Toys 18: The Line Between Man and Beast (Part A)
I got nominations for Kin of the Heart and Toys at the White Knight awards, and I started rereading Toys. Funny enough, my Toys muse came roaring back with a vengeance, and even though I was in the middle of a Dark, Still Waters chapter and even though I wanted to finish "Short Time," my Toys muse locked those muses in the closet because she wanted to torture Riley some more. Yep, you see Angel and Spander and the whole Toys gang, but this chapter is a Riley POV.
Toys 18: The Line Between Man and Beast (Part A)
Rated: Adult
Pairings: Spike/Xander, Angel/Wesley, Fred/OFC, Riley/Dalton (OFC Dalton, not canon Dalton), Riley/OFC (not all are explicit, so don't get your hopes too high)
Riley watched as Aeth carefully rose and walked toward Spike before sinking to her knees, her head tilting to the side in the submission she'd learned at the end of Dalton's leash. Dalton's fingers found his hair, tugging at individual locks.
"Dalton improved your manners," Spike snorted. "I'm still not convinced she improved your magic." Xander was sitting at Spike's feet, another carving taking shape in his hands. Dalton had once told him that Xander's carvings were magic, but even without mystical powers, they were impressive. The current one showed Spike in a half-crouch, his fury clear in every line of the wood. Xander had talent.
"Willow has become a conduit for magic. She cannot shut herself off from all magic without it gathering in her body. This spell would prevent her from gathering even insignificant amounts of magic by allowing it to flow through her." Aeth delivered her message and then sank down, her forehead pressed to the floor.
"Tara?" Spike asked. She was picking at her dress, a frown on her face, but then she rarely had any other expression when Aeth was around. Riley wasn't sure if she disliked the dark mage or just the reminder that humans were lower life forms and could be turned into pets at Spike's whim.
"This-this is dark magic. I just can't say. I'm sorry," she finally offered.
"No worries, luv. At least you're wise enough to know when ya don't have the answer. The bigger fool tries to make herself look important by pretending knowledge she doesn't have. Isn't that right?" Spike asked, reaching out to give Aeth a kick with his toe.
"Yes, Master," she quickly agreed. Dalton snapped her finger, and Aeth rose and backed up to Dalton's side, kneeling on her left while Riley knelt on her right.
"It'd be a neat solution," Spike mused. He looked around at his court.
The leader of the Oden Tal, Falif, leaned forward. "Would anyone be able to siphon her magic?"
Aeth looked up at Dalton who gave a slight nod. "Yes, Mistress. Willow would have no control over the magic, so it would flow through her to the nearest source pulling at it."
"Fred?" Spike asked. The woman jumped a little and then blushed when most of the court focused on her. If Riley guessed right, the small Oden Tal woman sitting next to Fred had been distracting her with nimble fingers. Those two had formed quite a friendship.
"Master?" she asked as she looked around. The woman sitting next to Fred blushed as several of the Oden Tal made amused noises and one called out a foreign word. If Riley or Aeth had been that oblivious, punishment would have followed, but then Fred hadn't ever made the sorts of decisions that led to a person being demoted to a pet. She was a techno-mage who the Oden Tal courted and the lower-level vampires avoided.
Angel sighed. "Spike asked whether a spell to force Willow's magic to remain open so that it would drain out of her would work." Angel was a recent addition to the court. Sometimes the politics changed so fast that Riley didn't understand and with Aeth now sharing Dalton's quarters, he found himself reluctant to ask for the explanations he used to. However, it seemed that whatever stupidity Angel had committed in LA had been forgiven, and he was appearing more and more often, Wesley or Cordelia or Fred sitting with him on a low bench near Spike's chair.
"Um, as long as the flow of energy out equals the flow of energy in, there shouldn't be any problem. She'd just be like a circuit with power going through but not really affecting anything," Fred hurried to say. She looked over at Angel, and he smiled at her. Angel didn't treat his humans the same as Spike. Before the drugs, before he'd been broken into so many pieces that he didn't know himself anymore, Riley would have preferred Angel. The man treated his humans as equals, and Wesley was particularly quick to criticize. Now... now Riley knew he was where he needed to be. He leaned into Dalton's leg and her hand reached down to stroke his cheek.
In the months since she'd taken Aeth as a pet, he'd grown to realize that he wanted Dalton's touch as much as her body or her ownership over him. Oh, he still wanted those other things. He missed the nightly sex and the feel of her chains on him, reminding him that he was free to want the drugs because he'd never have them. But what he really missed was the constant touching. Even now, her hand slid away as she leaned the other way to stroke Aeth's hair. Riley leaned his cheek into Dalton's leg and simply waited. He'd grown adept at waiting.
