by Sean Michael
He refrained from rubbing his hands together. It wouldn’t do for H to become suspicious regarding his motives. “Well? Is it a bet, or are you scared after all?”
“Scared? Of you? Nonsense.” Horatio’s nostrils flared, and that buzz of desire that purred between them flared again.
“Then it’s a bet.” He finished dealing the hand and picked up his cards. He had a good hand. Of course, he did; he was cheating, after all. He wasn’t taking any chances on this one. He’d dealt H a good hand as well. Not as good as his, of course, but good enough that Horatio would be confident, would be willing to turn himself over for more than a day.
“Have you been treating Kerr well? Is he settling at your household?” H asked.
The questions surprised him -- he hadn’t thought H was particularly interested in his pleasure demon, although perhaps he was missing Kerr in his capacity as caretaker of H’s household.
“My chief demon of the harem has been speaking highly of him. And he has a pet of his own now. I believe he’s very happy here.” He shot H a look. “I treat my boys well.” And there was one boy in particular he was going to use very, very well.
“Kerr was not maltreated in my house, Bel.”
He begged to differ. It was a crime to have a submissive that you didn’t care for, abuse as he needed. He was sure Kerr had had everything he wanted, and nothing that he truly needed. Bel didn’t bother to say it, though. He wanted H malleable, not in the middle of an argument with him.
“How many cards?” he asked, ready to deal from the bottom of the deck.
“Two.”
He knew exactly how many cards H needed, and he fed him the ones that would encourage H to raise his bet.
He took two cards himself. H couldn’t think he had a fantastic hand. He let one corner of his mouth frown, then straightened his expression. “What’s your bet? We can go up in increments of days, or even weeks.”
Months, lifetimes…
“You honestly want to submit to me for days?”
“Are your cards that bad?” Bel asked. “Because I’m willing to submit to you for as long as the bet rises to if you win.” Bel didn’t even feel bad for cheating. H needed to be made to submit. It was the only way he was going to be happy. It was the only way both of them were going to be happy.
It was their destiny. Somewhere, someone had made a fatal mistake in judgment. And it hadn’t been caught. Horatio himself hadn’t even questioned it. Had he? Was there a time when he’d realized it wasn’t the right thing for him?
Bel didn’t know, and it didn’t matter now. What mattered was getting them to where they needed to be. “So? What’s your bet already?”
“Let’s go for a week, if you’re feeling willing and able.”
“I am very willing and able. And I’ll see your week and raise you another week.” That allowed him to appear as if he had a decent hand -- why would he make the bet if he didn’t? -- and increase the time in one fell swoop. Would Horatio call or increase the bet? They had another round of cards to choose, so the bet would be increasing whether Horatio did so now or not.
“Another? What about work? I have my position to deal with.”
“We’ll worry about that when we come to it.” The fact was, he’d purchased the company Horatio was a vice president for, and H’s position had been terminated as of yesterday.
Everything was set. Everything. All he needed to do was convince H to bet more and more, and they’d have their loophole. Once he’d proven H’s true nature, everything would be set.
“Are you calling or what?” Bel asked.
“I… A month or three million dollars.”
“I’ll call you on that.” He grabbed the pack of cards, ready to go in for the kill. He wanted at least a year. Though, honestly, he was pretty sure a month was more than long enough to prove to the powers that be that his Horatio was a sub. His sub. “How many?”
“Just one.” Horatio had a fairly good poker face.
Bel handed the card over, dealing Horatio his full house, aces over jacks. It was a great hand, not the four twos he’d dealt himself, but a hand that would normally be a winner.
“I’ll take two again.” He did, giving himself the other ace and the final two he needed. He faked his tell again, making it look like he was inadvertently giving away that he didn’t have as good a hand as he’d like. Then he looked up expectantly, waiting for H’s bet.
“I… Five million.”
