Poisonous Parley Read online

  He continued, “since you haven’t killed me outright, I assume you know you and your lord won’t be getting out of here alive before my crew intervenes. So here’s what I offer. Stop working for him and work for us instead.”

  Adriel snorted at this.

  “Are you born yesterday, pirate? Fenris Mercenaries are only moved by profit, and you can’t pay him any higher than I can.”

  “From the looks of it, Lord Claremont, this Fenris Mercenary isn’t just moved by profit.” Dabnis gulped nervously when Lionel pressed his claws threateningly close to his neck again.

  A long stretch of silence passed.

  Lionel could sense the nervous energy in the small cabin, but ignored it. The pirate saw far too much more than Lionel wanted. Adriel was right. He should’ve just slit the man’s throat, but he sensed no particular malice on Dabnis’s side.

  Maybe it was the prospect of desire that moved him too, just as it stopped Lionel from immediately freeing Adriel. If he killed the pirate and freed his lord, what would make this rescue any different from any other rescue?

  Adriel would still be employer and he’d still be his expensive bodyguard.

  Besides, despite his misgivings, Lionel had to grudgingly admit it was his instinct and heart that moved him to help Adriel, not his head. Since he was already bound toward the path of his self-destruction, he might as well follow it through and through.

  If he were only a werewolf mercenary moved by profit, he wouldn’t give a shit what happened to his unfortunate employer, but Lionel wasn’t just a well-trained wolf protecting his lord. He was only a man protecting another man he’d desired from afar. A man he wanted for far too long. It was a kind of longing that continually itched and throbbed and the only way to scratch the itch was to have it taken care of.

  Not an itch, but a claiming of our mate, his wolf chided.

  Lionel had given up convincing the wolf otherwise, but he sensed the beast was right. It was no use denying his attraction to his employer. He didn’t just want to make use of Adriel’s body. He wanted to claim both the other’s man body and heart. Werewolves mated for life, but he didn’t think he’d regret the decision and neither would Adriel.

  True, they each had flaws, but flaws were what made any relationship interesting. If Adriel’s mouth got the better of him, then Lionel would just stuff a gag in to silence him.

  “I believe the pirate’s right, Adriel. Alone, I can easily slip out, but if I have to lug around a dead weight, it’ll be more difficult,” Lionel finally said. Used to a life following orders and being controlled by his superiors and employers, it was a refreshing feeling for Lionel to be control for a change.

  “Wolf! How dare you call me deadweight?” Adriel sputtered.

  “Didn’t I tell you to keep quiet?” Lionel snapped in a quiet, cold and deadly voice.

  Adriel wisely shut his mouth.

  Lionel addressed Dabnis, “what do you propose?”

  The pirate looked thoughtful. “I’ll agree to let both of you go on one condition.”

  Adriel snorted again, but Lionel only tilted his head to listen. He didn’t exactly lie to his employer. Even if Lionel did put down Dabnis and his entire crew, they wouldn’t be able to escape the ship unscathed.

  Lionel didn’t look forward to dealing with the intrusive questions from the port authorities later. It also wasn’t exactly easy to explain why the entire crew of a merchant ship was slaughtered in a suspiciously professional matter. In a manner that couldn’t be mistaken for the work of anyone but a Fenris Mercenary, and Lionel was the only one currently stationed in the city. Lionel could also stage it as an accident, but that would take too much time.

  Besides, he had a feeling Dabnis would rather negotiate with more pleasant terms that could be beneficial to all of them. It also helped his wolf trusted this pirate. That was saying something since the beast was wiser than most men and didn’t trust anyone easily.

  “What’s that?” Lionel asked, intrigued.

  Dabnis turned to Adriel. “I may be a pirate Lord Claremont, but I honor my agreements. Your wolf sees that.”

  Lionel could feel a change in the pirate. Unnamed energy, excitement perhaps, thrummed through him. Lionel wasn’t mistaken about the man. He wanted to have Adriel just as he did. While the prospect of sharing his lord never crossed his mind before, both he and his wolf didn’t mind sharing Adriel with the pirate as long he was the one who ran the show.

  Dabnis continued, “I’m a simple man. All I ask is for you two to remain here for the night.”

