Savage Satisfaction (11 page)

Christoffer knelt in the dirt, lips pulled back from his
teeth.

“What the fuck!” William yelled, still shaking with
adrenaline.

“You fucked her,” Christoffer said. “You fucked her. I can
smell her on your dick.”

“That’s what this is about?”

“You fucked me, then turned around and fucked her. Asshole.”

“What business is it of yours?” The edges of William’s
vision were crimson with anger. He crawled to Christoffer and grabbed him by
the hair, turning his face up. “I will fuck her whenever I want. How dare you
presume to control me?”

“So you were lying. You fucked me and then you lied to me.”

“Lied about what? Everything I told you was the truth.”

“But you were planning to be with her!” Tears filled
Christoffer’s eyes then spilled down his cheeks.

“Jesus,” William muttered. He pushed the boy away and rose
to his feet.

“No. No! Don’t walk away from me.”

“Pull yourself together. You’re hysterical.”

“Don’t treat me like a girl. I’m not.”

“Then stop acting like one.”

Christoffer snarled and the sound was wolf-like. “I’m
leaving.”

William spun and caught him by the arm. “You’re mine.”

“I can’t do this. I can’t be your fuck-toy and your Beta and
yet have you treat me like a servant.”

“You are my wolf.”

“You had sex with me.”

“And I had sex, and will continue to have sex, with Mirela.”

“I get it, you’re so scared that you liked fucking me you’re
going to bang the first pussy you see.”

“Don’t talk about her like that,” William snarled, yanking
Christoffer to him. The boy’s face fell, and William realized his mistake.

“You…you love her.”

“Christoffer, no. I—”

With a scream of pain, Christoffer threw himself at William,
hands curled into fists.

Christoffer could barely see through his tears. He was a
moron, a blind, stupid moron. What was wrong with him?

He swung at William, who ducked.

He wanted to leave this place. He wanted to get away from
the feelings William caused. He’d been so happy when William asked him to come
on this run, Christoffer had felt as though his heart would burst.

He’d fallen in love with his Alpha.

Christoffer knew exactly when it had happened—the day
William took him into the library and asked his opinion on training.
Christoffer’s life, though filled with excitement and cheap thrills, was not
intellectually fulfilling. William didn’t see him as a silly playboy, always in
trouble, constantly turning to the Alpha for attention and help, the way his
old pack did.

William saw him as something. William valued his opinion,
his ideas. Christoffer was full of pride that he was trusted by such a powerful
and handsome man. He’d always been a happy member of the pack, never aspiring
to any authority, but with William Christoffer wanted not only the title but
the duties of Beta. He wanted to be William’s enforcer, his protector.

And he wanted his feelings for William to be reciprocated.

William caught him by the neck. “Calm down.”

The order slipped over Christoffer as though it were honey,
but his heart was beating too fast, his anger too great, for him to obey. He
jerked William’s arm from his neck. “I’m leaving,” he said again. He prayed
William wouldn’t let him do it.

“You’re mine.” William’s crisp English voice bit off the
words.

“I can’t live like this,” Christoffer said, and it was the
truth. All through their run he’d been catching a whiff of Mirela’s scent. He’d
thought at first she must have escaped, but then he realized her scent was
coming off William.

It wasn’t until he’d been able to press his nose to
William’s crotch that he’d accepted it—William had slept with Mirela.

He shouldn’t be fucking Mirela—she was a stupid animal, too
dumb to be free. William didn’t trust her, William trusted him. Sure, they’d
played with her, but it had been them, together, a part of her training.

He didn’t want to share William—he wanted William to
himself. How else could he win the Alpha’s love?

Christoffer was so distracted by his thoughts he didn’t see
William’s fist until the last second. There was a crack and the world went
dark.

William shook out his hand. That hurt. Christoffer was
sprawled on the ground. Face grim, William took the belt from his pants and
bound Christoffer’s hands, then took off in search of his horse.

He found the animal a ten-minute jog down the path, munching
grass. The horse placidly looked up when William approached and made no protest
when he mounted up.

He returned to find Christoffer still out cold. After much
swearing William was able to lift the boy onto the saddle, draping him there
belly down. Taking the reins, he walked the horse back to the house.

William prayed fervently the gardener was gone for the day
as he crossed the grass. He could think of no reasonable explanation as to why
he had an unconscious naked man draped across his horse.

He manhandled Christoffer into the kitchen. Yesterday’s
dishes were in the sink, meaning the housekeeper hadn’t come yet. William
called Edward and asked him to come and collect the horse, which he’d left tied
up outside, then called the housekeeper and left her a message not to come.

Filling a bowl of water, William threw it on Christoffer.
The boy groaned and opened his eyes.

