Starcutter - 7. Chapter 7

Being stuck in the same rooms with the same people for a month can get on anyone's nerves. The first few days for them were nice. The duo would eat every meal together, chat away like old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time, and could see that they were becoming more than master and slave. Ryle was smiling quite often now, and Gabe would do his best even with his healing face. Gabe would sit on the sofa and read while Ryle would sit next to him, their shoulders touching. Gabe learned to just let Ryle initiate the physical contact and let him set the pace.

“Gabriel?”

“Yeah?” he asked as he looked up from the databook.

“Do you regret buying me? I mean to say...have I made myself useful?” His tone was questioning, but his eyes said he was worried about it.

“I do not regret it. When I saw you, I wanted to give you a better life. That was it. That's why I chose you. The other entertainers would be sold easily.” Gabe was trying to keep his voice neutral, but the Cana knew he hated speaking about slavery with terms like this. “Since you have been here, I have seen you change from a smart-mouthed little shit to someone I am glad to have around. The little things you do make my life better.” Ryle blushed and smiled at the same time. “Part of me likes you being here and doing those small things. Part of me wants to tell you to stop so you don't have to be a slave to me. Part of me feels like you're doing it to be useful. Part of me thinks you're doing it to be a friend. So, no matter the reason, I'm glad you're here.”

Ryle's eyes misted over, and he looked away. “Are you trying to trick me?”

“No. Look at me.” Ryle did, seeming to know that, while the phrase was an order, its tone was not one. “Look me in the eyes. You know I suck at lying.” Ryle went against training and looked him in the eyes. “I'm glad you're here.”

Ryle smiled and threw his arms around Gabe's shoulders, burying his face in Gabe's shoulder. At first he was surprised, but he gently wrapped his arms around Ryle and let him be close. Gabe could feel his heart beating rapidly, faster than should be possible for any being. “Am...am I important to you?” came his softest voice.

“You are. I have come to see you as my friend, Ryle. Someone I can trust and care about and know that you at least feel similar.” Ryle sobbed. “Ryle, I'm here for you. Through the good and bad, I'll be right here, and I will never get rid of you.” It only made him sob harder.

“I don't deserve someone like you.”

“Bullshit. Everyone deserves someone to care for them.”

Ryle pulled away and wiped his red rimmed eyes. “Even...an ugly slave like me?”

“Oh, Ryle, if you only knew what I truly thought of you.” Gabe said it and immediately wish he hadn't.

“Tell me. Please.”

“Um...it's not the most safe thoughts.”

“Meaning?” Ryle's look was now getting suspicious.

“Meaning I shouldn't think like this.”

“Now I know you're messing with me.” Ryle stood and went to the bed room, closing the door for privacy.

“Ryle, it's not like that.” Gabe got to his feet, groaning as the pains hit him. “I don't want to tell you because I don't want you to think I'm bad.” He crossed the room and put his head to the cool metal of the door. “I want you to see I'm not like them.”

“So you hate me, want to beat me, and want to starve me? Are those your thoughts?”

“No! How could you even think that? Please, open the door.” Gabe knew he could open it himself, but he wanted Ryle to want him in there.

“Go away...master!” Ryle was upset, which was the only time he ever used that term.

“Fine. Stay in there. I'm taking a shower.” Gabe limped to the other room and wished he had a door he could slam rather than one that slid shut on its own. Stupid fucking bastards! Turning someone so nice into someone who suspected everyone was out to get him. I would love to wring your fucking necks!

You could have just told him.

Shut up, me, I know. He would have really hated me if I told him I wanted to hold him every night and make love to him. Gabe stripped and turned the water on, letting it heat up. He was sore, and he needed to clean up since it had been a few days.

You don't know that. He might jump into your arms and kiss you passionately.

I doubt that. He doesn't like human males for a very good reason. Now shut up and let me mope.

Fine, you big baby.

