Gamman thrust one more time, deeply penetrating into the older man, who had struggled and pulled himself so that the back of his head was up against the wall and was sliding against it with every movement. The friend’s black hair partially covered his face. He was wailing incomprehensibly now and his cum was dripping across his chest, down onto the platform.

Gamman let go inside of him, and let his head fall back momentarily.

Behind him, Tellurin said, “It’s good to have you back, man.”

Gamman looked down at Delhen, who had shut his eyes and was trying to wipe the moisture off his face onto his arm. The rope work that was holding his arms in place bit into his skin, a fact that gave Gamman pleasure even though he was finished for the night. He smiled to himself. “Yeah.” He might have gotten more busy lately, but he didn’t want to give up his little pleasures.

The muscular man who was playing submissive for him this night was a ken from a local family, a friend he’d often played with in Open Quarters — a pet from his regular stable.

He had managed to keep A’Gahtay from his mind long enough to finish. It would be a mistake to commit to him right now. He tried telling himself that it would be a mistake to commit to anyone when he was this busy; that he was actually tired of dealing with his capriciousness.

He couldn’t help comparing Delhen to him — Delhen wasn’t timid and he liked being watched. He was up for anything Gamman wanted him to do. And, Delhen didn’t have unreasonable expectations.

Thinking about it in those terms he had absolutely no shame or regret about taking another man in for the night, because as of yet, he hadn’t made a contract with A’Gahtay. He grabbed a towel and wiped himself down, and then dropped it on the man in front of him before undoing the knots.

Sur’ten left the room in the middle of Gamman’s play and nobody noticed. One of the housekens called him downstairs, having detained A’Gahtay at the entrance. Sur’ten got a good look at him before meeting him at the door — his hair was down and his jacket was the softer type they used in the underground at night. The poor thing looked worried.

He kept his voice low. “Hey, what are you doing upside?” He was surprised at the caustic sound of his own voice. He knew perfectly well what his younger counterpart was after.

“I want to talk to Gamman — where is he?”

“I can’t tell you where, but he’s in a meeting with Geldan-sie and Aya-sie. You really shouldn’t be up here.” Sur’ten made a point of pushing past the other ken and pretending to look around. “Shamahan didn’t come, did he?”

“No, he’s passed out.”

Good, Sur’ten thought. Laughing, he asked, “Did you give him the TriPath?”

A’Gahtay gave him an innocent look, and shrugged.

“Look, I told you yesterday, he wants to see you, when he isn’t busy—”

“When will that be?”

“I…” Sur’ten didn’t want to let him in. Ideally, he would go back and sit with Shamahan. “God, A’Gah, I don’t know.”

“He’s here. I can tell.”

“Did he tell —” Sur’ten grabbed A’Gahtay before he could get inside.

“No, he didn’t tell me — I just ran into Geldan-sie on the way in. And you wouldn’t be keeping me out if Gamma-sie weren’t here.”

Sur’ten held tight to A’Gahtay’s upper arm and the younger man tried prying his fingers loose. He said, “Listen to me. He isn’t here. I just don’t want you settling in for the night — when Shamma wakes up, you need to be there. Calm yourself down and go back under.”

“Liar.” A’Gahtay had twisted away and made it through the doorway, only to find the two housekens waiting on the other side.

Sur’ten grabbed him from behind. A’Gahtay doubled over and threw him off, onto the floor. The other kens got involved and made short work of dragging him out, onto the dusty ground under the apartment where his single-seated cart sat waiting for him.

“Fuck, A’Gah, was that necessary?” Sur’ten whined. It was still early; there were probably four or five hours left before Shamahan would really need attention. “Gamman’s not here. But when he gets done with his meeting tonight, I’ll try to get him to come and see you, just go down and wait in his quarters underground. Okay?”