  “What do you mean remain here for the night?” Adriel sounded confused, then bewildered and angry. “You can’t mean you want us to pleasure you like whores? Who do you think you’re propositioning, pirate?”

  “Think about it and think about well, Lord Claremont. We’re just three men, enjoying each other’s company without the world to bother us. For a single night, we’re not lords, pirates or werewolves. Just three men moved by desire.”

  His own cock felt strained in his breeches at the sound of the pirate’s strange proposal. Who knew that the pirate could be a romantic? Lionel didn’t know why, but he rather liked the smirk on Dabnis’s face.

  “There’s nothing to think about. Lionel, tell this foul perverted pirate to go screw himself.” Adriel’s voice grew less confident at his silence. “Lionel, you can’t mean you’d agree to these foul terms?”

  “Other men have done worse things to survive,” Lionel only said, enjoying the sound of Adriel’s resentful sputter of nonsensical words.

  “Lord Claremont, you should know that’s hurtful. You should actually be thankful I’ll be doing the two of you lovebirds a favor,” Dabnis drawled.

  “What favor?” Adriel demanded. “Do you honestly think it’s a favor to reduce men with dignity to whores?”

  “Keep denying it all you want, Lord Claremont. But I can see it clear as day. The sexual tension between you and your wolf bodyguard is sharp enough to cut. He’s itching to plunge his cock into your noble ass and you’re practically begging for him to do it.”

  “Damn you and your perverted thoughts, pirate!” Adriel hissed. “If I ever get out of this alive, I’ll have your head!”

  There was a slight inflection in his voice, and if Lionel didn’t know Adriel well enough, he wouldn’t have caught it. When Adriel lost his bride, he’d vainly tried to conceal how much the loss truly affected him even though Lionel could sniff the loneliness wafting off him. This was the first time in a long time Lionel caught the slight edge of longing in Adriel’s voice despite the fake bravado he put up. Still, having his suspicions confirmed that Adriel’s desire reflected his own only made his cock stand upright in his breeches.

  Mate, his wolf agreed and he could almost see it thumping its tail impatiently inside him.

  Dabnis only chuckled, probably feeling Lionel’s rising erection. Lionel wasn’t embarrassed. Embarrassment, like most human emotions didn’t touch Fenris Mercenaries. Wolves in general had very little to be embarrassed about. He idly wondered if the sea-scented pirate would still be laughing once Lionel began ramming his cock into his tight ass after he’d plundered Adriel.

  “I want you to swear on your word, pirate.”

  Contrary to popular belief, pirates did have a code of honor. Any trustworthy pirate worth his salt in the underworld kept his word, especially a pirate with a reputation to protect like Dabnis. Sometimes, Lionel and his kin of mercenary wolves even preferred the honesty of a cutthroat sea rat to the questionable honesty of a stingy merchant.

  “I swear on my word that I’ll release Lord Claremont and you once the night is over,” Dabnis promised.

  Lionel loosened his grip on the pirate and retracted his claws.

  “I get first claim over Adriel. Then you can have him while I fuck you. After that, I’m sure we’ll think of something to make sure he’s sore and well-used up come morning,” Lionel said crudely.

  Dabnis gave him a friendly slap on his shoulder.<
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  “You tore the words right out of my mouth, wolf. This is one night our little lord won’t be able to forget, eh? Look at him, squirming in his seat over there. I bet he’ll come right on the spot if we continue talking about the depraved things we’d like to do to him.”

  “I won’t come on the spot,” Adriel’s voice cut in, but both of them could tell his protest sounded weak.

  Didn’t the human know how badly his body screamed of need? Lionel didn’t need to press his nose against the length of Adriel’s body to know that need possessed every inch of him.

  “We should start then. Time’s a wasting,” Lionel said.

  “I’m more and more liking your style, wolf.”

  “Lionel.”

  Dabnis rewarded him with his infectious grin.

  “Lionel, then. The pirate captain of this ship is more than happy to have you both.”

  Chapter Three

  Still tied to the chair, Adriel suspected the two men expected him to put up more of a resistance. Hell, even he expected to fight tooth and nail over Lionel’s unexpected betrayal, but he couldn’t shake off the expression on the werewolf’s face.

