A Seeker Betrayed

6. Rivals

An hour later, in the fetish club called Kiyiya, up in the Open Quarters District, Gamman finally had the chance to confront his brother face to face. He was still irritated; he couldn't help it. Shamahan was treating the thing with A'Gahtay as some sort of game. He entered the room where he had kept "Shamma" waiting and strode past him before turning to look. Now that they were alone together they locked eyes and Gamman made sure every motion he made and every word he spoke showed just how mad he was.

"Just because he's living with you doesn't mean he belongs to you. I told you, you keep your hands off him." He angrily pulled his arms from the sleeves of his floor-length jacket and laid it over the high edge of the bench at his side.

He watched as Shamahan rose from the bench and stepped towards him, clenching his fists and saying, "He doesn't belong to you, either, so watch it. He might be letting you play around as much as you want right now, but that doesn't mean he'll put up with it forever." He straightened his back, taking advantage of his height, clearly wanting to emphasize that he was the taller one. "You aren't capable of one guy, one relationship. He'll slip through your grasp."

Gamman held his ground. "Slip through my grasp and go where? Don't threaten me." He pulled off his tunic, revealing the tan skin of his broad chest. Fine, reddish brown hairs covered his torso from the pectoral plane all the way to where his tight leggings were laced shut across his lower abdomen.

It was eight o'clock in the evening, and Gamman had finished up eating at a drinker nearby and come to Kiyiya, which was his favorite spot to play at night. They were in one of the inner rooms with a heated floor and steam vents along the walls, waiting for their friends to show up. The room itself was small, but it was richly decorated and gave the impression of standing on the threshold looking out to a stone balcony, above a forest in bright moonlight. Theater light angled down from the inner corner and washed the dim interior in grayed-out color. It was hot.

Gamman grimaced and said, flatly, "You were supposed to turn him down."

"I didn't exactly agree to that. After all, he was assigned to me. He is mine."

"So what?" Gamman said. "It's not like you were all that interested in having sex with him before. As I remember it, it was after I showed interest that you suddenly developed a thing for him."

Shamahan shrugged. "We work together and I need him to be happy and stay focused. He was upset when you didn't call for him yesterday, and I was there. If you don't want us sharing a bed you need to take care of him." He smirked.

Gamman studied him closely, all the while attempting to keep his anger from bursting beyond his control. He was absolutely certain that this was just another manifestation of his little brother's insecurities. He loved to pick stupid fights. It was always aggravating but this time it was over something that actually mattered.

Finally he said, "What are you doing here, anyway? You're supposed to be in Eminence tonight." They were chest to chest, and he tugged on the wide band that ran along the opening of Shamahan's jacket. "I know, why don't you just tell Pa you want to quit school and go overseas.... Just think, you could be out in the mountains, following old Aya around like a sniveling ken."

Shamahan almost seemed to be turning green - he was that angry. For once he seemed unable to respond, other than to reach up and push Gamman's hands away.

Gamman let go and, seeing movement at the entrance, leaned around him to see the doorway. In his most soothing, resonant tone, he said, "Good boy, that's the look I wanted."

It was A'Gahtay — standing in the doorway staring at him with rapt attention, his porcelain skin glowing in the blue light. He had changed into an outfit Gamman had chosen for him — low-riding, skin-tight blue trousers cropped at the knee, and a loose cream-colored linen vest that had a short, stiff band for a collar. It was fastened high up and floated open just below his belly-button, leaving a good ten centimeters of bare midriff. The wide choker at his throat was thin light blue cloth, like his pants, that shone under the light and disappeared under his silken black hair. He was barefoot, and holding his box tightly to himself.

In the local fetish clubs, the box was an important tool. It was the first interaction between the dominant and the sub on any given day. A'Gahtay was only allowed into Kiyiya as a sub, so as soon as he entered the establishment, just as all the other subs did, he would have had to turn left into the changing room and grab his box. The dominating man decided on the contents of his subs' box beforehand, and he could put in clothing, bindings and toys. What was inside the box was an indicator of the dominant's intentions and it set the mood for the day's play.

On an easy day, the outfit the dominant picked out would be obvious. On a bad day, though, when he really wanted to assert himself, he might just leave an odd assortment of bindings and toys in the box, leaving the poor sub wondering exactly what might happen.

Gamman slid past his brother and paused in front of his lover, appraising both his mood and his physical state with one quick look. He then gently gestured A'Gahtay to come, and when the ken complied he grabbed his arm and pulled him to the center of the room with his back to the door.

Tellurin — one of Gamman's close friends — appeared in the doorway and nodded at Shamahan; he stood there until Sur'ten entered and pushed him out of the way.

"You didn't put this on — naughty ken." Gamman held up a hobble and tossed it at the cart full of ropes near the doorway. Then he looked at Shamahan and said, "Who wants to help?"

To that, Shamahan's response was to go sit down on a padded bench along the wall. Black-haired, black-eyed Sur'ten pushed the cart into the room. Gold-haired Tellurin picked two bundles of cord off the top and handed one to Gamman, who had run his hands from A'Gahtay's shoulders down to his wrists to pull his hands behind his back.

Gamman had been looking forward to this part of the day. Tying was repetitive and absorbing. It required attention but not the kind of attention that made him tense. It was something he could do at a fast pace and as usual, he was eager to see the result.

He made sure to stay out of Shamahan's line of sight. He wanted him to see it, as he wrapped A'Gahtay's limbs in supple rope. Tellurin stayed nearby, ready to hand him more, and Gamman as he received each new bundle he shook it out so that it whipped through the air before he doubled it back on itself. Before long he had A'Gahtay standing on the narrow column his feet made tied together, and his arms were bound together behind his back at the elbows and wrists.

By this time Shamahan must have realized what he was doing, because he asked, "What about a support line?"

Gamman ignored him, putting an arm around A'Gahtay's waist and murmuring soothing words, and the ken leaned on him until he stepped away.

Gamman grabbed a fistful of black hair and said, "On your knees," and he used his hair to hold the ken steady as he gingerly bent and his knees thudded suddenly on the wood floor.

Tellurin, who was not quite as tall as Gamman, unclasped his long ponytail then divested himself of half his clothes. He pushed them at Sur'ten before positioning himself in front of A'Gahtay. "So, who's your favorite? Your lover, or Shamahan?" Squatting, he unfastened the ken's vest, and then leaned in. Shamahan couldn't see it but Tellurin undoubtedly took the opportunity to brush his fingers across the ken's nipples then pulled away, smiling.

Shamahan was positioned at the wall - out of sight. Good, Gamman thought, If he wants to see, he can put some effort into it. He picked a bit gag off the cart and asked, "What were you doing with my brother last night?"

A'Gahtay turned his head to look at Gamman. "You know already."

"You don't like gags, do you?"

He shook his head.

"If you're a good boy, we won't use it." Gamman waved it in the ken's face.