“Youbastard!” He hissed, smacking at his back. “I’m not a child!”
Leviathan shrugged, jostling him. “Then stop pouting like one.”
“I am not pouting.” He fought the urge to cross his arms and prove his point. “This is a very big turn off, you know.”
Leviathan made a soft, considering sound and then their clothes vanished. He gasped at the suddenness, his face heating. Less than a second later, Leviathan’s hand was on his ass, squeezing lightly. He winced, his face growing even hotter when his claws scraped against him. A little sizzle of magic moved around them; Cullen relaxed a bit when he felt the claws shrink and vanish, though Leviathan’s hands remained large and strong against him.
“If it’s such a turn off,” Leviathan murmured, sliding his fingers to his entrance, “Let me help keep you entertained while we walk.”
“Hang o–” He broke off with a gasp as one of those long fingers pressed into him, his hands clawing at his back when it curled inside of him. “Levi…”
He ignored the whispered plea, his fingers teasing him gently as he walked. Cullen squirmed, trying to find his voice, but failing quickly, giving himself over to soft moans instead, his hips rocking back and forth against Leviathan’s shoulder. Slowly, he forced his eyes open, letting them take in the tail that swung delicately behind Leviathan as he walked and the rough scars just inches away… He smiled deviously and stretched to press a kiss between them, a little thrill shooting through him when Leviathan sucked in a breath.
He said nothing though, continuing his light teasing as he walked calmly through the palace. His pace remained slow and even, though Cullen could feel that his skin wasgrowing warm. Could hear that his pulse was starting to race his own.
Cullen remained silent as well, his face burning and his body growing far too worked up from this gentle teasing. He could have shouted with relief when they finally walked into Leviathan’s bedroom, the door slamming closed behind him with the flick of one of Leviathan’s shadows.
Cullen expected to be tossed onto the bed–but Leviathan brushed past it without a glance, heading across the room.
“Where–” Leviathan slammed his fingers deeper into him, making him break off with a breathless groan.
A door opened and the scent of blood hit him hard. Cullen gasped, his mouth watering and that wave of darkness sweeping over his mind just like it always did. Leviathan came to a stop, his hand moving away from him; seconds later he had put Cullen back on his feet, his face unreadable as he let go of him. Cullen spun away without a word, his face burning, but froze when he saw the room they’d walked into.
It was a wide cavern with a low ceiling. Dark and warm, the air moist and the scent of blood overwhelming. Across the room a huge pane of glass took up the entire back wall, revealing the starry sky. And just a few feet away, a large pool of dark blood filled the space on the floor, the liquid still and fresh and…welcoming. Cullen felt his throat move in a hard swallow.
Darkness pulsed through him, wrapping around his mind like a shroud, pulling him deeper and deeper…
Cullen.
The word was a command, pulling him back to the surface. Slowly, he inhaled, breathing in the strong scent again, and turned to Leviathan in surprise, his face pinchingwith worry.
But he was smiling, looking quite pleased with himself. “I will train you not to lose yourself to the darkness later, pet. But, for now, how do you like my bathing chamber?”
He swallowed again, blinking slowly. “You bathe in blood?”
A soft sound of amusement left him. “Occasionally.”
He exhaled slowly. “It’s…a lot.”
“I know. That’s why I waited until I knew you were mine.”
He hesitated. “Where does the blood come from?”
A short, hesitant pause. “Let’s not get into all that. Do you like it?”
Cullen hesitated again, staring at the dark, inviting liquid, every human part of his mind screaming at himno no no. He should run. He should run away screaming and never come back.
But…
“Yes.” He admitted quietly, his eyes dropping to the floor. “I like it.” He felt Leviathan’s mind prodding at his, searching for the truth. Cullen let him see that itwasthe truth. That this was intriguing and hot, even if all the good parts of him were telling him to get the hell out of here.
“Come.” Leviathan took his hand and led him towards the edge of the pool. Cullen stumbled after him, swallowing hard as he fought another wave of darkness.
They paused at the edge of the pool, Leviathan stepping into it with one smooth move. Cullen watched with wide eyes as he sank in up to his waist, the blood leaving dark streaks across his skin when he turned back to help him in. Cullen hesitated, eyeing the pool nervously, and Leviathan gave him a wicked smile, tugging him down so that he fellinto his arms. Cullen cried out, clinging to him, though no part of him had touched the pool, not with all four of those massive arms cradling him. Leviathan only chuckled and turned, moving across the pool to the far side of the room, where that giant glass wall loomed.
He tensed as the pool grew deeper, a soft gasp leaving him when his toes hit it. It was warm. Hot, really. As if it had just been cut from the body of a living person.
He tried not to think too hard about it.
