If You Don't Mind, I Will
Title: If You Don't Mind, I Will
Author: hunters_retreat
Rating: NC-17
Warning: knotting in space, prison au-ish
Summary: "Damn it, Jared, I realized I was in love with you and no matter how I tried to stop it, I felt the bond forming. I was becoming something, for you.”
Author's Note: written for My trope Bingo Card prompt of handcuffed/bound together. And being me, it's in space. With knotting. WTH? My brain. :P Enjoy!
Jared swore as he looked down at his timepiece. The change in shifts was coming soon and if they didn’t make it out today, they’d never get another chance. The solar flares were making everything go haywire and the amount of traffic coming in and out of the station before the traffic silence was making security more lax. Meaning it was now or never. The two months of radio silence that would start when the next solar flare hit meant Jared would be able to get away clean.
Jensen’s contacts had been as good as his word and the money and papers they’d forged had passed every test Jared had been able to think of. With his own considerable savings, Jared could keep them going until they were safe.
He looked around uneasily as he waited. Two more minutes.
“Stop your worrying,” Jensen dropped a hand on his shoulder, anticipating the way Jared jumped at the voice behind him. When Jensen sat at the table beside him, Jared relaxed slightly. “Your head is so loud not even the factory could blast it out.”
Jared frowned. “You were supposed to be here five minutes ago.”
“I was. I stayed out of sight. Figured it wouldn’t look too good if I was hanging out with you for that long. Trust me, Jared. I’m not going to do anything to screw this up. I want out of here.”
Jared looked down before Jensen could see what was in his eyes, but it didn’t matter what Jensen saw. He could feel Jared. Just like Jared didn’t need to look up to see Jensen’s disappointment.
“You can feel it, Jay,” Jensen said softly. “Just close your eyes and feel me, baby, okay? I know what everyone has been saying. I know what people think. But you and I aren’t like them, are we? You know I’m not a thug just trying to get out of prison.”
And Jared did. Since the moment they’d put the tether on Jensen, Jared had known there was something different about their bond. Jared had been working at the Tampturnus Prison on the station for five years and he’d never once felt a tether turn to a real bond, but this one had. He’d never seen it happen on the station though there were rumors. Of course there were. Horror stories really of prisoners using the tether to make their guards crazy. Stories of guards killing their prisoners because of what passed between their heads.
It wasn’t just the tether though. Jared could feel what Jensen did, could hear his thoughts if he concentrated on it. It was how they’d managed all that they had. To have doubts now … Jensen didn’t deserve that any more than he deserved the life sentence he’d gotten. Once upon a time they’d have called him a political prisoner. Now he was just another among the rabble.
“Jay, by the stars I can’t wait to get out of this damn place so I can get my hands on you.” Jared looked up at that and Jensen searched his eyes. “I know, I’m asking you to leave everything you’ve ever known behind. You won’t be alone though. You have me. I will always be with you, I will always love you, and when we can actually touch I am going to show you just how much.”
The guard alarm went off above them and Jared let out a shaky breath. It was time.
“See you, Ackles,” he said as he stood up.
Jensen nodded. “Rein Padalecki.”
He wanted to look back as he left, but Jared kept his head high, smiling at his fellow guards as he signed out and made his way to the locker room. He took his time in the shower, knowing exactly how long he needed to dawdle before everyone would be out and the time was right for the next step.
When it was time, he dressed and closed his eyes, listening to the man on the other side of the tether. Jensen knew he would be listening in soon and he heard the faint two men in. Only two men. Guards gone. Dinner bell rang. Clear! Jay it’s clear! Steaming the cameras up now!
He grabbed two duffle bags and walked back to the showers. He attached a small round device to the shower wall and Jared stepped back as the lasers began cutting through the wall. It only took seconds and as it crashed, Jared poked his head through to find a smiling Jensen.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said.
Jensen followed him through the hole and stopped to change into the clothes that Jared had in the bag waiting for him. He had a device waiting for him on their transport that would change Jensen’s DNA ID to match his new personal file. Jared would have to do the same. As much as he loved being Jared Padalecki he was done with that life.
They walked towards the front of the locker room and Jared led Jensen down into the supply tunnels. Besides being used for storage, they were a walkway that allowed the Reins to get quickly from one part of the station to another in case of emergency.
“Here,” Jared said, pushing the center of another round metal device that he’d already attached this morning on the metal tubing running above them.
“What is this?” Jensen asked.
“Air vents.”
“Won’t someone come to check on them?”
“The efficiency of the system might go down a little but they’re expecting that with the solar flares. As long as no one finds the shower wall before the next change of shift we should be good to go.”
“I’d kiss you right now if I wasn’t worried I wouldn’t be able to stop,” Jensen teased.
Jared let out a deep breath as he watched the metal tubing fall. He took off his bag and threw it up into the tube then grabbed the edge and pulled himself up into it. He pushed his bag in front of him and then started working his way towards their next juncture. He heard Jensen scrambling up behind him and felt Jensen’s relief once they were out of the open.
They crawled for fifteen minutes before Jared found the next spot. He attached another metal cutter. He pushed the button and then pushed back so he wouldn’t get caught when the metal fell. He felt Jensen at his back and refused to look over his shoulder at him. They were so damn close. If they could get to the ship in time without anyone noticing them they were home free.
