Blood Claim by Laura Mykles (free e books to read .txt) 📕

Then he shook his head. “No,” he said finally. “It's not safe. So if you're asking me if I thought my grander purpose was to become some sort of winged crusader, the answer's no."

He dared Luke to say anything along the lines of I told you so, so Luke didn't. Cory waited, tense on the edge of his chair, his body preparing for another argument. Luke put down the glass and stood up. Cory watched him approach with narrowed eyes. Luke pushed his shoulders against the chair, and although Cory's entire body was tense, he didn't fight. Luke pulled Cory's hips to the edge of the recliner.

Cory's mouth tightenedas Luke knelt down in front of him. “What are you—” he began, but then Luke undid his jeans, and Cory didn't finish the rest of the now redundant question.

Luke looked up, meeting Cory's gaze. Cory was motionless, just for a second, and then relaxed. “Yes, please,” he said finally.

He was half hard already; he always was when they fought. Luke pulled the jeans further down Cory's thighs, thought about keeping them high enough to trap his legs, but knew that Cory would hate it, so he took the time to take them all the way off. Cory spread his legs and touched Luke's shoulder lightly with the tips of two fingers. There was a thank you in the touch, but it didn't need to be said.

Luke debated not kissing the insides of Cory's thigh. It seemed, for the moment, too forward, too familiar, but then Cory took his head, pushing him not toward his cock, but further down, to the start of his inner thigh. Luke smiled and pressed his tongue against the white skin. He found the femoral buried deep, and kissed where it branched off. Cory's sigh caught in his vocal cords in that second, and what came out was half a strangled groan. Luke tried it again, moving up a quarter inch and kissing that spot as well, but raked his nails across the same spot on the other leg. The scratch remained white for less than a second, then erupted scarlet against the skin, and Cory's hands tightened in Luke's hair.

Interesting. He slapped the inside of Cory's upper thigh, and his hand print came to the surface as well, hot and pink. Cory shuddered, his hands pulling Luke's head up, but Luke fought the grip, and eventually Cory stopped trying to force it. Luke slapped the other side, harder, then back to the first side again, and if he had electrocuted Cory, he didn't think the response could have been more dramatic. Cory's eyelashes were damp, but his lips were parted, and as soon as Luke finished, Cory thrust his hips up and off the chair.

"Again?” Luke asked.

Cory nodded. His shoulders were the only thing that touched the chair now, the rest of his body stretched like a bowstring.

"Would you prefer the paddle?” Luke asked, keeping his voice neutral.

Cory pulled back, but only for a second. It wouldn't hurt as much as the hand in the long run, but the initial sting would be so much worse. Or better, if that was what Cory wanted. Cory reached behind him, bracing himself against the wall as well. “That didn't answer the question,” Luke said.

"Yes, the paddle,” Cory said, and his voice caught. “Please."

Luke ran his nails along both inner thighs. Cory's cock was hot against his belly, now achingly hard, even though neither of them had touched it yet. “Can you keep yourself open like this for me?"

Cory fought, twisting in ways Luke didn't think the body was meant to, but he nodded. “I will. Just ... hurry."

"What if I want you to wait?” Luke asked, but stood up.

Cory bucked again, pleading in ways he couldn't let himself say, but then he settled. “Then I'll wait,” he said, voice low.

"Good boy,” Luke said and went back to his bedroom. They hadn't had a lot of toys in their relationship; they hadn't really needed it. Sex was the one part of them that hadn't needed work. But Luke had managed to collect a single leather paddle, smooth on one side, suede on the other; a set of nipple clamps they'd tried once and hadn't used again; and a finger vibrator that he thought he'd given to Cory when they'd broken up. He gathered up the former and the latter, and took a moment at the door to the storeroom to watch Cory shift his weight back and forth. But he never once sat down. His eyes were closed, but his lips were still parted. And he was beautiful.

He must have heard Luke approach, even as Luke tried to walk silently, because he relaxed, even managing a smile. “Did you miss me?” Luke asked.

Cory didn't answer. Luke brought the paddle down hard, just above his knee. The skin immediately turned pink, and Cory reared back, pushing toward Luke, not away from. His breath, though he didn't truly need to take one, came in a ragged gasp, and he rode out the pain with a series of bucks. “You can say it,” Luke said.

"Holy fuck,” Cory said, the words harsh against his dry throat. He gasped another lungful of air, but held it because he could. Luke reversed the paddle, scratching his way up to Cory's testicles tight against his body, and when he scraped across the base of his balls, Cory shuddered again. “Another?” Luke slapped Cory's ass, only getting a few inches of swing, and it was light enough that it didn't count. “Cory?” he asked, when Cory didn't answer, but it took another, slightly harder slap on the other ass cheek to bring Cory back to him.

"Yes,” Cory hissed, the word barely escaping his clenched teeth. “Please."

"Here?” Luke inquired, pressing the smooth end a breath away from the crux of Cory's thigh. The muscles here were so tight against the surface it brought the femoral up against the skin. Cory thrust his hips, silently begging, but whether it