Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:55:24 -0600
From: Katya_Dee <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: Debts, chapter 22

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction; all the resemblances are just
eerie coincidences. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved,
everything is copyrighted. Contains descriptive sexual scenes between males
- don't read it if you shouldn't.

Note: This is a 3rd installment in the semi-series. The first story is
Specter's
Gamble </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/specters-gamble/> and
the second one is The Year of the
Salamander </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/year-of-the-salamander/>

I would recommend reading those first (at least Specter's Gamble)
otherwise, some scenes and characters are not going to make much sense,
since you wouldn't be familiar with the background and I didn't describe
much of the previous events in this story. Other than that, enjoy! Feel
free to e-mail me.

****

 - XXII -

   "There is a good chance it will work," the blond said thoughtfully after
Desmond finished talking. He glanced at Raven. "We will start on it first
thing in the morning because I am not letting you go anywhere until then."

   Raven gave him a slow smile and muttered something Desmond failed to
hear. He figured he didn't really want to know what it was after blond's
eyes immediately became hungry. He watched Julian take his phone out again.
The blond called for a cab, snapped the phone shut, and looked at Gabriel
and Desmond.

   "We'll be out of here in ten minutes, give or take," he said calmly. "How
did you know she was lying?" he concentrated on Desmond.

   "I sense lies," the black-haired man shrugged. "It doesn't matter how
skillful of a liar the person is, I can always tell truth from lies."

   "So *that's *your ability..." Julian said thoughtfully, and Desmond
shrugged again.

   "I suppose," he said.

   "I see," the blond muttered, and then there was a shrill honk outside.

   "That was quick," Desmond blinked at that, and Julian gave him a very
small smile that said, `Does it really surprise you?'

   "Goodbye," was all the blond said before heading outside, never letting
go of Raven's hand.

   "Thank you," Raven said quietly, pausing before leaving the house. "For
everything..."

   "Uh huh," Desmond nodded, and the dark-haired man gave both of them a
quick smile, and walked outside, his fingers entwined with blond's. "Holy
hell..." Desmond muttered after he walked to the door and locked it. "I keep
thinking that I am on some very bizarre trip... Rayhe, you didn't lace ham
with anything, did you?"

   "No," Gabriel sighed. "I was about to ask you the same."

   "Holy hell," Desmond repeated with feeling.



****



   The trip to the hotel turned out to be shorter than Raven expected, but
at the same time, it was excruciatingly long. The fact that the blond kept
stroking his inner thigh the entire way there didn't help a slightest bit.
By the time they finally made it to their room (checking-in took maybe five
minutes at the most), Raven was literally shaking with lust. He didn't even
bother waiting for Julian to lock the door; he growled something
unintelligible and pushed the blond against the wall, tugging off his shirt
and undoing his belt buckle.

   Julian wrapped his arms around the smaller, shaking man so tightly that
Raven had trouble breathing for several seconds. He didn't care though; air
didn't seem too important right now. Salamander impatiently kicked away his
pants when Raven pushed them down blond's hips, and lifted Raven up. A
minute later, he threw the dark-haired thief on the bed, undressing him with
envious speed.

   "I went sex-free for almost two weeks..." he muttered, tossing away
Raven's shirt. "I am going to fuck you into oblivion..."

   "Ditto..." Raven breathed and lifted his hips while Julian pulled off his
pants. "Granted, I was asleep most of the time..." he panted. "But it
doesn't matter... God, Julian, forget that...!" he moaned when the blond
started stretching him hastily. "Just fuck me already...!"

   "Scream for me," Salamander placed a quick lick on Raven's neck, lifted
smaller man's right leg up, and placed it on his shoulder. "By the way..."
he added and pressed his palms into the bed on either side of Raven. "I want
this to last for a hell of a long time; therefore, I am not going to let you
come until I say so..."

   "Bastard... Aaah...!" Raven squeezed his eyes shut and screamed out just
as the blond wanted him to, when Julian entered him with one hard, quick
push.

