Vann's Victory (12 page)

A light pat on his arm forced his eyes open. Vann glanced across at Kip. He didn’t have to give permission for him to speak these days. They’d adapted their lifestyle to match their new style of living, but Kip tended to slip back into their old ways from time to time.

“Sorry, Sir. I forgot I can speak when I want to,” Kip said. He smiled in apology. “I was thinking about my suit—your thoughts seeped into my head, sorry. I’ll be wearing it next week when I take you out to dinner.”

“Will you now. Where are we going? And will I need a suit too?”

“Only if you want one—and we’ll be eating at that diner beside the club.”

“Won’t you look out of place there in a suit? I’ve never seen anyone go in there wearing one. Seems more like a casual place to me.”

“I don’t care if I do look out of place. What does it matter anyway? I should wear whatever I want if it makes me happy.”

Vann grinned. “See, that’s what I love about you. Always looking on the bright side, never letting society dictate.”

“It comes from being dictated to at Crossways. Every move monitored, the right to make my own decisions ripped away. Who would continue to live like that if they didn’t have to? Yes, Sir, I’m going to damn well wear my suit, and if people don’t like it, well, that’s just tough. They can stare, comment, whatever they like. I won’t care because I’ll be with you and doing what I want. Although I wouldn’t want to put hardship on another person, it’s a shame more people don’t have some experience of being controlled or limited. Then they maybe wouldn’t judge others quite so harshly for dressing or behaving in a crazy, carefree way. Everyone has the right to be happy, to do what their hearts tell them.”

“Then I’ll join you. Buy a suit of my own. We can be stared at together. Thought of as the oddballs…the insane Highgate wolves.”

Kip laughed. “I suspect some of them would definitely think of us as oddballs if they knew what we’ll be getting up to when we get home.”

Vann thought of the whip sitting on the chest of drawers in their bedroom. They’d managed to navigate the Internet without too much bother, and Vann had used his newly acquired debit card to purchase a few sex toys. The paddle had been a great introduction for Kip to gauge his pain levels, for Vann to gauge them too. But Kip wanted more. Vann had been uncertain at first—too much too soon?—but Kip had assured him that there was something inside him that pushed for intensity, for a level of pain he would know fitted his needs once he’d experienced it. How was a red raw ass and a hobble for a walk after their last session not painful enough? Kip had tried to transfer his feelings to Vann on the subject, but Vann, not being a pain lover, just didn’t understand it. But so long as Kip was content, that was all that mattered.

“A whip in the bedroom isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea, is it?” Vann said.

“No, but it’s our cup, and we like it hot and steaming.”

Vann laughed at that, looking out of the windshield at the road ahead. Yes, it was their cup, and they were enjoying the freedom of drinking from it.

The turning for Highgate was coming up, and his stomach turned over with his excitement. Although their hours at the club ran them off their feet, Vann still found the energy to fuck Kip afterwards. With everything being so new—sexy things to explore, barriers to pull down, bridges to cross, lessons to learn, trust to cement further—they’d entered a new kind of honeymoon stage in the bedroom. And the things Kip had been thinking lately, well…

His cheeks heated at his thought of the visuals he’d been treated to from Kip only this morning. Vann swallowed and stared down at his groin.

Hard again.

“I wouldn’t have told you those things if I’d known they’d affect you out of bed, Sir.” Kip flicked the indicator switch then turned onto Highgate land.

“Of course you would have. You gave me those images on purpose because you knew I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about them all day.”

Kip smiled. “Is that devious of me—or clever?”

“Clever. Because I’ve been riled up for hours, and when I get you in that bedroom, your ass is going to be
so
red by the time I’ve finished.”

“Promises, promises, Sir.”

At the end of the driveway, Kip maneuvered into the parking area and selected their usual spot. He cut the engine then opened the door so the interior light splashed on.

“You know that whip?” Kip asked.

“Yes…”

“It isn’t on the chest of drawers anymore.”

“What?” Vann frowned. “Where is it then? Did someone go into our apartment and find it? Take it away?” Surely not. Highgate people respected privacy. Didn’t they?

