Blood Slave

A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com

Blood Slave ISBN # 978-1-907280-32-0 ©Copyright Kim Dare 2009 Cover Art by Natalie Winters ©Copyright October 2009 Edited by Christine Riley Total-E-Bound Publishing This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing. Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution. The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork. Published in 2009 by Total-E-Bound Publishing 1 The Corner, Faldingworth Road, Spridlington, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 2DE, UK.

Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated Total-e-burning.

Voracious Vamps

BLOOD SLAVE Kim Dare

Dedication To brats and their masters.

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5

Chapter One

The smaller man clawed at the leather as Leland Hawkes wrapped it tight around his throat. “Are you insane?” he demanded. Keats Metcalf wriggled against him as he struggled to turn around and look over his shoulder. “Leland?” he gasped. Leland relaxed his hold on the collar just far enough to let his friend drag a little air into his lungs. Keats tugged at the leather again, fretting about the restriction around his neck as if that was the only thing in the world he needed to be worried about right then. “What are you doing here?” “Stay still,” Leland snapped, doing up the buckles and fastening the wide collar tight around the other man’s neck. Keats reached around and tried to slap his hands away, but that was little more than an irritating distraction. The final fastening clicked into place. The thick strip of leather practically covered Keats’ entire throat. It made Leland feel just a fraction better about the world. Spinning his friend around, Leland pushed the smaller man up against the wall and held him easily in place with a hand in the centre of his chest. “What are you doing here?” he demanded. “I asked first!” Leland glared down at his friend. Keats returned his inspection, all big blue eyes and floppy blonde hair. All ridiculously childish games wrapped in a grown man’s body that made Leland’s cock rise and his teeth ache. “What are you doing here?” Leland asked again, saying each word very slowly as he fought to control both his temper and his libido.

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Keats tilted his head on the side as he studied him, obviously not the least bit afraid of the fact a man with twice his strength had him pinned to the wall. He also seemed entirely at home with the fact he was stark bollock naked. Leland took a deep breath and glared into Keats’ eyes despite the temptation to drop his gaze and admire the best view of Keats that had ever come his way. “I’m investigating a secret society,” Keats whispered conspiratorially. Leland stared down at him. “You’re…” He shook his head. Even for Keats, that was a new kind of crazy. Keats squirmed against his hand, trying to push himself up onto his tiptoes and whisper to him. Against all sense, Leland found himself leaning down to make it easier for Keats to brush his lips against his ear. “Vampires,” Keats whispered. Every muscle in Leland’s body tensed. “What?” Keats lips teased his cheek as he grinned. “They think they’re vampires.” “They think they are vampires,” Leland echoed as he straightened back up to his full height. Keats looked just a tiny bit repentant—like a puppy that had been caught chewing a slipper and now regretted displeasing his master. “I know I said I’d stop with the paranormal stuff, but this really doesn’t count. They just think they are vampires. It’s not like that psychic woman. I swear. I’m not getting duped. I’m just spending Halloween with weird, gothy people who like to pretend they’re descendants of Dracula or something. They’re harmless—they don’t even want any money off me. Hell, they even offered to pay for my train ticket out here.” Leland stared down at his friend. He was right about one thing if nothing else. It wasn’t money the men in that building would want from him. “And the fact they wanted you wandering around naked didn’t make you the least bit wary?” he asked. “Okay, so they’re kinky, weird, gothy people. But—” “Leland, has no one ever told you it’s bad manners to play with your food?” Leland felt someone step up close behind him. “Go away,” he ordered, never looking away from Keats’ eyes.

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A hand landed on his shoulder and pressed down as someone tried to look past him. “Oh, he’s pretty. Can I have him when you’re done?” Keats gazed straight back at Leland, a slight frown gathering between pale eyebrows. Leland heard another vampire join the one already standing behind him. “Hey, no collaring the fresh blood!” Leland recognised the voice as that of his cousin, Harrison. He reached past Leland. His fingertips came within an inch of the collar. Leland spun around pushing Keats behind him. “Taken!” Harrison and his friend Grantly’s eye brows went up at the same time. Leland looked back and forth between them. “He’s a blood slave?” Harrison asked. “Yes. Now sod off, both of you.” Harrison looked past his shoulder. “He didn’t come in with you. Five minutes ago he was offering himself up to the whole clan. It can’t be official. And even if it is, it doesn’t look like he knows who he belongs to.” Leland glared at his cousin. He always had been an officious little pillock, the kind of child who couldn’t wait to run off and tell teacher. He hadn’t improved with age. “He’s a blood slave,” Leland clarified. “My blood slave. And his submission is not an issue.” “Um…Leland?” He clenched his jaw. Of course Keats had to pick that precise moment to speak up. Why would he ever have expected anything different? Harrison and Grantly exchanged glances. “Not an issue,” Leland repeated. They left far too easily. There was no way they were going anywhere but to the top of the clan to make their complaints heard. One problem at a time, Leland turned back to Keats. “Are you okay?” Keats seemed to consider the question very carefully. “Well, my best friend apparently forgot to let me know he’s joined a cult of crazy people who all think they are vampires. Oh, and he now thinks I’m some weird sort of slave. Apart from that… Yep—I’m fine. How are you?” “It’s a clan, not a cult. And I didn’t join—I was born into it,” Leland said.

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Keats nodded, as if filing that piece of information away much as he would the news it was going to rain tomorrow. “And you’re here to…?” he prompted. “Feed.” “On human blood,” Keats added, helpfully. “Yes.” Another nod. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go back to my place. You’re going to get some rest. I’ll phone a very nice doctor who will come and have a nice long chat with you about—” Leland grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him through the milling crowd of vampires and would-be blood donors that filled the lobby. It was pointless to try to avoid the truth now. His friend caught the attention of several of the other vampires as they strode past them, but no one approached with a request to share right then. Well, if they thought he was about to turn Keats over to them when he was done with him, they were wrong. He might be about to lose the only man who’d ever held his attention for longer than a weekend, but he would far rather lose him to hysteria than the other members of his clan. Hysteria was far less likely to prove fatal in the long run—especially now that Harrison had set eyes on him. That sadistic little bastard was never going to lay hand on Keats. A viewing balcony overlooked the main feeding area. Leland pushed Keats up against the railings and lined himself up behind the smaller man so he could look over his shoulder and see exactly what his friend saw. The heat from Keats’ naked body immediately seeped through Leland’s clothes. He closed his eyes for a moment, reminding himself why he was so up close and personal with his friend. When he opened his eyes, he looked down, following Keats’ gaze into the hall below them. It was still early. Only half the feeding stations were occupied. On one of the black leather mattresses, a vampire’s body almost covered a human as he fed from his neck and thrust into his arse, enjoying everything his body could yield to him all at the same time. Another mattress showed a man not much older than them, caught between two vampires, one feeding from each of his wrists. He writhed between them as the bites pushed

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wave after wave of endorphins into his veins to replace the blood they drained from his body. The young man’s erection curved back to his stomach. Leland could make out drops of pre-cum dripping onto his skin as he bucked, thrusting into the air, looking for a touch that Leland doubted would ever be granted. One of the vampires dropped his wrist and turned away from the blood donor, without a backward glance. The young man’s hand scrabbled at his crotch as he clumsily tried to wrap a fist around his cock. Another vampire caught his wrist and brought it to his lips, ignoring the man’s pleas for his own bit of pleasure. Leland tore his attention away from the scene and studied Keats’ profile. His eyes flickered from one feeding station to the other as the whole messy vampire world was played out for his entertainment. There was nothing Leland could do about any of that. It was too late to while away idle moments with vague plans and fantasies about how he could coax his beautiful best friend into understanding what he was, into understanding all the things he’d wanted from him since the first moment he set eyes on him. It was too late to believe he could somehow keep his interest in Keats a secret from his clan forever He gaze dropped to Keats’ jugular. His pulse was racing faster and faster as he continued to gaze down into the hall. Leland watched, transfixed as blood pounded through the smaller man’s body, tempting him to forget the promises he’d made to himself about not biting first and dealing with the fallout later. “Leland?” Keats asked, his voice rough with suppressed emotion. Leland swallowed rapidly as he tore his attention away from his friend’s neck and looked back to his eyes. “Yes?” Keats stared down at the scene below them for what felt like hours before he finally spoke again. “Do you by any chance like guys?” Leland frowned over his friend’s shoulder, trying to make his brain work through a fog of blood lust and normal run-of-the-mill lust, too. “What?” “Your hard-on’s trying to drill a new hole in my arse,” Keats mentioned, almost conversationally. “I wouldn’t usually comment on an inappropriate erection, but I am naked,

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and you seem to really like being pressed up against me like this. Now, that sounds like a promising start to me, but—” Leland turned him around, pushing him up against the railings and holding him in place. “I am a vampire,” he stated, just in case Keats had somehow missed that fact. “I got that part,” Keats said, still as calmly as if they were talking about the weather. “But if you only get off on biting women, that doesn’t really do me any good. However, if you really are gay, and you just forgot to mention that fact any of the dozens of times that I’ve tried to sound you out, then—” “Yes,” Leland ground out. “I’m gay.” Keats nodded. “Cool.” “Cool?” Leland repeated blankly.