"It'd be one less fucking problem to deal with," Spike sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Xander put his carving down and stroked his hand up and down Spike's leg. "Too many fucking problems at once, and you not having your house in order is not exactly helping." Spike sent a nasty glare in Angel's direction, and the other vampire looked down, clearly accepting the censure even if his body was tight. He did not like being called out in public.
"We are pursuing the Groosalugg," Falif offered. "Our informants in L.A. have given us a number of useful leads, and we believe that we shall find him within weeks."
"Make it days," Spike snapped.
"Of course," Falif agreed, but Riley noticed she didn't say how many days.
"What if he won't agree to the spell?" Angel asked. Riley had no idea which spell this was because the whole court was talking about the ridiculous number of spells that seemed to be planned right now. Tracking spells and truth spells, a spell to strip the seer of a power that was killing her, and a spell to find Master Spike another seer, a spell to imprison Willow, and now the need for a new spell to retrieve her from her prison after months in there. Master Spike had even staked one minion who had complained that real vampires didn't have this much magic around.
However, as near as he could tell, this Groosalugg was supposed to either take Cordelia's visions or at least stop her from having any more. If they didn't find him soon, Riley doubted the woman would survive. When she'd first come to court with the rest of Angel's humans, her sharp tongue had amused him, even when he worried that Spike might just snap her neck. Now, when she appeared, she was weak and trembling, her body often bleeding from mysterious wounds left by her visions.
"If you can take him in fucking hand, that won't be an issue, will it?" Spike demanded as he stared at Angel.
Angel stared back for a second before he looked away. "I won't just attack him."
"Then fucking challenge him, but if ya don't make him agree to the spell, I will. Xander's goin' to be sharing his spot at my feet and I'll fucking claim the queen-bitch. Got it?" Spike demanded.
Angel didn't answer, but he did give a short nod. Wesley had watched with interest. "Groo did seem very willing to follow Cordelia's orders. I doubt very much that the hierarchy of a vampire court would shock him," he said.
Angel narrowed his eyes and glared at Wesley, but the man simply stared back. Eventually, Angel reached out, caught Wesley by the back of the neck, and just pulled him close. Even if Wesley verbally argued with Angel, he always yielded physically, and this time was no different. He ended up with his head against Angel's chest, and he shifted to lean into the vampire's body.
Riley really had no doubt about that relationship. At one point he'd theorized that the correct way to control a vampire was to offer them enough sex to keep them happy and sated, and the longer he was in Spike's court, the more practical that strategy appeared. He had a flash of himself offering the General that bit of advice, and he had to smile. Yeah, they'd lock him in the nuthouse. That didn't mean he was wrong, though.
"Right then, so I need someone who has something useful to say about Aeth's spell here," Spike said loudly to the whole court. Fred caught the wrist of the Oden Tal woman sitting next to her, and Riley guessed that she was not in a mood to be distracted. The woman leaned back, her hand moving to Fred's leg as she watched the room with more interest. Falif was watching the pair, and Riley couldn't even guess what she was thinking. If this were Riley's command, he'd be worried about divided loyalty and fraternization in the ranks, but there was so much fraternizing going on, it hardly seemed fair to tell Fred and her young woman not to have hot sex on any available surface.
Tara cleared her throat. "I could call Giles," she said softly.
That was not a pleasant expression on Spike's face.
"The G-man knows way more about dark magic than he likes to admit, Master," Xander seconded her.
Aeth shifted uncomfortably, and Riley knew that she resented the fact that the others were questioning her magic. Well, she could get used to it. As a pet, the others had very little concern for her feelings. A pet could only look to his owner for any sort of respect because Riley knew how the rest of the world saw them. Sometimes Wesley would slip, and a bit of horror or pity would shine through his expression so that it practically burned Riley. Luckily that usually ended with Angel pulling the man into his lap or over his lap or just out of the room.
"I should talk to him," Angel said firmly.
Master Spike looked over with amusement. "You think you're up to that, pet? It's not like he has a high opinion of you."
"He'll believe that I want to help Willow," Angel said, his head high. But he also waited, his eyes on Spike who would either give permission or not.
"He'll believe that even more comin' from Glinda."
"He'll believe that you're serious if you send me," Angel countered, and that made logical sense to Riley. Xander and Tara had a lot of status in court, more than the minions or even the younger Oden Tal, but he wasn't sure that someone from outside of court would ever believe that. Every demon who walked into the court to pay respects to Spike turned to Angel as the second most important person in the room. Riley had no doubt that anyone with experience with vampires would believe Angel had more influence in Spike's court.
