Fountain of Beauty (The Cubi Book 4) Read online

  “Stop ogling the Guards, Seldon,” Caledon said. “Never thought a man in uniform was you.”

  Seldon looked again, and yes, the Guard Lord was in uniform because the other Guard wore the same clothes, but Levidon’s pants hugged a tight bubble butt.

  Levidon glanced at Seldon and grinned knowingly.

  “Thanks for totally busting me there, Caledon,” Seldon said, slapping Caledon’s ass on their way into the media room again.

  “How much has your hunger risen since the Grand Order?” Caledon took a seat at the table. Stacks of paperwork neatly filled half of it.

  Seldon pulled a chair closer and plopped down before he opened his soda. “When Daniel came to be with me, I fed twice a day. Morning and evening and maybe a noon snack. Now it’s no less than three times a day, and I want to snack in between that.”

  “Me, too,” Caledon said. “These past weeks with the two of you has ramped up my hunger to at least three times a day. As a newborn, Daniel needs about five times a day.”

  “But he doesn’t feed five times a day,” Seldon pointed out.

  “No, he pigs out on us, getting at least two doses three times a day. And he empowers. Well, not this past week, but we’ve fed him more than at the Great House because back then he empowered.”

  “Yeah, no wonder we’re getting hungry.”

  “Go see if that Royal Guard is hungry. I have work to do, and I’m not that hungry yet.”

  Seldon looked at his watch. Three more hours until Daniel got off work, then home, and then the Mingler would arrive. And they’d have to eat. Nope, no way Seldon was going to last that long and focus on the conversation at hand.

  “Okay.” Seldon got up, bringing his soda, but Caledon grabbed the can, giving him a brilliant smile.

  “Bring another when you’re done.”

  “Sure.” Seldon went back into the kitchen and leaned against the door frame, watching as the two sorted through envelopes. “Lord Levidon, are you hungry?”

  Levidon looked up, smiling. “I am, actually.” He placed the envelope on the table and sauntered toward Seldon, his eyes darkening. “But I top.”

  “Okay.” Seldon would much rather be topped by Caledon or Daniel, but a hungry Sire had no business complaining when being bold enough to go ask a Lord to feed him. That he now held the status for a Lord to bow to him, then maybe he could complain a bit. Plus, he really wanted to play with that well-shaped ass.

  Levidon grabbed Seldon from behind, pulling him close, and Seldon felt a hunger boner press against his ass. Levidon was his own size, and Seldon liked the feel of the strength. “You gave in pretty quickly there. The way you eyed my ass, I’d have thought you’d fight me a bit for it.”

  “Oh, my plan was to get you all hot and bothered first,” Seldon said, grinning. “With eyes that dark, I might have a good chance to make your ass feel good, too.”

  Levidon chuckled. “Then get out of those pants and let’s see if you manage.”

  Bossy Lord. Seldon felt pretty sure it was going to be a fuck where he knew exactly where he and his green eyes were in the hierarchy. And the Lord was getting his pants off fast, so Seldon hurried to keep up—especially if it could give him some time with that ass.

  “Now you went and put all sorts of ideas in my head.” Levidon went to stand flush against Seldon, their hard cocks rubbing against each other. He stood so close that Seldon hadn’t had time to appreciate his body, but he felt the soft chest hairs against his own less covered skin.

  Levidon leaned in for a hungry kiss, his fingers digging into Seldon’s ass cheeks, igniting his hunger. “Turn.” Levidon practically spun Seldon by the shoulders. “Better hold onto the kitchen counter.” And that was about all the warning Seldon got before a lubed-up finger pressed into his ass.

  Seldon grabbed the counter as instructed and another finger pressed into him. Either the Lord was very hungry, or he liked it rough. Another finger and a sharp sting tore a grunt from Seldon, but his hunger responded ecstatically, and a moan rolled over his lips.

  “Yeah,” Levidon whispered. “It’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure to feed on a boy like you. Someone strong.”

  That statement unnerved Seldon a bit, but when the fingers disappeared from his ass and the head of a cock pushed in, he forgot about it and gripped the counter harder. A shiver tore through his body in anticipation.

