“Bite me, Marco,” he screamed.
Nicky’s orgasm seared its way through his body and as he began to spurt, he gave in to mindless pleasure, coming so hard when Marco’s love bite clamped down on his throat he almost blacked out, and the room went dim around him. When Marco climaxed, seconds later, Nicky was hardly even aware of it for the waves of ecstasy shaking his body. When he came back to himself, Marco was kissing him all over his face and down his throat.
“Who do you belong to, baby?”
“You and only you forever,” Nicky said dazedly, already drifting off to sleep. He raised one eyelid. “And what about you, Marco? Who do you belong to?”
Marco smiled. “You, darling. Always and forever.”
Nicky nodded, satisfied. “Good,” he said, and went contentedly back to sleep.
It was much later when Nicky rolled over and nuzzled Marco to wake him up. “We’re still on the floor, babe.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Nicky laughed and kissed him again. “So now that I’ve had my refresher course, can I go see Casey?”
Marco nodded, and Nicky leaned over for a kiss to seal the deal.
“So long as you’re not totally alone with him. Leave the door open, and don’t you dare touch him again. I have to protect my mate too, you know.” He pulled Nicky closer, smiling over Nicky’s little self-satisfied moans.
Nicky, of course, was thoroughly tempted to be bad, just to have to suffer his lesson again.
Rory woke up slowly, stretching like a cat. The bed was warm and cozy, and he could hear a storm raging outside the windows. He was a little sore and his backside was achy, but mostly he felt wonderful. He turned over to find Casey stretched on his back beside him, his arms thrown up over his head, and snoring gently with his mouth open. Smiling, he put a leg over Casey’s and snuggled up close to him before to putting a finger under his chin and closing his mouth. Casey snorted and jumped, only half awake. His arms flailed in the air and Rory pushed them down. He pulled Casey closer, patting him. “Settle down, baby, I’m right here.”
Coming more fully awake, Casey opened his eyes wider in surprise. “Rory!” “Hi, baby,” Rory smiled down at him.
“Hi yourself. Are you…are you all right?” Casey looked closely at him.
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Uh…I don’t know. You’ve been kind of uh…in heat…for the past twenty-four hours or
so.”
“I have? In heat, huh? I don’t remember a thing about it. The last thing I remember was you
were making love to me. We’re mated now, right?”
“Oh yeah. Definitely mated. We were tied up for hours. You sure you don’t remember any
of it?”
“No, not a thing. Well, I do kind of remember your knot and didn’t you feed me your blood
at one point?”
“Yes,” Casey said slowly. “Several times actually, trying to calm you. You were a little
upset.”
“About what?”
Casey sat up and pulled some pillows behind him before pulling Rory up to settle him
against his arm. “When we were making love…when you started to have the multiple orgasms
that the gland and bite bring on, you—you tried to shift.”
“I did?”
“Yeah, and you couldn’t. You tried a couple of times, and you weren’t able to. Look down
at yourself.” He pulled the sheet back to expose Rory’s re-shaped penis. Rory looked down at
himself for a moment seemingly without comprehension and then his eyebrows raised almost
comically, and he looked back up at Casey. “What the fuck?”
“Your knot—your gland is gone. Your penis is like a pet’s now or a human’s.” Rory looked at him, not understanding. “What?”
“I guess it happened when you tried to shift and couldn’t or maybe because it was two
wolves mating. I’m not sure, Rory, but your wolf is gone. I think it’s dead.”
“What?” Throwing back the covers, Rory jumped to his feet and ran into the bathroom to get
a look at himself in the mirror. He looked up in horror at Casey who was right on his heels.
“What did you do to me?”
Casey shrugged and shook his head. “I didn’t do anything. It just happened.” “Oh my God, Casey! What does this mean?” Even upset, Rory still stepped closer to Casey
to be comforted.
Casey put his arm around him. “I don’t know. Come back in here and sit down. We need to
talk about some things.”
Rory followed him back to the bedroom as if in a daze. He sat on the bed, and Casey sat
beside him. The time had come to announce his revenge.
“Do you remember almost a year ago when Nicky and another boy were kidnapped?” Rory nodded. “Yes, of course. The other boy was my little brother, Adam.” “Your brother?”
