There was no time to even register what had just happened before Val had set him on his feet again and was dragging him by his arm. They slammed out of a door that led to the hospital’s parking garage. The Escalade they’d arrived in was idling nearby with Emil behind the wheel and Harry sitting in the passenger’s seat. Val opened the back door and shoved Mackie in.
A second later, Emil hit the gas, although he went slowly around the garage’s lanes. Val didn’t have to tell Mackie to get down on the floor. That had already been part of the plan. On the assumption that the cop at the door would have alerted others to look for a redheaded boy, Mackie had to become invisible until they left the hospital’s grounds.
He tucked himself into the footwell and tried to make himself as small as possible. He struggled not to freak out when Val settled a heavy blanket over him. A knee got shoved past the edge of it. Mackie would have recognized Val’s Tom Ford jeans even if he hadn’t known the guy was right next to him. He pressed his cheek against the hard cap of bone and immediately felt better.
If there was any trouble getting out, he wasn’t aware of it. His entire focus had been on the simple contact with Val, his Dom, as far as he was concerned. That was the great attraction to the BDSM lifestyle for him. It gave him a safe zone to retreat into. It was a concept that he hadn’t known existed, hadn’t dared dream about, until Val had shown him the way. The irony of a scary alien giving him a sense of safety for the first time in his life wasn’t lost on him. Oh, if his shitty family could only see him now! What would they think?
He didn’t care, not anymore. That was another thing Val had done for him. He’d finally been able to let go of the anger and resentment and fear his supposed family had infused in him from toddlerhood.
It was almost disappointing when Val pulled the blanket back and helped Mackie sit up on the seat. The man gave him an approving nod. “You did great.” The simple praise warmed Mackie. He liked pleasing this man, even when he was mad at him, which he still was on some level.
Harry craned his neck around. “Yes, indeed. I have what will hopefully give us some answers, and if we’re really lucky, a way to counteract the drug.” Turning back to stare out of the windshield, the older man shook his head. “That poor boy in the hospital is out of his mind, even unconscious. He’s thrashing and moaning terribly. They have him in restraints.”
“You’ll figure out what to do about it,” Emil said with his characteristically optimistic attitude.
“One can only hope,” Val said. “Put on your seatbelt, Mackie,” he added.
Before Mackie could comply with the order, Val reached across his body and did it for him. The way his arm brushed against Mackie’s exposed stomach made him shiver. “Thank you, Sir.” He couldn’t hold back a grin.
* * * *
Hours later, Mackie’s nerves hadn’t settled from the exhilarating high of his cloak-and-dagger mission, as well as the taste Val had given of what it meant to be one of his kind. Restless, he went to the playroom where he’d spent so much time with his Dom. He could have worked out at the in-house gym. Val hadn’t destroyed the entire room, after all, only one corner of it. But it wasn’t exercise he needed. He recognized his feelings as being a jumpiness that required the type of attention only a Dom could give, not that he had any expectations about that. Val had kept his distance since they’d come back to the club, meeting behind closed doors with Alex and the other family members.
He closed himself inside the playroom and took a deep breath. The smell of leather from the equipment was enough to settle a small part of his tension. He roamed around, running his fingertips along the various pieces, soaking in the sensations of smooth wood, soft suede and cool cowhide. There was nothing in the room that he didn’t like, it having been populated with items by Val that he and Mackie both enjoyed. From the beginning, Val had let Mackie lead the way, never pressuring him into anything he couldn’t handle. No one had ever given Mackie that much power or consideration before.
There was the revolving wheel against the far wall that allowed Val to keep Mackie upside down and disoriented, especially when he was hooded, as well. The punishment chair sat in one corner with the built-in dildo that would stretch Mackie’s hole almost as wide as Val’s huge dick did. With a cock cage keeping Mackie’s own dick in check, that was always a particularly hard place for Mackie to stay while ‘he considered how much of a bad boy he’d been’ in Val’s estimation.