Keats glanced up at his friend. “Very cool?” he offered. Leland’s gay. Leland’s gay. Leland’s gay. All he had to do was keep repeating that bit over and over in his head and the vampire bit wouldn’t seem half so freaky. Because even if he was a vampire, he was still Leland—and Leland wasn’t the kind of guy who’d bite his best friend if he said no. But he might be the sort of gay man who would do other things to his friend if he said ‘yes, please’ in a very enthusiastic tone of voice. Keats smiled up at the other man, doing his very best not to have a panic attack at the worst possible moment. Leland stared down at him, studying him very carefully, the way Keats remembered studying his straight friends when he’d told them he was gay. He would have much preferred that everyone had taken it in their stride, and no doubt Leland would like him to take his coming out as someone who drank other people’s blood on a regular basis in his stride too. Keats nodded to himself. He could do this. Leland countered with a shake of the head. “You should never have come here.” He brushed the back of his knuckles down Keats’ cheek. The words were harsh, but the gesture was gentle, and it caught Keats off guard. He caught Leland’s hand and turned his face in to kiss it.

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“I don’t mind, really,” he rushed to reassure his friend. “We’ll go back to your place. You can tell me all about it. And who knows—the guys getting bitten seemed to like it. It wasn’t exactly the sort of sucking I had planned for our first date, but—” Leland closed his eyes. “Hey!” Keats put his hand on Leland’s cheek to soothe the pain before his lids could hide it. “That’s not the way things are between humans and vampires,” Leland said, twisting away from his touch. When he opened his eyes, the pain was gone, replaced by anger. Keats reached for him again, but Leland caught his wrist and held his hand away from him. His other hand went to the collar he’d put around Keats’ neck. “This is the way things are now. You’d best get used to it.” “So you’re kinky? I can live with kinky,” Keats said, his smile growing into a grin. “I like kinky.” Kinky was great. It was the kind of secret that Keats understood, the kind of secret he knew how to deal with. Leland was gay, and he was kinky. Keats nodded to himself. He’d found out two of his suspicions about his friend were true. The vampire thing hadn’t even been a blip on his radar, but… Leland ran his fingertips over the leather wrapped around his throat, his expression serious enough to scatter Keats’ thoughts. The collar was far too wide to be comfortable—it almost completely covered his whole damn neck, and his friend had fixed it too tightly for his personal preference. Keats decided it would be diplomatic to wait a while before he mentioned that. “It’s not kink,” Leland said. “It’s—” “Your presence is requested before the council.” Keats tried to look over Leland’s shoulder to see who was talking to them. “The council?” Tall men with broad shoulders were usually filed firmly under the label ‘hot’ in Keats’ mind, but he was willing to admit they could be bloody annoying at times. Leland turned around and stood directly in front of him, blocking his view. “Tell them I’m on my way.” “Your immediate presence.”

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Keats stood on tip toe, but he still couldn’t see a damn thing. He tugged at the back of Leland’s shirt, but his friend didn’t take the hint and shift out of his way. Some silent sort of message seemed to pass between Leland and the other man. Keats huffed his frustration at not being able to work out what it was from his current position. Eventually the other guy seemed to go away. Leland turned back to him. He caught hold of his arm and started walking very quickly back in the direction they came from. “Are we going?” Keats asked, as he scurried along next to his longer limbed friend. “I left my clothes in the locker room.” Leland kept a tight grip on his arm as he marched him past the door into the changing room and straight across to a wall filled with cages. Keats looked from the rows of sub-sized enclosures, to Leland and back again. “Leland? I really don’t think…” he cleared his throat. “What exactly are you doing?” “I’m putting you safely out of the way while I go and deal with this,” Leland said, opening one of the compartments on the second level up. Keats shook his head. “If you think I’m sitting around in a damn cage while all the interesting stuff happens…” he trailed off as he realised his friend was so busy fidgeting with the locks, he wasn’t listening to a word. “I said—” Leland finally turned his attention to him. He picked up Keats as if he weighed nothing and deposited him neatly in the tiny cell. Before Keats could react, the door was closed in his face. “Hey! This isn’t funny. Let me out.” Leland ignored him as he did up a bolt and slid a heavy padlock into place. Keats pushed at the metal work that sealed him into the little box. “Leland, really—let me out.” “You’re better off in there for the moment.” “Did I ever mention that I’m really claustrophobic?” Leland raised an eyebrow. “It’s amazing the facts it suddenly occurs to you to mention when you think it might help you get your own way.” He clicked the lock closed. Keats pushed irritably at the grill again. It rattled, but stayed where it was. Leland checked the lock and turned away. “Leland?” Keats called after him.

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The vampire turned back to him. “I’ll come back and get you when everything’s sorted out.” “When what’s sorted out?” Leland didn’t turn back again. Keats sighed and leant against one of the three solid sides of the box. Bloody typical. He found a clan of honest to God vampires, and he couldn’t find out anything about them because his current friend and potential boyfriend was one of them and would probably be really pissed off with him if he went snooping around. And now, when something even more interesting seemed about to happen, he was stuck in a boring little cubby-hole with nothing more than a collar and a flourishing erection for company. Keats looked down at his cock. It didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the fact his future lover was a vampire. Keats idly trailed his fingers along the length of his shaft. Leland better have something bloody good planned to make up for putting him in this contraption. He looked around him, taking in details he’d been too annoyed to notice before. The cage itself wasn’t so bad, really. Actually, it was kind of hot—or at least it would have been if Leland had stuck around for long enough to have some fun with it. Keats ran the fingers of his other hand across the grill. The holes were quite large. He slid three fingers through one of the gaps. I was just the right size for a nice, big cock to fit through. He traced the outline of one of the holes as he pictured Leland coming back and watching him through the bars as the vampire undid his fly and started to stroke himself. A whimper escaped from Keats’ throat as he imagined offering his lips up to the holes in the mesh, hoping that Leland would grant him a taste. Leland wouldn’t give in straight away. He’d be a tease, the way a real dominant usually was. He wouldn’t let Keats have as much as a lick until he was whimpering and desperate to be allowed to please his master. Keats nodded to himself as his hand wrapped more firmly around his erection and began to jack himself in earnest. Leland would go from being bossy to a dominant to a true master very quickly once he got going. Leland would freaking rock as a dominant! Keats had always known that. And now the guy had finally got around to admitting he was gay too…

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Keats shuffled around, trying to find a comfortable position on the hard metal floor. A tiny bit of him was pretty sure he was an idiot. He had more important things to think about, like vampirism, and blood, and biting. But the important things didn’t make any sense. He pushed his back against one of the solid sides of the little space and set his feet against the other side. Letting his knees fall apart as he wrapped his hand tighter around his cock, he took refuge in certainties. Leland was still Leland. Everything would be okay. And there were few situations in life that couldn’t be improved with a desperately needed orgasm. Keats smiled slightly to himself as he tightened his grip again and let reality take a back seat for a while. Leland and a cage…so many possibilities. Leland was always ordering him around, complaining he didn’t stay in one place for five minutes. Keats could imagine him having something like this setup in his house— somewhere he’d put him when he was winding him up. Maybe he’d put him in there when he went out, with an order not to come without his permission. Yes, Leland would like that, he’d like knowing what being trapped in the confined space would do to him, knowing that by the time he came back his submissive would be hard and frustrated and desperate for his master’s attentions, for his master’s orders. You get bored far too quickly. Yeah, Leland would just love to make him stay in one place with nothing to do and no one to talk to. Or maybe lots of people to talk to and no permission to talk to any of them. Leland could put him in there before a party. Everyone all dressed up and partying around him while he was trapped, naked and behind bars in the middle of the room, ignored, waiting for his master to finish making the rounds with everyone else before he turned his attention back to the only person he ever looked at as if he gave a damn about. Keats hesitated. His hand came to a complete stop. Eyes closed tight, he found himself picturing that look. Perhaps it wasn’t just his imagination. Perhaps Leland had been looking at him that way ever since they met. Maybe he’d been thinking about biting him. Maybe it had been more. Keats shook his head. Sex. Cage. Party. Dominant. They were far safer things to fantasise about.

