Johnnie

by Cardeno C.

  “I do too.” Hugh gently nipped on the puckered skin and then flicked his tongue over it. “I love how you push closer to my mouth and whimper, like you want more.” Moving away from the needy spot, he ran his tongue from Johnnie’s balls to the small of his back. “Do you want more?”

  “Want you,” Johnnie answered honestly. “Anything with you.”

  Hugh dropped his forehead to Johnnie’s back and caressed his flanks. “Lord,” he sighed. “I want to be worthy of what you see in me.”

  After a few quiet moments, Hugh parted Johnnie’s cheeks again. Only this time, when he pressed his mouth to Johnnie’s hole, he slid his tongue inside, tantalizing Johnnie’s nerve endings.

  “Ungh,” Johnnie moaned. “Yes.”

  Keeping his grip on Johnnie firm but not hard enough to hurt, Hugh continued loving him with his mouth, plunging his tongue in and out of his passage while opening and closing his lips over the sensitive skin outside it.

  With every pass of Hugh’s skilled tongue, Johnnie’s arousal heightened and soon he was rocking back and forth against Hugh’s face, gasping for air, and clutching the sheets. “Hugh,” he cried out as his groin tightened almost painfully. “I need to come.”

  “I’ll take you there.” Hugh slid two fingers into Johnnie’s saliva-slick passage, curled them, and pegged his gland.

  “Oh.” Johnnie’s chest heaved, his balls hardened, and his cock dripped. “Oh. Oh. Oh.”

  Continuing his erotic assault on Johnnie’s hole, Hugh curled his arm around Johnnie’s hip and took hold of his dick. That final touch was all Johnnie needed to fall over the edge into a body-numbing orgasm. He shouted with each pulse of his cock and then closed his eyes and gulped in air as aftershocks racked his body.

  “Look at you,” Hugh whispered into Johnnie’s ear as he curled his larger body over Johnnie’s. “So beautiful when you come for me.”

  When his heart stopped trying to pound out of his chest, Johnnie opened his eyes and met a dark, heated gaze. Hugh’s fingers were still buried inside him, but he now lay on his side with his leg flung over Hugh’s hip.

  “I thought you were going to”—Johnnie reached between them and wrapped his palm around Hugh’s hot, hard shaft—“give me this.”

  “I will,” Hugh said hoarsely. “But first I wanted to touch and taste you.” He brushed his lips over Johnnie’s. “You amaze me.” He slowly moved his fingers in and out of Johnnie’s hole. “You’re resilient and intelligent and giving.” With a pained whimper, he slanted his mouth over Johnnie’s, slid his tongue inside, and kissed him hungrily. “I don’t want you to get hurt today.”

  The all-pride Thanksgiving meal was that evening. When Hugh had announced the community celebration, everyone had been thrilled. It had been the talk of Berk for two weeks and during the last couple of days, pride members had worked to get the festival grounds ready, bringing noise and a flurry of activity to the area. If Larry and Dennis were watching Berk, they had to have heard about the event, which meant everything was going according to plan. But as the day approached, Hugh had kept Johnnie closer than usual, almost clinging to him, and while he enjoyed the affection, Johnnie didn’t want Hugh to worry.

  “I heal quickly,” he assured Hugh once again.

  “I know.” Hugh kissed Johnnie again, this time sucking on his tongue. “But I never want you to have pain.” He skimmed his free hand over Johnnie’s shoulders and back. “Not even a little.” He sunk his fingers deep into Johnnie and rubbed his thumb back and forth over the soft skin between Johnnie’s balls and hole. “I should be protecting you and instead I’m putting you in harm’s way.”

  “I like that,” Johnnie whispered.

  “This?” Hugh curled his fingers against Johnnie’s prostate at the same time he pushed his thumb down, putting pressure on the gland from the outside.

  “Ungh,” Johnnie moaned as his dick began hardening again. “I love the way you touch me, but I meant I like what you said.”

  “You like being put in harm’s way?”

  “I like that you want to protect me, that I’m important enough to you for my safety and feelings to matter. And you’re not putting me in harm’s way. You’re letting me help end a problem I had a part in starting.”

  “I already told you none of this is your fault.”

  “Thank you.” Hugh’s belief didn’t change the facts, but it did make Johnnie feel better, for which he was grateful. “Hugh?” he said, sliding his hand up Hugh’s shaft.

