Axel's Pup (63 page)

Tolmore froze, and power rushed through Bayden. He hadn’t lied to Axel. It would have been easy to tear Tolmore’s throat out. There would be no more stupid statements then.

Bayden’s self-control wasn’t as strong when he was in lupine form. Even if he wasn’t allowed to bite, he couldn’t help but stare at Tolmore’s jugular.

He was so focused on Tolmore’s throat, it was hard to pay too much attention to the commotion around him. There was a certain amount of shouting and swearing. A lot of it was directed at him, but none of it was in Axel’s voice, and that made it irrelevant.

Panic flooded Tolmore’s scent. He scrabbled at the floor. Lifting one hand, he tried to push Bayden away. Bayden easily caught Tolmore’s hand in his mouth. He let sharp teeth press against the flesh, but stopped just short of breaking the skin.

Tolmore’s babbling turned more rapid and higher pitched.

“That’s enough.”

Bayden looked up. Axel had come around the bar. Bayden was about to release Tolmore when he realised that Axel wasn’t talking to him, he meant the shouting.

Silence fell over the room.

“Can’t you call him to heel?” someone demanded.

“Yes, if I feel the need to.”

“The need—!” Tolmore fell silent as Bayden growled around his hand.

“He’s your boy so he gets to run riot through the club?” Hale asked, quite conversationally all things considered.

Bayden watched Axel turn toward him. “He’s mine. But, as far as the club’s concerned, he’ll be held to the same standard as everyone else.”

“And this is fine with you?” Griz asked. He didn’t sound any more worried than Hale.

Axel glanced down to where Bayden continued to pin Tolmore to the floor. Bayden’s eyes met his, and Axel smiled. “Well, if Tolmore insists on starting fights he can’t finish…”

Bayden watched Axel turn to the men around them. His posture was all alpha. There wasn’t a hint of anger or uncertainty in his voice. “Next time he tells you there’s something a human shouldn’t call a werewolf, you all might want to listen.”

Bayden knew that other people spoke, but he found it very hard to take his attention away from Axel to care about what they said. Axel was pure perfection, and out of all the men there, he’d chosen Bayden to be his mate. Even in his wolf form, the knowledge made Bayden’s breath catch in his throat.

“I’m still down here—if any of you give a toss. Ax, he’s your b—” Bayden pressed his teeth more firmly against Tolmore’s hand. “Boy! I was going to say you’re his boy!” It was a lie, but one that hinted he’d realised his mistake. “For God’s sake, Axel—call him off!”

Axel chuckled. “Okay, pup. You’ve made your point.”

Bayden dropped Tolmore’s hand and leapt neatly off the prone figure. He trotted across to Axel, still in his wolf form. Axel crouched down to greet him. He scratched the top of Bayden’s head and stroked his ears while Tolmore scrambled to his feet.

“You can switch back whenever you want to.”

Bayden remained where he was, his head still under Axel’s hand as he returned to his human form. He ended up on his hands and knees at Axel’s feet. It was a good place to be. With his instincts closer to the surface than ever, it felt quietly sublime, but Axel soon helped him up.

“Dizzy?”

Bayden shook his head.

Axel brushed their lips together. Bayden wasn’t sure if the kiss was praise or just Axel’s way of welcoming him back to his human form. Either way, Axel didn’t linger over it.

When Axel nodded his dismissal, Bayden made his way around the bar, completely naked. As Bayden pulled his jeans on, he was aware that all the men in the club were watching him, some with a new kind of caution, some with admiration that had nothing to do with his shifting skills.

His vest was only good for rags. With just his boots and jeans on, Bayden washed his hands, picked up a cloth and wiped it over the bar where the dregs of Tolmore’s beer had spilled in the commotion.

“That was all because he called you Axel’s…” Griz trailed off, obviously not inclined to tempt fate.

Bayden nodded. He silently served Tolmore a beer to replace the one he’d spilt.

“Any other landmines we need to be aware of?” Griz asked.

Bayden shook his head. Human words weren’t easy then. There was still a touch of growl in his voice when he spoke. “Just that one.”

That seemed to mollify the other men.

“Fair enough, but you could have killed him,” Drac said.

Bayden shook his head. “Wouldn’t do that. Axel told me not to.”

