With a gentle breath, he snuffed the last candle, plunging the room into darkness.
Chapter 12
Ferris didn’t see McBride leave, but he heard his boots whooshing across the carpet and then the sound of the front door closing with a soft snick. Straining to hear, Ferris wondered if McBride would lock them in again, but he didn’t hear the telltale noise of the lock engaging.
“He didn’t lock us in.” Ferris clung a little tighter to Bailey.
“He said he would handle Caleb.”
“Do you think that’s where he went?” Ferris took a calming breath, but the smell of burnt wax actually made him more anxious.
“I do.” Bailey made a series of little circles on Ferris’s back. Despite his concern about the other Morgan brothers, Ferris started to relax. “When McBride says he’ll do something, he always comes through.”
“Why was he so angry earlier?”
“I don’t know. Something’s bothering him, though. Since he came here, he’s always been kind. Not that he was mean today, just…short tempered, I guess. Usually he’s nicer, so something must have happened.”
“With Caleb?”
“No. I think something else. Caleb was teasing me in the field today along with my other brothers, but none of them went too far. I think they know if they get mean, or if they dare to touch you or hurt you in any way, McBride won’t get them companions of their own.”
“It sounds like a good deterrent but…”
“But?”
“Do you honestly think that will make them behave?” Ferris wasn’t so sure if they could keep their lust in check for a potential payout in the murky future.
“Actually, yeah. I do. You have no idea how many times we’ve talked about it.”
“Talked about getting companions?”
“Yeah. All of us want one. Well, Caleb never said anything, but the look in his eyes, the way his shoulders kind of slumped when we were talking about it…”
“What?”
“Well, just, I could be wrong, but I’ve known Caleb all my life.”
“I kind of figured since he’s your brother.” Ferris giggled.
“Smarty.” Bailey pinched Ferris’s bottom. “As I was saying. I know Caleb really well, and from the way he was acting when we were talking about mates, it was like he wanted one more than anything in the world. He’d never admit it because that’s just the way Caleb is, but he wants one real bad. Thing is, from the way he turned away and his big shoulders drooped, I got the impression he didn’t believe he’d ever get one. Like if our master bought him one, the fates would conspire against him and manage to take his mate away.”
“Maybe if he wasn’t so rebellious and scary, he might be more likely to be happy.” Ferris had not been closer than possibly one hundred feet to Caleb, but his dangerous green eyes had seemed to drill into Ferris like Caleb wanted to ram his cock into him while ripping his neck apart.
“Aw, Caleb’s okay. He’s the oldest, so I think he feels like a lot falls on him. If we mess up, he thinks he needs to fix it or take the blame.”
“I thought he was mean to you?”
“No. Well, yeah. Sometimes. But Caleb can be nice, too. It’s just when he is he doesn’t want anyone to know.”
“I don’t understand.”
“One time, Ollie was sick, so he only planted about half of what he should. The master—McBride’s father—said it was fine, or he told Jonas to tell us it was okay. Anyway, we all went into our houses, ate, and went to bed. A noise woke me up and when I looked out the window, Caleb was planting tallos in the moonlight. I didn’t say anything to anyone, but the next day, our master said there must have been a miscount because all the rows were done. I looked at Caleb, and he glared at me like if I said anything he was going to rip my tongue out.”
“So you kept quiet?”
“I did. And Ollie got a full day’s pay. All thanks to Caleb.”
“How very strange.” Ferris wondered why he hadn’t wanted credit for doing a good deed.
“I thought so, too.”
“But why wouldn’t he want praise or even the money for himself?”
“I wondered about that, too.” Bailey sighed, and even though it was dark, Ferris could see that his eyes were open and he was staring at the ceiling. “I finally figured that maybe Caleb wants to project an image of being bad so people won’t expect anything from him. Being known as nice might make him feel weak. Caleb only likes to be strong.”