Spike reached down and tugged at Xander's hair, urging the man up and into Spike's lap. Xander had on jeans that hung low on his hips, and he slithered up into Spike's lap with a sensuality that Riley rarely associated with men. For long seconds, Spike ran fingers through Xander's curls and Xander played with the buttons on Spike's shirt, clearly looking for permission to go farther.
"You plannin' on calling him or using a portal to pop in on the old fart?" Spike asked Tara.
"I would be more convincing in person," Tara said, indirectly answering his question.
Spike nodded. "Right then, you, Angel and Xander, pop off and talk to Giles. If this spell is going to make Willow safe, it's time to bring her back before we have some other disaster."
"The dimension will hold for at least a few more months," Fred quickly interrupted. "I'm real sorry I didn't recognize the inherent danger of introducing a destabilizing factor into a closed system."
Spike waved his hand dismissively. "The whole fucking thing can collapse and take the witch with it for all I care." Riley could see both Tara and Xander react to that. Xander's hand stilled on Spike's chest and Tara sat up a little stiffer. "But if we can get her out safe, we will," the vampire finished. He gave Xander a slap on the hip and Xander rose and offered a flash of arched neck before he turned to Tara. "And get some blood before you go anywhere. You still don't fucking feed enough," Spike complained to Angel.
"Wesley and Fred have given too much already," Angel objected. Wesley had pushed himself away from Angel, but now he already had his head tilted to the side. Riley could see a flash of something that looked almost like disappointment when Angel didn't bite. That one was becoming well and truly addicted to the bite. For his sake, Riley hoped that Angel never decided to turn on the man because he would find himself going down the same path that Riley had, without a doubt.
"Use Riley," Spike said with a wave of his hand.
Riley jerked a little in surprise, but Dalton's hand was already gone, and he knew better than to question a Master's decision. Getting up, he walked over to Angel, prepared to go to his knees, but then Angel stood up and caught him around the back of the neck, keeping him on his feet. Riley offered his neck and waited, his body stiff.
No matter how often he saw Angel in court, he could never erase that first meeting when he and Angel had stared at each other across Buffy's dorm room. Only now Buffy was dead, and neither of them had stood by her side. Part of Riley wanted to argue that Angel was no better than he was, but the fact was that Riley had fallen so far that he wasn't a fraction of the soldier who had once stood beside Buffy, and he had no right to challenge Angel the way he once had.
Teeth went in faster than he expected, digging deeper into his flesh, and the power and the pain sent signals to Riley's cock that he did not like, but that was the nature of addiction. He no longer believed he had any control over it. His cock hardened in its cage and he fought to not groan in need. Angel took several mouthfuls, but Riley had plenty to spare. Long before Riley was dizzy, Angel stepped back and wiped his mouth.
"Thank you," he said. Riley found that amusing, as if he had any choice in the matter.
"Of course, Master." Riley turned to head back to Dalton. She looked up at him with yellow eyes, her nose widening slightly. She sniffed, and he knew that she could smell his need. He slowed his walk and tilted his head in invitation. Over the last few months, he'd had her attention only in flashes-a day here or a few days there. Most of the time, her attention had been on Aeth, first on training her and now on guarding the mage as she researched and prepared the spell. This was the first sign Dalton had given him in weeks, and he tried to mimic some of the moves he had seen Xander use so effectively against Spike.
A small part of his mind called him a whore, but that was easy to ignore. He was a whore.
Dalton's eyes slipped past him to where the Oden Tal sat. "Falif, would you like the use of my pet for the evening?" Dalton asked.
Riley stopped in the middle of the floor, his guts tangling at the thought of her giving him away. The Oden Tal were exotic, beautiful, powerful women. They were the sort of women who starred in most men's fantasies, but Riley had gotten used to Dalton. He'd grown to like laying in bed with her reading or talking about the farms back home or listening to her explain vampire logic as he tried to explain ideas like honor and guilt. He'd even grown used to her tired and cranky as she quickly used his body before falling asleep. The Oden Tal weren't Dalton, but then as a pet, he wasn't consulted on his preferences. Riley went to his knees in the middle of the floor, waiting for Falif's decision before he either returned to Dalton or went wherever he was ordered.
Falif sounded surprised. "Surely you have use for him."
"I'll be busy with this one," Dalton said as she pulled Aeth's head up by her thick braid. Aeth leaned into Dalton's touch, and for one second, her expression was smug as she looked at Riley. By vampire logic, she was the better pet-more beautiful, more powerful, more advantageous in a fight. Riley might have been beautiful once, but he knew what the scars on his back looked like. He knew how Dalton's fingers always avoided touching him there.
