pretty prizes

Lola fell further into the pirate’s embrace and just remained there, feeling his skin against hers. Unlike him, Lola was used to affection and to demonstrate it. She was someone who would easily express herself in physical ways. With hugs, touches, hand holds. Anything that might have seemed even remotely appropriate. It was what the princesa knew how to do, and, most especially, what she felt comfortable doing. To her, this wasn’t an uncharted territory.

His hand taking hers was a sweet gesture. Unexpected, but, sweet, and she kept her hand there, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Maybe going up to him was a colossal mistake, but Lola would never be able to say that she had anything against the way he held her. It was comforting, and, more than ever, it seemed like exactly what the Spaniard needed.

Being ourselves, who we want to really be – it’s scary. The words echoed inside Lola’s mind, and she found herself looking up at the pirate. If someone like him felt scary to do that, he could probably only ever begin to fathom how terrifying it was for someone like her.

“I wouldn’t say you have reasons to be scared,” she added, head moving negatively. How easy it was for Lola to focus on building others back up when her own life was in shambles. Biting her lip, her gaze remained on him. Sometimes she couldn’t help thinking that pretending was all that she was left with. “But… Shouldn’t I at least try?” She wondered.

“A part of me just wants to disappear,” Lola’s sentence came out as a whisper, and her eyes widened up in their orbs. She clearly wasn’t supposed to say that, but it was too late now, and the princess doubted it would be something he’d let her take back, so, she sighed. “I mean, I would probably travel the world, and I’d help others however I could. Know, feed the hungry, aid the sick…”

It became a repeat of their last conversation in that Lola didn’t want to hear what he said, or want to fully understand. “I wasn’t talking about me. What scares you?” Maddox had been a pretender to get what he wanted long ago. A means to an end, and not exactly worth it either. The pirates were the only ones who not only saw his potential but accepted Maddox for what he was. A prodigal son returned back to the sea where he was born, where he belonged. To be as wild and angry and free as he pleased. 

What he wasn’t: a motivational speaker. Or a guidance counselor for wayward royals. “Ah, right. Mother Theresa Gutierrez. Those are all things that can be easily done. But people who really want to have a drive, a passion. Nothing stops them or gets in their way. Especially not excuses.” 

Maddox reached back to push off the palm tree, giving the hammock it was tied to a small swing. “What do want here in this hammock?”

Selfishly, Aaron felt like he could stay like this for hours. He’d gotten hard again almost instantly after Maddox sucked him off, deeply satisfied by an orgasm pulled out of him by a mouth that always got Aaron’s attention. A mouth that was demanding, acerbic, flirtatious, teasing, or as Maddox was now–just this side of wrecked. Aaron sucked down Maddox’s fingers with a look on his face that he enjoyed it, a hand still clasped around Maddox’s wrist as he let Maddox feel his tongue along the length of fingers. Then the hand dropped away as Maddox held the back of his neck, praising words causing an appreciative moan and for his eyes to shut until Maddox took his fingers away.

The slap on his ass garnered a surprised gasp and whine. Like a switch going off in his head. He was done taking bits and pieces where he could, challenging Maddox with a look and wandering hands, improvising on well laid plans to get what he wanted. What Aaron wanted now was to surrender. Let Maddox show him what he would do to him with all the control. It was a strange paradox of letting Maddox have what he wanted while being selfishly satisfied all at once. At the moment that felt like the only thing keeping his heart beating.

Crushed into a kiss, the short, desperate sounds escaping his lungs as Maddox teased around his ass were given right over to the gunner, up until his finger slid inside. At that, Aaron’s mouth dropped open and away. “Ah–ah.” He inhaled sharply, brow knitted tight. A look of consternation at first slipping into a smile hidden under white teeth biting down on his lower lip. He kept his eyes closed, honed in on Maddox’s fingers working him open, not oblivious to the fact that Maddox was watching his every look, hearing his every sound. And Aaron could perform, pretend he was an instrument played by a skilled hand. A little whine caught in his throat while his hands pressed hard against Maddox’s chest. Wanting to crush him against the wall and also never wanting that feeling of pressure and fullness in his ass to stop. And knowing damn well how thick Maddox would feel when he fucked him.

