A/N: Hi lovely people! I finally managed to update! To make up for the wait, I've made this chapter extra long. Which means it's extra riddled with mistakes.

As always, editing will be done this week.

Just a reminder, this is a dark story 🖤

Chapter 11.

Deon was roused by servants the next day and pulled off the bed. He swayed on his feet and leaned heavily against the woman trying to haul him to a tub. He didn't know if it was morning or evening, but the light in the room wasn't as bright as usual.

They seated him in the tub and washed his skin. He had nearly slipped out of consciousness, when a sting in his earlobes roused him with a yelp.

They pierced him with a pin and inserted gold earrings with red stone drops. His eyelids were painted and a belt was locked around his hips, a deft hand slipping his cock through a ring.

A guard half-dragged him out the door and each step was agony. His legs faltered, but the hard grip on his arm kept him upright.

He barely noticed the music or the voices, until they were loud in his ears. He slit his eyes open and caught glimpses of a glittering hall; arching windows, marble columns and painted ceilings. A feast at a table and Peraan gentry everywhere, dark skin gleaming against linen and silk.

The guard dropped him onto something soft and Deon fell on his backside. Pain roared up his spine, making him cry out.

"Deon!" Arms were around him. A gentle hand stroked his cheek and lifted damp hair off his hot neck. "Water. Can I have some water, please?"

It was Roi's voice and Deon felt a rush of relief. Roi was helping him.

A cup touched his mouth and he drank, tasting something cold and tart that eased his thirst.

"Let go!" Alen's sharp voice was like a stab in his head. New hands touched him, pulling at him, and a mouth brushed behind his ear.

"I have you, De," Alen's voice was much softer now, hardly more than a murmur, "lie down."

Deon let his body sag into his brother's arms and tucked his head against Alen's throat, like a small child. He breathed in the scents of warm skin and sweet oils. He felt so ill. So weak.

"I'm here. I have you." Alen repeated, and hugged Deon tighter. With his eyes closed, in his brother's arms, Deon allowed himself to relax.

It felt like only a moment had gone before he was jerked to his feet and pulled stumbling across the hall. He blinked sleep from his eyes and was pierced by a grey stare. His stomach convulsed and cramped in panic.

The prince's mouth curved slowly in satisfaction. A leopard eyeing its prey.

"Do you like your new gifts?" The prince reached out idly and stroked Deon's cock, hanging limp through the belt.

"Yes." Deon's voice was a dry whisper, it didn't sound like him at all.

His pulse thudded so hard he felt faint and his legs were unsteady. He understood now, better than ever, how little his life mattered to the man in front of him.

"Come here." The prince hooked a finger into the boy's belt and jerked him forward.

Deon fell, catching himself with one hand on the armrest of the chair and the other on an oiled chest. He looked up fearfully and the prince grinned down at him, showing his white teeth. It was unsettling.

A hand on the small of his back pressed him closer and Deon clumsily straddled the man's lap. The prince's other hand ran up the boy's thigh and cupped his balls, squeezing hard and eliciting a sharp cry. "Have you learned anything?"

"Yes." Deon repeated, trembling and his fingers dug into the prince's shoulders.

"Then show me." The hand on his balls kept squeezing, until Deon began to wail.

He wondered if his balls would be crushed and moved his hips futilely closer to the prince's fist. The pressure eased a fraction and suddenly Deon understood. He had been resisting.

He settled against the man's chest, letting his sweat soaked torso press against hard muscle, and forced himself to go limp. The fingers on his balls unclenched, making the boy sob out a relieved breath.

"Much better." Lips brushed his temple and large hands gripped his buttocks, thumbs parting his raw cheeks. Deon couldn't hold back a scream, when a cock pushed into him, re-opening wounds like a hot blade.

"Do you like this?" The prince was smiling, Deon could hear it in the man's voice and feel the teeth against his ear. He wondered if they would tear into his skin and eat him alive.

"Yes." Deon choked out, hardly able to breathe, let alone talk, past the agony and the immense pressure inside of him. The prince's next words were distorted and the boy's ears started to ring.

....

He woke up sometime later, feeling faint and unreal. Everything was a golden blur at first and then details gradually sharpened.

He was in a different room, he thought and rolled his head slowly on the pillow, peering through his lashes. The walls were the same and so was the window and the door.

But the sheets he lay in were new and felt luxurious against his skin. A diaphanous gold curtain encased his bed, giving everything an otherworldly glow. New lanterns glinted and flickered in the dark and incense filled the air with a peppery sweetness.

"De." Cool fingers smoothed back his hair and he turned his head.

A pale face shone in the ethereal light, dark eyes like black pools, framed by lashes long enough to cast shadows. A red mouth, usually soft and pouting, was pressed into a hard line.

"The old witch was here. She gave you something...to help you sleep." Alen whispered, eyes drifting over Deon's face and lingering in places. "I can't lose you again...do you remember Ferrin? The carpenter boy?"

Alen seemed to be waiting for something, but Deon didn't know what. His eyes kept wanting to close, feeling so dry and heavy. He let them close and felt his brother lean over him. Breath warmed his cheek, before lips kissed him there softly.

"I love you." Alen breathed in Deon's ear and kissed him there too, tongue tracing the shell of his ear.

Lips moved down his throat, trailing soft feathery kisses. They kissed his shoulders, down his chest and a moist tongue brushed over each nipple.

The sheet was pulled from his hips, sliding down to rest on his knees. Kisses warmed his hip and tickled the inside of his thighs. A gentle hand smoothed over his pelvis and stomach.

It was relaxing and Deon sighed, lips parting, when that teasing mouth finally found his groin.

Slow kisses filled his cock with warmth. A tongue traced idle patterns up the back of his shaft, followed by a light suckle on his tip. Deon's breath caught and a languid lick made him tremble.

Delicate little licks focused on his slit and a warm palm steadied his shaft, when it began to twitch. Caressing fingers whispered over his balls.

Deon wet his lips, breaths coming faster, and sweat began to dew on his skin.

Alen's tongue swirled over Deon's quivering tip, making him moan and then a mouth enveloped him, sliding all the way down.

Deon gasped, hips arching up, pushing inside the tight ring of his brother's lips, until his cockhead nudged an internal wall. Muscles rippled around him, making him throb.

He moved his hips slowly, because that was all he had the strength for. Feeling his cock slide in and out of slippery warmth. His mouth was open and his heart pounded in his ears.

His balls were squeezing, aching and his own release came as a shock. A pulsing contraction and shock of heat.

Alen moaned and suckled hard, swallowing. When it all became too much, Deon made a sound of complaint and his twin lifted, letting the prick slip gently out of his mouth. Wet and tingling.

Deon wouldn't, couldn't, open his eyes when Alen climbed up beside him. But he leaned into the slender arms moving around him, cheek pressing against soft hair.

A kiss brushed his mouth tenderly, leaving a touch of moisture on his lips.

....

He was racked by fevers again, shivering one moment and sweating the next. The pain in his ass was constant and nightmares plagued his sleep.

Alen was there sometimes, holding him, kissing him and chasing away the fear. Their roles from childhood reversed.

Sometimes, Deon hated him. But mostly it was just a relief to hold his brother close. To smell and taste his silken skin and to hide away in his arms.