Chapter 49: You bit me!

Conrart squirmed trying to dislodge Daniel's wandering hands and wondered exactly how he'd gotten into this mess. A good deal, if not all of it was his damned fault and he wondered what the hell had possessed him. He was not even remotely interested in Daniel, and yet when the man had started flirting with him earlier – as was becoming habitual – he'd reacted oddly. He'd behaved rather ridiculously and he honestly couldn't help wondering exactly when he'd turned into a teenager. He knew better then to flirt with a man he wasn't interested in. He certainly knew better then to all but egg the other man on until he was literally in a dangerous situation.

Yet he couldn't seem to help himself.

He really should have known better, Daniel wasn't someone he regularly associated with, although the man had had training sessions with Kero after his own and had routinely put in his two coppers on Conrart's ability with a knife. He had a temper that was downright explosive. "Looks like someone's enjoying himself." Daniel cooed as he cupped Conrart somewhere his touch was extremely unwelcome.

"Stop," Conrart whimpered as the act reminded him distinctly of Gwilherm "Please."

Daniel laughed, his hand rubbing rough little circles on the inside of Conrart's thighs; before sliding his hand back up to his groin in a tantalizing caress. "Oh but you're so responsive," the man replied seductively. "You obviously want it."

"Please," Conrart whimpered though he honestly couldn't say if he was begging for the touching to stop or continue.

"Let's go back to my rooms," Daniel said in a seductive voice although there was something in his tone that suggested it was a command and not a suggestion. "I'll bend you over the couch and ride you nice and hard. You'd like that wouldn't you."

Conrart squirmed and tried to force himself to say no but the combination of his Heat and the command in Daniel's tone made it difficult. He whimpered as he felt his throat begin to move on its own, and then Van was there.

: Say NO chosen,: Vanyel's voice in his head was ten times more commanding then Daniel's.

"No, let go." He said with a firmness lent to him by Vanyel. Despite the strength he was drawing from his Companion, his voice still shook.

Daniel shifted Conrart slightly, glaring at him. "Is that anyway to talk to a captain of the palace guard, maybe you need to be punished?"

Conrart shuddered as he heard Gwilherm's voice asking a nearly identical question, any residual arousal from the man's touch and his Heat fled his body as he whimpered in fear. Abruptly Yozak's hand clamped down on his arm in a vice-like grip. Conrart couldn't help the pathetically remorseful little chirp that escaped his throat at the sound of Yozak's deep threatening growl. The other man glanced at him as he was rather forcibly extracted from Daniel's grasp. Yozak offered him a soft reassuring purr as he placed himself firmly between them.

"Go back to my quarters," Yozak said firmly giving him a gentle shove in the direction of the door before turning his attention back to Daniel with a menacing snarl. Any thoughts he'd had of defying that order vanished at the sound of that snarl, Yozak was likely about to go into pre-Rutt.

Thankfully he should be out of Heat by the time Yozak went into Rutt fully, still his life was about to become hell. He lowered his gaze in a tangible show of submission. "Yozak," he whispered softly. "Don't kill him."

Yozak's only response was to give him another gentle shove in the direction of the door. With a soft sigh he went. He was glad Yozak had rescued him from Daniel. Having the other man behave in such a manner only confirmed everything Gwilherm had ever told him. Still he didn't want Yozak to get into trouble protecting him. He didn't know how the crown would react to a Mazoku who was protecting his submissive mate.

People had died in such fights before.

He wanted …no needed Yozak's attention. It was imperative that he redirect Yozak's attention from Daniel to him. He didn't know why.

"Yozak," he whispered in a very small voice. "Take me home… please." He made a soft noise before cocking his head to the side and adding in an extremely small voice; "take me."

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Yozak froze in shock at the sound of Conrart's plea to be taken home. He'd never heard Conrart make that noise before. Abruptly he realized just what was going on. He turned his head and met Daniel's eyes. "Stay the hell away from Conrart." He snarled menacingly. That said he turned and walked across the room to Conrart's side. For a moment he simply stood there taking in the sight of Conrart. The other man was flushed and still making an incredibly soft mewling noise in the back of his throat. That little noise was in and of itself beyond arousing. Conrart's lips were ever so slightly parted as the man breathed in almost fevered little gasps.

Yozak shifted his position slightly, backing up so that the stood just behind and to Conrart's left, noting the fact that Conrart tracked him with his eyes as he went, the soft mewling getting progressively more plaintive. He stood there quietly examining his mate before responding with the soft not quite purring noise he made only for Conrart. The result was instantaneous; Conrart stopped looking like a kicked puppy, moving so that his back was pressed into Yozak's chest as his mewling took on an almost expectant tone.

