Cross Blades

Cross Blades



Chapter the Ninth: Warrior’s Reward



Nitro woke up somewhere warm and happy. His muscles were stiff, but the whisper of bedding against his hide was all the sweeter for it. And he wasn’t alone. There was someone else behind him, lying with an arm draped lazily over his chest. N’tho took in a deep breath. Most of what he scented were the sheets and pillows, which smelled like the fragrances the Humans used on their clothing, as opposed to the familiar scent-stamp of Sangheili property, where over time clothing took on the signature smell of its owner. He could catch only the faintest hint of his partner’s musk.



So he was in a Human room, with another Sangheili. Someone nice, N’tho mused as his bedmate cuddled closer. It was such a treat to find an appreciative partner who wanted to stay and snuggle afterwards…



N’tho opened his right eye and saw only hazy darkness. Startled, he bolted upright in bed. The room snapped into one-eyed focus as his left eyelid raised. He suddenly remembered the Human medics ministering to the eye he’d wounded back on Delta Halo. A stream of images flickered through his mind: Omega Halo, the Mongoose, the lava, the ship sliced in two…



Uzi.



By the Rings, he was in bed with the Blademaster.



Usze was still asleep, but his hand was searching around, trying to find where Nitro had gone. ‘Taham wriggled over into the warm spot that Nitro had just vacated, curled up against ‘Sraom’s thigh and sighed happily. The smile on Uzi’s face suited him. He ought to do it more often; it was a shame he was always so cranky when he was awake.



N’tho’s memory returned. Once again, they hadn’t mated, but on the other hand, here he was, in bed with Uzi, both of them minus their clothes this time… N’tho clicked his teeth as he wondered what might happen when Uzi woke up. Would he really want to fool around? Or might things be different now that the battle was over and they were safe? Battle stress made so many Sangheili do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.



Well, Nitro thought, things Uzi wouldn’t ordinarily do, at any rate.



Nitro looked down at the sleeping Blademaster and felt strangely unsettled. He’d been pestering Usze incessantly ever since that night on Shadow of Intent, but maybe…maybe he shouldn’t be trying to turn Usze away from the Ascetic’s path.



But he wanted the Blademaster so badly.



He hoped that Usze’s interest in him wasn’t just battle strain sharpened by the repression of the Ascetic lifestyle. And he realized that if it was, he still wouldn’t turn Usze down. Nitro knew what he wanted.



But what if Uzi woke up and didn’t want him any more?



He ran his hand down Usze’s back and listened to the Blademaster purr.



Please, dear Ancestors…don’t let him hate me, after.



Please don’t let him reject me now.



He could have watched Uzi forever were it not for the fact that his stomach started rumbling incessantly. He’d been hungry last night, but he’d been too tired to care. Now that he’d had some rest, his body was demanding sustenance.



Nitro got up and limped over to his armour—by the Rings, he was stiff—and realized just how awful his clothing looked. His jumpsuit had several large tears in it, was soaked in blood, ichor and sweat, and smelled horrible. He didn’t want to put it back on to go out, but he had nothing else to wear here in this Human room.



He did, however, have some knowledge he’d picked up from the Humans.



Picking up the phone, he dialed for the base operator, and asked how one would go about getting room service.



*



“Uzi, wake up.”



‘Taham grimaced, unwilling to surface from the depths of his rest, and not able to make sense of the voice or the words disturbing him.



“Uzi. Breakfast.”



Then there was a smell…some kind of thick, rich meat… His stomach rumbled. The delicious fragrance was enough to make him crack open one eye.



“What is this “breakfast?” Usze mumbled. Sangheili usually ate only one meal a day, right before they went to sleep.



“Humans eat food when they wake up. And since we didn’t eat last night, I thought you might be hungry. Check this out.”



There was a big bowl of food resting between his pillow and Nitro’s. The SpecOps warrior was squinting in pain as he drew his legs up into the bed, reclaiming the hollow where he had clearly been laying. Usze could see only the wide, muscular expanse of Nitro’s bare back…though he realized with a sudden flush that Nitro must still be naked.



