Axel's Pup (64 page)

A door leading into one of the back rooms was open. Bayden stepped inside.

Axel had tossed aside his T-shirt and was inspecting the contents of a cupboard on the far side of the room. He turned when he heard Bayden walk in and looked him up and down. “Turn around.”

Bayden turned on the spot, letting Axel get a good look at his altered jeans. Axel’s scent made it clear he liked the view, but, just in case there could have been any doubt, Axel whispered his approval under his breath. “Perfect.”

He pointed to the spanking bench.

Bayden climbed onto it, settling his knees on the widely spaced supports and bending over. With his torso resting on the padded surface, his backside was offered up for Axel to do with as he pleased. The denim covering his legs only made him more aware of how bare and vulnerable his arse was.

“Would you have liked being put on display in front of everyone like this?” Axel stepped up alongside him and ran his fingers over Bayden’s exposed buttocks.

“Yes, sir.”

“Letting them see what I can do with you?”

“Yes, sir.” It was exactly what he wanted.

“Demonstrating how much pain you can take to please your dom?”

Bayden nodded rapidly. “Yes, sir.”

“Showing off how I can make you come less than five seconds into the game?”

Bayden stopped himself from nodding just in time. He looked over his shoulder.

“The rules wouldn’t have changed just because we had an audience. You’d still have come when it pleased me, not when it would impress them. That could have been five hours into a scene, or five seconds. That’s always my choice.”

Bayden looked down.

“I don’t care whether or not we play in public, pup. I have nothing to prove to anyone. But make no mistake, if we do play in front of other men, I’ll make damn sure the only man you’re focused on impressing is me.”

Axel moved around the spanking bench, fixing restraints around Bayden’s wrists and ankles. “Your safe word is the same as it’s always been.”

Bayden stared at the floor just in front of the bench.

“I expect you to say it, if you need to. That would remain the same whether we’re alone or in a crowd.”

Bayden swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

Axel ran his hand over Bayden’s back as he walked toward the base of the spanking bench. “You’re allowed to move however much you can. Remember, the bondage is there so you don’t have to think about it.”

“Yes, sir,” Bayden repeated. He glanced over his shoulder. From that angle, it wasn’t easy to see Axel’s face. He traced one of the tattoos up Axel’s arm, but didn’t try to twist around and see Axel’s expression clearly.

The scent of leather and arousal hung in the air. Axel didn’t smell angry, but it was hard for Bayden to believe he wasn’t.

“I shouldn’t have asked.”

“About what?” Axel ran his palm in circles over Bayden’s arse.

“About doing a scene in front of them.” Axel was the alpha. It was Bayden’s job to follow, not lead. All his big talk, about how good a sub he was. It was a mercy Axel hadn’t laughed at the idea in front of everyone.

“I’m not angry with you.”

Bayden squirmed against his bondage.

“You only get marks when I’m pleased with you, right?”

Marks? Bayden looked over his shoulder again, this time he made the effort to look Axel in the eye.

Axel smiled. “Unless you don’t want them?”

“I want them!”

Axel chuckled. “Good boy.” He brought his hand down against Bayden’s right buttock.

It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but Axel wasn’t teasing him the way he had last time. There was a wonderful sting to it. Axel swiftly struck Bayden’s left buttock just as hard.

“I knew these jeans would look good on you.”

Bayden closed his eyes, picturing it—Axel standing over him, tall and strong, with all his tattoos on display. And, in front of Axel, himself bound with his arse on display, so safe and yet so vulnerable at the same time.

Axel found a rhythm he liked. Bayden couldn’t help but rock within his restraints, pushing back into each spank.

“You did good today.” Axel didn’t let up for a second.

Bayden’s breaths were already ragged. He didn’t try to answer, but pleasure rolled through him just as quickly as the heat from the spanking.

“I was proud of the way you handled them.” His hand came down again.

Bayden’s arse had been red the last time Axel had spanked him. This time felt far more intense, maybe even harsh enough that there would still be marks to admire the following morning. The cheeks on Bayden’s face flushed just as brightly as he relished Axel’s praise—whether he believed he really deserved it or not.

When Axel stopped the spanking as suddenly as he’d started it, the only sound was Bayden’s panting.

