“I’m clean, Master! Ipromise.”
Master. One word that set everything right. Marcus grinned, dipping his head forward to press a kiss to the back of Lucian’s head. “Good boy. Let me dryyouoff.”
Marcus left Lucian standing in the shower. He took a towel for himself, patting his face dry and running a cursory pass of the towel over his arms and torso before wrapping it around his waist. When he was done, he selected a second towel from the rack by the shower, shaking it out before he turned to face Lucian. Lucian watched him from beneath the shower spray, eyelids heavywithlust.
“Turn off the shower and come here,” Marcusdemanded.
Lucian did ashesaid.
Water beaded on his skin, some of the fatter droplets running tracks down his chest or arms. Lucian was slender, but his build was impressive. A tight, toned stomach suggested that he worked to maintain his appearance. Marcus didn’t linger on that thought. He focused on patting down Lucian’s arms to test their firmness and absorbing the water from his body instead. When he arrived low on Lucian’s stomach, Marcus’ touch became more thorough. He ran the towel along Lucian’s shaft, gripping him through the fabric to push him just a littlefurther.
“You will always keep my cock clean,” Marcus instructed as he gripped Lucian, drying him. “You will always have my hole prepared, in case I want touseit.”
“I will,” Lucian promised, his voice small, but sharp withexcitement.
“My bedroom is across the hall.” Marcus released Lucian’s shaft, moving the towel down his thighs to collect what water remained there. His hair was already starting to dry. “You will wait on the bed for me, face in the pillows, arms folded on the mattress, ass in the air. That is how I deserve to be greeted when I come to bed. Do youunderstand?”
“Yes,Master.”
Marcus took a small step back. Face stern, he gauged the look in Lucian’s eyes to make sure he wasn’t taking things too far too soon. Certain clues, like the way Lucian had performed for him the first night they were intimate in the alley, led Marcus to believe that he wasn’t inexperienced in being a sub, but that didn’t mean that lines couldn’t be crossed. Marcus cared for Lucian. He refused to see him hurt. If Lucian began to suffer, the gamewouldend.
But Lucian wasn’t suffering. His lips were loose and his eyes were lidded and dewy. The same shine Marcus had seen in his complexion during Lucian’s heat had returned, a hallmark of his arousal. Lucian’s body wanted Marcus as much as his mind did, and seeing it manifest in his features was more powerful than any utterance of “Master”couldbe.
“Go now,” Marcus told him. “Waitforme.”
Luciandid.
Once Marcus was alone, the bathroom door shut and Lucian well on his way to the bedroom, Marcus took his phone from the back pocket of his pants and sent a simple message to a dearfriend.
I’ll be bringing a +1 to thewedding.
Marcus reread the message andsmiled.
Lucian belonged to him, but Marcus’ heart was Lucian’s through andthrough.
20
Lucian
The pillows were freshly laundered.The floral notes of fabric softener masked Marcus’ scent, and Lucian hated it. Horny, hot, and needing Marcus more than he’d needed anyone before, he wanted to breathe in his alpha and forget that anything else existed apart from the two of them. That need ached inside of him, pushing him to disobey and seek Marcus’ scent elsewhere onthebed.
Before Lucian broke Marcus’ trust, the bed shifted as new weight was introduced. Lucian lifted his ass a little higher, his legs spread so Marcus could see the way his balls hung and how his cock bobbed. Marcus’ firm body pushed against him from beneath, and Lucian bit into the pillow to keep from pleading with Marcus to put it insideofhim.
He’d never wanted someone so much inhislife.
“Lift your head only slightly,” Marcusinstructed.
Lucian did as he was told. His face parted from the pillow, and for a second he could see the crisp black pillowcase and the minuscule weave of its fibers—but only for a second. In the next moment, his sight was stolen from him. Silk stretched across the bridge of his nose and caressed the sides of his face at the same longitude as his eyes. It secured itself firmly behind his head, and Lucas felt as a knot tightened there to hold it in place. He’d beenblindfolded.
“Everything about you is mine.” Marcus’ voice was clearer than it had ever been, and although it was not unkind, it offered no room for discussion. “Your body. Your mind. Yoursight.”
Lucian shuddered. The words rendered him helpless, his cock aching and neglected as his body longed for more. The things Marcus said turned him on as much as histouchdid.
“If I decide you shouldn’t see, you won’t see.” Marcus’ hand met the back of Lucian’s head, and gentle pressure pushed Lucian’s face back to the pillows. “If I decide you shouldn’t speak, you won’t speak. And if I decide to let you free…” It wasn’t Marcus’ hands that found Lucian’s wrists, but something much coarser and unforgiving—rope. It wound tightly, and Lucian’s hands brushed against the wooden frame of the headboard as he was secured to it. His heart raced. “… I’ll let you free. Until then, you will serve me as I want you toserveme.”
Lucian’s fingers wove around the post of the headboard. He gripped it tightly, like doing so might make the rest of his body stop trembling inanticipation.
Itdidn’t.
