Axel's Pup (31 page)

Bayden hesitated.

“If anyone in the Dragon has a problem with you, they’ll be the ones who have to leave.” Axel held out the glasses.

Bayden took them. “I’m not ashamed of who I am, sir.”

“I know.” Axel stroked his cheek.

Bayden looked up at him, so wary.

Axel dipped his head and brought their lips together, slow and gentle at first. When Bayden leaned up into the kiss, Axel stepped forward, trapping Bayden between his body and the wall, coaxing a whimper out of him.

Suddenly, Bayden turned his face away.

Axel lifted his head.

“Watching,” Bayden whispered.

Axel looked over his shoulder. The Dragons had congregated in the pub’s doorway. Evan was carrying Bayden’s helmet.

They could go back in, all of them together. No bartender could throw them all out. If he tried, it would be just the kind of excuse Axel wanted.

He glanced down at Bayden. If he ordered Bayden to go back in there, he would. He’d do as his dom commanded, no matter how much he hated it.

I don’t want any trouble.

Going back in might teach the bartender not to be an arsehole. It would also teach Bayden that he thought proving a point to an arsehole was more important to him than looking after his pup.

Axel nodded to Hale and the other Dragons all headed for their bikes.

“Sir?” Bayden looked so confused as Axel stepped away and let him see who was there. It really hadn’t occurred to him that they would all walk away from a place that had a problem with any one of them.

Axel stroked his cheek again. “You still have a lot to learn about riding with a club, don’t you, pup?”

Bayden cursed himself using almost every insult he knew, human and werewolf, as they rode back to The Dragon’s Lair. None of the things he called himself sufficiently summed up his anger with himself.

Up in the flat, Axel nodded toward the chair by the door.

Naked. At least that was something Bayden couldn’t screw up. As Bayden took off his clothes, Axel settled himself in the armchair by the window.

Bayden had ruined Axel’s ride. Bayden tried to push the knowledge out of his head, but it was impossible. The club was the most important thing in Axel’s world, and Bayden had ruined the entire club’s ride. The need to fix that was an ache deep in Bayden’s soul. He had to make up ground, to prove that he respected Axel and his right to give any order he wanted.

He should…

Bayden’s mind went blank until one word finally bobbed up.

Close.

Axel had told him what he wanted him to do that morning before the ride.

Close.

Bayden stared at the floorboards. Close, like a human submissive. Bayden had seen them in the pub. They got close to their doms in their scenes, or sometimes even outside the scenes. If they could do it, he had to be able to do it. Being incapable wasn’t an option.

Without waiting for an order, Bayden stepped forward. He was aware of Axel watching him, but he didn’t lift his gaze. He kept all his attention on his own bare feet as he crossed the room.

The moment he entered Axel’s personal space, he lowered himself onto his knees. He sat back on his heels so he was lower still and dipped his head, stressing every sign of respect as he tried to work out what would constitute clarity to a human.

It wasn’t as formal or as symmetrical a move as he’d seen some of the human submissives perform, but he was in Axel’s space.

His heart was racing so fast he wasn’t sure he was going to survive kneeling there for very long unless Axel said something, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up. A touch to his hair finally ordered him to tilt back his head.

“You said to, sir,” Bayden reminded him, his voice barely a whisper.

“Yes.”

Bayden swallowed.

“Beautiful.” Axel ran his fingers through Bayden’s hair.

Bayden breathed a little easier, although his pulse didn’t slow down at all. He stared up at Axel, drinking in his approval. The arousal in Axel’s scent had gone up several notches. Nobody that turned on could be pissed off with him.

He was on his knees. Axel was turned on. The next order should have been obvious, but Axel tugged at Bayden’s hair, encouraging him up onto the chair.

There wasn’t room for two men there. Bayden frowned, trying to work out how the hell he was supposed to fit without crushing Axel.

“You’re not heavy, and I’m not as fragile as you think I am,” Axel whispered into his ear. He tugged Bayden firmly onto his lap and wrapped one arm around him holding him securely in place. Axel was still wearing his leather trousers. Bayden squirmed against them until Axel settled his free hand on Bayden’s chest in a silent order to fall still. There was no way Bayden could hide how fast his heart raced.

