Authors: Anitra Lynn McLeod
Tags: #Romance
“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.
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.
“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.
“I won’t touch him.”
“Good.”
“I wasn’t finished.” Caleb lifted his head. “I won’t touch him if you let me suck your cock.”
The mere idea of having his prick between Caleb’s lips hardened McBride. Caleb’s lower lip was quite a bit larger than his upper lip, making it seem plush. As tempting as the notion was, it was wrong. Besides, McBride believed Caleb only asked to have something over him.
“I wouldn’t tell a soul.” Caleb dropped down to his knees in front of McBride and then looked up at him.
Resisting the urge to whip his head around and ensure they were alone, McBride held his place and shook his head. “I’m not putting my prick anywhere near your mouth, Caleb.” One bite and he’d be the one pissing through a flap of skin.
Moving forward, Caleb kissed McBride’s cock through the fabric of his pants. What amazed him was how he was able to feel Caleb’s mouth despite his thick layer of clothing. And then he parted his lips and breathed out. McBride closed his eyes and drew a sharp, shocked breath. He couldn’t remember anything ever feeling so good. Realizing he was being ensnared into an illegal situation, which would make him just like his law-breaking father, McBride snapped his eyes open and stepped back.
“I swear I wouldn’t bite you.” Caleb’s dangerous green eyes were now hypnotically compelling. Slowly, he moved on his knees until he was once again close enough to suck McBride’s cock, if only he’d drop his trousers. “I want you. It’s why I keep defying you, because I want you.”
“Stop this, Caleb. It won’t work. I’m not going soft on you again.”
Caleb grinned. “No, you’re going really, really hard. And you should definitely expend that on me.”
Before he could step back another step, Caleb reached up and cupped his hands to McBride’s buttocks. They molded together perfectly.
“No one will see us. Everyone else is already out in the field.”
McBride couldn’t even remember the last time he’d gotten off. His balls had a burning ache that came from being aroused far too often without a release. Last night, watching Bailey make a bloodbond with Ferris had caused McBride to crave a mate of his own so strongly he’d gone to bed and barely closed his eyes when he began dreaming about his future mate. He’d woken up in a tangle of bedclothes, his heart racing, because all through the night he couldn’t make out the face of this man who pleased and teased him. Sex and love and blood all merged together, and McBride was so happy he could barely stop smiling. With aching slowness, the man in his dreams turned and his face came into focus. It was Caleb.