   Salamander shut him up with his mouth and groaned in approval when Raven
locked his teeth on his lip so hard that he could've easily bitten it off if
he felt like it. He started rocking his hips slowly, but far from gentle,
slamming into the writhing lean body underneath him with full force. It
seemed that he didn't even have to search for the right angle, nailing
Raven's sweet spot with the first violent stroke. He let go of Raven's mouth
and propped himself up on his palms, watching the dark-haired man start
biting his own lip frantically, his eyes squeezed shut, facial expression
nothing but a delicious mix of pain and pleasure. Apparently, pleasure was
winning, because Raven's arms flew up and he brought his hands onto blond's
hips, pushing him even deeper inside.

   Julian was only happy to oblige, burrowing himself to mind-splitting
depth, abusing that one spot relentlessly. Raven' hips were mirroring
Julian's movements, meeting those long, shattering strokes halfway, hungry
for more.

   "I want to hear you..." the blond panted when Raven tried to muffle
himself by biting onto the sheets. "Scream for me..."

   Raven opened his eyes and let go of the sheets, digging his fingernails
into Julian's hips. He obliged and let his throat to be free, producing
sounds that made the blond to quicken the pace somewhat. Raven lifted one
arm and brought it onto the back of Julian's neck, forcing the other man to
lower himself on top of him, and latching onto that bleeding mouth again
with renewed vigor. He let out a surprised, screaming moan when the blond
suddenly switched to short albeit equally hard strokes, making those
maddening brilliant sparks to explode almost nonstop, turning Raven into a
shuddering, writhing mess.

   "Shit, Julian..." he panted, letting go of the abused lip for just a
little. "Oh, God, don't stop...! Go..." his eyes rolled backwards and he dug
his fingernails deeper into Salamander's hip. "Oh, hell...! Go faster...!"

   A small, cruel smirk twisted Salamander's mouth and he obediently picked
up speed. Raven wrapped his left leg around blond's waist, using him as a
counterweight, lifting himself off the bed to meet that maddening tempo. He
started muttering something, spitting some words in bizarre, unknown
language, his lips trembling. He had serious doubts about this lasting for a
hell of a long time, because right now, he didn't even need to be touched;
he felt like he was about to explode into oblivion any second.

   "Oh, no, you don't..." Julian muttered in a low, breaking voice, watching
him like a hawk. The blond knew this look; he has seen it so many times
before. Whenever Raven's eyes rolled back like this, and whenever his hips
started trembling as if the dark-haired thief had mild electrical currents
running through them, it only meant one thing – he was beyond close. Julian
waited for several more seconds, and right when Raven started to sob blond's
name out, he wrapped his hand around the shaking man's base thus making
Raven's eyes to fly wide open.

   "Fuck!" he screamed with burning frustration. "Oh, bloody hell...!"

   "You are not coming until I say so," Salamander said in the same low,
breaking voice.

   "Damn you...!" Raven growled and pulled the blond closer, taking it out
on his lip.

   That was the punishment Julian more than welcomed, and he slowed down,
suddenly switching to his original long, hard strokes. Raven groaned
something into his bleeding mouth, something that Julian failed to
understand, but the blond had a pretty good idea what it was, so he didn't
bother clarifying.

   ...Raven had no idea how much time has passed, but it felt like an
eternity. He couldn't stand anymore of this sweet, maddening torture – the
blond meant it when he said he would fuck Raven into oblivion. The
dark-haired man has been dancing on the very fine edge for God knows how
long, and the damn blond kept him there mercilessly. Worse yet – once in a
while, he would relax his grasp ever so slightly, making Raven to believe
feverishly that now, finally, he would be able to dive off that edge
headfirst, just so he could start swearing harshly when Julian would tighten
his hand yet again.

   "God...!" he screamed for probably a hundredth time when Salamander's
hips started the insanely fast, slamming dance again, making him buck
wildly, hoping to shake off that damn hand. He was pretty sure that his
screams were heard throughout the entire floor of the hotel, and he could
care less. "I can't...! Julian, goddammit, I can't...! I need to... Oh, my
God..."

