by Jana Downs
“Wasn’t gonna say a word,” Regan drawled.
* * * *
Ryan had never been more relieved to see home. Mustang was going in person to Denny’s to try and scent which wolves had been there most recently, and Regan was going to compile the list of people who hadn’t attended tonight’s meeting. He just hoped that the person following him around was found quickly. The man was getting bolder, and he didn’t want to risk Bradley. He was tempted to lock him in a tower or something.
“You two have fun. I’ll probably patrol the neighborhood before I crash, so I’ll see you two for breakfast in the morning,” Regan said as Ryan put the car in park.
Ryan raised his eyebrows. “Inviting yourself to breakfast, bro?”
“Hell yeah.” Regan smirked, not missing a beat. “Angry hoards couldn’t keep me away from your chocolate waffles, Ry.”
“Re…”
Regan opened his door and ducked out. “Tell him when you get him inside. Don’t wait till morning. You have all night.”
“Your brother is something else,” Bradley said from the backseat, a smile in his voice.
“He’s a pain in the ass,” Ryan rumbled. “Let’s get you inside, sweet. I don’t want you out in the cold too long.”
Bradley laughed at him. “I doubt I’m going to catch my death in the car that’s still warm. It’s a ten-minute walk from campus to work and another fifteen from work to home. I’m fine. What did you need to tell me?”
“Let’s go up to my room first.” Ryan opened his door and rolled out into the cold air. He opened the back door of the car and grabbed Bradley’s bag from the floorboards. He felt exposed outside and was itching to get his lover back where he would be safe.
“You know, I’m more concerned about you than me,” Bradley said, following him out. For the first time in Ryan’s memory, he locked the car and set the alarm. They never really had been scared that someone would break into the Mazda before.
Ryan took his lover’s arm with his free hand and dragged him up the sidewalk to the porch. “That’s a foolish assumption to make. It would be too easy to use a man’s mate against him in a hostile situation. It’s been done before, and it will be done again, I’m sure.”
Bradley swallowed visibly. “I didn’t think of that. It seemed to me he was just delivering a warning or something.”
“Could be,” Ryan allowed. He unlocked the door and beckoned his lover in. He really needed to get an alarm system installed. It was something he’d discuss with Regan when he got back from his jaunt around the neighborhood. Bradley pulled off his jacket and started unbuttoning his white work shirt. Or he could wait until morning. He closed the door behind them and locked it.
“What are you doing, sweet?” Ryan asked.
Bradley threw him a mischievous smile. “Getting naked, Sir. I did have a project in my performance art class that I want your help with.”
“I didn’t know you were taking performance art,” Ryan murmured, watching as Bradley unbuttoned another button on the stark white shirt. He needed to make this stop. He had to tell Bradley about his heritage, what it might mean to them.
“It’s an elective.” He gave him that mysterious smile again. “I really need the help with the research I’m doing. We’re not actually doing an in-class performance but I have to write a paper about what my performance would be and why.”
“Okay…what do you need help with?” And why was he getting naked to get some help?
Bradley turned and walked down the hallway toward the playroom. “It’s called ‘Union,’ the fundamental connection between art, sex, and submission. My prof is very excited about it.” Fuck his professor. The words elicited an instant hard-on. “If my Master would be so gracious as to assist me in my project, it took all class to line up the marks.”
Marks? What marks? He followed his submissive. Well if it’s for school, the delay is all right. Surely. Regan would have to get over it and just help him explain in the morning. If his sub wanted attention, he was hard-pressed to think of a reason why he shouldn’t give it to him.
Bradley’s shirt fell away revealing his back which was ticked with a pattern of dots. “I didn’t expect to see you, so I was going to take some self-photos and call it a day. But the hands-on experience is even better. Don’t you think?” The question was far from innocent. Ryan knew exactly what those marks were for.
“You want a piercing scene?” He nearly swallowed his tongue as he asked the question. Did he have enough sterile needles in the playroom? He did a quick mental calculation. He would have enough for the back design so long as he didn’t fuck it up.
