Master

by R Phoenix

  Even if everything in him was screaming that this was dangerous, that he needed to avoid it, that he needed to run away from all of it before everything went to hell.

  Alpha’s hand caressed along Caleb’s tail and over his ass to gently caress his balls before coming back to circle his now desperately empty hole. “I know you don’t want to talk, Pup, but I need you to. Once you talk to me and show me you understand, then I’ll make you feel so good, Pup.”

  “About what?” Caleb asked, his thoughts already gone far past what they’d been talking about before. He was more interested in that hand, in those fingers, than he was in anything else.

  Alpha chuckled, letting his fingers go still. “Talk to me about Liam and the asshole, Pup. Tell me you understand why I had to leave. Come on. I know your words and human side are still in there. You don’t have to do it for long. Show me Caleb, and then I’ll let you be Pup again.”

  Caleb heaved out a tremendous sigh. For a moment, he considered ignoring it. He wasn’t exactly big, and Alpha wasn’t exactly weak, but he could stay there in his lap and just enjoy the casual touch, couldn’t he?

  But something was calling to him, compelling and just beyond his grasp, and it made him shiver. His words. His human side. Were they really still in there? Sure, deep down, but they’d been shoved down so hurriedly and firmly that he hadn’t thought he’d let them expand again.

  Now…

  He took a deep, shuddering breath then looked up at Alpha, trying to focus on his eyes, on his mouth, on the man instead of everything else he was. Or rather, a part of what he was.

  It wasn’t making sense even to him.

  “How?” He was pretty sure the one-word answers weren’t going to be enough, but beyond that? He had no ideas.

  “That’s my Caleb.” Alpha laughed quietly, and his hands moved to wrap tighter around Caleb again. “Do you understand why I had to go? I don’t want you to think I wanted to leave you.”

  Oh, right. That part. It was hard to follow all of the words, but he was pretty sure Alpha had told him as much, in retrospect. It wasn’t a comfortable realization, and it wasn’t even one he wanted to have. He hesitated then nodded. “I don’t like him, Alpha,” he said, shivering at the thought of Liam’s sire, the man who always looked at him like he was a monstrosity.

  He wasn’t.

  He was just… a pup. Maybe he was the first of his kind, but somewhere deep inside, he knew he would be far from the last. Supes would be too interested—

  There. There. He grabbed hold of that thought and yanked, keeping himself above water with the simple series of thoughts. Simple, but so difficult for him, and he peered at Alpha with clearer eyes. “You had to go because Isaiah is a dick.”

  Alpha barked out a laugh as his head fell back and a smile burst over his face. “Oh, Caleb, I knew you were in there.” Still grinning, Alpha hugged Caleb tightly. “Yes, he’s a dick and thinks I’m going to eat him or something so I had to go. But I’m going to talk to Liam. I’m not going to let him chase me out of your life.”

  “You should eat him,” Caleb muttered. But he made a face at the thought. It wouldn’t be as pleasant as the scraps Liam gave him. The idea of trying to eat the old vampire sounded as appealing as eating old shoe leather. He paused, trying to pull himself back together, but he was just out of his own reach. He leaned up, wanting it but at the same time so afraid to let himself have it. “How can I help?”

  No no no.

  Alpha moved one hand to cup Caleb’s face. “First, is Liam taking care of you? I know things have to be hard with the asshole here too but are you okay?”

  No.

  Caleb nodded, burying his face against the hand and starting to drop again, drifting into the part of him that just wanted that touch, that would be okay with it and nothing else… It took him a moment to shake himself of it, and he let go with more than a little reluctance. “Yeah. A little hungry, but he doesn’t know how to feed me proper,” he said, a little defensive at the tail end of his words about his Master — who was trying, really, even if he wasn’t so good at this. “Mostly lonely,” he admitted.

  Alpha’s arms tightened for a moment before he forced a smile. “Liam still hasn’t figured out the measuring cups yet? He’s too stubborn. He just should’ve said he didn’t like the new ones.”

  A smile tugged at Caleb’s lips, and he nodded.

