Kai sighed and turned around to make a pot of the hot Lycan tea Lucas liked so much. Poor Kyle—he was the sweetest of all the cousins and always seemed to have a smile on his face. Kai felt a pang like a real physical discomfort as he imagined the tortures Kyle must be going through, even as they sat here discussing him. He sent up a quick prayer to whatever gods might be listening to spare Kyle any further pain.

Chapter Six

Kyle shifted uneasily, trying to get comfortable, as he lay naked on his stomach, sinking down in the big feather pillows on the bed. It had been two days since their fight in the arena and Taz still had to help him walk from the bathing chamber to the bedroom.

Taz was rubbing more medicine on the bruises on his back. “Stubborn, willful, hardheaded.” Taz punctuated each harsh word with a kiss to his shoulder, as he massaged Kyle’s upper back.

“Why do you defy me so? And why did you fight me so long in the arena if you were being hurt? Were you showing off to that bunch of idiots watching us? They were looking more at your ass than at how well you fought, you know.” He moved his hand down to caress the ass in question. “You were fighting me so hard I thought you were enjoying yourself. I had no idea you Lycans bruised so easily. It wasn’t until I saw the blood that I knew you were really hurt.”

“Bruise easily?” Kyle grumbled, looking at him over his shoulder. “You almost killed me in that ring.”

Taz rolled his eyes. “I’d hit my baby cousins harder than I hit you if I faced them in the ring. In the future I’ll remember how delicate Lycans are. But I hope you got that all out of your system, Nobyo, because that will never happen again.”

“Thank the gods,” Kyle muttered.

“And I hope you got some of the defiance out of your system too. The more you fight me, the more resistant I think you become. It takes us farther apart, and I don’t like it. No more, Nobyo. From now on, you must assume your proper role. You’re not my sparring partner, and I didn’t bring you home to fight and argue with me all the time. We Tygerians hold our nobyos in high esteem, and we take great care in choosing them. The first time I saw you I made a quick decision that I had to have you, and I don’t regret it. But I want a willing partner—a true lover. Our mating bond must be forged more completely.”

Kyle turned and sat up, gazing at him defiantly. “How? By locking me up until I’m too old to attract other men’s attention, like you threatened in the arena? Or maybe you can just beat me into submission.”

“We made a wager, Nobyo. I would have hoped you’d honor it,” Taz said quietly.

Kyle blushed, but stiffened defiantly. “I want to be your mate, an equal partner. I can play the game in front of the Tygerians, if you need that, if your laws require it, but I can’t be what you want me to be. No more than you could if the situation were reversed.”

Taz was silent for a long moment and then his voice hardened. “Do you forget that you made a promise?”

When Kyle remained silent, staring back at him, his lips pressed tightly together, Taz shook his head. Kyle felt a momentary pang at the look in his eyes. He looked a little hurt. Kyle was drawn to Taz as his mate and always would be, but he was struggling. He’d made a vow to himself that he would keep his pride intact and never let his family down. How could he debase himself in their eyes by kneeling to anyone—even to his own mate? He didn’t think he could do this.

“Fuck this, Taz. No! I can’t do it.”

“Is your Lycan honor so weak that you can break your word so easily? You promised me that you’d submit and take your place as my nobyo.”

Kyle shook his head wordlessly and turned away. He’d been furious since they got home from the arena, both for losing the damn fight and for underestimating just how strong these tiger shifters were. He’d relied all his life on his own size and brute strength, and for the first time both of them had been irrelevant. Up until that day in the ring, he’d figured Taz was a little stronger, but he actually thought he could hold his own.

Now it was painfully clear to both of them that his strength was puny in comparison and Kyle wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Actually he was sure—he hated it and resented Taz for it. He hated himself even more for making the damn bet. He remembered all too well what he’d said. Bet me that if you win, I’ll become your loyal little nobyo. Did his word have any value? He knew he was going to have to submit to this thing, and he resented Taz for making him do it.

Was this how Ivan felt so long ago when Kyle’s grandfather captured him and made him his love slave? The legends said he’d been so attracted, almost against his will that he was incapable of harming Gunnar, even though his powers were strong enough to do real damage. Gunnar had made him suffer, but he couldn’t stop loving him. Instead, he’d cursed all his descendants, partly the reason Kyle was in his present predicament.

Kyle raised his chin and gazed into Taz’s eyes. “I’m not breaking my word—I’ll be your nobyo. But don’t make me hate you, Taz. I don’t want that to happen.”