   He pulled his right leg off Julian's shoulder and wrapped it around
blond's waist, trapping Salamander in the tight, desperate circle.

   "Julian, damn you...! Let go!"

   The blond leaned closer and licked his neck quickly.

   "Beg for it..." he murmured, and Raven tried staring at him, but it
didn't work because his eyes immediately rolled backwards.

   "Son of a bitch..." he growled. "You goddamn son of a bitch...! Let
go..."

   Julian didn't say anything; he just nipped at Raven's throat several
times.

   "Fuck...!" Raven screamed desperately. "Damn you... Let go, oh God...
Please, let go... Shit, Julian, just let me... Oh, please let me... Fucking
hell! Julian, please...! Julian, let me come already...! Please, let me
come! Oh, God, please...!"

   "Good enough..." the blond muttered, and suddenly, the grasp was gone,
and then there was furious stroking instead.

   It took maybe four strokes total for Raven to howl:

   "Oh, my fucking God in burning hell...!" and then he choked on his own
breath when his back flew off the mattress and he exploded violently and
desperately, pulling the blond along almost immediately.

  "Raven...!" Julian screamed out, getting lost in their combined,
convulsing dance. "Oh, hell..." he almost sobbed when his hips kept spitting
out pleasure relentlessly. "Oh, hell..."

   Raven didn't even bother with the reply; partially, because his throat
was too busy producing meowing howls, but also because he suddenly forgot
all the words. He seriously thought that he was about to black out, but the
spasms and convulsions gradually came to nothing but shuttering echoes, and
he was able to draw a very shaky breath.

   Julian mumbled something unintelligible, collapsed on top of Raven, and
they lay in breathless silence for almost half an hour before being able to
move again.

   "Bastard..." Raven muttered very weakly, and the blond raised his head,
his eyes still hazy.

   "The wait was so worth it," he murmured and kissed Raven's mouth. "Admit
it..." he purred against smaller man's lips, and Raven couldn't help but
smile.

   "It was..." he admitted. "Goddamn... I am going to be sore in the
morning..."

   "You are going to have a full day to heal," Julian said and sighed.
"Hell, I hope it's going to work... Goddamn..." he squeezed his eyes shut
for a few seconds. "I can't believe I am actually using that bastard's
plan...! Hell, I can't believe I was actually *talking *to him!"

   "Speaking of Desmond..." Raven pushed Julian off him and rolled onto his
side. "What is it with you two? How do you know each other?"

   "Remember how I told you that I wasted the assassin who killed Vivienne?"
the blond slowly ran his fingertip along Raven's collarbone, and the smaller
man nodded silently. "Well," Julian sighed. "Apparently I didn't..."

   "Desmond is that assassin?" Raven asked in disbelief.

   "Yes," Salamander sighed again. "Goddamn Specter is the only one who
managed to make a fool out of me... Well, him and Rayhe," he shrugged, and
Raven just blinked at that.

   "Specter?" he repeated slowly. "Are you serious...?"

   "Very much so," Julian nodded with yet another sigh and reached for the
room phone, which suddenly rang. "Yes," he said into the receiver. Then he
nodded slightly. "Send him up," he said and hung up the phone. He got off
the bed and pulled on his pants and shirt. He was halfway done with
buttoning up the shirt, when there was a quick knock on the door.

   Raven crawled underneath the blanket and yawned, lazily watching
Salamander walk to the door.

   "Thank you, Anthony," the blond said several seconds later and shut the
door. He turned around and there was a small black bag in his hand.

   He walked to the bed and turned that bag upside down. Both men silently
looked at the dark-green, oval-shaped rock that fell onto the blankets.

   "Are you seriously going to give it to her?" Raven asked finally.

