by Milana Jacks
The irony of the pairing was in protection. Everyone wanted to protect the paired women, the mates. But none of them ever asked the pairs what they wanted. The community leaders protected the sold girls because the money bought food. The beasts wanted their mates, would die for their mates.
And yet when I told mine what I wanted, he left me.
I never told him why we failed, because, as far as he saw it, he’d done the right thing when he bought me and left me there for an entire month, a time that Dad and the leaders before him had requested for mate preparation.
Back in the day, when I was young and stupid, I couldn’t wait for a beast man on an iron horse who would pick me up and whisk me away from poverty. Now, only a short half year later, still only nineteen but no longer stupid, I wished Vice had never come.
I wished I’d never crossed his path.
I wished I’d listened to my dad when he’d said adventures were only for boys. I’d have stayed at home like a good girl, done what girls did. But hey, every family had one stray sheep, didn’t they?
As a small smile spread over his lips, Vice tapped his finger over a giant wet stain on his shirt. “Sleep well?”
Horror. I’d slept on top of him and drooled on his shirt. He wiggled his eyebrows. I ignored him, wondering why he still wore clothes. As if the sight of his body would make a difference. I narrowed my eyes. Vice strategized his moves, and I’d need a solid plan. Better keep him busy with small talk while I plotted my escape. During taming, the House would follow only Vice’s commands. I could use it for tasks that kept me indoors. Like brewing coffee. Still, I tried. “Jane, I’m going out.”
“Ah fuck,” Vice said.
“Lockdown initiated.” Multiple clicks sounded around the house, metal slid over the doors and windows, and alarms blared all around us. Vice covered his sensitive ears, and I winced when his phone rang in addition to all the noise. He tapped his phone, didn’t answer, and yelled, “Silence!”
The noise died, and he breathed out in relief. “Jane has been reprogrammed. I added the alarms so Jamie hears, just in case someone knocks me out.”
“Great,” I said.
He cracked his neck to the left, then to the right, and grunted. “Let’s shower.” He looked at his watch.
I scooted away and sat up on the armrest.
“How’s your head?” he added. “Are you dizzy from the ride?” He traced a claw over the rope around my wrists, back and forth. Sometimes a light touch brushed my skin. I shivered. “Your clothes are in our bedroom. Headache powder is on the counter. I know you have a headache. Your eyes are puffy. Let’s hit the shower, then eat something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
His head snapped up, red eyes curious. “When was the last time you ate?”
Besides the protein bar, I ate the day before yesterday, when I’d scouted the building and counted the security guards. The painters were still working on the interior while their lunches waited in the kitchen. I raided the fridge, gorged on everything. “And I’m clean, so…” I shrugged. No food, no shower, no headache powder for me.
Vice glared.
I glared back.
One hand flew to the back of my neck, and he brought our faces inches apart. His red eyes were hard, but so were mine as I tried to tug away. He held firm. “You just lost your shower privileges. I will shower with you, and you will tend to me the way mates tend to each other.”
Tend to Vice. Hm. I mulled that over. After he’d brought me here for the first time, then told me the truth about the mating, the truth of how I was the only female for him and he couldn’t have any other, not the lie about random pairing the beast had spread over the communities, I got so mad, I hated him even more. But I’d tended to him that night after dinner.
Then, when he’d fallen asleep, sated as a lazy cat, I’d ripped out a drawer and whacked him over the head with it. I took off. At first, I hid outside the city but hunger called, and I had two choices. Either go back to Vice and tell him what had happened between the time he paid for me and the time he picked me up a month later, or go back to my home in Community Three.
Community Three sat in a place once known as Las Vegas, which was over five hours away by sky and even longer if I traveled by ground. My skater ran on hydro-fuel, and I didn’t have money for other transport or money for fuel.
Regardless of the fuel level, the money, the hunger, and my desperate situation, I’d rather die than go back to Three. Or Vice.
