What He Craves

by E. M. Denning

  Steve lowered himself to his knees. He pulled Matt’s cheeks apart and swiped his tongue over Matt’s pink pucker.

  “Holy fuck.” Matt’s hips bucked, and he moaned when Steve did it again. Matt locked his elbows and Steve watched his arms tremble when he kissed his way up Matt’s crease. “Oh, God. Oh, shit. Fuck, yes.” Matt punctuated each kiss with a different curse.

  Steve kneaded Matt’s ass cheeks and swirled his tongue around Matt’s hole. Matt babbled incoherently. His legs shook. His whole body trembled, and Steve loved every glorious minute of it.

  Steve stood. He ran his hand across Matt’s lower back. “Stay put, Matty.”

  Matt sucked in several deep breaths before he was able to answer. “Yes, Master.”

  Steve went to the cabinet and retrieved a condom which he slid into his pocket, a bottle of lube, and a butt plug. It wasn’t too big, and Matt would be able to take it easily. Steve grabbed a paddle. He spun it in his hand and tested the weight. It wasn’t too heavy and would be good for a first timer if Steve felt Matt could take it.

  He returned to Matt and stood behind him. His fingers grazed Matt’s side as he slid an arm underneath him. Steve’s hand travelled up Matt’s quivering body, and he pulled him into a standing position. He wanted to taste his boy. He wanted to kiss lips that those beautifully desperate sounds poured out of.

  “Give Master your mouth, darling.”

  Matt’s head turned, and Steve captured his mouth. God, he was beautiful. His body molded against Steve’s. Matt melted into Steve’s kiss. When Steve nipped Matt’s bottom lip, Matt’s hips thrust, and he pressed his ass against Steve’s rigid cock. Steve pulled away slowly, not missing the wild look in Matt’s eyes.

  Steve reached around and brushed his fingers against the nipple clamps. Matt was new to them and Steve didn’t want to leave them on for too long. When Steve removed them, Matt gasped and fell forward into Steve’s waiting arms. His mouth hung open in a silent, breathless scream as the blood rushed back to his aching nipples. When he did find his voice, it sounded strained and overflowed with bliss.

  “Thank you, Master.”

  “Put your hands back on the bench, Matty.”

  Matt didn’t answer, maybe he couldn’t, not with any sort of volume. He was already half out of his mind with lust and breathless from Steve’s kisses and the pain of the nipple clamps being removed.

  Steve drizzled lube on two of his fingers. Matt needed to be opened for him. Steve started with one finger and slid it in at an agonizingly slow pace. He pulled it out at the same slow speed. Matt grunted and moaned. He keened and whined. Then begged.

  “Master. Please. God. Fuck. Please. I need it.” Matt’s arms shook, and his chest heaved. He gasped for air when Steve slid two fingers inside Matt. Steve’s other hand sat on Matt’s lower back, just above his ass. Steve scissored his fingers a few times. His cock ached it was so hard.

  Steve pulled his fingers out and lubed the plug. He teased Matt’s hole with it. Inserting it a little, then pulling it out. When Steve slid it all the way in Matt let out a low moan. His body swayed, and Steve steadied him.

  “Matty? How are you feeling?” Steve rubbed a hand up and down the length of Matt’s back as the other held him still.

  “Good,” Matt whined. “So good. Fuck.” His head swished from side to side, but he seemed steadier on his feet now that he’d had a moment to get used to the plug.

  Steve rubbed the globes of Matt’s ass. “Are you ready, Matty? Are you sure you want this, my sweet boy? I’m going to spank you, and I’m not going to be nice. I’m going to warm your ass up, and then I have a nice paddle I’m going to use.”

  “Please.” Matt rocked back and forth. “Please, Master. Please. I want it.”

  Steve grinned and started in on him. He’d thought of putting Matt over his knee and spanking him that way, but he wanted to see as much of him as possible.

  Matt got no warning. Steve brought his hand down on his left cheek and Matt cried out. His head snapped back, and he thrust his hips.

  “Like that, did you?” Steve chuckled darkly. He didn’t expect Matt to answer that, but he did. His voice was thick and gravelly, and it had a needy quality in it that kicked Steve’s lust up another notch.

  “Fuck yes. More, Master. Please.”