His legs tensed up as the movement in his ass got more invasive, lifting his body up a bit in resistance until he forced his hips back down onto Maddox’s fingers. “Fucking hell, Maddox.” Fingers curled and dug nails into Maddox’s chest as his hips moved again, further down, muscles clenched. Blue eyes glazed over in the throes of a touch that was barely half of what it would feel like for Maddox to fuck him properly. “I fucking love it,” Aaron said with his teeth clenched. Pleasure and a little pain all wrapped up in a package that was Maddox Keyes.

Aaron leaned down and pressed their foreheads together, unable to tear his eyes away from dark obsidian. Two endless voids he was more than happy to fall into, get lost in. “I like–to be easy for you.” The words were carefully constructed around breathy moans and interrupted when Aaron felt the need to lap desperately at Maddox’s lips with his tongue like a purring kitten. “I love when you do whatever you want to me.” 

He felt better than what a few drinks from the party provided–felt better than he did in a while, under the touch of a man he’d lusted after for weeks. A moan echoed from the gunner brought Aaron up to a place he’d never been before. All he knew were Maddox’s hands and the sheen of sweat on his chest and a big cock he needed inside of him.“Do you know how often I have thought about when you fucked me?” Once. It happened once. There was no logical reason why the gunner pervaded his thoughts and Aaron gave up on trying to fathom it. He wanted Maddox, whatever that meant. Under him, on top of him–next to him, near him.

When Maddox withdrew from playing inside his ass, Aaron exhaled with a shiver, his body wound up tight. Sensation replaced by the thick head of Maddox’s cock. Aaron swore. He fought between the need to see Maddox and the very clear directions given. Wanting to be fucked won out as Aaron turned around, leaving his gaze on Maddox as long as he could. A smirk playing at his lips as he craned over his shoulder, presenting his backside to the gunner to proceed as he pleased.

Under the clash of Maddox’s hand playing with his ass, Aaron strung himself out like spun sugar. Unabashedly eating up everything the pirate gave to him and begging for more. With mewls and curses, the way his body moved in a slow frenzy demanding the gunner to keep going. People unashamed to ask what they wanted had always been a turn-on. To be free within four walls with another person. 

I like–to be easy for you. Slate wiped clean tonight between the two. Without the promise of being on the ocean not much mattered to Maddox. Music, drink, sex. Not necessarily in that order. Herzog had been one of the few remedies to months and months of mostly nothingness. The man bent over the pirate with a slicked forehead pressed to his own making it easier to finger deeper. His cock throbbed in anticipation every time Aaron’s mouth opened or muscles tensed around his fingers. I love when you do whatever you want to me. The longing to kiss, to taste what they’d already done, with all the pirate’s stupid and primal grunting need.

Maddox gave in to all the overpowering urges. Aaron was lightning striking sudden and bright, sparking a sense of wonder and taking his breath away. No matter where his free hand settled it wasn’t content to stay long and only stirred the hedonistic movements of their bodies together. 

Out of the men and women he’d been with on the island, the prince never disappointed. Not like this. He remembered the first time. One of the few pleasurable memories he would take when the time came to board the ship and leave the god forsaken island. He nipped at swollen lips. “I haven’t forgotten. But tonight, Aaron.” The thought wasn’t completed. It should be remembered. Maybe supersede everything. Fuck predictions or guesses, just.. remember. 

After a breathy swear Aaron did as he was told. With that look over a shoulder, always. Flirtation in the eyes and a face colored with arousal instantly altered Maddox’s idea of bringing the man back on his lap. The permanent swagger held a secret he dared Maddox to discover. Finding the last one he had in him-- at least in this go, because there were many hours left in the night. 

Maddox wrestled strong arms behind Aaron’s back and pushed forward to bend the prince over, face down and ass up. With the man’s cheek to the mattress he raked through his hair once from bottom to top, and gave the back of his head a little shove. “Stay there.” He then guided his cock in quick. They’d already gone above and beyond preparing for the inevitable, so why delay further. 

She shrugged “Yeah I guess it could be worse though I may have never even hold someones hand, as in someone that wasn’t part of my family.” But what would be best being someone that may never love anyone or someone that fell in love with anyone easily? “See we aren’t cliches at all.” 

“Is there someone you have a crush on here?” She asked, curiously watching him as he looked away, she was pretty sure that Maddox slept around with royals and pirates but she did wonder now if there was someone he liked more, it didn’t seem like it but well he was very good at hiding things especially it those things related to emotions. Which was also why her expectations of getting an answer weren’t high. “Well maybe i have to test that too to see if its my thing” She said tilting her head and chuckled “But then if I start arriving late you can’t complain.” 