But here I sat on the edge of our couch. Again. I needed to get out of here. In order for me to get out of here, Vice’s defenses needed to be down, and I needed to talk to Rey. “Okay,” I said.
Vice chuckled. “You gonna play along?”
I said nothing but lifted my tied wrists.
He ignored the gesture. One hand under my knees, the other under my back, Vice lifted me and walked into our bedroom. I didn’t need to look around to see. The cage sat in the middle of the room with its little metal door wide open. A fluffy pink pillow lay inside. On the pillow, red letters read: “I (heart) my Beast.”
I eyed the old lock. Last time around, Rey felt I shouldn’t be inside the cage, so she came to my rescue. Seeing as my sister-in-law was kind and the only sane person in a five-mile radius, I doubted Jamie would let her anywhere near me this time around. I’d need something to pick that lock with.
After I gave Vice the most pleasant, soothing shower ever.
The luxurious bathroom was done in beige, with several blue tiles scattered for design effect. The biggest bathtub in the country called my name when Vice untied my wrists and closed the door. A packaged pink toothbrush rested on the counter next to a packaged blue one. “The blue toothbrush is mine, right?”
“Rey went shopping. Yours is pink,” Vice said.
“I’m not into pink.”
“I’ll let her know.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’ll use the stupid brush.”
Vice closed the bathroom door. The towels hanging behind it swung in the breeze. One pink towel amidst the blue towels. I groaned. “What was wrong with the white towels from before?”
“Rey thought you’d like the pink ones better, seeing as you stole her ‘Barbie bike,’ as she calls it.”
Rey had given me the bike, but I would never tell. “Barbie bike?” I frowned, having heard of a Barbie before but couldn’t remember where. “I parked it in the garage of that house I stayed in. Did you get it?”
“Yes,” he said.
“I need to pee.”
Vice leaned against the sink and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. The only time you are allowed privacy is if you do number two.”
“Ew.”
“Such is life when you run from me. I can’t let you out of my sight.”
I pushed past him, opened the packaged toothbrush, and brushed my teeth.
I hopped in the shower.
Deep male laughter followed me inside. “Close,” he commanded, and the doors closed around us, sort of like a cocoon. A dim light lit on the ceiling, and Vice commanded water to pour out of tiny little holes on the doors.
I ignored his body.
I ignored the tattoos.
I ignored everything below the hard pecs. And I took special precautions not to look at the dimples above his hip bones.
So I looked him in the eyes.
Aaaaand ignored the pale red around his pupil.
Vice smirked. “Wanna blindfold?”
“Whatever, dude.” He thought I was checking him out. Maybe, but I wouldn’t admit it. Finding the necessities, I scrubbed out my hair three times, adding the conditioner afterward. Rey bought pink for me, but she also bought the finest shampoo on the market. My hair, straight, unlike hers, tangled on the wind when I skated, so I made sure I used extra of the luxury shampoo while I was still around Vice. I’d be out of here soon enough. He’d follow. We’d play cat-and-mouse for many years to come
. Or until one of us died playing.
With a wet cloth for the body, I soaped up, moaning loudly, enjoying the smell of coconut. I kept my eyes closed, because I’d failed at not staring at his monster cock. I always failed at not staring at Vice. Once upon a time, I’d even called him my Prince Charming. I snorted. Man, I used to be the biggest dumbass.
“Look at me,” he said.
I didn’t.
Vice’s hand gripped the back of my head and pulled my body so my breasts pressed on his chest. I felt his erection poking on my stomach, and my heart rate picked up. With his super hearing, he might’ve heard it. “Deep breaths, now, come on.” He kissed the top of my head while his cock twitched over my skin.
I must’ve whimpered, because he chuckled. “You know what’s coming, don’t you?”
Chapter Five
Vice
Dewlyn was playing with me, but I had a game she couldn’t beat.
Dewlyn obsessed over my dick. It was the number one focus of her curious virginal mind, which wanted to know what it would feel like, what it would do, how it would make her feel once inside. She’d like to touch it, explore it, lick it, give it some love. She might’ve rejected me, but she worshiped my dick. So I had that going for me.