  Alpha’s hand started slowly caressing along Caleb’s back. “I’m sorry you’ve been lonely, Pup. I’m not going to let it keep going like this, though. No matter what the old asshole thinks, you’re not something that can be shoved aside. Liam knows that. He’s probably just scared of the old asshole too. Different flavors of crazy don’t always mix well.” Alpha sighed. “I’m going to fix things. You can’t be alone here all day long. Liam knows that.”

  “Have I said enough to get off yet?” Caleb asked a little petulantly.

  Alpha laughed again. The hand that had been absently petting Caleb’s back dipped lower to caress around the base of his tail. Alpha’s voice grew huskier, and Caleb could feel Alpha’s erection pressing against his side. “I don’t know. It’s been a while since I got to talk to you. I think I should make you wait longer.”

  His words said no, but the finger slowly circling Caleb’s hole said yes.

  Caleb was going to go with that… Body language had to count more than words.

  “Oh, you haven’t told me what you want yet. I knew there was something else.” Alpha’s teasing tone made Caleb want to whimper and beg and he fought to be still. “What does my pup want?”

  “You,” Caleb said immediately, “and don’t get fussy. That’s an answer.” More and more, he felt like he was coming back to himself, and it scared him. What if he had to go back under again? What if he couldn’t go back under again? What was he going to do in the long hours when no one was around and he was hot and lonely and hungry?

  Alpha’s laugher pulled him back from his fears. “That’s not an answer. but I’ll take it anyway.”

  The finger that had been making slow, distracting circles around Caleb’s tail and hole suddenly seemed to have a purpose. Alpha’s fingers held on to the base of Caleb’s tail with a firm grip. It made him feel trapped and owned, but Alpha’s thumb pressed right over the puckered entrance with just enough force to make Caleb whimper.

  He didn’t want endless teasing. He wanted to come, and he wanted Alpha to force out every worry.

  “Oh, my pup, look at you.” Alpha’s voice was tender as his other hand moved to pinch Caleb’s nipples.

  It was impossible not to move, so he didn’t bother to try staying still. He pushed forward and back — lack of lube be fucked — and he let out a moan.

  He’d felt so neglected since Master’s sire had come, as the man hadn’t dared fuck him with the elder vampire so near. And it wasn’t like he could get himself off, considering the mitts made grasping his cock impossible and humping the grass just wasn’t the same. He whined, torn between the urge to sink down into that primal headspace or into something more human, but either possibility terrified him.

  Instead, he leaned up and kissed Alpha’s collarbone, nipping the skin with a soft, encouraging moan. Alpha didn’t let him stop there. As Caleb pulled back a little, he brought his mouth to Caleb’s and gave him a tender kiss.

  Starting out slow even while his fingers stayed busy making Caleb crazy, Zain nibbled on Caleb’s lips and licked at the seam of his mouth until Caleb opened and gave him everything. Taking his mouth, Alpha kept up the tender assault and sent Caleb even higher.

  As Zain’s kiss deepened, he let his thumb barely breach Caleb’s body, sending shivers through him. The kiss left him breathless, but by the time they finally broke apart, Caleb was gasping out demands for more. “Fuck, Zain. You can’t tease me like that.”

  Zain.

  Caleb recognized it as something different, something new, but at the same time, it was so familiar. It was good in a way he hadn’t expected, and it was
just… good. Perfect. Fuck, the guy knew how to use his hands.

  Zain. Alpha. Zain.

  Could he be both?

  Zain just chuckled and gave Caleb another quick peck while he fucked Caleb shallowly with his thumb. “Oh, but I can. No lube, no fucking. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Caleb whined in frustration. He didn’t need to be commanded, trotting over to the edge of the patio and nudging the bottle that had gone far, far too long without use with his nose before barking sharply. “Hurry uuup,” he whined.

  Zain grinned, but reached down and adjusted his cock through his pants as he stood. Walking over to the patio, he leaned down and grabbed the bottle, tossing it up and watching it fall back to his hand. “Is this what you wanted?” Not bothering to wait for an answer, because he probably knew Caleb’s reply wouldn’t be polite at that point, Zain started slowly opening his pants.

