Taming the Lion (13 page)

Jase almost pouted in disappointment when Yogi stood up then reached for a towel. He ordered Jase to step out of the bath. When he did, Yogi wrapped him in the fluffy terrycloth and proceeded to pat every inch of him dry. The man paid more attention than might have been necessary to Jase’s cock, which grew even harder under his skillful touch.

Just as Jase was beginning to think Yogi intended to bring him off, the man stopped stroking him. He set down the towel then held out a white robe for Jase to put on, much in the manner of a hairdresser’s assistant.

Only as Jase left the bathroom did it occur to him there’d been no sign of the clothes he’d been wearing. As far as he knew, Yogi had spent the whole time bathing him. That meant someone else must have come into the bathroom and taken them away, but try as he might, he couldn’t recall the door opening or closing. For a moment, panic rose in him. Then he told himself to relax. They’d have been put somewhere for safekeeping. He’d get them back at the end of the evening.

Yogi led him downstairs and into the kitchen. A place had been set at the scrubbed wooden table. Jase was urged to sit then a bowl of stew was set before him. Again, being fed by a client was a new experience for him but he wasn’t complaining. He thought he’d never eaten anything so tasty. The chunks of meat fell apart under the lightest pressure of his fork and the food had been spiced with something aromatic he didn’t recognize. Given that his own culinary skills extended as far as dialing the number of the local pizza delivery service, it was hardly surprising.

All too soon, he found himself looking at an empty bowl. Sir wandered into the kitchen, smiling at Jase with obvious approval.

“All done?” he asked.

Jase nodded. “That was delicious. Thank you.”

“Well, Bulmer’s always been an excellent cook.” Whether Sir referred to Yogi or one of the other men he’d seen bustling in and out of the kitchen while he’d been eating, Jase didn’t know. Sir didn’t seem willing to disclose any more information than he had to, but Jase supposed that was only to be expected.

“So what happens now?”

“We go outside. And that’s where the real fun begins.”

Outside? Nothing should have surprised Jase any longer, but it seemed he’d be adding an al fresco orgy to the list of the night’s ‘firsts’. He stood then followed Sir out of the back door and across an overgrown lawn, Yogi trotting behind them. The grass was soft beneath his bare feet, and he thought he caught sight of a bat, fluttering quickly through the sky. In the distance, someone appeared to be beating a drum in slow, steady time.

Only when they went through the gate at the bottom of the garden did Jase realize just how close the cottage was to the Foolish Brothers. The stones looked more sinister than he remembered, and he shuddered as Sir led him toward them. With every step, the sound of the drum grew louder.

When they reached the center of the circle, three men stood waiting for them. Two of them held guttering candles while the third was the mysterious drummer. Sir came to a halt. He turned to look back at Jase, who stood stock still, wondering just what the hell kind of sex party he’d agreed to take part in.

“And now it begins.” Sir spread his arms wide and addressed the sky. “We have brought a willing boy for you as a sign of our devotion, and we will use him in the way you have demanded of us.”

Yogi stepped forward and pulled the robe from Jase’s shoulders, baring him to the other men. Low murmurs of approval greeted the sight. Jase stood, proud in his nakedness, letting them admire the six-pack he worked so hard to keep well-defined and the big cock that rose up from his neatly waxed groin.

Something rustled behind him. He turned to see Yogi undressing. The other men began to shed their clothes, too. Jase caught glimpses of their dicks as they stepped out of their trousers.

The next thing he knew, someone—he assumed it to be Yogi—had grabbed him from behind and pushed him forward onto the uneven surface of the fallen stone. The action drove the breath from him and he lay sprawled on his stomach.

God, these kinky bastards like it rough. Well, bring it on.

Cool hands probed at his arse cheeks, pulling them apart. He looked over his shoulder at Yogi’s bearded face. Lust shone in the man’s eyes, and Jase knew the man was getting off on the sight of him with the dark pucker of his arsehole exposed.

Yogi drizzled lube down Jase’s crack, and Jase sighed with expectation. He felt a finger pushing at his entrance and relaxed his muscles to help aid the penetration.

