Chapter Six #3
When Ryland swiped his tongue across his bottom lip, as if trying to catch a lingering taste of the kiss, Arslan couldn’t help but think back to the feel of that impossibly soft tongue as it explored his cock back in the office at the university.
As Arslan leaned over Ryland to bring their lips back together, he caught each of Ryland’s wrists and pinned them to the sheet on either side of his head, wondering if he would like that as much as Arslan had always imagined he would.
He’d been right. Being pinned down only increased Ryland’s attempts to wriggle and rub himself against Arslan’s body in a blind search for friction. He made no attempt to free himself. His erection nudged against Arslan’s leg. Yes, Ryland did like that.
Pressed so intimately together, Arslan sensed every little change in Ryland’s body as he lost himself in pleasure and forgot to worry about anything at all.
Guiding Ryland to bring his hands together above his head, Arslan covered both his wrists with one of his own hands. With his free hand, he pushed Ryland’s hair back from his face and traced down his neck.
Desire to possess rushed through him. And even more than that, was the desire to have Ryland acknowledge who he belonged to, for his mate to know that he had found where he belonged, and that he was safe and accepted there.
“Mine,” he whispered in Ryland’s ear.
Ryland nodded. “Yes.”
“Forever.”
“Yes, sir.” The word was whispered in that same slightly awestruck tone of voice, as if he still had trouble wrapping his mind around everything that meant.
Arslan brushed their lips together once more before leaning back and putting some space between their bodies so he could look at Ryland properly. Even after he let go of Ryland’s wrists, Ryland didn’t try to move. He lay there and let Arslan look his fill.
*
“Please?”
The word had left Ryland’s lips before he’d even known he wanted to say it. He wasn’t even sure what he was asking for. Arslan tore his gaze away from his body and looked up to meet Ryland’s eyes.
Possession and desire filled his expression. Now that he wasn’t afraid to make a fool of himself by looking for it, it was easy for Ryland to imagine he could see a deeper, more tender emotion mixed in with them.
Arslan didn’t strike him as the sort of man who said something unless he was sure of it. If he said he wouldn’t ask a man to join his pride unless he was in love with him, Ryland had no reason to believe that was anything less than the absolute truth.
Leaning down, Arslan offered him his lips for another brief kiss, but before Ryland had a chance to appreciate it, Arslan’s mouth was gone, tracing a line down his neck.
Arslan nipped at the sensitive bit of skin just above his collarbone.
From there, he trailed his lips further down his body, his tongue rasping against his right nipple on the way past.
It didn’t just make it easy to stay in the moment and not worry about what a lion would do in his place, it made it damn near impossible for Ryland to think of anything but the scrape of Arslan’s tongue and the softness of his lips against his skin.
He gasped as he felt Arslan begin to follow a path down the centre of his body. Forcing his eyes open, Ryland watched as Arslan reached his cock and took the tip of his dick between his lips as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
If the sensation of Arslan’s mouth on his body had kept Ryland happily frozen in place, the first touch of a lion’s tongue on his erection made it impossible to stay still for a moment longer. His hands went to Arslan’s hair. He couldn’t stop himself tangling his fingers in the long dark strands.
He’d apologise for that later. And he’d apologise for not being able to keep his hips still, too.
He was quite happy to apologise for everything in the world and beg the professor’s forgiveness later.
But, right then, it was impossible to think clearly about manners or control or anything else, because his entire brain was devoted to processing every single sensation of Arslan’s mouth wrapped around his dick.
Arslan sucked around the head as his tongue played with the very tip of Ryland’s cock, coaxing him to moan and toss his head back against the pillows. Ryland’s fingers tightened in Arslan’s hair, and he tugged as gently as he could at the long strands, pulling Arslan’s mouth away from his cock.
Arslan let Ryland’s dick slip from between his lips as he looked up in query.
“Come if you don’t stop,” Ryland managed to explain.
And he knew he couldn’t come right then, because he wanted to come when Arslan’s cock was buried deep inside him.
He wanted to be wrapped in Arslan the way he had been in front of the fire when the whole world had stopped existing, all except for that very perfect bit of it that contained them.
