Stray (6 page)

“Tell me.” Dylan’s voice was barely a whisper as he combed his fingers through my hair.

“The collar never came off.” My mouth was dry, my voice hoarse as I struggled to talk around the lump in my throat. “When I wasn’t a wolf, I was his slave.” The lump grew, making it harder to breathe. Dylan caressed me, rocked me as I continued, “He shocked me when I came, when I didn’t come, when I finished before him or not at all.” The tears were too strong to hold back, and as I felt the warmth on my cheeks, I noticed Dylan’s jaw tightening. I closed my eyes. “He raped me in every sense of the word. He took whatever he could from me, and when I got hurt, no one cared for me.”

“The scars…”

“Some are from floggers, but most are from other wolves.”

“And he never had anyone look at them?”

I shook my head. “He said I’d be fine. To suck it up and make sure I was ready for the next fight.”

“But you never were.”

“No.”

“When did they start to heal?”

He hadn’t asked when
I’d
started to heal. Maybe he knew that inside, I was still bleeding. “When he let me go.”

Dylan’s eyes widened. “After all that, he just let you go?”

“I was costing him money. I lost every fight. I had no energy. No ability. No…”
No will to live.

“It’s okay, you can say it.”

“I figured what was the point, right? He was going to beat me anyway.”

“And none of the other Doms or alphas noticed?”

“He made sure I was well enough to walk without a limp. Everything else he covered up by brushing my fur in strange directions.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything to the other subs?”

The subs had usually gathered in a waiting area before each match. And even though we had all been there, clustered in one room, we’d rarely looked at one another. “I figured what he did to me was normal. That the other subs didn’t have as many wounds because they won more. Pleased their Doms more than I ever could.”

Dylan hugged me so tightly I could barely breathe. “He controlled the one thing that should’ve made you strong. And he stole that strength from you as well. If I ever fucking see him—”

“Please. Please don’t say those things.”

Dylan glanced down at me.

“Even though I know what he did was wrong, I still…I care for him.”

“But you don’t love him.”

I shook my head. At this point, I didn’t even know what love was.

“He brainwashed you, Alyssa. He stripped you of everything that makes you who you are.” He stopped rocking and lifted my chin so I could look into his eyes. “I promise not to talk about him around you if you promise not to let his memory control you. I’m your Master now. I’ll protect you from him, as well as myself, if I have to. Understood?”

“But how can you—”

“Safe words. You may be the submissive, but the control you give to me is something you do willingly. All you have to do is say your safe word, and we stop. No questions asked. We can stop any part of this relationship at any time. I don’t want to take control. I want you to give it to me.”

So that was the difference, then, between Anthony and other Doms. He’d taken control without offering the same in return. Dylan had asked permission to have control over me, even though I had his safe words. I was beginning to wonder if I could do this. Was it possible to take back everything Anthony had stolen from me?

You can do this.
If I left now, Anthony would win. I couldn’t let him win. Not anymore.

“The collar,” I began, meeting Dylan’s gaze. “I want to wear it.”

Dylan smiled and cocked his head. “Is that any way to address your Master? You know, I don’t like my subs topping from the bottom.”

I frowned and bit at my bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Master. May I please wear your collar?”

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Dylan reached behind him to grab the collar off the side table, then held it between us.

“I want my life back.”

“Reclaiming everything he’s stolen from you will take time. It won’t happen overnight, and while I may push your boundaries, I won’t press you to go any further than I know you can. Are you okay with this?”

“Yes, Master.”

“And if I want to share you with another Dom in the future, will you allow it?”

“In the same room?”

“I will stay in the room, yes.”

“Yes, Master.”

“And finally, if I ask you to wear the skin of a wolf and go with me to a kennel, will you do that for me?”

I winced at the words
wolf
and
kennel
, instinctively backing away from him.

“I won’t make you do either of those things until I know you’re ready, and only up until you use a safe word. Would that be okay?”

I didn’t move. “I can’t speak as a wolf.”
No safe words as a wolf.
“He shocked me whenever I did.”