When the metal fell, Jared poked his head up. It was an unused maintenance bay at the end of the passenger hallways. It was the overstock of bedding and linens that only came out when someone presidential came out. Jared felt it was appropriate, considering his partner in crime had once been President of the Ten-Core Prominence.
Jared crawled into the room and stepped out the door to make sure no one was watching as Jensen came out behind him. Jensen pulled the hat over his head then and the visor was set for a Tennan, a species that weren’t allowed to show their faces in public. No one would think anything of the mask, or of a Rein escorting them through the hallways to see them safe to their transport. They all had to pick up extra cash somehow in their current economy and the Tennan were rich enough and needed the security.
“Funny,” Jensen said as he walked a step behind Jared. His words were soft enough that only Jared could hear him as they entered the busy corridor. “I actually have Tennan blood.”
“You do?” Jared asked over his shoulder, keeping his eyes forward as was the custom with the Beautiful Ones.
“My grandmother. The Ten-Core Prominence would never have elected a half-breed if it hadn’t been an unattainable species.”
“A lot makes sense now,” Jared teased. The Tennan were the most beautiful creatures in all the universe. It was said that a kiss from a Tennan could kill a man with desire for more. Their appearance was guarded and their touch was forbidden except in private where the Tennan could chose to bestow his or her grace on any who wished to see it. More than one Tennan was on the station for murder. They weren’t above the petty things that drove other races and there was a separate section of Tennan and Tennan Reins on the far side of the prison.
“Captain Collins,” Jared called as they approached the ship.
The captain came down, a rather jolly man who had a strange sense of humor and a talent for knowing but closing his eyes to things people didn’t want to see.
“Rein, I was afraid you and your companion weren’t going to make it. We were just preparing to close the doors for departure.”
“If you could show us to our quarters then, we’re ready to be on the way.” Jared answered.
The captain led them on and showed Jensen to his room first. Jensen went in and closed the door behind him while Jared was reassured by the captain that the Rein and the Tennan’s rooms were linked by an interior door. No one else would disturb them and in case of an emergency, they would go to Jared’s room and not the other.
When the captain finally left, Jared closed the door and locked it behind him. He turned at the sound of a knock on the interior door and opened it to find Jensen there in front of him.
Jared didn’t say anything. He didn’t move. He didn’t dare breathe as he felt the ship shifting slightly as it prepared for takeoff. Jensen had removed the hat and was staring at Jared, just watching him. Jared refused to delve into their bond to try to see what he was thinking. He knew his doubts would melt away if he did, but he needed to trust Jensen on his own now.
When the ship broke free of the shuttle, Jared went to the porthole that allowed him to see the space around them. They banked slightly and Jared watched the home he’d known for the last five years fall behind them. He watched other ships embarking as well, each ship trying to get away before the solar flares caused the space around them to be closed for two months. No ship could pass through and no radio waves would make it either. The shields on the station would close for good, protecting its inhabitants until the radiation levels and heat were back to their regular ranges.
He felt the press of something against his back and he sighed deeply. “I’m sorry you had to leave your home, but I’m not sorry you chose to come with me.”
Jared turned around then and Jensen was staring up at him. “I can’t believe we made it out.”
Jensen shook his head, “I can’t believe you did that for me.” He didn’t wait for other words then. He moved closer, bringing one hand up to Jared’s neck to pull his lips down. Jared was moving instantly, one arm around Jensen’s waist as he walked them back to the other room. He closed the door between the rooms and kept walking Jensen back until his knees hit the bed.
“Subtle, Padalecki,” Jensen laughed against his mouth.
“Jared. If you keep calling me Padalecki someone’s going to get curious about why my name doesn’t match the registration on the next ship.”
Jensen nodded but his hands pulled at Jared’s shirt and his lips trailed down his neck.
“Jensen, by the stars,” was all he could get out.
Jensen didn’t seem to need more though and he pushed the shirt off Jared’s shoulders as he turned them around. When Jensen dropped to his knees in front of him, Jared thought he might lose his mind. Instead, he dropped his hand to Jensen’s head and watched as the other man pulled the zipper of his pants down. When he began working the pants down Jared’s thighs, Jensen pushed at Jared until he fell back on the bed.
Jensen tugged at his shoes and socks and then Jared was naked on the bed in front of him. Jensen stood up, looking down at him with hungry eyes.
“Since they tethered us together, I haven’t been able to think of anyone else but you,” Jensen said softly. “I know it was supposed to make it impossible for me to escape, it was supposed to make sure that I behaved since you could tell when I might do something I shouldn’t, but everything I ever felt from you made me want more.”
Jared groaned as Jensen trailed his fingers up Jared’s thigh, spreading his legs open. “I don’t know why the tether changed, why it became a true bonding instead of the rope they keep their prisoners tied to, but I will always bless the day they tethered me to you, Jared.”