  Levidon pressed in and bottomed out, groaning loudly. “Yeah. This is going to be fucking amazing.”

  “Feed me,” Seldon whispered. A moment later, a dose spread warmth in his ass, and goddamn the Guard Lord was strong. Seldon groaned and fought to stay still as the mind-numbing need for release raced through his body. “Oh shit, oh fuck.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yes!”

  Levidon thrust into Seldon who through the all-consuming need for release remembered to grab the counter harder. And good thing he did because the Lord really did like it hard. Sharp and powerful thrusts made pleasure explode inside Seldon every time the Lord hammered into him.

  At some point, Seldon lost his grip and stumbled forward to lie halfway across the countertop and supported himself against the tiled wall. Levidon reached around Seldon to support him, changed his angle, and thrust in harder. Seldon roared from the building pleasure and reached for his cock, but Levidon slapped his hand away before he grabbed Seldon’s leaking cock and stroked it.

  “Fuck, I’m coming, I’m coming,” Seldon gasped and the orgasm barreled through him.

  But Guard Lord Levidon wasn’t finished. “Yes, holy fuck your ass can take a pounding. So fucking good!” Levidon ground out along with pants of exertion.

  Seldon agreed wholeheartedly—his ass could take it, and he fucking loved riding on the powerful dose being sucked from his system at every hard thrust. Another orgasm built, and Seldon tried to keep himself up on shaky arms and legs, thankful the strength of the Lord could keep him upright as the next orgasm hit and coursed through his body.

  On that wave, Levidon followed, groaning loudly as he quaked and pumped into Seldon, filling his ass.

  The Lord leaned over Seldon now lying flat over the countertop, panting. Seldon had locked his knees to stay upright, but he was exhausted. And full. By the sound of it, Levidon was pretty satisfied, too.

  “Still up for doing something delicious to my ass?” Levidon whispered with a hint of a taunt in his voice.

  Seldon cackled. “I’m too fucking spent.”

  “Yeah, figures. But, as I suspected, that was an amazing fuck.” Levidon stood, and Seldon tried to do the same, but a leg gave way. Levidon caught him and supported Seldon to turn and stand against the kitchen table.

  “Holy shit. I totally agree.”

  Levidon smiled crookedly, the smirk so damn cocky. But Seldon kind of liked it. “Here, let me help you out a bit.” Levidon knelt to grab Seldon’s pants and underpants.

  Seldon felt relieved that he didn’t have to try to balance for that just yet. Seldon then jerked in surprise as a hot tongue licked his soft cock gently. He looked down to find Levidon licking him clean.

  “Yeah. Lovely.” Levidon stood, pulling Seldon’s pants up. Seldon took over the project of straightening out his clothes while Levidon did the same with his own. “Will you get that while I finish packing the letters?”

  Seldon looked at his spunk dripping down the cabinet door. It was only fair, he guessed, since he had nothing better to do. But damn that Guard Lord was bossy.

  “Yeah. Are all Guard Lords this strong? I mean, what do they feed you?”

  “Good dose?” Levidon grinned when Seldon nodded wide-eyed. “Let me explain it like this…” Levidon stepped closer. “I’m only six hundred years old.”

  “Jeez!” Caledon was eight and his dose certainly didn’t feel that intense.

  “We were picked among the bravest warriors in the North Kingdom to come here and be ready when the new Royal was born. We have trained our entire lives to protect his Kingdom, and we’ve b
een dosed weekly by the highest level Cubi in all of the Great House since we got here.”

  “And now that you’re the highest?”

  “Nol-Elakdon sometimes sends us a few of his highest level Lords and Ladies. Their level can go higher than ours because they’re dosed by the King.” Levidon put his hand on Seldon’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. “You will learn more, soon, Grand Sire. You must in order to aid the Prince as his right hand.”

  “Yes. Thank you for this.”

  “Thank you.” Another crooked smile and a wink, and Levidon returned to his project.

  Seldon cleaned off the spunk, grabbed another soda, and joined Caledon, hoping he had something useful for him to do. He found Caledon clacking away at a computer with his reading glasses on. Seldon could somewhat understand Daniel’s infatuation with the Lord’s geeky side. “Can I help with anything?”

