by Cardeno C.
“Right.” Hugh nodded slowly. “But they’re prey animals. They don’t attack us.”
“That’s because their behavior follows the game theory concept—each deer is so scared of being caught that he runs to save himself instead of all of them realizing that the whole could be safer if they risked minor injuries to individuals and turned the table on the lion.”
“That’s true,” Hugh said, intrigued. “How do you suggest we use that as a hunting strategy?”
“Well, I was thinking of what you said about running where a deer is going to be instead of where it is. That’s the best a lion can do if he’s the only one hunting. But if there’re two lions, they can time it so one lays in wait in the path of what they think will be the deer’s escape route while the other attacks. Then one lion is basically chasing the prey toward the other lion.”
“And we have him surrounded.”
“Exactly.” Johnnie smiled. “Lions will have a much better chance of catching prey if they work together and share the kill. They might even be able to capture more than one.”
If Hugh was the one hunting, he wouldn’t need the extra help. As a Premier with over a century of power, he was strong and fast enough to successfully trap his target every time. But the strategy would work well for other lions. It’d work well for Johnnie.
“Let’s try it tonight,” Hugh said. “Do you know which role you want to take the first time? Do you want to attack the prey while I go around to block their path or do you want me to lead them toward you?”
Johnnie drew his eyebrows together and crinkled his forehead. “I don’t know if the two of us can do it.”
“Why not?”
“We might have to separate too far from each other when we’re surrounding the prey. I was suggesting the idea for you to share with the pride.”
Hugh’s chest constricted and his throat burned. This man who had spent his life being, at best, ignored by the pride was thinking of ways to help them. How he could have seen Johnnie’s desperate act as an attack on the pride, Hugh didn’t know. Johnnie didn’t want to harm anyone, Hugh now understood, he’d merely been trying to save himself the only way he’d known how.
“What are you doing?” Johnnie rasped, making Hugh aware that he had leaned forward until their lips were scant centimeters apart.
“Kissing you.” He cupped Johnnie’s face with both hands and wove his fingers through Johnnie’s soft hair.
“You want to have sex now?”
Though Hugh’s dick was hard, he shook his head and said, “No.”
“Then why—”
Closing the remaining distance between them, Hugh brushed his lips over Johnnie’s. Fast breaths tickled his skin, making him aware of the other man’s nervousness. “Shh,” he said, holding Johnnie in place. “It’s just a kiss.” He laid his lips on top of Johnnie’s again and slowly flicked his tongue out. Eventually, Johnnie parted his mouth and Hugh slid inside, tasting and gently thrusting. The motion reminded Hugh of another way he could thrust into Johnnie and his groin throbbed in response. Before he made a liar of himself, he tugged on Johnnie’s lower lip one last time, pulled away, and appraised the man in front of him.
Johnnie was still leaning forward, his eyes closed and his spit-slick lips puckered. “What happened?” he asked drowsily. His eyes fluttered open, the blue shimmering in the late afternoon light. “Why’d you stop?”
“To make sure I could.”
When Johnnie swiped his tongue over his lips and moaned, as if in reaction to Hugh’s taste, Hugh reached forward and pulled him onto his lap.
“Point proven,” Hugh said, rubbing his thumb over Johnnie’s bottom lip. “I can stop.” He could, but he didn’t want to so he kissed Johnnie again.
Sighing happily, Johnnie clutched Hugh’s chest and melted against him.
This time, their joining was gentler, lips brushing together and tongues barely touching. Johnnie ran his palms across Hugh’s pecs and Hugh combed his fingers through Johnnie’s hair. When Hugh eventually moved away, he kissed the tip of Johnnie’s nose and gazed at his serene smiling face. In that moment, the blue-eyed lion looked completely at peace, as if all his burdens had been lifted.
“You like kissing,” Hugh observed as he continued combing his fingers through Johnnie’s hair.
“Yes.” Johnnie rested his cheek on Hugh’s shoulder and petted his chest and stomach. “It makes me feel”—he sucked in a deep breath, trembled, and let it out slowly—“connected to you.”