   "I was going to," Julian nodded. "Until Specter said that she was lying.
If his plan doesn't work and if she dares to do *anything *to you..." His
eyes grew darker. "All the powers in the bloody universe are not going to
help her... However," he sighed and looked at Raven. "I am going to use this
as bait; I am not giving it to her fully though," he gave Raven a small,
dark smile. "No need for someone who is going to die rather soon to get hold
of some mysterious powers, right?"

   "How long are you going to keep her alive?" Raven asked with genuine
interest, and Julian shoved the rock into the bag and slid under the blanket
next to him after shedding the clothes that he put on less than ten minutes
ago.

   "For as long as you want," he purred, and Raven smiled at that.

   "Just don't get bored," he said in a low voice, and the blond pulled him
on top of himself.

   "That is not going to happen," he said seriously, and Raven closed his
eyes when Julian's tongue dove into his mouth.



****



   Gabriel swore rather richly under his breath when the bloody doorbell
rang yet again. He glanced at the clock, which read 1:55.

   "Okay," he said in a low voice while letting go of Desmond's hair. "I'll
be right back..."

   "Uncuff me..." Desmond muttered. "Just in case," he nodded when he saw
Gabriel's expression. He rolled his eyes. "You can cuff me again when you
come back here, okay...? Now you actually have my consent..."

   Rayhe let out a small sigh and ran his hand above the metal cuff rings.
They immediately fell apart, and Desmond brought his arms down from the
bedpost and rubbed his wrists with visible relief.

   "That didn't hurt, did it?" Gabriel asked with audible worry.

   "No," Desmond gave him a small smile. "Just happy about the circulation,
that's all... Rayhe," he sighed. "Believe me when I say it, you are not
going to make me do something I don't want, okay?"

   Gabriel let out a small smile and placed a long kiss on Desmond's mouth.

   "Okay..." he muttered, and Desmond slightly shoved him aside.

   "Hurry up," he said in a low voice. "Kill whoever keeps ringing the
goddamn doorbell, and come back here..."

   Gabriel kissed him again.

   "Okay..." he muttered again and got off the bed.

   He pulled on his pants without even remembering about his shirt. The only
thing he remembered was, "Now you actually have my consent..."

   He tricked Desmond into wearing those cuffs. He grinned to himself,
remembering those strawberries, which made the green-eyed man to forget
about his wrists for just long enough for Gabriel to snap the handcuffs onto
them.

   "What the hell...?" he said incredulously when Gabriel successfully
handcuffed him to the bedpost. "Rayhe...!"

   Gabriel kissed him right then, and gave him a slow smile.

   "I want you to be unable to help yourself in any way when I am working
you..." he said in a low voice, and Desmond's eyes narrowed thoughtfully at
that.

   Then, sometime after that, Desmond didn't seem to mind the cuffs a single
bit. Gabriel sighed and walked up to the door, wincing slightly when the
doorbell shrieked again – this time longer.

   "This is better be important..." he muttered and unlocked the door just
to be shoved aside when a tall, light-browned haired man burst into the
house.

   "What..." Gabriel started saying with astonishment when the man
interrupted him with a growling:

  "Where is he?"

   Gabriel didn't need to ask the inevitable `who?' to know what the man was
talking about.

   "Blair..." he said, and the man whirled towards him.

   "Where is he?" he said again, his eyes getting lighter by the second.

   "Ah, shit..." Gabriel muttered. "Desmond!" he called loudly.

   "Gabriel, I don't know why in the world you, out of all people, would
have him in this house, but frankly, I don't give a flying shit!" the man
was raging meanwhile. "Where is he?"

   "Hey, Blair..." Desmond said calmly as if scenes like this one were mere
routine by now. "What's up?"

   Blair turned towards him, his eyes almost yellow.

   "One last time..." he said somewhat quietly. "Where is that son of a
bitch?"

   Desmond walked closer and glanced behind the pissed off man's shoulder.
Then he blinked with slight surprise.

   "Right there..." he muttered with confused frown, and Blair whirled
around.