“Wake up,” William ordered. “I’m not carrying you up the
stairs.”

Christoffer sputtered, then pushed himself up on one elbow,
hands still bound. William grabbed him under the arm and hauled him to his
feet. Once Christoffer was up, William held him by the back of his neck,
forcing him to bend forward. The fight drained out of him.

William led him from the kitchen up the stairs to Mirela’s
room. He hesitated for a moment as they entered the sitting room that connected
the rooms he’d assigned to his Hunting Pair, but Christoffer’s room wasn’t fitted
to keep someone in the way Mirela’s was.

Plus, he wanted her to witness this.

William unlocked and opened the door, pushing Christoffer
inside.

Mirela was seated on the floor, her body bent in half as she
stretched. Her head jerked up, hooded face turning toward them. “Master?” She
climbed to her feet, jesses jangling, arms outstretched. He saw her sniff.
“Christoffer?” She smiled as she said it, clearly happy to have the wolf’s
company.

“Shut up, bitch,” Christoffer snarled.

William shoved him to his hands and knees.

“What’s happened?” Mirela backed up until she hit the wall.

“Christoffer resents the fact that I slept with you.”

“Why?” She sounded genuinely curious.

“Tell her, Christoffer,” William ordered. He wanted to hear
what the boy had to say.

“I-I…” Christoffer shook his head.

“Tell her!” William roared.

Christoffer flinched and curled up, head tucked between his
arms. “I love him. I love him and I’m jealous. He fucked me and then he fucked
you, and I hate that.”

“You had sex with Christoffer?” Mirela asked.

Dammit.
William had forgotten she didn’t know.

“Real sex, not just oral?”

“Yes,” Christoffer replied when William didn’t.

“Oh.” Mirela sank down to the floor. “He is our master. It
is his right to fuck his animals whenever he chooses.”

“No.” William’s voice was hoarse. “It’s not like that. You
wanted it. You told me so. And so did Christoffer. My father never had sex with
his Hunting Pair.”

“Oh,” she said again, and William didn’t know what that
meant. “Christoffer?”

“What?” he snarled.

Mirela started crawling across the floor.

“What?” Christoffer repeated.

Mirela kept moving, tracking him by his voice.

Looking up, he finally saw her. “Stay away from me.”

“Why are you mad at me?” she asked.

“Don’t you get it? He hates that he’s attracted to me. If he
has you he can ignore me.”

“But you’re his favorite,” she said, sounding puzzled.

William winced. “I don’t have a favorite.”

“But you do. He is allowed out and—”

“Quiet,” William snapped at her. He needed to regain control
of the situation.

Mirela fell silent, her head bowed.

“Come here, Mirela,” he ordered her.

Mirela hesitated, then crawled toward him. When she stopped,
he barked, “Hurry up.” When she reached him Mirela curled her arms around his
leg, clinging to him. William wasn’t looking at Mirela, he was watching
Christoffer. Emotions washed over the boy’s face too fast for William to
decipher. “It appears I should have finished training you my way. I was wrong
to think I could trust you.”

“This has nothing to do with training,” Christoffer argued.
“This is about us.”

“Us is the Lord of Eahrington and his wolf. You will obey
me, respect me, whatever I do. I am not yours…and never will be.”

The boy let out a high whimper and wrapped his hands over
his head.

Leaving Mirela where she was, William jerked Christoffer to
his feet. He pulled the boy to the wall and fastened him into the leather
restraints that Christoffer himself had installed.

Christoffer didn’t protest as he was buckled in. William
caught Christoffer’s face in his hands. The boy’s anguish softened William’s
anger.

“Why did you think it would be only us?” he asked softly.
Had he led Christoffer on?

“She’s a stupid animal. I’m better than her. I thought I
would help you train her, but that she would never be…like me. I wanted to be
your Beta.”

“Beta, a pack term? Tell me, what does it mean?”

“The Beta is the Alpha’s enforcer, protector. If the Alpha
wants advice, he asks the Beta, if he wants something done, the Beta does it.”

What must it be like to be caught between differing worlds
of animal structure and human excess?

William met Christoffer’s gaze, then leaned in for a kiss.
It was soft and wet, and something inside William cracked. So caught up in the
kiss was he that he didn’t register the small hand on his side.

Christoffer screamed against William’s lips. William jerked
back.

Mirela was there, having silently infiltrated their embrace.
She had Christoffer’s balls in her hand and was squeezing, hard.

“Stupid animal?” Her voice was thick with tears. “I thought
you were my friend. I defended you; I worried about how he treated you because
I care for you. You were kind to me when I was so alone and frightened I could
have died. I am a loyal friend and would have defended you to him always.”