  Steve smiled sweetly, and he brought his hand down on Matt’s other cheek. He rubbed Matt’s ass, soothing the sting, then started again. He built a rhythm, alternating between the cheeks, then soothing the sting. He kept a careful eye on his boy and his reactions, but he saw nothing but bliss. Steve massaged the hot muscles, then slid his hand into the front of Matt’s leather jock.

  “God, you’re absolutely dripping.” Steve leaned forward and planted a kiss on Matt’s back. He gripped the jock and tugged it down, finally freeing Matt’s cock.

  Steve felt the heat from Matt’s ass through his pants. He gripped Matt’s hips hard and ground his erection against Matt’s crease.

  “Ten good hard spanks with that paddle. Do you think you can do it without coming?”

  “Yes, Master.”

  Steve got the paddle. He moved his wrist in a slow circle. He kept his left hand on Matt, in case he needed to catch him. His boy was doing remarkably well, better than Steve had ever dared to imagine. He brought the paddle up. It connected with a crack that sounded like a gunshot.

  “Ung. Fuck. Oh, shit yes.” Matt keened. His head thrashed back and forth.

  Steve brought the paddle down on the other cheek.

  Matt threw his head back. His knees trembled, and his hips thrust, then he melted back into position with a long, low moan. Steve alternated cheeks. Left. Right. Each strike of the paddle made Matt cry out. His body quivered and shook. He couldn’t wait to get out of his pants and inside his boy.

  Steve brought the paddle down for its tenth and final strike, then it clattered to the floor. Steve yanked his zipper down and pulled his cock out of his pants. He granite-hard cock had soaked the front of his pants with precum. He hadn’t been this turned on since he was a teenager. As quick as he could, he rolled the condom down his cock.

  “I need you so fucking bad, Matty. You have no idea.” Steve lubed the condom. He smoothed his hand over Matt’s cherry-red ass cheeks, then slowly removed the plug and tossed it aside.

  Steve gripped Matt’s hips and lined up. He pressed the head of his cock against Matt’s hole, then thrust inside him in one fast and fluid motion that had Matt’s hands flying off the spanking bench. Steve wrapped his arms around Matt and pulled him to his chest. He needed more contact. He needed to touch Matt everywhere, to mark him everywhere. Matt was his. The collar around his neck proved it.

  As Steve thrust his hips, he promised himself that he’d get Matt something nice, something he could wear all the time. Steve kissed Matt’s neck right above the leather. He used one arm to keep Matt pinned to his chest. He wrapped his free hand around Matt’s cock.

  “Come for me, my sweet boy.” Steve thrust into Matt. He kept him pinned tight to his chest while his hips snapped, and his own orgasm barrelled through him. Matt’s cries mingled with his own. Matt’s tight passage clamped down harder as Matt came. When Matt stopped thrusting and moaning, Steve gently pulled out, then scooped his spent lover up into his arms.

  Matt, even sated and limp, managed to throw his arms around Steve’s neck and bury his face against Steve’s chest. Steve carried him across the room and to the bed where he gingerly laid him down.

  Steve quickly disposed of the condom. He got rid of his shirt and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. He tossed them on the bed, then grabbed some cream to rub into Matt’s reddened ass before returning to Matt. Steve climbed onto the bed and quickly rubbed Matt’s flaming ass with the soothing cream before gathering him into his arms. Steve would have to remember to tip the cleaning crew. Although the rooms always got a thorough scrubbing after they were used, Steve usually cleaned up after himself. Today however, his only concern was taking care o
f Matt.

  Matt’s head tucked in under Steve’s chin. Matt’s breath puffed against Steve’s chest as he let out a happy sigh. Steve rubbed Matt’s back and let him drift off. He’d do a more thorough inspection of Matt once he came around, but he didn’t seem to be any worse for wear. His ass had a subtle red hue, but the cream would soothe the heat and help with the ache. The clamps hadn’t been on his nipples very long, but Steve would make sure Matt remained unharmed.

  Steve kissed the top of Matt’s head and ran his fingers through Matt’s sweaty hair.

  “You’re perfect, my sweet Matty. So fucking perfect.” Steve’s throat constricted and burned when he spoke.