"Riley, would you choose to come with us?" Falif asked. Riley looked over his shoulder at the five women who were considering him with interested eyes. They'd never had a chance to try him before, and he knew they were curious. His other alternative was to sit in a corner and try to not disturb one of Aeth's piles of books or computers as she worked, Dalton standing behind her, holding her leash.
"Yes, ma'am," Riley answered. He turned and looked back at the floor in front of him as he waited for an order. Something silver flew through the air over him, but Riley kept his head down until he heard his mistress's voice.
"Return him in the morning."
"Of course," Falif agreed. Without waiting for a direct order, Riley stood up and turned to the Oden Tal, walking to a spot in front of their bench where he sank to his knees. One of the women, a young one with red hair, laughed and reached out to run a hand along his arm and up to his neck where the white pinprick scars from feeding gathered. Riley's cock hardened, and he tried hard to just turn off his mind and allow his body to do whatever it would.
Wesley was staring at him, a look on confusion on his face, but Riley was a soldier, trained to not give away anything to the enemy through his expression, and he focused on keeping his face neutral. Looking around, Spike was studying him, and Riley lowered his gaze to the floor, afraid that Master Spike might see some spark of disobedience in him.
"Mistress, I can prepare detailed notes on the spell and ceremony," Aeth suggested.
"Sire?" Dalton asked.
"Right then, make sure she don't try anything," Spike quickly answered, but he sounded distracted. Riley focused on a small bug trying to make it across the length of the wooden floor, but he could just imagine how Xander might be saying goodbye and distracting his master.
"We have a pleasant diversion to attend to as well," Falif suggested as she stood. Riley rose at her side, keeping his head down and avoiding the stares of the court. Victor wanted a human pet badly, and Riley suspected that he was now up for grabs if he wasn't on his way back to the stables. If Master Spike was going to give him to Victor, if they were exchanging silent looks right now, Riley didn't want to know. Then again, Victor might be a better choice than Angel. Riley clasped his hands at his back to keep himself from touching the mark where Angel had bitten him. The vampire was weak, and Riley suspected that it would be entirely too easy for him to slip that leash. The thought of the Rapture houses rose in his memory, half horror and half dream. No matter how long he was clean, Rapture still called to him. Then again, maybe that's where he belonged. Falif started towards the Oden Tal's end of the building, and Riley followed.
The plain gray and steel and wood structure gave way to colorful swirls and patterns painted across hallways. Spirals splashed across doors, long arrows dodged around rough windows cut into the steel siding, red circles dotted the floor like a blood trail.
"He is so quiet," one of the Oden Tal said, and a hand ran up his back, fingers brushing over his scars.
"Were you always so quiet?" another voice asked.
"No," Riley answered.
Falif led to a double door and pushed both sides open. The inside was a riot of color that made Riley blink for a second. "Do you plan to be this quiet all night?" she asked as she held up a silver key-the key to his chastity cage.
"I'm not sure what you want," Riley said honestly. He kept himself still as the Oden Tal moved around him, gathering in small groups on the floor where pillows and throws were arranged in piles. There were probably a dozen women here, and the ones who had not been in court started whispering loudly. Angel had been here one night, Riley knew, he and Wesley both. Fred often came here, but Riley didn't think any of the human pets had even been to the Oden Tal's main hall. No one in the stable had ever mentioned it, and the people there had very little to talk about other than their pasts and the latest soap opera plots.
"We want only for you to enjoy yourself. We know so little about you or Xander," Falif said as she reached forward. She slowly unbuttoned his jeans, and Riley went to parade rest, his hands behind his back so she could work more easily. "Like this," she said as she uncovered his trapped cock. The pink flesh pressed against the plastic cage. "This is not vabata."
"Ma'am?" Riley asked, not sure what she meant. She pushed his jeans open a little more so she could reach in far enough to find the lock.
"This is not respectful of choice. You and Xander allow the vampires to take away your choice to have sex. Why?"
Riley blinked for a second. "It's theirs to take," he finally answered.
"Why?" Falif asked curiously. She freed his cock and slowly pulled the cage away, running her fingers along the head until Riley groaned in need and hardened. "Does that not feel better?"
"Yes," Riley agreed. The conversation had grown quiet in the room.
"But yet you give that choice to Dalton, to a woman. On our world, women are not allowed choice over even themselves."
"That's wrong," Riley immediately answered. The idea of enslaving an entire gender turned his stomach. Falif smiled.
