“Are you all right?”

“I’m hungry, Master,” Nikolai said innocently, and Jagger nodded. He picked up a medium-sized morsel of Moringian beef and held it next to Nikolai’s lips. Nikolai engulfed his fingers with his lips, licking at the underside with his tongue and then sat innocently back on his heels, gazing up at his little prince from under his long eyelashes.

Jagger looked down at him with alarm, then wiped his hand on his napkin. “It’s not necessary to take such large bites, Niki. There is plenty of food here, and I’ll give you what you need.”

Nikolai certainly hoped he’d give him what he needed, and soon. It was getting harder and harder to kneel by his feet and not turn him around in the chair, rip his leggings off and swallow his cock down in one gulp. He clenched his hands tightly and opened his mouth for the next morsel.

This time, Jagger gave him a larger bite of meat, wrapped in a piece of soft, brown bread. When he opened his mouth even wider to take it, Jagger pulled his hand back and gave him a little tap on the cheek with the other hand. “Not such large bites. It’s not necessary to take my whole hand in your mouth. Now sit up straight and take a smaller bite.” Nikolai nodded obediently, straightening his back and opened his mouth just a tiny bit, leaning forward so Jagger could place the bite on his tongue. As soon the morsel touched his lips though, he quickly opened his mouth wide and took in the morsel and Jagger’s fingers all the way to the knuckles, licking them thoroughly as he pulled them away.

Jagger jumped to his feet and stood over him with his fists clenched. “You did that on purpose! I know it! Are you being insolent, Niki?” His voice was low, but Nikolai could hear the underlying menace.

He shook his head and looked back up at the prince deferentially. “No, Master. I’m just so hungry.”

Jagger stood staring down at him for a long moment, finally blowing out a breath in irritation. “Sit at the table, then, and fill your plate. I’m hungry too, and this will take forever at the rate we’re going. I can’t figure out if you’re impudent or just plain stupid. I’m not so sure your family will pay anything for you. I may have to pay them to take you back!”

“Yes, Master,” Nikolai said, “Uh…I mean, no Master. They’ll pay you, I’m sure.” He got quickly to his feet, sitting on the empty chair next to his mate. Grabbing a plate, he took a little of everything. Actually, he took a lot of everything, but he was very hungry, and it all looked delicious. When he’d helped himself to the food, he sat back and looked down at it with satisfaction until he noticed the amazed look on his little mate’s face at the mounds of food on his plate. He smiled and shrugged. “As I said, I’m very hungry.”

“Yes, I can see that. Well, eat your fill and then we can talk.”

For the next few minutes, Nikolai addressed himself to his plate, finding the Jayronian food good, if a little bland for his taste. There were a few vegetables he didn’t recognize, but he ate them anyway, not knowing how long it might be until he was offered food again. He washed it all down with a large goblet of water sitting by his plate and then sat back, rubbing his stomach. He looked up and found the prince’s fascinated gaze on him.

Nikolai smiled and shrugged, then quickly lowered his head again at Jagger’s increasingly suspicious look.

The prince sat forward, leaning his elbows on the table. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone eat that much food at one sitting. I may have to include a food allowance in your family’s monthly tribute.” He shook his head and stared at Nikolai. “Do you have any more questions for me, Niki? Anything about me or about your new life here?”

Nikolai shrugged. He had plenty of questions, but the prince would no doubt think they were insolent and refuse to answer. He decided that if he were to pull this off, if he were to make the prince think he was not a threat, the less he said the better. He shook his head, keeping his eyes downcast.

Jagger sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Nikolai stole a look at him while he did, and wondered what it was besides Nikolai’s teasing that bothered his mate so much. He looked as if he hadn’t slept well, and he had shadows under his pretty eyes. Perhaps it had something to do with the reason the Jayronians had tried to steal their shipment. He knew the planet was poor, but not this desperate. Why were the planet coffers so empty the king had to resort to theft? Nikolai had never heard of the Jayronians being so treacherous before, and now they had gone so far as to take a hostage. They were digging themselves a very deep hole.

The young prince stood up and held out his hand again. “Come with me then.” Nikolai took his hand and meekly followed him. He led him out of the room they were in, the chain dragging behind Nikolai and into a tiled bathing room.

“Bend down. I’ll remove your collar for bathing since you’ve behaved so far, but if you give me a problem, I can assure you I’m more than capable of taking care of you. You might be a little larger than I am, but make no mistake, I am a trained warrior.”