He shook his head. He didn’t want H’s money, not a single cent of it. “We’re not betting for money, remember? Let’s go six months. I think that’s an appropriate exchange for five million, don’t you?”
“Six months of submission?”
“Totally. No holds barred.”
Horatio’s eyes went wide. Bel stared at H, refusing to back down. He was going to be the master here. There was no room for backing down.
Come on, Horatio. You know deep down you want it. Besides, you’ve got a winning hand, don’t you?
“That’s insane, Bel.”
“Ah, so you are scared.” He put down his cards and grabbed Horatio’s hand, squeezed gently. “I understand. I think it’s the best excitement we’ve had in I don’t know how long, but…” He let the words trail away.
“Five million dollars or six months.”
“No cash. What do we need more money for? I’ll take the six months, though, and raise you. One year. And if you’re calling, show me your cards.”
Come on, Horatio. Do it.
Bel realized he was hard -- hard as stone. This round of cards was fucking exciting, and he even knew who was going to win. It wasn’t chance that had him turned on. It was Horatio and the possibilities that arose from the bet itself.
“Bel, you can’t be serious. You can’t walk away from your position for a year…”
And that was how he knew, how he knew that Horatio wasn’t meant to be a dominant demon. That H was genuinely worried for him.
“I am serious. I have more money than God. No, not God. I have more money than Satan himself. I can walk away if I have to.” He was planning to anyway. He’d been grooming an assistant. Someone who could run things while he spent his time with his newest and best boy -- Horatio. “Just call my bluff already and show me your cards.”
“I have a full house.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I have four of a kind.” He put his twos down on the table, excitement moving through him.
Horatio’s eyes went wide. “Bullshit.”
“It’s there, right in front of your eyes. Don’t tell me you’re trying to welch out of the bet. I can tell you right now that it’s not going to work. You’re mine for the next year.”
“Double or nothing. For ten million.”
“I don’t want your money, Horatio. But I’ll play if we make it two years…” He tilted his head. “Or five years.”
“I don’t have twenty-five…”
“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want your money? I won’t play you for it. Only for more time.” Five years. Five years before he had to actually prove his theory. Five years to make H his, completely. “Well? High card draw.” He shuffled the deck in anticipation.
“High card…” Horatio’s face was pale as ash. “I deal.”
He nodded, his magic strong enough to make sure he won. “As you wish.”
“I don’t want your submission, Bel, but I’ll take your money.”
“My money for your submission.” He nodded slowly. He’d pay anything to have Horatio be his. “That works for me.”
“Okay. Okay. Give me the cards.”
He murmured an incantation, slid his finger along the bottom of the pack and handed it over. “It’s all yours.”
“Are you… Have you lost your mind, friend?” Horatio shuffled, fingers trembling over the cards. “Are you bored? Ill?”
“I’m very bored, but I’m not going to be for long.” He couldn’t wait to have his boy home where he belonged.
Here with him. “Let’s go already.”
“I’m going to live a life of total luxury on your money, you know,” H told him, clearly still willing to let him out of the new bet.
Bel nodded. “It’s true. As my sub, I’ll take care of your every need.”
It would take Horatio time to adjust, but H would never have to worry about money again.
Bel touched Horatio’s hand, stroked the trembling fingers. “Go ahead and make your cut.”
“We can back away from this, Bel.”
“No, H, we can’t.” He squeezed Horatio’s hand again, then tapped the cards. “Make your cut.”
Horatio didn’t know it, but it was too late. H’s world had changed the moment Bel had won his friend’s head of household. Bel watched as Horatio cut the cards and turned the bottom of the cards in his hand over.
The two of clubs. It didn’t get much lower than that. Nonetheless, he cut the deck and turned the cards over to complete the game. It was the nine of hearts.
H whimpered softly. “Please, Bel. I’ll come up with the money.”
“I told you I don’t want your money, H. Now you’re my boy. For five years. You’ll stay in my room, and I’ll take care of your instruction myself.” He wasn’t interested in having anyone training H, in having anyone else touch his boy.
