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  Not. Helping.

  Caleb gave him another look, but he couldn’t exactly argue, considering his cock was rock hard and dripping. He still didn’t know how he could love something so much yet hate it, especially when his jaw ached more than it did when Liam decided to make him play dick warmer for a few hours.

  “I don’t know if you think I need a front, but I don’t,” his dog walker said. “I’m a werewolf, and there’s a vampire in the next room. I doubt you’re the most interesting thing I’ll see today. So, would you like to go play?”

  “I need to piss,” Caleb said bluntly, curious to see how long the guy would let him keep talking without pulling out a newspaper or magazine to bop him on the nose. Just to test him a little more, he offered helpfully, “The bathroom is the third door to the left.” Never mind that the stupid leg binders Liam had put on him earlier would keep him from standing. He’d figure it out if it meant he didn’t have to personally water a tree.

  Weird Guy gave him a smile that looked like he thought Caleb had done something cute — like a parent who thought their kid was funny, except there was nothing fatherly about the way he kept looking at Caleb.

  Then Weird Guy reached down and ran his hand carelessly over Caleb’s head, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to jerk his head back or lean into the touch. Thankfully, it didn’t last long enough for him to have to make a decision. “Good try.” Taking a step back, Weird Guy gave him an expectant look. “Come.”

  Caleb sighed. “Oh, come on. You’re the werewolf. Shouldn’t you be the one marking your territory? I mean, are you going to have an overwhelming need to like… mark over mine?”

  That half-smile came back to Weird Guy’s face. “You want to play, don’t you?”

  Over and over. How many times was he just going to simplify all of this down to wanting to play? He had to see that this was pretty fucking serious, even if his erection… Well, that complicated things, but even so!

  “You want me to throw the ball and to have fun? Stretch out while I pet you?” Weird Guy took another step back, not far enough to pull on the leash but enough that the expectation was clear.

  Caleb wasn’t going to get out of this. For fuck’s sake, he was going to— to— bite Liam’s ankles or some shit after this!

  But the idea of stretching out a little, even if he couldn’t do it completely, was appealing enough for him to start to follow Weird Guy toward the door. At least Liam made sure the grass outside was nice and soft, though he didn’t want to think about how winter would be…

  How was he already thinking about winter?

  The realization that he had no idea how much time had passed since Liam had claimed him wasn’t a pleasant one. Weeks, at least, but he didn’t know how many.

  At least it got his cock to stop being such a fucking tattletale, even if his tail decided to betray him by wagging as they got closer to the door and relief was near.

  Vigorously.

  He huffed out a breath that sounded, even to him, entirely too dog-like. At least the guy wasn’t dragging him along when he wasn’t moving fast enough. Liam had expected him to adjust far too quickly, and he’d gotten tired of the choke collar about three minutes before it had even been put on.

  “So I guess I should be glad he didn’t just leave me outside on a tether or in the kennel with the puppy pads all day,” Caleb said dryly.

  Weird Guy shrugged. “I didn’t get to meet him very long, but he gave me the impression he was trying to take care of you.”

  Caleb burst into laughter, stopping abruptly enough so that even the guy’s careful attention didn’t prevent the collar from tugging slightly against his throat. Unlike the vampire, though, the werewolf stopped with him, immediately loosening the slack.

  Weird Guy crouched down and brought a hand up to Caleb’s face, petting it like he would a real dog, and his thoughts were so conflicted that he didn’t budge. “I don’t know what’s going on here. I came here expecting to walk some rich vamp's poodle, not someone like you. I’m not going to get in the middle of whatever relationship you guys have, so if you want me to go, I’ll leave. I’m here to walk a pup and exercise it, not to upset you and not to fight about your lifestyle. I’m not even going to guess how all this happened, but don’t pretend to hate it when it’s clear that you don’t.”

  “I’m not an ‘it,’” Caleb said sullenly. Fuckhead.

  The guy’s hand started petting over Caleb’s head and down his back. “I’m here to play with you… Is that what you want? Do you want me to leave, or do you want to come outside and run around, to have fun and relax? No cares, nothing to worry about… All you'd have to do is just sink into it the way I know you want to.”

