Chapter 29
It was a blur of motion that brought Elm to the couch.
Almost as though he blinked in the kitchen and suddenly found himself draped over the alpha’s lap in the living room.
He had flashes of the start of Levi’s rut, when he’d hunted him through the house, the first and only time Elm had ever seen him lose his composure.
Until now.
The first slap against his ass honestly caught him off guard, the sting registering only after the surprise. The second one he was more prepared for, and Elm yelped, feeling the vibrations travel straight to his groin.
“Explain,” Levi demanded, the loud crack of his palm connecting with flesh echoing in the vast area.
“Good Light!” Elm clawed at the couch, but the alpha held firm, keeping him trapped over his lap with an arm over his lower back. “We were just having fun! It didn’t mean anything!”
“Having fun now, omega?”
Elm squirmed and earned a harder spanking for the effort. He jerked as that hand came down on him, losing count after five. “It didn’t mean anything!” he repeated, tears spilling free. “I didn’t even know you then! What’s wrong with you?!”
Admittedly, the pain was laced with pleasure, and even though the alpha had stopped using seductive pheromones a while ago, Elm was still aching and hard as a rock. The sound of slick between his cheeks was impossible to ignore, even with the whacks of the alpha’s palm battering his backside.
In the past, Elm had enjoyed spanking. He’d even been down for it rough and aggressive. But this…Something about witnessing the always calm and collected Leviathan losing his cool made Elm…uncomfortable?
He couldn’t explain it.
Maybe it didn’t really matter.
“Please,” he sucked in a sharp breath, “Stop!”
There was a click and a flash, causing him to freeze all over, and then the multi-slate—which he hadn’t realized Levi had brought with them—was thrust in front of his face.
A photo of him with his ass as the main focal point took up the entire screen. The white tuft of the fake tail a stark contrast to the now bright red cheeks on either side of it. Some marks had taken on the distinct shape of Levi’s fingers, and seeing it made his beaten flesh burn even more.
“Looks like I’ve got my new device wallpaper,” the alpha stated, pulling the multi-slate back.
Elm twisted to watch him over his shoulder, eyes going wide when his thumb swept over keys. He gasped when the alpha finished and turned it back, showing him that he had, in fact, made the lewd photo his background image.
“No.” He tried to reach for it, but the alpha pulled it away and shoved him back down at the same time.
A hand slapped over his left cheek, but this time he held on, squeezing and jiggling his ass in a move that both stung and had Elm gushing all over again.
“You’re jealous,” Elm hissed. “Of who? The Runner of the Eumia?” He scoffed, knowing he was taking a risk.
Levi paused. “Careful, omega, that’s a dangerous web you’re attempting to weave.”
“Figured the Dominus of the White Frost would consider himself above a mere Runner, but apparently—” His sentence died on his tongue when the alpha unleashed on him a second time, with more force than before.
Levi spanked him until he was a writhing, sobbing mess, edging him close to orgasm, only to switch to rubbing out the burn when he sensed Elm was near. He drew it out, torturing them both with the lengthy process.
But as he physically exerted himself, the tension eased. The alpha’s sense returned to him bit by bit, clarity breaking through the red haze of jealousy the way Elm had hoped.
He could take a good spanking, but an erratic Leviathan was frightening. Elm much preferred the man he knew, the one who was now as turned on as he was just from slapping Elm’s ass.
Elm’s breath hitched on a particularly hard blow and all at once, the alpha seemed to come back to himself entirely.
“Hey.” Soothing pheromones blasted out of him as Levi dragged Elm up, repositioning him in his lap.
His ass burned from the contact, but instead of pulling away, Elm gave into instinct, tucking himself against the alpha, silently asking for comfort.
He buried his face in the crook of his neck and inhaled those calming pheromones, arms wrapping around his waist as the alpha cradled and began to rock him.
“Don’t cry,” Levi urged, voice gentle now. He brushed tears from Elm’s wet cheeks and purred for him. “I’m sorry. Don’t be sad.”
“You back to normal now?”
“Breathe, omega.”
“If you’re really sorry,” Elm said, “you’ll fuck me and make it better.”
Levi’s breath hitched, but then he ended up dropping his hand from Elm’s face. “If you think getting rid of that plug is that easy, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“Emphasis on the sore part.” He winced, playing it up so the alpha wouldn’t miss it.
Levi’s concern returned tenfold. “Does it hurt that much? I won’t do it again. Promise.”
That…didn’t sound…appealing.