“Some are clichés.” Quick to point it out, as always, but then Maddox’s expression softened. “I didn’t say present company was one necessarily.

His brows furrowed but with a smile. “A crush? I don’t think those are allowed in your thirties.” The word sounded juvenile, innocent, unfulfilled. All the things he wasn’t. Having been leaning back he sat up straight and dusted his hands. Thinking of someone to be interested in wasn’t so hard. “Most of the pirates here look like supermodels. It’s not hard to be distracted. My ship looks like backstage at Fashion Week.” One stood out above the rest, he had to admit. But who could say what would happen if tomorrow all the royals were released and he was back on The Deadly Tide. “I’m only close to a few though. Then again.. I’m not sure the island is built for pursuing anything serious.” 

A brow arched. “So what are you waiting for? Sit out too long and you’ll turn into a pumpkin. Or shift back into full last unicorn mode. Then he challenged, because he’d missed pushing on said unicorn lately. “Of course if you try it out on me, then you’d never be late, yeah? A time saver, really. Very convenient.”

Aaron arrived on time, for once. Still not as well rested as he would have liked, but six hours of sleep was better than the whopping zero he usually got. A wry smile crossed his face when he saw Maddox lift a beer at his arrival. “Hallo, Maddox,” he said, choosing to ignore the outrageous statement at least until he was on the boat. The prince paused at the end of the dock, arms wrapped around the floral fabric adorning his frame against the wind, looking a bit wary of stepping onto the small vessel. Was this a test? He saw fishing poles and a bucket of bait and blinked in surprise, then he carefully boarded the boat. “I will tell you.” Aaron peered over the edge of the plastic sunglasses Noah gave him. “But first I would like to know if we are going on a fishing trip or sailing the fuck away from here. Because if it is the latter then I need to go back for my things.” Aaron smiled and reached into the cooler for a beer of his own.

“You were on my Instagram?” he asked as he pried open the bottle. “And Valko’s? Are you really that bored?” After settling himself onto a seat, Aaron took a quick sip and watched Maddox, delaying the inevitably boring story about a charity event he attended almost a year ago.

Once Aaron stepped onboard the pirate began to free the boat from the docks, untying knots, coiling rope up, and stashing it away. He spoke while working, casting a grin over in return. “My plan has been discovered. Kidnap an already kidnapped prince to turn him over for a big reward. Hope I sucked his dick good enough he’ll show clemency and save my arse.”

The engine was started and Maddox stood at the wheel, looking over a shoulder, leaning out keep the boat from bumping back into the side of the dock while slowly floating in reverse. Maddox did a fair amount of cyberstalking on royals for reasons. But in the case mentioned... “Yes, I am that bored.” Once away from the dock and pointing out to sea, he floored the boat, hoping to throw Aaron back into his seat.

--

Once anchored with the island in the near distance, Maddox opened up the bait and began to set up a fishing pole. “So tell me about that time you ate a baby.”

The sun had long since fallen below the horizon when Cassandra made her way to Maddox’s villa. She had no real excuse for being there, for showing up unannounced, and was hoping that his invitation to surprise him anytime would still stand. In truth, she had found herself in need of conversation and Eli had been no where to be found. So, since the pirate seemed interested enough in things such as mythology and history, she figured that he would be an excellent choice. She made her way to his front door, hesitating for a moment before knocking, only now realizing that it was very possible that he wasn’t home, or wasn’t home alone. But when the door opened, she offered him a warm smile. “Surprise.” @maddox-keyes

Yes, he was surprised, his smile said as much. “Cass.. this is a surprise, hello. A pleasant one. Come in.” Halloween seemed ages ago, but once big brown eyes were on his doorstep he recalled the invitation. Company was rare and for a moment Maddox paused. “Would you like a drink? I was about to make one myself.” 

He kept an eye on her. Maddox wasn’t sure what others expected when they entered the villa. Minimalist and neat, mainly because he wasn’t normally there. The only clutter lived in his study, where he spent much of his time. "Brandy was our deal, yes?” He handed her a glass and took a sip from his own, recalling their conversation from the lounge. “Now let’s see. You wanted to have a chat and I’m more than willing to listen. Follow me into the study and I’ll show you the books I have which might interest you, perhaps that will guide us.”

“I feel like wooing you is far too easy though.” She joked. “I just need to tell you that you can do whatever you want too me, with me and in addition to me.” she cooed gently with a smirk. Pursing her lips in an air kiss. Of all the pirates on the island, Miles and Maddox were the two she was most comfortable around, and it often showed in her interactions with both. A hand played with his shirt a little as she spoke to him, her head tilting lightly.