  Usually, Lionel’s face betrayed nothing. Now though, Adriel could sense the heat of desire rolling off his body. The fine lines of his tanned face weren’t rigid with disapproval or displeasure either, as always seemed to be the case. He was throbbing with want. With need.

  Adriel also noticed for the first time the cruel slant of his thin lips. Each harsh word Lionel emitted as he sealed the deal with Dabnis sent an involuntary shiver through his spine. Only the tight ropes securing him to the chair kept him from straining and leaning forward. He wanted nothing more than to beg Lionel to mash his lips against his own, to beg the wolf to tear his clothes apart, and use him roughly just as Adriel always imagined.

  Gods of Domo, was this actually happening?

  He couldn’t forget Dabnis’s words and how much they’d shaken him to the core—shaken him in ways he didn’t understand.

  “For a night we’re not lords, pirates or werewolves. Just three men moved by desire.”

  Those simple words opened a door inside him he didn’t think existed, and the possibilities of what could happen that evening made him dizzy with excitement. If this was what freedom tasted like, if this was what living in a world without rules felt like, Adriel was terrified he’d never want to go back to his old one.

  Who’d want to return to a world made of deceit, frigid smiles and ill intent, when one could be free of all of it?

  “Awfully silent aren’t you, Lord Claremont? Probably fantasizing how your lips would feel so right around my cock and your wolf’s prick buried in your ass?” Dabnis smirked when a furious blush began to spread across his face.

  “Don’t call me lord. It’s Adriel.”

  Adriel’s mouth was dry as the two men began to undress. He could feel his own tense cock, waiting to be free of its cumbersome breeches. If it was a strip tease for his benefit, he greatly appreciated it. Perhaps the two men were still trying to ease him into the idea of a threesome, but Adriel was already in.

  He practically panted at the sight of Lionel’s copper skin and the hard muscles he’d imagined running his fingers across. Old scars trailed the werewolf’s skin, scars Adriel could imagine running his tongue over and over again just to taste the contrast between the unmarred skin of his flesh and the imperfect areas. He didn’t just want a collision of flesh and bodies. Adriel wanted to know every intimate inch of his werewolf.

  While Lionel was padded with muscles, the werewolf was also trim and leanly built. Dabnis meanwhile was a bull of a man with wide shoulders, a broad and hairy chest and thick arms and legs. The sight of his sun-kissed skin sent another ripple of unexpected desire through him.

  To have these two gorgeous men want him was something he’d never imagined. To be wanted this badly merely for being himself and not because of his family’s influence or money was a foreign concept to him. This was nothing like a mere peck on the cheek, or the gentle touches on the arm Adriel used on Lillian or any of the ladies he wooed. Looking at the primal and feral lust in the eyes of the men who wanted to devour him, Adriel knew there was nothing gentle in what was about to happen and it excited him. He strained vainly against his ropes, finally getting the attention of the two men.

  Dabnis laughed and his dark eyes gleamed greedily.

  “Lionel, looks like our little lord is getting impatient.”

  The pirate towered over him and Adriel’s gaze moved down from his scarred face, his delicious tattooed chest, and finally rested on his enormous cock. He swallowed. Every fiber of his being screeched with need and it was past time for playing games.

  “Looks like he wants your cock, Dabnis,” Lionel said bluntly, his eyes fastened on Adriel. “Come on. Beg him for it, Adriel.”

  Damn. Adriel nearly came at the harsh authority in the wolf’s voice.

  Instead, he fidgeted in his seat and after a moment said, “Please.”

  “Please what? If you don’t speak up man, you aren’t getting any. So tell us what you want,” Dabnis reprimanded.

  “Please. I want—” Adriel hesitated, swallowing his pride. He spied Lionel’s look of expectation and continued, “Please Lionel, I want to feel your cock buried in my ass. Pirate, I want your prick in my mouth.”

  It took all of him to say those words, but once they left his mouth, he felt more at ease. Free. Liberated.

  Lionel used his claws to free him from his bonds. Dabnis stripped him until the clothes that defined him and his station were no longer in the way. Like the most vicious pirate in the high seas of the empire said, they were just three men enjoying each other.