The implications of Conrart's behavior hit him like a ton of bricks and he swallowed his own nervousness. "Come on," he said gently as he scooped the smaller man up into his arms "let's get you home and into bed."

"Bed?" Conrart enquired softly.

"Bed," Yozak confirmed easily, noting the fact that the way Conrart had shifted made him look downright enticing – like his body had been laid out for Yozak to plunder. He stepped firmly on that thought almost as soon as he had it.

Conrart mewed at him again, whispering "Please I need you," in their native tongue.

"You encouraged him didn't you?" he asked gently as they made their way back to his rooms.

Conrart stiffened his languor vanishing in a heartbeat as he admitted to the accusation in a small shamed tone of voice. Yozak nodded calmly, in some ways he'd expected that. He had a sneaking suspicion as to exactly what was wrong with Conrart, but he needed to ask his fiancé a few more questions before he could be sure. "Why did you?"

"I- I don't know." Conrart replied hesitantly. "I j-just had to."

Yozak sighed as he made his way into the Herald's wing of the palace and down the hall towards his own quarters. "Why?" he asked gently.

Conrart shrugged in his arms, "I- I just needed to know." He responded softly.

Yozak closed his eyes briefly before opening the door to his quarters. This already sounded like what he feared; if it was, Conrart had a very good reason for what he'd done -even if the man could not put it into words. Conrart would have been attempting to manipulate a certain result out of him with that stunt. If Conrart had instinctively been trying to manipulate him – then he could only hope the man had liked what he'd seen.

"Were you trying to make me jealous?" he enquired kicking his door shut behind him.

Conrart nodded as he sat him down on top of the bed.

Yozak rubbed his temples and sat down beside his fiancé. "To what end?" he asked gently. "Do you have any idea why you did what you did?"

Again Conrart shook his head.

"Did you want me to stop you?" Yozak enquired.

"Yes." Conrart whimpered softly.

Yozak inclined his head. "Did you like it when Daniel was touching you?" he asked carefully after a moment's consideration.

"No!"

Yozak blinked startled by how forcefully Conrart had responded to his question – despite the petulance in Conrart's tone. It was odd when most submissives pulled this stunt it was with another dominant who they were at least mildly interested in.

"Did you want me to stop him from touching you?"

"Yes," Conrart replied just as quickly and forcibly as before.

Yozak shifted, grabbing Conrart by the shoulders and pulled the other man down to the bed tucking him against his chest. "You redirected my attention back to you when I went to protect you?" he asked firmly. "Why?"

Conrart was quiet for a moment as he nuzzled into Yozak's chest, emitting a combination of soft chirps of distress and equally soft needy mews. "I just needed your attention." Conrart replied softly. "I needed you to leave Daniel and pay attention to me. I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. Please don't leave me. I'm sorry; let me make it up to you."

Yozak lay still as Conrart's hands slid sensually down his chest to his belt. He swallowed and let Conrart go for the ties holding his pants closed before reaching down and gently securing Conrart's hands, marveling at the fact that both of Conrart's dainty wrists fit in one of his hands. Carefully he pulled Conrart's hands up tucking them between their chests. He leaned in, gently kissing the top of Conrart's head. "We need to talk," he said softly.

Conrart struggled against him briefly tears welling up in his eyes "please," he whimpered chirping desperately at him.

Yozak closed his eyes. This was exactly what he'd feared. When two Dominant demons decided to commit to a long term relationship it was just that a decision made by the two. Between a Dominant and a Submissive however the procedure was a bit different. Firstly it was not a casual decision, it required at least three seasons together. The final decision was also made not by the Dominant as many people would expect but by the Submissive. A Dominant could plan to keep a Submissive all they liked but if that Submissive did not instinctively initiate the first stages of the Second Test on their own then there relationship was going nowhere. If the Dominant partner failed that crucial test – the Submissive in question would never allow themselves to be taken by that Dominant again.

They would simply leave.

He'd apparently passed, since Conrart was attempting to get into his pants. While that though made him very happy it also filled him with dread. Conrart still was not ready for sex, and the second test that he had to perform within the next 12 hours or sever the bond forming between them would sexualize Conrart in the extreme and was in fact meant to end with his seed in Conrart's womb*. In addition to that they'd only been a couple for two weeks which was nowhere near the three decades required. Had they still been in Shin Makoku Conrart would be going to see a healer before he even considered the Testing. Here however he doubted the healers would be able to do more than scratch their heads and possibly ask to 'keep him for observation.'

"That's enough," he said firmly as Conrart struggled to get his hands back down to Yozak's pants. "Conrart you know about the Second Test and when and why it's preformed right?" he asked gently.

Conrart froze. "Of course" he replied after a moment's silence. "Why?"

"Can you tell me how it starts, and why?" Yozak asked firmly.

