by Jana Downs
Xander came out of the back room with a bag. “Sorry I made you wait, guys. I had my agent on the phone.” He rang them up, and Ryan handed his credit card over without hearing the total.
Claim him? How can I do that when he’s so fucking perfect and I’m so fucking not? “Ryan?” Bradley asked as he signed the receipt.
“What is it, sweet?”
“Thank you for my things. I really appreciate it.” He smiled warmly at Ryan, and Ryan was lost once more. Walking away was going to be almost impossible, but staying seemed infinitely as difficult. He wasn’t even sure if he could walk away with the way his wolf was acting. He just didn’t know what to do anymore.
* * * *
Bradley paid zero attention to the house they pulled up to. His mind was already swimming in paintings of rich reds, bright oranges, and flecks of yellow to draw the mind and eye into it all. He was an erotic artist at heart who focused almost solely on the beauty of the male form, but he was feeling something like Munch’s The Scream, where his paintings would express more than what was on the canvas, a sound, an emotion that went beyond the physical. He had a feeling that the first canvas would be all raw emotion, sex, something as bright as he imagined. The second would be his surreal piece where everything was spelled out for those who didn’t understand the first, and the final piece would be something else entirely. Blues, greens, shades and highlights of movement in bed sheets, implied passion. Yes. That would be what he would put on canvas.
Ryan led up to a room of windows at the far end of the gray split-level with wood paneling in the inside. It would have wonderful natural light first thing in the morning. The space had to be Ryan’s studio. It was perfect. Stretched canvases were stacked in the closet, and Ryan showed him where all the supplies were and the small half bath attached where he could get some water.
“I’ll be down the hall in the living room. Come when you’re finished,” Ryan said, looking at him strangely, like he’d never seen him before.
“Will you model for me later?” Bradley asked, dragging his mind off the paint and to his lover.
Ryan paused. “If you want. I can do that. Are you okay?”
“Fine. You inspire me.” Ryan inspired everything. How was he blind to it? Their connection had only strengthened when they’d made love.
The wolf chuckled. “All right, sweet. Come find me when you’re done. Try not to be too long. I need to feed you and discuss some things with you before we crash.”
Uh-oh. They always had to talk when Ryan was about to avoid something. No matter. Bradley would find a way to convince him and assuage his doubts. His lips twitched at the thought. Wasn’t he supposed to be the one in need of convincing?
“Okay.”
Ryan left, and Bradley was left alone with his canvases.
Hours later, Bradley was pretty satisfied with the progress he’d made so far. The first painting needed a few more brush strokes to be perfect. The second one would take longer, but he’d gotten the sketches out of his head and onto paper, and that was all that mattered. He now had them nailed down and could rest. He wiped his forehead and wasn’t surprised that it was dotted with sweat. Despite the openness of the windows, the room was well insulated and warm. Combined with his rigorous paint strokes, it wasn’t a surprise he was damp. It was why he’d stripped down to nothing while he painted. That and the idea that Ryan could walk in any moment was a motivation for him to get naked.
He stroked the edge of his painting lovingly. Ryan was here. The way he felt about him anyway. Mine. There was that voice again. He sighed. The voice was right. Ryan was most definitely his.
“You are beautiful when you work,” Ryan rumbled from the doorway.
Bradley turned, smiled. “Thank you. I was about to come find you. Did you enjoy your time without me bugging you?”
Ryan pushed off the doorframe. “A little lonely actually. I talked to my Alpha. There is an official pack investigation going on about who broke into your place.”
“Any leads yet?” Bradley asked, stretching his arms over his head in an effort to work the kink out of his shoulders. He had been working for some time, and he tended to get a little stiff.
Ryan shook his head. “Not yet. He was just letting me know.” He stretched his hand out in offer. “Why don’t we move this party into my room and I’ll give you a rubdown?”
“Really? That would be awesome, Sir.” The prospect of Ryan’s hands rubbing out his muscles made him nearly groan in anticipation. The honorific was coming more naturally the more he used it. “Do you think we can maybe do a scene before bed?”
