by Stormy Glenn
“Are you cold?”
Rue shook his head. He wasn’t cold, not the way that Zus meant. He wasn’t cold from the lack of heat in the cab of the pickup truck. He was cold down to his bones from lack of warmth, the kind of warmth he only got when someone cared for him the way he needed.
Rue didn’t think he would ever be warm again.
When they pulled up in front of a large ranch house and stopped, Rue noticed another pickup parked next to them and wondered which of his friends had arrived in that vehicle. He wondered who it was and if they could escape together, or was his friend just as doomed as he was?
“Coming in?”
Rue opened the door and climbed out, quietly shutting it behind him. Did he really have a choice? Zus kind of made it clear that he could have whatever he wanted and apparently, he wanted Rue. Rue wondered how long that would last before he did something to really piss Zus off and paid for his insolence in blood and tears.
Zus walked around the front of the truck and took Rue’s hand, leading him into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom. Rue couldn’t keep himself from shivering when he spotted the big bed dominating the room. He had a sudden vision of Zus pinning him to the bed. Rue’s hands were tied to the headboard over his head. Zus’s larger body kept Rue’s legs spread wide as the man fucked him. Rue groaned at the image, and then he almost cried at the loss he felt for something that would never happen.
Zus didn’t want that from him.
“Do you want something to eat?”
“I’m tired,” Rue said. He didn’t think he could eat anything right now and keep it down. He was so exhausted his eyeballs ached. “Is there some place that I can lie down?”
Zus pointed to the bed. Rue nodded. He figured as much. He walked over and sat on the side of the bed, reaching down to take his shoes off. He lined them up and set them on the floor right next to the nightstand then lay back on the bed.
“You’d be more comfortable if you got undressed and under the covers, Rue.”
Of course! Rue sat up and started pulling his clothes off. He felt uncomfortable undressing in front of Zus, especially when he heard the man’s quiet growl. He tried to ignore it, folding his clothes neatly and laying them on top of his shoes.
Pulling the covers back, Rue climbed into the bed. He turned over to face away from Zus, hoping the man would leave him alone, and terrified that he would. Rue felt the mattress sink as Zus sat down on the side of the bed. He jerked when he felt Zus stroke the side of his face.
“Sleep well, Rue,” Zus said. “I’ll be just downstairs if you need me.”
As if, Rue almost snorted. He felt the mattress give again as Zus stood up then heard his footsteps cross the room. Rue held his tears at bay until he heard the soft click of the door closing.
Curling into a ball, Rue pulled the covers up and let his tears fall down his face. He wanted someone to care for him, to love him. In his mind, that meant discipline and boundaries, rewards and pleasure. His ideal man was someone he could admire and respect, someone that made his breath quicken when they walked into the room. He wanted to adore and pleasure the one that mastered him. He was starting to think that man didn’t exist.
Rue kept looking for this dream man even after his friends banned him from biker bars. He had been so sure the man had to be out in the world somewhere and if he just looked hard enough, he’d find him.
Rue thought Zus would fulfill his dreams. Instead, the man was starting to be a part of Rue’s nightmare.
Chapter Five
Zus stood outside of his bedroom door, his head leaning against the cool wood as he listened to Rue’s crying. His forever mate was in anguish, and Zus didn’t know how to stop it. He didn’t know how to make Rue see how perfect they were for one another.
From the moment Zus spotted Rue walking into the bar, he knew the man was the one for him, maybe even before he knew Rue was his forever mate. The black eyeliner, the curious glance Rue gave the room, the sensual way the man walked.
It made Rue perfect in Zus’s eyes.
The fact that the man needed to be dominated only added to his allure. Zus knew his need to dominate someone was an unusual one. Certainly none of his brothers felt the way he did. Zus couldn’t explain it. He just knew it was there.
He needed to be in charge more than he needed to breathe.
He desired someone that made him the center of their universe.
He hoped for a mate that wanted to be his submissive.
He wanted Rue.
As he listened to Rue crying through the door, Zus felt pretty sure he was losing the one person that promised to be everything he wanted in the world. Zus just had no idea how to get through to Rue.