Axel didn’t say anything as he slid slicked fingers against Bayden’s hole. Bayden closed his eyes and prayed. Axel wouldn’t leave him hanging this time. He wouldn’t get him ready only to change his mind about screwing him. He’d said Bayden was good—and he wasn’t the kind of human who set a wolf up for a fall. He wouldn’t have said it unless he thought it was true, and if it was true, there was no reason not to screw him.

Bayden’s mind blurred in a kaleidoscope of pleasure as Axel’s fingers worked deeper inside him. Axel took his hand away; all the colour faded from Bayden’s world. His thoughts congealed.

Axel took up a tight grip on Bayden’s hips, but Bayden’s mind remained blank until he felt the tip of Axel’s cock pushing into him.

Axel didn’t stop until his cock was buried as far inside Bayden as was physically possible. He ground his hips against Bayden’s spanked arse, drawing a pleasure filled moan from him. Bayden still couldn’t catch his breath. He tugged at his restraints just the way Axel had said he could.

The need to move, to demand Axel move too, was unbearable. Axel knew what he wanted—Bayden had no doubt about that. But Axel made him wait, remaining perfectly still until Bayden knew he was going to lose his mind.

Finally, Axel yielded. He once more picked whatever rhythm suited him. Bayden had as little control over it as he’d had when Axel was spanking him.

All Bayden could do was accept, but what raced through Bayden’s psyche was Axel’s acceptance of him. He was Axel’s. Neither of them had any doubt about that. Maybe Axel intended him to come at that moment, maybe Axel was too concerned with his own orgasm to care if Bayden came or not. Either way, Bayden was helpless. Lacking permission to hold himself in check, he could only give in to his own need.

The world swirled around Bayden. Just a moment later, he felt Axel spill inside him. Axel tightened his grip on Bayden’s sides as he came and Bayden smiled down at the floor just in front of the spanking bench. He might have just gained a few marks that would last through the night.

Axel pulled away. He straightened his clothes. Bayden remained in place. His only contribution was to murmur his approval when Axel ran his fingers over both the spanking and where his fingertips had pressed against Bayden’s sides.

“I like the marks, sir.”

“Would you like some which will last longer?” Axel asked.

Bayden nodded.

Axel moved forward and stroked his fingers through Bayden’s hair. “Don’t you want to know what kind of marks I’m offering before you get too enthusiastic?”

Bayden shook his head.

“It’ll hurt,” Axel warned, amusement filling his tone.

“Whatever you’ll give me, sir.”

Axel walked away. Bayden took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. Axel wasn’t leaving him, he wasn’t the type to walk off in a huff. True to form, Axel only stopped briefly at the cupboard he’d been looking in when Bayden came down stairs, then he came back.

“It took a lot of trust for you to follow my orders today. You’ve earned some stripes.”

Axel didn’t stand as close as he had when he spanked Bayden. He had something in his hand but Bayden didn’t crane his neck to try to see what it was. Trust. Axel liked it when he trusted him.

Bayden closed his eyes and finally managed to settle his breaths into a slow, easy rhythm. All that good work ended in a gasp.

Bayden tossed his head as lightning shot through his spanked buttocks. A line of pure fire flared from one side of his arse to the other.

“Count for me, pup.”

“One, sir.” Bayden’s voice was rough but level.

Seconds ticked past. Bayden forced himself to relax when every physical instinct wanted him to tense up.

Another bolt of scorching heat travelled along a line just below the previous one.

“Two, sir.” Bayden closed his eyes, focusing on the sensations the way Axel had asked him to once before. “Three, sir… Four… Five…” Bayden counted each one out. His voice was a little rougher each time Axel set another line of flames burning across his backside. “Six, sir!”

He pulled helplessly against his bondage. Holding nothing back from Axel, Bayden let his mate see exactly what each strike did to him.

Bayden had barely stilled himself when he felt Axel’s fingers trace over his skin, from the base of his right buttock all the way to the top, passing over six raw strips of skin.

“The cane feels nothing like a spanking,” Axel observed.

Bayden couldn’t argue with that.

“Do you think the marks will be worth it?”

Bayden nodded rapidly.

Anything that marked him out as Axel’s was worth it.