The Dominant took his hand and led him out of the room. “I have been thinking about it since I left you in here. We can do a brief scene if you like after your rubdown.”
This time as he came down the hallway, Bradley could actually pay attention. The soft white carpet seemed to be new, but the wood paneling was very retro. It looked like Ryan had done some updating to the place.
“So is the lower level your man cave?” he asked as he was led past a collage of pictures that featured Ryan and Regan along with some other friends and family.
Ryan shook his head. “No. My brother and I bought this house together. He lives in the bottom level. I live on the top. It was originally two separate apartments, and we bought it from the old owner a couple years ago. We never really wanted to live in separate places, so it worked out nicely.”
“That’s cool that you guys are so close. I’m not really close to my family. My mom doesn’t really like me. I ruined her life or something,” Bradley said. He really admired the close bond that Ryan shared with Regan.
“Oh? Do you not have any siblings?”
Bradley shook his head. “Nah. My mom couldn’t have any kids after me. She had some complications during pregnancy or something. I always wanted a big family though.”
They finally reached his bedroom at the end of the hallway, and he twisted the door to open up the room. The space was surprisingly sparse, only containing a bed, a tall lamp, and a low dresser. The walls were white with the exception of one large painting that took up nearly the entire wall opposite the bed next to what Bradley imagined was a walk-in closet. “Most people don’t understand the twin bond thing,” Ryan said. “They get put off if they find out I kind of live with my brother and have no plans to change that fact. Even though wolves are pack animals, they don’t quite understand why I have to be this close to my family. He’s all I have.”
Bradley’s eyes went to the king-sized bed and the Ed Hardy comforter on it. His lips twitched. It was so very fitting with his tattoo artist image, but for some reason it didn’t feel like him. His man was simple and would probably be perfectly content with a plain comforter in a solid color. He pulled his attention from the decorations to their conversation.
“You don’t have any other family?”
“My mother and father chose to move to another pack when Mustang won the contest for Alpha. They disagreed with the hierarchy change. Since Regan and I supported Mustang fully and stepped in as his betas, they chose to discontinue our relationship.” The way he said it was so simple, but the hurt had to go deeper than that. Bradley knew from personal experience that a parent’s rejection hurt worse than anything. “I chose my new family, and I couldn’t be happier with that choice.”
“Right on. I respect that,” Bradley said. He padded over to the bed and climbed up onto the mattress. “I have a few friends, but nothing like you and Regan have.” He plopped down face-first in the welcoming embrace of the bed that felt closer to sea foam than cotton and waited for Ryan to join him.
He didn’t have to wait very long at all because the bed bounced a second later as Ryan joined him. “So you’d be okay with us living with my brother on a permanent basis?”
Bradley shrugged casually despite his pounding heart. Did that mean that Ryan was considering giving them a fair shot? “Why wouldn’t I be?” He was rewarded for his answer by Ryan’s strong hands digging int
o his knotted shoulders and back. Oh wow. He really needed this.
“The painting you did is awesome. You really captured passion,” Ryan rumbled a second later. “I am impressed. You’re talented.”
“Thanks. Everything I’ve done lately has been a little on the intense side. It’s all about us.” He didn’t care if that sounded creepy or whatever. He needed Ryan to know that he was Bradley’s muse.
“‘Us’ is something that I’m still getting used to, but you capture the feeling.” Ryan’s hands glided down his back, working out the kinks with well-placed digs into the muscle. Oh he was good at this. “I’ve been a little leery of intense for a while now.”
“Something to do with the ‘friend’ you told me about?” Bradley asked. He had suspected when Ryan was telling the story that he’d had firsthand experience with whatever had happened.
Ryan sighed. “Bradley, I’m not the best guy to train a new sub. I don’t do intense because I got carried away with my first sub and things got very scary for the both of us.”
“Will you tell me about it?” He could practically feel the tension wafting off the other man in waves. What had happened to make him so nervous every time he thought about it?