The mere thought of it caused Mackie to harden in his yoga pants. He couldn’t resist pressing the heel of his palm against the shaft for a brief second. He resisted the temptation to relieve himself in any other way. Although they weren’t officially back together, Mackie considered his body to belong to Val. That meant no coming without permission. Even during his recovery, some part of him had thought that way. How else could he explain why he hadn’t jerked off? Broken arm or not, he was a young guy with a healthy libido. He woke up every morning with an erection, but he hadn’t touched himself, regardless. Handing your orgasms over to someone else made them that much more amazing when you did have them.
Like last night. His attempt to seduce Val had worked. The spanking and the climax had allowed Mackie to sleep, at least for a little while, more peacefully that he had in months. But he hadn’t been able to get more rest when they’d returned from the hospital. All he’d managed was to toss and turn until he’d finally gotten back up. Here he was, wandering around his favorite place in the world, feeling lost again and lonely—and horny.
He ran his fingers through the strands of his favorite flogger and sighed wistfully. Another circuit of the room had him edging closer to the spanking bench. Of all the equipment and instruments in the room, this was his favorite. He especially loved it when Val laid his bare hand across his upturned ass. The cool touch warming his flesh in a steady rhythm that sent him flying through subspace was the ultimate high.
I miss this. I need this!
Mackie indulged himself by climbing onto the bench and settling down into position. With another sigh, he rested his face against the worn leather and closed his eyes. He slipped his hand through the cuffs and pretended that they were tight and he couldn’t remove them. If he tried, he might actually fall asleep in this position.
“Such a pretty picture.”
Mackie’s eyes flew open and his heartbeat sped up. He hadn’t heard Val come in. Then again, these aliens could move as quietly as they did quickly.
“I didn’t give you permission to get up there, however. Get off.”
The whip-crack order had Mackie jumping to obey. He stood staring at Val with a renewed hope. The man’s expression remained cool and detached, of course. Val was the consummate Dom, always in control.
He stared down his nose at Mackie with that stern look that made Mackie’s guts loose and his dick hard. “On your knees, boy.”
Mackie dropped before the last word had passed Val’s lips. He knelt with his hands clasped behind his back, his back straight and his head bowed. Blood pounded in his ears and his breath quickened.
Val began to circle him. “Sloppy. You know better than this.” Using his foot, he nudged Mackie’s legs wider apart.
Mackie hid a smile. He’d deliberately held his pose badly for correction. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m out of practice.”
“Your opinion wasn’t requested.” Val punctuated his admonishment with a flick of his finger against one of Mackie’s ears. The sting wiped the smile off his face. It also goosed his dick.
“You obviously can’t be trusted to take care of yourself. You are supposed to be sleeping. Why aren’t you in bed?”
“I was restless, sir. The trip to the hospital wound me up.” The truth was always useful when it could lead to what one wanted.
Val was quiet for a few seconds, circling Mackie once more. “I can fix that problem. On your feet.” Once Mackie was vertical, Val issued his next order. “Strip.”
Mackie tore off his sneakers and socks, T-shirt and yoga p
ants. He wasn’t wearing anything else, so he stood naked within seconds. He’d deliberately dropped everything on the floor instead of folding his clothes and putting them on the nearby chair as he knew Val expected, the way he’d trained Mackie to do.
“Very sloppy boy,” Val admonished in a harsh tone that caused Mackie to stiffen to full mast. “You know better than that.”
Val punctuated his critique by grabbing Mackie by the waist and bending him over with a speed that made him dizzy. A few hard slaps administered to Mackie’s ass highlighted the critique more severely before Mackie was once again vertical. His dick stood out from his crotch, bobbing with his abrupt movement.
“Do it right.” Val’s order was issued in his typical modulated tone. It was nevertheless a forceful command.
Mackie slowly obeyed, taking his time, picking up each article of clothing and painstakingly folding it. He placed each one carefully on the chair. He sauntered back and forth, giving Val a good show. Mackie knew how sexy he was. God knew he’d worked to hone his body, making himself attractive to the men who frequented the club. It took hours of hard work keeping his ass high and tight. It was his best feature. Val had certainly loved beating and plowing it in the past.
