Blayde had given Ryan his knot, which was another gland that secreted the venom, along with the ones in his jaws. Between the two they created the venom that brought about the change in his mate.They’d be tied together now for an hour or so until the knot released. In the meantime, he hoped Ryan would stay asleep. Blayde gazed down at him. Ryan was reacting to the venom and was already intoxicated by both the venom and the force of his orgasm. His eyes were half closed and he was breathing fast. A flush sat on his pretty cheeks. Blayde knew that he would run a high fever now for at least a couple of hours and be a little out of his head. He had to care for him for the next few hours until the fever passed.
It wasn’t a venom that would kill him, or cause any harm. It would just change his body chemistry a bit. His body would be stronger and even more beautiful, and he would be healthier and live a long, long life, as did all the Lycans. If he did decide to leave, the side effects, the ones he hadn’t told Ryan about, would eventually fade if Ryan stayed away from Blayde. Of course, if Ryan ever left him, for any reason, Blayde wouldn’t survive more than a few weeks anyway. Blayde’s venom would also help create a strong mating bond. From this time forward, neither of them would be happy away from each other and Ryan would belong to him body and soul. No matter what he’d agreed to earlier, he knew Ryan would probably be incapable of living away from his mate from this time on and would even suffer intense emotional pain if they were apart. It tended to have quite a calming effect on little brats like Ryan, too, though he still retained his free will to act out. He could do it, but it would make him uneasy. Often mates who had displeased their alphas asked to be disciplined so they would feel better again.
Blayde smiled and smoothed the hair off his brow. His little brat might need a spanking or two to calm him down. He pulled him closer, breathing in his scent and a realization hit him full force. He already loved Ryan. Not just lust, but a pure, strong love that sent a thrill all the way down to his toes. Damn it! When had that happened?
Chapter Four
Ryan awoke slowly from a deep sleep filled with wonderful, but disturbing, dreams. He dreamed of prowling through the forest under a full moon and putting back his head to look up at the night sky. He heard a noise beside him and turned to see a beautiful, huge wolf come up beside him.Somehow, in his dream, he wasn’t frightened of the wolf. He reached out to pet his head and came fully awake. Turning on his side, he opened his eyes to find Blayde sleeping next to him, snoring softly, his mouth open a little.
Ryan was confused. What the hell had happened once he got off that transport? Within the space of a few hours he’d been stripped, chased, shaven, fucked until he passed out and now mated to a damn Lycan shifter. Even worse, the fucking mate of a Lycan.And he’d agreed to it. From what he knew of mates, they were little better than love slaves. Hell, I gotto be trippin’ on something.For the second time since he’d met Blayde he wondered if Blayde had slipped him some kind of drug.
Slowly his mind went back over everything that happened, everything he could remember and it still seemed like a crazy dream. The one constant in the whole thing was Blayde. He was everywhere in his thoughts and in his dreams. Now he was lying beside him, and all Ryan wanted to do was kiss him and snuggle up to him. What the hell was the matter with him?He’d agreed to let this huge Lycan be his mate.Ryan felt so tired still, he couldn’t think about it all right now. He snuggled down into the comfortable bed and drifted back to sleep, pushing his sore ass back against Blayde.
When he awoke again, the bed beside him was empty. He raised up on his elbows and found Blayde going through his bag by the door.
“Hey, what are you doing, Blayde? I mean, Alpha?”
Blayde straightened up, holding a small cardboard package in his hand.“I was going to clean your clothes for you this morning before we leave, and I found these. What the fuck is this, Ryan?”
He’d been rummaging through Ryan’s few possessions and had come across a carton of Marillos, something that Ryan enjoyed from time to time.He’d had some stuck down in his duffel bag when they’d taken him at the slave auction. They were harmless, really. A kind of thin cigar, they were heavily laced with marijuana, a substance legalized for many cycles on Earth, along with various other legal drug enhancements that were intended to mellow you out and relax you. Prettyintoxicating, they weren’t something he smoked on a daily basis, by any means, but they were great to bring him down after a stressful day. Looks like I’m going to have quite a few of those if Blayde keeps this shit up.
Blayde held the Marillos up in his hand and gave him an angry glare.“No drugs, you hear me? This is the kind of stupid decisionthat got you into trouble in the first place.”
Ryan couldn’t hold back his reply. “What the hell?I mean, they’re legal.I’ll smoke them in my quarters on the ship if the smoke bothers you.”