"And yet, you have no choice over yourself," she said.
Riley closed his eyes, wishing this was something as simple as them riding him while he tried to please them all before coming. That would be painful, but not as painful as this. "I made choices, and they were the wrong ones. Dalton and Spike make better choices for me," he said. Falif nodded, and maybe that was the answer she wanted because she turned away and wandered toward one of the groups. That left Riley standing awkwardly at the front of the room, his jeans open and his cock hanging out as he waited at parade rest. He was not into exhibition, and his cock slowly softened and shrank.
Several of the women returned to their own business, talking or watching small televisions, or in one pile, working fingers into each other and writhing in pleasure. He turned his head away when his cock started getting the wrong idea.
"Is he going to stand there all night?" the red-haired one asked loudly. Several of the women laughed, and a couple admonished her.
"Where would you like me to go?" Riley asked, fighting against his own embarrassment. He should know better by now because he had no more right to embarrassment than to any other feeling. This was his life, and he would accept whatever came.
"Where would you want to go?" one of the older ones asked.
"To Dalton," he answered quickly, but then he thought of Dalton, standing with her hand on Aeth's cheek. "Outside, to find Rapture," he amended himself, "which is why I can't be trusted to make my own choices, ma'am," Riley quickly answered.
That caused a sudden silence in the room. A young one said something in a foreign tongue, and one of the older ones hushed her. "Come over here, human," the older woman suggested, holding out her hand to him. Her black hair was just starting to streak with gray at the temple, and Riley went immediately to her, kneeling down in front of her as he took her hand.
"We get very few chances to sleep with males. The males of our own world believe that sex gives them power over us," she said as she ran a hand down Riley's chest to where his cock was still framed by his open pants. Riley glanced over at Falif to make sure this was allowed, but the Oden Tal leader was on her own pile of pillows, looking at an open scroll with another woman with hair cropped close to her head. Riley turned back to the woman who was stroking him and allowed himself to harden under her touch.
"Does he feel like Angel or Wesley?" a woman with short blonde hair asked as she came over and sat close.
"He is human; he feels like Wesley."
"Does that mean he can only choose one of us like Wesley?" she asked, clearly disappointed. The woman looked at Riley, obviously waiting for an answer. Riley glanced around at the number of women watching.
"I can service at least four or five," he said. It would hurt, especially without the cock ring, but he could hold off that long. Old words floated into his memory. Great minds had purpose, his mother always told him. She had told him to find his purpose... his destiny. Riley shoved his pants down and sat in order to pull them off. His mother would cry if she could see him now. He didn't have a great mind. He had a small mind, and the only thing he had in his future was pain.
Riley settled back onto a pillow and held out a hand to the young woman who had been disappointed at the thought he could only serve one woman before losing control. Confusion flashed on her face for a second, and the older woman pulled her close.
"He's letting you be on top, foolish one," she said, but her voice was amused. The young woman blushed as she straddled Riley. Her warmth made Riley harden even more, and he allowed his hands to drift up her thighs as he shifted a bit so he could thrust up.
"Ride him," another woman advised her.
"Do you know how--?" Riley started to ask, but then she finally figured out to line up with his cock and dropped into place. The tightness made Riley's eyes water, and he thrust up involuntarily, hissing at the heat and pressure that made him fully hard immediately.
She gasped, and women's hands steadied her, helping her find a rhythm as Riley just struggled to hold on and not come. Maybe if he was good enough they'd keep him. He fisted a pillow with one hand and reached down where their bodies met with his other. Working his thumb on her clit, he listened to her squeal with surprise and pleasure as he just hoped she would finish soon.
Continue to part B.
Toys 18: The Line Between Man and Beast (Part A)
Rated: Adult
Pairings: Spike/Xander, Angel/Wesley, Fred/OFC, Riley/Dalton (OFC Dalton, not canon Dalton), Riley/OFC (not all are explicit, so don't get your hopes too high)
Riley watched as Aeth carefully rose and walked toward Spike before sinking to her knees, her head tilting to the side in the submission she'd learned at the end of Dalton's leash. Dalton's fingers found his hair, tugging at individual locks.
"Dalton improved your manners," Spike snorted. "I'm still not convinced she improved your magic." Xander was sitting at Spike's feet, another carving taking shape in his hands. Dalton had once told him that Xander's carvings were magic, but even without mystical powers, they were impressive. The current one showed Spike in a half-crouch, his fury clear in every line of the wood. Xander had talent.
