Chapter 15
Grayson
What the fuck am I doing, what the fuck am I doing, what the fuck am I doing.
Grayson’s arms were still bound in front of him, and Keld still held the end of the rope. The Alpha led him down a short hall, where a security guard watched from a seat in the corner. He seemed to be a normal human—too bulky to be an Omega.
Grayson met the man’s eyes and nodded slightly. Yes, I’m doing this of my own free will, for reasons entirely unknown.
The guard leaned back in his chair and watched the pair disappear into a room.
Grayson had been expecting some kind of black-walled room with whips and cages and faux leather, but what they entered seemed more like an odd hotel room.
The bedding was white and perfumed the room with laundry detergent.
Despite the space being underground, a window well permitted some natural light through the gap in a pair of satin curtains.
There was a gothic dresser, painted a distressed black with a large, ornate mirror hanging above it.
Now that he was looking more closely, he noticed the high-backed chair at the far side had wrist and ankle restraints, and an odd contraption hung from the ceiling in one corner. Keld was quiet, observing as Grayson took it in.
“Not what you expected?” the Mer asked. For once, there was no trace of mockery or teasing in his voice.
Grayson shook his head.
“This is the most vanilla room at the club.” Keld glanced over his shoulder. “Usually more comfortable for beginners. You still want this? You can say no. I won’t be an ass about it if you change your mind.”
Grayson bit his lip.
“Want me to untie you?” Keld offered.
Grayson looked down at the rope, the way it gently pressed into his skin. “No.”
A familiar smile tugged at the corners of Keld’s mouth. “Want to leave?”
Grayson took a deep breath. “No.”
Keld moved closer, gathering the rope around his hand as he did. “So what do you want, Grayson?”
Slick now joined the ache in Grayson’s cock. The scent of rich soil and vetiver filled his lungs, heating his blood with desire.
“You,” he whispered.
Keld caught Grayson’s chin. “You want me in charge, little Omega?”
“Yes,” Grayson breathed.
Keld’s hand ran along Grayson’s jaw, down his neck, then fell to his hip. “Is there anything you know you don’t like?”
“Like…” Grayson swallowed hard. “Like what?”
“Degradation, pain…”
Grayson winced. “I wouldn’t like degradation. Pain… choking…”
Speaking the words aloud spurred a dark blur of shameful encounters, of fingers under his jaw, of teeth marking his skin—
The Alpha kissed him, lips soft and gentle. “We’ll start slow. If you don’t like something, or you want me to stop, say ‘red’.”
Grayson nodded.
Keld’s fingers dug into his hip. “What is your safe word? Say it.”
“Red.” There was a tremor in Grayson’s voice.
“Good. Now, if you want me to slow down, say ‘yellow’.” Keld’s mouth was on his again, more urgent this time. Lips and tongues explored one another, and Grayson’s bound hands found Keld’s chest. His skin was cooler than a human’s, and his scales were smooth under Grayson’s touch.
“Say it,” Keld murmured against his lips.
“Yellow,” he whispered.
Slowly, Keld backed toward the bed without breaking their kiss. Grayson’s cock throbbed under his jeans, pleading to be released, but Keld ignored it. Instead, he pulled back. The rope he’d wound around his hand was in a coil on the floor.
“I’m going to undo the knots and take your shirt off,” Keld said softly. “Before I tie you to the bedframe.”
Grayson shuddered, though he couldn’t tell if it was nerves or excitement.
The Mer gently released the knots, and the rope fell away, leaving complex patterns on Grayson’s skin in its wake. When his arms were free, Keld lifted Grayson’s t-shirt and pulled it from his body.
Some part of Grayson felt embarrassed, standing there half-clothed in front of this irritatingly attractive alien.
He’d always been scrawny and wiry, and he was raised to believe anything less than rugged masculinity was a flaw.
But the vast majority of his brain’s blood supply had been reallocated further south and now was not the time to examine his childhood trauma.
Keld’s fiery gaze burned down Grayson’s body. “Beautiful,” he said softly. His fingers brushed along the freckles that covered every inch of Grayson’s body. “You have patterned skin, like a Mer.”
Grayson’s face felt hot. “I never thought about it like that.”
Keld’s eyes didn’t leave Grayson’s body as he reached back for the discarded rope. “I think my new goal in life is to taste each one of those freckles.”