  “Read this, and tell me what you think.” Caledon handed Seldon a tablet.

  “Yes, My Lord.” Seldon sat with his soda.

  Caledon glanced at him, grinning.

  Chapter Three

  I t was finally closing time. Daniel’s feet and knees hurt, and he wondered if running around and standing for that long at a time was something he’d get used to. All he needed to do was haul the displays inside and lock up while Chas and Roardon cashed out the till.

  Guard Lord Afdon stood by the counter when Daniel returned with the keys to the front door.

  “Good evening, My Prince. How was your day?”

  “Exhausting. I look forward to Sunday. I swear, I’m gonna sleep in, and have breakfast in bed. Both kinds.”

  Roardon chuckled. “You can take a day off, Beaudon, we’ll manage.”

  “No, I need this. I need to focus on something other than my people being in danger and me being absolutely useless to them right now.” He spoke the truth when revealing feeling useless, and the fact burned in him.

  “If I may, My Prince,” Afdon said. “Trust your Grand Council, and trust in us, your Royal Guard. Many of us are still assisting the Cubi in getting safe and securing the Great House against another attack. We protect all of your Kingdom, not only your person.”

  “And you must take time to educate yourself so that you can become of use to your people,” Roardon said, leaning his elbows on the counter to look at him. “Maybe divide your time between this store and your education?”

  Daniel considered it. A week ago, he’d felt so full of hope as the plans he’d helped come up with had been taken to the Grand Council for their input. Seeing it all begin had been thrilling. But the waiting allowed his mind to fill with doubts and his heart to grow heavy with worry.

  He’d said that his Kingdom was new and that the Cubi with their long-life spans had time. Now he had a difficult time finding the confidence he’d had when speaking those words because he also heard of Cubi families with children born in the Great House who were now on the run and hiding among humanity. It had to be difficult to hunt with small cubs to keep safe, too. Not to mention the ones old enough to go to school. And what of the ones reaching the age to be empowered? How many Lords and Ladies were in human society to secure them the necessary doses? The hotels where the Minglers lived or went to be dosed by the procreating Lords and Ladies certainly weren’t enough.

  He knew that the Grand Council was already hashing out those details, but the no-news-situation increased his nervousness.

  And Roardon was right that Daniel needed to focus on his education and not just the store. It was just so soothing to work hard because then he felt like he accomplished something. He could see the product of his labor. He had it under control. There, he took responsibility—could take responsibility. At the store, he felt useful.

  “Learning the Cubi language is going slow,” Daniel said, hoping his mind would change focus from the store to the unfathomably huge mountain of books and study subjects he needed to get through. “Is that the right end to begin at?”

  “End?” Roardon asked.

  “Yeah, when attacking this long list of things I need to learn.”

  “Trying to find the right end is not the only way to go about it,” Roardon said. “You already know what’s on the list. Trust me because being a House Lord sometimes means a long list of ugh!” Roardon hung his head as if defeated by boredom. “My advice. Go with what catches your interest and roll over into the next thing that makes the list of interesting enough to keep your eyes open. At least until you find the subject that’ll keep you awake at night with excitement to learn more. But always remember, the ugh is as necessary as the interesting stuff.”

  Daniel smiled, happy to have his Cubus dad with him. “Thank you.”

  “Good.” Roardon reached across the counter and patted Daniel’s shoulder. “Now, we’re all done here. Anything more we need to do?”

  Daniel shook his head. “Just locking the back door when we leave.”

  “Good. Then let’s get home. You must be getting hungry, too.” Roardon put an arm around Daniel’s shoulder. They turned out the lights as they went, set the alarm, and locked the door. Afdon drove them home, and Daniel hoped his mom had dinner ready.

  They arrived home, and Daniel went straight through to the den, looking around. Seldon sat on the couch, reading. Caledon sat in an armchair, his focus on something on his laptop, and his fingers danced over the keyboard.

  “Hi,” Daniel said, kissing Caledon on the top of his head as he passed the chair.

  Caledon looked up, cheerfully. “Hi, cub.”