“Of course they didn’t. No one else has keys to our apartment, so Dillon said, and I believe him. He’s always told us the truth so I have no reason to doubt him. And as for the whip, it’s in the woods. By that pond at the clearing.” Kip leaned across to nuzzle Vann’s ear. “I’ve decided to take some of the control tonight, if you don’t mind?”

“No, I don’t mind. What kind of control? What have you been plotting?”

“We’re going to shift, Sir. Run. And when we get to the clearing, you’re going to whip me.”

Vann’s breathing quickened. “Jeez. Outside? I didn’t mind the idea of doing it in a field off the compound, but at Highgate? Really? With the possibility of other shifters around?”

“They won’t be around.” Kip licked Vann’s earlobe.

“How do you know?” Vann’s dick pressed against his jeans zipper. Kip’s closeness, his sexiness, was driving him crazy.

“Because I asked them to avoid the clearing from four until six this morning. I said we were going to have a romantic picnic after work and didn’t want to be disturbed.”

Vann let out a long breath. “What, did you get them all together in the dining room and make an announcement or something? Please tell me you didn’t do that.”

“No, Sir. I put several words in several ears and let them spread through the grapevine.”

“And all without me knowing. Hmm, so you can keep things from me after all.”

“Only good things for good reasons.”

“So you told them it was for a picnic, huh? I’m glad you said that and not a whipping. I know we’re being more open now, but damn, that would have been taking freedom of speech a little bit too far.”

Kip tongued Vann’s neck. Then he kissed his collarbone at the spot where Kip had bitten him on the night of their mating. “Do you remember that, Sir?”

Vann nodded. “I think back to it a lot. How did we not make a noise with the bond taking over us? It was tough to keep silent, but shit, that night was the best of my life.”

“Want to add another to that list?” Kip got out, tossed the keys inside to Vann, then said, “Lock up and hurry up, Sir.”

Vann watched him run down the side of the pack house. Kip was so different now, more confident, less subby in everyday life. It was great to see him that way, taking some of the control from Vann, giving them both a bit more freedom to experiment with how they felt and what they needed. At times Kip went right back to how he was before, head bowed, obeying, agreeing to whatever Vann wanted, but other times, like now? Fuck, it turned Vann on in a way he couldn’t explain. Like fire burned through him, giving him the urge to follow Kip’s lead, wherever he wanted to take him.

And right now it was the clearing.

Vann locked the car, slid the keys into his pocket then ran to the back porch. Kip had already gone, leaving his clothes on the dewy grass instead of putting them in one of the bins. Vann did the same, stripping fast then shifting even faster. He ran toward the woods, exhilaration flying through him as he sped between the tree trunks. He reached the clearing in what seemed no time at all and came to a stop just inside the tree line. He scoured the area, seeing no sign of Kip. The moonlight glanced off something white beside the pool, and he walked toward it.

A piece of paper.

He shifted then unfolded it.

I’m bent over a fallen log, Sir. To the right, where we arrived here for the first time when we found Jace. Come and whip me.

The double entendre wasn’t lost on Vann.
Come.
He grinned, ripping the note into pieces then placing the bits into a refuse bin attached to one of the trees. He made his way into the woods, recalling that this was where Jace had subdued Bennett all those months ago. He knew the log Kip referred to, and it was a few more meters in. He walked on, his cock hardening at his thoughts of using the whip for the first time. It was more of a crop, really, like the ones people used on horses. Vann had tried it out on his palm and it had given quite a sting. Giving Kip the same sting on his ass then coming was too much of a temptation to resist.

Ah, there Kip was, bent over the log just like he’d said, ass up, knees digging into the ground. Fuck, what a sight. Vann drew closer, taking in the scene, wanting to imprint it on his mind forever. Kip’s skin seemed to glow whiter, despite the shadowy murk of the woods. He stood out starkly against the foliage backdrop, his blond hair hanging forward to obscure his face.

“I hear you, Sir.”

Vann smiled. “And I see you, sub. The whip. Where is it?”

“Just there, propped against that tree trunk. My ass needs it so badly. Give it to me hard, Sir?”

Vann didn’t answer. He couldn’t. What Kip had said stole his ability to speak. He narrowed his eyes, searching for the whip. He spotted it lurching against the tree, waiting for him to just reach out and take it.

