Keeping Dallas (3 page)

With slow methodical movements, Laurence slipped the buttons out of their holes, displaying patches of skin like a sexy peepshow. With Dallas’ intense focus on him, Laurence felt like the hottest stripper on the planet. With economical movements he removed the rest of his clothing, careful not to rush despite the urge to throw his sub down and fuck him into next week.

Dallas might be a sweet sub, but the man could take pain better than anyone Laurence had ever dominated before. “What would you like tonight, Dallas?”

The sub tilted his head as if he didn’t understand the question. “M-master?”

“Do you want the flogger, the whip or my hands paddling your ass? What are you looking for?” Laurence opened the armoire, revealing his assortment of toys. “Come pick out two things you’d like.”

He waited with amusement as Dallas cautiously crawled off the bed and approached the cabinet, more wary than a fidgety cat. He didn’t blame the man—some Doms might use this as a test. Laurence was only curious. He knew Dallas detested anything that blocked his vision and had gone into a true panic the one time Laurence had used a blindfold. Not wanting to scare off his lover, Laurence had put blindfolds on the never-to-be-used list. Dallas’ fear had been so strong Laurence knew it wouldn’t work for a sexy encounter and might lead to psychological trauma if tried again.

He’d tossed all his blindfolds after that first incident. When Dallas had completely freaked, Laurence vowed to keep them away from his sub.

As Dallas carefully reviewed his choices, Laurence watched impatiently to see what his submissive would pick. Dallas’ fingers slid across a flogger, traced one particularly wicked whip and caressed the bottom edge of a cane.

The third time Dallas travelled his fingers around the cabinet, it occurred to Laurence that his submissive was stalling. How curious. Dallas had never tried to delay their lovemaking before.

“Dallas?”

“S-sorry, Master. I’m feeling nervous tonight,” Dallas explained, his voice stumbling over his words.

Laurence walked up behind his sub, wrapped his hands around Dallas’ arms and pulled him close. He placed a soft kiss on Dallas’ neck. “What’s wrong?”

Dallas shrugged. “I’m worried I’ll choose the wrong thing.”

Laurence turned his sub around. Dallas’ top teeth gnawed his bottom lip anxiously and his eyes glowed with an uncertain light.

“There are no wrong answers, love. This isn’t a test. I merely wanted to see what you wished to play with for the night,” he assured his sub.

“Oh.” Tension flowed out of the slim body like a balloon deflating. “Okay.”

Laurence spun Dallas back around. “Pick.”

Dallas quickly chose a soft flogger they’d used a few times before. No cuffs, not even the soft ones, were even glanced at. Dallas hated cuffs almost as much as the blindfold. Any kind of confinement made Dallas uneasy.

“Why don’t you like the cuffs?” Laurence asked. Although he didn’t like questions himself, it occurred to Laurence that he knew as little about Dallas as his sub knew about him.

Dallas froze, the hand holding the flogger white-knuckled for an instant before relaxing again.

Silence.

“I asked you a question.” Laurence used his best commanding tone and waited to see what Dallas would do.

Dallas’ attention went to the flogger. Normally, Laurence would make Dallas face him while he answered but instinct told Laurence if he pushed too hard he’d lose his sub entirely. How had they gone from a playful scene to this much tension? He almost wanted to take the question back…almost.

“I was kidnapped as a child. They chained me to the wall and blindfolded me,” Dallas confessed.

Oh, crap.

Laurence had been right when he thought his young lover had been traumatised before. He carefully turned Dallas to face him, tilting up Dallas’ chin with his fingers to see his expression. Memories haunted his beautiful eyes.

“I’ll never use anything on you that brings back your fear. How old were you?”

“Twelve,” Dallas whispered.

“Fuck, you were just a baby. What happened?”

Dallas’ eyes hardened into a feral expression Laurence had never seen before. “I escaped. My guardian found me and brought me home.”

“Is that who you live with now?” Laurence asked. Curiosity about his lover’s life hit him. Why had he never asked about it before? He knew he’d been frightened of scaring off his skittish lover, but he should’ve at least asked about his life. Dallas might show up every Saturday for their habitual date but his sub had never promised anything long-term.

Laurence planned to change that. He needed Dallas every day.

“I live with my guardian and his m…fiancée,” Dallas said fingering the flogger.