Horatio shook his head. “This is ridiculous, this game you’re playing. It’s not funny.”
“It isn’t a game, H. It’s time to come home.” He stood and held out his hand. “Come on.”
The magicks were spinning around them already, the bets and bonds eternal. Unbreakable. Such things were sacred here in Hell.
Horatio stood so fast, the chair fell down behind him, clattering noisily. Very slowly, H reached over and put his hand in Bel’s. Bel wanted to roar in triumph, but he didn’t. He took H’s hand and led him from the room, anticipation riding his body hard.
“We can stop this. This is wrong, Bel.”
He stopped and tugged Horatio around, pulling him up against his body. “This is everything that’s ever been right.” He growled. “And you’re my boy now, so that’s Master Bel, Master, or Sir. Or you will be punished.”
“I have a life! A position! I will not stand for this!”
He bent H over his arm, manhandling his new sub, and administered five hard swats in a row. He didn’t hold back at all, and it felt so good. It felt right in a way nothing ever had before.
“What the Hell?”
“Yes. Horatio. This is Hell, and you are mine now.” He straightened H up and continued to lead him to his private chambers. No one would see H again until his boy had submitted.
It was quite possible no one would see Horatio again for lifetimes. No one but Bel himself.
It made him smile as he dragged H along the hallways of his home. He loved the fight, the spirit H exuded as he tried to resist.
“I said no. Bel, this is nonsense. I will get you your money!”
“I made it very clear I wasn’t interested in your money. I want you, and now I have you. The cards have spoken.” A sweet twink was at the door to his rooms, opening the great door as soon as he drew near. The lad bowed his head low. “Are you taking notes?” he asked Horatio. The demon could learn a lot from Bel’s staff.
“Someone call for my car!”
“You’re not in any position to be issuing orders, boy.”
They went through, and the doors closed behind them. He knew only his touch would open them again. H was well and truly fucked. In many different ways. And if it were not in his power, he would not have been allowed to accomplish this. He drew H toward the bed.
“Fucking or sucking, boy?”
“Leave me the fuck alone. If you wanted a lover, why didn’t you simply ask?”
“You’re not just a lover, H. You’re my boy.” Anybody could be his lover. H was the only boy who was truly his. He had a harem of boys, but he was only interested in the one in his arms.
“You cannot own me, Bel. I have status.”
“Indeed, you’re my consort, my main boy. The one who warms my bed. None of the others can claim that. Now decide. Fucking or sucking. You will do one or the other. If you don’t choose, I will choose for you.”
Horatio stared at him, and the flare of fury and panic and magic hit Bel in a rush. With a growl, he grabbed hold of H’s shirt and pulled him into a kiss. He was definitely in charge of it. He devoured H’s mouth, making it his own. His magicks surged, wrapping around H’s and melding them together, altering them both. He moaned, feeling his horns growing, becoming even bigger, stronger. His balls throbbed with the need to claim his boy, to begin the process of transformation.
He pushed H onto the bed and followed him down, pressing the strong body into the mattress. He was going to teach H everything he needed to know about being Bel’s sub. About becoming. Transforming.
He tore a strip of the fine cloth H wore away, the fabric snagging. Before H could protest, he brought their mouths back together again, effectively gagging H. Oh, a gag. One with a little penis-shaped attachment so H would always have something to suck.
He had unlimited funds, time, and a boy to help become all they could be together.
He tugged at H’s hands, pulling them both up over his head and looped the strip of cloth he’d torn around H’s wrists. H grunted, biting at his lips, tugging at him.
“You can fight as much as you want, H. I’m not letting you go.” He tightened the material, making sure that H couldn’t get loose.
“This is ridiculous. It was a silly bet.”
“One more word about the bet or about how this is silly, and I will gag you. And you will call me Master or Sir, boy.”
“Bel!”
He growled. “There are no more chances, boy.”