  “Yes.”

  “You’ll be near me tonight, watching, protecting. I’ll be fine.”

  Hugh grunted in acknowledgement, if not agreement.

  “Can we stop talking now?” Nothing they said would change what they had to do that evening but they didn’t need to leave the cocoon of their bed yet. “I need you.” Johnnie squeezed his ass around Hugh’s invading digits.

  “I need you too.” Hugh looked into Johnnie’s eyes, his expression grave. “Don’t forget that.” He gulped and then said, “Please be careful tonight.”

  “I promise.”

  After another few seconds gazing at Johnnie, Hugh started scooting down the mattress.

  “Where are you going?”

  When his mouth was level with Johnnie’s cock, Hugh said, “Here,” and then twirled his tongue around Johnnie’s glans.

  “I want—”

  “I know.” Hugh wiggled his fingers inside Johnnie’s hole. “I’ll suck you first, get you hard, and then we’ll make love.”

  Pride members occasionally looked at Johnnie strangely, and he suspected they were wondering the same thing Percy had mentioned in Hugh’s office almost a month earlier—why was Hugh limiting himself to sex with one lion and how could that be enough? But nobody else had seen this side of Hugh—the attentive lover who preferred to care for his partner rather than rushing toward his own release. And nobody else would see it. Just like nobody else would see Hugh worrying about harm coming to the pride. To them, Hugh projected a caring, albeit stoic persona, the ever-confident, strong Premier. Only Johnnie saw the vulnerability and passion inside the man.

  “Hugh?”

  With his lips wrapped around Johnnie’s cock, Hugh raised his gaze.

  “I love you.”

  Hugh’s eyes warmed, and he squeezed Johnnie’s hip with his free hand as he dropped his mouth lower, taking Johnnie’s length deep.

  Pleasure and desire swirled inside Johnnie, making him hunger for more sensation, more connections, more of Hugh.

  “I want to suck you too,” he said as he reached for Hugh’s head and shoulders, touching wherever he could reach. “Please.”

  Hugh swung his huge body around and curled his back so his dick was level with Johnnie’s face.

  With a lusty moan, Johnnie leaned forward and inhaled, absorbing Hugh’s strong, masculine scent. He cupped one hand under Hugh’s sac, the heavy balls barely fitting on his palm, and held his erection with the other. Thick and long with pulsing veins, Hugh’s beautiful cock was worthy of being worshipped so that was what Johnnie set out to do. He took the crown into his mouth and sucked, drizzling his saliva down the shaft as he stroked it.

  Reacting to Johnnie’s actions, Hugh groaned around Johnnie’s dick and pumped his fingers faster, adding friction to Johnnie’s passage. As Hugh ramped up his ministrations, Johnnie’s need elevated. They fed off one another, desire, passion, and pleasure growing until, with a growl, Hugh turned around, rolled on top of Johnnie, and slammed his mouth on Johnnie’s. He drew voraciously on Johnnie’s tongue, his hands everywhere, and then Johnnie heard fumbling on the nightstand moments before Hugh’s lube-slick fingers plunged back into his hole.

  “Hugh!” he shouted and tilted his hips up. “Yes!” He wrapped his legs around Hugh, propped his heels on Hugh’s back, and rode his fingers.

  Grunting and panting, Hugh fingered him quickly, slicked his own cock, and then sucked on Johnnie’s neck as he punched his cock deep inside Johnnie’s body.

&nbs
p; Johnnie arched his back and neck and gasped for air, the penetration breath-stealingly perfect.

  “So good,” Hugh rasped. “Everything with you…everything about you…so good.”

  Within moments, Johnnie felt the erotic spines sprout from Hugh’s dick, adding to the sensations of their coupling.

  “Oh Lord.” Hugh’s eyes widened and his expression looked almost pained. “I’ll never get used to that. So incredible.” He moved faster, thrust harder, and drove into Johnnie with unyielding pressure and focus. “Tell me this isn’t too much.” He gasped for air. “Tell me you’re enjoying it.”

  Even in this moment, with his hormones at a peak, Hugh thought of Johnnie and his needs.

  “Yes.” Johnnie blinked tears out of his eyes, the emotions between them overwhelming. “Give me more.”