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He swallowed as he took up a slower rhythm. Safe wasn’t half as good as the more dangerous things he could think about doing with Leland.

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Chapter Two

Leland signed yet another form and pushed it back across the desk. He glared at the clerk as he merely replaced it with another form. “Sign here. Initial here. Print your full name at the bottom.” This was what the stupid, sodding vampire films never mentioned. Forget all that bull about sun light and holy water, forgetting catching vampirism from a bite like it was bloody malaria. The thing humans always got wrong about vampirism was the amount of bloody paperwork involved. He signed the last form and passed it back across the desk. “The blood slave’s finger prints, blood sample and signature to be handed to the council by the end of the month,” the clerk droned. “You understand that none of that means anything if you don’t gain his submission,” one of the members of the council said behind him. “Not a problem,” Leland said. “You intend to break him?” “He’s not a problem,” Leland repeated. “He offered himself to the whole Clan.” “And now he’s my personal property.” That much he was sure about. He met the eyes of each and every vampire that had stood behind him watching him fill in the forms that would bind Keats to him, which would stop any other vampire laying a hand or a fang on him for the rest of his life. “Really?” someone said from the back of the crowd. “Yes.” Leland turned towards the voice. “Maybe you need to remind him of that, because he’s putting on a damn good show for the guys in the lobby right now.” The worse thing about that statement was that Leland had no trouble believing it was true. It would just like Keats. Leland strode through the crowd, straight towards the door leading back to that lobby.

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“Leland?” One of the elder members of the council called after him. Leland turned and looked over his shoulder. “He is a problem.” The older vampire held up a hand to stop him when he would have protested. “The only question is, is he a problem you can deal with on your own, or should he be turned over to the clan? There is a reason why the clan owns far more blood donors than it does blood slaves. Not many humans can achieve that sort of submission without being broken.” “I can deal with him.” “See that you do. If we decide his disobedience makes him a threat to the clan, he will be brought to a complete understanding of his place in the vampire world—by all of us.” Leland held the older vampire’s gaze for a long time. “I will deal with him.” The older vampire merely nodded his dismissal. Leland stormed through the corridors behind the club. There was a crowd of vampires around the cages in the lobby. They were all watching one compartment. Muttering curses under his breath, Leland pushed all the other vampires out of the way until he reached Keats’ cell. “He’s a blood slave. He’s private property.” “He’s putting on a pretty public show,” one of the said. Leland snarled, as his teeth itched to bite and his muscles tensed ready to launch himself at another vampire the moment he had a reason—or even an excuse. “Collar. Locked cage. Blood slave. Private property,” he ground out. “What don’t you understand?” The vampire world wasn’t a large one. He knew all the men who’d gathered around the cage, all of them knew him. About half of them took a step back when they saw the look in his eyes. “Since when do you have a problem sharing?” one asked. “Since now.” Since him, the tiny part of his mind that wasn’t thinking about blood, or lust or possession, corrected. It was the person, not the timing, that made all the difference. Keats was his. He stood between them and Keats, staring them down. Finally they seemed to realise they weren’t going to be invited to the after show party. They walked away, looking for other

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ways to feed and amuse themselves leaving Leland free to turn his attention back to his friend. Keats hadn’t even bothered to break his rhythm. His hand worked his erection, fast and furious, his fist closing over the head on each up stroke to smear pre-cum on his palm and drag it back down the length. The tip of his cock disappeared and re-appeared from the channel created with his fingers. Leland stood right in front of the cage door, blocking everyone else’s view as he stared down at his new blood slave. Keats had his back pressed up tight against the side of the box, his legs spread wide to give his hand room to move. His other hand trailed up his chest as Leland watched. Keats pinched his nipple—hard. A groan escaped from Keats’ lips, he arched his back and pushed against the walls of the small space. His fingers rubbed over the nipple again, soothing before he delivered another pinch. This time the move produced a whimper. His mouth remained open long after the sound died away. His tongue caressed his lips, moistening them, making them more inviting than ever. Leland held his breath as he took in every detail, leaning his forearms on either side of the cage door so he could be sure that no one would see anything that belonged to him. Keats’ fingers left his chest to trail up to his collar. He ran his fingers along it—not as if it was uncomfortable, but as though he wanted to feel the possession and the ownership wrapped tight around him. His hand stole further up, into his hair. Keats wrapped his hand around the thick, blond strands and pulled hard, as if he was pretending his hand was someone else’s. Leland had the lock undone in seconds. His hand was the one that belonged in Keats hair. That was his place now—not even Keats could step into it. The grill rattled as the lock was tossed away. Leland jerked the door open and grabbed Keats’ wrist, yanking his hand away from his cock. Keats’ eyes flung open. “Leland?” It was the question mark that did it. He shouldn’t have to ask. There shouldn’t be any possibility that the hand on Keats’ skin could belong to anyone else. No one else should exist inside his head when he was jacking himself off.

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“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Leland demanded. Keats tilted his head on one side in that infuriating way he had. His breaths hadn’t evened out, he panted slightly with each word. “Vampires don’t jack off?” He dropped his eyes to Leland’s crotch. It might have been coincidence and the result of catching his breath that made him lick his lips right then. It might not. Either way, it made Leland’s cock jerk inside his trousers. “You look human,” Keats observed, as if he’d suddenly developed x-ray vision. Leland raised an eyebrow, trying to look both impatient and unaffected by his friend. “We shower together after rugby,” Keats said. “I notice things. I also noticed you’re really well hung, if that makes you feel any better about me sneaking a peak.” “I have no idea why I put up with you,” Leland snapped. And he had no idea how he could convince Keats that he had to at least play the part of a man who’d been broken to another person’s dominance for the rest of the night. “I’m a nice guy,” Keats said. “I’m fun to have around. And now that I know you’re gay—you can add ‘gives really good head’ to your list of reasons why I’m your ideal companion for the evening.” His free hand began to stray back to his cock. “Show’s over,” Leland snapped, grabbing hold of that wrist too. “Show?” Too innocent. Leland’s eyes narrowed. “You knew everyone was watching you, didn’t you?” Keats shook his head. There was no way that should look honest. Leland stared down at him. He’d have to break him of being able to lie to his master first and foremost. “Not until you started shouting at them anyway,” Keats clarified. “And it didn’t occur to you to stop at that point?” “You were shouting. That generally means that if there is a problem, you’re dealing with it.” “And you’re really trying to tell me you weren’t putting on a show for them before I came back?” “I had no idea anyone was there.”

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Leland shook his head. It was easy to believe that Keats was exhibitionist enough to get off on putting on a show for a room full of strangers who would like nothing more than to drain every drop of blood from his body. But it was equally easy to believe he just hadn’t registered the people who were watching him because he didn’t see them as important. “You’re the one who got me all wound up and left me hanging—you can’t blame me for taking matters into my own hands.” Keats lips twitched as he made a bad attempt to hide his delight at the wording he’d apparently stumbled upon by accident. Leland stayed serious, determined not to look amused by anything Keats got up to for the rest of the night. “Look—I was bored. I didn’t have anything else to do. So, I started thinking about how much fun we could have if you’d stuck around to play rather than putting me in a damn cage and then buggering off to god only knows where with barely a word.” “I am not answerable to you!” Leland snapped. Keats looked him up and down as if to ask ‘who the hell do you think you are?’ “I am your master,” Leland answered. Keats tilted his head on the side, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. “Sorry, darling, but you’re really not. Not unless I say you are.” “I say I am.” “I don’t know much about vampires, but I know plenty about dominants. I’ve played with enough human ones to—” “You’ve what?” “I said,” Keats replied, in the very slow deliberate tone of voice usually reserved for someone who spoke a different language. “That I know plenty about dominants. Humans can be kinky too, you know. I’ve been to my share of leather bars. Well, maybe more than my fair share, actually.” “I am not a human dominant,” Leland said, as anger at the idea of Keats so much as looking at another man boiled inside him. He stared at the collar around Keats’ neck— wondering just who he had really been trying to keep him safe from when he wrapped the leather around his throat. Right then, he was pretty sure the person most likely to either bite or throttle his friend was him. “Doesn’t mean you get to be a jerk,” Keats said.

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“I am your master,” Leland repeated. “You will show respect.” He stared down at Keats. He had to show respect or he’d never get him out of there in one piece.

