STORY EXCERPT

The redheaded Trainer that had taught him his first etiquette lessons spoke in calm, measured tones as Payne bowed his head. “Payne, please step forward onto the lighted square so that your Master may examine you.”

His eyes were trained on the floor, the training protocol demanding he keep his eyes lowered unless given express permission to raise them. He wanted to look though. It was almost impossible to deny the impulse. Curiosity over his new Master was eating him alive.

A light turned on at the center of a slightly raised platform which Payne stepped up on. He fell into a casual pose as he’d been taught. He knew that the lighting showcased his naked body to its finest. Oil had been slicked over his tight muscles, and he’d been forbidden to eat anything in the last twelve hours so that the muscles of his abdomen stood out in ropey perfection. Desiree had even been instructed to wash and style his hair for this first meeting, and Payne was surprised to find himself utterly terrified. What if his Master was like his last Trainer? What if he desired to see his blood and pain more than his pleasure? He resented how this person whom he’d never met had this much control over him already.

“Can you give us a moment?” The voice of his Master went straight to his cock as if some sort of signal had been given to his body at those softly uttered words. Payne blushed as his body stirred without provocation. He’d been engineered to be this man’s lover. If there was a formula for fated mates, the Facility had figured it out and tapped into it.

“Of course,” the Trainer said. “When you’re ready, press the red call button on the wall, and I’ll be back with you.”

The door swished open and closed, and they were alone. Payne shifted from foot to foot as silence stretched on. It was his scent. His scent is driving me crazy. Maybe this was what they meant when they said they were absolutely compatible. All he could think about was plastering his body all over whoever was in the room with him and wallowing in his scent. A sharp intake of breath from the other man clued Payne in that the man appreciated his oil-slicked body and his hardened arousal.

“Look at me,” his soon-to-be Master commanded. “You haven’t looked at me once. Look at me.”

Payne raised eyes and met the man’s light-blue ones, and his world shifted. He’d never seen anything or anyone so beautiful. Payne’s arousal jerked. Oh my. What would it be like to touch him?

“What is your name, Vessel?” the man asked. He didn’t have a cold voice like his instructors had.

Payne swallowed. “I’m Vessel 8189, though I prefer Payne.”

The man smiled. “I like a man who asserts himself. I expected shy and submissive, but this is even better. Calm confidence has always been my weakness. It’s uncanny how well the compatibility works.”

Payne shrugged. “If you say so, my lord.”

“Then I will call you Payne. May I touch you, Payne?” he asked with a smile.

Payne was confused by his politeness. “If that is what you desire, my lord.”

“I want you to call me by my name. Call me Alec,” Alec corrected.

“As you wish…Alec.” Payne tested the name on his tongue and found it pleasing. His body jumped as Alec’s fingertips touched the planes of his stomach.

“You are gorgeous,” Alec complimented.

“Thank you, my…Alec,” Payne corrected himself. This was awkward but not uncomfortable. He could get used to this. He wasn’t allowed to call anyone by name but his fellow Vessels. Perhaps his new owner would fulfill some of Payne’s desires in addition to his own. Payne could only hope.

* * * *

Alec’s hands moved freely over his skin, tracing his muscles with barely restrained lust. Alec tried to explain his out-of-character groping. “I don’t know why I feel like I need to touch you so badly.”

“It’s our compatibility,” Payne explained, gasping as Alec traced the puckered tips of both his nipples. “We are perfectly aligned. The urge to mate is normal.” Is that my imagination, or does he seem a little breathless?

“Is it normal for people to, uh, be with their Vessels before they leave the Facility?” Alec asked. The more he touched Payne, the more he desired to touch and explore and—Damn, I’m acting like an animal. He doesn’t deserve that.

“Not normally, but I’m sure they’d make an exception if you so choose,” Payne said, leaning into Alec’s touch.

“I don’t want you to think that I am just some horny guy aiming to get off.” Alec felt the need to explain, which was ridiculous because that was what the Vessel was made for after all. He mentally rolled his eyes. He wasn’t some guy Alec was aiming to pick up at a bar. This was basically a handpicked partner or something. He wouldn’t really be a partner, though, would he? He was a very expensive toy. He got confused by his own marketing. But it certainly didn’t feel that way.

Payne chuckled, but it held an edge of resentment. “I’m a Pleasure Unit. A Vessel designed specifically to fulfill your physical needs and provide you whatever you need. If you desire me, I make myself available. That is the life of a Vessel.”

The bitter edge to Payne’s voice caused Alec to look at him in curiosity. Vessels weren’t supposed to feel resentment. They had been bred with very specific traits. Being eager to please was one of them. Alec reluctantly dropped his arms and took a step back to look at his Vessel once again.