   The minute he did that, Desmond's hand shot forward and his fingers
collided with the side of the other man's neck. Blair jerked at that, and
then collapsed onto the floor without making a single sound. Desmond sighed.

   "Uh huh," Gabriel nodded solemnly, looking at the unconscious man. "This
is going to make everything even better..."

   "Goddammit," Desmond muttered and sighed again. "Rayhe, go get the
handcuffs..."

   "Are you nuts?" Gabriel stared at him without blinking. "You are going to
cuff him? Des, are you out of your..."

   "...and call Daniel," Desmond finished calmly, and this time, Gabriel was
mute.

   "Okay," he said slowly after a minute or two. "Who are you and what have
you done to Desmond?"

   Desmond rolled his eyes impatiently.

   "He is the only one who can keep this fire-guy here from setting the
entire house ablaze," he said shortly. "Now go get the damn handcuffs!"

   "Bloody hell," Gabriel said desperately and went away.

   By the time he came back, Desmond managed to relocate unconscious Blair
onto the couch, and was standing next to it, panting slightly, his arms
propped on his hips.

   "He is rather heavy," he nodded when he took the handcuffs from Gabriel.
"Not as heavy as you though..." he added while twisting Blair's arms behind
his back and swiftly snapping handcuffs around man's unresponsive wrists.

   Gabriel didn't say anything to that; he took his phone from the coffee
table and punched in the number while muttering something under his breath.

   "Daniel," he said a minute later. "This is Gabriel. I know that it is
rather late... Or very early, right..." he hemmed. "Look, I need you to get
here as soon as you can... Umm, it's Blair... Umm..." Gabriel glanced at the
unconscious man. "Not at the moment," he said carefully. "There is a slight
possibility of violence when he wakes up though... You could say that," he
said as carefully and looked at Desmond briefly. "Okay, see you soon..."

   He shut the phone and sighed heavily.

   "How long is he going to be out?" he asked gloomily, and Desmond
shrugged.

   "It varies," he said casually. "Sometimes people come about in ten
minutes, sometimes in half an hour..."

   "If he wakes up before Daniel gets here..."

   "I'll just knock him out again," Desmond nodded, and Gabriel squeezed his
eyes shut for a second or two.

   "Goddammit...!" he said with feeling.

   ...It was fifteen minutes later, and Gabriel was gloomily sucking on a
cigarette, watching Blair like a hawk. Suddenly, the unconscious man shifted
slightly and let out a small groan.

   "Ah, crap..." Gabriel said desperately when Desmond's attention
immediately jumped up to the highest degree. Then there was slight knocking
on the door. "Oh, thank God...!" Gabriel breathed with enormous relief and
stabbed his cigarette in the ashtray.

   He quickly walked to the door and swung it open.

   "Oh, thank God," he repeated and stepped aside to let the brown-haired
man to walk inside the house. "Thank you for coming, Daniel."

   "You are welcome," the man said mildly and looked on the couch. "You
knocked him out," he said without even trying to make it sound like a
question and threw a quick glance at Desmond.

   Desmond shrugged and leaned on the wall.

   "His eyes were yellow," he nodded. "And call me crazy, but I like this
house; really didn't want it to burn."

   "I see," Daniel looked at Blair again. "What happened?" here he glanced
at Desmond again, his expression clearly reading, `What the hell did you two
fight about now?'

   "He found out that Julian is in town," Gabriel said quickly, and Daniel
turned around, very much puzzled by now.

   "Julian?" he said slowly. "As in Salamander...? What does he have to do
with anything?" he blinked after Gabriel's confirming nod.

   "He was here," Gabriel sighed. "In our house, when Sam came over...
Now..." he coughed. "Sam and Julian have..." he hesitated. "History," he
finally nodded slowly. "A very long and very ugly history... Sam was shocked
to see him here... To say the least," he added thoughtfully.

   "I see..." Daniel said slowly. "Why was Salamander here in the first
place?"