“Good. God knows we could use the help.” Not that they weren’t more than capable, but it was a stretch at times, and having someone else there to support them would definitely be a bonus, and Maddox trust in the other woman gave Madi a lot of faith in her in turn. She believed Maddox to be a good judge of character. “You’re screwed if she’s not into this orgy idea.” she grinned at him sipping at her own drink.

He flashed a broad smile while she joked. “Ah, I particularly like those options too. How kind. See? Not so difficult, is it?” As she played with his shirt, he brushed blonde hair over a shoulder, tracing a finger teasingly down the side of her neck after. “So I must put in a little extra work on you, hm?” Truthfully, he’d discovered himself to be pickier trapped on land than in a distant port. The benefit of fucking recklessly far from home meant he never had to see the other person again. But if Madison wanted to tease him about being too easy he wouldn’t stop her.

“Actually I’m.. not screwed if she’s not into the threesome, right? Left high and dry. If you’re in though, that would sway her.” He was certain it was all of joke to Madison but hey, why not play along. A dark gaze raked over her. “She’s really into cheesy horror movies too, so the costume might help.” 

Teeth dug into his bottom lip while blue eyes hungrily devoured every inch of Maddox. Observing the rise and fall of his chest which caged in a rapidly beating heart, but surprisingly little else. Aaron thrived on the heavy lidded gazes, the hitch in his breath, the sounds let loose from an otherwise stoic man, wanting to pour more attention and touch into Maddox for as long as he could. His grip tightened on the man as a heavy hand guided him. Maddox had to be dangerously close and Aaron wavered between an intense desire to make him cum and the undeniable need he felt to have Maddox fuck him. But how hot it would be, he thought, to get him off like this– with an easy hand on his cock, just to see if he could watch Maddox crumble backed up against a wall. The idea was decadent and filled his chest with heat and another thick throb to his dick so persistent it was borderline painful. 

“I will be the reason you cum, too,” Aaron assured him of the obvious, not even the least bit ashamed to be accused of begging for the pirate’s cock.

Maddox returned a kiss heated with the rest of what Aaron left unspoken. Brash thoughts about the events of the past weeks replaced by the slide of his tongue inside the gunner’s mouth and teeth digging into a plush lower lip. Aaron purred into the kiss while tracing fingertips down Maddox’s chest, over the quivering muscles of his lower stomach. What Maddox said wouldn’t have been much were it not for the man behind the words. Aaron didn’t want to dwell on the fact that Maddox liked him, but there was a funny feeling in his chest that he had no headspace to fathom while he busied himself playing with Maddox’s dick. As Maddox kissed and bit at his neck, Aaron’s mouth dropped open and he breathed hot against Maddox’s shoulder. Leaning in for more closeness. 

“Oh,” he said softly, followed by a little affirmative hum. Shit–riding cock wasn’t something he’d done much of before but the prospect of it sent the biggest pulse yet right to his dick. Aaron dropped his hand away from Maddox so as to not wreck him too much too soon. He watched as Maddox slicked himself up with intent, his head feeling somewhere high. Aaron took his own dick into his hand for an experimental stroke that issued a hiss from his lips, the touch on an overly sensitive head a little painful but still good.

“I can’t wait, either, I’m–” Aaron looked to either side as Maddox looped the tie around the back of his neck, the smirk on his face framed by a flush in his cheeks. Aaron’s legs still felt unsteady, but he marched diligently over to his bed with Maddox pulling him along. He let Maddox gather him up in his lap, climbing on top of him for another kiss. With hands on either side of Maddox’s face, Aaron bent over him and straddled his lap. He moved his hips, feeling the warmth and slickness of Maddox’s hard cock against his own with a low whine. He hadn’t really stopped being hard, hadn’t felt like he’d ever really come down from an orgasm that took him good and slow and easy inside Maddox’s mouth. If anything, Aaron felt like he’d raced up to the top once more–all ready to go again.

“I want you,” Aaron murmured against Maddox’s mouth, the kiss turning sloppy as he wanted to lick and bite and crush their mouths together all at the same time. “I need you–to fuck me, hard. First with your fingers and then with your cock so I can make you cum.” Aaron moved his hand down and cupped Maddox under the balls, palm over his dick, holding him there for a moment while he locked eyes with him. “I’m ready for you, schätzen.” He took Maddox by the wrist and brought his fingers to his lips, kissing the tips of his fingers before urging his first two fingers inside his mouth.

