Chapter 208: A sub in for a bond partner brawl? Alright
Cass woke up in a daze. He didn’t know where he was at first. All he knew was that he felt warm and comfortable for the first time since he’d arrived in this damn world.
Everything was soft, softer than the sheets he had on his bed, or Lord Blackburn had on his bed, and he nuzzled further in. The feeling also felt familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it.
It wasn’t until the warmth enfolding him laughed, and laughter from behind him sounded that everything came back with a vengeance.
Cass felt his whole body stiffen as memories of last night came rushing back.
Lucian’s mouth all over his...Vespertine holding his-
Cass let out a screech, pushing himself away from Lucian, but running into the firm back of Vespertine, who moved quickly to give Cass some space. His whole face was red, flushed, embarrassed.
"You-You!" Cass felt tongue-tied by all of the things he wanted to say. He didn’t even know where to start.
Out of the two of them, Vespertine was the one who looked like he understood why Cass was angry. Lucian just propped his head up, a little fucking smirk on his face. Cass wanted to reach out and squeeze his head until it popped. He doubted he would be allowed to get that far.
"Cass, how are you feeling?" It was Vespertine. His voice was cautious, careful. "Are you okay today?" He sounded actually concerned, but that didn’t take away from the burning anger inside of him.
"I could have been better if-"
"No you wouldn’t have been." Lucian cut in. Cass jerked his gaze towards him, daring him to say it. Lucian, for once, didn’t just blurt it out, sighing as he sat up. His whole chest was on damn display and Cass angrily shifted his gaze away. He wasn’t going to use his body to get out of this.
"You don’t know that." Cass growled and Lucian’s eyes widened slightly at the sound, before he shook his head.
"Well, maybe not as intimately as you do, but I feel like knowing what has happened before, there was probably a chance that it would have been my hand on your cock instead of Vespertine’s if he wasn’t here." Cass’ whole face went red as he said that at a normal volume. Cass reached out, unable to stop himself and slapped his hand over his mouth.
"Watch it!" He hissed quietly. "Not everyone in the whole fucking dungeon needs to know!" Cass knew he was embarrassed, but after he’d been caught last time without his knowledge, he felt it was pretty fucking fair for him to be cautious. Lucian rolled his eyes, snorting and Cass wanted to throttle him.
"Everyone else doesn’t have the same hearing that we do. I was keeping an eye on who was on watch. I rarely sleep deeply." Vespertine told him from behind. Cass turned his gaze towards him, his hand still on Lucian’s mouth. "I’m sorry Cass. What I did was wrong, and you have every right to be mad at me. I took advantage of you when you were in a weakened state." Vespertine actually looked...apologetic? That was a first.
Cass wasn’t sure what to do with that information.
Lucian’s hand came down on Cass’ wrist, causing Cass to turn his gaze away from the sad vampire and face the dragon whose mouth he was covering. Cass let out a noise of disgust when he felt Lucian’s tongue touch his hand. He pulled it away quickly, Lucian’ sliding his hand up until it was locked around Cass’. His grip was tight, firm, and he stared at Cass intently.
"Even if I apologise, you aren’t going to believe I mean it." Lucian said and Cass glared at him. "You aren’t, and I don’t like lying. I know you don’t like when others touch you without permission, but," Lucian leaned in, whispering quietly against Cass’ ear. "I don’t fully believe that you had full control of that situation." Cass went pale. Lucian drew back, watching Cass’ face, his reaction. "Therefore, I probably would do it again just to...get you back to normal." Lucian said carefully.
That made things even more complicated. Lucian, due to the fucking bond, was catching on to some things. That was the only way Cass could understand how he was getting such a good understanding of what was going on.
It also wasn’t lost on Cass that Lucian had walked back what he’d said just last night.
"So were you lying to me last night?" Cass asked, still angry, but shaken more. Lucian’s expression softened.
"No sweetness. I’ll ask you about everything." Cass didn’t like the emphasis that he put on his words. It made him...worried.
Could he tell? Did he know? Had he been able to tell that there wasn’t something quite right about what he had said? About this Lord Blackburn? Cass didn’t like this.
He didn’t like the way this whole fucking conversation made him feel insane.
"Don’t fucking do it again. Just leave me to fucking suffer if you’re going to push the fucking boundaries again." Cass warned and Lucian’s expression dropped.
"I don’t want to leave you suffering if I can help." Lucian told him and Cass snorted.
"You don’t have permission to do whatever you want to me, Lucian. Neither does Vespertine. At least he has the decency to seem somewhat apologetic. If I didn’t have such weak hands I would have punched you for your damn lack of one!" Cass told him, warning him, and Lucian glanced down Cass’ body, before meeting his gaze again. He nodded.
