Chapter Seven
Kieran
He wasn’t wrong, but having him point it out irritated me.
Which was ridiculous since I’d asked him to explain.
Ajax slid off the chair and back onto his knees in a beautiful kneeling position, his hands folded behind him, his gaze focused on my shoes.
“I apologize. I’ve angered you and that wasn’t my intent.
You’ve asked me to always be fully honest. Please help me better understand what you wish from me, Sir. I don’t wish to anger you.”
“Not your fault, Ajax.” I sighed. “I’m not angry, just a little irritated, but it isn’t your fault.
I asked a question and you respectfully answered it.
” And he wasn’t wrong. “Okay, let’s just call me the king of my domain for now, and it’s okay to be a bit of a smart-ass about it.
Next month, Gwen may be more powerful than me.
One never knows when the balance of power will shift between us.
I knew there was a chance she’d be stronger when she returned from Europe, and I admit — I’m thankful she isn’t. ”
I sensed the direction of his thoughts and decided he’d have a better chance of navigating the coming weeks if he understood the dynamics of the past couple of years.
“Gwen was never happy with bagged blood. I thought it was fine. I was happy when it was just the two of us, without companions living with us, and I appreciated the technology that allowed it to happen. She felt she wasn’t being nourished, and we now understand she was right.
We also understand that since she and I have a connection, I was benefitting from the life force she took in when she fed from the tap.
At the time, though, I resented her human companion, and I was—”
There was no sense beating around the bush.
I should tell the whole story. “I was an ass. I wasn’t jealous of him so much as resentful of the time she gave him, but that’s being nitpicky.
I didn’t handle it well. She wouldn’t consider getting rid of him to go back to bagged blood, and she was prepared to leave me if I couldn’t deal with it.
We very nearly divorced, and it wasn’t going to be amicable.
He was transferred to another city and I thought that would fix things, but it hasn’t.
We were still headed towards a dissolution, and I’m certain Abbott sent her to France so he’d have time to work something out to try to fix us. ”
“And I was his solution, and now you both have someone, so you can spend time with me together? Am I supposed to belong to you, or do I belong to both of you?”
“We’re a work in progress. Abbott set it up so you were mine first, but I think you have to eventually belong to both of us.
I’m steering the ship right now, to an extent.
” I sighed. “I’m presently more powerful than her, and we have no choice but to let that control us during sex, but we’re mostly partners the rest of the time.
I don’t pull rank when it comes to our clients. ”
“I’m extra antsy. That usually means the wolf wants to run, Sir.”
I nodded. I’d sensed it, but I was pleased he’d told me. “Thank you for letting me know.”
Abbott owns property north of the city, specifically located so his wolves will have a private spot to be themselves.
Abbott and Spence had picked him up and taken him when they went, but it was time I took him.
His wolf was still quite wild, but I should get to know both parts of this man we’d invited into our home.
The man we entrusted to keep us safe while we were dead to the world.
“You know nothing of what your wolf does, when you’re in his form?”
I scented his unease. More than unease, there was anger, humiliation, and a good deal of frustration.
“No, Master Kieran. I do not, Sir.”
I let the Master go this time. He was stressed. It wasn’t a good time to call him on it again. I wanted it to feel like a conversation when we talked about it, and not like a reprimand.
“It isn’t your fault. Your former master bastardized the process.
This was his intention.” The notes in his file said he’d been turned for over two years before he even found out he was a werewolf.
The vampires had made him think his improved hearing and sight were normal.
Eventually, he’d needed to know he could be severely injured and quickly heal, so he wouldn’t be afraid to take serious risks during training and while sparring.
He shrugged. “I know. Master Abbott explained. Spence and I’ve talked about it. It’s frustrating, Sir.”
I felt Gwen awaken, and I held my hand out to Ajax. “Come. The Mistress has risen.”
He took my hand, and I led him into our inner sanctum.
He can’t make it all the way inside while we’re dead to the world, even when he’s protecting us.
Once we’re sealed in, no one can get to us.
If Gwen sealed it without me inside, not even I could get in.
However, I’d merely locked it when I exited, which meant we could enter.
She’d worn a red silk dressing gown to sleep. It was fancier than some ball gowns worn to white tie affairs, and yet she looked totally at ease in it. Not all shades of red work with her deep ginger hair, but this one did, and the effect was striking.
“Have I told you recently how much I love you?” I asked her.
