Changing Tides (20 page)

Orion turned around and cupped Brett’s cheek. Brett refocused his attention him, rubbing against the warm palm. Orion rose on his toes and kissed him. Brett opened his mouth then took control of the action, kissing his lover until they were both nearly breathless.

“Let it go,” Orion whispered, pulling back. “Promise me.”

Reluctantly, Brett nodded. “For now.”

He couldn’t promise more than that. Orion had become the center of his world. He could no more walk away from Orion than he could stop wanting vengeance for the pain and suffering Orion had endured.

The men holding Brett released him. He set a hand on Orion’s arm and nodded. He would do as Orion had asked. For now, at least.

Retrieving his weapon from the man who’d taken it, he moved to the large picture window and peered through the curtains. Several men and women, in Security Forces uniforms, were lined up between two rows of vehicles, weapons drawn. Most were firing at an approaching caravan of CFA Vehicles, the rest were aiming toward the house. With daylight came an increased ability to see. It brought with it a host of other problems, as well. Not only could they see, but they could be seen. There was no way to get to the convoy without being shot. There was no way to tell which houses had weapons and which ones didn’t.

The group spread out covering the upstairs and main level. Brett waited for the signal before firing at the Security Force personnel down on the street. When he’d emptied his both his clips, they still weren’t able to move from the house. Brett swore and slid away from the window.

“I’m out!” he yelled.

“Here!” Jackson shouted, tossing him another clip. “Make it count.”

Brett slammed the full clip home, cleared the chamber and moved back to the window. Leveling his weapon, he found his target and fired.

* * * *

Brett loved him.

Despite his surroundings, Orion smiled to himself. Walking to the window, he looked out over the debris-littered grounds. In the three days since they’d captured Brigadier General Reynolds, two make-shift prisons had been set up in addition to the one already on base. One housed dependent families of Security Forces and the other housed Security Force personnel. Reynolds along with several officers and a handful of enlisted men and women were being kept in the holding cells in the base jail. The CFA had found and released a handful of people being held for suspicious activities but with no evidence against them. None had done anything other than question a decision made by their superiors.

Orion’s group had captured the base twenty-two hours earlier after a major battle where he lost two dozen men and women. Their enemy had lost hundreds more, due in part to the arms and munitions Orion and his teams had taken from the armory before destroying it.

Since then, he’d spent hours looking over the contents from the box that had been retrieved from the archives and verifying the information. General Vanessa Landry had ordered the institutions to kill patients after her uncle, his family and one of her brother’s had been sent there. Brigadier General Reynolds had had the proof of it, along with notes on other corrupt activities. They’d also discovered files detailing a secret organization that had been about to attempt a coup. Not for freedom, but in the quest for power and greed.

A knock on the door sounded. Orion turned, his hand moving to the butt of his handgun. He knew Jackson was on the other side of the door. The man had insisted, saying it was his job to protect Orion, just as it was Orion’s job to lead them.

“Enter.”

Orion smiled as Brett stepped into the office that served as their mission headquarters. “Hey, love,” Orion said, lowering his hand from his weapon.

Brett stopped and opened his arms. Orion rushed into them. They’d barely had any time alone since the operation had begun. Orion had missed the reassurance his lover provided, the slightly biased sounding board and strength Brett gave him. Doubt rolled in. What if Brett had been staying away because he couldn’t deal with what had happened to Orion in his past? Maybe, Orion should have told him the truth earlier, so he wasn’t surprised by it when Reynolds had thrown it out there.

“I missed you,” Brett said, wrapping his arms around Orion.

Orion stood on his toes and kissed Brett, pulling the slightly taller man down to him. A hard cock pressed against him, and Orion groaned, wanting Brett. It didn’t matter if it was the middle of the afternoon or that there were hundreds of details and decisions to deal with. He wanted what only Brett could provide.

“I was afraid…” Orion began. “I should have told you, but—”

“No.” Brett put a finger to Orion’s lips, quieting him. “I’m angry at what I
think
they did to you. Am I hurt that you didn’t tell me yourself, yes. But, if I’m honest with myself, I didn’t tell you who Taren was either or how he died. None of that changes my feelings for you. I love you. I want you with me for the rest of our lives.”