"Yeah. You shouldn’t punch me. Normal men break their hands." He told him, as if implying that Cass wasn’t a normal man. That somehow...made Cass even angrier.
"Do you want me to do it?" Vespertine asked and both Lucian and Cass turned to look at him. He pointed to himself. "I fit the category of ’not a normal man’. I wouldn’t mind." Vespertine suggested and Cass thought briefly, before he said, what the hell? Why not?
"I would like that, actually." Cass said and Lucian furrowed his brow. He clearly was upset that Cass was delegating violence to happen to him, or at that was what Cass thought.
"How do you know that practise for bonds?" He asked and Cass stared at the dragon.
"What?" Cass asked and Lucian grumbled.
"I was hoping not to teach you that practise. How did you find out about it?" Cass’ blank expression told the idiot that he had no clue what he was talking about. The way his jaw was clenched told the same idiot that he better get explaining.
"Lucian..." His voice sounded like a growl, a curse, and finally, the man flinched, looking apologetic.
"Uh, well, fuck. Okay. So most times...or at least since humans and other things were getting chosen as dragon’s bond partners, a practise has been created. Cause it isn’t like the weaker races can just...brawl it out like dragons normally do when we get...too big of a head." Lucian was slowly realising that what he was saying matched what was happening and Cass could see that he was processing it in real time. Cass almost felt himself smile in victory, but didn’t.
That would probably give the man the wrong idea.
"Okay. And?" Cass prompted when he stopped speaking. Lucian swallowed, looking nervous.
"Well, the bond partner who was weaker would get someone to fight for them instead. Like another dragon or...something else." Lucian mumbled the last bit. "To tell the dragon that he or she was being an idiot and needed to back off." Lucian sounded like a deflating balloon.
"Uh huh." Cass said and Lucian flinched. Vespertine was grinning.
"So we decided to do something that you were planning to keep from Cass. My question is this-what if Cass had decided to kick your ass with his magic?" Vespertine asked and Lucian shrugged.
"I would have just viewed it as I deserved it." Lucian muttered and then shrugged. "And I do. I deserve it." He sounded terribly upset, and Cass nodded, his smile finally breaking. He reached out, placing his hand on Lucian’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.
"Then take your punishment well, and learn your fucking lesson. If I don’t say yes, or consent, fuck off." Cass growled. He slid his gaze to Vespertine, just as much anger and rage there as well. "That goes for both of you. I don’t give a fuck that I’m weaker, this wouldn’t fly at any fucking time. Stop taking advantage of me. Even in those states, there are ways to get fucking permission." Cass felt his face flush. "No one had fucking touched me like that before. I’m pissed that you did."
Vespertine gasped, blinking, before he dropped his gaze and nodded.
"Right. Okay. Yup. I’m very sorry, Cass. I won’t do anything without asking permission. I really, really won’t." He promised, before he got to his feet, grabbing his bag. "Come on, Lucy. Let’s give Cass some space to get ready for the day, and we’ll also deal out your punishment so Cass doesn’t have to worry about that anymore." Cass was suspicious about what Vespertine said, and how considerate he was being right now.
"But I don’t-" Lucian shut up when Cass gave him a glare and Lucian’s eyes widened. He raised his hands, slowly getting to his feet. "Alright. I’ll shut up now and just...go outside for my punishment." Lucian said, finally being agreeable. Cass watched the two men leave the tent, and heard as the girls greeted them. Cass waited until the tent was sealed closed behind them before he collapsed onto his back, staring at the top of the tent.
Cass had his dick touched by a different person for the first time yesterday. If he was honest, he hadn’t...hated the feeling of someone else touching it. That didn’t make the rest of the situation okay, but that also didn’t mean that they could get away with it.
It just meant that...Cass didn’t mind others touching his dick with permission. It was a strange revelation to have. It hadn’t even been one that Cass considered that he ever would have. Sure, he’d smooched Lucian a couple of times, but that and this were two very different things.
Cass exhaled, listening to the others speak, move about, and felt how the cold pressing against his back slowly began to seep into his body. He sat up quickly.
He didn’t want to accelerate when he needed to see Lucian if he didn’t have to. Cass started getting ready for the day, not feeling as lost as he had before, but still feeling out of sorts. He felt like a pervert for thinking back on what happened, not with anger. He knew he should have, he still felt anger when he thought of Vespertine and Lucian, but when he thought back to the sensations...
Was he being corrupted?