N’tho started pointing to the contents of the bowl. “Turkey in gravy, prime rib, curried lamb, barbecue pork chops, teriyaki chicken, garlic butter salmon…”



Usze didn’t know what most of those things were, but they all smelled amazing. He sat up, and then became acutely aware of the fact that he’d slept with no clothing on.



“We’re not wearing anything,” Usze pointed out cautiously. He felt suddenly nervous. What was he doing naked in bed with another male?



“Our jumpsuits and armour are totally nasty.” N’tho didn’t seem bothered by this fact. He popped a piece of meat into his mouth and slurped it down.



“And we are not washing them,” Usze observed. He couldn’t believe how good that smelled! Tentatively he reached out for a piece of the “teriyaki.”



“I don’t know about you, but I’m too hungry to care,” N’tho said around a throatful of food. “Drink?” He offered Usze a mug with a straw in it.



Usze took a swig. The drink was delightfully warm, and the flavour, though strange and strong, was not unpleasant. “What’s this?”



“Coffee. Whatever that is.”



Usze glanced at him sidelong. “How did you get all this?”



“Room service.”



‘Taham didn’t understand that phrase. “Please translate as whether you did, or did not, go out hunting naked.”



“Nope. No naked hunting. Just someone passing dishes through the door. I was wrapped in a blanket at the time, for the record.”



“Thank the Forerunners.”



“Never figured you for the jealous type.”



Jealous. Was that the word for that possessive, angry, defensive feeling he kept having in his guts—jealousy? “Are you so certain my concern is not a simple matter of propriety?”



N’tho thought for a moment, chewing on a piece of beef. “Yep.”



The galling part was that N’tho was right. Usze felt surly and sour, like he just wanted to curl up and wish that the whole world would go away and leave him alone.



N’tho poked him. “Hey, try this. It’s awesome.” N’tho held the tidbit right up in front of ‘Taham’s nose.



Usze clicked his mandibles and snatched it out of N’tho’s hand. Condemnation, the SpecOps warrior was right. It did taste wonderful.



“Here, have some more.” N’tho seemed quite happy to tempt him with tasty bites in between his own mouthfuls.



Oh, why not. He was hungry.



“We really shouldn’t be eating in bed,” Usze said around a throatful of lamb.



“Probably not,” N’tho agreed cheerfully, licking gravy off his fingers. “You gonna order me to stop, or you gonna have some more?” He held out a piece of pork.



“I hereby declare this feast the perogative of any warrior who survived the Omega Halo,” Usze muttered, and snagged the pork in his mandibles.



They devoured the contents of the bowl. Only when Usze set the now-empty bowl on the bedside table did he realize that his stomach was full; the food tasted so good, he wished there was more, but he really didn’t need more. He was sluggish as it was; it was a natural inclination for Sangheili to sleep after they ate. It felt very nice to curl up next to N’tho and…



N’tho. Next to N’tho. Naked.



He quivered, feeling that strange heat building inside him again, like the night on Shadow of Intent. He placed his hand on N’tho’s chest; the other Sangheili was utterly still, saying nothing. He wondered if N’tho would ask him to touch him again. He hoped he would.



He realized he also wanted N’tho to touch him, there. He didn’t know how to ask. Surely N’tho would figure it out. N’tho was the one who talked about sex and fucking all the time. N’tho was the one who knew what he was doing. This was when it was supposed to happen, right?



But N’tho wasn’t doing anything other than laying there with his head on Usze’s chest and his eyes shut.



“You want dessert?” N’tho replied softly, his eyes still closed.



Sangheili often ate dessert—usually some form of candied meat, or maybe a cheese—but he could smell no more food. “Where is it?”



N’tho’s eyes opened slowly. “Right here,” he murmured, and pressed his back into Usze’s chest.



Usze’s mandibles gaped as Nitro’s meaning became clear. “I’m to take a taste of you, is that it?” he replied, stroking the other warrior’s chest, trying to quell his rising nerves.



“That’s right. Here I am.” He rolled over onto his belly and arched his neck, exposing the nape.