I gripped her little ass and squeezed, wondering how so much resistance came from such a small female. Dewlyn packed more firepower than some of my males five times her size. It was her spirit, the unyielding passion for everything she did. I wanted that spirit all for myself, and I would have it. But not by spanking her. My brother had his own game, and I had mine.
At the thought of red marks and welts on her small ass, my cock almost deflated, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know how to get us going in the direction I wanted us to go. After having her around the last time, I discovered Dewlyn enjoyed pushing the edge in all things she did. Lucky for us, I had no problem with pushing her buttons. I massaged her shoulders, and when a whimper escaped her pouty lips, I caught the bottom one between my teeth.
She narrowed her eyes but didn’t pull away. This was good. I kissed the swollen lip, then made quick work of washing her body. I didn’t touch between her legs or her breasts, though it took my self-control to the next level, the level right before insanity. I gritted my teeth when I inhaled the smell of her arousal.
Once done, I took her hand and pumped it full of soap. “Tend to me.”
I wanted her to get reacquainted with my body, because it would be the only nude male form she’d ever see for the rest of her long life. Around us, the water pounded us and the bath, but the fluttering of her heart was the only noise in the room for me.
Dewlyn placed a hand on my chest and tried to make quick work of washing me. It went well for her for a while, until she rose on her toes to reach my shoulders and the back of my neck. She couldn’t reach without me bending, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that my hard dick rested against her belly, and I inhaled loudly when it made her wet.
Dewlyn still pretended as if it didn’t affect her.
Yeah, sell that shit elsewhere, I thought.
She was mine.
And she had a thing for my piercing.
Annoyed, she sighed and gave up on trying to wash my hair. She knelt and worked the soap up my right leg, then my left one, took her sweet time while my dick readied to explode. Flushed with heat, she sat back on her heels. “All done,” she announced.
I disagreed and smirked but let her get away with it. Turning around, I showed her my back. At her silence, I flexed my shoulders. Last week, for our arts and crafts fair in the north, a guy tattooed Dewlyn skating over Beast City on my entire back, her hair flying around her, her hands outstretched as she whipped around a building. I tattooed red, not brown, for her eyes because fire burned red.
I didn’t ask her if she liked it.
By her silence, I knew she did. She’d rather bite her tongue off than compliment me. For now.
Soap on my hands, I moved the liquid over every muscle, slowly and with purpose. I paid special attention to my ass, because I’d seen her check it out more than once. I flexed my ass for good measure, then turned around to face her. Man, I liked the sight of her on her knees before me, but what I liked more was the sight of her tits all perked up and ready. This, along with the scent of her wet pussy and her eyes finally landing on my dick, told me she wanted me.
I fisted my dick and moved it to the left. I held it there for a second, then released it and let it bob. I fisted it again and thumbed my piercing. Dewlyn’s legs parted. That was enough for me. “Touch yourself,” I said.
She shook her head.
“Do it, or I will.”
She snuck her small hand between her legs and rubbed the bud I knew swelled and begged for something a little rougher. Like my teeth and especially my tongue. But I liked how she flushed and relaxed, how she licked her lips and how her eyelids drooped, and the little noises that came out of her mouth made me want to fill said mouth with my dick. Though I hadn’t fucked my mate yet, I’d given her pussy plenty of attention. It was time she gave my dick some love.
Bending, I took her other hand and put it on my dick. I moved it up and down, paying special attention to make her palm rub over my piercing. She stroked herself faster.
I pinched her nipple and held it pinched until she lifted her chest, wanting more.
I gripped her entire tit and kneaded it in my hand. First one, then the other. I slapped one. Dewlyn didn’t flinch but squeezed my cock tight. I growled at her. “I like your tits and your little nipples, and the pretty, smooth skin.” I slapped her tit again.
“Oh yeah?” She squeezed my cock again. Hard.
I slapped her tit.