Dylan’s hands pulled me closer until I was back in his lap. “Then until you find your voice, we’ll find another way to use safe words. Would you be okay if we used a stick or a handkerchief—something you can hold in your mouth? As soon as you drop it, everything will stop.”

“Promise?”

“Yes. And if you feel I’m taking too long, you can growl at me. Would you be okay with this?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Good girl.” Dylan brushed the tears from my eyes before wrapping the collar around my neck. “I’m going to kiss you now. Would you like that?”

Yes, Master. Kiss me. Please kiss me.
I wiggled beside him, closing my eyes as he leaned closer to me. His lips barely brushed mine in an ‘I’m right here’ kind of way. I pursed my lips, wanting to taste him, to feel his arms around me, or his hands on my breasts, my clit. Inside me.

I trembled when he parted my lips with his tongue—just barely. His kiss was so gentle, so soft that I wondered if he was going to kiss me at all. If he was going to deepen it from slow and lazy to something more.
Please kiss me.

He craned his neck, staring right into my eyes once I'd opened them. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

“Please, Master. Yes, Master. Please.” I shivered in his arms, almost forgetting about my lack of clothing until I noticed the erection pressing into my back.

“Then kiss me back.”

The words came out in a hungry growl, and his lips were on mine seconds later, his tongue pushing past my lips, over my tongue. Tasting me. Letting me taste him as our hands wandered even more. He picked me up and removed me from his lap so I could lie on my back. We moved together, his body on top of mine, his knee between my legs.

When he finally let me come up for air, his hand was on my breast and he was pinching the nipple until it
almost
hurt. I moaned, and my hips lifted from the mattress.

“What are your safe words?” Dylan slurred, his lips brushing against my ear. He trailed his hand down my stomach to draw lazy circles around my clit. “Tell me your words.”

“Yellow,” I breathed, gasping for air when his middle finger slipped inside me. “Yellow to slow down.” Two fingers now. I whimpered, clawing at his chest. “R-red…”

“Red what?” Dylan kissed me on the neck, his lips curling whenever I shivered. “What is red for?”

Did he have any idea what he was doing to me? I couldn’t even think, much less form words.

“Red…” I started again, releasing the breath from my lungs as his fingers found my G-spot. “Red is to…” He moved his fingers, slowly sliding them in and out. “To stop.”

“Is this mine?” Dylan hooked his fingers, using a come-hither motion.

“Yes.” I closed my eyes, my head spinning as I tried to focus.

“Alyssa?”

Damn it. What had his question been? I couldn’t remember anymore. My body tensed as I grabbed at the bed sheets.

“Is this mine?” Dylan asked again, pulling up on my pussy as his palm grazed my clit. “Are these mine?”

“Yes, Master.”

“And who do you belong to?”

“You, Master.”

“Good girl.” His strokes quickened, pushing me closer to that paper-thin edge of no return.

My pussy tightened around his fingers, and I instinctively crossed my legs, holding my breath until the feeling subsided.

“I want you to come. Can you do that for me? Let me feel you come.”

My words came out in a sob. “I-I can’t, Master.”

Dylan’s fingers didn’t stop, his palm brushing my clit until fire radiated away from it. “But I’ve given you permission. Come for me.”

I blinked around my tears, shaking my head as I moved my hand down to the one he’d strategically positioned between my legs. “I can’t. Master, I…”

Dylan’s pace slowed, but he didn’t pull away. “Remember your safe words?”

I nodded.

“You can make this stop whenever you want. Do you want me to stop?”

“No, Master. I…I don’t know how.”

Dylan pressed his forehead to mine, a smile creeping across his face. “Is that all?”

I licked my lips. “He… Anthony never let me.”

“But I am. I won’t punish you if you come, or even if you don’t. Tonight is all about you. Remember, a sub is always in control.”

But I don’t want to be in control,
I wanted to say. I wanted him to hit me, to push me as deep into subspace as I could go. So I could forget everything. Anthony. The shock collar. Dylan’s hand between my legs. His fingers on my G-spot. The way his palm grazed my clit so perfectly.
Just. Like. Th—

“Oh, my God,” I breathed, screwing my eyes tight. “That…”

“Let go, Alyssa. Come for me. Right
now.
”

I bit back the tears, icy panic sweeping through my veins when he pulled away.
No, no, don’t stop. Please, Master. Please don’t stop.