  Caleb watched as Zain slowly released the button and started easing the zipper down. He could hear each tooth of the zipper as it separated from the rest, and all he could do was whine and wait.

  When Zain finally started shoving them down far enough to free his cock, Caleb’s mouth started to water. As he watched Zain take his time to squirt the lube out onto his hands and coat his cock with it, Caleb thought humping Zain was starting to sound better and better… anything to get to come faster.

  Zain was either loving making Caleb crazy or wanting to punish him for mouthing off, because when he moved to kneel down behind Caleb, his movements sustained the same unhurried pace. “You know, if you’d told me what you wanted earlier, I could already be inside you.”

  One slick finger thrust into him, chasing the demands and sarcastic responses right out of his mind.

  Which was really, really saying something, because Caleb had some great responses on the tip of his tongue. But if he uttered one of them, Zain might stop, and the way that finger curled to find that perfect spot made him want to do what he had to to get more.

  So much more.

  “More,” he demanded, not so much begging now, but more telling Zain. He wasn’t going to tolerate being teased and tortured for much longer before he just turned around and got himself off on Zain’s ankle.

  He would deserve to have to clean cum off his shoes for making him wait.

  The one rough finger pulled almost all the way out, and for one long moment Caleb thought he’d pushed Zain too far. But the rush of pain and pleasure that hit as Zain thrust two fingers deep inside of him had a gasping moan breaking from his lips.

  “That’s what you wanted. Fuck, I love watching you like this.” Zain’s husky words were thick with emotion, but all Caleb could focus on was the stretch — and the pleasure as Zain brushed over his prostate.

  When the two fingers no longer kept him breathless, and he started pushing back against Zain’s hands, arching his ass up for more. Zain added a third. “I should take this slower. I know I should draw it out and show you how much I missed you, but I can’t.”

  Caleb wanted to tell him it didn’t matter, and he didn’t want slow, but the words wouldn’t come out. When Zain finally pulled his fingers all the way out, Caleb wanted to howl in frustration. Relief flooded through him when he felt Zain’s cock press against him.

  One hand gripped his hips in an almost painful hold, and the other kept teasing at his tail, but when Zain slowly inched into him, Caleb didn’t care. He fought to push back and make Zain go faster but the bruising grip kept him still. “No, I’m not going to let you rush this, Caleb.”

  By the time Zain finally bottomed out and stilled, Caleb was shaking with need. Zain’s hands started to relax, slowly moving up and down his back. “So beautiful… God, I needed you… Not going anywhere again, Pup.”

  As Zain finally started to move, long strokes that dragged his cock right over Caleb’s prostate, Caleb whined and pleaded for more, “Zain… Please… faster… fuck… now…”

  Sentences were beyond him, and everything was flashing through his mind so fast he wasn’t even sure whether the words were right. But Zain must have understood his need because the thrusts took on a frantic note. It was all Caleb could do to hold on as the pleasure flooded through him. It’d been so long he couldn’t wait.

  Zain seemed to have felt the same way because the sounds he made as Caleb tightened around him were rough and frantic. When Zain stretched out over him and reached under Caleb to grab his cock, Caleb couldn’t hold back any longer. Permission or not, his orgasm flashed through him like an explosion and cum shot out onto the patio in long ropes. Broken curses escaped Zain as his strokes finally faltered and cum shot deep inside him.

  As their orgasms faded, Zain’s hold tightened. He held Caleb like he was afraid Caleb would disappear if he let go. When his cock started to soften, Zain eased them both down onto the patio and held Caleb, unwilling to move away yet. Zain pressed kisses against his neck and started rubbing slow circles over Caleb’s chest.

  “The first time I saw you, I thought you were the most fascinatingly beautiful man I’d ever seen. I kept expecting that to fade somewhere along the way. I thought it would get easier and I’d finally get some distance. But it never did. Every time I walked in that door and saw you, it got harder to walk away. No more walking away, Caleb. No matter what it takes, we’re figuring this out. We’re a family, and I won’t let anything keep us apart.”