There was something about Nitro’s submissive demeanor that felt wrong to ‘Taham. He wasn’t ready to just…to just grab him and fuck him. He wanted more from Nitro, and Nitro deserved more from him. This wasn’t how an expression of tenderness between two warriors should be—was it?



“N’tho?” Usze choked.



“Come on,” Nitro said, his voice muffled by the pillow. “Mount me.”



Usze flinched at the hollowness in N’tho’s voice—he couldn’t help it—but he reached out and ran his hand down the other warrior’s shoulder, feeling the thick hide and the powerful muscles beneath. “Why so quickly?” he asked, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice. “Are you in a hurry?”



“Do you not want me?” N’tho’s head swung around, his eyes shining with unshed tears.



“Nitro,” Usze breathed. “It’s my first time with a male…be patient with me.” He ran a hand over his partner’s shoulder. “Please.”



N’tho let out a breath. “Okay. Okay,” he repeated, as if trying to convince himself. “Just pretend I’m a female. It can’t be that different.”



Usze quivered. Whatever he did, he couldn’t be just one more mark on Nitro’s long, long list…nor could he be the worst mark on that list. Then his mandibles clenched as a thought occurred to him. Could a male like the same things as a female? The Ascetics said a thing worth having was a thing worth fighting for, and Usze ‘Taham had just conceived his battle plan.



Usze bent down beside the other male, eyeing the curve of muscles in his back and neck. Both male and female Sangheili had a spot on the back of their neck that, when bitten, forcibly relaxed the muscles of the body. In the long-lost ages of Sangheili evolution, it had let mothers safely carry children in their mouths. These days it was mostly used for breeding, particularly for relaxing a nervous partner—a common situation when males and females often met for the first time in the breeding chambers.



Usze located the spot. As he dropped to his knees, he prayed to the Ancestors that this would work.



Then he bit N’tho, hard, right there.



‘Sraom gasped; but Usze did not relax his bite. Instead he shook N’tho a little, establishing his dominance and deepening the effect of the bite. Only when he could feel N’tho hanging limply from his jaws did he let go.



N’tho was gasping, whimpering.



Usze opened the bedside drawer. His small bag of personal effects was there, and in it, he had something that might help him win this battle.



Usze dropped the item in the middle of N’tho’ back.



He was ready to fight for Nitro.



*



As N’tho felt Usze’s teeth sinking into his flesh, he wasn’t sure whether he was thrilled that he was going to finally get it on with Usze ‘Taham, or frightened that Usze might, in fact, have been angry at him all along and was now preparing to take revenge…



But what N’tho felt next was not Usze entering him. Instead, what he was feeling was in the middle of his back, and it was light and somewhat greasy and sweet-smelling and…



N’tho gasped. Cold!



“What the hell are you doing?” His voice was trembling. He didn’t even bother to try to hide it. He couldn’t move anything but his head. Holy shit, Usze had bitten him hard. His limbs felt tingly and distant.



The cold thing, whatever it was, didn’t hurt…yet.



“You’re stiff,” Usze said. “I saw you moving with that bowl. This should help with your sore muscles.”



“What is that?” he asked.



“Hold your tongue,” Usze replied, and bent over him.



The cold thing trailed over his shoulder blades, and where it passed, it left a trail that felt wet and warm, both at the same time. Scent wafted through the air. The object traced circles on his back, and then it was set in the hollow at his waist. Usze’s hands slid over his back, slick and moist, pressing into his tired muscles. Pain bloomed, but hard on its heels was an incredible soothing sensation.



N’tho shut his eyes, whimpering shamelessly. “What the fuck?” His thoughts were a twisted mix of grief at the fact that ‘Taham didn’t seem to want to mate, hopelessly entwined with waves of pleasure and relief.



“Hasn’t anyone ever been nice to you?” Usze asked. “Cared for you? Looked after you?”



Nice. Nice didn’t even begin to cover how good this felt, as his crying muscles soaked in whatever that strange cooling-warming moisture was, and Usze’s hands stroked him all over from neck to waist and back again.



“Hasn’t anyone appreciated your body? Look at you…you’re breathtaking… Is it so wrong for me to want to…explore you?”