Elm shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat, knowing that no matter how much it embarrassed him, if he didn’t speak up now, the alpha would most definitely keep his word and never spank him again. “It’s not…that.”
“Pardon?”
“I like it,” he confessed, hiding his face even more. “Pleasure and pain are dependent on how your brain interprets nervous signals. It’s a dopamine rush and I’m fine just…chill out for a second. Please.”
“To clarify,” Levi said, “you’re telling me you want to be spanked in the future?”
“Not from a place of anger,” he reiterated. “I don’t want you to hit me, alpha. But if it’s just a game?” He gave a partial shrug. “Yeah.”
His honesty seemed to earn him points.
The alpha unlatched one of the clamps and then bent to suckle the abused nipple.
He undid the other while his tongue circled the bud, tossing the chain to the ground.
His thumb found the perky nub and he worked over Elm’s chest in tandem, lips and fingers rubbing and tweaking his chest until Elm started to squirm, his moans growing desperate.
Levi pulled away and captured his mouth next, shoving his tongue in deep before lightening the kiss, turning it almost tender as he positioned him with a sturdy hand at the back of Elm’s head.
For a moment, Elm forgot all about the claiming bites and his captivity. Forgot the man he was making out with was a restrictive authoritarian hellbent on dictating Elm’s future.
There was just arousal and comfort and the attentiveness of his alpha.
Levi’s fingers wrapped around Elm’s dick and he pumped him, kissing him through it even when Elm gasped and moaned against his lips.
The orgasm hit embarrassingly fast, his dick spurting straight up into the air, sending a mess splattering down over them.
The alpha laid Elm across the couch and shifted onto his knees between his thighs.
He pulled away long enough to drop his mouth to Elm’s chest, licking up the come.
Even once he made it to Elm’s spent dick, he sucked on him, cleaning him off to the best of his ability.
Once he was satisfied, he loomed up, staring down at Elm with a look of gratification that had Elm frowning.
“Tell me the Runner doesn’t mean anything to you,” Levi commanded, and Elm found himself shaking his head.
“He’s just a friend. He’s only ever been a friend.”
“Did you sleep with all your friends, omega?”
“No.”
“Then why him?”
“Kian ordered him to be my bodyguard for a while and I…” Light. It was too mortifying to say out loud.
The alpha somehow knew exactly what he was trying to say though.
“You liked how he made you feel special.” Levi hummed.
“It’s stupid. I know he was just doing his job. I know that. That’s why it was just surface level attraction. For both of us. He didn’t feel anything deeper for me either.” He made himself meet the alpha’s gaze and firmed his voice. “We’re just friends, Levi.”
“You and I are mated.”
He wasn’t ready to confront that but… “Yeah. I know, alpha.”
Levi stared for a moment longer and then sighed and climbed off, scowling down at his shirt when he realized Elm had also creamed all over the silky material.
“Come. I have to change, and then there’s work to do.
We’ll spend the rest of the day in my office.
You have an unfinished book you were reading there the last time. ”
“You want me to read?” Elm sat up. “Now?”
“Progress takes time,” he said. “I don’t expect you to come around to your new life on the very first day.”
“Still, we should talk.”
“All right. What would you like to discuss?” Levi waited, his expression making it obvious he was well aware that Elm wasn’t prepared to have any more hard conversations right that second.
When Elm glanced away, he sighed. “Our problems won’t fix themselves overnight.
Let’s take our time. Now that you’re claimed, we have all the time we need. ”
His hands gripped the edge of the cushion tightly, but any further argument died on his tongue.
What exactly could he do in this situation anyway?
The alpha wasn’t going to let him go—and Elm wasn’t even sure it was possible to undo six claiming bites even if he did somehow get away again.
Which reminded him…
“I’m still pissed about the tracker.” He stood, dick twitching when the plug pressed in all the right places. “And the toy you refuse to take out of my ass.”
“I’m still angry that you tried to leave me,” Levi countered. “So we’ve both got some negative feelings to work through.”
Elm scowled and took a step forward, grimacing when he remembered movement like that worked the plug. He stopped and then held up his arms, huffing when the alpha quirked a brow. “Carry me.”
“Weren’t you just complaining about how you aren’t a pet and can do things on your own?” Levi drawled, lifting Elm into his arms despite his comment.
Elm held on tightly and grunted as the alpha turned toward the stairs. “Don’t act like you don’t get off on this kind of mastery over me.”
The alpha laughed.
* * *
“Levi.” Elm stared up at the ceiling. Like he’d been doing for the past hour. “Levi.”