The hands massaging his lower back paused. “I’ve never told anyone except the pack council.” He paused. “Do you really want to know why I was so freaked about training you?”
Bradley considered him. “I would like to know, yes. But you don’t owe me an explanation. Everyone has things in their past that are better left buried.” He thought about his own history. “Maybe we can play quid pro quo. I’ll tell you something about my past and you tell me yours. That way it’s not unbalanced where one of us knows more than the other.” He was thankful that Ryan allowed even this much closeness.
“Maybe someday. Not now though. I’m not ready,” Ryan said after a long pause. Bradley tried not to take it personally. He may have been the inexperienced sub, but Ryan was the inexperienced lover and Bradley needed to show some of the patience that Ryan was displaying with him.
“Okay,” Bradley said. “You want to show me your toys to see which one I want to try out?”
He felt rather than heard Ryan’s deep rumble of interest. “Sure.” He stopped his massage and rolled off the bed. Bradley lifted his head to follow the movement. “I converted my office and what used to be the third bedroom into a playroom. The bigger pieces are in Regan’s level, but we can enter through the basement if you ever get an urge for some of the larger toys. However, I have a cross and a spanking bench with your name on it.”
Bradley smiled at the barely suppressed excitement in the other man’s voice. Ryan could say what he wanted about not wanting to play very hard, but the more he talked about toys, kinky furniture, and the like, the more excited he got. He crossed over to the closet and pulled the door open. There was a large black chest inside that Bradley propped his head on his hands to get a better look at. He needn’t have bothered. Ryan picked it up and brought it over to the bed before placing it beside Bradley. He extracted a key from the dresser and unlocked the thing.
“This has a little of everything in it. I also have a few books that I want you to take home with you and read. It’ll give you more practical knowledge of the lifestyle as opposed to your romance novels.”
“Okay,” Bradley agreed. “I can flip through them and see what strikes my fancy. Are you going to send me home when my place is fixed?”
That seemed to give Ryan pause. He slowly nodded. “Yes. Staying with me is sort of like submission overload. I don’t want you to forget there is a life outside of this.”
Bradley nodded. They’d see about that, but he wasn’t going to argue with Ryan now. Not when he was picking out things for the wolf to beat him with. His lips twitched upward into a smile. That was funny. “I know I want the crop,” he said, pulling out the foot long device that was used to urge horses onward. He’d seen it in the porn he’d watched. “I also want to try some CBT, but I don’t know what you need for that.”
Ryan chuckled. “Bold as ever. You never do what I expect you to. I thought you’d be timid, ask questions, be unsure, something. You never cease to amaze me, sweet.”
“I aim to please, Sir, and I have never been timid.” He paused. “So what do you need for CBT?”
“Cock and ball torture isn’t my specialty, but we can definitely work it into a scene for you. I have the weights and ties in the other room. I can actually use the crop for the detail work so to speak.” They were talking casually like they were discussing the weather or what they’d do over the weekend, but Bradley was pleased to note the prominent bulge his lover was sporting. He knew they’d be natural together, perfect.
Bradley’s eyes caught on a shiny bit of plastic. He pulled it out of the box and turned it over in his hands. “What is this for?” He touched the plastic-encased needles.
Ryan sucked in a breath, and his pupils dilated. “Needle play. You’re not there yet.”
“What do you do with them?” Bradley asked.
Ryan adjusted his bulge before giving him a hooded look that was pure lust. “I pierce your skin over and over again. The needles are topped with colored balls so I can make patterns up and down your flesh. It’s one of the most intense things I’ve ever done in a scene.”
“You did it to someone else?” Bradley tried like hell to keep the jealousy out of his voice, but he knew he didn’t quite manage it.
Ryan chuckled. “Yeah. I did. It was after the second time you came into the shop and had me pierce you.” His voice got deeper as he recalled the memory. “It was your nipples. I did the first one, and you moaned so prettily. The second one, you arched into my touch like it was exactly what you wanted and didn’t give a damn about who saw you getting off on it. You gave me the idea for a scene. I went to the club after and picked up a sub to act out my fantasy.”