Keats stared up at Leland. His friend always looked serious, but he’d never seen him quite like this. “Respect is earned,” he told him. It was actually a moot point in this case. He was pretty sure he already respected the hell out of his friend. At the same time, coming out of the vampire closet didn’t give him the right to skip over the bit where Keats agreed that he’d quite like to find out if the chemistry he’d felt sizzling between them was the start of something even more interesting, something that might make the collar around his neck something more than an irritating bit of jewellery. Leland’s hand tightened into a fist at his side. He seemed awfully close to losing his temper. That was nothing to be worried about, though. Leland might be a vampire. He might technically be a different species, or undead, or…or Keats wasn’t sure what he actually might be, but he was still Leland. And Leland wouldn’t hurt him—at least not more than he enjoyed. “Are you going to help me down?” He looked at the floor a couple of feet below his feet, where they dangled over the edge of the cage. It was hardly a big enough drop to risk a sprained ankle, but that wasn’t the point. Leland put his hands around his waist and lifted him down as if he thought he needed the help, just as Keats knew he would. His hands stayed on his waist when Keats’ feet touched the floor. He stared up at his friend, wondering if that was because he didn’t understand what humans were capable of or if he was always that considerate to his boyfriends. “You can’t be a brat here, Keats. You belong to me. That’s not up for debate,” he added, when Keats would have spoken up. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. But if you act like a brat, I’m telling you right now that I’ll make it quite clear to everyone in the building that I can bring you to heel.” Keats smiled, Leland was cute when he was being overprotective and possessive. “Do vampires kiss?” he asked.

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“No.” “I could teach you if you like,” Keats offered, resting his hand on Leland’s chest, over a heart that beat just like a human’s heart. “If you are good for the rest of the evening, maybe I will teach you a few things that you’ll enjoy,” Leland told him. “But until then, you are to be on your best behaviour in front of everyone. That means you do as I say or you accept the consequences. Come on. It’s time to put on another show for them.” Taking him by the arm before he had time to answer, his friend marched him into a room where various vampires and humans sat around on low-slung chaise-longue. Keats looked around the room. It wasn’t like the one he’d stared down into. This one seemed more of a place for humans and vampires to talk and relax together. He blinked and refocused. The vampires sat around resting and chatting to other vampires. The humans knelt at their feet or stood discretely behind their chairs as if waiting for a command—to be told how they might be of service to their masters. Some of them seemed to be more interested in servicing their masters rather than serving them. The vampires didn’t seem too fussy about which human ended up with which vampire. Keats glanced up at Leland. What had his friend said? It’s not just kink… This is the only way things can be between a vampire and a human… You are to be on your best behaviour in front of everyone… He was worried that he would show him up in front of his… his family? His friends? He didn’t want any of the vampires to know that he was a nice guy who was capable of being nice to a human lover. “Fresh blood...” someone whispered in his ear. Before Keats could look over his shoulder, he found himself once more staring at Leland’s shoulder blades. He frowned at the back of his friend’s shirt. Protective was good and dominant and when it was Leland doing it, it might even be more than a little sweet in an overly possessive way. That still didn’t stop it from being bloody annoying for a short submissive. Against all Keats’ expectations, Leland turned away from the man he seemed to see as a challenge. He looked back to Keats. For the first time, Keats realised that his friend hadn’t

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actually pinned him between his back and a wall. There was no convenient wall for him to put Keats against. He couldn’t stare the other man down and keep track of him at the same time. Leland looked back to the vampire in front of him. Keats hooked two of his fingers into Leland’s back pocket so the other man could know he was there and know he was safe without needing to look back and forth. His friend seemed to relax a fraction, as if knowing Keats was safe made everything right with his world. Keats stared at the back of his friend’s shirt and waited to see what would happen next. “He’s a blood slave,” he said. Keats raised an eyebrow at his friend’s back. He wasn’t about to argue with the statement right then—not when Leland seemed to be working on a slightly different level of understanding to him. But he did make a mental note that they’d have to talk about that label when he got Leland on his own. He didn’t catch the rest of whatever passed between Leland and the other vampire, a hell of a lot of communication between vampires seemed to be silent, but when Leland turned back to him, there was no glimpse to be caught of the other man. Leland took hold of his arm once more and led him across to an empty seat. There was a cushion on the floor. Keats glanced at the sofa. There was more than enough room for two, but he lowered himself down the cushion without comment. Leland tucked his knuckles under his chin and tilted his face back to be studied. He was pleased with him for not making a fuss over not being allowed on the furniture. Keats could see it in his eyes. And he liked that Keats had made his master aware of his location too. Leland seemed on the verge of saying so when he looked to the people around him and stopped short. So vampire culture didn’t approve of praising their submissives. That really sucked. Keats shifted on his cushion, wondering if they actually knew anything about how human submission worked, if they cared… “Fetch one of the bottles of water from the table.” Keats looked over his shoulder and saw the table. It stood in the middle of the room. He could walk there and back and never be out of sight of his friend. His gaze shifted back to

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the vampires sitting around them. They were all watching, all apparently waiting for some sign that he wouldn’t do as Leland said. Keats turned back to Leland. Following his order might gain Leland some respect, but these didn’t feel like the kind of dominants that would be impressed with simple obedience. He’d seen men like the other vampires sitting around in human leather bars. What Leland said on the way in was true. If they were going to accept that Leland owned him, they’d needed a show. Fetching a bottle of water wasn’t going to cut it. Keats looked up at his friend. “No.” He’d never actually seen Leland lose his temper. For a moment, it looked like he would. Then he seemed to get control of himself again. He leant forward and growled in his ear. “Keats,” he began. “Prove it,” Keats demanded. “What?” “You said you can bring me to heel—prove it.” He was wound up so tight, it looked like he might blow a gasket at any moment. As Keats stared up at him, Leland’s expression darkened. Forget might. Suddenly his wonderful plan didn’t seem so wonderful. “I…” Against all logic and all his faith in his friend, instinct made him shuffle back on his cushion as if he wasn’t entirely sure he could trust him not to lash out. The tiny movement seemed to snap Leland out of his thoughts. His hand caught hold of Keats’ wrist and pulled him back close, until he half toppled into the larger man’s lap. “You will do as I say when you are in this building. If I have to break you to make you follow my orders, then I will. Don’t push me on this. Don’t test me!” Keats swallowed. “What will you do if I disobey you?” Even though he could see how serious Leland was, part of him couldn’t quite separate what was really happening from what had happened so often in his fantasies. “Keats…” Leland warned. “Show me,” Keats demanded. “I won’t believe you if you don’t. Neither will they.” Leland’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t play silly games with me.” “You want to show them you can make me do whatever you say—go ahead.”

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“You won’t sit for a month,” Leland warned. “Spanking or screwing?” Keats asked, wondering if he could get both if he was lucky. “You don’t want to be turned over my knee.” He seemed pretty sure about that. Keats was pretty sure that he wanted it so much, he’d come all over Leland’s lap before he was finished. “Fetch the bottle of water.” Leland’s tone of voice made it quite clear that he wouldn’t ask again. Keats shook his head. “No.” He made sure it was loud enough that the vampires closest to him had to have heard his answer, that Leland would have to go along with his plan, if only to safe face in front of them. Leland jerked his wrist. Keats found himself dragged up onto Leland’s lap in an unceremonious heap. “You could have just ordered me to—” A hand connected very sharply with his left buttock. It shocked a yelp out of him. Leland had magnificently huge hands. Keats had spent many a happy hour jacking off and picturing all the wonderful things those hands could do. His fantasies hadn’t done his friend justice. Flames burst to life in his backside, as Leland brought his hand down again and spread the heat to the other cheek. Keats squirmed, not trying to get away as much as find a comfortable position over his friend’s lap. Leland didn’t seem to notice his efforts to get the right angle. As his palm continued to strike his arse, Keats stopped caring. The whole world condensed down to two things, the burning ache in his backside and the perfect friction against his cock every time he rocked back and forth against Leland’s leg. There were a few things he probably should have discussed with Leland beforehand. Such as—did a vampire’s arm get tired at the same speed a human’s would? Apparently not. Leland kept up the pace and force of the strikes until Keats rushed past all his previous experience and kept going into uncharted territory. Something like a whimper escaped from the back of his throat, interrupting all the pleasure filled moans he’d been sharing with the world. Leland stopped. “Are you going to do as you’re told?” Keats considered the matter carefully as he fought for breath.

