281The Boy Bride – Chapter Twelve – Surrogate - R (sex/violence)
The servant's slippered feet emitted slight whispers as he slid across the polished mahogany boards of the temple towards his master. Silver strands of hair glinted in the dusty dimness and the servant froze, swallowing nervously. He clutched the papers he held in his hands carefully and bowed deeply, offering them to the powerful man seated on the floor in the darkness.
"The schedules you asked for, Ueshiro-sama." He whispered nervously as the papers were snatched from his hands abruptly.
The young lord of the Shimada clan did not reply, and the servant darted his eyes upwards for a second towards his master. Ueshiro seemed to be staring at nothing - his handsome face was marred by the bruising around his nose from the day before but still carried a haughty air, and his eyes were deadly cold as they stared out over the still and empty courtyard below.
"Will that be all, my lord?" The servant dared to ask, palms sweaty, dark hair pulled back from his young face. Ueshiro did not respond, but his face slowly took on a cruel expression and his hands where they rested on his knees began to pull at his legs as though his fingers had turned into claws. Wherever his thoughts were, they had turned sour. The servant gulped and began to quietly back away – his master was in one of his moods – it was never good to be around at those times.
He was too slow.
With a swift movement and a sharp cry of frustration Ueshiro was on his feet and pacing around the floor before he came to a sudden stillness, his hands resting on the servant's shoulders heavily. His eyes were unfocused, as though he didn't really see the young man standing in front of him, and his lips appeared to be moving, speaking to himself.
Shaking, the servant tried to wrest away from his lord's grasp but Ueshiro's hands reflexively slid to curl around his neck, not squeezing – yet - but threatening to choke him if he moved. For the first time Ueshiro's dark eyes shot to the man's face and he grinned a cruel smile.
"They thought they could get the best of me." He chuckled in a low voice, staring into the man's eyes but not truly seeing him.
Ueshiro shook with mirth then, even as rage flowed through him like a glacial river. His fingers ran over the servant's chest absentmindedly as he talked to himself - stroking the edge of the young man's kimono, slipping his fingers inside. The servant cried out but Ueshiro was beyond hearing….
Those stupid Takahashi's, trying to evade the traps he had so carefully set for them. He had to give it to them - finding a foreign bride for Takeo was a stroke of genius. Ueshiro had been carefully and secretly grooming a number of potential spouses for Takeo's selection, all without the Takahashi's ever knowing he was behind it of course. There were only so many potential matches in Japan of suitable rank and status. Ueshiro's boys accounted for well over 50% of the candidates, but now those months of preparation were gone to waste. Without much more than a tentative nibble at the bait his rival had turned up his nose at Ueshiro and the other boys he had placed carefully in Takeo's way. And after the unfortunate events of their previous engagement there was no chance of Ueshiro being asked back for a second chance. He made a fist and growled at his prey slipping through his fingers once more. The Takahashi title and estate was one of the finest jewels of Japan. It didn't hurt that their current lord had seduced him more completely than Ueshiro had ever thought possible. It only fueled his lust for power and for Takeo to be completely his.
He would get what he wanted. Of course he would, Ueshiro snarled. Takeo was still vulnerable; it just meant that more… diplomatic ways of getting to him were now closed. If the Takahashi's wanted to play dirty, he would play dirty. He hummed a slight tune and closed his eyes, imagining all the ways in which he planned to make Takeo Takahashi succumb to his will. He imagined running his hands through Takeo's hair, those beautiful black strands that slipped so easily through his fingers. He groaned at the thought of the smell of him, the taste of his skin. He had only had one opportunity to feel the softness of that boy's skin, but the memory haunted him still. Just the thought of Takeo underneath him, his cries ringing out from Ueshiro's bedchamber… Ueshiro groaned and ground his body into the soft skin beneath his hands, pulling the fabric away from that tender body and slamming it onto the floor…
Takeo was panting underneath him, his dark eyes pleading for Ueshiro's attention and mercy. The Shimada lord flashed a smile, white and wolfish in the darkness as he bent his head to Takeo's throat, sliding the rest of his robes to the floor and hearing Takeo's murmur of appreciation. And what was this? Takeo was sighing his name! Begging for Ueshiro to cover him, for their bodies to finish that dance they had started so long ago but never consummated fully.
Ueshiro felt the tightness in his belly and closed his eyes at the sight of Takeo's naked body, afraid of losing himself too soon to the heat he saw in Takeo's eyes staring up at him.