He seemed more afraid of Zus because Zus wanted to dominate him and less because he was a shifter. And that confused Zus on so many levels. Rue responded so well when Zus took him in the bathroom. He seemed to want everything Zus did to him, begging for more.
Where had he gone wrong? What did he do that made Rue truly afraid of him because if Zus thought back over their time together, Rue had been terrified of him long before he had shifted.
When Zus heard Rue hiccup, he couldn’t stand it anymore. The thought of Rue crying sent shards of pain through Zus’s chest. He pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Rue was crying so much he didn’t seem to be aware of Zus coming in.
Zus closed the door and walked across the room to stare down at Rue. Even with the blanket pulled up over his face, Zus could see the man’s shoulders shaking. The ache in Zus’s heart almost brought him to his knees.
Their mating shouldn’t be causing Rue so much anguish. It was a time of celebration, of happiness. Not this deep, aching misery that Rue seemed to be experiencing. Zus couldn’t stand it. He’d rather Rue be happy even if it meant he was happy somewhere else.
Zus sat down on the side of the bed and reached over to pull the blanket down from Rue’s face. He didn’t miss the jerk of surprise or the paling of Rue’s already pale face as the man turned to look up at him. Dark-brown eyes looked at him for a moment before quickly dropping away.
Zus gently stroked the side of Rue’s face, brushing his brown hair back from his face. “I don’t know what I did to make you afraid of me, Rue,” he said softly, “but I would never hurt you. I swear. You’re my forever mate. I’m incapable of hurting you.”
Rue squeezed his eyes closed and turned his face into the pillow. Zus kicked his shoes off and lay down on the bed behind Rue, wrapping an arm around the man and pulling him flush against his chest.
He felt Rue hiccup again. The man’s body trembled as Zus began to lightly stroke his chest through the blanket. “I’ll let you go if that’s what you really want, Rueben.”
Even if it killed him.
“Why can’t you—” Rue’s words ended almost as abruptly as they started, leaving Zus confused.
“Why can’t I what, Rue?” Hadn’t he asked this before back in the forest? Why wouldn’t Rue answer him? Instead, Rue just shook his head, frustrating Zus even more.
“I just want—” Rue pressed his lips together.
“What do you want, Rue?”
“Some…something that doesn’t exist.” Rue’s cry was broken and desperate. “I want something that doesn’t exist.”
“What, baby?”
“Don’t say that,” Rue suddenly snapped. “You don’t mean it.”
Zus was confused. He felt like he didn’t know which end was up. And he’d just about had enough of feeling that way. He sat back and whipped the covers off of Rue’s body.
Rue yelped when Zus flipped him over onto his stomach, but he didn’t start fighting until Zus pulled his hands to the top of the bed and snapped them into the fur-lined handcuffs welded to the headboard.
“What are you doing?” Rue cried out as he struggled, yanking on the handcuffs. “Let me go.”
Zus almost complied when he heard the fear in Rue’s voice but decided to go with his gut instinct whe
re the man was concerned instead. He opened his hand and brought it down on Rue’s naked ass.
“Stop!” Rue shouted.
“I told you in the very beginning, Rueben, what I say, you do. If you don’t, you will be punished. If you behave, you’ll be rewarded. It’s as simple as that.” Zus spanked him again. “Now, I’m tired of you not answering me. That is not acceptable behavior.”
Zus swatted at Rue’s ass with each sentence until Rue’s ass glowed red. When he was finally done, Rue’s shoulders shook but not a sound came out of his mouth. His face was turned to the side as if he needed to see Zus.
Zus gently massaged the red rounded globes he’d paddled moments before as he looked at Rue and tried to ignore the silent tears falling down his face. “Now, are you ready to answer my questions?”
Rue nodded.
“I prefer verbal communication, Rue, not nodding. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Zus stretched out on the bed next to Rue and rolled the man onto his side so that they faced each other. Rue’s eyes were darting around wildly, first to Zus’s face then down to his chest, away to the ceiling then back to Zus’s face. He seemed very unsettled.
“Take a deep breath and calm yourself, Rue.” Zus stroked his hand gently down Rue’s side to his hip then back up again, waiting for Rue to do as he said. “I want to know why you don’t want me to call you baby.”