The rollout had gone slow bringing Aaron back, dreaming up what he wanted for them both. Carrying it out as he pleased with no rush or haste. But Maddox’s frame was roped tight by the heat of all the nips and kisses on his skin. And the easy way Aaron followed his whims but tried to insert his own. It made for a graceful dance between the more frantic hands on pleads. A lead-up so finessed it made Maddox shiver and moan as the prince began to grind in his lap causing it to writhe beneath. The gunner found himself succumbing to the merciless response of Aaron’s body fast again, caught in a wide kiss that wanted it all, all at once. 

Aaron coming into contact with his cock and balls caused a slight lurch forward for a second, pulled at the chest and by the beam of a soft blue gaze. Light kisses traveled right through his fingertips to the ache of his cock before he pushed into Aaron’s mouth. Wet, watering, the tongue like velvet. 

His other hand massaged the back of Aaron’s neck, holding him in the grip tense fingers and the darkest eyes. Talking was quickly becoming a struggle for the gunner. “You’re so hot like this. Pure sex.” Maddeningly hot, creating a heavy haze in the air between them. The hold on the neck told Aaron to get comfortable in another kiss, wanting to taste every sound which was about to come out of his mouth. 

He reached back with saliva coated fingers and swatted over a tight ass before finding a taut hole, spending a few laden moments circling. Toying with the man but ultimately growing impatient and pushing in. Crooked fingers began to pump, slow and careful, letting the body on top tell Maddox when to curl inside him, when to sink deep to the next knuckle. Gauging too with a forceful kiss that eventually broke, the hand keeping Aaron close finally leaving to give the man space and for Maddox to roam around his body. 

Soon his fingers pushed and pulled inside Aaron stronger, firmer. With Maddox reasserting that, even under Aaron, he could dominate the man. As much as he enjoyed the lazy, seductive tug of war between them of who wanted what, and how and when-- it was coming to an end. Maddox’s lips fell to the man’s ear to speak low. “Tell me how it feels to be controlled like this, by your body. By me. Let me hear it.” He still only used two fingers on Aaron, but they began to take wider shapes, the skin stretching around them as he worked rougher on the prince. 

Maddox wasn’t unaffected by it all. He could barely catch a breath watching Aaron. When Aaron moaned it triggered an echo coming out of the gunner’s mouth. His cock twitched now and then in need, his heart fluttered and beat so fast it seemed to want to escape his chest. 

“I’m vague for theatrical reasons, it’s different,” he made a face and jabbed Maddox in the side. Also vague so that he could claim credit for the structuring and planning of the whole thing afterwards, because right now, he of course had no idea what would happen.

Eli gave Maddox an unconcerned look, “I know how to handle kraits. We go way back,” turning the snake’s head in his hands, “That’s right, I’ll eat you before you’ll eat me,” he spoke to the snake but started making his way towards the beach again. He definitely didn’t want to be in the water when he released it. “Early tomorrow morning when it’s low tide, a disgusting stench permeates from the cove,” he stepped on the beach a safe distance away from Maddox while the snake wrapped itself around his hand, “Half eaten fish and guts spread on the sand, already rotting from the heavy morning sun,” after a pause, the dramatic telling of the tale halted to a flash of white teeth, “And that’s it, that’s the first chapter.”

His head shook, clearly amused, the only answer possible to give then. A pretty man. A strange man, talking to not-so-friendly snakes. The latter was why Maddox had grown so fond of his company. Early tomorrow morning when it’s low tide.. Theatrical indeed. Once he’d summarized the ‘chapter’ it became Maddox’s turn to go dramatic. “Wait..” He crept closer to Eli, wide-eyed and playing along. “Wait, in the cove, is it.... the fish man from that movie? The one who lived in a bathtub? Got laid, fell in love? Seen it, was a bit overhyped in my opinion. Predictable, really.” 

He bit his lip and smiled. “Or in the cove, is it a pirate who should’ve written a book...” Ahem. “But instead fucks around handling kraits to scare people. And then is bitten by one-- as his dear friend warned might happen.” A pause. “Overnight he is transformed by the bite. He wakes and begins his routine of chai in the morning. Brushing his neck,” he reaches out to demonstrate on the storyteller. “He feels something. Going to the mirror he’s the same except for iridescent scales below his ear that begin to glow with bioluminescence. But the transformation isn’t outward and easily hidden. It’s inward. In the mirror he sees someone turned savage, filled with the venom of the bite lingering in his system. To protect others he flees to the cove but soon a hunger grows inside him.. and I guess cliffhanger until the page is turned to chapter three.”