Jensen mouth was on his body then, lips wrapped around his hardened length as his hands moved further up Jared’s body. He closed his eyes and couldn’t help but feel what Jensen was feeling too. It was too strong, too powerful for Jared to push away anymore. He could feel the passion and the desire in Jensen. The heat and the need. Under it all, he could feel the love that had grown between them, regardless of the prison around them.
“Jensen, please,” Jared begged.
When Jensen pulled off his cock, he looked up at Jared. “Tell me what you want.”
“Want to see you.”
When Jensen stood, Jared scooted up the bed, sitting up on his elbows. Jensen wasn’t shy and he made a small show of taking his clothes off, pulling each bit slowly away and smiling at Jared like he was everything good in the world.
When he was naked, he stood at the end of the bed, letting Jared admire him. “Need you,” Jared finally whispered.
When Jensen joined him on the bed, he lay on top of Jared, his legs straddling Jared’s waist as he opened to Jared’s kisses. Jared let his hands roam over Jensen’s perfect body. Even after the past two years in prison, his skin was without blemish. When he cupped the globes of Jensen’s ass, his lover moaned into his mouth, pressing back into his hands. Jared held him open with one hand and let the other roam further, following the path only to find his hole wet and dripping.
“Jensen?” he looked up at the other man.
“Tennan. I got all the best parts and none of the bad traits. You won’t die from my kiss, but my body will make itself whatever you need it to be,” he answered arching his back slightly to bring Jared’s fingers closer to his entrance. Jared took the invitation and dipped his fingers into Jensen’s slick hole.
He couldn’t stop himself then. Jared never boasted much about his alpha, but the Lymancers gave him a wide step because he was strong. The strongest alpha alive, if his father was right. And his father was The Alpha. No one doubted his word.
With Jensen’s scent in the air and his fingers tickling against his wet hole, his alpha needed more. He flipped Jensen onto his stomach and used both hands to spread him wide open. Jensen tucked his knees under him as if he knew what Jared wanted. Jared closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and then lowered himself onto the bed, closer.
He wanted to roll in Jensen’s scent, to cover him with his own, but for now he needed to taste. He cupped Jensen’s ass and spread him even further, smiling at the sound of his moan. “You ain’t felt nothing yet,” he whispered as he lapped at Jensen’s hole.
Jensen let out a stream of obscenities that would probably have him removed from office if he weren’t already on the run and Jared pressed the flat of his tongue against Jensen and continued to lick around the pucker there. Jensen was begging but Jared knew they had all the time in the world to do this right. It was his first taste of Jensen and he was going to enjoy every second of it.
When he felt Jensen was needy enough, he pressed against the tight muscles with the point of his tongue. Jensen moaned, “Yes,” and arched his back trying to get more of Jared. He brought his thumbs over and began massaging around the area as he began fucking in and out of Jensen’s ass with his tongue. He relished the taste of him, the scent right there in his nose. Jensen was mewling as pretty as any Lymancer Jared had ever met and as he pushed a finger in alongside his tongue, he groaned at the thought of pushing his knot up in there too. He was so wet and open and Jared shivered at the thought of what else he could do to Jensen, what sort of toys he would let Jared explore him with. They both moaned before Jared pulled his hands away and flipped Jensen onto his back.
He shouldn’t be like this. Jensen shouldn’t be able to do this to him. “What are you doing, Jensen?”
“I can’t control it,” he whimpered softly as Jared pressed three fingers into him. “I know they make Lymancers into Reins because their alphas can control the tether but Tennan’s can’t control their bond.”
Jared stilled his hand and held Jensen’s eyes as he realized why it had all gone as it had for them.
“You didn’t want this.”
“You were my prison guard. They forced the tether on me. I was in prison because my Vice President found out I was going to abolish the laws that kept the Ten-Core Prominence from allowing other species to enter their realm freely. I was unjustly imprisoned and bound. No, I didn’t want it. But,” he reached a hand up and cupped Jared’s face. “You were you. You didn’t treat me like I saw the other Reins treat their prisoners. You didn’t use the tether to put me in my place or hurt me. You just used it as you were supposed to.”
“Jensen.”
“And I liked you. Damn it, Jared, I realized I was in love with you and no matter how I tried to stop it, I felt the bond forming. I was becoming something, for you.”
Jared closed his eyes and reached for Jensen. He reached past the superficial layers, the need and the desire, the fear of this new discovery. Instead, he pushed past it to the bond itself. He felt the love that burned so brightly in Jensen, and as he listened, he could feel the stark terror of what it would mean if Jared walked away. Jensen was half-Tennan. He had been bound by another, changed until he could not accept another’s body, another’s comfort, or another’s love if Jared walked away.
He was staggered by the thought and before he realized what he was thinking, he crashed their lips together. He felt Jensen cling to him and he pushed out with his emotions. He understood the bond now and he didn’t try to pull away from it as he had before. It wasn’t some perversion of the tether like he’d originally feared. It was a mating bond; something Jensen shouldn’t have been able to give him as a human but that his Tennan ancestry could.
When he pulled back, he braced one hand on the pillow by Jensen’s head and guided himself into Jensen’s body with the other. Jensen’s body was slick and open, as if he truly were a Lymancer and Jared stilled his body as he was enclosed in Jensen’s sweet warmth.