  Those words, though…

  They caught him off guard because of how deeply they appealed to him. Caleb never wanted to admit it, not even to himself, but he kept finding himself wanting to drop into the role of a pup to the point where he’d slipped more than once, coming out on the other side feeling shaky but like he’d just emerged from a dream. It just felt sacrilegious somehow, to go into subspace when he wasn’t even there because he wanted to be.

  Then again, what else awaited him? He’d led a fucking gang in the middle of the fucking slums. The only thing he’d had to boast about was that where he lived was mostly clean and a little comfortable. At least here, he might get jerked around — literally — but he got to eat.

  Liam was getting a little crazy about the dog thing, though, and it was freaking him out… especially now that he had a real, live dog walker who’d expected a real, live dog there.

  Collared. Playing. Subspace.

  It almost sounded normal. If it wasn’t for the fact that a psychopath had tattooed a slave mark onto his arm and was doing things like…

  His tail stopped wagging as hard, and he was sort of glad. Sort of, because he wanted to fall into his body’s response even if his mind didn’t.

  “Feels wrong to want it,” he mumbled. He hadn’t meant to say the words aloud, but the guy instantly seized upon it.

  “Why?”

  He was having a harder and harder time coming up with reasons, so he stayed stubbornly quiet.

  Weird Guy continued, undeterred, “Because there’s some part of you that’s saying it’s wrong? Weird? You’re a puppy. You get to run around and play and not let any of the bad shit out there touch you. You have a master, who even if he’s an asshole, is taking care of you and making sure you get what you need… You have a tail.”

  Which seemed like the thing the guy was most interested in, strange as it was. But there was a part of him that felt a disturbing amount of relief over the fact that it wasn’t completely and utterly repulsive to someone who was, well…

  Sort of nice.

  “Have you tried not fighting it? The way your tail wags and your body relaxes when you’re not thinking about it says just how much you want it.” The dog walker’s hand caressed over Caleb’s back slowly while he seemed to think about what he was going to say next. “And I saw how excited it made you. That cock doesn’t lie.”

  Yeah, the cock the guy wouldn’t stop staring at. His fingers trailed up Caleb’s side just enough to get it going again.

  Damn traitor.

  The unfairly sexy voice continued. “It’s just us. Try it. Show me what a good pup you want to be. No more words, no more overthinking it… Just try it.”

  Caleb wanted to protest, to say he hadn’t wanted this, but the truth was that he’d wanted it — no, his body had wanted it, and there was still a difference — since the moment Liam had first buried his fangs into his throat. He took in a breath, deep and slow, and he closed his eyes. With Liam, it was so difficult because…

  Well, because he enjoyed pissing the vampire off.

  But what Weird Guy was suggesting tugged at him. His voice was so encouraging, so… nice?

  There was that word again, something so dangerous yet so welcome. Why did everything have to be multi-faceted, contradictory…

>   Difficult?

  It doesn’t have to be.

  He let out a tentative bark, starting to take a few awkward “steps” toward the door. At least he had the knee guards now, which was…

  Fuck, Liam was taking care of him, and that was a fucking weird realization that he instantly shoved away.

  “That’s a good pup.” The dog walker stood, letting his hand trail over Caleb’s body as he rose. His fingers eased over Caleb’s spine and down almost to his tail, which sent a shiver racing through him. Weird Guy gave a husky chuckle as they started toward the back door. “Such a pretty pup.”

  Caleb’s breathing started to get a little heavier, and he wondered just what sort of playing Liam had told him they could do… Then again, he was a dog. If he went deep enough into that headspace, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted, and it would be expected. He went slow, testing Weird Guy’s reaction times. He adjusted to Caleb’s pace each time, and it slowly got easier to lose himself as he waited at the door. When the dog walker didn’t open it fast enough, he even let out an impatient bark.