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Leland obviously didn’t think it should require that much in depth analysis. His hand came down again. “Wait!” Keats said. Leland landed two more spanks—one on each cheek. “Ready to do as you’re told?” Keats nodded. He might have enjoyed it up until now. And he might be eager to let Leland show off in front of his family, but there was no point being stupid about it. Actually not being able to sit for a month would get bloody annoying as the days went past. “A proper answer,” Leland demanded. “Yes, sir.” Still turned over his friend’s lap, Keats wondered where that little honorific had crept out from. Leland’s hand returned to Keats’ backside. He rubbed his palm over the spanked skin, making Keats squirm. The hand fell on his skin again. It wasn’t really a spank—barely more than a tap. “I didn’t give you permission to move.” “Sorry, sir.” Keats gave a little smile at the automatic honorific. It had been a long time since he offered a man that sort of submission without an order to refer to him that way. Leland went back to stroking his flaming skin. From the way his erection dug into Keats’ stomach, it was pretty clear the vampire was really enjoying himself. Keats bit his lip and tried to stay still. “Fetch a bottle of water from the table.” Keats nodded. “Yes, sir.” It was a good answer. It was submissive and obedient and showed everyone there that he had learnt his lesson and would do as his master said from now on. It didn’t mean he knew how to get himself up off his friend’s lap right then. He wasn’t entirely sure his knees would hold him up. “Stay there and I’m likely to get bored and start spanking you again.” “I’m working on it, sir.” One big effort, and Keats managed to drag himself to his feet. He looked to Leland. His friend was studying him carefully, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. When Leland’s gaze dropped to Keats’ still flourishing erection, he smiled slightly. Then he nodded to the table in the middle of the room. “Go on.”

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Keats turned to the table. Every vampire in the room was still watching him. He took a step forward and didn’t fall flat on his face. It was a promising start. He slowly made it to the table and picked up a bottle of water. With each step, air brushed against his flaming backside, enticing him to reach behind him and rub the sore skin. He resisted the temptation, pretending that he wouldn’t even think to do that without his master’s permission, and returned to Leland’s side. Gratefully sinking to his knees on the cushion at Leland’s feet, he offered him the bottle of water. Leland unscrewed the top and offered the bottle to his lips. Keats frowned. “Vampires don’t come here to drink water.” He tilted the bottle up. Keats wasn’t ready. Cold water tipped down his chin, running in rivulets down his body, sending a sudden chill through his flushed skin. He’d tipped the water bottle up far more than was necessary. It wasn’t an accident. A warning perhaps. Keep up. Do as you’re told. Accept what you’re offered. Submit. Keats stayed still, not even moving to brush the water off his body as the trails made their way towards his cock. It wasn’t as if those few drops of cold water were likely to dent that particular erection anyway. Leland tipped the bottle up again. Keats parted his lips and let some of the cold water dribble into his mouth. It soothed his throat where it had been left raw by pleasure filled moans and cooled his mind a little at the same time. His friend either had a bizarre understanding of how quickly a guy could swallow or he had a fetish for drenching his lovers. He tipped the bottle up again, sending more cold water running down his body. Keats made a whimpering little protest as he tried to swallow faster. He reached up and set his fingertips on the bottle. Leland met his eyes. He raised an eyebrow in clear warning not to press his luck too far. Keats didn’t try to take control. He just let his fingers flutter around the sides of the bottle instead, welcoming whatever he was offered as he let out another whimper. Leland took the bottle away. Keats licked his lips and dropped his gaze as he tried to work out what to do next. His eyes fell on Leland’s lap—there was a mark on it where he’d

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leaked pre-cum all over his friend’s leather trousers. It would be impolite to just leave the mark there. Keats leant forward and pressed his lips to the fabric. Leland put his hand on his shoulder. For a moment he seemed about to push him away and then his hand slid up into his hair to cradle the back of his head. “I think someone enjoyed his spanking,” Leland teased, saying the words just softly enough that no one would be able to overhear him. Keeping the words just for them. He seemed slightly confused as well as pleased with the idea. “You’re bloody lucky I didn’t actually come all over your lap, sir,” Keats murmured as his tongue flickered out to caress his trousers again. Leland stroked the back of his head. In that moment he realised that, while his friend was indeed a fantastic dominant, he’d never taken a real human submissive under his protection before. He really didn’t understand that Keats was on his knees because he wanted to be there. “Anything else you’d like me to do while I’m here, sir?” Keats asked, very softly. There was no need for the others to hear him offer. If they wanted to believe Leland could get away with demanding, that was their business. Keats pulled back just far enough to glance up at the vampire. Leland’s hand stayed on the back of his head, but he made no attempt to control his movements. Sliding his other hand between them, Leland hooked his thumb into Keats’ mouth, as if testing if he was sure he wanted his lips wrapped around his cock or not. Keats swirled his tongue and let his eyes drift closed as he gave the digit his full attention. Leland’s skin was smoother than he expected—not roughened the way most men’s were. He rubbed his tongue back and forth across the tip, as if it really was a cock. As if nothing in the world mattered to him but making that finger come. Leland took his toy away without any warning. Keats flung his eyes open, whimpering. He caught hold of Leland’s wrist and pulled his hand back to his mouth as he fought to wrap his lips back around any one of those fingers. Leland laughed, tossing his head back as if relaxing for the first time since he put the collar around his neck. Keats looked up, smiling with his master. “You taste nice, sir,” he whispered.

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Leland stroked his cheek with his finger. Keats stared back up at him, no longer sure if he was playing a game or not—not sure if he was pretending to submit or not. Not sure whose benefit he could be pretending for, other than his own. Right then the collar around his neck felt like a real collar, it felt like real mastery. Keats leant forward and nuzzled his friend’s lap, rubbing his cheek against the line his cock created in his trousers, eager to show him what enthusiastic submission looked like. He pressed a kiss to the material that covered the head. “Tell me what you want,” Leland ordered. “Please, may I suck your cock, sir?” Keats asked, surprised how honest he sounded, how serious he sounded, right then. He said the words however loud they happened to come out, with no thought to who would or would not overhear him, with no thought to the show they were supposed to be putting on for the vampires. For a horrible moment, Keats thought Leland would say no. For some reason he didn’t really understand, the idea that he didn’t want his submission terrified him. Leland stroked his cheek once more and then undid his fly. The sideways glances Keats had stolen in the shower were right—hung like a…like a vampire? Keats pushed aside the completely irrational desire to giggle, sure there was no excuse for that reaction when kneeling at a man’s feet. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the tip of Leland’s cock to cover his momentary lapse. His friend tasted human. Keats lapped at the slit, gathering the taste onto his tongue like a connoisseur. A little saltier than what he was used to, he decided after due consideration. A lot more more-ish than any human he’d ever tasted, too. Leland wrapped his fist around his cock below where Keats’ lips caressed, steadying his shaft while Keats worked the head, and making it impossible for him to deep throat his lover as he’d planned. Keats glanced up at him. Leland didn’t seem to want to do anything more than make it clear to Keats exactly who was in control of the situation and his cock. Keats was allowed to suck and lick and kiss because Leland permitted him to do that—he might have asked, but Leland was the one who granted the request.

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Keats lifted both his hands and rested his fingertips on Leland’s fist, not trying to control or move him, just wanting to touch, wanting to have that extra little bit of a connection with his master. He couldn’t have held back his whimpers and pleas if he wanted to. Right then, he didn’t want to. He wanted Leland to know that he was exactly where he wanted to be. He sucked harder around the head, trying to pull more and more into his mouth as his lips kissed the other man’s fist. Leland stared down at him. His other hand took a firm hold on the back of Keats’ head, but he didn’t try to take control of his movements. He just rested his hand there, his fingers tangling in the blond strands. Leland’s other hand tilted his shaft a little, changing the angle just as he’d adjusted the angle of the water bottle. Keats glanced briefly up at him again, before turning his complete attention back to the task at hand, and at mouth. Unless vampires were completely different to humans, Leland was on the edge of coming. Part of Keats wanted to ease off, to make it last, but a larger part needed his master to come. He needed to taste him properly. He needed to hear Leland say he was pleased with him. As Leland came closer and closer to the edge, his hand tightened in Keats’ hair, but he didn’t pull him closer as Keats expected, if anything the tugging fingers pulled him away. Keats frowned, no longer able to slide his lips far enough down Leland’s cock to kiss his master’s fist. He whimpered his protest, and looked up. Leland stared back at him. His hand relaxed in Keats’ hair, but he’d seen what his master wanted in his expression. Keats stopped struggling to get closer. Leland’s hand took his tight hold on his hair once more as he seemed to understand his acceptance. Within seconds he came. Semen landed on Keats’ tongue. His hand tugged Keats away a little further. Keats let him. He parted his lips further as Leland slid from his mouth. Leland’s other hand stroked his cock, pumping hard and fast. Salty liquid landed on Keats’ tongue again. Some missed and fell on his lips. Keats left it there as he tilted his head back and let his master fill his mouth. His cock was the barest