“Jensen,” he whispered as he wrapped an arm under his shoulder. He dropped the other one in the same fashion and they were chest to chest as Jared began to move inside Jensen. Jensen moaned at the feel of it and Jared nudged him with his nose, smiling. “Feel me Jensen,” he said, kissing the corners of his lips. “Open your mind to me, mate.”
Jensen gasped at his words - at the final understanding - and there was nothing left between them. Jared rocked his hips and Jensen moved with him, bodies moving together to give them both the glide they needed. Jensen buried his head in Jared’s neck but his emotions, his feelings and thoughts were bare to him. He could feel Jensen explore it as well, feel what Jared had to offer now that Jared wasn’t afraid of what they were becoming.
“Mate,” Jared whispered to Jensen as he felt himself getting impossibly harder.
“Alpha,” Jensen answered with a moan.
He felt his knot filling then, felt Jensen’s shock as his body was filled even fuller. Jensen came from the pressure of Jared’s growing knot and Jared nearly drowned in the feeling of Jensen tightening around him.
Jensen’s arms clung to him, his legs wrapped around his calves to pull them closer, as if Jared could be any further inside Jensen’s body and mind than he already was. There was something though, something he needed and he knew it. He wasn’t sure what it was but then Jensen was pressing up under his chin, lifting it ever so slightly as he nibbled at Jared’s neck. He growled deep in his throat and Jensen responded by giving Jared his neck. His submission. His desire to be marked.
Jared bit into the flesh of Jensen’s neck and came as the first coppery tang of blood hit his tongue. He drank from his mate, reached a hand between them and milked his cock as he pumped come into him, and breathed the scent of them in.
When Jensen was trembling in his hands, he carefully turned them so as not to hurt his mate while he was still knotted, until they were lying on their sides. He ran a hand down Jensen’s side and pressed kisses into the nape of his neck.
“So, mated?” Jensen asked softly.
He thought about the fear he’d felt in Jensen, the dark truth that without Jared he would remain alone the rest of this life. He wanted to reassure Jensen that he would never leave but he knew it would take time for Jensen to understand what the mating bond meant for them. Now that Jared understood, he was sure enough for the both of them. Instead he just sighed as he pulled Jensen a little closer. “Mated.
Mine forever now, Jensen. Did you know that Lymancers have the oldest bond ever recorded? Not even the Tennan’s have been around as long as we have.”
“Really? And you know this how?”
“I was studying Interspecies law. Took the job at the prison to pay for the classes. Became a Counselor last year. Now I know why I couldn’t walk away from the prison to start practicing yet.”
Jensen looked over his shoulder in shock. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wasn’t sure what was happening, Jensen. I knew … there were rumors that you weren’t entirely human. It’s why they paired you with me, you know?” Jensen shook his head and Jared smiled. “I was the strongest alpha in the prison. One of the strongest in the universe actually. They thought if you were something ‘other’ then I’d be able to control the bond no matter what. The last couple days, I was beginning to wonder about that. I know now though and I’m always gonna take care of you.”
“Jared, we’re going to be on the run for the rest of our lives.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I wasn’t just trying to plan your escape this last year. Maybe I might have a thought or two on how to get your name cleared and your position reinstated.”
Jensen’s eyes widened. “If you could, and we’re mated,” he smiled. “I wouldn’t even have to pass a law about opening up our borders. As their President, I am the law. By my actions it is rewritten. That is the oath we take.”
Jared pressed a kiss to Jensen’s temple. “And since they have still not appointed a new President, you are still law.”
“What?”
“It took them a year to start the proceedings but the last year some friends and I have been able to throw in some stumbling blocks. They can’t reconvene and appoint a new President until you are brought forth to face your accuser in front of the Commission.”
“How could you possibly get that changed?”
“I didn’t. I studied the laws of the ancients though, and you have to be brought before your accuser to stand trial. Since they subverted their usual courts, it was suggested to certain allies that the ancient courts would be more suited.”
“The ancients.”
“History says we all came from the same place once, Jensen. The Lymancers were the first to divide, using ancient magic to become one with nature. We were wolf and human combined, a way to keep the nastier parts of our humanity at bay while aligning ourselves with the world around us. We were the first, the oldest, but the others all sprang from humanity as well. It’s why we all flock to humans when we see them, why we listen to their stories and their music and still search for their home of old. This bond between you and I can happen because once we were all the same.”
He shuddered when he felt his knot deflating finally and he slid out of his lover’s body as he pulled him back into his arms, into his kiss.
“I love you Jared,” Jensen whispered against his lips.
“I love you, Mate.”
“And what will we do next?”
Jared smiled. “I think sleep is in order. We have a month before Captain Collins reaches his next destination and then I have us on another ship for a week. Parula.”
“Parula? The wilderness planet?”
Jared nodded. “I have people there. You do too now. When we get there, we’ll figure it all out. Until then though, we only have to worry about this; you and I.”
“A month of just this?”
Jared nodded and Jensen smiled. “I could get used to this Alpha.”
“You better believe it, Mate. Gonna take good care of you. Make you forget that prison and those bars and being separated from everything you love.”
“Jared?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up and kiss me already.”
Jared laughed. “Yes, Mr. President. If you don’t mind, I will.”