  “Are you ready to play?” Weird Guy’s voice took on a sing-song quality and he smiled, seeming legitimately excited as he talked to Caleb. “Are you going to show me where your toys are?”

  Weird Guy opened the door and hurried to keep up with Caleb’s increased pace. Peeing outside was one thing. Pissing on the floor was another. The ‘wolf had been nice enough to where he didn’t want to make him clean up the mess.

  There was also the fact that it was a little too embarrassing, even for him, but that was entirely beside the point.

  Caleb was squirming, but the good thing about the hard-on was that he was less likely to completely humiliate himself. He looked up at the guy, nudging at the hand that held the leash. It felt surreal, strange, yet it was appealing, too, to communicate—

  Was he seriously thinking it was appealing to communicate without words?

  “You’re a fucking witch, not a werewolf, aren’t you?” he blurted out. “Stop doing your whammy on me and let me off the leash so I can go piss and your perverted ass can gawk.” He might’ve felt guilty if he hadn’t been feeling so indignant; the guy had been pleasant to him. But no. He wasn’t going to let anyone trick him like this!

  Weird Guy gave him a look like he had no idea what Caleb was talking about. “If you want off the leash, show me what a good pup you are. You were having fun. I saw it. I don’t know what’s going through your mind, but this is just us, and you’re going to enjoy yourself and have fun.” He crouched down again and started letting those distracting hands absently pet Caleb. “Show me how good you can be.”

  It would be so easy to drift off into that, to tumble down the rabbit hole.

  He wanted to.

  He refused to.

  “I have to pee,” he whined. “Lemme off the leash, and I’ll be good.”

  Probably.

  “No, that’s not how a good pup behaves.” One of Weird Guy’s hands moved to caress around Caleb’s collar, and the other ran in long strokes down his back. “Good pups bark and wag their tails. They show how excited they are. Show me that you want to be a good boy, and I’ll let you off the leash for now. You’ll be able to go do your business, and I’ll find the toys… I see a box over there that looks like it has fun things for you in it.”

  Caleb couldn’t help but press into the hand running along his spine, shivering as his cock pulsed with excitement he didn’t want to feel. His tail responded before he’d even made the conscious decision to go along with the insane dog walker — were any supes not insane? When it wagged more earnestly, he gave in, letting out an insistent bark.

  “Good boy.” The warped excitement in the dog walker’s voice would have made Caleb bristle, but those fingers ran along his spine again, going all the way down his tail.

  Fuck.

  It shouldn’t have felt so good.

  At least playing pretend paid off. The guy’s hand slid up to the clip where the leash met the collar, releasing it. Caleb froze for a moment, almost unsure of how to respond to the idea of having been given even that small amount of freedom. He barked, the sound half-hearted even as his tail frantically wagged back and forth.

  He instantly went for a tree, going to the opposite side to try to shield some of what he was doing from sight. His cheeks burned, and the humiliation of it… did not even remotely affect his hard-on, goddammit. It made peeing a little harder, but at least he’d had enough practice not to spray himself in the process.

  Finishing, he slowly moved away from the tree, refusing to look over at the insane dog walker. Caleb didn’t want to know what the guy thought or how he must be looking at Caleb.

  If he wanted a dog, then Caleb—

  The feeling of the dog walker’s hands as they gripped his shoulder and back had Caleb jumping, startled. Fuck!

  The guy chuckled but didn’t let Caleb’s reaction chase him away. “Let’s get you cleaned up and then we’ll play, Pup. I found the ball.”

  Duh. Caleb could see it in his hand.

  The rough feel of the damp towel between his legs had Caleb’s face burning again, but the confident touch of the guy’s hand around his dick made it hard to remember why he was embarrassed. “There we go.”

  How could he be embarrassed when it felt so good? It didn’t even make any sense…

  He let himself drift, swept away from everything else that was happening. Fuck, if Liam was like this with him, he might not even mouth off as badly as he did. But no, the vampire had to be a total dick, only to turn around and do… things like providing someone to take care of him.

  His master really needed to make up his mind about how he wanted things to be for Caleb, because he was getting whiplash.