Nikolai nodded and bent his head humbly down, amused but trying not to show it. If he wished to, he could easily break his little man in half. Of course, he wouldn’t harm a hair on his baby’s head. Deciding to play along—after all, he was exactly where he wanted to be—he pretended to be quite impressed and cowed down by his mate’s strength and fierceness.

Jagger unlocked the little padlock and laid the collar aside. He bent down and did the same to the cuff and chain around Nikolai’s ankle. Straightening up, he began to take his own clothes off, keeping eye contact with Nikolai as he stripped. If this was supposed to make him uncomfortable, Nikolai thought, it was having quite the opposite effect. His mouth went dry as the prince removed his shirt and threw it on the marble floor. Jagger’s upper body was just as Nikolai pictured it. Deeply cut muscles on his chest and abs tapered down to a small waist. Jagger had little hair on his body, only a small, dark blue treasure trail leading down to his groin. As he stripped off his leggings, Nikolai saw that his erect cock stood out in front of him, thick and perfect, and his pubic hair was as deeply blue as the hair on his head, exotic and beautiful. It would be almost a shame to shave it off, but once Jagger was his, he would take care of it. Lycans had surprisingly little body hair in their human-like form and found it unattractive in their mates.

Nikolai’s attention shifted to his erect penis, a deep red color, with a blue vein running along the length. His balls were a good size too, and Nikolai felt his fingers itch to reach out and touch him. Instead Jagger turned and walked over to the bathing pool, motioning for Nikolai to follow him. His ass was delectable, round little globes that would perfectly fit into Nikolai’s hands.

Nikolai followed his mate into the shallow end of the pool and sank down on a marble bench across from Jagger. The water was warm and came up to his waist, but on Jagger, the level was higher, hitting him mid-chest.

Naked. He’s naked and so close to me. All I’d have to do is reach out my hand and…

“Niki,” Jagger said. “Come here.”

Trembling and scarcely able to believe his good fortune, Nikolai got to his feet and slowly approached his mate. Jagger held out a hand to him and when he got closer, he pulled him to stand between his thighs. Nikolai took in a sharp breath and closed his eyes so Jagger wouldn’t see the leap of hot desire. His legs were shaking so hard from trying to hold himself in check he could barely stand. Jagger must have taken it for alarm, because he smoothed his hand across Nikolai’s thigh, whispering, “Shhh. Don’t be frightened.”

Jagger tugged down on Nikolai’s arms. “Kneel, please.” Nikolai fell to his knees in front of his mate. He couldn’t have stood much longer anyway. Jagger put one finger under Nikolai’s chin and tipped his face up to gaze in his eyes. “Have you ever been with a man before, Niki?”

Nikolai nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He wondered what his mate would think if he knew just how many men Nikolai had been with in the past few cycles. The Balanescu males were notorious for their sexual exploits in some parts of the galaxy. Apparently the news hadn’t quite made it to this little planet.

“Then you know what you’re about to do. Take me in your hand and pleasure me, Niki.”

Since Nikolai had been a little boy, he had firmly believed that there were gods in the heavens who directed the fate of men, and who, if you were very good, would reward you with all treasures beyond imagining. But never, in his wildest flights of imagination, did he conjure up anything like this. His beautiful mate was spread out wantonly before him, his head back against the pool, his legs open wide, offering up his thick, gorgeous cock to Nikolai. Nikolai touched it reverently. His mate’s cock was not as large as his own, but well-shaped with velvety skin. It was pointed arrogantly upward and rigid as steel. Nikolai ran his hand gently over the length of the shaft, getting used to the sweet heft of it in his hands. He planned to get to know this cock very well in the future, just as his mate would become very familiar with his own, so he greeted it now as a long-lost friend. As he ran his hand over the shaft and reached down to weigh each ball carefully in his hands, kneading and massaging them, Jagger put his head back and moaned softly.

Oh, not good enough, sweetheart. I want you to scream before I’m done.

He moved his hand up and down the shaft, slowly at first, while his other hand continued to knead Jagger’s balls. He soon fell into a rhythm, enjoying watching Jagger’s back slowly arching up as his head fell back. His hair spread out around him in the water, and his eyes were tightly closed. Nikolai increased the pressure and the speed of his hand and now on each upward sweep, he ran his thumb over the sensitive head, dipping gently into his slit before continuing down. His mate began to gasp for breath, and tried to thrust upward. Nikolai took his hand off Jagger’s balls and moved to his hip, holding him down with easy strength. Jagger opened his eyes in surprise and looked directly into Nikolai’s.

“N-Niki…” he said, groaning, and Nikolai smiled at him, holding his gaze.