  “Thank you, Master.” Matt sighed and nuzzled in closer. “Love you, Steve.” Matt said sleepily.

  Steve refused to cry.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Matt

  Steve led Matt into the house and straight into the bedroom. It was well past midnight and Matt’s body felt…like it wasn’t his body. He was looser and more relaxed than he’d ever been in his life. Steve stripped Matt’s trench coat off and hung it in the closet. He helped Matt out of his track pants and slid Matt’s leather jock down his legs and helped him step out of it.

  Matt fingered the strip of leather around his neck. “Can I…can you…not take the collar off, yet? Please, Master?” Matt didn’t want to take it off, ever. He took a step and rested his forehead on Steve’s shoulder. If Steve would let him get away with wearing it for a little while longer, he would.

  Matt half expected Steve to protest. Instead, he scooped Matt up in his arms and carried him to bed. Steve undressed and climbed into bed where he big-spooned Matt as if his life depended on it.

  “What did you think, Matty?”

  “Of what, Master?”

  Matt yelped when Steve pinched his ass. “Don’t be cheeky.”

  Matt grinned and snuggled closer, not that it was possible to be closer, mostly he loved rubbing his tender ass against Steve. “It was wonderful. I can’t describe it. Wonderful seems too inadequate of a word.” And it did. Everything had been perfect from the way Steve paraded him through the club, showing him off, but keeping him safe. Steve cradled Matt on his lap and fed him like a treasure, then he’d taken Matt upstairs. And oh, God…upstairs.

  He didn’t have words for how much he loved what happened in that private room.

  “It was…” It all still seemed like a dream, as if he were both too close and too far away from the experience to fully digest it. It was everything he wanted and already he craved more. He imagined Steve leading him up on stage. He’d strap him to the spanking bench and paddle his ass pink in front of everyone. The idea of being spanked then fucked, claimed right there in front of everyone made him ache with need right down to his bones.

  Steve held him and stroked his fingers through Matt’s hair. He let Matt use his arm for a pillow while he gathered his thoughts. It took Matt several long minutes to go through the evening and analyze the events and decide exactly how he felt about each individual thing, and then the night as a whole. His fingers twitched against the leather collar at his throat. He understood wearing a collar all the time wouldn’t be exactly practical, but he’d be a liar if he said he didn’t want that. He wanted the world to see that Steve chose him. And even if somewhere down the line Steve decided to un-choose him, people would remember that at one time, he’d belonged.

  Matt snuggled in closer and shoved the terrible notion of Steve releasing him to the back of his mind. He felt safe in Steve’s arms and in his bed, with a leather collar around his neck. It didn’t get more chosen than that.

  “Tonight was, well, it was everything.” Matt took a breath. “I realize that sounds vague, but…I’ve known about your love of kink since the day I met you.”

  “You did, huh? What tipped it off?”

  Matt rolled his eyes. “Please. Your best friend was the owner of a kink club, and you’re so…dominant. I knew from the way you ran the restaurant that there was no way you weren’t into the lifestyle.”

  “Is that when you started reading all those BDSM romance books?”

  Matt’s cheeks heated. “Yeah, but first I started with like, actual BDSM books. Proper books by people living the lifestyle. The romances came after that.” Matt furrowed his brow. “Some of them are shockingly bad.” Steve’s dark laughter rumbled in Matt’s ear.

  “I can imagine. So, did our evening live up to your expectations?”

  Matt chewed on his lower lip and tried to form an answer. “Well…yes and no. No, because I didn’t know what to expect. I know I’ve read a lot of stuff about the lifestyle, but reading doesn’t prepare you for the way a smack with an open hand compares to the sting of a paddle. But yes, because it was amazing. It was the most amazing night of my life.”

  “Is that why you didn’t want the collar to come off?”

  Part of Matt wanted to stay silent. Truths could be ignored if you never said them out loud. But Matt knew that with a single word, Steve could command him to talk, and Matt didn’t want that to happen. He wanted to give himself to Steve freely, without commands. “I like wearing it. It means that I belong to you. It shows everyone that I’m yours. I...I like belonging to you. In the club, when I sat on your lap and you fed me and petted me and held me and talked to me, everyone understood that I was yours and I really, really liked that. I loved it.”