Her warm smile touched my heart, when not much manages to do so these days. “You can tell me as often as you want, husband-of-mine.” She looked to Ajax and back to me. I’m sorry. I answered your question before I thought it through. I apologize for speaking English around him.
“My plans around that have changed. Gwen, meet Ajax. Ajax, meet Gwen.” I let go of his hand and caressed his arm.
“We’re going to experience various dynamics in the coming hours.
” I met Gwen’s gaze, clearly speaking to her, though it was important Ajax hear it, too.
“Speak freely. I’m trying to slowly get him out of the habit of calling me Master, but I don’t reprimand him when he does.
As he’s pointed out, I make the rules. I’d prefer to think of myself as a benevolent dictator, but I have to admit I fall far short of that aspiration.
I love you. I’ve grown fond of Ajax, and he’s earning my trust, day by day. ”
I stepped away from Ajax and pulled my wife into my arms. “His extra-large maypole will be locked away so neither of you have access to it. I’ll unlock it when I wish to see him fuck you, or you ride him.” I grinned. “As it happens, I’m in the mood to let it out for a while this evening.”
She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and turned to our large guard. “It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Ajax. I’m glad you and Kieran had time to get to know each other while I was gone. Have you had a Mistress before? Or only a Master?”
“A female vampire from another territory frequently requested my services when she visited my Master. I was sometimes given to her for days at a time. Once, he lost a bet and she had me for three months, Ma’am.”
His scent told us this hadn’t been a pleasant experience, and I hoped Gwen helped move him away from the memory.
“I’m sorry you’ve had a bad introduction to the possibilities of being owned by a powerful vampiress.
” She glanced at me and then walked to Ajax.
He wore black slacks, a black dress shirt, and a charcoal tie.
Abbott had provided his work clothes, and I hadn’t changed them.
Since Gwen and I are always well-dressed when we leave the house, it works out better if our security is also in a tie, at the very least. He has suit jackets he can wear, and shoulder holsters for his firearms.
“For now,” Gwen told him, “you and I have the luxury of being the underlings of our not-so-benevolent dictator. When it’s just the two of us, we’ll figure out how that will work.”
She held her hand out, palm up, and he looked at it a moment before putting his hand into hers. “Thank you,” she told him. “Thank you for trusting me. We’ll figure it out together. Deal?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
The scent of his insecurity filled the room, though his body language didn’t give it away. It was time for me to help him out.
“Ajax does best when given a direct order. We’ll make the changes slow and easy,” I told Gwen. She turned to meet my gaze, and I looked up to our beautiful, strapping guard. “Hang your clothes in the armoire and place the device so I can disengage your chastity cage.”
His original Master ordered a chastity device custom made for Ajax.
It alters shape based on his shape. This means it remains on whether he’s in wolf form or human form.
Abbott is strong enough to remove and replace it, despite the fact it was made so only the original Master and a designated trainer could do so.
I’m not strong enough to overpower a Master Vampire’s magic, so Abbott provided me with a device to remove the cock cage.
As is the custom with these devices, the hands that wrap the unlocking device around him can’t be the same hands that release him from the chastity cage — a safeguard to make sure the slave can never remove the steel cage from his own maypole.
He walked to the table, lifted the device, and slid his caged member through the hole.
The flexible contraption is about a foot tall and two feet wide, and hinged pieces are mounted to the sides of the hole in the center.
With his maypole — no, I’m supposed to call it a cock or a dick now — with his dick through the hole, he swiveled the side pieces in to lock them around the cage.
Then he grabbed the handles on the sides and pulled them around his back, so they curled around his waist. The device requires the wearer switch polarities at this point, so he exchanged the handles behind his back and pulled them forward to his sides.
The device was now wrapped around him, super tight, fitted over his hips and around his buttocks.
Only then could I push Abbott’s energy through it in the right sequence to unlock the chastity device and remove it.
I’d eventually teach the sequence to Gwen, but for now, the only people who knew how were Abbott, his top five people, and me.
When his cock was free, I set the cock cage to the side so we could get him out of the unlocking device.
This wasn’t as complicated, and within seconds it was off.
Without being told, Ajax put the unlocking device away and settled the chastity cage on a side table.
He knew it would go back on when we finished.
I handled his recently bared cock a few moments, sliding my hands up and down until it was fully engorged.
He held his hands behind his back without being told.
Slaves get accustomed to being handled. They’re used to the idea they don’t own their own body.
Ajax was no longer a slave, but at times like this, he reacted as one.
“You do not have permission to touch yourself,” I told him. “Lie on the bed and grab the headboard.”