He appeared to be contemplating his pants, which were still down around his thighs.
Ravnos knelt by his bare feet and began the process of cleaning him as gently as he could. “Did I hurt you?”
Seht snorted. “Only my pride.” He sighed. “I underestimated how strongly isolation would have affected you.”
Ravnos looked up at him, frowning. “What?”
Seht reached down and slid his fingers along Ravnos’s cheekbone. “This was my fault.”
Ravnos flashed him a smile, more than a little confused. “What are you talking about?”
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Seht leaned down to cup Ravnos’s face in both hands. “I should have looked harder for you. I should have found you sooner. I should have never let you go.”
Ravnos stared into Seht’s cat-slitted blue gaze, and for an entire breath, he sincerely wished that too. What would the last ten years have been like if he’d spent them with Seht?
Wearing a collar.
He shook his head free of Seht’s hands and looked down at the floor. “We can’t change the past. We can only move forward.” It was something Captain Melchior had told him repeatedly. He leaned down to swipe the towel across the floor, cleaning up the last of the mess they’d made.
“Aubrey—”
“What’s done is done.” He rose to his feet, holding the soiled towel. “And my name is Ravnos.” He turned on his heel and headed for the facility to get rid of the towel.
Seht reached down and pulled up his pants. “I never stopped missing you.”
The stab of pain in his heart froze Ravnos where he stood. Gods!
Seht’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I never stopped…loving you.”
Ravnos’s heart pounded so loudly he could hear the blood rushing in his ears. His hand tightened around the towel, but he didn’t turn around. “I…I know.”
“I’m here to take you home.”
The heart pumping in Ravnos’s chest stuttered with crushing pain, but he lifted his head and spoke strongly and firmly. “I already have a home, a life, and responsibilities.” Moribund had to be destroyed. “It’s too late for…us.”
“Too late?” Behind him, Seht loosed a vicious snarl. “Never! As long as my blood runs in your veins, you belong to me.”
Ravnos turned to face him, teeth bared. “No, Seht.” A low growl rumbled deep in his chest. “I will never be anyone’s slave ever again! Not even yours.”
Despite the rags of dark cloth hanging from his arms and the cum dripping down the interior of his thighs, Seht was tall, pale, and elegant. His blue gaze narrowed and his jaw clenched. “No matter how well you disguise yourself, you can never be anything other than what you are, a Skeldhi rehkyt.”
Ravnos turned his back on the man he’d just finished fucking. “I know.” He strode into the facility with the distinct feeling that his heart was being ripped apart from the inside. He threw the towel against the wall. I’m an idiot! Going anywhere near him was a mistake! I should have just left him in that hallway.
To die by the hand of that cyborg?
He heaved a pained sigh. No, he couldn’t have left him there, not Seht. He ran the cold water and scrubbed his face. Stupid fucking rehkyt instincts. He grabbed a fresh towel to dry his face and hands. So now what do I do? The only thing he could do. He’d just have to find a way to get the prince to stop his pursuit of him. He just hoped to the 130
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powers that be that it wouldn’t take one of them dying. On that depressing note, he took a moment to take a piss, rewashed his hands, then opened the door to leave the facility.
Holding a small bundle of black cloth in his hands, Seht brushed right past him to get into the small room. “My turn.” He closed the door behind him.
Ravnos was completely unable to stop the smile tugging at his lips. Somebody was in a hurry. His gaze fell on the clothes and bits of armor scattered all over the floor.
Cold, hard reality kicked him square in the gut. He needed to get out of there, fast.
Moving as quickly as his augmented limbs would allow, he tossed on his waistcoat, completely ignoring the shreds of his once-fine silk shirt and cravat, and threw his coat on over it without bothering to button it. He scooped up his sword-belt with his left hand and headed for the door to the hallway as quickly and silently as possible.
A white blur on the edge of his vision was the only warning he had. Ravnos back-stepped, pivoting to his right, and threw up his sheathed sword.
Blocked, Seht’s fist missed his temple by only a fraction of an inch. He jerked back his fist and bared his long white fangs. “You are not leaving this room without my collar, Aubrey.” Lightning fast, he swung his left fist, aiming for Ravnos’s head.
Panic blazed white-hot up the back of Ravnos’s skull. He grabbed the descending fist with his right hand and slammed the hilt of his sheathed sword against the side of Seht’s head.
Seht’s eyes rolled, and he slumped to the floor. A trickle of blood stained his white mane at the temple.
Ravnos gasped in shock. “Oh shit!” Was he dead? He hadn’t meant to hit him that hard! He dropped to his knees and pressed two fingers to Seht’s throat. A pulse throbbed under his fingers. He’s not dead. Relief flooded through him, making his entire body tremble, but anger followed in its wake. “Damn it, Seht!” He rose to his feet, but indecision