  Matt rolled over and tucked his face into Steve’s chest, craving a new level of closeness that he couldn’t get with his back to Steve. Steve held Matt tighter and kissed the top of his head. “You like that? Having everyone see that you’re mine?”

  Matt chuckled. He traced hearts on Steve’s chest with his fingers. “Of course, I like it. I’d probably let you tattoo Property of Steve on my ass if the urge struck you.”

  “Well, I don’t think a tattoo would be necessary, but maybe we can check into buying you a special collar, one you can wear everyday. We could still use the leather one for when we play at the club if you wanted.”

  Matt pushed away and sat up. His eyes were as round as dinner plates. “A…a permanent collar?” His heart slammed against his ribs. He could practically hear his blood rush through his body. “For me?”

  “Yes, for you.” Steve hauled Matt back down. He tilted Matt’s head and kissed him sweetly on the lips. “I spent two years wanting you and now that I have you what makes you think I'm going to let you go?”

  Matt wrapped his arms around Steve. He clung to him, breathed him in, and tried not to shake apart. “Do you mean it?”

  Steve held him tighter. “Of course, I mean it. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”

  Matt held on and tried to let the words sink in. He thought maybe if he repeated them enough in his mind that he might start to believe them. Matt was a nobody with nothing and Steve had always been the opposite of that. One day Steve would wake up and realize that, and Matt would be out in the cold. He supposed that’s why Steve made sure he gave him enough to do in the office at the restaurant and the club. He wanted Matt to feel as if he’d earned something, like he’d contributed something outside the bedroom, so when he did send him on his way he wouldn’t feel as if he was the kind of person Cam accused him of being.

  Matt’s blood ran cold, and he clung to Steve tighter. From the moment Steve found him and insisted that he go home with him, Matt’s life felt like a fairy tale, something too good to be true. Happiness wasn’t something Matt would get to keep, but he’d enjoy it for as long as it lasted.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Steve rubbed Matt’s back in a slow sweeping motion that followed the curve of his spine. The way he whispered the words, so full of concern and something that sounded a lot like love—but couldn’t be—cracked Matt’s heart in half.

  “I’m fine. It’s been an emotional day, that’s all.” A lie and a truth. One of each should balance the other out, but the lie came too easily, and the truth was too heavy.

  Steve cupped Matt’s cheek. He kissed Mat
t’s nose, then his lips. “Let’s get some sleep, darling. We can talk about this more in the morning.”

  Matt’s emotions were a jumbled mess. He hoped his smile was sweeter than he felt.

  The morning came too soon, and Matt’s insides were still a tangled mess. He painted on a smile, one that Steve saw right through, he was sure of it. Every time Steve looked his way as Matt cooked their breakfast, Matt felt as if Steve could look right through him and see for the first time exactly how scrambled Matt’s brains were.

  They ate in relative silence, but Steve didn’t press. Whenever Steve wasn’t looking, Matt’s fingers would go up to the collar on his neck. The weight of the leather helped reassure Matt. Then he would kick himself for being so needy and desperate. Steve shouldn’t have to prove himself to Matt over and over again.

  The sound of the doorbell yanked Matt out of his self-destructive doom-spiral. “I’ll get it.” Matt shot to his feet, but Steve put a hand on his arm.

  “It’s okay. You worked hard on breakfast. I’ll get the door.” Steve gave Matt a fast and ferocious kiss, stealing his breath, before he went to answer the door.

  When Steve returned a moment later, he wasn’t alone.

  “Guess who the cat dragged in.”

  Matt had been filling the dishwasher. He lifted his gaze to find Alan and Craig. Alan had his arm slung around Craig’s waist and they looked happy, more than happy. They looked like they’d won the lottery. Joy practically oozed out of the pair.

  “It’s nice to see you, Alan.” Matt said as he straightened up and shook Alan’s hand. “And you must be Craig.”

  “I remember you from the restaurant. Looks like Steve finally took the plunge.” Craig’s eyes zeroed in on the collar and Matt's cheeks got hot. Craig clapped Steve on the back. “And a collar, to boot. Hell, we didn’t even know the two of you were together, so this is awesome.” Craig’s eyes lit up even as Matt’s heart sank. “We should celebrate.”