Usze didn’t seem to be in any sort of hurry—his hands travelled everywhere, kneading and caressing. N’tho felt a purr rumbling in his chest and a painful tightening in his groin.



“Don’t you remember that stream on the Ark? What we were doing there?” Usze murmured. “If we hadn’t been interrupted….wouldn’t it have lead somewhere like…this?”



And, by the Ancestors, Usze was touching him there between his thighs, his hand wet and slick, and it felt even better than he remembered. By the Rings! Suddenly Usze’s touch was both tender and erotic, and he squealed, not knowing what else to do.



“More?” Usze asked.



N’tho tried to nod, ended up just stuffing pillow into his jaws. “Yeah.”



Usze smiled and gave him more, until he writhed and clenched his jaws. “You must understand I’m new at this,” Usze whispered. “So I need to go very slowly…and learn.” He let his fingers gently explore his mate’s most intimate territory. “Do you mind?”



“No….” N’tho mewed again. “No, you can just….take all the time…you want…”



Finally Usze’s hand stilled in mid stroke. Nitro mewled; from the corner of his eye he saw Usze set something on the end table. It was cream-coloured and looked sticky, and it was the source of the sweet scent. “What is it?” he dared to ask.



“It’s a massage bar.” Usze paused. “It’s supposed to ease sore muscles.”



“Feels good,” N’tho mumbled. It was a ridiculous understatement. He invented a blatent lie to coax Usze’s hand back where Nitro wanted it most. “My, er, my shaft is really, really aching….really…” As soon Usze resumed stroking Nitro’s shaft, ‘Sraom let his purr come rumbling out his mouth.



Usze’s lower thumb found one particular spot behind Nitro’s shaft that, when tickled, made N’tho gasp and trill in delight. He almost whimpered when Usze stopped teasing him; his purr subsided to a quieter note. Then Usze returned to that place, evoking the trill again…away. Trill…purr. Trill…purr.



“You’re doing that on purpose!” N’tho protested.



Usze snickered, leaned over. “You spilled gravy.” He licked him on the cheek.



Oh, by the Rings, Usze’s stroking was growing harder, faster, just the way Nitro liked it. The way he loved it. He could feel Usze’s chest against his back and that moist heat between them….



“If you keep that up I’m gonna….” Nitro gasped.



“Go ahead,” Usze whispered. “We have all day to play, hm?”



“Take…take what you want. I won’t stop you.”



“There’s a big difference,” Usze growled, “between taking what I want and giving you what you want.”



N’tho swallowed hard. “Maybe not that big.”



No, not that big at all. The more time he spent with Usze, the more he wanted him…but he was starting to feel nervous, as though he were venturing into new territory, away from the familiar pattern he repeated over and over again with different partners.



Usze nipped at N’tho’s neck, slowing his touch to a gentle caress. “How am I supposed to know what you really desire? One moment you’re all about mating this, and fucking that, and the next, you roll over and…and disconnect like I was…like you were…” It seemed that he could not find the words. “Since males cannot breed, what is the point if not mutual pleasure?”



N’tho felt his face burning with shame. What was the point indeed? N’tho clamped his mandibles together, because a Sangheili warrior did not break. If he wept before the Blademaster, he was truly damned. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he coughed. “And I like…like being mounted. On the Ark…if we’d been there just a bit longer…I was going to bend over that rock for you…Why can’t you just let me please you?”



Usze chuckled. “I’m an aristocrat,” he whispered, his breath hot in Nitro’s earbud. “Do you know what that means?”



Usze adjusted his grip on his partner’s shaft and began those long, slow strokes again. Nitro’s only response was a whimper.



“It means I like to show off,” the Blademaster continued. “So, my brave hero, if you wish to please me…you’ll shut up and enjoy.”



Nitro clapped his mandibles shut.



“Or, if you must run that mouth of yours…perhaps you could let me know what you like…what you want…and how you feel…”



“But,” N’tho gasped, “this isn’t how it happens!” His world spun in a blur of confusion and excitement and heady delirium. So many of his lovers had taken their pleasure and then let him be. Usze, on the other hand, seemed determined to reduce Nitro to a mewling animal, drowning in its own lust…to strip away the little pride he had…but it felt so good…



“Is that so bad?” Usze murmured. “You seem so happy.” His finger started searching, exploring the tip of Nitro’s shaft even as he stroked. “Would it be so wrong for you and I to share something special?”