Orion smiled then shook his head. “I can’t. I’m not allowed to get married.”

“The choices?”

Orion nodded, looking at the ground.

“I know about that,” Brett said, using two fingers to tilt Orion’s head up. “But, we’ve taken over the base. Nearly every other cell is reporting the same thing. The cities are falling. We’re winning. More than that, with the new government will come new rules. And the
choices
and predetermined life path can be nullified. They do more harm than good.”

“I love you. I’m sorry you found out about me that way,” Orion said, breaking out of Brett’s embrace.

“But not about not telling me?”

Orion shook his. “Not really, no. I survived by keeping secrets, a lot of them. It’s new and weird to know I don’t have to. That you’ll still be there for me.”

“You don’t have to keep secrets anymore. You know that, right?”

“Sort of.” Orion returned to the window. “Brett, my whole life has been for this war. To help Aelland become free again. My mother sacrificed herself protecting and dying for people she hated just to guarantee my future. My family was killed on General Landry’s orders after that because she was afraid of us. Of the attention we’d garnered. My lack of hair, the inability to talk, to read or write. All of that was so that I could be positioned to gather information and lead the war against the tyrannical dictator.”

“What about what the general was saying? About the commandant?”

Orion stared out the window. He couldn’t face Brett and talk about this. Not Brett. Orion had never been ashamed before. Now, it washed over him in waves. “Was I raped by that asshole? Yes. Weekly from when I turned fifteen to when I finally ‘graduated’ from the academy. Sometimes by his friends and other students, too. Did Reynolds put a stop to it? Only once I was officially assigned to him. It didn’t change my purpose though. None of it did.”

“To gather as much intelligence as possible,” Brett said flatly.

“You don’t have to like it, but it’s what I needed to do. The direction my life needed to take. I’ve always known what my life was for.”

“But, don’t you want to live for you?” Brett asked, wrapping his arms around Orion’s waist.

Orion nodded. “I want you. You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted. The only thing that’s truly mine, but I know I can’t fight ghosts or memories.”

“You aren’t fighting them. I don’t know how much you heard, so I’ll start from the beginning. Two years ago, I became engaged to a man, a doctor. Taren Prescott. Days before he was to make his choices and we were to be joined, he was found brutally tortured and killed. He was nearly unrecognizable. When you asked if I would join you and your cause, I still didn’t know who his murderer was, but I knew I cared for you. Paul found the video that had been recorded. I never suspected my father, but he was the one who ordered my fiancé to be kidnapped, tortured and killed. You’re the first person I’ve wanted, the first person I loved after Taren’s death.”

“Maybe, you should date other people before—”

“I
have
dated other people. You’re it. The connection I feel with you is stronger than what I felt for Taren, and I love you with my whole heart.”

Orion’s heart swelled. “I love you, too. I love that you want to take care of me, protect me, will take me and let me just feel.” Orion turned and burrowed into Brett’s chest, his arms tightening around him.

“I’m supposed to be giving you an update.”

“Fine, give me the update while filling my ass,” Orion said, rubbing his hard cock against Brett’s.

He unbuttoned Brett’s shirt and tossed it to the side then pulled Brett’s T-shirt off and sending it sailing behind them. Dropping to his knees, he released the buttons on Brett’s pants and fished out the hard, heavy cock and began to suck on it.

Brett’s hands grabbed Orion’s hair. “Orion!”

Orion released Brett’s shaft and leaned back. “Update. I’ll suck as long as you give me the update.”

“Cruel,” Brett moaned.

Orion chuckled and returned to his task. He rarely took the lead and usually preferred not to. But he needed whatever information Brett had, as well as to feel Brett’s cock taking possession of him.

“We sent a hundred and thirty-five people to the capitol and fifty to the city,” Brett stammered, the sentence punctuated by groans and gasps.

Orion swallowed Brett to the root, swirling his tongue around the thick shaft as he did.