Found this. So many questions. Be at the docks at 8am tomorrow to explain. --MK

Early morning wasn’t his favorite time of day. But the AM hours remained the best to take out one of the smaller fishing boats. It seemed like a good excuse to get off the island for a few hours too. A cooler, bait, and fishing poles were already on board. As Aaron arrived Maddox hoisted a beer in a salute. “And I thought Valko’s Instagram was weird. Climb aboard, Aaron Herzog. I have beer. And I have snacks, because I don’t want you to eat me as you did that poor orphan in the photo. But I’d still like to hear the story.”

“Hey so now you’re implying I’m not normal?” She joked as she nudged him softly. “I know you have feelings, but hey I haven’t been in love so I don’t assume that everyone has. So the princess is the heartless one that has never been in love and the pirate that seduced so many wealthy people has.” Was it weird that she hadn’t been in love? She had faint crushes and she did thought about falling in love someday and she had felt lust so why had she never fallen in love? She was going to ask when was the last time he had fallen in love and why did it end but, she didn’t think he’d answer.

“About love? Sure, but is not something I dwelled on much… especially here.” Though she supposed for some it would be the other way around find someone to get comfort because they were all stuck here together. “Ah but you can’t chose who do you get a crush on right? it just happens.”Love is too complicated and may hurt anyway so why would i want that” That was mainly a joke but she supposed there was a little bit of truth there too. “Now that may be an easier thing to pass the time yeah” She said with a chuckle. “Maybe, I guess I have to find someone to test the theory with.” 

He laughed quietly. “I wasn’t implying you weren’t normal. Compared to your royal counterparts it seems unusual is all.” So the princess is the heartless one that has never been in love and the pirate that seduced so many wealthy people has. “Funny, that. Who would’ve guessed?”

“No, not love.” Perhaps life would be easier thinking in broader categories. "But maybe you have it right and the rest are mental. It’s all a tangled ball of yarn and who wants that? Especially here.” Maddox looked out to the ocean where white crests silently broke at a sandbar. A memory of being there with someone held him quietly for a long moment. Swimming out, and then holding on to each other on the bar in calf high water surrounded by the sea. Letting big waves crash into them. He lost his favorite pair of sunglasses that day. His attention turned back to Alexandra. “Sex is easier. Don’t imagine you’d have any trouble finding someone to help you test the theory. Maybe even a pirate if that’s your thing.” 

“Well there was no clarification, so you know, just wanted to check. You never know how far you’re going to take the competition.” She grinned at him, running a hand through her hair to brush it off of her face. It helped her to have a bit of healthy competition. It kept her on her toes and it was exactly what she needed. “You sure you want to try that? I have nerves of steel, Keyes, you’re not getting into my head.”

“It’s not, but learning from the military wasn’t about becoming a gunner. That came from my shooting instructor and my father.” Her father had been a gunner on a ship. She had grown up knowing how to shoot, something she had perfected with her father before continuing it on after he passed. “But being good in combat isn’t just about using a gun.” She grinned as he looked at her, doubt clouding his features and it prompted a quiet laugh from the girl. “Obviously, I’m not exactly the peace and love type, am I?” Shrugging, Alejandra leaned back in her seat, pulling one foot up to rest her chin on her knee. “Maybe you’re not having nearly enough. I mean, if you’re not getting enough sex with that face, what’s going?” She laughed again, nudging him gently with her foot. “Dry patch?”

A brow lifted to Alejandra’s confident remarks. “Hey, I’ll try anything once.”

Maddox didn’t know much about Ale so he found it interesting to hear about her past experience. “Being good in combat isn’t just about using a gun, you’re right. So, what did you learn from the military? Because it sounds a bit too strict for my tastes. But perhaps I just don’t take orders well.” He crossed his arms with a smile. “No, I took you for the shoot first and ask questions later type. But it’s good to have confirmation.” Maddox nudged back with the toe of his boot. “Not that it’s anyone’s business but the definition of a dry patch would be a long period without sex. I’m getting laid. And would never complain about more of a good thing.”