Author: hunters_retreat
Rating: NC-17
Warning: knotting in space, prison au-ish
Summary: "Damn it, Jared, I realized I was in love with you and no matter how I tried to stop it, I felt the bond forming. I was becoming something, for you.”
Author's Note: written for My trope Bingo Card prompt of handcuffed/bound together. And being me, it's in space. With knotting. WTH? My brain. :P Enjoy!
Jared swore as he looked down at his timepiece. The change in shifts was coming soon and if they didn’t make it out today, they’d never get another chance. The solar flares were making everything go haywire and the amount of traffic coming in and out of the station before the traffic silence was making security more lax. Meaning it was now or never. The two months of radio silence that would start when the next solar flare hit meant Jared would be able to get away clean.
Jensen’s contacts had been as good as his word and the money and papers they’d forged had passed every test Jared had been able to think of. With his own considerable savings, Jared could keep them going until they were safe.
He looked around uneasily as he waited. Two more minutes.
“Stop your worrying,” Jensen dropped a hand on his shoulder, anticipating the way Jared jumped at the voice behind him. When Jensen sat at the table beside him, Jared relaxed slightly. “Your head is so loud not even the factory could blast it out.”
Jared frowned. “You were supposed to be here five minutes ago.”
“I was. I stayed out of sight. Figured it wouldn’t look too good if I was hanging out with you for that long. Trust me, Jared. I’m not going to do anything to screw this up. I want out of here.”
Jared looked down before Jensen could see what was in his eyes, but it didn’t matter what Jensen saw. He could feel Jared. Just like Jared didn’t need to look up to see Jensen’s disappointment.
“You can feel it, Jay,” Jensen said softly. “Just close your eyes and feel me, baby, okay? I know what everyone has been saying. I know what people think. But you and I aren’t like them, are we? You know I’m not a thug just trying to get out of prison.”
And Jared did. Since the moment they’d put the tether on Jensen, Jared had known there was something different about their bond. Jared had been working at the Tampturnus Prison on the station for five years and he’d never once felt a tether turn to a real bond, but this one had. He’d never seen it happen on the station though there were rumors. Of course there were. Horror stories really of prisoners using the tether to make their guards crazy. Stories of guards killing their prisoners because of what passed between their heads.
It wasn’t just the tether though. Jared could feel what Jensen did, could hear his thoughts if he concentrated on it. It was how they’d managed all that they had. To have doubts now … Jensen didn’t deserve that any more than he deserved the life sentence he’d gotten. Once upon a time they’d have called him a political prisoner. Now he was just another among the rabble.
“Jay, by the stars I can’t wait to get out of this damn place so I can get my hands on you.” Jared looked up at that and Jensen searched his eyes. “I know, I’m asking you to leave everything you’ve ever known behind. You won’t be alone though. You have me. I will always be with you, I will always love you, and when we can actually touch I am going to show you just how much.”
The guard alarm went off above them and Jared let out a shaky breath. It was time.
“See you, Ackles,” he said as he stood up.
Jensen nodded. “Rein Padalecki.”
He wanted to look back as he left, but Jared kept his head high, smiling at his fellow guards as he signed out and made his way to the locker room. He took his time in the shower, knowing exactly how long he needed to dawdle before everyone would be out and the time was right for the next step.
When it was time, he dressed and closed his eyes, listening to the man on the other side of the tether. Jensen knew he would be listening in soon and he heard the faint two men in. Only two men. Guards gone. Dinner bell rang. Clear! Jay it’s clear! Steaming the cameras up now!
He grabbed two duffle bags and walked back to the showers. He attached a small round device to the shower wall and Jared stepped back as the lasers began cutting through the wall. It only took seconds and as it crashed, Jared poked his head through to find a smiling Jensen.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said.
Jensen followed him through the hole and stopped to change into the clothes that Jared had in the bag waiting for him. He had a device waiting for him on their transport that would change Jensen’s DNA ID to match his new personal file. Jared would have to do the same. As much as he loved being Jared Padalecki he was done with that life.
They walked towards the front of the locker room and Jared led Jensen down into the supply tunnels. Besides being used for storage, they were a walkway that allowed the Reins to get quickly from one part of the station to another in case of emergency.
“Here,” Jared said, pushing the center of another round metal device that he’d already attached this morning on the metal tubing running above them.
“What is this?” Jensen asked.
“Air vents.”
“Won’t someone come to check on them?”
“The efficiency of the system might go down a little but they’re expecting that with the solar flares. As long as no one finds the shower wall before the next change of shift we should be good to go.”
“I’d kiss you right now if I wasn’t worried I wouldn’t be able to stop,” Jensen teased.
Jared let out a deep breath as he watched the metal tubing fall. He took off his bag and threw it up into the tube then grabbed the edge and pulled himself up into it. He pushed his bag in front of him and then started working his way towards their next juncture. He heard Jensen scrambling up behind him and felt Jensen’s relief once they were out of the open.
They crawled for fifteen minutes before Jared found the next spot. He attached another metal cutter. He pushed the button and then pushed back so he wouldn’t get caught when the metal fell. He felt Jensen at his back and refused to look over his shoulder at him. They were so damn close. If they could get to the ship in time without anyone noticing them they were home free.