“So he’s not the bad man I think he is?” Ferris could not shake the way Caleb had looked at him when he’d ridden up on McBride’s dressiter.
“Oh, don’t let that story make you go soft on Caleb. He’s as mean as they come. But he felt badly for Ollie. He wanted to make sure he got a full share. Maybe Caleb knew something about Ollie that I didn’t.”
“Something like what?”
“Maybe Ollie was saving up for something.”
The idea that there was a compassionate soul behind Caleb’s green eyes made Ferris shiver.
When he did, Bailey pulled the covers up from the bottom of the bed. “Better?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Thank you for what you’ve given to me.” Bailey kissed the edge of Ferris’s ear.
“Thank you for taking lightly.”
Together they sighed, and then Ferris laughed.
“What are you laughing at?” Bailey asked.
“Just that we already sound like a longtime couple. We sigh together, laugh at the same time. It’s nice.”
“It is.” Bailey stroked the collar around Ferris’s neck. “I will get you a proper one soon.”
“Please don’t worry about it. It’s actually very comfortable. The fabric is slippery and keeps the leather from chaffing my neck.”
“You are very sweet.” Bailey kissed his ear again and then went lower, pressing his lips against Ferris’s neck. “Does it hurt where I bit you?”
“A little.” Bailey stiffened, so Ferris rushed on. “But it’s more a pleasurable ache, like after our first night.”
“I hurt you then, too?”
“No.” Ferris turned so he was curled against Bailey’s chest in the dark. “I feel what we did. It reminds me, happily, of you piercing my bottom and my neck.”
“No pain?”
“None.” Actually, there was some, but it was so minor he didn’t want Bailey to worry. Ferris was learning that his mate was very sensitive about handling him with all due caution and care. The tiny twinges he felt were simply reminders of all that they had shared since he’d come to McBride’s tallos farm. “How about you?”
“Me?” Bailey laughed. “I don’t remember ever feeling this good.”
They talked a little bit more and then drifted off to sleep. Ferris woke to bright sunlight streaming in through the window near the bed, which was filled with only him. Slightly annoyed that his mate had gotten up and gone to work without him, Ferris rose. He and Bailey were going to have to have a serious discussion about Ferris joining the others in the field. Bailey couldn’t say he trusted McBride to handle Caleb then keep Ferris locked up. Ferris agreed wholeheartedly with McBride. If Ferris didn’t work, he was essentially a grinder, and that was something Ferris didn’t want to be. Working would give him pride and a piece of the profits. Couldn’t Bailey see that they would make more as a couple than he could ever generate by himself?
A low, slow squeak alerted Ferris that he wasn’t alone in the house. His heartbeat shot up so high so fast he practically wobbled. Clutching the wall for support, he tiptoed his way toward the kitchen, where the sound had come from. A shadow splashed across the floor. Someone was sitting at the table, but he couldn’t tell who by the shape that was cast.
For at least five full minutes, Ferris watched the motion the shadow made. He couldn’t figure out what the man was doing. He wasn’t eating but making repetitive motions of some kind. As to exactly what he was doing, Ferris had no idea. Ever so slowly he edged closer to
the archway that led from the hall into the kitchen.
Holding his breath, he peeped around the edge and immediately released his tensely held breath. Bailey was sitting at the kitchen table. Feeling silly for suspecting one of his brothers, Ferris took a moment to shake off his fear. He knew that eventually he’d feel more comfortable on the farm, probably when all the Morgan brothers had mates of their own. Until that time, Ferris would just have to be very cautious.
Turning away from the kitchen, Ferris went instead to the bathroom. He cleaned up and then went into the bedroom where he considered his small cache of clothing. Everything McBride had given him was of the highest quality and fit surprisingly well. Bailey had pushed over all his garments so Ferris could have an equal share in the closet, which was terribly sweet but totally unnecessary. Ferris didn’t even have an eighth of the items that Bailey did. Still, it was Bailey’s way of showing that they were equals despite the fact that Bailey actually owned Ferris. Should McBride die or sell the brothers off, Ferris would stay with Bailey now that they were bloodbonded.