A burst of laughter from the other side of the bar made Bayden smile. It was probably best that they thought it was a joke. A glance toward where Axel was talking to Hale further down on the other side of the bar, and Bayden realised three things.

Axel had heard what he’d said. Axel knew it was the truth. And Axel was okay with both those facts.

* * * * *

“What the hell?” Tolmore demanded as he moved down to where Axel still stood, still on the customer’s side of the bar, talking to Hale.

Axel chuckled. “He did warn you.”

“He…” Tolmore waved a hand at where Bayden had pinned him to the floor.

“He was far more polite about it than I thought he would be,” Axel mused, more to himself than Tolmore.

“Polite!”

“Oh, grow a pair. There’s not a scratch on you.”

“That’s not the point. He…” Once more words failed Tolmore. He shook his head.

Axel grinned.

“Subs aren’t supposed to do that!”

“Doms aren’t supposed to wind up other guys’ subs and insult their species.”

Tolmore made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. “Your boy needs to get a sense of humour.”

“How funny is it when straight men make jokes about gay men? I wouldn’t expect him to take jokes about wolves off me. I sure as hell don’t think he has to take them off you.”

Tolmore pushed his hand through his hair. There were slight marks on the back of his hand where Bayden’s teeth had pressed against the skin, but Bayden hadn’t drawn blood. Axel leaned against the bar, idly wondering if that was only because Bayden didn’t want Tolmore bleeding everywhere and making a mess. He wouldn’t put it past his pup to have considered that.

Tolmore’s hand was shaking. “Bloody werewolves.” He shook his head. “Did you know he could do that?”

Axel smiled as he remembered that Tolmore hadn’t been one of the Dragons who watched Bayden shift before. “He turns into his wolf form for a few hours most days. You get used to it.”

Tolmore looked down the bar toward Bayden. Axel followed Tolmore’s line of sight. Bayden was stripped to the waist and completely unselfconscious about that fact, but more than a few guys were getting a good look. Those who had turned up too late to see what exactly had destroyed Bayden’s vest were being far less subtle about it than those who’d witnessed his shift.

 “You know,” Tolmore pointed out. “Really good whiskey is supposed to help with shock.”

He’d been a reasonably good sport. Axel made his way back behind the bar and poured him a reasonably good whiskey.

Further down the bar, Axel spotted a couple of guys approach Bayden. They each took their time getting a good look. Axel followed their gaze. Bayden was still lean. His ribs didn’t show quite as clearly now, but each line of muscle was still beautifully delineated.

“You’re the shifter, aren’t you?”

Bayden dipped his head once in acknowledgement.

“The one who’ll whore himself out to anyone for a bet?”

Bayden didn’t blush. He didn’t even blink. “I used to do that.” His voice had already lost most of its growl.

“Used to?” the guy demanded, his plans for the evening obviously ruined.

“I’m submitting to Axel now.”

The guy’s frown deepened. “Just him?”

“That’s right.”

“Must be costing him a fortune,” the guy sneered. His friend laughed.

For the first time, Axel noticed Bayden tense. “The only thing he pays me for is the work I do behind the bar. Do you want a drink or not?”

Beers ordered, the first guy put his cash on the bar. When Bayden went to take it, the man put his hand on top of it, pinning it in place.

“How much would that have bought me if you were still whoring yourself out?”

Axel straightened up. There were risks attached to letting Bayden draw a line in the sand. Axel had been aware of that when he gave him permission. There was no guarantee they had the same definition of what was acceptable and what wasn’t.

Bayden would come to heel if Axel called, but…

Bayden leaned forward and calmly inspected the notes on the bar. “Twenty quid? It might have got you a blow job if my rent was due.”

He sounded calm. He was in his human form and still on his side of the bar. Axel stayed where he was, forcing himself to let Bayden play it out on his own while those two facts remained.

“How much would it cost me to outbid Axel?”

Bayden turned his back on him. “I told you, he’s not paying me.”

“Come on, everyone knows what wolves are like. There’s no such thing as a former whore. A higher bid, and you’d be off like a shot.”

Bayden’s shoulders tensed up. He turned around very slowly.

Axel tensed too, not entirely sure what was about to happen. He was vaguely aware of all the other Dragons focusing their attention on the conversation too.