Axel pressed a kiss to his temple. “You did good, pup.”

Bayden cautiously relaxed against Axel’s chest.

“Was coming into my space as hard as you thought it would be?” Axel asked, so softly Bayden had to concentrate to make out the words.

Bayden thought about it. Axel didn’t like lies. He nodded.

“Do you think it will be easier in the future, now that you know how much I approve?”

Bayden nodded again. His cheek rubbed against Axel’s shoulder with the motion. Axel seemed to completely surround him. He’d wanted Axel to be pleased with him so badly, and now he was. It was almost enough to make Bayden dizzy with pleasure

“Good pup.” Axel stroked his hands over Bayden’s bare skin. “So good.”

Bayden leaned more firmly into Axel’s embrace.

“If there’s something you’re worried about, you should tell me.”

Bayden shrugged.

“Or something you don’t understand, something you have questions about,” Axel suggested.

It was the tone of voice that meant there was going to be a conversation whether Bayden thought one necessary or not. The quickest way to get to the part of the evening that might involve sex would be to give in and go with the whole human-talking thing.

“You said I have a lot to learn about riding with a club, sir.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Am I allowed to know what I’m doing wrong, sir?”

Axel idly ran his hands over Bayden’s skin. “You ride fine. You might want to work on being a bit more sociable with the other guys, but what I meant was—you’re expectations are skewed. Like today, when you were sent out of the pub.”

“I didn’t expect you all to leave, sir.” He thought he’d been clear about that.

Axel chuckled. “That’s my point, pup.”

Bayden studied him, trying to get a better read on him. Axel let him move, encouraging him to turn and straddle his legs so they sat face to face.

“They didn’t have a problem with any of you, sir.”

“If they have a problem with one of us, they have a problem with all of us. It’s part of what riding with a club is all about.”

Bayden looked down until Axel made him look up.

“I’m not really part of the club, neither were a lot of the other guys there.”

“You might not be a full member of the club, but you’re riding with us—that means you’ll be treated as if you’re a Dragon in every way there is. If any of their hook ups had suggested leaving you hanging, they’d be walking home.”

Bayden looked down and watched Axel’s hands slide up his legs. Whether Axel intended it to or not, his touch went straight to Bayden’s cock.

“You don’t pick a hook up over a man you ride with. A submissive might be different, and a collared submissive—well, that’s a different thing altogether.”

It was far from the first time Axel had mentioned collars, or made it clear that a collared submissive was the best kind. Bayden met Axel’s gaze, but he didn’t seem to be inclined to offer up anything else on that topic. Axel stroked his hands up and down Bayden’s back.

“The club is like a…” Axel began. Bayden held his breath, half sure Axel was going to say pack. “Family.”

Their eyes met. Whatever Axel had actually said, he’d been thinking the word pack. Bayden would have bet his soul on it.

“And family is important, isn’t it?”

Bayden nodded.

“If it had been Evan who’d been sent out of the pub, would you have been happy staying in there while he stood outside?”

“It’s not the same. Humans…”

Axel stroked his knuckles along the length of Bayden’s erection. “Not all humans are the same,” Axel said. “Good humans and good wolves might be more similar than you think.”

Bayden tried to work out what Axel would be pleased with him for saying, but he couldn’t come up with anything suitable, not while Axel toyed with him that way.

“But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t differences, or that I don’t want to know what they are.” As he spoke, Axel continued to tease Bayden’s shaft.

It was all Bayden could do not to wriggle on Axel’s lap and try to push his cock against his hand. It already felt like months since he’d been allowed to come.

“And yes,” Axel added. “Just so we’re both clear—we’re not talking about the club any more, we’re talking about us and about sex.”

Bayden swallowed and tried to make his brain keep working. He shook his head. “You can treat me the same as a human sub, sir.”

“Can and will are too different things. When was the last time you came?”

“Friday, before we—” Bayden broke off into a gasp. Closing his eyes, he looked for that calm space inside himself, where nothing could get to him and every touch was irrelevant.

“No!”

Bayden jerked and opened his eyes at the sudden snap in Axel’s voice.

