“Arslan says…” He hesitated then, as if he expected to be interrupted, but Ellery forced himself to stay silent and let the boy continue.“He says things are the way they are for good reasons.”
“That’s nice.”And completely irrelevant—Ellery let his tone of voice tell that part of the story.
Kefir stared at him, curiosity shining in his eyes.He looked down then, to watch his fingers trace patterns on Ellery’s chest.“I’ve never met a human like you.”
Ellery rearranged them slightly, encouraging Kefir to kick off the tatters that were all that remained of his jeans and curl comfortably into his side, but he didn’t go so far as to move them off the floor.Kefir seemed quite content there, and learning was far more important than moving.
“Are there lots of humans like you?”Kefir whispered after a little while.
Ellery laughed.
If Kefir didn’t understand his amusement, at least he didn’t seem offended by it.
“Are there lots of lions like you?”Ellery tossed back at him.
Apparently, lions weren’t hot on sarcasm, because Kefir considered the matter very carefully before shaking his head.
Ellery stopped chuckling.
“Most lions are more like Luther and Blaine.Some of the leaders of the different prides are more like Arslan.I don’t think there are many lions that are like me at all.”
Ellery nodded.Not just the only submissive in his pride, but one of the few in his species by the sound of it.
“Do you mind?”Kefir asked, softly.
“I wouldn’t be interested in you if you were like them.”
Kefir pulled away then, to sit up on the floor next to him.“You’re interested?”
Ellery bit back a smile, not willing to let it loose until he was sure they were on the same page.“I’m not interested in being anyone’s pet or anyone’s sub.”
Kefir nodded, very seriously.
“But I am interested in you.”Except interested wasn’t truly a strong enough word.He’d been interested in a lot of men over the years.He hadn’t been fascinated by one before.
“In being my…” Kefir looked for a word that fitted, but he didn’t seem to have one in his vocabulary.
Master.But Ellery forced himself to ignore the part of him that wanted to use that word from the very first moment.“Dom,” he said instead.
One step at a time.Even if there was part of him that knew that’s what he would become in due course, there was no reason to throw it all at the boy in one fell swoop.Someone like Kefir needed careful handling, a gradual introduction into a world that he had no knowledge of.
“Like a master?”Kefir asked, cautiously.
And omission was one thing, but there was no way in hell Ellery could bring himself to actually lie about it.“Yes, very much like a master.”
“If you were my master, that would make me your pet,” Kefir pointed out.
“Yes.”
Kefir took it all in, seeming to think it all through very thoroughly.“Your sub,” he ventured.
“Yes.”
The little lion nodded his understanding.“I think…I think I might like that.”
Success rushed through Ellery, harsh and electrifying.Sitting up, he rolled his shoulders to work out the knots that had been pushed into them by the hard floor.Reaching out to Kefir, he stroked his fingers through his hair, taking a tight grip on the short blond strands in the process.When he tilted the little lion’s head back and brought their lips together, Kefir didn’t even try to take control of the kiss.
His submission was completely instinctive.Ellery was all for having a well-trained man kneeling at his feet—far better that than a badly trained man.But he’d have been lying if he’d said that any amount of training could take the place of that natural instinct to submit.