William grabbed Mirela’s wrist, pressing his thumb between
her bones to force her hand open. She didn’t budge.

“If I’d known that you did not want him to have sex with me
I would not have.” Her voice was trembling with emotion. “I would have lied and
told him I didn’t want it, just to make you happy. That’s how I feel about you.
And you think me a stupid animal?”

She let go and William yanked her back. Christoffer’s face
was white with pain.

Mirela jerked away from William. “I hate what you’ve done to
us.”

William hated it too. What had become of them? He imagined
he could see the lines of connection among the three of them. His feelings for
Mirela, her loyalty to Christoffer, Christoffer’s love for him yet contempt for
Mirela.

He needed to take a step back and sort this out, to make a
new plan. But there was a problem.

Now he was jealous.

He wanted the loyalty and affection Mirela had for
Christoffer.

He caught Mirela’s arms, looping his fingers through the
rings on her jesses. “You are mine.”

“Yes,” she said in disgust.

“No.” He shook her. “Don’t say it like that. You want me,
you said so.”

“I did.”

“Then want me again.” William feathered his lips against her
cheek. He’d been hard with her yesterday, so today he would be soft. “My
beautiful falcon.” He tipped her chin up and claimed her with his lips.

“Christoffer wants you.”

“And I want him, but that does not mean that I cannot, and
do not, also want you.”

“He called me a stupid animal.”

“You are not a stupid animal. You are beautiful.” He kissed
her neck, her cheek.

“I do not want Christoffer to hate me.”

William met Christoffer’s gaze over her head. The wolf
looked away, the muscle in his jaw clenching.

“Don’t worry about him.” William cupped her breast, flicking
her nipple with his thumb. She was stiff and angry at first, but under the gentle
onslaught of kisses and caresses she softened. “Master?”

“I’m here, my beautiful girl. I’m here.” He released her
hands and they twined around his neck.

Christoffer made a quiet sound of pain. William opened his
eyes to see Christoffer pressing his face into his arm, hiding from the sight
of them.

William couldn’t let that happen. He needed Christoffer.

Without stopping to analyze that damning thought, William
lifted Mirela, urging her to wrap her legs around him. He could feel the heat
of her sex through his riding clothes.

He carried her to Christoffer.

“Please, no,” Christoffer whispered.

Mirela started when she realized Christoffer was close and
bared her teeth.

“Mirela,” William scolded. “I want him to be close to us
when I have sex with you.”

“Why? He thinks I’m a stupid animal.”

William didn’t answer her. Instead he took her jesses and
pressed the rings into Christoffer’s hands. “Hold her while I fuck her.”

They both started to protest, but William cut them off with
a quick, “Quiet.”

He stepped back to examine them, his Hunting Pair.

Mirela’s slim beauty stood out against the backdrop of
Christoffer’s golden skin. Her dark hair trailed along his chest.

“You look…beautiful like this,” William said, speaking
without artifice or reservation. “My wolf, my falcon.”

Mirela had been holding herself stiffly away from
Christoffer, but now she relaxed. William cupped her waist, running his hands
up to her breasts. He thumbed her nipples until they pebbled.

“Tell me you want this,” William said.

Mirela’s face twisted toward Christoffer.

“No, answer me. Don’t worry about Christoffer.”

“I do want this,” she said.

“And you…” William looked over her head at Christoffer.
“Tell her you want this, for her.”

Christoffer closed his eyes and William worried he’d been
mistaken. When Mirela turned to Christoffer, as if to ask whether it was okay to
say yes, William saw guilt on the younger man’s face. He was betting that the
affection he knew Christoffer had for her would trump jealousy.

Christoffer pressed his face into her hair. “Yes, it’s okay.
I know he’s not mine, I just wanted to pretend for a while.”

William captured Mirela’s nipple with his mouth, licking and
sucking. He fondled her other breast with his hand, loving the feel of the firm
flesh between his fingers. He lifted his head.

“More, please,” she begged.

He switched to her other breast, nibbling her nipple as he
petted her sex and then dipped his fingers between her folds. She was dry, not
ready yet. He pressed the lips of her sex together and rubbed his fingers in a
circle, massaging.

“Mmmm, mmm—” Mirela’s pants cut off and William lifted his
head to see what had happened.

Mirela’s head was tipped back, her lips pressed to
Christoffer’s. William watched their tongues duel, watched their soft pink lips
slide over each other.

William grabbed Mirela’s chin, breaking the kiss.
Christoffer’s gaze met his. “Don’t blame her,” Christoffer said. “I kissed
her.” William tipped Mirela’s head out of the way and kissed Christoffer. He
kept the kiss brief, but when he pulled back Christoffer was smiling.