   "Because he came for Raven," Gabriel sighed again. "Raven is the guy
Desmond helped out on Sunday," he explained when Daniel gave him a silent
question. "Brought him home, healed him somewhat... Well, this morning Raven
called his mate... Julian is his mate," he finished with a firm nod.

   "Holy hell..." Daniel blinked. "He has a mate...?"

   "Yeah," Desmond said somewhat quickly. "Was as shocked as you are right
now, but the fire-guy is about to wake up, so..."

   Daniel blinked again, somewhat quicker this time, and turned towards the
couch again. Blair stirred slightly and groaned louder without opening his
eyes.

   "Is he still in the city?" Daniel asked without looking away from the
unconscious man.

   "As far as I know, yes," Desmond nodded.

   "If you know where he is staying, you might want to tell him to get the
hell out," Daniel said calmly. "I am not going to keep him chained up
somewhere until Salamander leaves..."

   "By all means, don't," Desmond said seriously. "If he finds that son of a
bitch and burns him into crisp, I'll send him a Thank-You card!"

  Daniel hemmed with a shadow of a smile.

   "You wouldn't be the only one," he said mildly. "However, Julian..." he
sighed and looked at Desmond briefly. "He is not easy to dispose of, and as
much as I hate saying it, Blair is not someone who could easily succeed at
that task. Especially not in his current state of mind. Hatred is an
emotion, which weakens him because he is not in control of himself,
therefore, things would get ugly for both sides," he glanced at Blair. "If
you know where he is, tell him to get the hell out," he said quickly after
seeing that Blair was about to wake up. "Consider it a favor," he added with
a slight nod.

   "Well, shit," Desmond thought gloomily.

   Blair let out another loud, pissed off groan, and finally, opened his
eyes.

   "What the..." he growled and tried turning around. That made him realize
that his arms were twisted behind his back and both hands were handcuffed.
"Uncuff me right this goddamn second!" he barked, turning his head and
glaring at Desmond. "I swear to God, I am going to..."

   "Blair," Daniel said calmly, and the restrained man blinked rather
rapidly, his eyes becoming less yellow to Gabriel's relief.

   "Daniel?" he said incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

   "I called him," Gabriel nodded.

   "Why...? Oh, never mind!" Blair shook his head impatiently. "Uncuff
me...!"

   "Blair," Daniel said again, with more warning this time.

   "I won't do anything," Blair gritted his teeth and shot a hateful look at
Desmond. "Uncuff me!"

   Gabriel looked at Daniel, and after a slight, confirming nod, he sighed,
and ran his hand above the cuffs. Daniel hemmed with slight amusement when
he saw the cuffs slide off Blair's wrists.

   "Sorry about that," Gabriel said mildly. "It's just you were..." He
coughed. "Upset, and it didn't seem that you would listen, so..."

   "Was he here when you knocked me out?" Blair interrupted him in the
eerily quiet voice.

   "No," Gabriel answered immediately. "He left a little after four in the
afternoon."

   "Where is he?"

   "Blair, let's go," Daniel didn't let Gabriel to answer that question.

   "Where is he?" Blair completely ignored him. "Once again, I am not going
to ask what the hell he was doing here, because I don't care! But I am going
to..."

   "Blair, let's go," Daniel repeated with more steel in his voice.

   Blair narrowed his eyes, staring at Gabriel without blinking.

   "Do you have any idea what he did to him?" he asked quietly, and Gabriel
didn't need to ask what he was talking about.

   "I do," he said without looking away. "Listen, I had no idea he would
even be here...! The reason he..."

   "No, you don't," Blair interrupted him in the same quiet voice and got
up. He looked at Desmond. "Try knocking me out again and I will hurt you,"
he said. "Let's go," he looked at Daniel.

   The brown-haired man nodded and let him go first. Right before he left
the house, he looked at Desmond, as if making sure he would do as asked.
Desmond gritted his teeth and nodded stiffly. That seemed to be good enough
for Daniel and he left, closing the door behind him.


****


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