“You don’t mean it.”
“If I said it, I meant it.”
“Not… not the way I want it to mean.” Rue’s eyes dropped away from Zus’s. “It’s just a word to you.”
Zus reached around and smacked Rue on the ass again. “Now that we are mated, Rueben, I will no longer allow you to run around in circles. If I ask you a question, I expect clear understandable answers.”
“Why do you care?” Rue argued as his eyes snapped back up. “You said you weren’t my master.”
Zus’s mouth dropped open as he stared at Rue’s glowering face. “Is that what this is all about? Me being your master?”
Zus felt a deep need to paddle Rue’s ass until the man couldn’t sit down, but he would never spank his mate when he was angry, and Zus was very angry. He reached down and gripped Rue’s chin in his hand and turned the man’s face up to his. He wanted Rue to look at him when he spoke so there would be no misunderstandings.
“I am your mate, Rueben,” he said very slowly. “That means a whole lot more than being your master. It is far more important. Your happiness and well-being are my utmost concern. How we settle the dynamics of our relationship is up to us and it doesn’t need a label.”
“You want to be my master?” Rue whispered.
Zus opened his mouth to argue with Rue when the awe in Rue’s voice suddenly filtered through his anger filled brain. He didn’t understand why by the word master seemed to hold so much meaning to Rue, maybe as much as forever mate held for him, but it did.
“Rue, I am your master,” Zus said softly but firmly. “I will always be your master. But I do not call it that. I call it mate. It means far more to me that we are mates than any master/submissive relationship.”
Rue hiccupped. His dark-brown eyes widened and started to fill with tears.
“I will discipline you when you are bad just as I will reward you when you are good. You are to follow my demands whether you like them or not but I will never hurt you. I will care for you, love you, and never leave you. I expect the same from you and will settle for nothing less. Is that understood?”
Rue nodded quickly. “Yes.”
“You’ve said yes before, Rue, and didn’t mean it. Why should I believe you this time?”
“Oh, no, it’s just that you—I mean, I—” Rue’s face looked panicked. Zus could hear the handcuffs clink together and glanced up to see Rue’s hands clenching and unclenching. “Please.”
Zus started to reach up to unlock the cuffs, thinking Rue was asking to be set loose when Rue jerked away from him. He quickly looked down to find Rue shaking his head emphatically. “Rue?”
“No, please, I—don’t.”
Zus cupped Rue’s cheek with his hand, rubbing his thumb along the man’s prominent cheekbone. “Take a deep breath and then speak slowly and clearly, okay? You won’t get into trouble for anything you say to me.”
“Don’t take the handcuffs off.”
Zus’s eyebrow arched. He hadn’t been expecting Rue to tell him not to take the handcuffs off, but after hearing the words, he wasn’t surprised when Rue’s face flushed. Zus settled back down beside Rue and gave his naked hip a small pat.
“Okay, Rue, I’ll leave the handcuffs on for now, but I still want an answer to my question. Why should I believe you now when you lied to me before? You said yes back at the bar, but you didn’t mean it. Why is now any different?”
“Back at the bar you said you weren’t my master, so I didn’t have to tell you the truth.”
Understanding suddenly hit Zus like a bullet to the gut. “So, now that I’ve told you that I am your master, you have to tell me the truth?”
“I would never lie to my master.” Rue sounded almost offended.
“Rue, why is the word master so important to you? It’s just a word.”
“Forever mate is just a word,” Rue countered. “Why is it so important to you? Why is it more important than my word?”
“Fair enough, little one.” Zus chuckled. “As your master, I’m telling you that you may refer to me as mate or Zus, but not master. I do not like that word. It does not, however, mean I am not your master. Understood?”
“Yes,” Rue said as he rolled toward Zus. He seemed calmer, the tension lines in his face fading away to be replaced by the lines caused from the grin on his lips. “Yes, please.”
“Please what?”
“Please, Zus.”
“Very good, Rue,” Zus said as he wrapped his hand around the back of Rue’s neck and pulled him closer. “That deserves a reward.” Rue’s lips were already puckered by the time Zus reached them.
