Chapter Eleven
“Kefir, if you want to go through the rest of the questions you have about Cameron after dinner,” Arslan began. “Then—”
“Kefir and I are going out after dinner,” Ellery cut in, before Arslan’s plans could build up any momentum.
As the room fell silent, Ellery met Arslan’s gaze along the dining table.
He could feel Ryland’s attention moving back and forth between him and Arslan as he tried to work out which way the conversation might go. Kefir’s focus was also noticeable—but it was all on his master.
Arslan raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t mention you had plans.”
“I’m mentioning them now.”
Arslan took a sip of his wine and set his glass back on the table. There was no similar glass of wine in front of Ellery or Kefir that night. Ellery had seen to that.
Arslan looked at each of his guests in turn.
Unless Ellery’s read on him was very wrong, Arslan’s interest in Kefir was more paternal than anything.
He cared for the little kitten; he looked out for him.
And that was all well and good—providing he didn’t get carried away and start thinking he owned any part of him.
Ellery leaned back in his seat. The tension in the room doubled over and over again. Ryland and Kefir were both starting to get nervous as it swirled around them. Ryland was starting to fidget, but, if anything, Kefir only became more still.
“Do you believe Kefir needs your permission to leave the house?” Ellery asked, his tone as polite as he could make it.
Arslan glanced towards Kefir, and Ellery followed his gaze. Kefir tilted his head slightly to one side, apparently quite curious about the answer, too.
“No,” Arslan said slowly. “Kefir’s free to come and go as he pleases. He’s aware of the traditions feline courtships follow, and how important they are. He won’t forget them.”
Kefir nodded, as serious as ever.
“I trust his decisions.” Arslan turned his attention back to Ellery. Can I trust yours? He didn’t say the words out loud. He didn’t need to. Ellery still heard every syllable very clearly.
He considered his own words scrupulously in return. Perhaps a man who seemed to genuinely care about Kefir deserved to receive some sort of conciliatory gesture. “We shouldn’t disturb you too much when we return. Our plans won’t run late.”
Arslan nodded. “And are we to be told where you’re going?”
“No.” Ellery added nothing to the answer. It was complete as it stood, and he’d be damned if he’d take his politeness so far he actually ended up apologising for doing what he thought was best for his sub.
Standing up, Ellery stepped back from the table. Kefir, having finally been cured of the idea Ellery would be pleased with him for moving his chair around behind him, walked to the door at his side. Ellery opened it for him and ushered him through. “I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
The little lion left without protest.
“You’re taking him to a leather club,” Arslan said, as Ellery closed the door behind Kefir.
“Yes.”
“The same one we met at?”
“Yes.” And that seemed to Ellery to be more than enough information to offer up. He turned back to the door, eager to follow Kefir up the stairs and get his plans under way.
“Does that impress human submissives?” Arslan asked, as Ellery took hold of the door handle.
Ellery turned back and raised an eyebrow in query.
“Acting like an unpleasant child and refusing to answer a simple question?” Arslan clarified.
Ellery‘s lips twisted into a little smile. “Lions don’t understand the concept of offering their subs surprise treats then? That’s a pity.
Perhaps you should have Ryland explain the idea to you one day.
It might be a habit he’d enjoy seeing you acquire.
” And, with that, he closed the door behind him, quite pleased with the look on Arslan’s face.
Upstairs, he found Kefir sitting cross legged on their bed, staring intently at the bag Ellery had left there.
“There’s a lock on your backpack, sir.”
“And how exactly did you discover that?” Ellery asked.
Kefir looked from him, to the little padlock and back again. There wasn’t the slightest hint of guilt or guile in him. He genuinely didn’t seem to have any idea what his master was teasingly accusing him of.
Ellery ruffled the kitten’s hair as he took a seat on the bed next to him. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his keychain and unlocked the fastening. “I brought some things for us to wear when we go out tonight.”
Kefir leaned forward, apparently eager to see. But he wasn’t going to be that lucky, not yet.
Ignoring the larger compartment, Ellery only undid the smaller pocket on the side of the bag and took out a solitary length of chain and leather. Lead in hand, Ellery locked the bag back up.