Conrart shifted against him, his hands clenching in the fabric of Yozak's tunic. "Günter told me that the Submissive partner instinctively instigates it after three to five decades with a particular Dominant have passed, and only when the Submissive feels safe with that Dominant, and it's done so that the Dominant can prove himself to the Submissive since being in Heat makes them an easy target."

"How do they instigate the test?" Yozak enquired, gently stroking Conrart's hair as the smaller man began to settle.

"They provoke the dominant – according to Günter – starting initially by inviting the Dominant to m-mate and then deigning them. After that they – apparently invite another Dominant who's about as dominant if not a little bit more dominant then theirs to mate and then change their mind. Deliberately putting them into a situation their Dominant would have to rescue them from. Then they apparently try to turn their Dominant away from a fight- oh – oh no!"Conrart looked up at him brown eyes wide, "Please don't hurt me."

Yozak gently stroked Conrart's hair. "I won't hurt you," he promised gently. "I never could, but I do have to Test you."

Conrart nodded slowly, "D-do what you have to."

Yozak took a deep breath this test was designed to determine how much control he had over his lover, he needed to determine how easily Conrart's actions could be swayed while they were both in season so that he could set boundaries for himself that he could not cross when Conrart was in heat. He was lucky, he could monitor Conrart with his empathy, and mindspeech, and not just his eyes. "Could you take off your tunic?" he asked gently, reached out to his love with his gifts, linking their minds.

Conrart gave him a startled look but did not comply – thank the Great One.

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Yozak held Conrart gently in his arms as the other man cried, carefully wrapping a blanket around his hips to give him some measure of privacy. It took the better part of a candle mark for Conrart to calm and his breathing to ease.

"Yozak," he said softly once he'd caught his breath. "If you ever do that to me again, I'm going to kill you."

Yozak chuckled softly, "you have my permission to do so if I ever do that again." Conrart shifted slightly the action exposing the junction of his neck and right shoulder. Yozak leaned in and began to gently nuzzle and lick the exposed skin, purring softly. He lost himself completely as he did so only returning to himself briefly when Conrart cried out in pain as he bit down on the tender flesh. He wrapped his arms around Conrart's chest keeping him still until he went limp in his arms. Only then did he pull away. Conrart lay unconscious beside him as he began to lap gently at the blood on his lover's skin; he continued gently tending to the wound until unconsciousness claimed him as well about a minute later.

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Yozak yawned as he rejoined the land of the of the living, Conrart shifted closer to his chest jarring him back to wakefulness as the memories of what he'd just done came rushing back to him. He'd bitten Conrart! Bracing himself for what he was about to see he gently shifted Conrart to expose the smaller man's neck. When Mazoku Mated the dominant partner marked the less dominant partner, but the bond that formed between the two took decades to form. By biting Conrart he'd been essentially asking Conrart to be his Mate. If Conrart accepted his offer on a purely instinctive level (which required his total trust) then the bite mark would heal over in less than an hour forming a thin silver scar. If Conrart didn't accept then the bite would simply scab over and heal naturally without marring the skin.

Still at this point in their relationship he had no business biting Conrart like that. He took a deep breath, examined the damage he'd done to his best friend's neck, and froze in shock at the sight of the thin silver oval that graced Conrart's creamy skin.

His mark, Conrart bore his mark

That shouldn't be possible.

But the proof of the fact that Conrart was his had been permanently etched into Conrart's skin. He leaned in and instinctively began to nuzzle the spot where his mark lay. Conrart moaned and cuddled closer to Yozak's chest, looking completely relaxed for the first time since he'd come home from circuit. It made sense; instinctively Conrart didn't have anything to worry about any more while he was in season. Yozak smiled to himself as he gazed down at the smaller man marveling briefly at how dainty he was. In some ways it was odd, he'd loved and lusted after the man in his arms for almost as long as he could remember, but Conrart was not really his type. While it was true he had a thing for brunets – he liked his women dainty and effeminate and his men …well he enjoyed the tussle that inevitably came with bedding another dominant male. Yet it was dainty and eloquently fine boned Conrart who'd had his heart for decades and now bore his mark as a sign of the mate bond that now permanently tied them together.

Though he didn't know how it had happened he was glad it had – maybe it had to do with their lifebond. He shifted Conrart closer, all but wrapping himself around his Mate and he nuzzled and lapped at the mark that had formed on the other man's shoulder. The action was instinctive – that particular spot had now become rather important. His touch there would arouse or calm Conrart depending on the situation. In addition to doing something else that he doubted they would ever need, seeing how timid Conrart was about sexual situations and knowing the strict moral code that governed the man's actions, he couldn't imagine him ever straying. If he started to however it would become irritated.

