Takashi snorted softly, which turned into a moan when Zack used his free hand to slowly spread his ass cheeks.
“Come on,” Zack murmured, “be a good boy and tell me why you’re so fucking hard for me already.”
But Takashi buried his face in the comforter. Zack’s attunement to that mental journal page had too many flittering emotions, yet he spotted that thin fear growing larger. Rejection.
Zack eased his hand away from Takashi’s ass and trailed his fingertips over and down to his legs instead. “I know you want to be good for me.”
The inks were settling into patterns ofMOREanddon’t reject me.
Still no words, though. Zack sighed softly in disappointment and took the paddle up. One side was free of the silver studs, which was useful. First, he grazed Takashi’s lower back and then his right cheek with the silver studs, barely letting them touch him.
“Why?” Zack asked lightly.
Takashi mumbled something against the comforter.
Zack’s voice threatened to stick in his throat. Was he doing something wrong? According to what he was picking up, he wasn’t. He let out a deep breath, the action calming, if unnecessary for living. Carefully, he ran the paddle up Takashi’s other cheek. The silver was leaving thin red track marks that healed almost as instantly as they were made.
Takashi turned his head to the side and said breathily, “Because you’re hot.”
The answer shouldn’t have surprised Zack. Shouldn’t have split open another layer of his heart. Of course his boyfriends thought he was hot. Roger had spent plenty of time telling him he was handsome. This wasn’t the first time Takashi had been horny around him.
But he wasn’t the same as he’d been. He’d been mutated into thisthing—a vampire. Takashi had witnessed a panic attack overcome him, held him while he sobbed, and he was still offering himself up and professing his attraction.
I won’t disappoint him. Or me. Zack wasn’t sure he’d ever gotten so hard in his entire existence. He stroked his hand through Takashi’s hair and rested his hand at the base of his neck. As he let his thumb draw idle circles there, he drifted the paddle in the same slow circle around his ass. “That’s my good boy. Now, let’s see if I can get that other answer out of you.”
CHAPTER 22
Zack began with slow, light taps of the paddle. The silver was never against Takashi’s skin long enough to really burn him, but each brush of it brought a deep sting that soaked into Takashi’s bones. Not every stroke brought the silver either. Zack varied which side of the paddle he used.
Takashi bit into the comforter hard enough that his fangs sliced through fabric. He deserved this. Wanted this. While Zack had been in the bathroom, doubt had crept into Takashi’s heart. Thinking that he could push Zack into becoming a coven leader when he was freshly turned was a malicious ambition. An old fight with Sergei about overreaching had clouded Takashi’s resolve. Finding the toys in the closet had provided a solution. A little light punishment would take the guilt away.And prove if Zack has an ounce of what it will take to lead hundreds of vampires. He’d adopted a bratty persona in hopes of forgetting what he was: an ambitious bastard with no heart.
If you care about how he feels, then you have a heart, dumbass, his mind had tried to tell him.
Takashi hadn’t been sure Zack would step into the role of a dominant, much less use any of what was laid out on the bed.
But here he was, domming Takashi like he was born to it.
Takashi had his legs stretched wide, the plug in his ass. Only his tiptoes bracing him on the floor, the rest of his weight was held up by the bed. His poor cock was trapped under him, leaking from the slight friction he got with every spank. He lost track of how many smacks went across his ass. With his healing, physical pain was a fleeting thing.
Zack had found a way to make it last. Not in the strength of a hit—not even in using only the silver. His timing, the variance, the little ways he seemed to wait for the right moment. Takashi was losing too much focus to be able to check the strength of his mental walls. Was Zack using his power on him? Not directly. But he could be using it to gauge his actions.
Meaning he was purposefully practicing how to take Takashi apart.
Takashi moaned, the blanket in his mouth getting caught up in his fangs and tongue. He gagged on it.
Zack crawled onto the bed beside Takashi. He remained on his knees, so from Takashi’s angle, all he could see was a hint of his lean, powerful leg. When Takashi tried to tilt his head upward, Zack put a hand on the back of his neck. He rubbed a soothing circle. His voice held a gentle, commanding assurance when he spoke. “Takashi, open your mouth.”
Takashi’s eyes pricked with tears. Zack’s voice was so beautiful.
“I don’t know what happens when we swallow something we shouldn’t,” Zack continued. “Open your mouth.”
Takashi did.
“That’s my good boy.” Zack stroked his cheek while pulling the bits of comforter out of his mouth. “I’ll have to find a ball gag if you keep that up. Which would be a shame. I love hearing you moan.”
Eager for any touch, Takashi licked Zack’s fingers. Nimbly, Zack plucked the last of the comforter pieces from his mouth.Takashi was soaring, and the little bits of contact synced their minds. They weren’t tumbling into a lust feedback loop, not yet, but he could sense Zack’s growing wants. But because Zack probably didn’t know what those specifically were, all Takashi could read from him was the urge to claim anddevourin that unique way a dominant could take a submissive’s control and hold it.
“You’re such a gorgeous mess,” Zack whispered. “I’d be worried about those tears, but they’re good ones, aren’t they?” He stroked down from the top of his spine, skipping over where his hands were bound, down over his ass to rest between his thighs. “I can feel you calling for more, more, more. I’m so fucking thrilled you’re trusting me like this, Takashi. This is so fucking cool.”