“The boxes contained evidence of Reynolds killing innocent people and lying about it.” More gasps.

Orion slowly released Brett’s cock and nuzzled his sac, lapping at it.

“Carter found the original constitution in the archives,” Brett said, pulling him up. “I want you. Now.”

Orion smiled and nodded. He fished a bottle of lube out of the desk drawer and let Brett lead him to the couch. Brett finished stripping before removing Orion’s clothes. He licked, sucked and gently bit on Orion’s nipples. Orion jerked, praying he wouldn’t come before Brett’s cock was firmly lodged in his ass.

“On your back, sweetheart. Need to see you.”

Orion nodded and let Brett lay him on the course fabric. Opening for Brett’s questing tongue, Orion groaned as his cock was palmed then stroked. Orion lifted his hips, silently begging for what he wanted. What he needed.

“I know. I’m not going to leave you hanging.”

Brett took the lube from Orion and squirted some onto his fingers before he began stretching Orion’s hole. Orion cried out as Brett slowly fucked him with first one finger then a second and finally a third. Orion was nearly insane with desire when Brett finally sheathed himself in Orion.

Ass and heart full, Orion moaned, calling out his pleasure. He wanted everything Brett had, wanted his lover to pour his power and strength into their lovemaking. Orion put his legs on Brett’s shoulders and grabbed his lover’s strong arms. Brett pulled nearly all the way out before thrusting in. Orion clung to Brett, letting the other man set the pace he wanted.

“More,” Orion gasped as Brett hit his prostate.

“Mine,” Brett ground out.

“Give me everything. Show me who I belong to.”

“You’re mine.” Brett slammed into him, moving from the easy rhythm he’d set to a harder, faster pace, powering inside him each thrust. “Come for me.”

Orion called out Brett’s name and came, clinging to his lover. Several thrusts later, Brett’s body tensed as he emptied himself into Orion. Orion pulled Brett onto him before he could move away. This was what he wanted. What he needed. To feel. To just be.

“Marry me,” Brett said, pushing himself up on his elbows.

“What? When? Where?”

“I don’t know. Just say you’ll marry me. I want you to be with me always.”

Orion cocked an eyebrow and nodded. “I’m already yours. Of course, I’ll marry you.”

Epilogue

Five years later…

Orion pulled the knot out of his tie and threw the offending fabric across the room. Shoving a hand through his hair, he growled when the strands came out of the tie he’d pulled it back into. Frustrated, he sank into the nearest chair. He wanted Brett back with him, but his lover was out running errands.

Tomorrow was the fifth anniversary of the start of the revolution. There would be fireworks, music and celebrations across the country. It was one of the most important days to people now. More important than the capture of General Vanessa Landry eighteen months ago and her death by hanging after being found guilty by the world court three weeks ago. Or even the surrender of the remainder of her forces twelve months ago.

Two years into the war, several countries had begun offering them weapons, along with medical supplies and food. Six months ago, the last resistance from Landry’s government surrendered. Brigadier General Reynolds had been found guilty of crimes against humanity and hung eight months earlier. The surviving families of his victims had cheered when the verdict and sentence had been announced.

In the year since, the old government had been officially disbanded. A new government had been formed with help from the international community and guidance from the centuries-old documents that had once established the country as a land of equality and freedom.

There was a knock at the door moments before it opened. Knowing it couldn’t be Brett, Orion still hoped and was disappointed when it turned about to be Jonah Miller. The one-time corporal had married his fiancé Sergeant Davis three weeks ago and had become Orion’s personal assistant as Brett’s role expanded. Jackson had stood up for Miller at their wedding and had lately been seen in the company of Liz.

“Sir, the United Nations delegation has arrived and—” Miller stopped mid-sentence. “He’s on his way back.”

“Who?” Orion asked.

“Brett. Everything else is a go for tonight.”

“Thank you.”

Miller nodded, turned and left.

Orion paced the office, glaring occasionally at the tie that still lay crumpled in the corner. An eternity seemed to pass before Brett walked through the doors. Orion turned and launched himself at the bigger man.