When the metal fell, Jared poked his head up. It was an unused maintenance bay at the end of the passenger hallways. It was the overstock of bedding and linens that only came out when someone presidential came out. Jared felt it was appropriate, considering his partner in crime had once been President of the Ten-Core Prominence.
Jared crawled into the room and stepped out the door to make sure no one was watching as Jensen came out behind him. Jensen pulled the hat over his head then and the visor was set for a Tennan, a species that weren’t allowed to show their faces in public. No one would think anything of the mask, or of a Rein escorting them through the hallways to see them safe to their transport. They all had to pick up extra cash somehow in their current economy and the Tennan were rich enough and needed the security.
“Funny,” Jensen said as he walked a step behind Jared. His words were soft enough that only Jared could hear him as they entered the busy corridor. “I actually have Tennan blood.”
“You do?” Jared asked over his shoulder, keeping his eyes forward as was the custom with the Beautiful Ones.
“My grandmother. The Ten-Core Prominence would never have elected a half-breed if it hadn’t been an unattainable species.”
“A lot makes sense now,” Jared teased. The Tennan were the most beautiful creatures in all the universe. It was said that a kiss from a Tennan could kill a man with desire for more. Their appearance was guarded and their touch was forbidden except in private where the Tennan could chose to bestow his or her grace on any who wished to see it. More than one Tennan was on the station for murder. They weren’t above the petty things that drove other races and there was a separate section of Tennan and Tennan Reins on the far side of the prison.
“Captain Collins,” Jared called as they approached the ship.
The captain came down, a rather jolly man who had a strange sense of humor and a talent for knowing but closing his eyes to things people didn’t want to see.
“Rein, I was afraid you and your companion weren’t going to make it. We were just preparing to close the doors for departure.”
“If you could show us to our quarters then, we’re ready to be on the way.” Jared answered.
The captain led them on and showed Jensen to his room first. Jensen went in and closed the door behind him while Jared was reassured by the captain that the Rein and the Tennan’s rooms were linked by an interior door. No one else would disturb them and in case of an emergency, they would go to Jared’s room and not the other.
When the captain finally left, Jared closed the door and locked it behind him. He turned at the sound of a knock on the interior door and opened it to find Jensen there in front of him.
Jared didn’t say anything. He didn’t move. He didn’t dare breathe as he felt the ship shifting slightly as it prepared for takeoff. Jensen had removed the hat and was staring at Jared, just watching him. Jared refused to delve into their bond to try to see what he was thinking. He knew his doubts would melt away if he did, but he needed to trust Jensen on his own now.
When the ship broke free of the shuttle, Jared went to the porthole that allowed him to see the space around them. They banked slightly and Jared watched the home he’d known for the last five years fall behind them. He watched other ships embarking as well, each ship trying to get away before the solar flares caused the space around them to be closed for two months. No ship could pass through and no radio waves would make it either. The shields on the station would close for good, protecting its inhabitants until the radiation levels and heat were back to their regular ranges.
He felt the press of something against his back and he sighed deeply. “I’m sorry you had to leave your home, but I’m not sorry you chose to come with me.”
Jared turned around then and Jensen was staring up at him. “I can’t believe we made it out.”
Jensen shook his head, “I can’t believe you did that for me.” He didn’t wait for other words then. He moved closer, bringing one hand up to Jared’s neck to pull his lips down. Jared was moving instantly, one arm around Jensen’s waist as he walked them back to the other room. He closed the door between the rooms and kept walking Jensen back until his knees hit the bed.
“Subtle, Padalecki,” Jensen laughed against his mouth.
“Jared. If you keep calling me Padalecki someone’s going to get curious about why my name doesn’t match the registration on the next ship.”
Jensen nodded but his hands pulled at Jared’s shirt and his lips trailed down his neck.
“Jensen, by the stars,” was all he could get out.
Jensen didn’t seem to need more though and he pushed the shirt off Jared’s shoulders as he turned them around. When Jensen dropped to his knees in front of him, Jared thought he might lose his mind. Instead, he dropped his hand to Jensen’s head and watched as the other man pulled the zipper of his pants down. When he began working the pants down Jared’s thighs, Jensen pushed at Jared until he fell back on the bed.
Jensen tugged at his shoes and socks and then Jared was naked on the bed in front of him. Jensen stood up, looking down at him with hungry eyes.
“Since they tethered us together, I haven’t been able to think of anyone else but you,” Jensen said softly. “I know it was supposed to make it impossible for me to escape, it was supposed to make sure that I behaved since you could tell when I might do something I shouldn’t, but everything I ever felt from you made me want more.”
Jared groaned as Jensen trailed his fingers up Jared’s thigh, spreading his legs open. “I don’t know why the tether changed, why it became a true bonding instead of the rope they keep their prisoners tied to, but I will always bless the day they tethered me to you, Jared.”
Jensen mouth was on his body then, lips wrapped around his hardened length as his hands moved further up Jared’s body. He closed his eyes and couldn’t help but feel what Jensen was feeling too. It was too strong, too powerful for Jared to push away anymore. He could feel the passion and the desire in Jensen. The heat and the need. Under it all, he could feel the love that had grown between them, regardless of the prison around them.
