were here to help me… dress?”

  “Mmm.” Dark dragged his lips over Jaime’s stomach, just above the towelline. He licked a hipbone, dipping under the towel where a hint of moisture still lingered. Jaime groaned. Dark loosened the knot and let the towel slip to the floor. Jaime’s cock was long and slender, springing up from a nest of silky black hair. Dark buried his nose in the crease of his thigh, opening his mouth to lick softly through the hair. Jaime tasted amazing, hot and perfect. Dark nudged forward, nosing at Jaime’s balls. He wrapped one hand around Jaime’s thigh, to steady him, and brought the other up to roll his balls softly. Jaime panted in response. He tongued them, loving the feel of the delicate skin against his mouth.

  After a minute, Jaime tightened the hand in Dark’s hair, pulling him back. Dark went willingly. Jaime’s cock rubbed against his cheek. He turned his head to mouth at it. Jaime’s hand loosened and he thrust forward, making a hungry noise in his throat. Dark kneaded the skin of Jaime’s cock with his mouth, moving from the base back to the tip. He extended a delicate tongue and licked the moisture there, a thousand times better than the water on Jaime’s skin. Dark sank into the sensation, opening his lips around Jaime and swallowing him down. Jaime felt good in his mouth. He worked his tongue down the vein throbbing on the underside of Jaime’s cock, pausing to rub just behind the head. His precome tasted sweet. Either he’d drunk a vat of pomegranate juice recently, or the suspected fairy blood was fact. It would certainly explain the ease they’d had falling into bed together. Most men didn’t have sex so casually in the Earth world, though Dark supposed Jaime might be fromone ofthe other humanworlds. Athos, perhaps.

  Jaime grasped at Dark’s shoulders, teetering precariously. Dark pulled him closer, hands sliding smoothly down his silky thighs. Jaime widened his stance under Dark’s questing fingers. Dark stopped short of his ass, not wanting to be told “no” but also wantingto prevent any misunderstandings. With Jaime’s cock pulsing in his mouth, stretching his jaw wide, it seemed like a bad time to stop and discuss preferences beyond the immediate.

  “Ah,” Jaime gasped. His hips worked in little involuntary thrusts. Dark placed a hand on Jaime’s ass, pushing wordless permission. Jaime looked down at Dark, surprise and desire clear in the slackness of his mouth. Dark met his gaze boldly. Jaime slid forward again, a little harder. Dark groaned in approval, sucking hard. He let his jaw drop that last little bit, making an “o” of his mouth. Jaime panted, knees flexing as he fucked Dark’s mouth. Everything spun, narrowing down to pressure and pleasure. With a strangled cry, Jaime came, spurting sweet on Dark’s tongue. He swallowed, tongue reaching out for more, following Jaime back. Laughing, Jaime stepped out of Dark’s reach. Dark could see the fine tremor in the muscles of his thighs.

  “Now my turn,” Jaime said with a grin. He fell to the floor, curling his body over Dark. He kissed him, licking Dark’s lips and into his mouth. After a moment, it occurred to Dark that Jaime was chasing the taste of his come. It made little sparks dance behind his eyes. He lifted his hands to Jaime’s back, but Jaime reached up and pushed his hands away. Dark was confused for a second.

  Jaime pulled back, his smile wicked. He used his grip on Dark’s hands to put themon the ground behind Dark’s hips. “Stay,” Jaime said. “I know what you like.”

  Dark curled his fingers into the carpet and bucked his hips. He was dizzy with how much he wanted. “Please.”

  Jaime cupped Dark’s cock throughhis clothes. He gave hima long, slow stroke. “I could make this take all day.”

  The honeyed words wrenched another groan from Dark. He felt himself pulse under Jaime’s tormenting hand. He licked his lips; let himselfslip under a little. His voice was soft when he spoke, less demanding. “Please?”

  Something like awe flickered in Jaime’s eyes. He leaned forward for another kiss, hot and deep. “Well,” he said against Dark’s lips, “since youasked so nicely.”

  Dark didn’t squirm as Jaime worked his pants down his thighs, moving only as Jaime directed. Jaime grasped him firmly. “This,” he said, “is a very nice cock.”

  Dark worked his throat, swallowing around sudden dryness. “Thank you,” he rasped. His eyes closed against the pleasure. He was already close, aching fromsucking Jaime off. He registered movement a split second before Jaime’s hair brushed his thighs and wetness surrounded the tip ofhis cock.