Laurence wondered what word Dallas had planned to use but didn’t pursue the question. He knew he was tiptoeing across a landmine in his quest to learn more about his lover.

“Do you enjoy living with them?” Laurence asked.

Dallas frowned. “I don’t think my guardian’s fiancée likes me very much,” he confessed. “I think she sees me as in the way. They are getting married in a few weeks and I’m underfoot a lot.”

“You could come and stay with me,” Laurence offered. His heart raced as he imagined waking up to his lover every day. The dream didn’t fade until Dallas’ emphatic denial jerked him out of his happy thoughts.

“Oh, no. I couldn’t do that.” Dallas shook his head.

Laurence cupped Dallas’ face. “Don’t you want to live with me?” His heart damn near stopped as he waited for his sub’s answer.

“I-I would love to live with you but I can’t,” Dallas confessed.

“Why not?”

“That’s not how we do things in my family. I have to finish school before I move out.” Dallas fidgeted in Laurence’s hold.

“How much longer do you have?”

“Two years,” Dallas whispered.

Two years of waiting for his beautiful sub to graduate and come stay at his home wasn’t going to happen. Laurence was used to getting what he wanted and he’d never wanted anyone or anything more than the man in front of him. If he left Dallas free of commitment on a college campus, he knew he could easily lose him. He needed to lock in their relationship so Dallas had no urge to stray.

“I’ll talk to your guardian,” Laurence decided. Dallas might be old enough to make his own decisions but he appeared upset at the thought of disappointing his guardian. Laurence would be more than happy to pave the way if it meant he could keep Dallas.

“No! Th-this was a mistake,” Dallas stuttered. “M-maybe I should leave.”

Laurence wrapped his arms around Dallas’ waist, trapping the younger man against him. “I don’t think so. You are mine, Dallas, until one of us chooses otherwise. I plan on keeping you for a long time to come. Do you have any objection to that?”

Dallas melted in Laurence’s arms, resting his head on his chest in a complete breach of etiquette. For the first time he didn’t care. If his lover needed a cuddle, Laurence would provide one.

Just this once.

“Come, pet, we’ll skip the scene tonight. I want to make love to you.”

One of the most important jobs of a dominant was to give his sub what he needed. Right now Dallas needed to be reassured of his place in the world. Most Doms would’ve taken the opportunity to claim their sub. Laurence would make sure to do that before Dallas left for the night, but their first time needed to be a gentler encounter. Dallas deserved to know that Laurence cared for him as more than a canvas for his marks.

Dallas didn’t object to Laurence’s decision. He rarely baulked over anything, the blindfold incident notwithstanding.

After returning the flogger to the cabinet, Laurence led Dallas back to the foot of the bed. “Undress me,” he ordered.

A smile crossed Dallas’ face, erasing the anxiety from before. Laurence could almost feel the stress sliding away. He didn’t mind introducing a bit of concern to a sub over what would happen next, but he never wanted to cause Dallas real fear.

Faster than Laurence had thought possible, Dallas stripped the rest of Laurence’s clothing from his body.

“Back on the bed,” he ordered.

Dallas happily bounced onto the mattress and splayed himself out like a pagan sacrifice for Laurence’s perusal.

Laurence permitted a smile to cross his face. He’d never enjoyed a lover as much as he did Dallas. The happiness the younger man exuded always made his Saturdays. If only he could get Dallas to spend the night.

Laurence climbed slowly onto the bed, letting the anticipation build. He slid a finger across the bottom of Dallas’ foot, causing the sub to twitch.

“I’ve never had a lover so ticklish before,” he commented as he flicked the tip of his finger across Dallas instep, causing a strangled yelp.

“Sorry, Master,” Dallas gasped as he struggled to stay still beneath Laurence’s ministrations.

“Nothing to apologise for. I like it, actually. It makes you focus on me,” Laurence admitted. He wished he could dare send a bit of magic dancing along Dallas’ skin, but the one time he’d tried to subtly use a little, Dallas had frozen. Laurence suspected his lover had a great sensitivity to magic, so he kept it to himself.

No sense in tempting fate.

“Spread your legs farther,” Laurence ordered.