She wiggled her hand away from my dick, then whacked it.
I grunted. Damn, that hurt.
I gripped her hair. My thighs brushed over her skin when I moved, standing over her. I tapped my thigh. “Put your hand here, go ahead.”
She did. “Now open your mouth,” I said.
“Make me.”
I chuckled. Man, my mate brought out all kinds of crazy in me. This was how we danced. Back and forth, back and forth. I gripped her jaw.
“I’m gonna bite your cock,” she gritted though her teeth.
“I don’t think you are.”
“I am.”
“Let’s fucking see.” When I forced open her mouth, I shoved the head of my dick inside it and cradled one side of her face. “I trust you, baby,” I said. Not even close, but I didn’t need my dick if she didn’t want it, so it made no difference to me. She could bite it but I needed to believe she wouldn’t, because she wanted it and also because she must feel something for me. I couldn’t be one of those unlucky bastards whose mates took off and never returned. I had to believe there was a way with Dewlyn and my dick would find the way to her heart. Maybe then she’d let me cuddle her too.
Dewlyn closed her lips over my dick.
My hand, fisted in her hair, moved her head slowly, and I enjoyed the tightness of her stretched lips around me. I bet Dewlyn’s pussy wouldn’t fit all of me on the first try. I bet I’d have to get creative, maybe edge her for hours until she dripped wet and welcomed her man. I watched down below where her fingers dipped inside her pussy. “Do you think I’m gonna fit? I don’t think so. I think I am gonna have to force it to fit.”
My length glided on top of her tongue as I pushed to the back of her throat. Dewlyn choked up, so she tapped my thigh. I pulled back, but only enough for her to get some air. Then I thrust inside her mouth again and felt my balls tighten. I snuck a hand under her collar and squeezed.
Her eyes closed.
Dewlyn bobbed her head, sucking, gagging, and when tears streamed down her cheeks from the gags, I began to batter the back of her throat while squeezing it. Instead of panicking at the loss of breath, Dewlyn relaxed. This was a rush for her, yet different from the stunts she liked. My mate chased the rush, loved it and wanted more of it.
So I gave it to her
. I pushed farther down her throat. I felt the small opening accommodate me, and I paused, gagging her with my dick pressed in the back of her throat and my hand on her neck. Under my palm, I felt myself inside. I squeezed.
She moaned.
I didn’t withdraw.
Her nails bit into my thigh.
I held still. “Yeah, that’s right, baby, hold it, hold it…”
Under me, Dewlyn’s face flushed. She struggled to breathe, nails carving marks into my skin, yet her eyes snapped open and locked with my feral ones, and she didn’t tap my thigh, didn’t try to tell me to let her go.
I pinched her nose.
Come on, Dewlyn.
Seconds passed, and I watched her intently, waited for her to tap out.
She never fucking tapped out.
And she wouldn’t.
I released her and stepped back.
Dewlyn bent over the tub and heaved breaths, her hair covering her face. I turned up the water spray and jerked myself. She stood, her feet shoulder-width apart. She wiped the saliva from her mouth. “I hate you.”
I smirked, finally seeing the spark in her eyes, the excitement, the need for me I’d seen the day I bought her. As much as I feared for her life while she skated, I lived to watch her eyes light up. I didn’t give a shit how many times she’d burn me, I lived for this fire, because I’d seen what happened when she’d first come here with her dull eyes and on a mission to drown in this very tub. Lucky for me, I confessed she was my mate and not just a pair, and that pissed her off so much, she found hating me worth living for. I didn’t mind.
Hate, like love, was passionate, and she hated the fact I knew what she liked and how she liked it. Dewlyn liked everything and anything that spelled danger, including loss of breath. Her gaze traveled to my dick, and I pumped faster. My balls tightened, and I gushed my cum all over her belly. Relieved, I groaned and leaned on my elbow. I wiped the water off my face then winked at her and said, “Next time, I’ll piss on you so I can track you down.” I sniffed. “With my nose.”