“You don’t have any fucking quarters, sweetheart. You sleep where I do. And I said, no. I take good care of what’s mine, and one of those things is you. These aren’t good for your health, so you won’t smoke them. Period, end of discussion.” He turned and spoke softly but with irritating firmness.“No more drugs for you, baby.Ever.”
Ryan’s mouth fell open and he jumped out of bed, pulling on a pair of sweats he found by the bed. He opened his mouth to reply but Blayde had already turned and was on the move. He strode from the room and looked over his shoulder to make sure Ryan was following. Ryan thought about staying in his room and pouting, but it was like the damn man had an invisible string attached to his belly button. His feet just wanted to follow Blayde wherever he went.
Seemingly reassured that Ryan was right behind him and that he was watching him, Blayde placed the cigars in a small covered box on the counter, closed the lid and pressed the button. Ryan fumed as the solid waste disposer ground up his expensive cigars. He’d paid a lot of money for those at the spaceport when he first arrived on Lunar 53,a fact he couldn’t keep himself from pointing out.
“Damn it, those cost a hundred and fifty diamondcertificates!”
Blayde looked back at him and nodded.“Right. See how you make bad decisions?That’s why I’ll make all of them for you from now on. If you have any more drugs hidden anywhere, let me know now. Last chance, no?Okay, go sit down and let’s talk.”
“Don’t tell me what to do! And I can and will make my own damn decisions, whether or not you approve of them.” Ryan stomped into the living room and threw himself down in the big chair. His ass was so sorefrom Blayde’s huge dick he almost jumped back up again.It wasn’t lost on him that he was doing exactly what Blayde had asked him to do, despite his words. Why had he done that?He hadn’t intended to. Hating his obedience, he turned his head away from Blayde and stared into space. Blayde followed him in and stood looking down at him.
“It’s my job now to take care of you, love. And from now on address me as Alpha.Don’t make me keep reminding you. As the mate of a wolf, you need to follow my discipline.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t ask for the job! I had no idea that being your mate meant I have to follow your orders, damn it, causethat ain’t happening.”
Blayde walked calmly over to him, picked him up out of the chair, jerked down his sweats and bent him over a knee he placed on the seat of the chair. Holding him there with his feet dangling off the floor, Blayde slapped his ass three times in quick succession, not holding back a bit. Ryan yelled out, not really in pain, though the slaps on his bottom stung, but more in humiliation at his position.
“I’ve been meaning to do this since you stepped off that transport. You will follow my rules exactly, or you’ll find yourself in this position often. Do I make myself clear?I’m the alpha, so I make the rules for us both to follow.”
“Who said?” Ryan yelled back over his shoulder defiantly, despite the fact he knew he’d be punished again.“And who said you were the dominant partner?Just because you’re overgrown and you shoutand stomp around and grind up people’s cigars? Well, I’m not buying it! You can’t just boss me around.” He tried to squirm off Blayde’s knee, but was held firmly in place.
Five more hard slaps came down on his tender ass. Then a big, wet finger was rammed up inside his sore hole.He arched up on Blayde’s arm and cried out.
“I can keep this up all day. Are you ready yet to apologize and beg my forgiveness?”
Frustrated and humiliated, he shook with rage, but he knew it was useless to keep resisting. “Y-yes, Blayde. Alpha.I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
Blayde sat him down on his feet, but when he went to pull up his pants, he stopped him, and pushed him back down in the chair with his pants still down around his ankles.
Blayde stood over him scowling down at him, until Ryan dropped his head submissively. Strange how much his stomach had begun to hurt, and how uneasy he felt. Absently, he rubbed his stomach and Blayde smiled a self-satisfied little smile.
“Stomach ache, baby?That’s from the venom in themating bite.”
“What the hell do you mean? You mean when you bit me, it made me sick?”
“No, nothing like that.It’s what happens to the matewhen he isn’t pleasing his master or when he’s acting out.It’s all part of learning to become a good mate.Like I said, it’s because of the venom.”
“Acting out? Like what a fucking little kid does?Are you for real?”
Blayde sat down across from him on the sofa, leaned back and put his hands behind his neck with a little smirk on his face.“Well, you did become a member of our pack when we mated. All pack members have to learn discipline.”
“Bullshit. I thought that was just sex talk.” Ryan jumped to his feet, pulled up his pants, and stomped into the kitchen.His stomach was cramping now and he remembered he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the day before.“My stomach onlyhurts because you’re trying to starve me to death!Isn’t there anything to eat around here?” A sudden hard cramp made him bend over and clutch his middle. He looked desperately over at Blayde and held out his hand to him.“Oh Blayde, help me!” He made a little whimpering sound that brought Blayde to his side immediately.