Arslan didn’t question any of it—he just nodded as if he understood it all without needing the kind of information that could be broken down into letters and words.
Ryland watched as Arslan retrieved a tube of lube from his bedside drawer.
He slicked his fingers but shook his head when Ryland would have rolled over onto his hands and knees.
Ryland thought he saw what Arslan wanted in his eyes, but it was impossible to be certain.
Not sure what else to do, he gave his instincts full reign.
Lying back again, he pulled his knees back towards his chest. For now, at least, his instincts seemed to have held him in good stead.
Within seconds, Arslan had two slicked fingers working inside him.
Ryland bit his bottom lip in the hope he could keep the sounds of his enjoyment to himself, but one look from the professor was all it took to inform him that he was mistaken in the belief that quieter was better.
The instinct to please Arslan came back full force, and everything else became irrelevant.
Ryland released his tooth-hold on his lip and let Arslan hear his whimpering responses when Arslan’s fingers played across his prostate.
When he saw pleasure flare in the professor’s eyes, it was suddenly impossible to care if he was acting like a human or a lion or anything else.
Ryland’s master was pleased with him, and nothing else mattered.
As much as he wanted to just let go and let Arslan do as he wished with him, and as much as he wanted to show Arslan that he could follow his lead and not question his decisions—it was impossible to do that forever, or even for another full minute.
Ryland just knew if he let Arslan’s fingers continue to play inside him much longer, he wouldn’t just come too soon, he might actually lose his mind all together.
“Need,” he managed to whisper. “Need. Now. Please, sir.”
Arslan leaned over him and touched their lips together in a quick little taste as he took his fingers away. A moment later, his body covered Ryland’s. The tip of his slicked cock brushed against Ryland’s hole.
“Please,” was the only word left in Ryland’s head.
If he had any of those instincts that Arslan wanted him to trust, every one of them was screaming at him that he needed his mate inside him.
He reached out and caught hold of Arslan’s shoulders, tugging at him, trying to show him what he needed so badly.
As he looked up, and their eyes met, Arslan pushed into him, slow and steady, filling him, stretching him and taking over his whole world.
Ryland’s hands tightened around Arslan’s shoulders.
His nails bit into Arslan’s skin as if some part of Ryland really thought he could mark a lion the same way Arslan had claimed ownership over him.
All too soon, Ryland felt himself rushing to the edge. He scrambled to hold onto any sort of control, but it was impossible. He bucked as Arslan thrust into him harder now, faster. Before Ryland could even reach for his cock, he came, spilling between their bodies.
Just like in the meeting room a lifetime ago, Arslan kept thrusting into him, riding him all the way through his orgasm, until Ryland finally fell still. Blinking open his eyes, Ryland gazed up at Arslan, mesmerised by the expression on his face.
One more thrust, another, and Arslan tossed back his head and roared his own pleasure up to the ceiling.
This was nothing like the angry roar from Arslan’s dealings with the pride earlier that evening.
This sound was completely different, and it sent a fresh wave of pleasure tingling through Ryland’s whole body.
As the sound faded away, Arslan stilled, bowing his head to look down at Ryland.
Ryland stared up at him for a few seconds before he slowly let his eyes drop closed, just so he could fix every detail in his head before they slipped away. Leaning over him, Arslan brushed his lips across Ryland’s closed eyelids as if in praise for giving in to the instinct to do that.
Ryland smiled up at Arslan as Arslan moved away—just far enough to let Ryland to roll onto his side facing him.
They both lay there, still and silent for a long time, just catching their breaths.
Eventually, Arslan nodded to the door that seemed to lead into an en-suite, inviting Ryland to make use of it before they settled to sleep.
When he came back into the room, Ryland was left entirely alone as Arslan took his turn in the bathroom.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he looked around the room.
It looked like a perfectly normal room, kept by a person who liked a high degree of order and neatness, but still, a perfectly normal human room. There wasn’t a trace of lion in it.
Ryland’s eyes fell on the door that led out into the hallway. There was a large old-fashioned lock just below the handle. There wasn’t a key in it.
