Kefir crossed the room and sat on the edge of mattress next to Ellery, leaving just inches of air between them.“I’ve spoken with Ryland and Marrick many times since they joined the pride.”
“But you’ve never taken part in the games the other lions play with the sacrifices?”Ellery asked.
Kefir shook his head, suddenly realising that could be considered a problem.He looked down at the tiny strip of blanket visible between them.He wanted to reach out to Ellery so badly but kept his hands resting lightly on his own knees as he felt Ellery’s eyes rake over his skin.
Lions were expected to have experience with sacrifices, experience with humans.What they learned at the meetings of the pride kept the men they took to their beds safe.An inexperienced lion was dangerous.
Ellery’s fingers stroked against Kefir’s jaw, pulling him out of his thoughts and guiding him to look up.He didn’t look disappointed in Kefir’s lack of experience, or scared by it, either.His scent made Kefir wonder if perhaps he liked the idea of taking an untrained lion to his bed.
“You’ve thought about it?”Ellery suggested, in that same calm, controlled tone.“You’ve imagined yourself in the place of one of the men playing on the rug in front of the fire?”
Kefir nodded.He’d imagined it almost every hour of each day since Ellery had walked out of the den the previous week.
Back in his own flat on the other side of the town, Kefir had tossed and turned his way through every night, unable to push the thoughts out of his head.His hand had worked his dick, and his cum had spilled against his skin.He’d found himself no longer able to achieve real satisfaction on his own, but even knowing that, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.
“And whose place did you imagine yourself in?”Ellery asked.
Kefir blinked at him.
“Did you picture yourself taking the lion’s usual role or did you imagine yourself in the human’s place?”
For just a brief moment, Kefir’s eyes dropped closed.The images that had teased him all week rushed to greet him.Ellery’s body covering his as he lay on the rug.Him kneeling with his hands spread out on the rug before him as Ellery—
Kefir snapped open his eyes.In all the times he’d seen the lions playing with their sacrifices, there was only one kind of man who’d found himself pinned beneath his lover, only one person who’d shuffled his knees further apart on the carpet, offering his body to another guy that way.It was never a rule that had been spoken about, but it was the way it always was.
The light in Ellery’s eyes burned brighter as he seemed to realise what Kefir’s answer was going to be without him needing to say it.
Kefir frowned slightly.The images had seemed so natural inside his head, he hadn’t even noticed how different his fantasies were from what seemed to be the usual way of things between shifters and their pets.
“Do you mind?”he asked, as he tilted his head to one side and studied his pet for any sign of disappointment.
Ellery chuckled.
Glad that his human was happy, Kefir returned his smile, even if he had no idea what was so funny.
Ellery slid his hand against the nape of Kefir’s neck, encouraging him to tilt his head back as he pulled him closer.Their lips met perfectly.Ellery’s mouth strong and determined against his, unlike anything Kefir had ever felt and better than anything he’d been able to imagine.Ellery’s tongue traced the line of Kefir’s lips, nudging against the seam between them until Kefir cautiously let him in.
Kefir whimpered as an impossibly soft human tongue explored his mouth.Ellery’s fingers caught at Kefir’s hair, holding his head still, not allowing him to move in any way that Ellery didn’t completely approve of, in any way his pet didn’t approve of…
Except, no matter how hard he tried to remember that Ellery was supposed to be his pet, that all humans were supposed to be pets when they became involved with lions, the word seemed less like the truth every time Kefir tried to apply it to Ellery.
Unable to leave his hands resting idle a second longer, Kefir reached out.His hands skittered over Ellery’s shoulders.He’d rested in a mess of limbs with other members of the pride so many times.Lions all knew how to fit their bodies together and be comfortable with each other, but right then, he had no idea where to put his hands or what he should be doing with them.
All he could think about was Ellery’s mouth against his.Kefir warily lapped against Ellery’s tongue, tasting him, tentatively exploring him in return.Ellery allowed it, to an extent.He let Kefir kiss him back, but he pulled away when Kefir attempted to take any sort of control of the kiss.
For reasons Kefir didn’t quite understand, when Ellery leaned forward and let their lips meet again, that just made the kiss even better.Not truly interested in trying to take control, Kefir let Ellery lead them in whichever direction pleased him, until he finally broke the kiss.
Kefir blinked up at him, his head muzzy with unfamiliar pleasure.
“Is that the first time a man ever kissed you?”Ellery asked, brushing his knuckles against Kefir’s cheek.
Kefir nodded, licking his lips as if there might be some way he could lap up every single sensation and keep it on his tongue forever.
“What else haven’t you done before?”
Kefir tilted his head to the side a little as he tried to work out an answer to that.
Ellery smiled slightly.“Would it be easier if I asked you what you have done with another man?”