"Willow has become a conduit for magic. She cannot shut herself off from all magic without it gathering in her body. This spell would prevent her from gathering even insignificant amounts of magic by allowing it to flow through her." Aeth delivered her message and then sank down, her forehead pressed to the floor.
"Tara?" Spike asked. She was picking at her dress, a frown on her face, but then she rarely had any other expression when Aeth was around. Riley wasn't sure if she disliked the dark mage or just the reminder that humans were lower life forms and could be turned into pets at Spike's whim.
"This-this is dark magic. I just can't say. I'm sorry," she finally offered.
"No worries, luv. At least you're wise enough to know when ya don't have the answer. The bigger fool tries to make herself look important by pretending knowledge she doesn't have. Isn't that right?" Spike asked, reaching out to give Aeth a kick with his toe.
"Yes, Master," she quickly agreed. Dalton snapped her finger, and Aeth rose and backed up to Dalton's side, kneeling on her left while Riley knelt on her right.
"It'd be a neat solution," Spike mused. He looked around at his court.
The leader of the Oden Tal, Falif, leaned forward. "Would anyone be able to siphon her magic?"
Aeth looked up at Dalton who gave a slight nod. "Yes, Mistress. Willow would have no control over the magic, so it would flow through her to the nearest source pulling at it."
"Fred?" Spike asked. The woman jumped a little and then blushed when most of the court focused on her. If Riley guessed right, the small Oden Tal woman sitting next to Fred had been distracting her with nimble fingers. Those two had formed quite a friendship.
"Master?" she asked as she looked around. The woman sitting next to Fred blushed as several of the Oden Tal made amused noises and one called out a foreign word. If Riley or Aeth had been that oblivious, punishment would have followed, but then Fred hadn't ever made the sorts of decisions that led to a person being demoted to a pet. She was a techno-mage who the Oden Tal courted and the lower-level vampires avoided.
Angel sighed. "Spike asked whether a spell to force Willow's magic to remain open so that it would drain out of her would work." Angel was a recent addition to the court. Sometimes the politics changed so fast that Riley didn't understand and with Aeth now sharing Dalton's quarters, he found himself reluctant to ask for the explanations he used to. However, it seemed that whatever stupidity Angel had committed in LA had been forgiven, and he was appearing more and more often, Wesley or Cordelia or Fred sitting with him on a low bench near Spike's chair.
"Um, as long as the flow of energy out equals the flow of energy in, there shouldn't be any problem. She'd just be like a circuit with power going through but not really affecting anything," Fred hurried to say. She looked over at Angel, and he smiled at her. Angel didn't treat his humans the same as Spike. Before the drugs, before he'd been broken into so many pieces that he didn't know himself anymore, Riley would have preferred Angel. The man treated his humans as equals, and Wesley was particularly quick to criticize. Now... now Riley knew he was where he needed to be. He leaned into Dalton's leg and her hand reached down to stroke his cheek.
In the months since she'd taken Aeth as a pet, he'd grown to realize that he wanted Dalton's touch as much as her body or her ownership over him. Oh, he still wanted those other things. He missed the nightly sex and the feel of her chains on him, reminding him that he was free to want the drugs because he'd never have them. But what he really missed was the constant touching. Even now, her hand slid away as she leaned the other way to stroke Aeth's hair. Riley leaned his cheek into Dalton's leg and simply waited. He'd grown adept at waiting.
"It'd be one less fucking problem to deal with," Spike sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Xander put his carving down and stroked his hand up and down Spike's leg. "Too many fucking problems at once, and you not having your house in order is not exactly helping." Spike sent a nasty glare in Angel's direction, and the other vampire looked down, clearly accepting the censure even if his body was tight. He did not like being called out in public.
"We are pursuing the Groosalugg," Falif offered. "Our informants in L.A. have given us a number of useful leads, and we believe that we shall find him within weeks."
"Make it days," Spike snapped.
"Of course," Falif agreed, but Riley noticed she didn't say how many days.
"What if he won't agree to the spell?" Angel asked. Riley had no idea which spell this was because the whole court was talking about the ridiculous number of spells that seemed to be planned right now. Tracking spells and truth spells, a spell to strip the seer of a power that was killing her, and a spell to find Master Spike another seer, a spell to imprison Willow, and now the need for a new spell to retrieve her from her prison after months in there. Master Spike had even staked one minion who had complained that real vampires didn't have this much magic around.
However, as near as he could tell, this Groosalugg was supposed to either take Cordelia's visions or at least stop her from having any more. If they didn't find him soon, Riley doubted the woman would survive. When she'd first come to court with the rest of Angel's humans, her sharp tongue had amused him, even when he worried that Spike might just snap her neck. Now, when she appeared, she was weak and trembling, her body often bleeding from mysterious wounds left by her visions.