Gabe stepped into the shower and sighed. It was nice to feel the heat sink into his sore body, but he had a slight problem. There was no way he could wash himself thoroughly with his ribs taped up, a wrenched shoulder, and a sprained wrist. Well, he would have to do his best. He tapped the soap dispenser on the wall, and it squirted a good dollop of mildly scented gel into his hand. He gently rubbed his exposed skin, careful not to hurt himself even more...but that was futile. In trying to be gentle and reach for his back, Gabe over extended and his knee gave out. He landed with a hard thud and a groan. His ribs screamed at him and he couldn't move until his air returned.

“Gabriel, are you okay?” Ryle asked from the other side of the door.

“I'm fine.” His tone said otherwise. “You can go back to hating me, I'll live.” He berated himself for acting like a child, but he was in major pain right now.

Ryle came in and saw Gabe in the tub, the water streaming down on him. His face could not mask the pain he obviously felt. “Is this some ploy to get me to come in here?”

“Oh fuck off, Ryle! I slipped in the shower because I didn't want to bother you to ask for help. I'm in pain and don't need your snarky mouth, so leave.” Gabe was able to get to a seated position, gasping often in pain.

The water stopped raining down on his head and switched to the lower faucet for the tub. Ryle rolled up his sleeves and knelt beside Gabe who was glaring. “You got hurt because you didn't want to bother me?” His tone was concerned, his voice quiet.

“Yeah. I mean, I'm a human male who is naked in front of you, and I would have to ask you to wash places I know damn well you don't want to touch. It would be cruel to do, especially since you don't trust me enough yet.” Gabe sat forward when Ryle calmly motioned for him to do so. The only sound was the water filling the tub. Ryle stood and got some more soap, this type having some mild pain killing and numbing properties.

Without blinking in disgust or fear, Ryle began to lather up Gabe's back, feeling him wince. He grunted when Ryle got to the tender spot he just fell on, but he stayed as still and quiet as possible. The Cana began to knead the muscles around his shoulders and upper back, trying to not press anything too hard. “You didn't fall just to get me in here, did you?”

“No. I'm not that much like my father.”

“I can feel it. Your body is tense and knotted.” Ryle was being clinical, but his touch...it was starting to feel very good to Gabe.

There would be no way to hide his arousal for much longer. “That feels better, thanks.” He sat up straighter, cursing inwardly at the pain.

“You're still hurting,” Ryle started to say.

“Listen, Ryle. Please, leave. I don't want to hurt your feelings or scare you.”

The Cana sat back on his heels and flipped his hair back from where it fell in his eyes. “What's wrong?” His tone wasn't as caring, but it was firm. He needed to know.

“Ryle...don't ask me.”

“Tell me, Gabriel. Why won't you let me help you?”

“Because of this!” He leaned back and his rigid erection was poking out of the water. “This is what you do to me. This is what I don't want to feel around you. This is what I didn't want to tell you.” His face was red from a bit of anger but mostly embarrassment. “This is what I wished I didn't feel towards you because I would feel like such a monster to long for your touch. It almost sickens me to look at you, knowing what has been done to you, and to want to make love to you. So please, go. I'm not sure I can take much more.”

Ryle was staring at it. It's huge! He thought. He had never seen one so amazingly perfect. The flaring tip was slightly larger than the shaft, and that was saying something. It was red and pulsing with Gabe's racing heartbeat. The sight of it sent blood racing to Ryle's own groin, and he got up, turning as he did, and left the room. The door shut silently behind him. He clutched at his chest and went to the room. How could he want me so? He is so wonderful, so lovely...so why does he want me?

Ryle knew he was not like any other master. He was like no other person he had ever met. This was the second time he had been hurt to spare the Cana's feelings. He had risked and cheated death to fight for Ryle's honor. Now he had fallen so soon after that fight because he didn't want to make him feel like he was being used. His need was very obvious and more powerful than Ryle had ever experienced. Ryle took a shuddering breath and went back into the wash room.

Gabe was sitting there, his erection gone down. His expression was full of sorrow and pain, but there was so much self-loathing too. He was beating himself up inside for not being able to control his own body. When he looked up, his eyes showed how small he felt. How utterly dirty to even think about Ryle that way. “Ryle, I'm sorry. I can't control my reactions. I've done my best, but you are too...what are you doing?”

