“Shhh, little Prince, relax and let me pleasure you.”

Jagger nodded, his eyes glazing over, and his hands moved to Nikolai’s shoulders, holding on tightly, clenching and unclenching his hands. Again, Nikolai dipped his thumb into the prince’s slit, farther this time, and his hips came up off the bench as he made a loud gasping sound. Nikolai slipped his free hand under his hips and pushed one finger up inside his mate, crooking it, looking for the little bundle of nerves he knew would finish this. As he found it and swept his long finger over it, the prince jerked his hips and gave a loud shout of pleasure/pain and began to come uncontrollably, spurting out into the water surrounding them. Nikolai milked him to his completion, and then, as Jagger’s head fell back against the side of the pool, his eyes still tightly closed, Nikolai moved over him and kissed his lips, nudging them open with his tongue and boldly sweeping inside. His mate tried to jerk backward at first in surprise, but Nikolai put a hand on the back of his neck to hold him in place. Jagger struggled a little, but as Nikolai’s other hand went back down to his balls, massaging them gently, Jagger relaxed and gave himself to the kiss with a soft sigh that again went straight to Nikolai’s cock, and met Nikolai’s tongue with his own.

When breathing finally became necessary again, Nikolai reluctantly pulled away, biting gently at the prince’s lower lip as he went, then giving his lips a lick. He sat back on his heels and lowered his head again, trying to catch his breath, his own cock aching for release. He began to fear he wouldn’t have the strength to control himself with his mate. He wanted badly to turn him around and fuck him until he screamed, but if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to prevent himself from biting and claiming him. His wolf was leaping inside him now, and he felt his incisors drop from his gums and his claws extend. He gripped his hands tightly into fists to hide them and kept them out of sight in the water of the pool, fighting desperately for control.

Jagger seemed to be fighting something too as he sat stunned against the side of the pool. He took several deep breaths and his voice, when it came, was shaky and hoarse. “Niki, please go sit over there.” He pointed to the bench Nikolai had recently vacated and Nikolai nodded. He needed to get some distance between himself and his little prince too. It was becoming harder and harder to pretend to be submissive and passive around his mate, when everything in him raged at him to claim him. He was, after all, an alpha male.

Nikolai settled himself back on the bench and concentrated on forcing his fangs back up into his gum and his claws to retract. Several minutes passed while both men were quiet, the only sound that of their rapid breathing. The prince stood up then and moved slowly across the pool to stand in front of Nikolai. His wet body gleamed in the soft light coming from the wall sconces and Nikolai was fascinated to see his mate’s cock was fully erect again.

“Stand up and turn around, Niki,” the prince said softly, and Nikolai did as he asked, bending over and clutching the side of the pool. He felt Jagger’s soft finger run down his crease and he fought to keep from throwing back his head and howling. When that finger dipped inside, he stiffened and straightened his back. No, this wasn’t how this was supposed to work.

Jagger kept his finger where it was, running his other hand across Nikolai’s back. “Shh, sweet one. Relax for me and let me in.” He pushed gently on Nikolai’s back and he bent over again, hesitating only a little.

Nikolai hadn’t ever bottomed and had no idea how he felt about it. It would be a way to have him inside me and not have to worry about biting him and claiming my mate. Nikolai smiled to himself. Hell, it’s all good. Maybe I should just relax and enjoy it. His mind made up, Nikolai repositioned himself, spreading his legs out farther and bending lower.

“Good boy,” Jagger said soothingly, and caressed his backside with his hand. “Is this your first time, Niki?”

Nikolai nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“I’ll be gentle, sweetheart. I promise. Just trust me and relax.”

Nikolai nodded again and felt another finger slip inside him, while at the same time, Jagger finally took Nikolai’s aching shaft in his hand and began to slide up and down. Nikolai heard himself make a whimpering noise he’d never made before and relaxed into his grip. Another finger slipped in and Nikolai moaned at the burn. Jagger increased the speed on his shaft though and since the fingers in his ass weren’t moving for the moment, he allowed himself to relax again and concentrate on his cock and the incredible things Jagger was doing to it. When the fingers inside him began to move again, nerve endings Nikolai didn’t know he had sprang into life. Nikolai shifted his feet again, moving even farther apart. The fingers moved deep inside him, touching his prostate and Nikolai gasped at the sensation. He’d given pleasure to others by touching that place, but never imagined how it would actually feel. Gods, it made him see stars and make mewling sounds he’d previously only heard from the wildcats on Konar 4.

