Chapter Twenty Six #3
“Just getting warmed up,” Karim answered breathily. He got a hard tug on his hair for the comment, and his head craned back. Karim bit his lip, fangs out, clearly enjoying it. Luis’s eyes trailed down his body with appreciation.
“I know what you’re up to,” Julien said. Then his gaze went to Luis. “I can’t imagine this was Luis’s idea.”
Luis opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He felt caught, but like he didn’t want to try and escape whatever was coming. Anticipation thrummed through him.
“So, the punishment will be all yours then,” Julien continued, addressing Karim now. “Mon c?ur.”
Karim made a choked sound, but didn’t deny it or try to pull away. When Julien tugged further on his hair, Karim came up off the bed. Standing, his cock was obvious in his pants.
Luis swallowed hard.
“Go, sit. Do not touch yourself.” Julien’s tone was hard, heavy. He pointed at a chair across from the bed.
Karim did so without arguing, his eyes dark. Julien took a seat on the bed just beside Luis.
“If you’re so interested in seeing this progress,” Julien said leadingly, “then that’s what you’ll do—watch.”
Whatever spell Julien had woven in the room had Luis in its grips too.
“Now,” Julien turned his attention to Luis. “Karim got part of the way there, but left you in your shirt. Would you take that off for me?” The question came layered with sweetness.
Luis sat up and started pulling it off.
“Good boy,” Julien said approvingly. Luis bit his lip at how just those words made him dizzy. Julien held out a hand and took the shirt from Luis, folding it neatly before he set it aside. He moved closer.
A hand caressed over Luis’s bare shoulder, and goosebumps rose in its wake.
“So beautiful,” Julien said as he trailed careful fingers up to Luis’s throat. “Karim’s handsome with all his muscles and strength, but you have a delicate kind of beauty yourself.”
Fingers paused at Luis’s pulse point, rubbing over it. He wondered if Julien could feel the rabbit kick of his heart. Could feel the eagerness, the desire nearly bursting through him. Fuck, how he wanted them.
Then those fingers were tracing back down his throat to his chest, taking their time. Everywhere he touched left a sensitizing trail of heat.
“And so responsive,” Julien noted.
His fingers found the dark trail of hair leading down to Luis’s underwear. Julien stroked him there, and his cock throbbed. Julien’s gaze flicked downward at the movement.
“Enjoying yourself?” Julien asked.
Luis’s throat clicked. “Yes?”
“Was that a question?” Julien started tracing random shapes back up his body. “Do you not know?”
The words were teasing, dousing him in heat even as the hands trailed over him.
“I–I mean yes. I am.” His tongue felt thick in his mouth, his skin buzzing everywhere that Julien had touched him.
Then those fingers were on his chin, tipping his head up with command.
“Good boy,” Julien said. He leaned in and kissed him.
Across the room, Karim made a rough, wanting sound. Julien’s lips curled against Luis’s, amused. The kiss was thorough, the sort Luis was coming to understand was Julien’s style. He didn’t take with force like Karim, but coaxed what he wanted from Luis with drugging softness.
His lips parted, and Julien licked into his mouth. He tasted like mint and heat and something coppery at the end. Luis hadn’t been bitten, but he could swear the haze was overcoming him.
When Julien pulled back, Luis’s eyes fluttered open slowly. He felt strangely slow, even as his body was alight with desire. Promises and pleas were on his tongue. He wanted to spill everything, his wants, his needs, lay them all out for Julien to pick through.
“I think this might be my favorite part,” Julien mused.
“I know,” Karim answered in a growl.
“Was your plan a gift for me, or a punishment for you?” Julien wondered aloud. “I suppose it could have been both, but what if I’d gone with something more severe for punishment?” Julien looked at Karim. “I don’t recall you enjoying the decussata, but perhaps you’d like another try?”
There was a groan of leather that drew Luis’s eye. Karim fingers were pressed right into the arms of the chair, crushing it. He looked like a predator about to pounce. Luis waited for it, but seconds ticked by and he stayed in his chair.
“What’s a decussata?” Luis asked. His voice sounded off, like he was slurring a little.
A hand found the back of Luis’s neck, scritching at the base of his scalp. It sent shivers down his spine and he sighed.
“It’s a cross,” Julien explained. “A large one someone can be tied to. In Karim’s case, it’s for punishment or play. I’ll show you it another day, it’s in our playroom.”
Luis tried to picture it, but with Julien’s fingers scratching against his scalp, it was hard to think.