Bradley swallowed and nodded. “Yeah,” he said breathlessly. He unbuckled his pants and let them fall to the floor. “I’ve been thinking about it since the first night. I really want it.”
Ryan considered him. “For your project?”
“For me. You’ve pierced me before at the shop, and I’ve always gotten a little thrill from it. I want you to do it and then fuck me. Please, Sir, I’ll get on my knees and beg if I have to.” Ryan had no doubt that he’d do it either. His Bradley was the boldest sub on the planet and had no qualms asking, bargaining, or begging for what they both wanted.
“Convince me,” Ryan rumbled, unsnapping the button on his jeans. “If you’re a good boy and suck me nicely, then we’ll talk about giving you what you want.” He was going to get what he wanted anyway, the minx. But Ryan had to make him work for it a little bit at least.
“Thank you, Sir.” The way Bradley said “Sir” made him weak-kneed every time he heard it. He wasn’t a hard sub to deal with. He balanced Ryan so nicely that the wolf was hard-pressed to find an instance where he would have rather not have a permanent submissive under him. All his worries about compatibility and workability were moot when it came to his Bradley.
Bradley went to his knees gracefully and finished pulling open Ryan’s jeans. He fished Ryan’s cock from the confines of his boxer-briefs and sighed as if all his wishes had come to fruition in that moment.
“Don’t stare at it all day, boy,” Ryan said, putting steel in his tone. “Suck it.” He didn’t need to tell Bradley twice because the boy was way ahead of him. His cock was immediately enveloped in warm, wet heat, and Ryan couldn’t suppress the groan of thanks that issued from his mouth at the act. He threaded his fingers through Bradley’s pale locks. “Good boy.” He took the control from his submissive, forcing him to follow his desires as he fucked his mouth. Bradley took it all in stride, a look of absolute peace on his face. Bradley was made to be at Ryan’s feet.
After Ryan drew as close to the edge of orgasm as he dared he pulled Bradley back by his hair. “That’s enough. I don’t want to come in your beautiful mouth yet, my sweet slut. I want to be buried inside you when I release.”
“Please, Master,” Bradley breathed, his naked cock so hard it curved upward toward his stomach. “I want you inside me.” Ryan doubted he just meant his cock. Submission to Bradley seemed to be about drawing Ryan into his soul and giving Ryan a shelter to lose himself in. As much as Ryan wanted to disagree and run away from the prospect, it was impossible. Ryan’s shelter, his sanity, his love, was Bradley. Fear had no place in their playroom. He just hoped that he gave the submissive a tenth of what Bradley gave to him over and over again.
“Stay,” he commanded. He looked down on Bradley’s weeping cock. “Play with your cock until I finish setting up, but don’t you dare come.” He paused. “Have you been a good boy since you’ve been away from me?”
Bradley nodded, panting. “Yes, Master. I didn’t touch my cock sexually when I’ve been apart from you. I think about you though, and it’s hard.”
Ryan nodded, satisfied. “Does it turn you on to have to wait for me, boy?”
“Yes, Master. God yes.”
“Good. Do as I instructed and it will be just a moment.” He didn’t wait for confirmation. Instead, he walked over to the closet and pulled out one of the massage tables he kept in there f
or just such an occasion. He’d done a few exhibitions before, he pierced for a living after all, but nothing as intimate as this. The ritual of sterilizing the area and getting everything ready took on a romantic quality. Bradley watching him with hooded eyes while jerking his cock from the middle of the room just made the moment even more surreal. I have found Dom heaven. His name is Bradley Gage.
* * * *
Bradley stretched as he woke up to the sunlight streaming in through the window shades they’d forgotten to close last night. The soreness in his muscles and back acted as a reminder to what they’d done the night before. God, that was intense. It had been one of the most intense scenes they’d done, but it had also been one of the most intimate. It had taken Ryan over an hour to pierce him properly, bringing the sun design on Bradley’s back to life under his mastery. Afterward, Ryan had made love to him slowly, tracing the design with gloved hands and murmuring his praises over and over again. It had sent Bradley soaring.