When he was finished, he shot Val an insolent look. “Is that what you wanted, Sir?”
Val regarded him with hooded eyes. “Back on the bench, brat.”
Mackie was careful to hide his glee as he did as he’d been told. Once again, he placed himself into position. This time, however, Val buckled both Mackie’s wrists and his ankles into the attached cuffs so that he truly couldn’t move. The restraint caused the tension within him to start to drain.
“And, I don’t like this.” Val reached under Mackie and squeezed his cock. “You’re getting ahead of yourself, as usual, boy.”
“Sorry, sir.” Not sorry. “Being near you makes me hard, Sir.”
The wallop Val delivered made Mackie yelp and jerk. “You’re still mouthy, too, I see. Keep your bratty lips shut unless I demand words from you.”
Val moved away. Mackie could hear him but had no idea what he was doing. The anticipation of the unknown was arousing in itself. He shifted slightly, testing the strength of his bonds. He was tightly trapped, as he knew he would be. Val didn’t make mistakes.
“This ought to do the trick.” That was all the warning Val gave him before pressing an ice cube against Mackie’s shaft.
The cold had him sucking in a ragged breath before shrieking in outrage. In the next instant, Val trapped the withering dick in a plastic cock cage. The familiar hard and smooth device settled Mackie down again. He hated the thing—and loved it.
“You’ve had enough of climaxing for the moment. I’ll let you have another at some point, so long as you behave yourself. You have to earn your release.”
Mackie opened his mouth to agree, before remembering that he wasn’t supposed to speak.
Val patted his butt. “So, you have retained some of your training. Good boy.”
Mackie melted from the praise. He kept his ears open for signs of what Val intended to do next but otherwise stayed loose and as relaxed as he could. Something was going to start hitting his ass, and it really didn’t matter what. It was all good, all pleasurable, and he desperately needed it.
Softness brushed across his ass. A flogger, his favorite instrument for a beating. That made everything better, and Val had known it would. The man was more inside Mackie’s head than Mackie was himself.
The discipline started off slowly and gently, every pass of the suede strands more a caress than a punishment. It lulled Mackie into a sleepy complacency he knew wouldn’t last—and it didn’t. Landing on one cheek, then the other, the strokes picked up speed. They became hits and the impact grew in intensity.
It didn’t matter. The rhythm was the thing. The way Val wove the flogger in a figure eight soon left Mackie panting without more than a second of relief. Mackie knew better than to fight the assault. Instead, he embraced it, allowing the flogging to send him once more into the blessed pleasure of subspace.
Soon, he flew, absorbing a high that sent him spiraling up more than the adrenaline-rushed experience at the hospital. Endorphins made him soar, chasing away the negative effects of stress and worry. He was safe. He was free. He was Val’s.
The bloom of red spread across the taut globes of Mackie’s ass. The boy was already lost to subspace, in total thrall to Val’s beating. Val was, as well, truth be told. He’d been surprised to learn years ago that being a Dom relieved him of the stress of his own existence on Earth. It was so unlike the boredom of daily life or the terror of the battlefield. It allowed him to expend nervous energy without losing his natural duty to protect. It was perfect in its own little way.
Mackie is perfect.
He turned away from that thought. Nothing had changed since that night when Alex had defeated Adrian and Mackie had been badly injured and almost killed, really. It was still unacceptable that Val give his heart to another human. That way led to madness, something that afflicted humans and not normally his species. After so many centuries on this planet, Val feared he was becoming more human himself.
Picking up speed, he tried to focus on the task and not his wayward thoughts and feelings. He ignored the rigid cock encased in its cage mashed against his jeans and refused to allow himself to zero in on the pulsing beats of Mackie’s pressure points. The one in the boy’s groin had always been Val’s go-to place to drink freely. It had kept his fangs away from Mackie’s prying eyes and allowed Val to feast on the succulent blood in peace.