“Speaking of...” Like he’d tell her something and not ask in return. “You have a certain glow about you today. The prescription you’ve spoken of must be working wonders in your case.” 

“Another brilliant classic. Certainly one more based in science and possibility than that of Dracula. I think my love for the latter, though, comes from simple familiarity at this point. At first it was the morbid curiosity of discovering a creature who had to drink blood to survive, and it sort of grew from there. And I can’t deny a small bit of the fascination bloomed from the fame Dracula brought to my country.” That’s when she cut herself off, afraid she’d make him regret helping her if she continued to drone on about what drew her to the dark creature. “Cosmetic dental procedure. For show mostly, but I can assure you I know how to use them for both defense and good time. Another demonstration I would be pleased to give.”

Maddox would never begrudge anyone from talking about what interested them, particularly books or music. Not even a royal. The connection to lore and country made her comments all the more intriguing. “Well, Dracula is partly a story about old world meeting the new and the consequences. So perhaps the two stories have that in common too, yeah? Not to diminish the mysterious creature sucking on necks to feed. That’s brilliant as well.” 

He grinned. Perhaps it was time to revisit the book. “And the inspiration for the name, good old Vlad? What do you think of him?” Maddox caught sight of fine white points when she spoke, but just barely. He placed another book on her stack. “Ah, a talented princess indeed. I’m absolutely looking forward to this demonstration. It can be given in the light of day, yes? Or must I wait until the sun goes down for a proper vampire to appear?”

His body felt lax, languid, like a calm pool of water except for the ripples of breath pressing his chest in and out. He felt anything but tired as frenetic energy pulsed through his extremities to the tips of his fingers and toes. A few blinks and Aaron’s blue eyes met deep brown as Maddox stood up, a hitch in his breath in anticipation for having his hands freed so he could touch every inch of the gunner. Head tilted and chased the rough thumb tracing his lips, half lidded eyes catching the smile on Maddox’s face. The fabric around his wrists cut in just enough for a satisfying burn, removed then by deft hands that ran down uncoiling muscles in his arms. Aaron slowly set his arms around Maddox’s neck as his own stiff shoulders loosened. Then a kiss which pressed the pause button on all of his thoughts, made time stop for an instant where once again Maddox’s mouth was all Aaron needed.

Aaron couldn’t tear his eyes away from Maddox, intent on watching white teeth sink into his hand. It was electric, flinging Aaron’s heartbeat back into the air again. Air sucked through teeth as his hand was guided down to close around a cock that needed attention he was all too willing to give. He gripped firm but a bit loose, rubbing from the base to the tip, a brush of his thumb over the thick ridge of the head, flicking over the tip to smear precum over him. A grin, leaning his weight into the taller man, urging him to back up to the wall because the prince very much wanted to make sturdy legs shake beneath him.

“You are smiling,” he murmured, wanting to kiss him, but finding himself distracted watching the pleasure etch across Maddox’s face. “So fucking beautiful.” A dangerous man letting Aaron handle him like this was already enough to send a big pulse deep in his stomach, to get him worked up all over again. His hand raked needy fingernails across Maddox’s scalp, pretty dark hair threaded between his fingers until he dragged his palm down the side of Maddox’s face and shivering at the prickle of short stubble against his palm. When he reached his chin, he cupped under Maddox’s jaw and swiped his own thumb against Maddox’s soft lips to trace the origin of his smile. 

For so long, Maddox looked miserable. With the absence of witty banter between them, the gunner sank into bitterness that seemed quelled only when he had Aaron doing some menial task. Aaron didn’t care about that anymore, his pride left forgotten somewhere when he was buried deep in Maddox. “If this was all you wanted, you only had to say the word.” It didn’t matter–lost time could be made up here tonight.

The hand under Maddox’s jaw urged him to lift his chin so that Aaron could kiss his throat, lapping a thirsty tongue up from collar bone over Maddox’s pulse and up to his ear. “I told you I was starting to like you,” he whispered. “I meant that.” Maybe Maddox got it–but Aaron had to say it again so that it was not muddled in the shit that happened. There was more to say–so much more. Fractured pictures of Maddox riding shotgun in Aaron’s favorite Mercedes, Maddox checking himself in the mirror of a room thousands of miles away that Aaron wasn’t sure he’d ever see again. Fickle daydreams that wouldn’t be anything but just that–dreams.