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fraction of an inch from his lips. The tip brushed against his mouth as Leland’s hips thrust forward, as if they wanted his cock buried inside his mouth just as much as Keats did. Leland’s hand worked ferociously along his length, jacking his erection as it spilled into Keats’ mouth. Keats didn’t know where to look—at the hand working so frantically to feed him or at the pleasure on Leland’s face. As his hand slowed, Keats stared up at his master’s expression. Leland stared back down at him, his eyes hooded with pleasure, but perfectly focused on him nevertheless. Spent, Leland collapsed back, releasing his grip on his cock. Keats closed his mouth, swallowing what he’d been given. He licked at his lips, where Leland’s aim had been off. His tongue couldn’t quite reach it all. He lifted his hand but Leland brushed it aside. The dominant swiped some of the cum up with his fingertips and offered it to Keats’ lips. Leland slid his fingers into Keats’ mouth and left them there while Keats rubbed his tongue across them, making sure they were clean. He didn’t get all of it. Keats was pretty sure that was because he wanted to go back for seconds. He was right. Leland repeated the process with every sign of pleasure. Keats knew without doubt that there was nothing on his fingers the last three times, but he cleaned them diligently anyway—pleased to please his master. When Leland stopped feeding him and turned his attention to straightening up his own clothes, Keats dropped his gaze, not so much in submission as in wondering if he was going to get his turn now. “When I get you home. If you’re good,” Leland said. “And that’s a big if.” Keats lips twitched into a smile. That was more like the Leland he knew. That was more like the Leland who wasn’t showing off for anyone but his new submissive.

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Chapter Three

“Strip.” It wasn’t much of a ‘welcome home’, but Keats wasn’t going to complain. Not when he was getting strangled by his jeans. He took off his clothes and dropped them all by Leland’s front door. Leland leaned against the wall a little way down the wide, old-fashioned hallway and watched. He was already as hard again. Keats wasn’t about to be put out by the fact he looked hot as hell and as dominant as the devil himself. “We never really talked about what you’re into, sir,” he said as he leaned against his own little patch of wall right in front of the door—not about to feel vulnerable just because he was bare arse naked but for a collar, and facing a fully clothed vampire. “I’m guessing you’re a top?” Leland raised an eyebrow. “Vampires don’t bottom.” He seemed very certain about that fact. Keats wasn’t prepared to feel the least surprised or bothered by the fact his friend wasn’t going to be bending over for him any time soon. But his tone of voice seemed to imply more than that. He frowned. “Not even for oral?” Leland pushed himself away from the wall and walked across the hallway until he loomed over Keats, trapping him between a hot body and the cold wall. “We’re the top of the food chain for a reason.” “Oh?” Keats said. “Do you really want these teeth wrapped around your cock?” Leland asked. He nipped at Keats bottom lip, slicing neatly through the sensitive skin. It didn’t feel like a real bite. In a bizarre way that Keats didn’t really understand, it felt good. Leland then ran his tongue across the wound, quickly healing it. That felt pretty good too. Keats still frowned, not willing to be quite so easily distracted. “I have teeth too, sir—I mind my manners and keep them covered when I’m going down on someone, so can you.” Leland glared down at him. “Vampires don’t go down on humans.”

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Keats looked back up at him. “Then it’s time you broadened your horizons, because if you think I’m going to agree to belong to someone who’s too—” Leland kissed him. For several seconds after his friend’s mouth covered his, Keats’ lips kept moving on automatic. Leland swallowed his words as he thrust his tongue past his lips and took possession of his mouth. He’d lied back at the club. Vampires did kiss! Keats whimpered and clutched at Leland’s clothes, pulling the vampire closer so he could rub their bodies together. Arguing about who was going inside who was pointless when he really didn’t care right then. He wanted to come. He wanted to have sex. Details could be worked out later. Leland tore their lips apart and spun Keats around to push him up against the wall. He pressed him against the paintwork, making a point of holding him in place even though Keats was quite happy to stay there. He kicked Keats’ bare feet apart with one of his boots. Keats spread his legs and pushed back against his friend. Fresh heat flared in his backside as the spanked skin rubbed against Leland’s clothes. Unbuckling the collar, Leland draped the thick piece of leather over his shoulder and pressed a kiss against his neck. “If I’m going to suck on you, Keats—it’s not your cock that will hold my interest.” Keats swallowed. “Blood,” he whispered. Leland ran his lips over Keats’ neck. “Blood,” he echoed. “I…” Maybe he should have spent just a little bit of time in that cage thinking about his neck rather than his cock. Leland ran his hands down Keats’ arms and settled one hand over each of his smaller hands, trapping them against the wall. “Does it hurt, sir?” “The bite?” Leland asked. His tongue flickered out and traced the vein in Keats’ neck. “Humans seem to like it.” Keats stared at the wall, just a few inches from his nose. He nibbled at his bottom lip. “Will you stop if I panic?” Leland tensed behind him. “Do you need to ask?” “No, sir,” Keats said, more softly than he intended. “I just need to hear you say it.”

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“You are mine,” Leland growled in his ear. “I look after what belongs to me.” Keats nodded. It sounded close enough to the vampire equivalent of safe, sane and consensual to him. “In that case, I’d like it if you hurried up, sir.” Leland chuckled against his skin. Keats smiled. He was always the only one who could make his friend laugh. He might not have known he was a vampire, he might not have been sure he was gay. He might not have actually set foot in Leland’s house until that day, but he knew Leland. Tilting his head to the side, he offered his friend his neck. He wasn’t sure if he was more scared or excited. His cock nudged against the wall as he shifted impatiently. Leland kissed his neck again. His lips parted, and he sucked against his skin the way any human man could. Keats frowned. “At the club they—” He broke off into a gasp as teeth sliced cleanly through his skin. Pain flared along the bite. Hot on its heels came pleasure. It was just like a spanking, the pain pushing into him, and then the pleasure defusing out from that point until it filled his whole body and the pain ceased to exist as it would normally be understood. Keats’ hands scrabbled at the wall. His nails clawed at the paint but there was nothing he could gain a purchase on. Leland’s hands held onto his wrists, keeping them where they were, stopping him from reaching back for the other man or down to his cock. Whimpering, Keats writhed against the wall. He was wrong. It wasn’t like a spanking. It was so much better. Less pain multiplied into more pleasure. He rocked back against his master, thrust forward into the empty air. Leland sucked at the wound he’d created on his neck. Draining blood away as more and more bliss poured into Keats’ body to take its place. The world spun. Keats closed his eyes. Stars flashed behind his lids. He tried to gasp for breath, but he couldn’t force air into his lungs. Right then it didn’t matter. Breathing was secondary to the bite. It was secondary to coming. He pulled at Leland’s hold on his wrist again, desperate to feel something surround his shaft and willing to make do with his own hand if no better alternative would be provided. His mind flashed back to the man in the club and the vampires who had passed him around without ever letting him come.

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“Please, sir,” he whispered. But it was too late to bother with begging. Leland sucked harder at his vein. Keats jerked in the dominant’s hold as he came untouched against the paintwork, squirming between his master and the wall. Leland held him tight, keeping him upright when he would have collapsed into a messy heap at his friend’s feet. The pleasure started to fade a little as Leland sucked more gently against his neck, easing back as he lapped against the wound and let it close under his tongue. Keats tried to breathe again. His lungs seemed to work now. He gasped and panted as Leland stood behind him—apparently completely composed and at ease with the world. “I forgive you,” Keats managed to murmur. “What?” “I forgive you,” Keats repeated, just slightly less breathlessly. “For being a complete arsehole over the whole vampires don’t suck cock thing, sir. Have you ever been bitten? God! It’s…it’s like getting a whole body blow job.” Keats rested his forehead on the wall in front of him. He analysed that statement for a few seconds and decided it was perfectly accurate. Leland spun him around and pushed him back against the wall. Keats stared up at him as the room spun around them both, sleepy with pleasure and content to believe the whole world was a bloody marvellous place right then. “Mine,” Leland said. Keats nodded good-naturedly, quite content to leave the details he’d have to add to that declaration to wait for a little while. He stared up at Leland as the other man studied his body. So vampires liked to screw after they sucked, that was good to know. Keats dropped his gaze to stare at Leland’s erection through his trousers. Leland put his knuckles under Keats’ jaw and tilted his head back so he looked directly into his eyes. He seemed to be looking for some sort of sign. Keats smiled. “I’m fine, sir. It takes more than a couple of pointy canines to faze me.” “Say yes.” “Yes,” Keats echoed.