Dallas slid back and parted his thighs, which had come together at Laurence’s tickling. Moving so he lay between Dallas’ legs, Laurence lined up their bodies and rubbed their erections together. Dallas never failed to become hard in Laurence’s presence, an incredible ego boost for him. Laurence didn’t fool himself about his looks. He didn’t have the amazing beauty of his lover. He kept hold of Dallas through his ability to control his lover’s desire. If Dallas stopped believing in Laurence’s ultimate control, his sub would move on to someone else—an event Laurence never intended to allow. Something about Dallas kept Laurence interested far past the usual appeal of a gorgeous sub.

As Dallas stared up at him, his eyes full of trust and passion, Laurence felt more powerful than if he’d completed a high level spell. Control over Dallas topped mastering any magical ability. With Dallas in his bed, he didn’t need anything or anyone else.

Gentle fingers brushed across Laurence’s face. “Where did you go?” A curious smile tilted Dallas’ pink lips.

“Sorry, my mind is on a lot of things tonight.” Laurence didn’t explain what and he knew Dallas wouldn’t push. “Turn over. I need to take you hard.”

Laurence moved back so Dallas could reposition. Truthfully, he’d had his sub move face down because he was worried how much he’d reveal if he looked into Dallas’ eyes while they made love. Dallas had made it clear at the beginning that he had commitment issues. Laurence now wondered if it had anything to do with Dallas’ confession.

He’d worry about that later. Right now he needed to claim Dallas as his own.

Snatching the lube off the side table, Laurence quickly slicked up his fingers and started pushing them inside. One finger, quickly followed by two, then he introduced a third in rapid succession.

Dallas moaned and moved into the sensation trying to get Laurence to push his fingers in deeper. “More,” he demanded.

“You forget who’s in charge, pet,” Laurence reprimanded him.

“S-sorry,” Dallas stuttered as he forced his body to be still and compliant.

Laurence grinned, happy his sub couldn’t see him. He loved it when he made it difficult for Dallas to talk.

Adding lube to his cock, he lined it up with Dallas’ hole and pushed inside. Heat surrounded him as he moved deeper, inch by inch. “Oh fuck, you feel good.”

Dallas’ body temperature burned hotter than anyone Laurence had ever had sex with before. Being welcomed into Dallas’ body rated as one of Laurence’s favourite moments in life.

“Brace yourself,” he warned.

Laurence gripped Dallas’ hips in a tight hold before sliding in and out, in slow, teasing movements.

Dallas tried to push back.

Laurence slapped him on the ass, earning him a hiss.

Satisfied his lover had relaxed enough, Laurence proceeded to pound into Dallas. He knew from experience the proper angle to make Dallas lose control and used it to his advantage. “Don’t you dare come before I do,” he threatened.

Dallas gave a soft whimper but no other words or sounds emerged.

Laurence laughed. All the expectations and worries he had during the week disappeared every Saturday when he reclaimed his lover. Dallas freed a part of Laurence he kept locked up the rest of the time. Life would be so much better if he could keep his beautiful man with him always.

His orgasm rushed through him like a jolt of electricity. Laurence let out a shout then poured into his lover.

Damn, I forgot a condom.

He knew he couldn’t give Dallas any diseases but his sub didn’t know that. To Dallas it would appear that Laurence had played Russian roulette with his life.

Crap.

“Come,” he ordered. If nothing else, he could let Dallas find his release before he explained he was disease-free and begged for his forgiveness.

Dallas came on command with a shuddering cry.

Laurence helped Dallas fall to the side so he didn’t land in the wet spot on the mattress. They snuggled together before Dallas went stiff.

“You didn’t wear a condom,” Dallas said, his voice oddly empty.

“I’m not sick, I swear. I’ll find my test results in the morning.” He had fake ones in a file in his office. A sorcerer couldn’t exactly go to the local clinic and have tests done—not without surprising results.

“It’s okay. I’m healthy, too,” Dallas offered.

It took a while before Dallas relaxed in Laurence’s embrace but eventually the slim body melted against him. In a bit, Laurence would drag Dallas into the bathroom and clean up but for now they could enjoy a little snuggle.

Laurence pushed from his mind what a sap he was over his pretty sub as he pulled Dallas closer into his arms and placed a kiss on the back of his neck.

Chapter Two

Last night I dreamed I was chasing a pack of wolves, trying to belong.