  Roaring, Hugh rammed in and out, plundering Johnnie’s hole and opening him up to endless pleasure. He slammed his mouth back on Johnnie’s, biting, licking, and sucking on his lips. And just as Johnnie thought he couldn’t fly any higher, Hugh took his nipple between his fingers and twisted it.

  “Hugh!” Johnnie cried out as his body shook and seed shot from his dick in round after round of bliss.

  He heard Hugh yell, felt him shove inside one final time, and then the big body above him trembled as Hugh held him close and came inside him.

  “Johnnie,” Hugh whispered. He combed his fingers through the hair at Johnnie’s temples and gazed at him adoringly. “We’re going to be careful at the festival so you stay whole and healthy and we can come home tonight and do this again.”

  Johnnie choked out a laugh, his lungs still heaving too hard for the sound to be loud. “That’s great inspiration.”

  “Good.” Hugh grinned and rubbed the tip of his nose against Johnnie’s. “I’ll use whatever incentive I can to make sure my Siphon stays safe.”

  Chapter 18

  “Siphon!”

  Johnnie stopped walking toward the perimeter of the festival grounds and turned around.

  “I’m glad I caught you,” said Alexandra Harris as she hurried over to him. “I noticed you didn’t eat any green bean casserole so I made you a bowl.” Once she neared, she thrust her hands forward, food in one and a bottle of water in the other.

  Blinking in surprise, Johnnie looked down at the bowl she held and then back to her face.

  “Van Hartwick said you enjoyed green beans when you and Hugh ate at his pride house and Amy Young told me the same thing so I made my famous green bean casserole for you.” Her cheeks reddened and she glanced away. “I don’t mean famous famous but everyone says they like it so…” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I thought maybe with the buffet tables being so full you hadn’t seen it and that’s why you didn’t eat any.”

  He had been distracted during the meal, blindly filling his plate and then barely picking at his food while he waited for a reasonable time to leave the main gathering area. When some lions began clearing the tables to make room for dessert and several others stood to stretch their legs and drain their bladders, he made eye contact with Hugh, silently suggesting it was time to implement their plan. Once he got a tiny nod from his Premier, he got up and walked away, knowing Hugh would wait for a short time and then follow him at a distance. Certain his absence wouldn’t be noticed by the pride in celebration mode, he had focused only on his targets and hadn’t notice he was being followed.

  “You made this for me?” he asked, flicking his gaze to the food.

  “It’s potluck so technically it’s for everyone but I wanted to be sure I made something you’d like so I asked around.” She pushed the bowl and bottle against Johnnie’s chest and he instinctively took them.

  “Why?” As soon as he asked the question, he recognized how rude it sounded. “I mean, uh, thank you. That’s very thoughtful.”

  “I realize we don’t know each other because you were always hidden before so we didn’t see you, but now you’re part of things so hopefully that’ll change and we can be friends.”

  Alexandra had been a member of Berk before the merger, so her comment wasn’t in reference to how Johnnie had been confined while his birth pride had waited for him to come of age. And though Johnnie hadn’t technically been hidden while at Berk and had in fact attended every event with Hugh, he had felt invisible for all those years, so he wasn’t surprised others had perceived him the same way.

  Unsure how to respond, he opened and closed his mouth a few times before eventually stammering, “I, uh, hope so.” In truth, while he wanted the pride to see him as a person, maybe even as an equal, the only friendship that truly mattered to him was Hugh’s.

  “Am I wrong about the green beans?” Alexandra asked worriedly.

  Johnnie furrowed his brow in confusion.

  “You haven’t tried them.” Alexandra dipped her chin toward the bowl.

  “Oh,” Johnnie exclaimed. “Right.” He wedged the unopened bottle under his arm, picked up the fork, which had been tucked under the food, and scooped up some green beans. “They look wonderful.” He took a bite, chewed quickly, and swallowed. “Delicious.” The compliment was probably true and Johnnie did love green beans, but at that moment, he couldn’t focus on anything other than the shifters he was certain waited outside the festival grounds for a chance to take him and destroy Hugh.

  “I’m glad you like them.” Alexandra beamed. “I’ll make them next time you and Hugh come to a dinner at my pride home.” She paused, lowered her gaze to her feet, and hesitantly said. “But I’m not sure where that’ll be because, uh, I’m moving.”