Aaron pressed his body in close, pinning himself up against Maddox, still working an attentive hand over his thick cock. Closeness and heat shared between them addictive. Muscles tightening down below where he wanted Maddox to fuck him. Lips brushed against Maddox’s temple, a kiss pressed there, until traveling to meet the other’s mouth in a heated, hungry crashing of lips and tongue. God, did he want Maddox. Over and over again.

Aaron’s hand reached his cock and he wanted to sigh. His smile grew wider, his mouth opened for a small huff of a laugh. A hand beautifully teased his hard-on and grazed the bead of precum over already sensitive skin. The gunner stepped back to the wall, chin tipping up, eyes colored with desire for the man leaning into him. Thinking if the German poured the wanton look deeper into the pirate’s eyes he might cum on the spot. Maddox felt too good in the other’s hand to put up any argument. 

“Mm, someone is giving me a reason to smile.” The gunner had never delayed his own gratification for this long for Aaron, suspended in air hooked on lust. Fingers sizzled over his scalp and Maddox’s eyes fell closed. “You’re beautiful, even when you aren’t pulling on my hair and begging me to fuck you.” 

A hand draped over Aaron’s slowly gliding one wanting to move it dangerously fast but letting the pace be what it was. Basking in the attention he gave to others but rarely allowed in return. Sensation sparked under Aaron’s thumb on his lips, and the tip of his tongue responded by brushing against it. 

But the touches over his jaw and lips were tender, almost uncomfortably too fucking good and natural, but as impossible to ignore as a warm fire in winter. 

Little earthquakes fired off up and down his spine and around his cock, with arousal spiking as a thermometer registering his rising temperature. His eyes opened and his hands began to skim low over steep valleys around the hips and below the waist, wanting to wake all the promises already spoken.

Aaron’s words caught him off guard as much as the drag of his tongue over his neck ignited him. The prince was the first royal Maddox met that he didn’t wish to instantly crush. Instead the pirate had brazenly seduced the man. He vouched for him after the fire. He let him live. “I’m starting to like you too, Aaron.” 

The reply sounded too simple yet overly complicated for a myriad of reasons, but it was gentle and lacking the usual bite. Thankfully a stolen obscene kiss prevented a discussion. 

Maddox pushed as much as he could into Aaron’s mouth and against his skin. He steadied himself with strong shoulders, holding on. The friction was good but fuck not enough. The rising tide of want pulled Aaron close, the thought of parting paled against any alternative. Maddox felt the quake of tectonic plates shifting again but not wanting them to stop. 

It was his turn to go for the soft curve of a neck, burying in again to add to the collection of marks. He lowered his hand to halt steady strokes that make him shudder. “I’m going to cum if you keep that up. And I want to cum in you while you’re on top of me.” 

If there was one thing a person could not do when dealing with a potentially violent enemy, it was hesitate. Make a plan. Follow through. Alex had told her that the best choice was running when faced with an opponent she did not hope to physically overpower. Lecia was ready to run. She watched Maddox turn to the side, and knew this was the time.

She ducked under the beam. Then… she hesitated. Intrigued by his words, she stopped right there in front of the beam like an idiot. Somehow the pirate seemed even taller, even more imposing from this angle. Foder. Keep talking, she told herself.

“If it had worked then I am finally off this godforsaken island, and my answer is being yes,” she said, “So if I am having integrity then my answer must still be yes even though they have cocked it up. Even when…” She shook her head. Even when she had been forced into the dungeons, and everything that had entailed.

“Why do you ask this?”

There wasn’t a doubt Lecia prepared to flee. She should. Better things could be done than block her way. Except the woman stopped in front of him. So bold, too bold of a move for Maddox to close the height difference and utter a boo to her. Especially when Lecia chose to speak rather than scatter. 

What a strange woman. 

He expected a no at least when with a barrier between them. Even without it, no made the most sense. Integrity was thrown into the mix too. As well as the cocked it up, which caused a small pinch between his brows of amusement.

“Even when..?” He repeated. The unspeakable and unimaginable happened. Would she say it, out loud? The horrors of the dungeon. “I saw you there, that night.” As if established, and Maddox reckoned she’d know what he meant. 

Briefly he saw her. Being led in or perhaps out of those damp and dim rooms. With eyes haunted just like the rest of them. A thought clung to the roof his mouth. A sudden confessional urge. Not to ask forgiveness for what he did in the dungeons. He’d do it again in a heartbeat. But for the right reasons. So far, for that night, he didn’t have as many as he once thought. “Criminals can ask questions, can’t they? Or will those be outlawed too?”