“Yes, it’s locked.”
Looking back to the door leading into the en-suite, Ryland saw Arslan standing in the doorway. “Is it wrong that part of me likes knowing that, sir?”
“Knowing that your master cares for you, that he wants to keep you close? It seems to be a very sensible thing for a pet to like.”
Ryland dropped his gaze to the rug by the side of the bed.
“That’s what a pet is,” Arslan said. “A man who likes to be looked after by his master, who likes to be kept close and safe, to know that there’s someone looking after him, watching over him.”
“It’s not…it’s not someone who…” Ryland dropped his gaze, not sure what the right words were.
“It’s not an insult. I wouldn’t use the term with you if it were.” There was no room for argument in the professor’s tone. “You are my pet, and you’re my mate, and both are very good things.”
“Would the human word for pet be submissive?” Ryland hazarded. “Like—lions are naturally dominants, and the humans in relationships with them are usually subs?”
“Perhaps,” Arslan allowed. “Some of the humans who’ve volunteered to be sacrifices use terms like that.”
“Um…I don’t know much about…”
Arslan smiled. “Everything you need to know you’ll learn over time,” he promised.
Yes, the professor liked people who were willing and able to learn, there was no rush.
Ryland nodded to himself. But there was one thing that he would prefer to learn that night.
“You said you would show me what you look like when you’re a—” he blurted out.
It was the wrong time. Part of him knew that, but the part of his brain that just might house his instincts wanted to be able to tell Arslan that he accepted every part of him, just as Arslan had so carefully accepted his mistakes and his humanity, just as Arslan had accepted every part of him.
Arslan made no reply, he merely shifted into his lion form, right there in front of Ryland, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Ryland held his breath as a fully-grown lion padded across the bedroom carpet and stopped in front of him.
Ryland watched as his own hand reached out and his fingers brushed against the dark mane that surround the lion’s face. Swallowing his nerves, Ryland cautiously touched the lion’s cheek. As Ryland stared down at him, the lion turned his head and licked his fingertips.
Frozen in place, Ryland just continued to stare and run his fingers over the mane until he managed to scrape together some words. “Thank you, sir.”
Under his touch, Arslan became a man once more. It was a silent, seamless process that ended with Ryland’s hand settled into human hair. He couldn’t help but reach out and touch Arslan’s cheek again, comparing the human side of him with the lion side of him.
“Your eyes are always the same,” he blurted out.
Right then, Arslan’s eyes looked quite amused. He turned his head and licked Ryland’s hand, just as the lion version of him had.
Leaning down from his seat on the edge of the bed, Ryland brushed their lips together.
Arslan smiled into the kiss as if just slightly entertained by Ryland’s clumsy attempts to show he wasn’t the least bit freaked out about anything at all.
When he pulled back, Arslan nodded at the mattress.
Ryland got the hint and shuffled back along the sheet so the professor could join him in the bed.
He very gently, very patiently nudged Ryland into a position that pleased him, with Ryland curled up close against him. Arslan’s skin was wonderfully hot in the slight chill of the room. Ryland found himself automatically snuggling into his side under the blankets.
“I love you, too, sir.”
Arslan pulled back a fraction, to look down at him.
“You said earlier,” Ryland reminded him.
“Yes, I did,” Arslan agreed.
“I just thought… It seemed wrong not to tell you that I do love you, too—and the lion bit as well as the professor bit. I thought you should know, that I should tell you.”
“It’s a good instinct,” Arslan agreed.
Ryland nodded.
Arslan guided him to rest his head back against his shoulder.
“Trust your other instincts, too. What do they tell you to do right now?”
Ryland smiled slightly against Arslan’s shoulder before he curled a little more snugly into his embrace and let his eyes drop closed.
His only instinct right then was simply relax and drift off into sleep, secure in the knowledge that his master was right there, and for the first time he could remember, he was safe, accepted and exactly where he belonged.
Arslan pressed a final kiss onto Ryland’s temple before reaching out switching off the light. It was all the praise Ryland needed in order to believe that Arslan had been right—he really did have good instincts.