  The ball in the guy’s other hand was one of his most and least favorite toys. Caleb was still clumsy on all fours, but there was something about fetching it, a sense of shameful pride, that made it… fun.

  Besides, the reward might be well worth it.

  “All clean and dry, boy. You ready?” The dog walker’s excited voice stirred the embarrassment in him.

  As the ball flew across the yard, Caleb’s heart started pounding harder.

  “Go fetch.”

  Caleb hesitated for the space of a few seconds. With a quietly snarled, “fuck it,” that he knew the supe’s sensitive hearing would pick up, he went after the ball as quickly as he could — which wasn’t exactly fast, but at least he wasn’t going at the pace of a turtle anymore.

  He got the ball, batting it with one of the mitts like he normally would… then reluctantly leaned down, taking it into his mouth and eyeing the dog walker. Instead of going back, he could be lazy, couldn’t he? He let out a muffled mock-growl around the ball, casting him a challenging look of come and get it.

  Weird Guy laughed, an open, excited sound that Caleb hadn’t heard in a long time. No mocking, no teasing — just honest enjoyment. It was fucked up... but it was also addictive as hell. Weird Guy straightened and pretended to come after Caleb. “You want to play like that, huh? I think I can get it.”

  His obviously measured pace made it clear he wasn’t really trying.

  But when he got closer, Caleb decided to make it a little more difficult anyway. He inched back then shuffled away as fast as he could, turning back with the ball in his mouth just to see if the guy was following… and if he was going to get pissed off or keep enjoying this somehow disturbing yet oddly fascinating game.

  Fuck, he was so screwed. He’d better get some attention for real after this, because if his cock got any harder, he was going to start humping the guy’s leg.

  Weird Guy laughed again and charged at Caleb. He got in front of Caleb but left enough space for him to be able to turn and start hurrying away again. They played the ridiculous game until Weird Guy stopped letting him win.

  Grabbing the ball carefully, he crouched down and with a wide grin gave the ball a gentle shake from where it was still held between Caleb’s t
eeth. “Release. My turn, Pup.”

  Caleb resisted just long enough to make it clear that this was stopping on his terms, then let it go. Instead of waiting for the ball to be thrown though, he rolled onto his back, looking up with the puppy eyes that had seemed to work earlier. He whined pitifully, panting a little from the exertion, his hard cock straining and begging to be touched.

  Weird Guy sat down on the grass beside him, still smiling, but not quite as confidently.

  It made Caleb feel more confident, at least, and he wriggled around a little more on the ground.

  “Are you done playing? Ready for some attention, boy?” Not bothering to wait for an answer, Weird Guy brought his hand out and started rubbing roughly over Caleb’s chest. “Does that feel good? You were so fast, boy.” His gaze was intent, but even though Caleb fully expected to see mocking in the guy’s face or even just the superiority that he had Caleb begging to come, there was nothing like that showing.

  The dog walker just seemed excited to be with Caleb.

  Another hand reached out and started rubbing at Caleb’s thighs around the restraints that kept his legs from straightening. It was almost sexual, but more of a massage than anything else — not that his cock could tell the difference. “Relax, Pup. You got a lot of exercise.”

  Oh, he sure as fuck wanted to relax. He whined a little, trying to arch his hips up so that Weird Guy’s hand would maybe move just a little to the left. If he took care of that little problem, Caleb might even stop calling him Weird Guy in his head and ask him what he wanted to be called.

  Maybe. Weird Guy had started to stick. He might negotiate down to WG, which at least sounded sort of badass.

  The dog walker’s hand was inching up Caleb’s thigh, but nowhere near as fast as he wanted. When the guy spoke again, his voice seemed slightly huskier, like he was a lot more into what they were doing than Caleb had expected. “That’s not how a pup relaxes on his back. If you want me to pet you and rub your belly, you need to show me how a good pup asks to be petted.”

  There was the slightest pressure on the inside of Caleb’s thigh, not enough for the guy to be forcing him but just enough that he knew what he wanted: Caleb spread out and begging.