After dressing and feeling slightly odd to be wearing clothes since in the thrall house he’d always been nude but for silken robes he wore when they went out in colder weather, Ferris returned to the kitchen.
When he entered, Bailey was still hunched over something making rhythmic movements. When Ferris saw he was stitching up one of his tallos suits, he frowned. “Did you shrink in the night?”
Bailey turned and looked at him over his shoulder. “Ah, no. It’s a surprise.”
“For who?”
“You.” Bailey finished tying off the thread then held the suit up. “Try it on.”
Ferris reached for the garment but hesitated.
“It’s okay. We’re making do, remember? I’m sure McBride will get you a properly fitted suit of your own, but until then you can wear this. That way you won’t be stuck in the house all day.”
Tears blurred his vision. Last night they’d spoken of love, that they knew the emotion would grow between them, but now Ferris felt the first soft threads binding him to his mate.
“Oh, no. What did I do now?” Bailey was up and pulling Ferris into his arms in a flash. “If you want to wait—”
“I don’t. I think you are the most impossibly sweet man!” Ferris threw his arms around Bailey and hugged him so hard he gasped.
“Wow. If stitching up a tallos suit gets that reaction, what will you give me to fix the hem on those britches you’re wearing?”
Rather than tell him, Ferris showed him. He kissed Bailey until his cock hardened and pressed into Ferris’s belly. Just like they had yesterday, they started their day with a rousing climax on the kitchen table.
Chapter 13
McBride had put the moment off long enough. Before Caleb could leave his house and start work in the fields, McBride decided the time had come for a serious heart-to-heart. To be polite, he knocked three times to announce his presence then entered Caleb’s house.
The restrictor was right where he’d left it on the table. Leather belts and gleaming golden buckles seemed to make it glitter with something almost like magic. But it wasn’t enchanted. McBride wasn’t going to let himself think that thing was anything other than a dire form of punishment. As much as he wondered why Caleb was afraid of it, he didn’t need to know. Threatening Caleb with the suit wasn’t going to keep him in line. Tossing him in the stocks wouldn’t work, either. McBride had to make it clear that Caleb’s brutality simply wouldn’t be tolerated.
“Come for an early feeding?” Caleb had a towel wrapped around his hips. He rubbed another one through his long hair, causing droplets of water to decorate his powerful chest.
“Sit down, Caleb.”
With slow, taunting movements, he set both towels aside. His body was perfection. Black body hair started just below his belly button and moved downward, growing thicker around his prick, then lightening in density as it worked lower over his legs. An urge to touch him, to feel the texture of that hair, was so strong McBride almost reached out. But he stopped when he remembered why he was here.
“Obviously, you’re real proud of your cock.” McBride kept his stance wide.
“Shouldn’t I be?” Caleb cupped his prick, causing it to harden.
“If you want to keep it, you’ll keep your hands off Bailey’s mate. In fact, you’re going to keep your hands off all the men I bring to your brothers.”
“What makes you think an idle threat will stop me?” Caleb eased his fist up and down the length of his shaft, hardening and thickening the flesh so fast it was as if he had charmed it.
“No idle threat. Look at me, Caleb.”
Caleb kept right on fondling himself, but he lifted his attention to McBride. A little smirk twisted his features, making him seem sinister. That expression made what McBride had to do a little easier. It would have been impossible to see this through if Caleb had been in an acquiescing mood.
“If you touch Ferris for any reason, I will have no choice but to give you the ultimate punishment.”
“A rousing fuck in the stocks?” Caleb’s expressive green gaze looked out the window and toward the punishment device in the middle of the cul-de-sac. “Finally.”
“No, not that.” McBride knew Caleb would welcome that type of penance, which was why it had never worked as a deterrent but more as an encouragement for him to continue with his nasty behavior. “I’ll castrate you.”