  “Promise?” Caleb asked, his voice a little small. He cast a glance at the house through the sheen of darkness that had settled over the yard while they’d fucked. “I… Why did you bring me back?” he whispered, torn between bliss and fear over what this would lead to. “It was easier…”

  Zain sighed. “Maybe it’s selfish, but I brought you back because I need you. I can’t do this all on my own. I know this isn’t going to be easy, but I need you with me for a little while. Once it’s all settled and everything’s… planned out, then we’ll really talk about what you want and what makes you happy.”

  Zain’s hand came up, and he started trailing his fingers down Caleb’s cheek. “I love having you as my pup and running around happy. I love having you curled up beside me, lost in the easy pleasure of being a pup. I love seeing you hard and aching and knowing you don’t get to come until you’re allowed to. But I also remember how fun it was to talk to you and to see the knowledge in your eyes that you knew who I was, and I mattered to you. Not just the unencumbered puppy who loves his alpha but you… Caleb, who looked at me with passion and even anger sometimes. Maybe I’m selfish but I want it all, Caleb.”

  Zain pressed another kiss to Caleb’s cheek.

  “Please don’t hate me for loving all of you, Caleb.”

  Chapter Eight:

  Liam

  Somehow, Liam managed to wait until the two were caught up in some picturesque scene before he stepped out of the house, jealousy driving him out of his home and to his errant pet — pets, really, if he was going to count Zain.

  “You were informed that you are not currently welcome here,” Liam’s voice was stiff and flat. “And yet I see you here rutting on my bitch. It is good there will be no puppies.”

  He wanted to tangle his fingers in Zain’s hair and force him close. He wanted to kiss the man, to make him yield and remember that this was Liam’s home, and this was Liam’s pup. He knew he ought to be sending the ‘wolf away, banishing him like an apparition, but he didn’t even move toward them to try to uncouple the two.

  He was abruptly, ferociously… jealous. He’d been suppressing his libido, knowing how Isaiah would feel about him fucking his pup and unable to bear the idea of even more of his disgust, but it stirred then. They both belonged to him, and the air smelled of sex. If they both came, he deserved to come too, even if it was… an abomination.

  His sire was old-fashioned though, and he didn’t have to know what happened.

  Did he?

  Why did he care?

  With anyone else, he’d have flaunted — he had flaunted — his pets.

 
“Jealous much, Liam?” Zain seemed to make a show of pulling away from the pup, kissing his cheek one last time before moving to stand. The unhurried, methodical way he went about putting himself back together didn’t do anything to quell the jealous rage burning through Liam.

  When Zain finally had his clothes in order with his cock tucked back inside his clothes, he crossed his arms over his chest and gave Liam a long look. “We have to talk.”

  Caleb looked up at him as well, and there was unfamiliar wariness. His pup didn’t give him that look anymore.

  It was all he could do to keep himself from throwing the werewolf out. He was obviously a bad influence on his pup, and there was too much…

  “Do not accuse me of being… jealous, little ‘wolf,” Liam replied sharply, treating the word jealous as though it tasted bad — and it did. “You are the one here to fuck my pet, no? You are jealous of what I have and you do not.”

  Zain’s normally warm look held a sharp edge and one eyebrow went up. “Not how I would have phrased it. How about we say that I made love to the man you let me have a relationship with, even encouraging it, before you kicked me to the curb?”

  “What did we say about that word?” Liam demanded. “The Seer may claim that there is… love between you two,” and he very purposely excluded himself from that equation, “but she does not know everything. You were told to leave.”

  But he hadn’t wanted it to be, not really, not even for a little while. He had wanted to ask Zain to stay, but there had been the matter of his sire, who was looking at him a bit too closely and making him feel a bit too much like a child for his own comfort.

  Caleb made a coughing noise that sounded suspiciously like the word “bullshit,” and Liam turned his sharp eyes on him. He couldn’t quite keep the relief at bay, even though he oughtn’t encourage his pet to get an attitude with him.