Vars was happy that Jake didn’t speak immediately, because it meant his boy was considering the weight of his words. “Yes, sir. I will always consider all options before putting myself at risk.”
Relief was a warm shield on Vars’s chest. He kissed Jake’s shoulder and let his hand linger on the hot skin of Jake’s buttocks. “We’ll finish at ten.”
And like the good boy that he was, Jake counted all the way to ten. It was hard to deny that seeing him squirm made Vars’s body tingle with excitement, but more pleasure would have to wait until after the party.
When the punishment was finished, Jake turned around and the hard shell that had formed around him in the meetings room was long forgotten. Red-faced and breathing quickly, he wrapped his arms around Vars and hugged him.
“I know you only have good intentions,” he whispered and kissed Vars’s jaw through the beard.
Vars pulled Jake up for a kiss but left his hand resting on the small of Jake’s back, fingers tracing the skin just above the newly irritated flesh. “And I will always protect you. It’s a promise, boy.”
Jake ran his hands all the way up Vars’s chest as they kissed. There was no chip left on his shoulder. As a member of the Kings of Hell MC Jake would never be completely safe, but Vars needed to know that at least he wouldn’t put himself in danger unnecessarily. Vars’s mind toyed with the idea of locking Jake in a cage and keeping him there the way Vars’s tongue toyed with Jake’s lips, but in truth, Vars wouldn’t want that. He craved submission given willingly, and especially from a man who otherwise went through life in such a confident manner.
Vars sank down to his haunches to pick up Jake’s pants from around his ankles. The half-hard dick was prominent at the front of the jockstrap, and he grinned at Jake, pleased with his handiwork.
“Do you want to spend some more time together or join the party already?” he asked, zipping up the jeans on Jake and standing up in the process.
Jake slid his fingers into Vars’s beard and bit his lip. “Maybe if we’re quick?”
Before Vars could answer, something pulled Jake out of his arms, and shoved him at a nearby wall. When Vars glanced back in shock, he stood face to face with Damon, and unlike Jake’s summer-sky eyes, Damon’s blue was ice and steel, his voice just as cold.
Chapter 25 - Vars
Vars’s skull was like a pressure cooker. Getting hotter on the flame of Damon’s presence.
“This is what you exchanged me for? This spineless puppet?” Damon now shoved at Vars’s chest, but it was only a warning, as it carried very little of the strength the man had in him.
Jake stepped to Vars’s side, and his sheer presence was both relief and a reason to worry. “You better leave here now if you want to live.”
Vars put his arm across Jake’s chest, gaze pinned to Damon’s eyes. Heat flushed his brain, clouding it like a jut of squid ink released to block him from seeing the full picture. He was instantly aware of his throat, as if it had swollen, about to block his windpipe yet again. The distant music was like bubbling water in his ears, and gravity shifted, with Damon once again staring back at him from above, through a layer of hot water.
He was rendered mute but still hunched his back, ready to fight when Damon made a sudden step in their direction. “Or what? He’ll come back running the moment your holes grow cold.”
Jake let out a hiss and pushed past Vars’s arm, a blond wall between him and Damon. It had been Vars who promised to protect him, and yet he was already failing, freezing at the sight of his killer. “Or you’ll regret ever being born.
Damon laughed, and even that sounded like icicles piercing Vars’s skin. “What are you, kid? A cartoon villain? You can’t come up with anything better? Do you think you scare me because you’re some kind of monster? You surprised me once. It won’t happen agai—”
Jake made half a step forward, squared his shoulders, and spat a giant fireball straight into Damon’s face. Heat exploded in the corridor and only Damon’s reflexes saved him from turning into char.
But Vars couldn’t see Damon. If he’d leaped back, he’d simply be farther down the corridor, but he had just… vanished.
The air twitched with heat, smoke swirling in long ribbons that floated up to the ceiling, but the view was clear enough.
Where was Damon?
Vars’s feet were firmly screwed to the floor, his heart pumping blood so fast it might as well have broken from the force of each contraction. He looked around, empty-headed. “Where is he?” he roared, realizing that none of the doors was close enough for Damon to flee. Something dark and slimy curled up in Vars’s gut, a burning sense of being watched without seeing the threat. His hands trembled as he pushed Jake back, toward the wall.