“He wants this,” Yogi announced, withdrawing his finger. “Don’t you, boy?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” Jase panted and pushed his rump back toward Yogi, wanting to feel that slick digit probing his arse again.

Instead, Yogi stepped away. Jase propped himself up on one elbow and looked around the circle to see that all the men, Sir included, were now entirely naked. Five cocks, of various sizes and in differing stages of erection, were revealed to his greedy gaze. By the end of the night, he hoped to have been enjoyed by all of them.

Once everyone was naked, Sir handed round condoms. Jase didn’t have a problem about being fucked bareback, though he did charge more for it. But it seemed this little group—never mind what weird shit they might be into, with all the candles and the solemn procession to the Foolish Brothers—wanted to take the appropriate precautions.

Yogi returned to him, pushing him down onto the stone again. He lay passive, sensing it was the role the man wanted him to play. He felt the head of a latex-sheathed dick butt up against the entrance to his arse. Then Yogi pressed home. Jase groaned out loud as the short but surprisingly thick shaft stretched him wide.

He heard a murmur of excitement from the watching men. Clearly, they were as into this scene as he was. “Yeah, come on. Give it to me,” he urged. In his experience, guys loved it when he talked dirty to them.

“Were you given permission to speak?” Sir snapped.

Obediently, Jase fell silent, though he couldn’t help gasping as Yogi pounded into his lube-slick hole. He couldn’t work out whether it was deliberate, but he had been positioned so that his erection fitted into a groove that had been worn into the surface of the stone. With each thrust, Jase’s dick slid against the cool rock. It only served to inflame his desire further.

Just as it seemed Yogi was only a few strokes away from coming, he pulled out. Jase moaned in frustration but within seconds, one of the watchers had stepped up to take his place. This second man appeared only a couple of years older than Jase, with dark hair tied back in a ponytail and round, wire-rimmed glasses. His cock was longer than Yogi’s, with a distinct upward curve to it. With every in-stroke, he hit the sweet spot deep in Jase’s arse. Despite Sir’s insistence that he hold his tongue, Jase whimpered and moaned in response. He was being fucked so beautifully the part of his brain that wasn’t swamped with bliss wondered if he could persuade this guy to use his services on a one-to-one basis.

Just as Yogi had, Mr. Ponytail stopped short of coming in Jase’s body. He stepped aside, allowing a man who must have been in his sixties to have his turn. The newcomer had the vigor of a man half his age, and punctuated his thrusts with sharp, deliciously stinging slaps to Jase’s buttocks.

Dizzy with pleasure, Jase could no longer keep track of who was screwing him. Somehow, all these men were merging into one, moving with the same rhythm, the same intensity, like some well-oiled machine. All he knew was that each of them stopped just before the point of their own release, some with more reluctance to relinquish their place than others.

At last, Sir came forward to complete the circle. He pulled Jase backwards, so that his legs hung off the edge of the stone. Still in a standing position, he eased himself into Jase’s willing passage.

The other men had disposed of their condoms and were clustered close to Jase, tugging at their cocks. Though he couldn’t see their faces, he heard their anguished grunts and gasps, and sensed that all four were close to achieving their long-delayed orgasms. Warm droplets spattered his bare shoulders and flanks, and he knew he was being showered with cum, like some kind of sacred tribute.

Sir gave one last, sharp thrust into Jase’s arsehole before yelling out in triumph. It was the moment that triggered Jase’s own climax. His body, brought to the brink then denied release by each man in turn, finally succumbed. Fierce jolts of sensation shot through him, and he almost sobbed with relief.

Around them, the watchers had begun a low, sinister chant, repeating a phrase that Jase didn’t understand. The voices began to rise in pitch. Even as he was coming down from his peak, Sir rolled him onto his back. He looked up into eyes that blazed with something close to madness. Moonlight glinted off the cruel blade in Sir’s hand.

Feeling that things had gone far enough for one evening, Jase tried to clamber off the fallen stone, but two men scurried to grab his limbs and hold him in place.

Fuck, what the hell do these guys think they’re playing at?

He wanted to tell them that he hadn’t negotiated knife play as part of this scene, and that if it were all the same to everyone he’d like to take his money and go now. But the weapon sliced across his throat before he had time to utter a word.