The fingers pulled out, and Nikolai glanced around in disappointment, his hole clenching and unclenching at the loss. Almost immediately though, Jagger pressed against him, his cock taking the place of the fingers. He eased himself inside, pushing past the strong ring of muscles. It hurt, but Nikolai bit his lip, too proud to let his mate see it. Somehow Jagger knew though, and the hand on his cock moved faster, a soft kiss dropped on Nikolai’s shoulder and he heard Jagger murmuring something to him. Pleasure came flooding back, and Nikolai thrust up into the hand that held him and then back, causing his backside to burn again.

“Hurts,” Nikolai whispered and soft kisses rained down on his shoulders and back.

“Relax, sweet one, and it’ll hurt less. I want to make this good for you.” Jagger began moving with slow thrusts, pulling out and pushing in. He angled his hips so that Nikolai’s sweet spot was being caressed with each stroke, and Nikolai pushed backward into it, then forward again to meet Jagger’s hand. The sensations were coming too fast for him to process them, and he gave himself over to the pleasure completely. He still wanted to be inside his mate, but until he could this was a fine substitute. He might even allow his mate to pleasure him this way in the long cycles to come. His little mate was really quite good at it.

Jagger moved the hand on Nikolai’s cock in a similar motion as Nikolai had done to him, slipping his thumb into Nikolai’s slit, and Nikolai arched his back and climaxed at the same time he felt a wet explosion deep inside him. Jagger strained against him and shouted his name as Nikolai sagged down to his knees on the bench, taking the prince with him. After a moment, Jagger pulled out and fell over on the bench. Nikolai could hear his soft panting as he tried to catch his breath.

Nikolai moved to his knees on the floor of the pool and put his head against Jagger’s chest, nuzzling his nose into his wet skin, unable to let him go. Jagger started in surprise at first, and then his hand fell onto Nikolai’s head, caressing him. They remained quietly together for a long while. Nikolai thought that neither of them wanted to move. Finally, Jagger pushed at him gently and stood up, again extending a hand to Nikolai. He gave it to him and followed his prince from the pool. Jagger took some towels from a cabinet on the wall and tossed one to Nikolai. They dried off their bodies without talking, and Nikolai followed Jagger’s lead in tossing the towels to the floor when they were both dry. Falling onto the bed, Jagger nudged Nikolai to turn on his side and then came up behind him, spooning him and rubbing the muscles of his abs gently and soothingly. Soon his exhausted little prince was breathing deeply behind him, his lips close to Nikolai’s ear, and Nikolai allowed himself to relax into sleep.

Chapter Three

Jagger woke up with his legs tangled up with other, longer legs, and for a moment he was amazed to find himself in bed with someone. Memories of the night before came flooding back to him. The big Lycan—Niki—had been amazing, far exceeding his expectations. Jagger moved his arm from around his lover’s waist and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He still didn’t know what to make of him. Why had he given in so easily to the idea of becoming his concubine? Was he planning some kind of trick or escape?

The night before, he’d been subdued enough, even humble at first, if a little dense, and that didn’t ring true to what Jagger knew of Lycans, and of the Balanescu family in particular. They were all rumored to be highly intelligent, fierce, and dangerous to cross. Jagger knew his father had been receiving furious messages from the family since yesterday, and the Lycanus ambassador had been in contact as well, all demanding his Lycan’s immediate release. A delegation from Lycanus 3, Niki’s home planet, was supposedly already on the way to negotiate his release and would land sometime the next day. His father had been frightened when he’d reported all this to Jagger, wringing his hands and telling him they would have to capitulate. But after last night, Jagger was determined not to let his Lycan go. It wasn’t only because of his value as a hostage, though keeping him would ensure a steady source of income they could use to pay off the Rogers until Jagger could figure out a way to secure his mother’s release. He also wanted the man for himself, and he didn’t want to look at his motives too closely.

The Lycan had been full of surprises from the very beginning. At first, Jagger had thought he was mocking him when he called him ‘sweetheart’ and ‘little Master’ and licked his fingers at dinner. And though he later called him ‘Master,’ he also seemed amused, as if at some private joke. Jagger knew he had great strength—he’d proven that in the bathing pool when he effortlessly held him down with one hand, yet he hadn’t chosen to use that strength to hurt him in any way. Why not?

Niki made a soft little sound in his sleep and rolled toward him, reaching for him. When he found Jagger, he cuddled closer, throwing an arm over his waist and then sighing contentedly and settling back down. Jagger put a hand on the back of his head and rested it there. His hair was soft and a lovely shade of reddish brown, filled with golden highlights. His strange garnet-colored eyes should have clashed but they didn’t. They were an intriguing and lovely match. He’d never seen such eyes before, but they were most compelling. They seemed to get darker when he was angry or surprised or in the heat of passion. The night before in the pool, they’d been almost black.