“This isn’t a bet, you don’t block me out.”

“I…” Bayden blinked at him.

“Yes, I can tell when you’re doing that,” Axel said, slipping back into his usual tone of voice. “No, it’s not acceptable—not with me, not ever.”

Bayden stared straight into Axel’s eyes for several seconds, trying to get a read on him. He’d never seen him so serious.

“I don’t like being ignored, and I don’t like it when you hide your reactions to me. So, unless you can look me in the eye and tell me that it’s an intrinsic part of you being a shifter, you don’t do it with me. Understand?”

Bayden swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

Axel still had his hand wrapped around Bayden’s cock. He tightened his grip and stroked him several times.

Bayden managed to hold Axel’s gaze through it.

“How often are you used to getting off?”

“You said I was allowed to, sir,” Bayden reminded him, doing his best not to rock his hips and push forward into Axel’s hand, but unable to remain perfectly motionless.

“No, I said you’re
not
allowed.” Axel stilled his hand. “I was quite clear about that.”

Bayden frowned. “Before, sir. You said until I agreed to obey your rules, I was allowed to. You gave me permission.”

Axel smiled and began to move his hand again. “Then, yes. You were allowed to then. How often did you take advantage of that permission?”

Bayden hesitated, not entirely sure what was normal for a human.

“Every day?” Axel asked.

Bayden nodded. Axel didn’t seem to think that was strange.

“More than once a day?”

He cautiously nodded again.

“So, the last couple of days must have felt like a long time,” Axel mused. He seemed pleased by the idea. He kept his hand moving, tempting Bayden to thrust in counterpoint.

“I don’t mind, sir. It’s not important.” Axel being pleased was important.

“You’ll have permission to come later,” Axel promised.

Bayden nodded.

“First, tell me something that would have been different if you’d been with a wolf the last few days.”

Bayden stared down at his cock as Axel continued to stroke him. He was leaking pre-cum and it smeared over Axel’s palm each time he caressed the head.

“There’s no rush,” Axel said. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

Bayden looked up. It was easy for Axel to say that. Axel had come last night, and the night before.

Axel chuckled, as if he could read the thoughts straight out of his head, but it was that gentle kind of laughter that never made it sound like Axel was laughing at his expense, not really. “One difference,” he prompted.

“It’s not… Wolves don’t… There’s not so much talking about what people like… It’s more instinctive, more…physical, sir?” he hazarded, keeping his tone extra respectful just in case Axel thought he was criticising him.

“So, a wolf wouldn’t ask what you like—he’d just do what he wanted and find out how you’d react.”

Bayden nodded.

“Your honest reactions?”

“I…”

“Maybe the reason wolves treat you differently is because you don’t hide things from wolves?”

Bayden swallowed rapidly.

“Would you hide your reactions from a wolf?” Axel asked.

Bayden looked down. “I…”

Axel wrapped the fingers of his free hand around one of Bayden’s wrists. He didn’t try to move his hand, he just held the joint in his grip. “You like being held, don’t you?”

Bayden only hesitated for a second. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the way Axel’s fingers encircled his wrist, but he managed to nod.

Axel released Bayden’s cock and took his other wrist in a similar grip. It wasn’t painful. It wasn’t something a werewolf would have any trouble escaping if he needed to, but it was very clear, very simple and so bloody perfect Bayden wouldn’t have been able to speak even if he had been inclined to.

“If you stop hiding your reactions from me, I’ll do whatever I want with you,” Axel said. “No words, just actions.”

Bayden frowned. Completely naked, there was no way that he could hide how turned on he was. Axel was turned on too. Bayden could sense it in his scent. He could feel how hard Axel was behind his fly. Actions rather than words appealed to both of them. And Axel was willing to offer actions to a wolf that didn’t hold back.

He could have everything he wanted, if he just trusted Axel. Bayden closed his eyes. He could do it. Trusting Axel with that particular information was an acceptable risk.

“Yes, sir.”

“Bed,” Axel said. “Not just in the bedroom. I want you on the bed waiting for me by the time I get in there. Now. Go.” He released Bayden’s wrists.