  There was a story there, something she wanted to talk about, and while Johnnie itched to move forward with the plan, he couldn’t walk away when she so clearly needed something from him.

  “Why are you moving?” he asked.

  “Well.” She looked up at him and licked her lips. “It’s new so I haven’t told many people, but I’m pregnant.”

  “Congratulations,” Johnnie said sincerely. “So you’re looking at the pride homes for mothers with young cubs?”

  She nodded. “I’m narrowing it down right now and then I’ll go talk with the heads of a few of them, see if there’s room for me.” She paused and rubbed her stomach. “For us.” She cleared her throat and then whispered, “Can I tell you something?”

  “Sure.”

  Darting her head from side to side, as if to confirm nobody was near them, she stepped closer to Johnnie. “I know things before they happen. Not always, but sometimes. Not things but more like ideas.” She stopped rambling, shook her head, took a deep breath, and tried again. “I knew we were going to have that big storm last summer even when the sky was clear and blue the day before and lots of times I can tell when our older lions will be called to rest and—” She sighed. “I’m not making sense and everyone always laughs when I say this stuff so you probably think I’m crazy.”

  “No, I don’t.” Johnnie shook his head. None of them knew the limitations of their bodies or the gifts they held. His relationship with Hugh was proof of that. “Maybe you have sharper instincts or a closer connection to nature than the rest of us,” he suggested.

  Her expression brightening, Alexandra said, “I’m glad you understand. I didn’t tell anybody this because they won’t believe me, but”—she rubbed her belly again—“I can already feel him.”

  “You sense you’re having a boy?”

  “I’m far enough along that the ultrasound shows that.” She stepped even closer to Johnnie, their chests brushing. “My baby’s a Siphon.” She looked up at Johnnie, her face full of excitement. “They’d all think I’m nuts if I said that because there’s no test to show it and Siphons are so rare, but I know it.” She rubbed both hands over her stomach and smiled down at it happily. “It means I’ll have to say goodbye to him when he’s barely a man but it also means he’s valuable to the pride.” She glanced at Johnnie again. “That’s good, right? A Siphon is special.”

  Johnnie reeled from her announcement, n
ot the proclamation that she was carrying a Siphon, because that could be true or not, but rather her reaction to it. Having grown up holed away from danger, people, and life, he hadn’t known his mother and had assumed she didn’t care enough about him to introduce herself as the woman who bore him, but seeing the joy on Alexandra’s face while she talked about her unborn baby, Johnnie wondered if something else had happened. Maybe his mother had passed away when he was too young to remember, as so many lions had in their struggling pride.

  “You’ll help him, right?” Alexandra asked. “You’ll make sure he knows what to do so he can be a useful Siphon?”

  What he would do was make sure the cub was included in the pride instead of ignored. And when the time came for him to connect with a Premier, Johnnie would do anything he could to find him a man as honorable and caring as Hugh.

  “I will,” Johnnie assured her.

  “Thank you!” Alexandra flung her arms around him. The water bottle clunked to the ground and the nearly full bowl of beans upended on his shirt and drizzled onto his pants. “Oh no!” she shouted as she jumped back. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Johnnie picked off the bigger pieces of food and placed them back into the bowl. “I’m sure it’ll clean right up.” He squatted down, grabbed the bottle, and had an idea. “I’ll uh, just go over there.” He stood and tilted his chin toward the edge of the festival grounds, where he’d originally been heading. “And I can use this water to wash it off.” He held up the bottle.

  “It’s my fault. I’ll do it.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll have to undress and I, uh, prefer privacy.”

  “Oh.” Alexandra’s brow wrinkled as she pondered that statement. “That’s sort of strange, but after what I told you, I shouldn’t judge, huh?” She grinned and took the bowl from him. “I’ll throw this out and make sure nobody comes out this way, okay? When you’re cleaned up, come find me. I made praline pie for dessert and I’ll save you a piece.”

  Johnnie watched Alexandra for a few moments to make sure she didn’t decide to turn around and follow him. Once he felt confident she was returning to the eating area, he shook his head to clear it, refocused on his surroundings, and slowly walked toward the edge of the festival grounds. Inhaling deeply, he registered the familiar scents of Berk, the lions who lived there, and the food from that day’s meal. He had a flash of a foreign odor, but it was too light to make it out before it disappeared.