“We’re friends! We were good friends!”
Bel got up and went to his cupboard, grabbing the ball gag that had a little penis instead of a ball. “And now we’re lovers,” he told H, steeling his heart against the look in H’s eyes. He knew this was what H needed.
H had unravelled the cloth, the surge of magic already beginning to fade instead of lingering as it should have. H was changing already.
“I’m going to have to punish you now.” He grabbed H’s hands again and pushed him back onto the bed. “You’re a stubborn ass, but you’re my stubborn ass now.”
Horatio grabbed him, held him tight. “Don’t do this, Bel. Don’t ruin what we have.”
“I’m going to make us sing. You’re going to be happier than you’ve ever been.” He grabbed H’s hand, pulling it up over his head. Then he tried to grab the other one.
H fought him, made him work for it, but he did it. Straddling H’s body, he used all his strength to grab the second hand and drag it up over H’s head.
“You know that I would not be allowed to do this if I should not. You know that the magicks, that the law, would stop me.”
And they had not. He’d been right. This was what was meant to be.
He bound H’s hands together, then eased the penis end of the gag into H’s mouth. Horatio bit at the tip, eyes flashing bright green. Bel grinned wildly and smacked Horatio’s hip. When his boy opened his lips in surprise, he pushed the penis gag in as far as it would go, then closed the Velcro tabs around the back of H’s head.
This part would be hard, then the training would come. Hells. Training. He’d been in negotiations with the powers that be for over a decade, offering proof that Horatio had been misdrawn as a major Dominant, that the universe was better served with another demon in his place. That he could train Horatio and introduce him to his new life.
They’d been stalling. Hemming and hawing until he’d finally taken matters into his own hands with this bet.
He checked H out, admiring the upstretched arms, the gag cutting across his face. Now his boy needed to be naked.
“I have planned this for so long. So much work has gone into this change for you.”
H shook his head vigo
rously, eye shouting at him.
He patted H’s cheek. “I’m the master. I know what you need, what will make you thrive, and I’m going to make sure you get it.” He rubbed H’s horns. They already seemed smaller than they’d been before H had lost this bet.
How fascinating.
Horatio bucked, the demon trying to roar, to fight him, but the will wasn’t there, the magic only a spark. However much he was fighting this, deep down, Horatio wanted it.
Bel knew. He’d always known, but it felt good to have it confirmed. H pierced him with a glare, the look pure fury. He revelled in it, enjoyed that passion, Horatio’s fight. He slid his hands from H’s shoulders along his chest, teasing the tiny nipples. He didn’t pinch or twist, but he knew H was waiting for that.
“Do you want to bite me, boy?” he asked.
Horatio’s growl was pure evil. He loved it.
“Too bad you can’t with that penis gag in your mouth. You can suck on it, though. Go ahead, boy. I know you’re dying to suck. It’ll be our little secret.” He stroked H’s nipples, still not giving his boy the pinch he knew H was expecting. Horatio. H… Bel pondered that. “I think I need to give you a name. One that belongs to my boy.”
There was that flash of green again, and he ran his hands through the complicated, rough braids. Those would go tomorrow. All H’s hair would go. Then those piercing green eyes would be shown to advantage.
“Something lovely and fierce and needy. Something feral and wild.”
He would let the name come to him, let Horatio’s need dictate it. He finally took H’s right nipple between his thumb and forefinger, pinching it. Horatio jerked away, trying to kick at him.
“Has it been frustrating? Having this need and not knowing how to deal with it? Have you been hiding from all of us, praying you weren’t found out?”
H’s glares got deeper, angrier. Bel patted H’s cheek, then pinched his nipple again. H curled up, wrapping his bound hands around his updrawn knees.
“You want me to bind your feet, too? That’s totally doable.” He’d enjoy doing it, in fact.
H shook his head, growling deep in his throat.
“Then no curling up and hiding from me.” He pulled H’s legs down again.