Keeping Dallas Read online

  The silence in the car had a companionable feel as they pulled into Laurence’s garage. Dallas followed Laurence up the steps to his front door. The little townhouse had one of the most beautiful views in the city. Dallas enjoyed watching the lights over the water while kneeling before the tall glass windows at his master’s feet.

  Crossing the threshold, Dallas barely waited until the door had shut behind him to strip out of his clothes, fold them, and set them on a chair provided by the entrance. He refused to think about how many other subs might have done the exact same thing in the past or might in the future. Dallas didn’t fool himself. He could only enjoy his master until Laurence’s curiosity overcame his good manners. He hoped that would be a ways in the future, but his master’s sudden questioning had Dallas on edge.

  “You’re a beautiful man,” Laurence commented in hushed tones.

  Surprised at the praise, Dallas turned to face his master. Although he knew Laurence appreciated his looks, he rarely said anything.

  “Thank you, Master,” Dallas replied, trying to hide his surprise.

  Laurence smiled.

  “Don’t be so shocked. I’ve spent all week away from you. When I finally get you to myself, I need to get you naked as soon as possible and claim you as mine. I don’t generally take the time for compliments.”

  Dallas wondered what had changed. “I don’t need compliments,” he responded in a mild tone. Like the typical pack omega, he only needed his master’s touch and the knowledge that Laurence approved of Dallas’ behaviour.

  Laurence slid his fingers through Dallas’ hair. “You might not need to hear compliments, but I sometimes need to give them. I want you to know I find you attractive and that you are the most stunning man I’ve ever seen.”

  The last words were said in a soft, worshipful tone Dallas had never heard before. Having grown up among some of the most beautiful men on the planet, Dallas had never given much thought to his appearance other than to make sure he dressed neatly when going to meet his Dom.

  Maybe among humans he stood out, but among wolves he was just another weak wolf who needed watching over. Hell, he didn’t even have his college diploma yet. Until he finished his education Dallas wouldn’t be assigned a career, and right now he still had to figure out what he wanted to be when he grew up—something besides his master’s sub. Rolf had been quite clear on the matter. Of course, the alpha also didn’t think Dallas’ relationship with Laurence would last.

  Laurence wrapped one hand around the back of Dallas’ neck and splayed the other across his bare back, enhancing their inches of contact. Without another word, he yanked Dallas closer. The feel of his master’s clothing against his bare skin increased Dallas’ sensation of vulnerability. He let out a soft sound of satisfaction. If he were a cat shifter he would’ve purred.

  As Laurence leant forward, Dallas tried to push up on his toes to rush the kiss. He needed the contact more than anything. His wolf yearned for reassurance, to be claimed by his master’s touch.

  “Easy, pet. You don’t get to be in control,” Laurence murmured against Dallas’ lips.

  Of course not.

  Dallas eased back, settling on his heels, not wanting his Dom to pull away in order to teach him a lesson. Laurence had more than once used lack of kisses as a punishment. It was a particularly effective way to put him back in line. Dallas would do almost anything for the touch of his master’s lips.

  Relaxing into Laurence’s embrace, Dallas moaned over his reward as Laurence’s hard mouth took Dallas’ in a rough, conquering move designed to remind Dallas who controlled their encounters. He sighed against his lover’s lips.

  A soft chuckle whispered across his skin. “I’ve never met a man more at ease with his submission,” Laurence confessed.

  Dallas shrugged, uncomfortable with the slant of the conversation. Unlike humans who had to find their own level of submission or dominance, wolves were born knowing their position in the pack. Before they left puberty, every wolf knew where they’d fit in the wolf hierarchy. Except for some adult posturing over ranking, werekin never changed dominance levels. Being submissive was one of the easiest things Dallas could do. Finding a person who could match him had proved more challenging.

  “I only want to please you, Master,” Dallas answered honestly. The expression on Laurence’s face told him he’d said the right thing.

  “You please me a great deal.” Laurence kissed Dallas again. Waves of pleasure poured through him at his master’s praise and touch. After a series of body-tingling kisses, Dallas had to gasp for breath when his master finally freed him.

  “How may I serve you?” Dallas asked, flicking a look at Laurence through his lashes—an effective trick that usually had his master ordering Dallas to suck him off.

  Laurence shook his head at Dallas’ obvious ploy. “Bedroom, now!” he ordered.

  “Yes, s…Master.” Dallas bit back the ‘sir’ he’d almost said. Laurence hated it when Dallas called him sir. He said it lessened their relationship for Dallas to use the same honorific he’d used with other men.

  Without bothering to see if Laurence followed, Dallas headed for the bedroom. The cool tile changed to soft carpet. Not long after they’d met, Laurence had added the thick plush flooring and Dallas’ knees were grateful for the change. Having knelt on many hard surfaces in his short life, he appreciated good flooring.

  Dallas climbed up on the bed and turned around to kneel at the foot, knees apart, left wrist clamped in his right hand behind his back, spine straight. Laurence hated sloppy positioning.

  Although it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two, he let out a quiet sigh of relief when he heard Laurence’s footstep on the tile outside the room. A moment later, the bedroom door he’d left open closed. Dallas focused forward, not daring to move.

  “Do you know what I like best about coming into the room and seeing you kneeling on my bed?” Laurence asked.

  “No, Master,” Dallas said.

  “The look in your eyes when you see me.”

  The Dom stepped into Dallas’ line of vision and whatever expression Dallas wore brought a smile to Laurence’s hard face. Dallas hungrily absorbed his lover’s expression.

  Dallas loved him.

  Despite the secrets between them and the short time they’d been together, Dallas’ wolf had known at first sight that the hard Dom would always be a part of Dallas’ heart. When their relationship finally ended, Dallas would never recover from the loss. His wolf half would mourn for the rest of his life because Dallas had no doubt Laurence was his mate.

  Laurence watched the change of expressions on his sub’s face. Cupping Dallas’ cheek, he placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Are you all right, pet?”

  Dallas nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry I went away for a bit.”

  Usually Dallas had amazing focus. Laurence hoped this wasn’t a sign of his boy’s waning interest. He needed the sub far more than Dallas could possibly know. Sorcerers needed grounding. Since he’d met Dallas, Laurence’s magic had smoothed out and he rarely needed to take the medicine to mute his powers in order to maintain control. If he lost Dallas, he knew he’d completely lose the ability to keep his magic under wraps. The strong forces within his fragile, human form barely stayed contained at times. It continually surprised him that his sweet, kind sub could ground Laurence with only one meeting a week.

  Something about the beautiful man before him tamed his wilder nature. Without Dallas, Laurence worried over what he might become. No matter what the cost, he needed to keep his sub.

  With a final kiss he stepped away from Dallas and began to strip. “Watch me,” he ordered. He couldn’t stop the smile when Dallas’ cock rose at his command. The younger man’s attraction to him couldn’t be faked. He could almost feel Dallas’ gaze burning against his skin. Ignoring his sub for the moment took far more willpower than it should have.

  With slow methodical movements, Laurence slipped the buttons out of their holes, displaying pa
tches 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 wa
nted 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.