More and more, Hugh recognized how important connections were to Johnnie. He relished sleeping with their bodies tangled, smiled whenever Hugh touched him in even the most casual way, and eagerly engaged in any conversation Hugh had with him. Johnnie was a dry sponge who thirstily sucked in whatever he was given, which Hugh attributed to all the years he had spent without any connections.
“Hugh?” Johnnie looked up at him.
“Yes?”
“Does it bother you?” Johnnie lowered his gaze. “Me touching you like this?”
“’Course not.” A Premier took care of his lions, made sure they had what they needed. Johnnie needed touch so Hugh would give it to him.
“Okay.” Johnnie’s lips curled up at the sides and he lay his head back down.
The discussion reminded Hugh of the conversation they’d been unable to finish the previous evening. He pushed Johnnie’s hair off his face again, kissed his forehead, and said, “Yesterday, when we got to the festival, we were talking about sex but we were interrupted.” When Johnnie’s body stiffened and he flicked his gaze away, Hugh added, “You were angry.”
With a deep sigh, Johnnie finally looked at Hugh, but he still didn’t speak.
“Johnnie, tell me what you’re thinking.” Hugh was accustomed to pride members who came to him with minute worries and concerns. There wasn’t enough time in the day to hear everything every lion would tell him, given the chance. But he had no experience with someone who was reluctant to speak. “I can’t help if I don’t know the problem.”
“I don’t want your help.” Johnnie furrowed his brow, looking unhappy at that implication. “That’s not…” He pushed his way off Hugh’s lap, hunched over his knees, and let out a frustrated breath. “It can’t be like that.”
“Okay.” Hugh said the word slowly as he considered what Johnnie might mean. “How can it be?”
“You’re asking me?” He dragged both hands through his hair.
It was that or not understand what had angered Johnnie.
“Yes.”
“I’m allowed to say?” He licked his lips nervously.
“Why wouldn’t you be allowed to say what you’re thinking?” Hugh asked, having no idea what they were talking about.
“I’m the Siphon.”
“You’re more than that,” Hugh growled. To live, Hugh needed a Siphon. He had known that his entire life, so that aspect of Johnnie was undeniably important. But the man, the friend, mattered too; those parts of Johnnie mattered more to Hugh than he had ever thought possible. “I’ve told you already. You’re a lion, a man, and a member of this pride.”
“And they’re allowed to say?”
“Allowed to…” Hugh was still annoyingly lost in the conversation. “I can’t get the rest of the lions in this pride to stop saying things to me!” He shook his head. “Enough with this. Speak your mind. If my asking you isn’t enough, I’m ordering you as your Premier. I need to understand why you got angry yesterday.” He thought back to the words Johnnie had just used. “I need to know how it can be.”
“You said you could have sex with the others,” Johnnie said hesitantly.
“That’s right. I’ve done that for decades and it’s fine.” A release of hormones. A biological imperative. Not something he looked forward to, like he did for sex with Johnnie, and certainly not something from which he derived incomparable pleasure, but fine.
“I hate it.” Johnnie suddenly looked animated, his eyes flashing and his upper lip curle
d up in a sneer.
“You hate sex?” Hugh asked in surprise. He’d seen the way Johnnie melted under his touch, heard him moan, and smelled his seed. Hell, Johnnie’s reaction was half of what made their explorations so enjoyable.
“I hate you having sex with them. I hate you smelling like them.” Johnnie’s nostrils flared and his jaw ticked. “Hate it.”
“We’re animals,” Hugh said slowly, considering each word before he spoke it. Why would Johnnie have a negative reaction to something so common, so basic? And an uncharacteristically strong reaction at that. “We have hormones we need to release.” Him more than most.
“Not with them. You don’t need to do those things with them. They shouldn’t touch you that way.”
Without warning, Hugh’s mind flashed back to the previous evening: Larry Ridley pressed close to Johnnie, whispering in his ear. That foreign emotion rolled through him again, instinctive, uncontrollable, and white-hot.
“But I can have sex with you?” Hugh asked as he heard his own knuckles crack in his tightly clenched fists. “That’s what we were talking about, isn’t it?” Hugh hoped the answer was yes, because sharp, unexpected need was riding him hard and he was barely able to restrain himself from pouncing on Johnnie. “You’re okay having sex with me? Now?”