Grayson fought off a pathetic moan as Keld redid the knots with lightning speed.
“Lie on the bed,” the Mer said. “On your back.”
Grayson obeyed. The bedding had a hotel feel that suggested it was heavily bleached, and bleached often.
The headboard behind him was a sturdy wood, with intentional cutouts to allow for activities Grayson couldn’t fathom.
Keld put them to use, winding the rope’s end around a short post at the center.
Grayson’s arms rested comfortably overhead, but he wouldn’t be able to move them far. Some deeply buried part of him burned with humiliation at the sight of his own, rigid length beneath his jeans. He forced himself to look back up at the Mer, now standing at the end of the bed.
At first, Keld did nothing. His sunset eyes scalded their way up and down Grayson’s body, each pass leaving his nerves more electric than the last.
“What are you doing?” Grayson shifted on the mattress. “Are you just going to stare?”
Keld grinned. “Impatient little thing, aren’t you?” He reached for a switch on the wall and dimmed the lights, then crawled onto the bed, caging Grayson beneath his much larger frame.
Grayson’s breathing stopped as Keld’s lips brushed a searing trail from his ear to his collarbones.
The Mer let out a low sound, almost a growl. He kissed further down, lips and tongue marking their way across the plane of Grayson’s stomach and to his waistband.
Grayson’s hips jerked without consulting his mind beforehand. His cock pressed to Keld’s chest, though the pressure did little to quell his desire. He felt Keld’s fingers trace his ribs, then his hips, before flicking the button of Grayson’s jeans open.
“This is what you want,” Keld murmured. “Isn’t it?” He slowly drew the garment down Grayson’s legs and cast it aside.
With agonizing slowness, the Mer reached for the bulge beneath the thin layer of clothing that still separated them.
“My, my.” Keld traced the outline, watching it jump under his touch. “So eager.”
A throttled groan escaped Grayson’s throat. Vertevir flooded his veins, emanating from the Alpha’s scent glands and setting fire to his blood. If Keld didn’t touch him in the next ten seconds—
Keld’s breath ghosted over Grayson’s thighs. He dropped torturous kisses along the soft skin there, and his thumbs dug into Grayson’s hip bones.
“Keld…” Was that his voice?
The Alpha’s eyes turned up, gazing from between Grayson’s thighs. An aggravating smirk played on his lips. “Yes, Grayson?”
Grayson scowled, pulling against his restraints. “Don’t play dumb. You’re killing me.”
Slowly, Keld crawled back up Grayson’s body, his eyes locked. “Not enough, Omega? Well, we can’t have that.”
Keld’s muscular thighs fell on either side of Grayson’s body.
Powerful fingers dug into the flesh beneath Grayson’s jaw, and he yelped. Keld forced his head backward, claws pricking sparks of pain on his skin.
“Ask nicely, and maybe I’ll give you some relief.” Keld’s free hand moved to circle Grayson’s nipple.
“Oh, fuck.”
“Now, that wasn’t very polite, was it?” A jolt of pain shot through Grayson’s body as Keld gave the bud between his fingers a sharp roll.
Grayson sucked in a breath and Keld paused. “Too much?”
“No,” Grayson panted. “No. Don’t stop.”
Keld hummed. “I suppose I can count that as asking nicely.” He leaned down, loose strands of auburn hair tickling Grayson’s skin, a stark contrast to the sensation of Keld’s teeth pressing commands into his neck.
Grayson’s hips canted against the Mer above him. He was rapidly losing any semblance of self-consciousness in the wake of the lust ripping through him at the seams.
Keld nipped and licked his way to Grayson’s chest. Grayson gasped as the Alpha’s tongue rasped over his nipple. The other fell prey to Keld’s fingers once again.
Grayson let out a wordless moan.
“That’s right,” Keld whispered. “Let go. I’m going to take care of you, little aiu.”
Grayson neither knew nor cared what that word meant. His mind was singularly focused on Keld’s palms sliding down his sides, and his fingers hooking in his waistband. Grayson lifted his hips obediently, allowing Keld to pull the last of his clothing from his body.
Grayson became vaguely aware of the slick trickling down toward the mattress. In the half-light, he saw Keld sit back on his heels. Evidence of the Mer’s own arousal jutted from his slit. It surged out further as Keld’s gaze fell to Grayson’s rigid cock.