Bradley couldn’t wait to do it again. The more he found out about submission, the more he wanted to go deeper, more intense, everything. The sensory overload was like a drug to his senses.
He rolled over and looked at his still slightly snoring Master, who lay on his back with one hand thrown over his eyes. I’m the luckiest man on the planet. He reached out and ran a reverent finger down his Master’s chest and stomach. The sheet over his lower half was in the way, so Bradley slowly pulled it off to reveal Ryan’s hard cock. His own body stirred in interest at the sight. His Master was so good to him.
A quick glance down at the foot of the bed revealed the lube they’d used the night before was still where Ryan had tossed it. He sat up and grabbed it before depositing a good amount on his fingers. Still looking at Ryan, he reached behind himself and started fingering his hole, slicking himself up for what he had planned. He didn’t touch his cock though. His Master hadn’t given him permission to play with that yet. He gritted his teeth to keep from groaning as he screwed his fingers deep, eager to get to the next step.
As soon as he was adequately stretched, he positioned his legs on either side of Ryan’s hips and took his hard cock in hand. His Master’s eyes opened languidly, still in the position between asleep and awake.
“Hmm,” he rumbled. “Good morning.”
“Morning, Sir,” Bradley greeted, sitting down on Ryan’s turgid length so that it stretched him deep. He gasped. It always felt fantastic to have his lover inside him, and this time was no exception. Ryan murmured something incomprehensible and gripped Bradley’s hip, setting the pace for their morning ride. “I love you, Ryan. Love you so fucking much.” The confession felt good to make. He’d always loved him. Bradley didn’t care if people thought love at first sight wasn’t real or that he couldn’t possibly love Ryan this much after such a short time together. All he knew was that Ryan made anything bad in the world bearable and that something inside him had told him on day one that this was going to be the man that he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
“Mine,” Ryan snarled, grabbing both Bradley’s hips and slamming up into his body. The penetration felt deeper in this position, and it sent a little shocked thrill through all of Bradley’s muscles as Ryan scored Bradley’s pleasure spots with each feral lunge.
“Yours,” Bradley agreed, his cock throbbing in time with his erratic heartbeat. Ryan released one hip and grabbed the steadily dripping length of Bradley’s arousal, causing him to cry out.
“Come for me, Bradley. Right now.” The growling command wrapped around his sac and squeezed. His cock pulsed before shooting his seed across his Master’s bare abs and chest, marking him as his own. The weird bulge in his cock swelled up, throwing him into another orgasm and extending his first one. He whimpered at the sensation, and Ryan rubbed the spot unerringly, wringing him dry of pleasure. The Dominant barked out a warning an instant before Ryan slammed up into Bradley’s body and his insides were bathed in the sticky proof of his lover’s release.
He collapsed against his lover’s chest, uncaring that he was laying in his own cum. He breathed hard as Ryan continued to pulse and swell inside him. This moment was perfect, and nothing could ruin it.
“Hmm, I made a mess,” Bradley murmured when he regained the ability to speak.
“Best kind of mess,” Ryan rumbled, holding him close. “Hell of a way to wake up. I could get used to it.”
Bradley grinned. “If you’re offering, I can make it happen. I’m magic like that.” He was only half-teasing. The prospect of living with his lover full-time did funny things to his pulse. He was pretty sure the organ skipped a beat.
Ryan’s arms tightened around him. “I am offering. Move your things in here with me.” Leave it up to his Dom to not ask but demand. It made Bradley feel all gooey inside.
He pressed a kiss to the wolf’s chest. “Okay. I’ll finish up this month’s lease with the landlord and see if I can find another tenant to sublease.”
“I can’t promise paradise, but I can promise to try. We’ll work through my hang-ups, you and I.” The promise was enough.
“Whatever you need of me, Master. I’ll give it to you.” He’d give him everything, mind, body, and soul if the Dom let him.
Ryan tilted Bradley’s head up so their eyes met. “Thank you. After David was taken away from me, I didn’t think I could be another man’s Master anywhere but in the safety of the club.”