Without a word, Johnnie slid off the couch and knelt between Hugh’s spread legs. “Yes.” He set his palm on Hugh’s groin, cupping his balls through the fabric of his pants. “With me, the answer is always yes.” Johnnie raised his gaze and looked into Hugh’s eyes as he caressed and squeezed Hugh’s dick. “Always. Yes.”
Amazed at how incredible that touch felt, even through his clothes, Hugh gasped. “Damn.” He brushed his fingers through Johnnie’s hair.
Hands trembling with nerves, desire, or both, Johnnie fumbled with Hugh’s button and zipper until he had his pants open, his briefs pulled down in front, and his hot, throbbing prick exposed.
“You smell so good,” Johnnie rasped. As if to prove his point, he leaned forward, buried his face against Hugh’s nuts, and inhaled deeply. “Mmm.” He mouthed Hugh’s balls. “I have to taste you.” Johnnie closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “I know you don’t like it, but I…” Blue eyes gazed up adoringly as Johnnie lapped at Hugh’s sac. “Please.”
“That feels incredible.” Hugh brushed the back of his hand over Johnnie’s cheek. “Why do you think I don’t like it?”
“I’ve watched you.” He touched the tip of his tongue to Hugh’s slit and shivered. “I’ve always watched you and you didn’t let them do this to you.”
“That’s because it’s a waste of time. I normally need more than a blow job to pull out my seed.” And the act itself wasn’t normally enjoyable. But sex with Johnnie bore only a cursory resemblance to the activity as Hugh knew it. Draining himself was merely a side effect of the incredible pleasure. “But I can already tell it’ll be different with you,” Hugh said, his throat thick and voice gravelly as he swiped his thumb across Johnnie’s lip.
With an almost pained cry, Johnnie opened his mouth and sucked Hugh’s thumb inside. Moaning and whimpering, he felated Hugh’s digit like it was his dick.
“Go ahead.” He cupped the back of Johnnie’s head with one hand, gripped the base of his cock with the other, and painted Johnnie’s lips with his glans. “I’m all yours.”
Johnnie rubbed his face over Hugh’s shaft, bringing him to the brink with just that light contact. Moaning happily, he took Hugh in, licking and sucking, head bobbing, and fingers caressing Hugh’s balls.
Usually during sex, Hugh had to force himself to focus and concentrate on his balls and dick so he could push through to the end and come. But Johnnie had barely started and Hugh had to stop himself from going off right then. He wasn’t ready for the soft licks and strong suction to end, wasn’t ready for Johnnie’s happy noises to stop, wasn’t ready for those heated blue eyes to stop looking up at him, so he forced himself to slow his breathing, relax, and enjoy Johnnie’s ministrations.
New to the sensation of a thick rod filling his mouth, Johnnie couldn’t take much of Hugh in at first, but after a few minutes of diligent attention, he was able to go deeper until, eventually, Hugh’s cockhead hit the back of his throat.
“Ungh, Johnnie,” Hugh moaned. He gently petted the back of Johnnie’s hair and lifted his own ass off the couch, the pumping motion instinctive and unstoppable. “I’m going to come.”
Rather than pulling away, Johnnie sucked harder and faster, moaned louder, and, gazed at Hugh, his eyes begging.
“Yes,” Hugh agreed to the silent request. He thrust his hips a few more times and, with his eyes locked with Johnnie’s, groaned as white-hot pleasure swamped his entire being and endless streams of ejaculate poured from his cock into Johnnie’s waiting mouth.
“Mmm. Mmm. Mmm,” Johnnie moaned as he gulped down Hugh’s offering.
Johnnie’s entire body shook and the scent of his seed hit Hugh, telling him that the beautiful lion had found his pleasure by bringing him off.
The moment he could muster the ability to talk, Hugh said, “Come up here, Johnnie.” He reached down, lifted Johnnie onto his lap, and kissed him ferociously. “That was so good.” He gripped Johnnie’s chin and nipped at his lips. “So damn good.”
“Thank you.” Johnnie bent his neck and kissed the back of Hugh’s hand.
They sat quietly for a few minutes, sharing soft kisses and tender touches. When Hugh’s stomach growled, he remembered their plans for the evening. “Are you still up for shifting and testing out your new hunting strategy?”