"We don't want this to go too fast, my precious one." He groaned huskily into the Takahashi's ear. It seemed to him that Takeo was already giving in to the throes of passion, his head thrown back and he squirmed under Ueshiro's weight. What a tease, Ueshiro thought, a rush of pleasure flooding through him as he prepared to make Takeo his very own, once and for all. Moaning, he slid their bodies together, thrusting down into that sweet wetness that had been denied him for so long. Takeo was screaming his name now.
"Yes, my love." Ueshiro grunted, his body singing for sweet release. "We are together at last!" He sighed, curling his fingers once more around Takeo's slender neck.
"You are mine now... You tried to escape me... but I caught you... and now you will never leave." He breathed the words into the boy's ear with the rhythm of their bodies and clutched him tighter, feeling the clenching in his abdomen with each rocking motion. How long had he waited for this? It seemed like years had past since the events of the day before. Reality slid away from him like a receding tide. He had planned to ignore Takeo's betrayal for now and not ruin this moment together – this moment he had waited so long for - but…. He scowled as he remembered what the Takahashi had done – how he had fought him and broken his nose. Surely Takeo deserved some punishment for his insolence, "Don't you?" Ueshiro hissed to the boy underneath him.
"You tried to leave me. You should have known better Takeo-kun." His hands closed tighter even as his body began to jerk erratically, slamming into his rival's body. Takeo's back was arched in ecstasy and it seemed to Ueshiro that he was shuddering with pleasure, his hands hitting Ueshiro's shoulders and raking his back. Ueshiro grinned at how much Takeo was enjoying this. He groaned – it did feel really good. Just the way he had always imagined it would. The handsome falcon of the Takahashi's was now in Ueshiro's cage, to do with as he pleased. Oh the fun they would have together! Just a little bit longer… and then there was the rest of eternity to spend together.
"Together, my love, don't go without me." Ueshiro grunted as Takeo's body thrashed beneath him. He was moving too fast, he needed to pull him back and slow him down before he lost all control! Ueshiro's fingers met each other around Takeo's neck as the younger boy's body squeezed around him.
"Aiiiiii-" Ueshiro hissed, his body bucking against Takeo's, which had gone strangely still. Shuddering, he finished, pressing his forehead against Takeo's rapidly cooling skin and pulling away from that slender body. It seemed oddly quiet and as the quiet chanting of the priests began to throb from the main temple next door Ueshiro blinked his eyes open, surprised to find himself still in his family's temple and not his bedchamber. His heart rate slowed and he stared around as he came back to himself. The world seemed to be spinning around him and as the adrenaline left his system he felt a growing uneasiness rise up in the back of his mind. Why was he not where he thought he had been?
What had he been doing?
Closing his eyes at the growing panic, Ueshiro tried to pull his thoughts together – it felt as though he had been in a dream… He had been sitting, thinking of how much he wanted to hurt Takeo – How seeing the way he had been looking at that foreigner boy had set a fire in his stomach and turned his insides to ash. He had requested information from his contacts buried in the Takahashi clan, and they were sending him the schedule for Takeo's upcoming week… Those schedules were now scattered across the floor. He nudged the papers with his foot in confusion. When had they arrived here? It must have been while he was enjoying Takeo… while Takeo and he….
There was no Takeo. Takeo was on his estate miles away and there was only a dim and disheveled shape in the gathering dusk that Ueshiro was carefully avoiding thinking about. But there was no escaping it. Its sightless gaze seemed to follow him around the room and finally he sighed and turned to the body.
The servant's eyes condemned Ueshiro for not realizing what Takeo was doing to him. Takeo had bewitched him, Ueshiro thought coldly as he covered the young man's body with a blanket and summoned other servants to come take it away. They would know what to do with it – accidents like these happened with astonishing frequency in the Shimada household.
Takeo would pay for messing with his head, Ueshiro swore. He would make him regret the way he'd rejected him, and he would have that red-headed boy toy as well while he was at it. They would both learn not to cross the Shimada clan and its leader.
With a disturbingly calm expression, Ueshiro gathered the papers scattered across the floor of his family's temple and retired to his study to look over them more carefully. There were always vulnerabilities – guards could be bribed and even the best security plans had flaws. Sooner or later, Takeo or his bride would make a mistake and Ueshiro would be there to strike when they did. It was only a matter of waiting.
End of Chapter Twelve
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