“Yes. They were both in my charge that day, and I-I fell asleep.”
“You fell asleep?” Casey looked at him in disbelief. This was the first time he’d ever heard
about Rory watching the two boys. To fall asleep when pets were in your charge was pretty
unforgiveable. If Rory had been attentive, he and Aaron would never have been able to get their
hands on the boys to start with. His brother would never have been killed. Rory would never
have become his enemy.
“Yeah. I know. Marco almost took my head off for that one, but nobody could have blamed
me more than I blamed myself.”
“Yeah, well the point is, Rory, the man who kidnapped your brother was me. And my
brother, Aaron, got Nicky.”
Rory stared at him uncomprehendingly. “I-I don’t understand. How can that be?” “I’m not who you think I am, Rory. I’m Alpha of the Sapphire Pack. Look, I’ve got to just
come out and say this. I came to this compound for one reason—to kill you.”
Rory tilted his head slightly. “K-kill me?”
“I didn’t know you, baby. I only knew your name, but you killed my brother, Rory. We have
to face the fact and find a way to move on. The man you attacked when you shifted was my
brother, Aaron. He never had a chance against you in your wolf form, and you had to know that.” Rory was silent, still staring at Casey, looking as if someone had kicked him in the head. “I-I
protected my alpha’s mate. He was holding a knife to Nicky’s throat.”
“Aaron told me he was going to negotiate with Marco. Wasn’t that what he was doing?” “He had a knife, Casey, at Nicky’s throat.”
“But he hadn’t hurt anybody.”
“That didn’t mean he wasn’t about to. I did what I thought I had to do.”
“Doesn’t make it right.”
Rory snapped out of his daze. “You’re going to talk to me about what’s right? The two of
you kidnapped my brother and Nicky.”
“Be quiet. Don’t argue with me! I’m trying to tell you I have these crazy mixed-up feelings
about you. I came here to kill you before I knew you were my bloodmate. I took a vow of vengeance against you. How in the hell am I going to reconcile that with wanting to fuck you
every time you come close to me.”
“Fuck me, not make love to me? So you’re saying you don’t love me.”
“No, damn it! I do love you. That’s what’s tearing me apart. Suppose I’d killed your little
brother that day. On purpose. How would you feel about me?”
Rory shook his head. “It’s a totally different situation. My little brother was an innocent pet,
kidnapped away from his home. Your brother was a wolf who deliberately put himself into that
situation.”
“He was still my brother, and he didn’t have to die like that!”
“Well, I guess I’d have to try to forgive you then if it were me. If I couldn’t, then I’d reject
you as my mate.”
“Not a chance,” Casey said angrily. “Stop trying to get away from me. No, I can’t let you
go, but you have to be punished. It’s the only thing I can do to stay loyal to my brother.” “Punished? I’m not your child, Casey. Or your prisoner.”
“That’s exactly what you are. You’ll do as I tell you to now, Rory. I’m in charge, and it’s
time you learned that and took your proper role in this relationship. Now be quiet and say yes sir
like a good pet.”
Rory stood up abruptly. “You go to hell!” He began to pace around the room still stark
naked.
Casey could see the anger in his face. He watched him carefully.
“Don’t tell me to be quiet, like I’m some kind of slave here. You tell me you’re an alpha
who came here to avenge your brother’s death, that you’re the man who kidnapped my brother,
and oh yeah, you came here to kill me. And I’m supposed to do what? Kneel down and present
my throat for you to rip out? Or just kneel down and kiss your ass? Or maybe give you mine?” “Shut up, Rory, I’m warning you.”
“Warning me? What’s your plan, Casey? Gonna kill me now?”
Casey lunged up, crossing the room, hand out toward Rory’s throat. “Shut up, Rory!” Rory knocked his hand away. “No! I won’t shut up. I’m leaving!” He turned looked for his
clothes, swaying a little. “Where are my clothes?”
Casey pointed. Rory went over to the chair and held up a pair of the traditional leather pants
worn by pets before the rules had been relaxed. “I’m not wearing these!”
“You can stay naked if you like. Suits me just fine.”
“You know what I mean! I won’t wear these to go out!”
“Who said you were going anywhere?”