Kefir watched Ellery’s every movement, appearing curious and clueless in equal measure as Ellery turned to him and clipped one end of the lead onto the loop on his collar.
The little lion trailed his fingers down the length of it, all the way to where the leather handle rested in Ellery’s palm. He seemed to examine every link in turn, as if one of them might hold the key to all the mysteries in the universe.
Rising to his feet, Ellery picked up his bag and stepped back from the bed. A little tug on the lead brought Kefir to kneel on the edge of the bed.
“You said we were going to change our clothes, sir?”
“Yes—but not until we get there.”
Kefir seemed to accept that decision with the same calm he accepted almost all of Ellery’s announcements. He walked neatly at his master’s side on the lead, never once letting the chain grow taut between them, as they made their way down the stairs.
He only hesitated when they stepped out of the house and came face to face with Ellery’s bike.
“Ever ridden?” Ellery asked, although he already had a fair idea of the answer.
Kefir shook his head.
“Easiest thing in the world. All you have to do is hold on tight to me. I’ll take care of everything else.”
He didn’t seem the least bit scared as Ellery put a helmet on him and arranged both them and the backpack safely on the bike. Pulling out of the drive, Ellery raised a hand in farewell, well aware that they were being observed from the one of the windows.
As he rode down the street, Ellery finally felt them both leave Arslan’s overreaching presence.
The bike, the boy riding behind him, the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted with both—it all combined to settle something in his soul that had never quite found a way to rest easy in Arslan’s house.
It was just Ellery and Kefir now, and the little lion was bloody good at doing as he was told. Kefir held on tight. So tight, it wasn’t easy for Ellery to breathe whenever they happened to turn too many corners in quick succession.
Right from the first moment, Kefir clung to him as if Ellery was suddenly the only point of safety in a world that insisted on whizzing past his feet at far too rapid a pace for a kitten’s peace of mind.
By the time they pulled up in the carpark at the back of the club, Ellery was more than a little breathless. And Kefir still didn’t ease his grip on Ellery, until he rose from his seat and dismounted the bike.
As Ellery took off Kefir’s helmet for him, he found Kefir wide eyed, but still, there was no hint of fear.
Ellery chuckled at the boy’s enthralled expression.
He had the distinct impression that he’d soon be receiving requests which involved Kefir having a bike of his own.
Or maybe not. The kitten did like being close to his master, and they couldn’t have got any closer than they had on the ride over without removing significant pieces of clothing.
“Like that, kitten?”
Kefir nodded quickly before looking at the dank little space around them. Ellery followed his gaze to the crumbling brickwork and graffiti that surrounded them.
“Where are we, sir?”
“Somewhere where you’ll be able to see a little bit of my world.”
A sideways tilt of the head was all the answer he received.
“I’ve learned a lot about lions and your pride recently. Now, it’s time for you to learn a little about how some humans do things—from me and not some pillock with a website.”
“Learn about your pride, sir?”
Ellery considered the matter. A group of men who came together to share a mutual interest. There was certainly a bond between the men who played there seriously. Leaders. Followers. Masters. Brats. There were probably worse ways for the boy to think of the club than as a pride. “Something like it.”
Picking up the handle on his kitten’s lead, Ellery led him around to the front of the club. It was no more showy than the alleyway. An untrained eye probably wouldn’t even notice the club existed.
The dom working the door that night was an old friend. As they walked past his station, he nodded to Ellery and tossed him the key to the private room he’d booked
Catching the key deftly in the same hand that held the lead, Ellery guided Kefir further into the club.
Even that early in the evening, it was getting both crowded and rowdy. Ellery heard the howls of laughter coming from the communal changing rooms as they walked past them.
He’d been right. A private room was definitely more Kefir’s pace.
It had been a while since Ellery had visited that particular room.
As they stepped inside, he glanced briefly at the set up.
A large cage filled one corner. A set of stocks were set up, ready to be enjoyed.
Toys filled a wall full of hooks. A suspension kit dangled from the ceiling.
Apart from that, there was little decoration.
There wasn’t even paint. The walls were all bare plaster.
Ellery turned his attention to Kefir. His eyes went from one item of bondage furniture to another, never lingering on any one piece of equipment for very long but not rushing so fast he missed a single detail either.