“Jensen, please,” Jared begged.
When Jensen pulled off his cock, he looked up at Jared. “Tell me what you want.”
“Want to see you.”
When Jensen stood, Jared scooted up the bed, sitting up on his elbows. Jensen wasn’t shy and he made a small show of taking his clothes off, pulling each bit slowly away and smiling at Jared like he was everything good in the world.
When he was naked, he stood at the end of the bed, letting Jared admire him. “Need you,” Jared finally whispered.
When Jensen joined him on the bed, he lay on top of Jared, his legs straddling Jared’s waist as he opened to Jared’s kisses. Jared let his hands roam over Jensen’s perfect body. Even after the past two years in prison, his skin was without blemish. When he cupped the globes of Jensen’s ass, his lover moaned into his mouth, pressing back into his hands. Jared held him open with one hand and let the other roam further, following the path only to find his hole wet and dripping.
“Jensen?” he looked up at the other man.
“Tennan. I got all the best parts and none of the bad traits. You won’t die from my kiss, but my body will make itself whatever you need it to be,” he answered arching his back slightly to bring Jared’s fingers closer to his entrance. Jared took the invitation and dipped his fingers into Jensen’s slick hole.
He couldn’t stop himself then. Jared never boasted much about his alpha, but the Lymancers gave him a wide step because he was strong. The strongest alpha alive, if his father was right. And his father was The Alpha. No one doubted his word.
With Jensen’s scent in the air and his fingers tickling against his wet hole, his alpha needed more. He flipped Jensen onto his stomach and used both hands to spread him wide open. Jensen tucked his knees under him as if he knew what Jared wanted. Jared closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and then lowered himself onto the bed, closer.
He wanted to roll in Jensen’s scent, to cover him with his own, but for now he needed to taste. He cupped Jensen’s ass and spread him even further, smiling at the sound of his moan. “You ain’t felt nothing yet,” he whispered as he lapped at Jensen’s hole.
Jensen let out a stream of obscenities that would probably have him removed from office if he weren’t already on the run and Jared pressed the flat of his tongue against Jensen and continued to lick around the pucker there. Jensen was begging but Jared knew they had all the time in the world to do this right. It was his first taste of Jensen and he was going to enjoy every second of it.
When he felt Jensen was needy enough, he pressed against the tight muscles with the point of his tongue. Jensen moaned, “Yes,” and arched his back trying to get more of Jared. He brought his thumbs over and began massaging around the area as he began fucking in and out of Jensen’s ass with his tongue. He relished the taste of him, the scent right there in his nose. Jensen was mewling as pretty as any Lymancer Jared had ever met and as he pushed a finger in alongside his tongue, he groaned at the thought of pushing his knot up in there too. He was so wet and open and Jared shivered at the thought of what else he could do to Jensen, what sort of toys he would let Jared explore him with. They both moaned before Jared pulled his hands away and flipped Jensen onto his back.
He shouldn’t be like this. Jensen shouldn’t be able to do this to him. “What are you doing, Jensen?”
“I can’t control it,” he whimpered softly as Jared pressed three fingers into him. “I know they make Lymancers into Reins because their alphas can control the tether but Tennan’s can’t control their bond.”
Jared stilled his hand and held Jensen’s eyes as he realized why it had all gone as it had for them.
“You didn’t want this.”
“You were my prison guard. They forced the tether on me. I was in prison because my Vice President found out I was going to abolish the laws that kept the Ten-Core Prominence from allowing other species to enter their realm freely. I was unjustly imprisoned and bound. No, I didn’t want it. But,” he reached a hand up and cupped Jared’s face. “You were you. You didn’t treat me like I saw the other Reins treat their prisoners. You didn’t use the tether to put me in my place or hurt me. You just used it as you were supposed to.”
“Jensen.”
“And I liked you. Damn it, Jared, I realized I was in love with you and no matter how I tried to stop it, I felt the bond forming. I was becoming something, for you.”
Jared closed his eyes and reached for Jensen. He reached past the superficial layers, the need and the desire, the fear of this new discovery. Instead, he pushed past it to the bond itself. He felt the love that burned so brightly in Jensen, and as he listened, he could feel the stark terror of what it would mean if Jared walked away. Jensen was half-Tennan. He had been bound by another, changed until he could not accept another’s body, another’s comfort, or another’s love if Jared walked away.
He was staggered by the thought and before he realized what he was thinking, he crashed their lips together. He felt Jensen cling to him and he pushed out with his emotions. He understood the bond now and he didn’t try to pull away from it as he had before. It wasn’t some perversion of the tether like he’d originally feared. It was a mating bond; something Jensen shouldn’t have been able to give him as a human but that his Tennan ancestry could.
When he pulled back, he braced one hand on the pillow by Jensen’s head and guided himself into Jensen’s body with the other. Jensen’s body was slick and open, as if he truly were a Lymancer and Jared stilled his body as he was enclosed in Jensen’s sweet warmth.