“I’d like to hunt, but I’m not sure we can separate enough to try the game theory concept.”
The reminder about the need for the Siphon to remain close to the Premier had Hugh instinctively focusing on the channel that ran between him and Johnnie. It felt stronger than usual. Then again, with Johnnie on his lap, he was as close to Hugh as he could get short of literally taking Hugh inside his body.
Groaning at that image, Hugh reconsidered his plan for the evening. Maybe he could spend himself with Johnnie a few more times and they could eat leftovers for dinner.
No. He shook his head to clear the unusually strong haze of lust.
His orgasm had been intense and powerful. It had drained his seed, sated his body, and strengthened his spirit, same as every release he’d shared with Johnnie over the past couple of weeks. So no matter how good Johnnie looked and smelled, Hugh shouldn’t be needy to the point of distraction. Even if he hadn’t pushed his cock into a warm, tight hole in a month. Remembering the last time he’d fucked—the night Johnnie had hanged himself—cooled off Hugh’s arousal faster than an ice bath.
“We’ll shift, go for a long run, and then hunt.” Hugh tapped Johnnie’s hip and then rose, standing them both up. “If we can’t part far enough to test your theory, we’ll take down the prey the old-fashioned way.”
“Okay.” Johnnie leaned against him and closed his eyes for a few seconds and then he sighed happily, straightened, and said, “Let’s hunt.”
Chapter 11
A decade ago, Johnnie had been looking out a window and he had seen a black lion for the first time. In that moment, he had known soul deep that his life was about to change forever, that he’d finally be seen, finally be whole, finally be free. As years came and went and nothing changed, that hope had withered and died, but Johnnie’s awe at Hugh’s glorious beast had never waned. Then suddenly, the future Johnnie had once wished for miraculously became a reality.
Now he could do more than watch the giant lion from a not-too-far distance. He was allowed to rub his body against Hugh’s, to lap at his chin and lips, and to wind himself around the other lion. He didn’t know what had changed.
One day he had been the Siphon, same as always, there but not, seeing everything he wanted right in front of him, but unable to have it for himself, and spending almost every moment plotting an escape from life. And seemingly the next moment, Hugh had been talking with h
im, looking at him, and even touching him. The change had been so welcome, so necessary, and so unexpected that Johnnie hadn’t let himself question it for fear that it’d stop.
So there he was, on a Saturday evening, stalking through the woods behind Hugh in his lion skin, diligently paying attention to every scent and every sound. When a faint whiff skittered past him, he halted, one paw in the air. Raising his nose, he inhaled deeply.
There. To the right. Elk.
Hugh must have smelled it too, because he looked back over his shoulder, making eye contact with Johnnie before changing course in the direction of the prey. Slowly and carefully they slithered around trees and brush until they saw a group of elk feeding at the edge of a small clearing.
Following the lessons Hugh had taught him, Johnnie assessed each animal and what route it likely would take in response to an attack from the north, where Hugh and Johnnie were located. The western direction was blocked by a wide stream. Most of the eastern side was thickly treed, with loose, uneven rocks. That made the south the most likely escape route both from a topography perspective and because it was the area closest to the elk and farthest from Hugh and Johnnie, which would give the prey the longest possible lead time.
In deference to Hugh’s suggestion that they test out the game theory concept by spreading out—one of them remaining in place and the other standing guard in the path of the escape route—Johnnie considered whether he could get that far from Hugh without risking the connection that allowed him to carry Hugh’s power. If he went straight across the clearing to the elk, there wouldn’t be a problem. But to make the experiment work, the elk couldn’t be allowed to see or scent the lions until they were surrounded. That meant one of them would need to circle around to their endpoint, leaving a wide berth around the clearing. They’d be a worrisome distance apart and they’d have no sightline to each other, two factors that stressed their connection.
Not seeing how that could work, Johnnie looked at Hugh for direction on what strategy they’d employ. Unfortunately, communication as lions wasn’t as clear and simple as in their human skin, so when Hugh met Johnnie’s gaze and tilted his head to the side, Johnnie was at a loss as to what he meant. Apparently realizing their predicament, Hugh shifted into his human form, the transition smooth, silent, and impressive. Everything about the huge Premier was impressive.