“Arslan says that humans are weaker than lions.We have to be careful with you and remember that it’s a master’s place to make sure his pet doesn’t get hurt,” Luther said.
Marrick didn’t look impressed with the explanation.“He’s wrong.”
Blaine met Luther’s eyes for a second.When he shook his head, he knew he spoke for both of them.Arslan wasn’t wrong, not about things like that.They’d learnt that much the hard way.
*
Marrick looked back and forth from one lion to the other.They were serious.It took him a few seconds to wrap his head around the idea.
“So, I’m the poor little sub, and you’re the big strong doms who are going to swoop in and rescue me and keep me safe from the whole world forever and ever?”he checked.
If they didn’t understand anything else about humans, they seemed to sense that his tone of voice meant something right then.Neither of them rushed to reply, but Marrick didn’t need them to—he saw the truth reflected very clearly in their eyes.
“You know, a few guys have told me things like that before—mostly my ex-boyfriends,” he said, his tone of voice not changing in the slightest.“It’s part of the reason they’re all exes now.”
Blaine snarled.Marrick wasn’t sure if that was because he’d mentioned having previous boyfriends, or if it was because he’d reminded them that they might become exes very quickly if they pushed him too hard on that particular subject.Either way, part of him loved the sound.
He wanted them angry with him—angry enough to forget that they had apparently been taught he was far too weak to play with them, angry enough to pin him down the way they did with each other—angry enough with him to make the adrenaline pound through his veins and make him feel alive in that special way that only a good dom and a rough scene really could.
Marrick looked around the room.Not there.The den’s meeting room was too full of Arslan’s dictates on how they were supposed to behave.Marrick needed them removed from that.
Turning away from them both, he picked up his bags from by the door.
Blaine’s hand wrapped around his forearm.“You’re not leaving.”His tone was far harsher than his grip.
“No,” Marrick said.“I’m not leaving.I’m going to bed.”
He could feel the lions’ hesitation as they tried to work out what was going on, but as he led the way up to the guest bedroom they’d been using, that wasn’t a problem.He didn’t need them to take the lead right then.There would be time enough for that when they were all on the same kinky page.
“The first night I came here, did you like having me tied up?”
Blaine nodded.Reaching out, he wrapped his fingers around Marrick’s wrist.His touch was too gentle, but the sight of a strong hand encircling his skin still went straight to Marrick’s cock.
“It is part of the tradition,” Blaine said, his voice barely more than a whisper as he turned Marrick’s hand this way and that, studying his hold on him from every angle.Luther stepped up next to them—his eyes feasting on Blaine’s grip on him.
“There’s no law saying you can’t tie me up other times, is there?”
“If a lion has to tie his pet up to be able to lie with him, then his pet—”
Marrick reached out and put his fingertips over Luther’s lips, stopping him short.
“Not because I want to get away, not so that I can’t stop you if I want to, just because I like it.”
Luther frowned.He didn’t get it.Marrick dropped his hand away from Luther’s lips as he tried to think of another way to explain it.Turning away, he tried to put a little bit of space between them in the vague hope his brain cells would work better on the other side of the room.
Blaine kept hold of his wrist, stopping him before he took a full step.“Like it, how?”
Marrick met his gaze and held it.“I like being tied up.I like someone else having that much control over me—knowing that he can do whatever he wants with me.”
“Like feeling like you belong to him,” Blaine suggested.“Like you’re his pet.”
Marrick took a deep breath.“Maybe.”It was the best he could offer either of them.
It seemed to be enough.He saw the triumph in Blaine’s eyes and the happiness in Luther’s.
A second later, Luther’s expression faltered.“You took the cuffs with you when you left us.”
“It doesn’t have to be real cuffs,” Marrick rushed to reassure him.“You can use whatever you want.”