Zus growled as he claimed Rue’s lips, giving himself freely to the passion the kiss ignited in him. The man tasted so good, sweet, musky, and something that was uniquely Rue’s. Zus kissed Rue with a hunger that belied his outward calm.
Rue’s body trembled in his arms. Zus rubbed his hand down Rue’s back to grab his reddened ass, giving it a good squeeze. Rue moaned and bucked against him. Zus could feel the man’s hard cock pressing against his abdomen.
“Mas—mate,” Rue whispered against Zus’s lips. Zus groaned, aroused beyond control at the sound of the word mate on Rue’s lips instead of master. Rue was listening, learning. He was perfect.
Zus grinned at Rue’s cry of protest as he rolled away from the man. He climbed to the edge of the bed and stood up. Zus turned to face Rue as he slowly took his clothes off. He wanted to see Rue’s reaction, his desire. And it was all right there burning in Rue’s rich mocha-brown eyes for Zus to see.
When Zus dropped the last item of clothing to the floor and moved to the end of the bed, Rue rolled onto his back and spread his legs, his hands still handcuffed above his head. Zus’s breath caught in his throat at the picture Rue made spread out on the bed, displayed for his pleasure. This was how he pictured his forever mate. Zus slowly climbed up onto the bed between the Rue’s spread legs, gently stroking a hand up each leg to his thighs.
“So perfect, my beautiful Rue.”
The silky soft skin of Rue’s body fascinated Zus. He couldn’t keep from stroking his hands all over Rue. There didn’t seem to be a hair on Rue below his eyebrows, just beautiful naked skin. Even his ball sac was hairless.
Zus avoided Rue’s cock, despite the small pearly drops of pre-cum he could see pooling on the head that begged to be licked away, and rubbed his fingers down over the soft sac below and back to the little ring Zus knew was waiting for him.
Rue trembled and cried out, exactly the reaction Zus wanted. Rue seemed to respond perfectly to everything Zus did to him. He
trembled when Zus stroked his skin. He arched into the air when Zus licked him. He cried out when Zus tugged at the small ring below his balls.
When Zus scooted up to kneel between Rue’s thighs, the man pulled his knees up to his chest. Zus knew with his hands handcuffed over his head, Rue wouldn’t be able to keep them there for long.
He scooted forward until the head of his cock pushed against Rue’s tight puckered entrance then grabbed his legs. He waited a moment until he felt the natural lubrication from his semen start to loosen Rue up then pushed forward, sinking his cock into the man until his balls brushed against Rue’s rounded ass.
“Zus,” Rue panted heavily, his face flushed with desire.
“You will not come until I give you permission.” Zus waited for Rue to nod then gripped Rue’s thighs in his large hands and started thrusting. The tight hole enveloping his cock felt like heaven on earth. Zus could feel every inch of his cock wrapped in silky heat.
Zus’s fingers gripped Rue’s thighs harder as he increased the force of his thrusts. He knew he’d never get enough of loving Rue, of touching the man’s body, of being inside him. Zus felt pretty sure that Rue would spend a large majority of his life on his back with Zus’s cock buried deep inside of his ass.
“So beautiful,” he whispered as he gazed down at Rue. “So perfect, my forever mate.”
Rue nodded, panting too heavily to say anything, but his eyes watched Zus like a predator. Zus knew that look. Rue was hungry, needy. Zus wanted to fulfill his need. He wanted to fulfill all of Rue’s needs until the man wanted for nothing.
“I’m going to get a mirror put on the ceiling so you can watch me love on you, Rue.” Zus arched an eyebrow when Rue’s cock jerked in response to his words. “Would you like that, baby? Do you want to see my big cock fuck your tight little ass?”
The drops of pre-cum pooling on the head of Rue’s cock increased until they slid down the thick veined sides. Zus reached down and wiped some up with his finger. He watched Rue’s eyes widen as he licked his finger clean.
Rue was a very tactile man. Zus could see it in every response he received when he touched the man. He felt pretty sure that Rue was also a very visual lover. The more he could see the more aroused Rue would become.