Axel grinned when he saw Bayden walk out of the pub to join him in the lock-up he used as a mini gym. Bayden stark bollock naked was always something to grin about.

Bayden walked across the yard at the back of the pub, entirely at ease with his nudity. He only paused when he saw that Axel had stopped working out to admire the view. “You said not to get dressed before I came out to keep you company, sir.”

“True.”

Bayden sat down on the thickly cushioned mat Axel had placed in the corner for his use. That wasn’t unusual. Technically, it wasn’t unusual for Bayden to be undressed when he did that either.

“Any reason why you haven’t shifted today?”

“You didn’t order me to, sir.”

“I’ve never ordered you to.”

Bayden shrugged.

Halfway through a set of crunches, Axel remained perfectly still, and waited.

“They’ll disappear quicker if I shift, sir.”

Axel beckoned him closer. Once Bayden was within reach, he turned him around to get a good view of his arse. The lines the cane had left on his buttocks yesterday were still visible, but they’d already paled significantly. Axel ran his fingers over them. Bayden looked over his shoulder.

“I like them too,” Axel said. “But you know, if they disappear, I have no problem putting some new marks in their place. Rapid healing isn’t a bad thing.”

Bayden nodded.

“But neither is having you wander around naked. You don’t need to shift unless you want to.” He released Bayden and sent him back toward the cushion with a light tap on the arse.

Axel went back to his work-out, but while having Bayden rest in the corner of the room looking exactly like a wolf had become quietly companionable, having a naked and willing submissive sitting around in his human form was as distracting as hell. Axel sped up his work out, casting frequent glances in Bayden’s direction.

If he caught Bayden watching him with admiration more than a few times, he spotted him frowning at the wall of the lock-up just as often. Axel glanced at the wall. It was bare and boring. On the other side of it was the lock-up containing Bayden’s bike.

At the end of his third set of press ups, Axel sat back on his heels and wiped his face with a towel. “Pup?”

“What they said about selling my bike, sir. It—”

“Was bullshit,” Axel cut in.

Bayden turned his attention back to the wall.

“It’s yours, pup. I don’t sell things that don’t belong to me.”

“I could sell it,” Bayden said softly. He stared at his hands. “It draws attention—makes things more difficult than they need to be.”

“It was important to your father.”

“He was my alpha,” Bayden said, placing the stress firmly on the word was.

Axel tossed the towel aside and grabbed his water bottle. “What he wanted isn’t important anymore?”

“It’s not the most important thing.”

Axel remained silent.

“It would make a lot more than seven hundred pounds, sir.”

“The fallout if you sold your bike to pay me back would only be slightly less dramatic than when you let yourself get hurt to pay me back.”

Bayden looked down at his fingers. He’d entwined them so tightly the tips were turning white. “The bike was important to my old pack, to my old alpha.”

“And now you’re ready to have a new pack and a new alpha?”

“If that’s what you still want, sir.”

Axel joined Bayden on his cushion. It was barely big enough for both of them. Snuggling wasn’t optional. Axel guided Bayden to curl into his side and rest his head on his shoulder. He hadn’t intended them to have that particular discussion today, but he couldn’t lie about it. “I’ve wanted that for a long time—it just took me a while to translate what I wanted into words we both understand.”

Bayden took a deep breath and let it out very slowly.

Axel stroked the nape of Bayden’s neck, trying to work out if Bayden was ready for the next step or not, and what stumbling blocks might be in their way. “Did you mention the possibility of being my mate to your mother when we visited her?” he asked.

Bayden nodded.

Axel controlled all his reactions as best he could, not wanting Bayden to know how nervous he was. “Does she approve?”

Another nod.

Axel smiled. “Would your grandfather have approved?”

Bayden didn’t respond immediately.

Axel left it a while to see if he was just trying to find the right words, but eventually he had to prompt him. “Pup?”

“I wouldn’t have asked for his approval, sir.”

Axel tried to think like a wolf. “Because your mother was the more dominant between them, if she approved, his approval went without saying?”

Bayden curled in closer to Axel’s chest and Axel automatically tightened his hold on him. Even as he frowned, trying to work out what was wrong, Axel stroked Bayden’s back and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.