The fingers pulled out, and Nikolai glanced around in disappointment, his hole clenching and unclenching at the loss. Almost immediately though, Jagger pressed against him, his cock taking the place of the fingers. He eased himself inside, pushing past the strong ring of muscles. It hurt, but Nikolai bit his lip, too proud to let his mate see it. Somehow Jagger knew though, and the hand on his cock moved faster, a soft kiss dropped on Nikolai’s shoulder and he heard Jagger murmuring something to him. Pleasure came flooding back, and Nikolai thrust up into the hand that held him and then back, causing his backside to burn again.
“Hurts,” Nikolai whispered and soft kisses rained down on his shoulders and back.
“Relax, sweet one, and it’ll hurt less. I want to make this good for you. ” Jagger began moving with slow thrusts, pulling out and pushing in. He angled his hips so that Nikolai’s sweet spot was being caressed with each stroke, and Nikolai pushed backward into it, then forward again to meet Jagger’s hand. The sensations were coming too fast for him to process them, and he gave himself over to the pleasure completely. He still wanted to be inside his mate, but until he could this was a fine substitute. He might even allow his mate to pleasure him this way in the long cycles to come. His little mate was really quite good at it.
Jagger moved the hand on Nikolai’s cock in a similar motion as Nikolai had done to him, slipping his thumb into Nikolai’s slit, and Nikolai arched his back and climaxed at the same time he felt a wet explosion deep inside him. Jagger strained against him and shouted his name as Nikolai sagged down to his knees on the bench, taking the prince with him. After a moment, Jagger pulled out and fell over on the bench. Nikolai could hear his soft panting as he tried to catch his breath.
Nikolai moved to his knees on the floor of the pool and put his head against Jagger’s chest, nuzzling his nose into his wet skin, unable to let him go. Jagger started in surprise at first, and then his hand fell onto Nikolai’s head, caressing him. They remained quietly together for a long while. Nikolai thought that neither of them wanted to move. Finally, Jagger pushed at him gently and stood up, again extending a hand to Nikolai. He gave it to him and followed his prince from the pool. Jagger took some towels from a cabinet on the wall and tossed one to Nikolai. They dried off their bodies without talking, and Nikolai followed Jagger’s lead in tossing the towels to the floor when they were both dry. Falling onto the bed, Jagger nudged Nikolai to turn on his side and then came up behind him, spooning him and rubbing the muscles of his abs gently and soothingly. Soon his exhausted little prince was breathing deeply behind him, his lips close to Nikolai’s ear, and Nikolai allowed himself to relax into sleep.
Chapter Three
Jagger woke up with his legs tangled up with other, longer legs, and for a moment he was amazed to find himself in bed with someone. Memories of the night before came flooding back to him. The big Lycan—Niki—had been amazing, far exceeding his expectations. Jagger moved his arm from around his lover’s waist and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He still
didn’t know what to make of him. Why had he given in so easily to the idea of becoming his concubine? Was he planning some kind of trick or escape?
The night before, he’d been subdued enough, even humble at first, if a little dense, and that didn’t ring true to what Jagger knew of Lycans, and of the Balanescu family in particular. They were all rumored to be highly intelligent, fierce, and dangerous to cross. Jagger knew his father had been receiving furious messages from the family since yesterday, and the Lycanus ambassador had been in contact as well, all demanding his Lycan’s immediate release. A delegation from Lycanus 3, Niki’s home planet, was supposedly already on the way to negotiate his release and would land sometime the next day. His father had been frightened when he’d reported all this to Jagger, wringing his hands and telling him they would have to capitulate. But after last night, Jagger was determined not to let his Lycan go. It wasn’t only because of his value as a hostage, though keeping him would ensure a steady source of income they could use to pay off the Rogers until Jagger could figure out a way to secure his mother’s release. He also wanted the man for himself, and he didn’t want to look at his motives too closely.
The Lycan had been full of surprises from the very beginning. At first, Jagger had thought he was mocking him when he called him ‘sweetheart’ and ‘little Master’ and licked his fingers at dinner. And though he later called him ‘Master,’ he also seemed amused, as if at some private joke. Jagger knew he had great strength—he’d proven that in the bathing pool when he effortlessly held him down with one hand, yet he hadn’t chosen to use that strength to hurt him in any way. Why not?
