24. Akira

CHAPTER 24

Akira

T he carpet of Kyle's apartment may have been abysmally thin, but it still provided some protection to his bare knees. Akira had forced others to kneel on much more unforgiving surfaces and for far longer, and the order to discard the cushion at least gave him the chance to briefly stretch out his aching legs. He saw from the subtle quirk of Kyle's lip that he knew all of that, and tried to hide his own smile in turn.

Kyle raised the glass of water to his lips and drank deeply from it. The sight made Akira realise how parched he was, and he watched enviously as Kyle drained half of its contents in one go.

"Please," Akira whispered. "Please Sir, may I have some water?"

Kyle considered him for a moment, his expression serious. "You may," he agreed graciously and bent to place the cat bowl on the floor. Akira's cheeks heated with humiliation, making his cock strain vigorously against its cage as he began to crawl towards it.

Kyle stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "That's not for you, sweetheart," he said softly, urging Akira to his feet and handing him the glass tumbler instead. Akira drank it all, feeling himself flush some more when one of the cats wandered over and lapped from the bowl he'd assumed was for him.

"Not that I wouldn't," Kyle drawled delightedly after a moment, and Akira realised he'd been watching him. He had a teasing smile on his face. "Especially now I've realised how much that turns you on. But I'll be sure to find a clean dish for you that hasn't been lathered in cat saliva first." He shrugged, nudging his arm against Akira's in the camaraderie of a friend and equal rather than Dom and sub, in a signal that he considered their scene finished and the power dynamics ended. "Seems only proper."

"How thoughtful," Akira shot back, exercising his regained ability to speak freely in the same way one stretched muscles after holding still for a while. "Although it's a shame you didn't apply such consideration to my clothes. Wool creases, you heathen."

Kyle raised a bemused eyebrow, either not comprehending or not caring about the tragic fate of the suit, and then bounded over to the bed. He was out of his own clothes and tucked under the sheets before Akira could blink.

"Come, sweetheart," Kyle murmured, patting the thin sliver of mattress beside his muscular form, and Akira remembered his promise to stay the night. Well, day , their schedules being backwards as they were. Only a few hours remained until they both had to be up for work, but that was still hours in Kyle's bed , pressed up against the man as he slept, perhaps cuddled and…

Despite the water he'd just drunk, Akira's mouth felt impossibly dry.

Kyle rolled his eyes when he failed to move. "I promise not to ravage you in your sleep."

"I make no such promise," he responded, giving Kyle a heated look. He forced his feet in the direction of the small bed and noticed how the blonde offered his imprisoned cock a smug glance as he slid under the covers beside him.

"Good luck with that."

The asshole even had the audacity to roll over so he was deliberately facing away from him, his powerful body bare and one of his legs slightly bent. In the perfect position to be taken, tempting and taunting Akira with what he'd been forbidden.

He growled playfully and nestled himself against Kyle's back, revelling in the warm line of his body and ensuring the other man would feel the metal bars digging into his unprotected ass.

"Do you think I don't know the key to my cage is in the back right pocket of your trousers," Akira whispered against his ear, "and that those trousers are within arm's reach of this side of the bed? I could be free and inside you before you're even awake."

Kyle just gave a sleepy hum. "But then you'd have been unacceptably disobedient," he murmured. "And I'd have to cage you for a month. Your call."

"It is," Akira threatened, burying his mouth against the back of Kyle's head and pressing kisses to his scalp. "Sleep well, sweetheart. "

And Kyle did. Falling asleep with the enviable ease of people who were untroubled by their nightmares, Kyle passed into unconsciousness within minutes of settling into bed. Akira lay there and held him for far longer than he should have, knowing what likely waited for him outside, but it was dreadfully difficult to tear himself away from the man in his arms.

Yet if there had been one attempt to capture Kyle, there would be another. Mackenroth wouldn't give up so easily, and Akira was the only thing standing between Kyle and the horrendous abuse he'd been promised.

Finally he let out a noiseless sigh and slithered out of bed, careful to remain quiet as he collected and donned each piece of his suit. He needn't have tried so hard: Kyle slept deeply, another advantage of the innocent, and one that Akira was determined to let him keep no matter the cost.

Kyle needed to be kept safe even if that meant another man's blood would have to be spilled in his place.

Akira would soon find out if it was to be his own.