“Finger yourself,” Dylan ordered, his weight lifting off the bed. “And keep your eyes shut.”

I whimpered as heat flooded my cheeks. Not wanting to disappoint him more than I already had, I placed a pair of fingers on my clit, drawing tight circles around it. Without his arm to hold me down, my hips lifted from the bed, my mind falling away. I couldn’t remember where I was or how I’d got there. And as the first signs of yet another orgasm shot through my body, I sucked in a breath, holding it until I gained control over it once more.

“The next time you do that,” Dylan began, his lips so close to my ear I could almost feel them, “I want you to come. You’re in control now. You don’t need my permission. Do you understand?”

Another tremor, stronger than the first one. “Y-yes, Master.” I swallowed, my heart pounding in my chest as every muscle in my body fought against me.

“Come for me.”

My body jolted, and the orgasm subsided. I let out a growl of frustration, ignoring the ache in my arm for going on as long as I had. I’d got this far. There was no sense in stopping now. I started over, my orgasm building faster now.

And once again, my mind fell away from Dylan’s room. A drawer opened off to my left, but I didn’t open my eyes. The floorboards creaked beside the bed. Down at my feet. On the other side of the room. The mattress to my right compressed under Dylan’s weight as he came back to join me, his breath whisper quiet, his body unmoving as he waited for me to finish.

My entire body was on fire, every single one of my nerves exploding, one right after another. I shivered, trembling when his hand rested against my inner thigh. His commands from before rang through my mind.
Come. Let go.
I had his permission, but did I have my own?

Dylan moved his hand to mine, which I was using to claw at the mattress. He squeezed my hand, as if to tell me it was okay. My body tensed. My breath caught. He held my hand tightly. I squeezed back, and as I did, my vision went white. Nothing but ecstasy existed after that.

Chapter Six

As I rode out the last waves of my orgasm, two fingers slid inside me, pushing my trip into orbit as far as it could go before bringing me back down to Earth. Dylan’s pace slowed, and I whimpered when he removed his fingers.

He sucked in a breath as my hand dropped away from my clit, and he leaned in to kiss me on the forehead. “That’s my girl.”

I opened my eyes, my vision blurred with tears I hadn’t known I’d cried. Dylan brushed them away with a thumb and smiled.

 “That was fucking hot,” Dylan said, sounding as breathless as I was. “Feel good?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I’d say so. Not many women cry from orgasm.” He laughed at that. “Especially not ones they give themselves.”

I touched my fingers to one of my cheeks, patting at the moisture I found there. Was that really why I was crying? I furrowed my brow as he took me in his arms, his hardened shaft pressed into my leg.

“Remember this?”

Did I ever!
My mouth watered, and I reached down to touch him. Dylan wrapped his hands around my wrists, pinning them to the bed.

“Ah, ah,” he said, pushing my legs farther apart with his knee before straddling me. “Think you’re ready for more?”

I moaned as his cock rested against my pussy lips.
Dylan, if you can give me orgasms like that, there’s no way I’d ever say no.
I nodded, squirming from his hold on me, not enough to get away, but just enough to show him I was capable of doing more. So much more.

“Are you sure?”

Yes. Yes. Oh, God, yes.
I lifted my hips from the bed as much as I could with him sitting on top of me. His shaft grazed my clit, and I shivered at the temporary contact. God, I wanted him. To taste him. To have him thrust inside me. I didn’t care if I could come on his command or not. I needed to feel him. Now.

“Alyssa?”

I licked at my lips. “Yes, Master.”
Please, please let me feel you.

He reached over to his side of the mattress, and returned holding a condom. He opened the foil with his teeth and quickly rolled the condom down over himself. His eyes met mine as a silent
yes
passed from me to him, my arms still pinned down with his other hand.

Making sure he wasn’t hurting me, he adjusted his grip on my wrists, balancing himself on his knees as he positioned himself with his other hand. I opened and closed my hands, grasped at the open air for something to hold on to as he pressed his cock against my pussy.