“You want to do that to me, Sir?” Bradley asked, swallowing hard. “You want to pierce me and fuck me?”
Ryan groaned and leaned forward before seizing Bradley’s lips in a kiss that was all teeth. He bit into Bradley’s bottom lip hard enough that Bradley cried out. Bradley’s head swam, and he felt himself sinking into that happy place he’d been before. He wanted more, everything that Ryan described, and a few things he hadn’t. Ryan broke the kiss with a curse. “God, Bradley, you go to my head faster than a fifth of Jack. Yes. Someday I want you to scene with me and do that. But not until you get more experience. All right?”
Bradley nodded. He could wait forever for his Sir to be ready for that step. If he had to nudge him a little in that direction, it was fine, too. He was flexible. “Yes, Sir.”
Ryan kissed his forehead. “Good. I think we’ll try out the cross tonight since you looked at it so eagerly the other night during my brother’s scene.”
Bradley couldn’t suppress the moan at Ryan’s wicked grin. If it was possible to die of system overload, he was going to do it. Everything Ryan suggested sounded phenomenal.
“We’ll go over stances when you come into the playroom. I’ll go get it ready and leave the door open for you. Wait five minutes and then come in. When you get past the door, kneel on the carpet and I’ll fix your position. Understood?” Ryan asked.
“Yes, Sir.” It was going to be the longest five minutes of his life.
Chapter Nine
Ryan finished connecting his favorite pair of leather cuffs to the St. Andrew’s Cross and stood back to look at his creation. Bradley’s eyes burned into him as he looked his fill. The boy was cuffed to the cross, body completely exposed to whatever Ryan wanted to do to him. His cock hadn’t turned off from the first second Bradley had opened his chest and touched his tools with reverent hands, the boy’s scent saturated with lust and anticipation. They were well matched. Everything felt as natural as breathing between them, and Ryan could definitely see something more coming from their interaction if he let it go that far. I’m walking away, remember? That voice seemed to be getting less p
owerful by the second, but Ryan chose to ignore the niggling feeling of “oh shit” that his logical mind wanted to descend into.
Naked, Bradley was a temptation that was impossible to resist. His nipple rings beckoned to be pinched, weighted, suckled. His proud cock with the three piercings along its length wasn’t any less of a temptation. Especially since he had been steadily dripping pre-cum since Ryan had ordered him out of his kneeling position and onto the cross.
He looked good in Ryan’s playroom as well. The Lucky Green-and-cream walls were a good natural pallet to show off the dark cherrywood and leather furniture that filled the space. Bradley could be an excellent art piece to add to the décor. The thought aroused him way more than it should have. To keep Bradley, to display him in his room at will, was an intoxicating thought. He could even invite other Doms from Riders and have a card game while his beautiful boy hung from the cross, spotlighted, while they played.
“You look like my favorite type of slut, sweet,” Ryan rumbled, keeping his voice deliberately bored. He went to the wall and adjusted the lighting so that a single recessed light beamed brightest over his lover. Yes. He was striking like this.
“Your slut, Sir. Only your slut,” Bradley said, panting lightly as Ryan continued to look him over. You’re such a bold boy. Ryan wouldn’t admit it, but he loved that quality about Bradley. He circled behind the cross where Bradley’s backside was exposed. The way the cross was designed was simple. Cuffed like he was, the only part of Bradley’s body he couldn’t get to was his back and legs. The X was cut high enough so that delicious backside of his was completely exposed.
“My slut, huh? You going to suffer for me, my slut?” Ryan asked, grabbing his balls where they hung free between Bradley’s legs and giving them a good squeeze. The boy hissed and came up on his tiptoes. Ryan grinned where he couldn’t see him. “That’s one. Feet flat on the ground, boy.”
“Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir,” Bradley panted.
“Good boy.” He really was such a good boy. He needed something to focus on while they did the scene though, something familiar. “What’s your safeword, Bradley?”