Ryle slipped out of his own clothing, a bit red faced from embarrassment. He looked to see Gabe's reaction was back, and this time, it was harder than ever. Gabe's eyes were glued to Ryle own erection. It was long and slender, longer than should be on someone so petite. The Cana stepped into the tub and sat down. “You are not them, Gabriel.” He leaned back and let Gabe drink in the sight of him. “Your thoughts of me are no less than my thoughts of you. It is hard to have my past and see the very image of everything you hate be the person you love and worship.”

Gabe couldn't help but feel amazed as he swallowed heavily. This vision of loveliness...wanted him? Obviously so.

“You have been nothing but kind and honorable. You have put my feelings and needs before your own life, and I give you scorn. I do it because I find it so hard to see you and not remember them. But...but I want to see you, and see the love and feelings in your eyes, and know that you wouldn't hurt me on purpose.” Ryle looked into his eyes. “This is what you do to me, Gabriel. Even with...with them forcing me, I cannot deny that you excite me in ways no one has ever done. I feel like a brazen whore for saying this, but I am yours. However you wish to have me.”

Gabe let out his breath. He could not believe what he just heard. Ryle was offering himself... with no limitations and no reservations. He could see the haunting of his past in those purple eyes, but Gabe could also see the love there. “Ryle...could you wash my back for me?” The smile and nod was more lovely than anything he had seen before. Gabe turned around and was treated to a full body bath.

Ryle's touch was firm yet delicate. Part functional and part erotic, it was giving Gabe the most sensual experience of his entire life. He would massage a spot into relaxation and then kiss that spot. Those kisses were like the brush of a butterfly's wing. So soft, so delicate, so enticing that Gabe wondered who was seducing who. With care, Gabe was helped out of the tub, the numbing gel having helped alleviate some of the pain. He was dried off gently and led to the bedroom where Ryle put him face down in the bed. The full body massage was something Gabe had never experienced, and it was something he wished he could have every moment of the day. When Ryle got to a particularly tender spot, Gabe would groan.

Gabe rolled over in the bed, giving Ryle access to his chest and thighs. There was no hiding his erection. Hiding something seven and a half inches long and around was no easy task, especially since it was bouncing and leaking. His eyes were closed, but Ryle knew that right now they would be filled with lust so strong that, if Gabe crooked a finger, Ryle would do anything he said. “Ryle...you're amazing.”

“Not so amazing as you. You are such a good person.” Gabe took his claw and pulled him atop him, wrapping his arms around Ryle and holding him close. The Cana felt Gabe's heart was steady, slowly but powerfully thudding in his chest. The feel and sound was soothing, comforting to the hybrid.

“Is this okay?”

Ryle nodded. “Gabriel, I am yours. I will never say no to you.” He felt Gabe tense.

“I don't want you like that. I want someone who can tell me to fuck myself when I'm being a shit. Someone who can help me be a better person. Someone who can take it when I tell them to get out because I need space, and someone who wants me to be there when they need a shoulder.”

Ryle arched his neck and looked up. “You...want...what?” he asked in confusion.

“I want a man to stand beside me. I don't want a slave, I don't want a master, I want an equal. And I want you to be that person.”

Ryle leaned up and kissed him. His lips trembled, his claws dug into Gabe's chest a bit, and his pulse went from relaxed to racing in one beat of the human's now racing pulse. It was amazing to Gabe. It was everything he dreamed of and more.

Their smiles were sweet and sultry. “Gabriel, I hope I can be everything for you.”

“And I hope I can show you that, once and for all, you deserve all the love I have and more. You have given me something I have never had before.” Ryle made a cooing sound in his throat, it's tone questioning. “You gave me my first kiss.”

“Your first...really?” Gabe nodded. “But you're hot! How is that possible?” Gabe laughed, wincing a bit at the pain in his ribs.

“I just never found the one to kiss until now.” Gabe let out a huge yawn.

“I will let you sleep, Gabriel.” He nodded but kept holding on to Ryle. “So...you like me being here?”

“In my arms.”

Ryle smiled and settled into those arms. It felt like home.