“Shall I service you, my lord Alec?” Payne asked. Alec could’ve sworn he saw a hint of mockery in his gaze.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Alec, please, fuck me,” Payne pleaded. His head spun with lust and heady desire. “I need you. I need you in me.” He didn’t even know how to do it, but Payne knew he needed Alec filling him. He’d shoved his fingers in his ass when he’d masturbated before, but he knew it would be vastly different with the hard cock rubbing against him.

“My pretty little virgin Vessel.” He growled. “You like this, sweetheart?” Alec asked, licking those pink nipples and putting the hard edge of his teeth to tease the tip. He sounded possessive, and it turned Payne on.

“No. I need it. I need you.” Payne was on fire. His mind was spinning out of control as triggers that he hadn’t even realized were imprinted in him were tripped, turning him into a mass of desire and want. The desire to join, to have Alec come deep inside him, was paramount to his sanity. Perfect compatibility didn’t even begin to describe how much he wanted the man touching him.

The movie was forgotten as they tangled.

Alec gasped as Payne tore at his clothing and nipped at his throat. “Christ, you are on fire, lover. You’re so fucking hot.”

“Take me to bed, Alec,” Payne begged. “Fuck me.”

“With pleasure, sweetheart. You’re going to have to let me go first,” Alec said with a laugh as he tried to untangle himself from Payne’s embrace. He pushed himself to unsteady feet and offered Payne a hand up.

They stumbled up the stairs on the way to Alec’s room, rubbing against one another and stopping frequently to kiss and nip at each other’s lips. Finally they burst into the master suite. He barely registered the royal-blue comforter and dark-oak bed posts before he was pressed into the soft, cotton embrace.

Alec stripped him with one hand, pushing the silk boxers to his knees before finally pulling them off completely. Payne sat up on his elbows to watch Alec as he ripped at his own shirt and pants. The hiss of the zipper caused Payne to moan as Alec bared his sexy body to his gaze. Alec had been so damn careful on the way here, always so respectful and distant on the two-day trek from the Facility. Even their earlier tussle had been because Payne had caught him off guard. He licked his bottom lip and gripped the comforter to keep from running his hands down his body and taking himself in hand. He was starving for Alec’s touch.

“I love that look,” Alec rumbled. His eyes were darkened with desire. “I like that you’re scared but still hot for me.”

“You look like you want to eat me alive,” Payne murmured, surprised at the husky timbre of his own voice. “I like it.”

Alec groaned at his words before reaching over to his nightstand and retrieving small bottle of lubrication from the drawer. He squirted some on his hand and wrapped it around his weeping erection. Like before, seeing him pleasure himself with his hands made Payne hot. He squirmed as he waited for Alec to touch him.

“Oh,” Payne sighed as Alec let out a low moan of want, and his knuckles went white as he gripped harder on the covers. The sight of Alec stroking himself with the slick until his cock glistened was nearly his undoing. His body threatened to erupt without Alec ever touching him. Alec extended a knowing hand to Payne’s dick and applied pressure to the base of his cock to halt his impending orgasm.

“Wait,” Alec commanded. Payne made a noise of frustration and squirmed all the more. Didn’t Alec realize it was killing him not to plaster himself all over Alec’s rippling body? “Hush, sweetheart. I can’t concentrate when you do that. Let me get you ready to take me.”

Payne watched with interest as Alec spread his legs with his hands and trailed a hand down the cleft of his buttocks. He jumped as his cheeks were spread for Alec’s perusal. A skilled digit circled the tight rosette of his ass, eliciting another groan. His eyes clenched shut as nerve endings he didn’t even know he had fired, demanding they move the process along. A finger sank into his heat, fucking slowly inside as Payne arched into the motion. Another finger joined the first after a few pumps, the stretch becoming a pleasant burn.

“Like that?” Alec asked. Payne’s eyes popped open. Sweat dripped down Alec’s forehead and neck from the restraint he was showing, and Payne was grateful for it. He needed the intimacy of the moment. This was his first time, and he needed it to be something more than a meaningless fuck to be satisfied. “You doing all right, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” Payne panted. “More. Give me more.” Mine. For the first time, the possessive deeper part of himself raised its head and had a voice. Mine. Mate. Any other time Payne would analyze why he was suddenly hearing voices, but he was too enamored with the man inflicting pleasure on him to worry about much except for getting off.

Alec squeezed out more lube onto his hand before putting it back on the nightstand. He circled Payne’s entrance with careful fingers and pressed another finger inside him. The burn became almost too much for a second, and Payne wondered if he could take it. He closed his eyes and concentrated on relaxing. Moments later he managed it, and Alec proceeded to finger-fuck him mercilessly as he bucked his hips in time with his thrusts. His insides all but writhed in pleasure as sensation speared him. He had needed this for so long, and he hadn’t even realized it. “I’m going to press inside you, Payne. I’ll go slow.”

Payne shook his head vehemently. “Not slow. God, not slow. Please, Alec.”