The Mer’s length was nothing like a human’s. The wide base stretched the protective slit taut, and came to a tapered point at the tip. Grayson’s eyes lingered on the width, praying he could take it.
Keld smirked and wrapped his hand around his base. “It’ll fit by the time I’m done with you.”
Grayson’s heart pounded against his ribs as the Mer leaned back over him. He straddled Grayson’s thighs and seized his throat. His fingers pressed into the arteries.
“Your pulse is racing,” Keld said. “I wonder how fast it will go when I do this.” He reached down with the other hand and ran a purposeful finger over Grayson’s aching hole and through the slick.
“Fuck…” A second finger joined the first. “So wet.”
Grayson whimpered, grinding his hips into the touch. The hand around his throat tightened, and his vision dimmed at the edges.
“Can you take a finger, little aiu?” Slowly, Keld eased inside, eyes on Grayson’s face.
Relief clashed with pleasure, all of it amplified by the hand at his throat. Keld loosened his grip and blood rushed back into Grayson’s head.
“You’re tight. We’ll have to take our time opening you up, won’t we?” Keld released him and shifted further down Grayson’s body. Another finger worked its way into Grayson.
Mingled gasps and moans tumbled from Grayson’s lips as Keld’s head dipped lower and lower, until his cool lips brushed the head of his cock. Every tendon in Grayson’s body went taut the moment the heat of Keld’s mouth enveloped him.
“Fuck, oh fuck,” Grayson panted. “I can’t, I’m going to…”
Keld pulled off just long enough to say, “You will come when I say you can come.”
A small cry escaped Grayson as Keld’s mouth and fingers began to work him in earnest. Heat pooled fast and hard between his legs and at the base of his spine.
“Keld,” he choked out.
Keld curled his fingers, stroking his prostate in time with the rhythm of his mouth.
“Oh god, I—”
The Alpha backed off, letting Grayson’s painfully hard cock slip from his mouth. “What do you need, Grayson?” His voice was rough, black pupils eclipsing the orange of his irises. His fingers slowed.
“I can’t stop it,” Grayson pleaded. “I… I need…”
“Are you asking me to let you come, little aiu?” Keld’s lips curled. “Such an obedient Omega.” He lowered his head again, watching Grayson through his lashes. “Good Omegas get to come.”
Tears pricked Grayson’s eyes as the Mer’s mouth took him once again, and his fingers resumed their curling motion. His nerve endings burned with need. So much heat had built at the base of his spine, he feared he might combust.
The ropes at Grayson’s wrists cut deep, but he didn’t feel any pain. All he cared about was fucking the Alpha’s mouth until he came down his throat. He rocked against Keld, each breath a moan or gasp. A tear ran down his cheek as the tension became unbearable.
A cry tore from Grayson’s lips as he came apart in the Alpha’s arms. Shockwaves ripped through his body over and over again, until he collapsed under the weight of gravity’s return.
He felt Keld’s throat bob around his cock one last time before the Mer released him.
“Well done, little aiu,” he murmured. “That was perfect.”
Another tear slid down Grayson’s face. His body was shaking, every sense magnified and every nerve frayed.
“Come here.” Keld stretched out beside Grayson and pulled him into his arms. “That was a lot for you. Just breathe.”
Grayson trembled in the Alpha’s embrace, pulling air in and out as Keld untied his wrists. When the tremors had subsided enough for him to speak, Grayson looked up at Keld.
“What about you?” he whispered.
The Mer’s arousal was still pressed into Grayson’s belly, twitching against the heat of his skin.
“Don’t worry about me,” Keld reprimanded gently. “If you want to keep going, we can, but first, I want you to rest and hydrate. If you’re done for today, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
Grayson shivered at the sudden, vivid mental image of Keld stroking himself at the foot of the bed, his half-lidded gaze on Grayson.
“You’re still shaking. Here, sit up.” Keld helped him upright and brought a paper cup to his lips. “Drink.”
Grayson obeyed, relishing the cool water cascading over his tongue. His synapses felt as though they were slowly knitting back together.
“Can I watch?” Grayson asked, without thinking.
Keld raised an eyebrow. “Watch?”
Grayson flushed. “I… You said you were going to take care of yourself.”
The Mer blinked at him, then smirked. “You want to watch me touch myself?”
The flush traveled down to Grayson’s chest. “Yes.”