  Daniel plopped down on the couch next to Seldon and leaned in for a kiss.

  “How was your day?” Seldon asked, hugging Daniel close with one arm while powering down the tablet.

  “Eventful if you count a customer dropping three boxes of three different sized screws, spreading them. Everywhere.” Daniel threw out his arms, once again seeing the absolute mess.

  Caledon and Seldon chuckled.

  “And your day?” Daniel asked.

  “Eventful, as well,” Caledon said.

  “We got rings to identify us.” Seldon held out his hand for Daniel to see.

  “They arrived?” Daniel turned to grab Seldon’s right hand. “It’s pretty.”

  “I take it you knew about them?” Seldon said.

  “Of course. I’m the one insisting on yours being gold as you’re my right and left hand.”

  “Left?” Caledon asked, looking shocked.

  Daniel smiled and stood to go sit on Caledon’s lap. Caledon closed his laptop and dumped it on the floor next to the recliner. “You and Seldon have been immensely supportive of me since I got here. At the Great House, I mean. You not only took the time to guide me, aid me, care for me, you made me feel like everything is possible. Of all the Grand Lords and Ladies, I only know Geodin well. My right and left hands need to be people I trust enough to confide in regarding everything, and people I know will be there no matter what. You have, and I trust you.”

  Caledon’s smile grew, and he looked truly touched. Daniel leaned in to plant a kiss on his lips, and he felt appeased by the sigh it coaxed from the Lord. “What about the other rings? Minglers and Changelings and so on?”

  “Everyone else’s is silver.”

  Seldon looked surprised. “Not the Guard Lords’.”

  “No, they’re black to set them apart.” Daniel studied the details of Caledon’s ring’s design. It was identical to Seldon’s except for the color of the gem.

  “And yours?” Seldon asked.

  “Gold with a red stone.”

  “Why red?” Caledon asked.

  “To not mark me. The detail about our rings being gold is only known by us, the Grand Council, and the Guard Lords.” Daniel sniffed the aroma from the kitchen. His eyes lit up. “Pot roast. My mom’s pot roast is legendary. Certainly deserves the title.” Daniel bounced from Caledon’s lap and went into the kitchen. “Hi, mom.”

  “Hi, honey. How was your day?” Susan turned to smile at him before the potatoes
got her full attention again. She’d just begun peeling them, so that meant he had to starve for a little while yet.

  Daniel took a seat at the table, feeling calm and at ease at being home again. Once, he’d taken for granted that his mom had asked him about his school day, but he hadn’t appreciated it. Now he did. He loved being home. “It was eventful, but my feet are killing me.”

  “Yeah, your body has to get used to something new. It’s like that time we went bowling.” Susan chuckled, and Daniel laughed at remembering how she’d complained the day after that her butt hurt from the unusual exercise, and her thumb throbbed from constantly scraping the edge of the thumb hole in the ball.

  Speaking of throbbing, Daniel needed to feed as soon as they’d eaten dinner.

  “Do you need a hand with something?” Daniel asked.

  “No, you sit and enjoy yourself. You’ve been at work for twelve hours. It’s a man’s right to come home and relax a bit when he’s been out all day supporting his family.”

  At first, the comment warmed Daniel, but he also recognized just how human it was. And how stereotypically gender normative it was. He found he didn’t care for it for the simple reason it couldn’t work in the Cubi world, and that was the world he had to understand in order to secure it. Yet in the human world, he guessed it was kind of fair since the—in this case—woman didn’t have to go find food for herself. In fact, he thought he understood why most Cubi lived alone except for sharing a house with their claimed breeders. But what about with cubs? Seldon had talked about his kids and their mothers but not in enough detail for Daniel to understand how it worked.

  It struck him that he needed to know. Would Cubi parents place themselves in difficult situations if they didn’t mimic human family structures during their time away from the structures they knew so well?

  “Excuse me.” Daniel left the kitchen. “Caledon, Seldon, I just had a thought.” Daniel ran them through what he’d just speculated about and what had sparked the interest in the answer to his question. “Would or could the Cubi family structure be a danger to them out here?”