  Once he was on fours, the two men positioned themselves. Dabnis came in front of him while Lionel stood behind him. Adriel wriggled his ass at his men in anticipation.

  The sound of Lionel’s carefree laughter shocked him more than the jolting slap of the werewolf’s bare hand on his ass. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Lionel laugh before. It felt nice, carefree and unreserved like it should’ve been. The laugh revealed more of the man buried beneath the steel mask of the cold-hearted mercenary, and it warmed him.

  Recovering from his shock, Adriel dutifully spread his legs. Warmth spilled from Lionel’s hand again as he gave his ass a few ringing swats that sent his body reeling.

  “Gods of Domo,” Adriel murmured, closing his eyes to take in the sensations his body was feeling.

  Pain then pleasure coursed from his ass through the entire length of him, from the tips of his toes to his half-erect cock and head.

  “I think our lord likes being spanked,” Dabnis remarked in front of Adriel.

  He was fisting his long meaty cock and it looked so tempting that Adriel’s tongue slipped out of his mouth to lick the pre-cum off its head. A surprised shriek came out of him when Lionel delivered a particularly sharp and stinging slap on his left buttocks.

  “It’s your turn to obey us. You understand, little lord?” Lionel demanded.

  “Be a good boy and listen to your betters,” Dabnis added, making Adriel’s cheeks turn pink.

  “Yes, I understand,” Adriel muttered.

  “That’s our good boy.” Lionel patted his pink ass, and he could almost imagine his usually smooth pale flesh imprinted with the werewolf’s handprints.

  Adriel shuddered in pleasure. A low embarrassed groan then came out of him when he felt Lionel’s wet fingers loosening the tight muscles of his ass. Adriel groaned louder when he felt a second finger enter him, but his pleasure was momentarily halted when Dabnis fisted Adriel’s hair and pressed his cock demandingly into his mouth.

  Eagerly putting his tongue, mouth and lips to work, Adriel began from the base and worked on the pirate’s balls. Dabnis groaned his appreciation in front of him as Adriel took his time. He placed one of the pirate’s balls into his mouth, delicately sucking on it like an exotic fruit before moving onto the other.

  “For a lo
rd, you sure know how to suck balls,” Dabnis muttered.

  Adriel was glad Dabnis couldn’t see his reddening cheeks. Hell, was it wrong to feel pride because of the lewd compliment the pirate paid him?

  He moved his tongue from Dabnis’s well-tended balls to the ridge of the pirate’s cock. It responded eagerly to him, growing ready and rock hard in seconds. To prolong the moment, Adriel alternated between light and feathery licks to fast and eager ones.

  Feeling Lionel wriggling and widening the muscles of his ass with his fingers, his chest hitched. The werewolf’s other free hand meanwhile, continued to deliver stinging slaps across his increasingly warm ass.

  The triple sensation—Dabnis’ fingers in his hair, Lionel’s hand on his pink ass and his other hand buried into his asshole—made his entire body vibrate.

  “Stay still,” Lionel commanded.

  Adriel had difficulties obeying the man. He could hardly wait to feel the length of Lionel’s cock inside him. Lionel massaged his buttocks, then seized both cheeks with his hands and inserted just the tip of his cock in. Adriel held his breath. Dabnis tightened the hold on his hair, reminding him he had other duties to attend to.

  Opening his jaws wide so the pirate’s glorious stiff length could fit inside, Adriel began to deep throat him as soon as the impressive cock was inside his mouth. Dabnis groaned in appreciation above him as Adriel’s lips slowly worked to sheath his entire cock. His gag reflex nearly rose, but he dutifully kept it down. The last thing he wanted to do was fuck up that evening.

  Relief filled him when his lips touched the pirate’s balls, but his entire body jerked when Lionel plunged into him without warning.

  “You’re so deliciously fucking tight, Adriel.” Lionel’s words nearly sent Adriel to the edge.

  The ring of muscles around his ass quivered with need as the other man’s cock filled him. Gods of Domo, it felt good. Never before had Adriel imagined being this close to his untouchable werewolf.