“Maybe hurt in the way you like things to hurt,” Blaine said.It sounded like he still had reservations, but when Marrick met his eyes, his desire was unmistakable.
“Yes.”It was the only thing Marrick needed to say.
Within minutes, he was naked in the bedroom, face down on the bed with two equally naked lions kneeling on the mattress, studying his back as if it were a blank canvass created especially for them.
Mark him for real.Not just scratches that would heal in a few days, marks that might last for weeks, maybe even longer.Perhaps even the kind of scratches that would turn into scars that would always linger under his skin.For the first time in his life, Marrick realised that the idea of something that might last forever didn’t scare him—at least not in a bad way.
Fingers trailed over Marrick’s back first, marking out the lines they wanted to create.He took a long, slow breath and did his best to relax.He wasn’t sure how deep the scratches would be, how much that kind of mark would hurt, if it would be fast like a whip, or a long drawn out movement that he’d have to grit his teeth and breathe through.
When they came, the claws that traced along his skin were far lighter than he expected, more like place holders for the real thing than the actual marks they were about to put on him.
A glance over his shoulder and he saw the war playing out in the lions’ eyes.They both wanted it just as much as him, but he could see that he wasn’t the only one who was afraid.
“It doesn’t have to be tonight,” Marrick said gently, not sure how to tell them how much he loved them for even thinking about it, for wanting to do it for him.
“As your promises are kept, we’ll make them again, a little deeper.And again, when those marks have healed, they’ll be made again,” Luther suggested.
Marrick nodded against the pillow.“I like that—the idea we’ll earn the marks together.”
Blaine purred gently against Marrick’s back as he rubbed his temple against his shoulder blade.When his claws returned to his skin, the scratches they layered over the initial markers were deeper, enough to break the skin.Enough to draw blood.Marrick gasped.His whole body tensed as the claws slowly made their way down his back.
“Too much?”Blaine asked, his voice rough with emotion.
Marrick shook his head against the pillow.“Amazing.”
A second later, another curve drew its way down the other side of his back, just as deep, just as perfect.Marrick doubted they would leave the kind of permanent marks he’d love, but they were a damn good start.
As the lions dipped their head and lapped at the wounds, Marrick lay still and silent, letting their lips and tongues play over him.Each rough lick went to his cock, adding to the frustration the scratches had already created inside him.
”You know,” Marrick said over his shoulder, when he was sure that one more lick would either send him crazy or make it impossible for him to resist the temptation to hump the bed.“There’s more than one way for you both to prove I belong to you.”
“I want to tie you up,” Luther whispered into his ear.
Marrick had been thinking more about screwing than bondage, but he nodded his complete approval of the idea.
Bounding off the bed, Luther tipped out a drawer in the dresser opposite them and snatched up a blindfold and a pair of cuffs, rather like the ones Marrick had been wearing when he’d been delivered to the den for the first time.
“Role play?”Marrick asked.
Luther tilted his head onto the side, as if he didn’t understand what the term meant.
“I pretend I’m being thrown to the lions for the first time, you get to claim me for the first time all over again—maybe do what you would have done if you weren’t so worried about being careful or if you knew you’d stumbled on someone who was capable of playing the game properly.”
For a few seconds, two sets of feline eyes just stared at him.Then, the two lions turned toward each other.Without any warning, Marrick found himself picked up and deposited just inside the front door of their flat, hands quickly bound behind his back, blindfold over his eyes.Then, both the lions disappeared.
Marrick took a deep breath and let it out very slowly.He hadn’t been too nervous that first night he was thrown to the lions, just excited.Marrick had no idea why the hell he should be wary right now, but he was.
And the little sods made him wait, getting more and more nervous by the second.Knowing they’d be able to tell that from his scent didn’t help.The blow, when it finally came, knocked him forward onto the floor.He couldn’t even put his arms out to break his fall.A naked man landed heavily on top of him, pinning him to the floorboards, making it impossible to take a breath to replace the air that had just been knocked out of his lungs.
Another set of hands found their way onto his skin.There was little gentleness in the touch, but there was control in it.Even if the lions didn’t want him to see it, it was still there.But knowing that didn’t dim the pleasure the strong grip sent spiralling through Marrick as the lions manoeuvred him into whatever position they’d decided they wanted him to be in.
Head down, arse up.Rough hands pulled Marrick’s knees further apart on the hard floor.His cheek rubbed against the smooth floorboards as his hands opened and closed behind his back, reaching for something, anything that might be within his grasp.
Slicked fingers stroked against his arse, preparing him quickly.Gasping, he pushed back against the digits, silently begging them to work even faster inside him.
The noise of a condom wrapper being torn filled the air.
“You don’t have to.”