Chapter Sixteen

“Morning, Kaspar. Hot enough for you today?” Marina greeted him as he walked over to the bar counter. In place of her normal work outfit of black T-shirt and skinny jeans, she wore a floral print sundress and strappy sandals, and she held an oversized straw tote bag.

“You look nice, boss. Are you going somewhere special?”

“I’m having a day at the Thermae spa with a friend of mine. She arranged it for me as a birthday treat.”

“It’s your birthday today? You should have said. I’d have bought you a present. And don’t worry. I’m not going to try and guess how old you are.”

He didn’t mean the comment unkindly. Thanks to their unique physiology, shifters aged at a much slower rate than humans. Though Marina appeared to be in her late twenties, Kaspar knew she could easily be almost twice as old.

“I always knew you were a gentleman. But you’re already doing something special for me today. You’re taking charge of the bar.”

“Really?” On the occasions when Marina wasn’t around, she usually left løve in the capable hands of Ian, the senior bar tender.

“Really. I need to know that if Ian’s not around, I have someone on the staff who’s capable of filling in for me. And I know you’ve only been working with me for a matter of weeks but I’ve already seen enough to know you’re that person.”

“Thanks.” He wondered briefly whether the fact he was a fellow shifter had anything to do with Marina offering him this extra responsibility. It seemed unlikely. From everything he’d seen, she didn’t have favorites among her employees. The only thing that counted was whether or not someone was up to the job.

“You should have a fairly easy day,” Marina assured him. “We’re not expecting any deliveries and you know where all the stock is if we’re running low on anything. And Ian will be here to relieve you at seven.” She glanced at the clock behind the bar. “Well, I’d better be off. I’m supposed to be meeting Natalie outside the spa in ten minutes. I’d like to say I’ll be thinking of you, hard at work, while I’m sitting in the whirlpool tub but we both know that would be a lie.”

“Okay, have fun. And happy birthday.”

“Thank you, darling.” With that, Marina left. A faint trace of her vanilla-scented perfume, mixed with her unique spoor, lingered in the air. Kaspar logged into the cash register in preparation for the first customers arriving.

His boss had put her faith in him. He’d make sure she had no cause to regret that decision.

* * * *

Twenty minutes remained till the end of his shift and Kaspar felt pretty satisfied with his day’s work. Apart from a couple of broken wine glasses and a customer returning a burger to the kitchen because it hadn’t been well done enough for their liking, he had no incidents to report to Marina for when he next saw her, though he doubted she’d understand the concept of meat being too rare. If it hadn’t been for the need to keep their true nature concealed while in the company of humans, every shifter he knew would have happily eaten the stuff raw.

Raised voices at the bar broke Kaspar’s reverie. He thought someone had tried to push in front of another person waiting to be served—the most common reason for an angry confrontation—until he tuned in to the conversation.

“Thanks, but I really don’t want you to buy me a drink,” a fair-haired woman to his right was saying. Her words carried a tone of weary resignation, as though it wasn’t the first time she’d had to refuse this particular offer.

“Come on. It’s not going to poison you. I’m just trying to be friendly.”

The young, well-dressed man who addressed her had been sitting at a table near the entrance to the corridor that led up to the toilet facilities, drinking steadily for the past couple of hours. Kaspar knew to keep a watchful eye on customers who appeared to be there for the sole purpose of getting drunk, and to refuse to serve them if their behavior became problematic. But this guy hadn’t done anything to arouse his concerns—until now.

“Well, it’s nice of you to offer, but I’m really not interested. I’m waiting for someone.”

The woman tried to pick up her half-empty glass and move away, but the man clutched at her arm.

“Hey—don’t you walk off when I’m talking to you. You’re just like all the rest of them. Think you’re too good to be seen with me, don’t you, you stuck-up cow?” He spat out the last couple of words as he shoved her hard against the bar counter, causing her to cry out.

“Get your hands off me.” She sounded genuinely frightened as she tried to wriggle free of his grasp.

Kaspar couldn’t stand by for another moment and watch her being treated in such a fashion. He came round from behind the counter and grabbed the threatening customer, pulling him off the woman before dragging him out into the corridor.