Even now, if he inhaled deeply, he could smell the boy’s unique scent. It took nothing to recall the sweet taste of Mackie’s blood, to remember the way it flowed down Val’s throat. His stomach rumbled at the memory, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since the night before. He was hungry and not for any of Emil’s excellent food. He knew that all he had to do was drop the flogger, kneel and latch on to Mackie’s inner thigh.
The boy wouldn’t mind. He knew that. Mackie had made it quite clear that he wanted Val back as his full-time Dom—and that was despite knowing Val’s true nature. It didn’t have to mean anything. A little drink and he could let the boy rest. Val’s fangs descended and his breath quickened. His head nodded down and forward without his consent. Jerking it back, he delivered a vicious blow against Mackie’s ass. The boy gasped and raised his head.
Dropping the flogger, Val rushed forward and put his hand on the back of Mackie’s neck. “Easy.” He struggled to regain control of himself, forcing his fangs back and his breathing to slow.
He touched sweat and, with a frown, felt Mackie’s palms. Damn, he’d pushed the boy too far. Subs couldn’t be trusted to put on the brakes once they were deep in subspace. It was Val’s job to know when the boy had had enough.
“Good boy. You did well.” The praise mattered. It was what a sub needed to hear from his Dom. Nothing personal in it.
Scooping the flogger up from the floor, he returned it to its place among the instruments of play. He grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge, a cloth and, at the last moment, a butt plug and lube. He put everything but the water on the bench next to Mackie.
“Drink.” He held the now-open bottle to Mackie’s lips and helped him lift his head to take a few sips. “That’s it,” he encouraged, before taking it away. “More later.”
He used the cloth to wipe the boy down, removing sweat so that Mackie wouldn’t get chilled. When he was satisfied that enough had been done, he tossed that and picked up the plug and the lube. He slathered the one on the other before positioning himself behind Mackie. He laid his free hand on the small of the boy’s back.
“One more thing to remind you of your place, boy.”
He positioned the end of the plug against Mackie’s hole. Val’s dick pulsed with need. The temptation to free it and slide it instead of the plug into Mackie’s tight heat was almost something Val couldn’t resist. But if he fucked the human now, he feared
there would be no going back. Mackie would certainly see it as confirmation that they were a couple again. Val didn’t want to hurt the boy’s feelings any more than he already had. Plus, he didn’t trust his own discipline to back off again.
Hardening his resolve, he shoved the plug in with a long, fast stroke that spread the boy’s puckered ring obscenely until the wide part disappeared entirely inside. Mackie bucked against the invasion and gasped. Val held the plug in place and ran circles around his back with slow strokes of his palm.
“Steady. Deep breaths. It’s been a while, but I know you can take it.” He held it in place until he felt Mackie relax again. “That’s it. You know to keep it in until I say otherwise, yes?”
Mackie nodded slowly. “Yes, Sir.”
He patted his back. “Good boy.”
With hands less steady than he would have liked, Val unbuckled the cuffs and picked Mackie up off the bench. The human curled around him in a gesture of utter trust. Mackie’s strength never ceased to amaze Val. He was so young, even by human standards, and had weathered a hard life. And yet he was capable of trying something like this lifestyle that would frighten many people. He also was able to believe in Val, despite so many other people having hurt Mackie—people that Val would gladly hunt down and punish in ways that wouldn’t bring any kind of pleasure. That wasn’t anything to do with sentiment, either. It was justice. That was all.
Val set Mackie on the couch as he always did. He wrapped him in a large fleece blanket kept in the room for the purpose of warming a sub coming down from subspace. He settled himself at the end, cradling the boy’s head in his lap. He carded a few wet strands of hair that had flopped over one of Mackie’s eyes.
Mackie wiggled back, which had the effect of rubbing the back of his head against Val’s hard dick. A hiss escaped Val before he could shift away. But Mackie, the little brat, hadn’t been beaten completely into submission, apparently. He moved with Val to maintain the contact, proof that it had been no accident.
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