Niki made a soft little sound in his sleep and rolled toward him, reaching for him. When he found Jagger, he cuddled closer, throwing an arm over his waist and then sighing contentedly and settling back down. Jagger put a hand on the back of his head and rested it there. His hair was soft and a lovely shade of reddish brown, filled with golden highlights. His strange garnet-colored eyes should have clashed but they didn’t. They were an intriguing and lovely match. He’d never seen such eyes before, but they were most compelling. They seemed to get darker when he was angry or surprised or in the heat of passion. The night before in the pool, they’d been almost black.
In actual fact, Jagger hadn’t had many lovers before. In the past, he’d simply been too busy with his studies and his military training. He’d always preferred males when he did take a lover, though his parents had been disappointed he wouldn’t give them an heir. Jagger wasn’t interested in settling down and raising a family, and really would have preferred his father to name one of his many first cousins as the heir to the throne and title. He had little interest in it, and wanted to travel and see the universe instead of being tied down by responsibilities and duties to his country. Up until six months ago, he thought he had plenty of time to decide about such things, but his father’s health had greatly deteriorated since his mother’s capture by the Rogers, and now he wasn’t so sure.
Nikolai stirred again and opened his beautiful eyes. For a moment, he seemed disoriented until he saw Jagger. A big smile lit up his face, and he scooted closer, latching his mouth onto the closest nipple to him. As his hot tongue encircled it, Jagger hissed in a sharp breath. “Well, good morning to you too, Niki. ”
Nikolai looked up at him with a wicked smile. “Good morning, little Master. ” He gave Jagger’s nipple a gentle tug with his teeth, and apparently there was a direct line from it to Jagger’s cock, because it stood up immediately and took notice.
“Just Master,” Jagger corrected, pulling away to sit up and tugging Niki up to sit beside him. “Now stop, because I need to ask you something. ”
Niki sat beside him, an arm around his shoulders as he leaned back against the headboard. “Sure, go ahead. ”
“Why have you been so…agreeable since you woke up yesterday? I told you that you were my hostage and my concubine, and I expected you to be angry. Instead you seemed downright happy about it. Are you trying to trick me, Niki? Is this all some kind of plan to make me think you’re content so you can escape? Because I can assure you escape is impossible. I have this room heavily guarded, and I would never let you get away from me, anyway. ”
Nikolai dropped his gaze, a slight smile playing around his lips, but answered quickly enough. “Oh, no, Princeling. I…uh…I’m happy to be here with you. ”
Jagger turned in his arms to face him, fixing him with a hard stare. “That’s just it—why? How could you possibly be happy about being captured and taken away from your family? I mean I could understand it if you’d been mistreated, or…”
“That’s it. I was mistreated. ”
Jagger turned a suspicious gaze on him. “In what way? You said the Balanescus were your family. ”
“They are, sort of. My…uh…my mother died and my father married a woman who had some sons. They never really liked me, so they were mean to me. Really, really mean. Made me do all the work around the house while they did nothing. And if I didn’t get it all done, they’d beat me. ” Nikolai sighed heavily, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. “They wouldn’t even let me sleep in a real bed. I had to sleep on the floor near the fireplace…in the cinders to keep warm. ”
“But that’s outrageous! Didn’t your father try to stop it?”
“Well, uh, he died too. So then I was left with my wicked stepmother and my wicked stepbrothers. ” He sighed heavily again, and Jagger put a hand over his and squeezed his hand.
“Then why do they want you back so badly?”
Nikolai shrugged. “To do all their work, I guess. Then too, they have a lot of pride. They won’t like the idea that you tried to steal from them. ”
Jagger leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Well, you don’t have to worry about any of them ever again. I’ll take care of you now, and if they try to take you away from me, they’ll soon learn what a Jayronian warrior is capable of. ”
“Thank you, little Master,” Nikolai said softly, his hand sneaking out to squeeze Jagger’s cock through the sheet.
“Not…little Master,” Jagger managed to say, and tried to frown at him. “Just Master!”
Nikolai lowered his lashes and moved his head down to lick and suck at Jagger’s nipple. “Oh, sorry, Master. ”