“If you’d come in here a few months ago, you could have whipped me, or screwed me. You could have had me obeying your every order and dropping to my knees every time you clicked your fingers. If you’d put down the cash, you could have had anything you wanted. I was never fussy about who I took a bet from. Whatever you’d wanted, I’d have done it—if I needed the money really badly, it probably wouldn’t even have cost you much.”

Axel’s hand furled into a fist. His heart rate doubled. It was the truth. He knew that. He’d seen it with his own eyes. But, he couldn’t feel as calm about it as Bayden sounded.

“Now, Axel can get me to do whatever he wants. The difference is that I won’t take a penny off him.”

“Yeah, right,” the guy who’d tried to proposition him muttered.

“Yeah,” Bayden echoed. “Right. But even that’s not the most important difference.”

Axel tore his gaze away from Bayden for a second. His pup had everyone’s complete attention. There wasn’t another conversation in the entire pub.

“He doesn’t need to pay me, he doesn’t even need to ask. Whatever he wants, it’s his—any time, any way he wants it. I’ll do anything for him, but I won’t look for payment afterwards, I’ll get down on my knees and thank him for the privilege.”

“Everyone knows he’s been babying you and—”

“He could beat the hell out of me, or whore me out to every man in this pub, and I’d still crawl at his feet and beg to know what else I could do to please him.” No hesitation, no doubt. It was a simple statement of fact from Bayden’s point of view.

The guy fell silent, but Bayden was on a roll.

“You think I looked like a good lay when I was going through the motions to win a bet?” Bayden shook his head and laughed. “You have no idea what a wolf’s submission is like. The only person in this pub who does is Axel—and it’s not because he pays me; it’s because he’s the kind of guy I’d never take payment from. That’s the difference between a real dom and someone who has to pay a man to get on his knees—that’s the difference between Axel and you.”

There was anger there, but it obviously wasn’t because Bayden didn’t like reality as he saw it. Apparently, it was one thing for some idiot to call him a whore, but another to call his dom a punter.

Bayden turned away from the guy, dismissing him as if he was less than nothing in his eyes. One of the Dragons clicked back into life and ordered a beer. Gradually, conversations resumed.

Axel made his way down the length of the bar. He stopped directly behind Bayden. Sliding his arm around him, he settled his hand on Bayden’s bare abs.

“Just so there are no misunderstandings, I neither want nor need you to stand up for me. I can fight my own battles. Looking after my reputation is not your job.”

Bayden looked down. “I’m sor—”

“That said,” Axel cut in. “Your little speech was the hottest thing I’ve heard in my life.” He tugged Bayden back so their bodies were pressed tightly together, and Bayden would have no doubt just how turned on he was.

Bayden relaxed. “It was just the truth, sir.”

“I know.”

Bayden remained perfectly still for a few seconds. He glanced at the men around them, then shuffled his feet further apart, spreading his legs and making it perfectly clear that he had no problem with Axel screwing him right there, in front of everyone.

“Later,” Axel corrected.

* * * * *

“Go upstairs. Put your old jeans on.”

Bayden looked down at the ones he was wearing. He hadn’t damaged them when he shifted. At least, he hadn’t thought he had. He studied them more carefully, trying to work out what had displeased Axel, wondering if that’s why he hadn’t wanted to screw him when the pub was still open.

“They’re all in one piece,” Axel said. “That’s what’s wrong with them. I want you to wear the ones that aren’t.”

“The ones you cut?”

“They’re in your drawer. There’s a belt with them. Come down to the back rooms when you’re done.” He didn’t sound like he wanted to be kept waiting.

Bayden hurried up the stairs. The jeans were just where Axel had said they’d be. Bayden hurriedly pulled his boots and his jeans off. He grabbed the old pair and tugged them on. The original cuts had been all about easy access. Axel had improved on them since then.

The seat of the jeans was gone, leaving Bayden’s buttocks exposed. The front of the trousers was half there, but the denim had been trimmed back, leaving his cock and balls free.

Bayden slid the belt Axel had left with the jeans through as many of the belt loops as still remained, and did it up. The strip of leather finished off the frame. He looked down his body, then over his shoulder. It shouldn’t be possible for clothes to make him look more naked than he’d been when he wasn’t wearing anything.

His erection curved up, standing proudly away from his body, the flushed tip peeking past his foreskin. His cock bobbed with each step he took on the way down the stairs.