Nitro was beginning to protest that Usze could find someone better, when Usze’s other hand slipped a finger into N'tho's genital vent and N’tho completely lost his ability to speak. Instead, ‘Sraom threw back his head, crying his assent, unable to vocalize any other word than “yes” over and over. He abandoned himself to his mate, trusting Usze to be good to him, and his fragile trust was not misplaced. He climaxed in the Blademaster’s arms, feeling Usze against him, holding him as he came down from the height.



Letting out a sigh, he rolled onto his side to face his bed mate. “I’m not a good partner for you,” he managed to say at last, burying his face in Uzi’s neck so he would not have to see Uzi’s reaction.



“Why do you think that?”



“I don’t want to say.”



Usze sighed. “You don’t have to,” Usze replied, stroking Nitro’s body all the while, so that the tantalizing touches soothed the harshness of his words. “I can guess. You expect to be treated badly. You’ve got battle skills good enough to make SpecOps, and a natural ability to build a rapport with others, and a truly frightening courage, but that’s not enough for you, is it?”



“I’ve got a Mark of Punishment. Everything I have…everything I want…I have to work twice as hard for…and pay a steep price for.”

“You’re a Swordsman.” Usze whispered. “Doesn’t that count for something?”



Nitro felt his desire suddenly fall away, disappearing like a snake down a hole. He wrenched away from Usze and sat up. “I won that sword by fucking the last Blademaster. Qualifying’s not enough for me. I had to throw in something extra.” His hackles raised. “But I won it. I didn’t care what it cost, I got it.” N’tho narrowed his eyes. “So if you think I’m a slut, now you know why. I take what I can get. And I know it doesn’t last and I…” His voice hitched. “I’m…scared…”



“And you think you’re alone in that?” ‘Taham sat up as well and lunged seizing N’tho’s wrists in his fists, letting his momentum knock Nitro back onto the bed with Usze’s weight on top of him. Their faces were a finger’s breadth apart; Usze looked down at Nitro, his eyes flashing fire. By the Ancestors, he was magnificent when he was angry! “I’m prepared to resign from the Ascetics because of you! I’m supposed to be coolly, calmly, professionally setting an example for all you lesser peons to follow. I am not supposed to be rescued after crashing a Mongoose and earning my own doom, I am not supposed to be terrified enough to foul my armour in the hold of a crashing warship while clinging desperately to a subordinate for comfort, and I am most definitely not supposed to want another warrior so badly that I would do anything for him… Nitro, you bastard, you’ve torn apart my entire world.” He nipped the other Sangheili’s cheek. “Do you think I would do less than ensure you experience the same?”



The cheek was a long way from the sweet spot on the neck, so why did Nitro feel paralyzed again? ‘Taham licked his neck and Nitro mewed, burrowing closer, seeking the courage to speak one simple phrase.



“I…I like that.”



“May I give you more, then?”



‘Sraom choked, wrapped his arms around Usze for comfort, and nodded.



The Blademaster smiled and continued lapping at him. “No, it’s not how it usually happens, is it? Not for me either. You’re nothing like a breeding obligation, my brave warrior…” Usze hesitated just a little, and Nitro writhed and heard Usze chuckling in his earbud and knew the other male was doing it on purpose. To tease him. To make him want all over again… Uzi continued, “I can’t pretend you’re a female,” he whispered, releasing his grip and sliding his hands down N’tho’s arms to his shoulders, tracing his fingers over the corded muscles and the battle scars inscribed in N’tho’s hide. “Your build, your scent, the feel of you…the power in you…there’s no way you can be mistaken for anything other than a warrior. My hero, who saved me on the Omega Halo.” He closed his eyes again. “I like the feel of you, the taste of you,” he whispered. “I would not pretend you to be other than you are.”



N’tho trembled. Despite his apprehension, the words made him feel, for the first time in a long time, proud to be in his own skin.