"If you can take him in fucking hand, that won't be an issue, will it?" Spike demanded as he stared at Angel.
Angel stared back for a second before he looked away. "I won't just attack him."
"Then fucking challenge him, but if ya don't make him agree to the spell, I will. Xander's goin' to be sharing his spot at my feet and I'll fucking claim the queen-bitch. Got it?" Spike demanded.
Angel didn't answer, but he did give a short nod. Wesley had watched with interest. "Groo did seem very willing to follow Cordelia's orders. I doubt very much that the hierarchy of a vampire court would shock him," he said.
Angel narrowed his eyes and glared at Wesley, but the man simply stared back. Eventually, Angel reached out, caught Wesley by the back of the neck, and just pulled him close. Even if Wesley verbally argued with Angel, he always yielded physically, and this time was no different. He ended up with his head against Angel's chest, and he shifted to lean into the vampire's body.
Riley really had no doubt about that relationship. At one point he'd theorized that the correct way to control a vampire was to offer them enough sex to keep them happy and sated, and the longer he was in Spike's court, the more practical that strategy appeared. He had a flash of himself offering the General that bit of advice, and he had to smile. Yeah, they'd lock him in the nuthouse. That didn't mean he was wrong, though.
"Right then, so I need someone who has something useful to say about Aeth's spell here," Spike said loudly to the whole court. Fred caught the wrist of the Oden Tal woman sitting next to her, and Riley guessed that she was not in a mood to be distracted. The woman leaned back, her hand moving to Fred's leg as she watched the room with more interest. Falif was watching the pair, and Riley couldn't even guess what she was thinking. If this were Riley's command, he'd be worried about divided loyalty and fraternization in the ranks, but there was so much fraternizing going on, it hardly seemed fair to tell Fred and her young woman not to have hot sex on any available surface.
Tara cleared her throat. "I could call Giles," she said softly.
That was not a pleasant expression on Spike's face.
"The G-man knows way more about dark magic than he likes to admit, Master," Xander seconded her.
Aeth shifted uncomfortably, and Riley knew that she resented the fact that the others were questioning her magic. Well, she could get used to it. As a pet, the others had very little concern for her feelings. A pet could only look to his owner for any sort of respect because Riley knew how the rest of the world saw them. Sometimes Wesley would slip, and a bit of horror or pity would shine through his expression so that it practically burned Riley. Luckily that usually ended with Angel pulling the man into his lap or over his lap or just out of the room.
"I should talk to him," Angel said firmly.
Master Spike looked over with amusement. "You think you're up to that, pet? It's not like he has a high opinion of you."
"He'll believe that I want to help Willow," Angel said, his head high. But he also waited, his eyes on Spike who would either give permission or not.
"He'll believe that even more comin' from Glinda."
"He'll believe that you're serious if you send me," Angel countered, and that made logical sense to Riley. Xander and Tara had a lot of status in court, more than the minions or even the younger Oden Tal, but he wasn't sure that someone from outside of court would ever believe that. Every demon who walked into the court to pay respects to Spike turned to Angel as the second most important person in the room. Riley had no doubt that anyone with experience with vampires would believe Angel had more influence in Spike's court.
Spike reached down and tugged at Xander's hair, urging the man up and into Spike's lap. Xander had on jeans that hung low on his hips, and he slithered up into Spike's lap with a sensuality that Riley rarely associated with men. For long seconds, Spike ran fingers through Xander's curls and Xander played with the buttons on Spike's shirt, clearly looking for permission to go farther.
"You plannin' on calling him or using a portal to pop in on the old fart?" Spike asked Tara.
"I would be more convincing in person," Tara said, indirectly answering his question.
Spike nodded. "Right then, you, Angel and Xander, pop off and talk to Giles. If this spell is going to make Willow safe, it's time to bring her back before we have some other disaster."
"The dimension will hold for at least a few more months," Fred quickly interrupted. "I'm real sorry I didn't recognize the inherent danger of introducing a destabilizing factor into a closed system."
Spike waved his hand dismissively. "The whole fucking thing can collapse and take the witch with it for all I care." Riley could see both Tara and Xander react to that. Xander's hand stilled on Spike's chest and Tara sat up a little stiffer. "But if we can get her out safe, we will," the vampire finished. He gave Xander a slap on the hip and Xander rose and offered a flash of arched neck before he turned to Tara. "And get some blood before you go anywhere. You still don't fucking feed enough," Spike complained to Angel.