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Leland looked around the room. An old side board ran along one wall. A moment after Keats noticed it, he was bent over it. He braced himself against the polished mahogany, elbows resting on the wood, his head resting in his hands. A bed would have been a better location. Still, when Leland’s fingers slipped between his cheeks, already slicked and eager to prepare him, Keats couldn’t bring himself to complain about staying in the hall for a little longer. Leland’s fingers worked their way deftly inside him, stretching him open and rubbing against his prostate. As soon as he pushed back against the probing fingers to let his lover know he was ready, Leland was pressed up against his back. His slicked cock nudged between his cheeks, seeking entry as the zipper on his fly scratched against Keats’ buttocks, still raw from the spanking. Keats pressed back against his friend again in encouragement. Leland pushed slowly into him. Hung like a vampire, Keats remembered as the burning stretch inside him eased into a duller, more pleasurable ache. Hung, but surprisingly careful all things considered—as if he wasn’t quite sure how rough he could be with his lover—as if he didn’t want to hurt him. It was too soon after his last orgasm for Keats to take his own pleasure from being topped right then. He was content to just enjoy feeling Leland move inside him, to enjoy sensing the other man’s pleasure. Until he realised that his options were less restricted than he thought. “Bite me,” Keats demanded. Leland rocked back and thrust into him again. “Can’t take too much.” Keats frowned. In spite of everything, he was hardening again. He wanted to come again. But he couldn’t bloody well do that if his vampire wouldn’t cooperate. “Bite!” he ordered. Leland growled. Leaning over his back, he nipped at his neck as if he was humouring him, or maybe as if he couldn’t entirely resist the temptation even though he knew he should. “Properly. Suck. Please, sir?” That did the trick.

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Leland began to suck at his neck, opening the tiny wound further. As the blood seeped onto Leland’s tongue, he moaned and bit down properly, seemingly unable to resist once the taste of Keats was in his mouth. Keats tilted his head to the side in encouragement. The bite went straight to both their cocks. Keats whimpered as Leland reached around his body and took his shaft in his hand. The cock rubbing against his prostate. The hand wrapped around his own erection. The teeth in his neck. It was all too much. He tried to hold back, to make every perfect moment last as long as was physically possible. He could only do that for so long. Leland sucked hard against his neck. His fist tightened around his cock. He thrust hard, burying himself inside Keats to the hilt, and Keats came again, pulling Leland over the edge with him. They collapsed together, both panting for breath. Keats dropped his head onto the side board and rubbed his cheek against the woodwork, cooling his flushed skin. Leland pulled away. Keats whimpered his protest, but didn’t actually try to stop him. He might not want to move, but he was quite happy to consider the prospect of a bed if that’s where Leland intended them to go next. Standing up straight proved to be a far more taxing undertaking than he remembered. When he began to move away from the cabinet, his head spun and he reconsidered the idea. He got as far as the wall next to the cabinet before he had to stop. Leaning forward, he steadied himself against the paintwork. He heard Leland moving about behind him. Fabric rustled as Leland no doubt rearranged his clothes. For a few seconds there was silence. Then a hand touched his shoulder. It moved the collar and fastened it back around his neck. “It’s a nice wall,” Keats offered, still resting his forehead on it in order to make the room stay still. “I told you I shouldn’t feed again so quickly. Perhaps you’ll remember to listen to your master next time.” Keats murmured noncommittally. “I did tell you that it feels like a whole body blow job, right? It’s worth a bit of a dizzy spell, sir.”

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Leland stared down at his friend, knowing that the bite would have called far more than an inability to balance to the surface. One problem at a time. They could be standing in the hallway all night if he waited for Keats to snap back into reality. He picked the smaller man up and started up the stairs. Keats didn’t make any comment. His silence alone convinced Leland that the bite was having some sort of affect on him. Leland took a deep breath. There wasn’t much he could do but hope now. He set Keats back on his feet in his bedroom. His friend slid down his body, his hands holding onto his shoulders. When he felt reasonably sure Keats wouldn’t collapse in a heap the moment he was left unsupervised, Leland nudged his new submissive into the little en-suite off his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Leaning against the wall next to the door into the en-suite, Leland closed his eyes, not entirely sure there wouldn’t be a crash and a swirly headed friend who needed to be picked up off the floor at any minute. While he listened for the sound of a submissive in trouble, he tried to make his mind work. Keats was allowed to let his brain go on holiday for a little while after a feeding. A master didn’t have that luxury. But the truth was, he didn’t want to know. If it wasn’t in Keats to submit, to belong to him in the way the clan would demand, then he didn’t want to know. He wanted to pretend that all was right with the world. He wanted to be allowed to be as easy going about it all as Keats was. He opened his eyes as the bathroom door swung open. Keats stepped out. His grip on the door frame made it clear the dizziness hadn’t passed. Leland picked him up and deposited him on the chair in the corner of the room. “Stay there.” He took his turn in the en-suite, taking the opportunity to gather his thoughts while he dunked his head under the cold tap and tried to wash away everything but his new responsibilities. If the only way to keep Keats safe was to break him, he’d do it. He knew he would do it, because he wouldn’t have a choice. He couldn’t turn the other man over to the clan. It just wasn’t an option—not with Keats.

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By the time he stepped back out into the bedroom, he had a plan. No more hiding. A simple little test. If Keats failed it then, he would just have to deal with it. Keats was still sitting by the desk when Leland entered the room, but he wasn’t about to put that down to obedience when it could so easily be explained away by lethargy. He took a spare blanket and a pillow from the wardrobe and put them on the floor by the side of the big double bed. “What are you doing?” Keats asked, his voice slow and sleepy. “You’re my blood slave, not my boyfriend. You’ll be kept close enough to be convenient, but don’t expect to be given the privileges of an equal,” Leland announced, as he turned back to him. If he was capable of the degree of submission needed in a blood slave, then the bite would bring it to the surface and he would do as his vampire master said. If he protested then… Keats tilted his head to one side. He didn’t seem worried as much as curious. “They sleep on the floor by the side of the bed,” Leland expended when Keats seemed too out of it to gather that much from the evidence. Keats looked at the floor by the side of his bed. He seemed to accept his decision just like that. Perhaps, Leland thought, the bite was working—that it really was drawing the submissive side of Keats to the surface. Deciding it was permissible to be a little more indulgent than vampire tradition dictated, he settled Keats with his pillow and his blanket, making sure his friend was as comfortable as possible before he stretched out in his bed for the night. “Sir?” “Yes?” “I’m cold.” It wasn’t unusual for a human to react to the bite that way, especially when his master had taken far more than he should have on a first feeding. He didn’t want his submissive shivering all the way through the night. He’d gone through a lot, and he’d accepted the floor so nicely. An extra blanket wasn’t too much to ask his master for. Leland got up, pulled a spare blanket out of the wardrobe and dropped it next to Keats as he got back into his bed. Fabric shuffled as Keats spread the blanket over himself. “Thank you, sir”

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“Go to sleep,” Leland ordered. For several minutes silence filled the room. “Sir?” “What?” “May I have a drink of water, please?” Leland stared up at the ceiling for a while. “Sir?” He got up, went into the bathroom and brought back a glass of water for his new submissive. He just needed a little bit of a fuss made of him, he told himself. He needed to know his new master would look after him and give him what he needed. Leland crouched down next to him. He held the glass to Keats’ lips and let him take a few sips, carefully this time, making sure all the water ended up in his mouth. “Okay?” he asked when Keats glanced up and seemed to have had enough. “Yes, thank you, sir.” Leland set the glass on his bedside table and got back into bed. Another few minutes passed. Leland breathed a soft sigh as he realised Keats had fallen asleep without any further fuss. “Sir?” There was no way to keep excusing him. Leland clenched his jaw. He was jumping through hoops to try and keep him safe under his protection, and Keats wasn’t giving a bloody inch. Scared, he could accept. Untrained was okay. But Keats’ brattiness had always got under his skin. Now it made him furious. “Sir?” he asked again. Reaching down, Leland grabbed hold of the smaller man and pulled him up onto the bed. Pinning him to the mattress, he stared down at him. It was obviously pointless to explain things. It was pointless to try and be nice in the hopes Keats would realise he wanted nothing more than to be a good master to him. If the instinct wasn’t there, it wasn’t there. His teeth ached with the desire to make it all as simple as a bite. When he’d buried his teeth in Keats’ neck and felt his pleasure and his blood mingle on his tongue, everything had felt so simple. Keats was his and safe and—