Caleb’s cock went flaccid so fast it was almost comical. He yanked his attention from the window to McBride. “What?”
“You’ll be pissing through a flap of skin.” As repulsive as the idea to utterly emasculate such an amazingly handsome man was, McBride knew he had no other choice. He had to squash Caleb’s rebellion once and for all.
“You wouldn’t.” But Caleb didn’t sound sure about it at all.
“You have left me no other choice.”
“I wasn’t going to hurt him.”
“So you were planning on messing with Ferris?”
“I was just going to tease him.”
“By fucking him?”
“No.” Caleb hung his head. “I wouldn’t hurt my brother’s mate.”
As conciliatory as he sounded, McBride couldn’t trust Caleb to keep his word. “That’s fine. If you hold true to that, we won’t have any problems.”
“Did you threaten the other brothers, too?” One brow lifted questioningly.
“I talked to everyone else last night. You were the only one who doesn’t seem to grasp the gravity of this situation.” McBride had only spent a few minutes with each Morgan brother to reassure them he would be getting them mates as quickly as he could. He had his concerns about the issue with the Larsden case, but if he got untouched stock, it was highly unlikely the thralls he bought would be tainted by a blood-borne pathogen. All the other Morgan brothers were content enough with his promise that they would wait without laying a finger on Ferris. McBride thought that part of their assurance was that Ferris was a very fine mate. If he got them men of the same quality, they would be ebullient. Caleb was the only one that McBride simply couldn’t trust.
“So I’m the only one who will get his balls cut off?”
“Cock and balls.” McBride paused to let that sink in. “Make no mistake, Caleb. If you defy me again, it’s what I’ll have to do. And I didn’t have to threaten your brothers. They want mates of their own. They are willing to wait and be patient. You are the only one who constantly attempts to thwart my authority. You’ve left me no choice but to take drastic measures.”
Very quietly, Caleb asked, “Does this mean you won’t be getting me a mate?”
In that split second of time, McBride saw that Caleb was simply a frustrated and lonely man. He seemed to want love and happiness so desperately that he acted as if he didn’t care. The truth was he simply didn’t think he deserved either. Rather than let the world see that heart-wrenching pain, he’d chosen to present a harsh, indifferent demeanor.
&nb
sp; “I swear to you that I will get you a mate.”
Caleb darted a quick glance at McBride, as if trying to determine if he was serious, then cast his gaze to the floor. “But you’re going to make me go last, aren’t you?”
“I am.” McBride wasn’t sorry about that at all. “Your inability to follow even the most simple of my orders shows me that you have no respect for my authority. If I get you a mate before the other brothers, who have always surrendered effortlessly to my will, it’s as if I’m rewarding you for bad behavior. It sets a dangerous precedence.”
“If you castrate me, my blood won’t be as sweet, and I won’t be able to do the bulk of the manual labor around the farm.”
“It’s not up for negotiation, Caleb.” Complete castration was the ultimate punishment of a slammer. It would do exactly what Caleb said, but it would also make him far more passive. “I could try the synthetic hormone route, but my understanding is that it would take far too long to make you docile. A quick surgery and you’re instantly more submissive.”
“In rebellion, I could kill you before all my strength abandons me.”
“Are you threatening me?” McBride really didn’t want to have to kill Caleb, but if he couldn’t control him and he became a threat to his brothers, their mates, or McBride himself, then he had no choice. “I thought emasculating you was the ultimate punishment, but I suppose death is far more harsh.”
Caleb went very still.
McBride watched him, waiting to see if he finally grasped the gravity of the situation. Threatening a man with those kinds of alternatives did not please McBride in the slightest. He’d never bullied anyone, and it felt absolutely awful to do it now. However, he’d never had to direct men he owned, either. His regret was that he should have taken much harsher action the very first time Caleb defied him. Had he done that, things never would have gotten so out of hand.
Bailey Morgan [Seven Brothers for McBride 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 11