  “Aah!”Witha sharp, helpless judder, Dark came.

  IT WOULDbe a monumentally stupid move to stay in the complex. Evenwiththe size ofthe Vic, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t run into the orcs again. In fact, given his near miss, they might well be staying on the same floor. However pleasant his interlude with Jaime, he ought to just leave.

  There was a possibility, slight but there, that the orcs were here for him. Someone could have hacked into the hotel’s security, seen his name on the register, and somehow deduced who he was. The profile didn’t fit the typical orc, true, but there were always outliers. Relying on species stereotyping was one of the reasons other Agents had trouble keeping up with him. He smirked, thinking of the other reason he tended to fly ahead, tucked safely into the hotel’s secure garage. He was very fond of his bike. Even if there wasn’t an unexpected orc hacker on the scene, they could have human help. Or worse, they could have someone workingthroughthe EPS.

  Perhaps he was paranoid for jumping froma band of orcs to a mole in the organization, but his paranoia had saved him before. If the orcs were simply vacationing, there would be no harmdone. If something more sinister was going on, Dark needed to find out about it. And he would.

  Filled with steely determination, he abruptly changed direction. He needed an outside view of the hoteland knowledge oftheir securitysystems, fast. And he knew just how to get it.

  ALARGEwindow with no one nearby provided the right vantage point easily enough. Dark simply opened the window and swung out. Afair bit of his training had involved getting places no one expected him to be. Clingingto the walls and window frame, evensixstories up, was an easy feat. He could see fromhere that there were windows similar to the one he’d exited every forty feet or so from side to side, though they alternated floors. Some basic climbing gear would grant a person access to just about any floor and wing, assuming the security didn’t extend this far. He had seen no sign of any measures to monitor activity outside the building. Obviously, no one was going to stop a window entrance or exit. There had beenno alarmeither.

  Dark sighed and flexed his fingers. Deftly, he reached into another pocket with one hand and removed a pair of specialty gloves. Technologically advanced, the palms stuck to anything they were pressed to and could stop him in free fall. The fingers made his grip firmer. He tugged the gloves on with his teeth, more secure once he had the first on and could grip with that hand. That done, he darted off on reconnaissance.

  Just short of an hour later, he sl
ipped back in the same window he’d left, satisfied. A security breach would be impossible to stop from this angle. It also made masking his own movements easier. He would turn the Vic’s poor security into an advantage. Dark was confident he could outwit or outrun anyone foolish enoughto trytakinghimdown.

  BACKin his room, Dark set up a basic visual of the orcs’ suite through the Vic’s cameras. It was a bit of a struggle to wind his way into their system, so hopefully no one would be able to reverse the trick on him. They were doing nothing more interesting than talking, one of themnapping on the bed. Afamiliar pulse of excitement shot through him. He locked his path to the security cameras in and went about obscuring his presence. No need to get caught this earlyinthe game.

  Tilting his head in thought, Dark tucked his computer away. If he didn’t want to get caught, assuming there was someone to catch him at all, he would have to do something about his window. All the premiere guest suites had them, and his little four-room ensemble was no different. He went to the closet, opened it, and pulled out a black canvas bag. Bringingit to the bed, he opened it and spread severalitems out in front of him. Tech tended to send out toys to test, and Dark was always glad to play with them. They all looked innocuous: black, made of simple materials, varying in size fromhis pinkie finger to twice the size of his hand. Theycould be anyelectronic device.

  Sifting through them, he picked up two. One was the largest of the lot. Grinning sharply to himself, he slid his thumbnail along its seam. It opened with a nearsilent hiss, a reinforced blade slipping out with deadly speed. He took both gadgets to the window and set the second on the frame. He tapped the window, knocked on it, and then pounded, reading the levels of vibration in its small output screen. Dark set the warning level to betweenwhat his ownknock and pound had produced.

  Next, his lock picks came out. Delicately, he went to work on the back of the knife device, giving a satisfied humwhen it sprang open under his fingers. He extracted a wire. With a precision born of years of practice, he spliced it with one of his pick tools, untangled the cords therein, and coiled them down to his transducer. In fewer than five minutes, he had everythingpositioned to his liking. Anyone attemptingto enter through the window would end up with a knife to the gut. If he needed to leave the same way, a quick snip would cut the connectionbetweenthe two devices.