“Hate me?” Taz’s face flamed and he got up angrily and paced the room. He looked furious, and it was obvious that he was giving himself a little time to calm down before he spoke to Kyle again. Finally, he turned and faced the bed. He was still naked from his bath earlier and almost took Kyle’s breath away. Suddenly, Kyle was so tired from the fighting and tension of the past few days he thought he might be able to sleep for a week if Taz would just lie down beside him and let all this go. He wanted to curl up around his mate and rest in his arms and be soothed by his presence. Instead he could feel the gulf between them widening.

“I’ll make you the offer again, Nobyo,” Taz said, his voice dead and cold. “And this is the last time I ever will. If you’re so unhappy, then I’ll release you. I’ll find a way to send you home to your precious family.” When Kyle started to speak, he held up a warning hand. “But if you decide to stay, then all this foolish, stubborn pride of yours is finished. It has no place between us and keeps us apart. Make your decision. Either stay with me as my nobyo, or go back to the Lycans.”

Kyle dropped his face in his hands. How could he leave him? He needed him now like he needed to breathe. They hadn’t completed their mating in the true Lycan sense—Kyle had never given him the mating bite, never topped him. Yet the bond was strong between them. He might be able to survive without his mate, but did he want to? Kyle had no more strength to fight. If his family thought less of him for it, then so be it. The need he felt for Taz was even stronger than the love he had for his family.

“I want to stay with you,” he said quietly, dropping his head. He was aware of Taz stepping closer to the bed and felt his hand on the back of his neck, stroking it gently.

“Then rest, darling. We’ll speak no more of this.”

Kyle leaned into him, drawing strength from his nearness. He thought it might still make him feel ashamed to want to be with Taz instead of going back home, but all his surrender had brought him was a profound sense of relief.

“I don’t want to rest,” he replied, his breath hitching in his throat. “Make love to me. Remind me why I need to do this. Show me.”

Taz groaned and pushed Kyle to his back, following him down. His hands traveled over Kyle’s body, and his cock grazed Kyle’s stomach, making him gasp and roll his hips toward the touch. Taz answered with a slow grind of his own and bent to kiss and lick at Kyle’s nipples, teasing the pink nubs with his lips and teeth so he could suck them. Kyle moved mindlessly under him, feeling the teasing in his groin, as if there were an invisible string directly attached.

He moved restlessly under his mate, needing him to touch his dick, trying to make him move more quickly and get to the main event. “What is it you want, nobyo? Are you so eager?”

Taz had raised himself on his arms and was smiling down at Kyle. “Is this what you need?” He bent to drag a hot tongue slowly up the length of Kyle’s shaft. His tongue was long and slightly rougher than a Lycan’s. The sensation against the smooth skin of Kyle’s cock was making him crazy. He ended with a rough swirl over the head and lifted his head to smile down at him. “Or perhaps this?”

He put both hands under Kyle’s hips and raised him off the bed a little. Then he bent between his legs and licked up Kyle’s crease to find his hole. Kyle screamed Taz’s name as he rimmed him with that rough, hot tongue. Kyle tightened his legs around his head, unable to stand so much sensation and pleasure. He bucked his body almost involuntarily, but Taz only chuckled and held onto him, making it clear Kyle wasn’t in charge of any of this. When Kyle finally surrendered to it and let the orgasm overtake him, he thought he might be dying. He felt the hot cum spurting up on his stomach—he’d never had an orgasm without direct stimulation before, and this one had left his body limp and lifeless.

Taz raised his head to gaze at him. “This is mine, Nobyo. I’ll never give you up now. Mine forever.”

“Yes,” Kyle breathed out softly, the word only a soft hiss.

“Don’t go to sleep, baby. I’m not through with you yet.”

Kyle felt Taz push back his legs and then felt his huge cock bury itself inside him. Wearily he opened his eyes as Taz began to push into him. Kyle’s body began to rock a little with the force of his thrusts. Then he changed his angle a bit and was landing each thrust on the spot inside Kyle that always made him lose control. Steadily, relentlessly, he hit the sensitive bundle of nerves until Kyle was moaning continuously. Taz was claiming him, marking his territory, leaving Kyle with no doubt as to whom he belonged.

After only a few minutes, he reached his climax and filled Kyle with his cum. Kyle could feel it inside him, the hotness seeming to fill him and bathe every inch of him inside. Unwilling to move, Taz collapsed down between his legs and pressed his lips to Kyle’s chest. He lay there for a long time, softening inside him, before he finally rolled to the side. Kyle could feel his cum dripping from him, but Taz wouldn’t let him get up. He threw one big leg over him and pulled him up close. “Mine,” he said, satisfaction coloring his voice. “No more defiance, yes?”