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“You’re letting drafts in.” “What?” Leland blinked down at Keats. “You’re letting drafts under the blanket.” Keats looked at the quilt covering the bed, to where it had slipped down to the small of Leland’s back when he pulled Keats up onto the mattress with him to confront him. Where he’d pulled him into the bed with him… Leland let go of one of his wrists and pushed Keats’ hair back from his face so he could see his eyes properly. He didn’t look scared by his master’s burst of temper. He looked like he was exactly where he wanted to be. Keats reached past him with his free hand and pulled the blanket up snugly to their shoulders. “I don’t mind the bossiness or the biting—but no more telling me to sleep on the floor. That’s not nice.” He tapped a fingertip against Leland’s chest in emphasis of the last three words. Then he frowned, considering his own statement very carefully. “Unless you’re going to sleep on the floor too—then that would be okay.” Leland stared blankly down at him, trying to switch mental gears and failing. “Teasing is okay too, and I don’t mind waiting until you give me permission to come, sir. You’re a dominant. Being a bit of a control freak about things like that is part of the deal, I get it. But no more saying I’m some sort of slave. I’m a submissive, not a slave. I belong to you because I want to belong to you, not because I don’t have a choice.” Leland watched, with a sense of morbid fascination as Keats seemed to search his mind for something he couldn’t quite remember. He smiled when he recalled what it was. “And if I’m going to wear a collar all the time, then you’ll have to get me a new one, sir.” “I will?” Leland asked. Keats nodded, very certain about that. “This one’s too wide and it’s bloody uncomfortable. And I couldn’t cover it up when I need to look vanilla.” “It marked you out as a man the other vampires weren’t allowed to feed from.” That was something Leland was certain about. Keats considered that for far longer than Leland expected. “I don’t want anyone but you biting me,” he admitted.

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“They won’t,” Leland promised. One way or the other, they wouldn’t. Keats burrowed a little further into his arms, kittenish in his sudden uncertainty and his search for comfort. “I won’t let that happen. You’re mine—all the vampires know a blood slave is private property. They all know that you belong to me now,” he explained. “So are you,” Keats murmured into his chest. Leland nudged a little bit of room between them, so he could hear the words properly. “I said, so are you, sir,” Keats repeated as he looked up at him. “Private property.” Leland raised an eyebrow at the idea. “Am I allowed to screw other guys, sir?” Keats asked, his tone far too innocent for the question. “No,” Leland said, not about to debate the question. “Then neither are you. No screwing—humans or vampires. And I’ll do the same. And no feeding from anyone else either. From now on, I don’t suck on anyone else and neither do you. No whole body blow jobs for anyone but me, sir.” ”That’s not the way it works. You belong to me. You submit to me. I give the orders, you obey them.” “I belong to you, sir. I submit to you,” Keats agreed easily as he reached for the blanket and pulled it even more snugly around their shoulders to completely banish the drafts he seemed so worried about. “And don’t you think that means you do as you’re told without acting like a brat and waking me up every five minutes?” he asked as calmly and as gently as possible, trying to work out if his chance at keeping Keats both safe and whole was fading away or becoming clearer and more attainable by the moment. “No,” Keats said, simply. “It means I give up control to you. And I set limits on what that means—the limits are as important as the giving up control. That’s how it works with humans. That’s how you know I’m taking this seriously.” “This is you taking things seriously?” Leland asked. “Do you really think I’d bother to tell you what’s really important to me if I just wanted a quick bit of fun?” Keats asked. “I’ve been in love with you for months—practically

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since the first moment I saw you. I’ve wanted to belong to you for just as long. You were the one who kept acting straight and refusing to flirt back when I flirted with you.” Leland stroked his cheek as he realised that for once in his life, his silly little friend really was trying to be serious. “I know I talk a lot, but this isn’t just babbling. I’m not being silly, sir. Silly would be me telling you that I’ll do whatever you want for the rest of my life even when we both bloody well know that isn’t going to happen. Silly would be not really listening to whatever someone says to you, even when, for once in their life, they’re trying to do things properly and explain that they want to belong to you. You don’t need to break me to get my submission, sir—if you’d just listen, you’d know I’m giving it to you.” Leland stared down at him, completely serious. “I’m pretty sure my mind disintegrated when you bit me, sir, but I’m not the one being silly right now. I’m telling you what submission means to a human man. I’m telling you I want you to be my master.” Leland pressed a kiss to his forehead. Relief rushed through him. Keats might not be the kind of submissive the other vampires would recognise, but he could feel the certainty in his lover, he could feel how seriously his friend was taking it. The other vampires might not understand, but as he stared down at him, he started to understand the kind of submission his lover was trying to offer him. The kind of submission he’d thought a vampire could never receive from a human. “I’m sorry, love,” he said. “I am taking this seriously—more seriously than you know.” Keats raised an eyebrow. “I said I’m in love with you. I didn’t actually mean to blurt it out like that, but I did. If you have any intention of saying you love me at any point in the future, then I suggest you say it now—because I don’t know how vampires work things, but just calling someone ‘love’ in response really doesn’t cut it with a human, sir.” Leland fought to hold back a smile. “I love you too.” Keats studied him through narrowed eyes for a moment. “Do you mean it, sir?” “We don’t mark humans as blood slaves lightly. You wouldn’t belong to me if I didn’t want to keep you forever.”

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Keats seemed to find that explanation acceptable. “Okay then, but I’m still not sold on the whole slave label, sir. Makes it sound like I belong to you just because you bit me. I belonged to you long before that—even if you didn’t notice.” Leland nodded. “We’ll talk about it all tomorrow,” he promised. “No.” Keats shook his head, sending his hair back into his eyes. “I said my important things—now you say your important things. That’s the way it works, sir.” His important things. Leland looked down at Keats as he pushed the hair back out of his way. “In vampire clans it’s important that it’s clear the humans present are owned by someone—that they obey someone. Either the clan as a whole or an individual vampire.” “Like I belong to you,” Keats added helpfully. “That’s why you wanted to order me around in front of everyone—and why I made sure they saw you spank me in the club.” Leland stared down at him. “Let me?” “It seemed important to you, sir,” Keats whispered. “It is important. You need to learn how to behave in a certain way in front of my clan.” Keats nodded as if he understood the seriousness of that situation. He didn’t, of course. But for the first time, Leland could see a future where Keats could understand. A future where the rules of the clan might dictate what happened in the presence of other vampires, but where what happened away from them was their own business and a lot more fun. “Will you tell me all about it, sir?” “About what?” “About being a vampire?” Keats asked. “Yes. You’ll have to learn their ways so you know how to act in front of them.” “I will, sir. And I won’t hold it against you if you act like a pillock towards me in front of them, sir,” Keats told him. “I’m so glad I have your permission,” Leland muttered, not quite able to hold back a smile at the simple honesty, the simple submission, in his lover’s voice. “If I remember all the things I’m supposed to do, will I get a whole body blow job afterwards, sir?” Keats asked. “Only if you are very good.”

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Keats smiled up at him, so sleepy and content with the world. “Everything else can wait until tomorrow,” Leland decided. His new submissive seemed to consider that suggestion for a little while. Leland watched him as the minutes ticked passed, not entirely sure if he was still thinking about that or if his mind had wandered off on some other random tangent, the way it so often did. “Sleepy?” Leland asked after a while. “Only if I’m allowed to sleep in the bed. If you’re going to try and put me back on the floor, then I’m wide awake and I’ll stay that way until morning, sir.” “It’s not nice of me to tell my submissive to sleep on the floor,” Leland quoted back at him. “See, I was listening.” As easily as that, Keats smiled and snuggled in closer to his body as if his master had made everything right with his world in one easy stroke. “Night, sir,” he murmured. Five seconds later, Keats was fast asleep in his arms. Leland stared up at the ceiling for a long time, relishing the closeness of the other man, relishing the idea that a human submissive could curl up against a vampire so instinctively, so perfectly, without the slightest sign of fear. Shuffling them both into a comfortable position as he started to drift off, Leland pressed a kiss onto the top of his new submissive’s head. He had Keats safe and close. What he’d told his lover was true. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

About the Author Kim is 25 years old, from a small town in South Wales. After writing for years, Kim is finally editing some of the stories to share with the rest of the world. Kim writes both male/male and male/female stories that range from the dark and paranormal right through to the lighter, funnier side of life. The only thing every story contains is a happy ever after for the two (or more!) characters that deserve it most. Oh, and kinky sex—there’s always plenty of that too— but Kim takes no responsibility for any of that. It’s all the characters’ fault. Honest… Email: [email protected]

Kim loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com/

Also by Kim Dare Collared: Turquoise and Leather Collared: Imperial Topaz G-A-Y: Gaydar G-A-Y: Gay Like You G-A-Y: Gay Until Graduation Perfect Timing: You First Perfect Timing: Silent Night Perfect Timing: Time To Do Christmas Spirits: The Gift My Secret Valentine: Secret Service Night of the Senses: Whispers Caught in the Middle: Between Tooth and Paw Summer Seductions: In the Heat of the Moment Friction: Yes!

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