Bradley’s heart pounded. “And now?”
“Now I think I’ve proven that I can trust myself with you. You’re what I’ve always needed, Bradley.” He pressed a kiss to Bradley’s lips. “I’ve been thinking about you all night. I need you to know what I did so you can judge for yourself, but I know that I am ready to be your Master if you’ll have me.” How adorable was that? His careful Master, his perfect lover, was everything.
Bradley resisted the urge to yell in triumph. “I know your confessions won’t matter, Master. But if it will make you feel better to tell me, be my guest.”
“I suppose you’ve garnered what happened from my brother?”
He nodded. There was no point in denying that Regan had told him. The two of them had such a weird psychic connection that it was almost impossible to keep secrets between them, at least that was the way Ryan had explained it to him before.
Ryan nodded. “Then you know I almost killed my sub. Everyone tells me that it wasn’t my fault because of my inexperience, and to a degree that is true. However, that wasn’t all there was to it. I was a monster for what I did with him. I played God. I knew I was going too far, but I resented David for always being able to push me past the limits I set, and so I pushed him well past his. Everything in me knew he was begging me to stop even if he wasn’t safewording, but I went ahead and kept choking him.” He shuddered as if lost in memory, and Bradley held onto him, providing an anchor so that his Master knew he was there and he wasn’t going anywhere. “He really got off on breath play, and maybe a part of me wanted to teach him a lesson about asking for more than what he could take. I don’t know really. Everything from then is a little blurred now. I haven’t trusted myself since.”
“You’re not a bad man, Ryan,” Bradley whispered. “You were a kid in a situation that you shouldn’t have been in. You were both playing with things that only consenting adults should play in, and you got burned for it. From what I understand, your relationship wasn’t healthy in the vanilla sense either.”
Ryan shook his head. “It wasn’t. I followed him around like a puppy for months before he even agreed to go out with me. I was a toy for him to play with. He needed a Dominant a lot more man than I was to deal with his catty, jealous games. He played me a lot. That’s not to say that he was bad for doing it. We were both kids. But it wasn’t healthy for either of us, and for whatever reason we seemed to bring out the worst qualities in one another. If what happened hadn’t happened, it was only a matter of time before we broke it off anyway.”
“Do you forgive yourself for what you did?
” Bradley asked. It was important. Ryan needed to learn to forgive his mistakes if they were ever going to be able to get to the point where they could really be with one another with no barriers.
Ryan shrugged. “For a long time I believed my therapist when he said that I shouldn’t forgive myself. But, since I met you, it’s getting easier to live with the guilt. I think that maybe I was just a kid and I’m a different man now.”
Bradley pressed a kiss to Ryan’s cheek. “Good job, Master.”
Ryan barked out a laugh. “Subs don’t usually praise their Doms for being good, Bradley.”
“Well, I’m not your average sub, Master,” Bradley said, grinning. “I love you and forgive you anything. You’re your worst critic. So does this mean we’re going to be in a relationship with no excuses, barriers, or foreseeable hang-ups?”
Ryan nodded. “Yes, sweet. That’s what that means.” They sealed it with a kiss. “Now, I’m going to mop off and go start breakfast. Why don’t you hop in the shower and get ready in the meantime? I know you missed your morning class, and you don’t have to work, correct?” How the man managed to memorize his schedule after only looking at it once was beyond him. Bradley kept the damn thing on him at all times and still managed to miss appointments.
“Nope. After class, I have a free day.”
“Good. I go into Howlers at noon. You want to come and see how things work? Maybe I could convince Mustang to hire you as an intern. We need an extra set of hands.” Ryan may have made the offer casually, but Bradley knew better. He was opening the door for his sub, taking him deeper into his life.
Bradley beamed. “I’d love that. So I should go get ready so you can hop in the shower after breakfast?”
Ryan nodded. “Yep.” He pressed a kiss to Bradley’s lips again. “Go before you distract me again.” Bradley laughed, joy coursing through his veins. Life was good.
Chapter Eleven