Conrart uttered a small moan as he began to wake; abruptly he stiffened and forcibly knocked Yozak off of him with a rather painful blow of his elbow; before he scrambling away.

Yozak growled in annoyance moving closer to Conrart intent on pulling the smaller man back into his arms. He froze in shock when Conrart backed up hissing at him, brown eyes a blaze with anger and confusion. "Conrart?" he asked gently.

"You bit me!"

Yozak rubbed the back of his neck. "Yah I did." he replied watching in mild amusement as Conrart clamped a hand to his neck as if to stanch the flow of blood. He pulled his hand away from his neck and inspected the wetness on his hand, a look of mild distaste flashing across his face. He moved to the mirror and investigated the lack of blood with a curious expression. Yozak smiled and moved slowly up behind him. Gently he took Conrart into his arms and lightly mouthed the mark on his neck marveling at how quickly Conrart calmed. "You're mine." he said firmly. Yozak slid one hand gently down Conrart's shoulder, took his hand and led him back to bed.

The smaller man went willingly, with only the smallest amount of resistance when he actually laid him back down. Yozak purred quietly at the smaller man marveling at how well Conrart fit into his arms. Not that he hadn't cradled Conrart in his arms a million times over- still this was the first time he'd held his Mate to his chest.

Conrart moaned and mewed writhing beneath him in time with his gentle licks to the mate mark. Like so many of their rituals regarding mating this one was also supposed to end in sex and frankly his control was wearing rather thin after the last two weeks. He'd have to be careful not to take things too far.

"Tell me when you want to stop." Yozak said firmly as he continued his gentle stimulation, sliding a hand down Conrart's side to his hip and forward to gently but firmly caress the erogenous zone that existed between the navel and groin timing his caresses so that they matched his gentle stimulation of Conrart's mate mark. Conrart squirmed as he found the spot he was looking for. He applied a gentle pressure nuzzling and licking the mark until Conrart squirmed, moaning and mewling while he writhed against his chest calling in abandon.

After a few minutes, Conrart shifted against him. "Yozak?" he whispered. "Can we stop?"

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Conrart stood quietly in Vanyel's stall carefully brushing out the stallion's coat. He'd thrown on his clothing after Yozak had stopped nuzzling his neck and fled alarmed by the reactions of his own body. He'd been in such a hurry to clear his head that he'd completely forgotten to grab his cloak or put on his shoes.

The end result was that he was standing in the deep straw of Van's stall attempting to brush the stallion to within an inch of his life.

He was currently very confused.

Things were standing at attention – things that always seemed to stiffen when Yozak touched him but now… now it was just painful.

Vanyel sighed. : You need to talk to your lifebonded about that Chosen, also you might not want to run away next time. And Chosen, you might want to ask Yozak about the birds and the bees.:

Conrart froze in shock. "I do not need the talk!" he yelped as soon as he was able to, blushing hotly when the sound of several Companions whickering in amusement met his ears. "Hearing it once from Gwilherm was enough thank you." He hissed.

Vanyel laid his ears back. : Chosen, after everything that man did, can you honestly say you trust him to teach you about the things people do to each other in bed?:

: I – I don't… honestly I don't know Van. He was supposed to teach me – why would he alter what he was supposed to teach me?:

Vanyel stomped one silver hoof. : I don't think he taught you the truth Chosen, I can teach you if you would prefer but you should talk to Yozak.:

:it was embarrassing and painful enough having a healer teach me about sex, I'd rather not have similar lessons taught to me by a Horse – even if he is a Companion - or by Yozak.: Conrart replied with an almost violent shudder and some of what and how he was taught bled through his shields to Vanyel before he regained control.

Van pinned his ears back in alarm before turning his head and nuzzling Conrart as the young man leaned into his shoulder :Gwilherm is sick Chosen, You did nothing wrong and as for his lessons, he should never have taught you that way.: the stallion's mindvoice was tinted an almost puce color and vibrated with barely suppressed rage.

Conrart pressed his cheek into Vanyel's soft fur, drawing comfort from the stallion's presence. "Why did he bite me?" he asked softly.

Vanyel didn't answer right away but when he did his mindvoice was soft and gentle with concern. :According to Jissa, it's nothing bad. In fact it's something you had to agree to, apparently the mark wouldn't be silver if you didn't agree – so you must have agreed if only on a subconscious level. Jissa says it's a natural part of your life cycle and it seems depicts a rather permanent change in the status of your relationship. You need to speak with him Chosen, he needs to know you don't understand.:

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A.N. for those of you who are alarmed at this point don't be, these tests are designed so that Yozak learns the boundaries and doesn't cross them. Also things wouldn't normally be this bad but there are outside circumstances that I will not reveal until later in the fic.