He did. It was heavy at the handle, flimsier as it tapered into the actual crop. The end was thin—that was going to hurt like a son of a bitch—and he decided to strike Kip using the center section to minimize the initial bite. He stood behind Kip, staring down at him, amazed at the way Kip was so ready to receive, to be given pain.

“How many strikes?” Vann asked.

“Three. For now. Thank you, Sir.”

“Do you want me to spank you first, to get your ass ready?”

“No, Sir. I don’t want any numbness from you smacking me. I need the real deal. Please.”

Vann widened his eyes, feeling Kip’s eagerness to have that whip slap against his skin. He did a couple of test arcs to get the hang of the toy then, before he could back out, he brought it down on Kip’s right ass cheek. Kip’s head jerked up, and for a moment a shaft of moonlight illuminated his beautiful face. His eyes were massive, his mouth open, lips drawn back. His teeth could have been taken for a feral grin, but that was no grin of malice. Kip was smiling, laughing now as he gripped the log and keened as though he were in wolf form, howling.

Vann’s cock hardened further from him seeing the vision of his lover like that, at the sound of him working through the pain, enjoying it, acknowledging it fitted him, belonged to him, something no one else could own, something no one but Vann could give him.

And there it was, the understanding, the reason why Kip needed it. The realization flooded into Vann while Kip let all his emotions go, Vann scrabbling to catch each one as they streaked by. Kip had to have this, something special, something different, and Vann was the only one he wanted giving it to him. That knowledge warmed Vann, turned him on in the extreme. He flicked the whip out again, wanting to watch its journey, see it hit the mark but failing because the motion was too fast. Kip sucked in a breath then released it, gritting his teeth.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Vann asked, preparing himself for the last strike. “That’s the kind of burn you’ve been after.”

“Yes, Sir. Oh, God, yes. More. One more. Harder.”

Desperation came off Kip, feeding Vann’s desire to please his sub. He struck out again—yes, much harder—then dropped the toy as he fell to his knees. His instinct was to press on Kip’s ass cheeks, to take away the burn, but Kip sent him a growl that reverberated inside Vann’s head.

“No, Sir. Let me…have this. Let me work…through it. Fuck, oh fuck!”

Kip rarely swore, and hearing him sent Vann’s libido skyrocketing. He spied lube down by Kip’s knee and soaked his cock with it, enjoying the smooth glide as he moved his hand up and down his length. He tightened his grip as hard as he dared to mimic the feel of Kip’s arse clamping around him, but it wasn’t enough, wasn’t the same.

“Get in me, Sir?”

Vann poured more lube onto his fingers. He drenched Kip’s ass pucker then fingered his hole, feeling like he was about to lose control. The tip of Vann’s cock was hot, his balls heavy and tight with the load he needed to spunk out. Jesus, who knew seeing Kip getting so much pleasure from pain would send Vann insane with need?

He removed his finger then positioned his cock. He slid in easily, holding Kip’s waist to give him the leverage for the kind of fuck that would mean them both toppling from the force. Kip pushed back, his action louder than any words. Vann fucked him hard, the hot skin of Kip’s ass cheek heating Vann’s upper thigh. And that was the tipping point. Vann started coming, unable to stop it. He took Kip’s cock in hand and jerked him off with swift, determined strokes. He went at it in a frenzy, his goal to make them both come hard and fast. Kip moaned loudly, frantically reaching back with one hand to hold Vann’s thigh, digging his nails in.

“Yes, Sir! Oh, yes. Fucking
yes
!”

Vann juddered, his orgasm washing through his groin. Kip’s dick throbbed then he came, the pulse of cum a steady beat on Vann’s palm. Holding his breath, Vann let the final stream of his orgasm jet out of his cock. He exhaled then slowed in Kip’s ass and on his dick, until he no longer moved, spent and exhausted from exhilaration. From the quick but incredible ride.

They stayed that way for a short while, Vann getting control of his breathing, thinking about how he’d finally used a whip. Wow, their lives had really turned around, hadn’t they? Sometimes he couldn’t get over it, didn’t believe it was really happening, but other times, like now, he soaked in the pleasure of not only a waning orgasm but the sheer happiness at being able to live life on their own terms.

Kip looked up and Vann followed his gaze. Stars sparkled in a patch of sky visible through a gap in the leaves directly above them.