“Jensen,” he whispered as he wrapped an arm under his shoulder. He dropped the other one in the same fashion and they were chest to chest as Jared began to move inside Jensen. Jensen moaned at the feel of it and Jared nudged him with his nose, smiling. “Feel me Jensen,” he said, kissing the corners of his lips. “Open your mind to me, mate.”
Jensen gasped at his words - at the final understanding - and there was nothing left between them. Jared rocked his hips and Jensen moved with him, bodies moving together to give them both the glide they needed. Jensen buried his head in Jared’s neck but his emotions, his feelings and thoughts were bare to him. He could feel Jensen explore it as well, feel what Jared had to offer now that Jared wasn’t afraid of what they were becoming.
“Mate,” Jared whispered to Jensen as he felt himself getting impossibly harder.
“Alpha,” Jensen answered with a moan.
He felt his knot filling then, felt Jensen’s shock as his body was filled even fuller. Jensen came from the pressure of Jared’s growing knot and Jared nearly drowned in the feeling of Jensen tightening around him.
Jensen’s arms clung to him, his legs wrapped around his calves to pull them closer, as if Jared could be any further inside Jensen’s body and mind than he already was. There was something though, something he needed and he knew it. He wasn’t sure what it was but then Jensen was pressing up under his chin, lifting it ever so slightly as he nibbled at Jared’s neck. He growled deep in his throat and Jensen responded by giving Jared his neck. His submission. His desire to be marked.
Jared bit into the flesh of Jensen’s neck and came as the first coppery tang of blood hit his tongue. He drank from his mate, reached a hand between them and milked his cock as he pumped come into him, and breathed the scent of them in.
When Jensen was trembling in his hands, he carefully turned them so as not to hurt his mate while he was still knotted, until they were lying on their sides. He ran a hand down Jensen’s side and pressed kisses into the nape of his neck.
“So, mated?” Jensen asked softly.
He thought about the fear he’d felt in Jensen, the dark truth that without Jared he would remain alone the rest of this life. He wanted to reassure Jensen that he would never leave but he knew it would take time for Jensen to understand what the mating bond meant for them. Now that Jared understood, he was sure enough for the both of them. Instead he just sighed as he pulled Jensen a little closer. “Mated.
Mine forever now, Jensen. Did you know that Lymancers have the oldest bond ever recorded? Not even the Tennan’s have been around as long as we have.”
“Really? And you know this how?”
“I was studying Interspecies law. Took the job at the prison to pay for the classes. Became a Counselor last year. Now I know why I couldn’t walk away from the prison to start practicing yet.”
Jensen looked over his shoulder in shock. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wasn’t sure what was happening, Jensen. I knew … there were rumors that you weren’t entirely human. It’s why they paired you with me, you know?” Jensen shook his head and Jared smiled. “I was the strongest alpha in the prison. One of the strongest in the universe actually. They thought if you were something ‘other’ then I’d be able to control the bond no matter what. The last couple days, I was beginning to wonder about that. I know now though and I’m always gonna take care of you.”
“Jared, we’re going to be on the run for the rest of our lives.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I wasn’t just trying to plan your escape this last year. Maybe I might have a thought or two on how to get your name cleared and your position reinstated.”
Jensen’s eyes widened. “If you could, and we’re mated,” he smiled. “I wouldn’t even have to pass a law about opening up our borders. As their President, I am the law. By my actions it is rewritten. That is the oath we take.”
Jared pressed a kiss to Jensen’s temple. “And since they have still not appointed a new President, you are still law.”
“What?”
“It took them a year to start the proceedings but the last year some friends and I have been able to throw in some stumbling blocks. They can’t reconvene and appoint a new President until you are brought forth to face your accuser in front of the Commission.”
“How could you possibly get that changed?”
“I didn’t. I studied the laws of the ancients though, and you have to be brought before your accuser to stand trial. Since they subverted their usual courts, it was suggested to certain allies that the ancient courts would be more suited.”
“The ancients.”
“History says we all came from the same place once, Jensen. The Lymancers were the first to divide, using ancient magic to become one with nature. We were wolf and human combined, a way to keep the nastier parts of our humanity at bay while aligning ourselves with the world around us. We were the first, the oldest, but the others all sprang from humanity as well. It’s why we all flock to humans when we see them, why we listen to their stories and their music and still search for their home of old. This bond between you and I can happen because once we were all the same.”
He shuddered when he felt his knot deflating finally and he slid out of his lover’s body as he pulled him back into his arms, into his kiss.
“I love you Jared,” Jensen whispered against his lips.
“I love you, Mate.”
“And what will we do next?”
Jared smiled. “I think sleep is in order. We have a month before Captain Collins reaches his next destination and then I have us on another ship for a week. Parula.”
“Parula? The wilderness planet?”
Jared nodded. “I have people there. You do too now. When we get there, we’ll figure it all out. Until then though, we only have to worry about this; you and I.”
“A month of just this?”
Jared nodded and Jensen smiled. “I could get used to this Alpha.”
“You better believe it, Mate. Gonna take good care of you. Make you forget that prison and those bars and being separated from everything you love.”
“Jared?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up and kiss me already.”
Jared laughed. “Yes, Mr. President. If you don’t mind, I will.”