“Okay,” he said. He felt sleepy but awake.
“Mmm, you are sweet, aren’t you?” Julien asked. “I might have guessed, but you go down fast sweetheart.”
Go down where? Luis tried to get the question out, but couldn’t make his mouth work. That might have alarmed him, but then Julien was leaning down and kissing him again. All his worries floated away.
Julien guided him back and down on the bed, and Luis went easily. He relaxed against the mattress it, giving himself over to the kisses.
Sharper lines of sensation dragged every so often over Luis’s shoulders, then arms, then chest. They pulled him back from what might have been sleep, a pleasure so soft he was drifting in it.
His cock ached, but it was distant. Julien licked into his mouth, fangs grazing Luis’s swollen lips. Luis made unconscious sounds, small wanting things.
“Fucking hell Jules,” Karim groaned.
Then Julien was pulling away. Cooler air brought Luis back a little. Enough to turn his gaze and see Karim. He was still in the chair, watching.
“Are you enjoying the progress?” Julien asked.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it? So impatient you couldn’t wait.
” He leaned down to kiss Luis slow again.
Their lips parted but he stayed close, tilting his head just slightly to address Karim.
“Not that I blame you. He’s alluring, isn’t he?
So sweet you just want to put your teeth in him. ”
Luis whined. A bite would feel so, so good right now. His knees tried to come up, to prompt Julien for more, but the man quickly pinned them back down.
“But we don’t do things on your timeline, do we, mon c?ur?” Julien smiled and there were fangs. “It’s whatever I decide.”
He kissed Luis again, touched him everywhere except for where he needed it. He kissed Luis until his lips were swollen, until his brain was liquid, before easing off. Luis forced his eyes open.
Julien shifted back to a seat, taking a deep breath, turning his full attention back to Karim. The arms of the leather chair were in tatters.
“You look good like that,” Julien said, “wanting.”
Karim’s nails tore further at the leather. “Jules.”
“What do you think, have you learned something this evening? Should I be merciful?”
“You’re rarely merciful,” Karim said.
Julien’s hand set down on Luis’s upper thigh. His thumb teased the skin, and Luis whined again. “What was that? Do you need to go to the playroom?”
Karim bared his fangs. “I’ve learned my lesson,” the words sounded compressed. “We should go to bed now.”
Julien smiled. “Good choice. Come here.” He held out a hand and Karim stood, walking stiffly back to the bed.
Closer, he looked a different sort of ruined from Luis. Like he’d been gritting his teeth and was barely managing even now to hold back.
“Help me get him up,” Julien said. Karim immediately scooped Luis up like he weighed nothing. Julien pulled back the sheets and they settled Luis to a seat against the headboard. The him of an hour ago would’ve protested being so manhandled, but Luis sighed now at being cared for.
“Be right back,” Julien said.
In the silence after his departure, Karim took a seat beside him and then took his hand.
“You okay?” He asked.
It was a genuine ask, so Luis tried to push through the glossiness to assess. He felt… strange. Like he was drunk or bite hazed. Softened, despite the burn of arousal still in him. It was a good space though, nothing was worrying him.
“I think so. Is it always… like that?” He asked. His speech was still off.
“Sometimes,” Karim said. “Julien likes… control. It’s a part of our dynamic, and maybe yours if you want it to be. Julien will explain everything tomorrow, so don’t worry.”
Luis nodded, head tilting onto Karim’s shoulder. “Okay, I won’t,” he said. He liked the way he felt, and was in no rush to pull himself out of it.
Eventually, Julien returned with two bottles. The dark red labeled one he handed to Karim, and label-less orange one to Luis. It was freshly made juice.
“I want you to try and drink all of it,” Julien said.
Luis was slow, uncoordinated, but the juice was good so he kept at it. It was silent as they drank, and Karim didn’t even complain about the bottled blood.
When they were finished, Julien took their empty bottles and set them aside.
“Good job,” he said. He leaned over and kissed Luis, then Karim. He lingered with Karim a few seconds longer, before pulling back. “Now it’s bed time.”
They shuffled down under the blankets, and Karim cuddled in close, an arm thrown over Luis’s middle.
It was a good weight, and Luis curled his own arm over Karim’s to keep it there.
Luis assessed himself again silently, and found that he felt easy and unbothered by what had happened.
Like he’d jumped into the deep end, but found arms to buoy him and keep him safe.
Julien picked up his book from the bedside table, and one of his hands found its way to Luis’s hair.
Luis sighed, happy, and closed his eyes.