"Wesley and Fred have given too much already," Angel objected. Wesley had pushed himself away from Angel, but now he already had his head tilted to the side. Riley could see a flash of something that looked almost like disappointment when Angel didn't bite. That one was becoming well and truly addicted to the bite. For his sake, Riley hoped that Angel never decided to turn on the man because he would find himself going down the same path that Riley had, without a doubt.
"Use Riley," Spike said with a wave of his hand.
Riley jerked a little in surprise, but Dalton's hand was already gone, and he knew better than to question a Master's decision. Getting up, he walked over to Angel, prepared to go to his knees, but then Angel stood up and caught him around the back of the neck, keeping him on his feet. Riley offered his neck and waited, his body stiff.
No matter how often he saw Angel in court, he could never erase that first meeting when he and Angel had stared at each other across Buffy's dorm room. Only now Buffy was dead, and neither of them had stood by her side. Part of Riley wanted to argue that Angel was no better than he was, but the fact was that Riley had fallen so far that he wasn't a fraction of the soldier who had once stood beside Buffy, and he had no right to challenge Angel the way he once had.
Teeth went in faster than he expected, digging deeper into his flesh, and the power and the pain sent signals to Riley's cock that he did not like, but that was the nature of addiction. He no longer believed he had any control over it. His cock hardened in its cage and he fought to not groan in need. Angel took several mouthfuls, but Riley had plenty to spare. Long before Riley was dizzy, Angel stepped back and wiped his mouth.
"Thank you," he said. Riley found that amusing, as if he had any choice in the matter.
"Of course, Master." Riley turned to head back to Dalton. She looked up at him with yellow eyes, her nose widening slightly. She sniffed, and he knew that she could smell his need. He slowed his walk and tilted his head in invitation. Over the last few months, he'd had her attention only in flashes-a day here or a few days there. Most of the time, her attention had been on Aeth, first on training her and now on guarding the mage as she researched and prepared the spell. This was the first sign Dalton had given him in weeks, and he tried to mimic some of the moves he had seen Xander use so effectively against Spike.
A small part of his mind called him a whore, but that was easy to ignore. He was a whore.
Dalton's eyes slipped past him to where the Oden Tal sat. "Falif, would you like the use of my pet for the evening?" Dalton asked.
Riley stopped in the middle of the floor, his guts tangling at the thought of her giving him away. The Oden Tal were exotic, beautiful, powerful women. They were the sort of women who starred in most men's fantasies, but Riley had gotten used to Dalton. He'd grown to like laying in bed with her reading or talking about the farms back home or listening to her explain vampire logic as he tried to explain ideas like honor and guilt. He'd even grown used to her tired and cranky as she quickly used his body before falling asleep. The Oden Tal weren't Dalton, but then as a pet, he wasn't consulted on his preferences. Riley went to his knees in the middle of the floor, waiting for Falif's decision before he either returned to Dalton or went wherever he was ordered.
Falif sounded surprised. "Surely you have use for him."
"I'll be busy with this one," Dalton said as she pulled Aeth's head up by her thick braid. Aeth leaned into Dalton's touch, and for one second, her expression was smug as she looked at Riley. By vampire logic, she was the better pet-more beautiful, more powerful, more advantageous in a fight. Riley might have been beautiful once, but he knew what the scars on his back looked like. He knew how Dalton's fingers always avoided touching him there.
"Riley, would you choose to come with us?" Falif asked. Riley looked over his shoulder at the five women who were considering him with interested eyes. They'd never had a chance to try him before, and he knew they were curious. His other alternative was to sit in a corner and try to not disturb one of Aeth's piles of books or computers as she worked, Dalton standing behind her, holding her leash.
"Yes, ma'am," Riley answered. He turned and looked back at the floor in front of him as he waited for an order. Something silver flew through the air over him, but Riley kept his head down until he heard his mistress's voice.
"Return him in the morning."
"Of course," Falif agreed. Without waiting for a direct order, Riley stood up and turned to the Oden Tal, walking to a spot in front of their bench where he sank to his knees. One of the women, a young one with red hair, laughed and reached out to run a hand along his arm and up to his neck where the white pinprick scars from feeding gathered. Riley's cock hardened, and he tried hard to just turn off his mind and allow his body to do whatever it would.
Wesley was staring at him, a look on confusion on his face, but Riley was a soldier, trained to not give away anything to the enemy through his expression, and he focused on keeping his face neutral. Looking around, Spike was studying him, and Riley lowered his gaze to the floor, afraid that Master Spike might see some spark of disobedience in him.
"Mistress, I can prepare detailed notes on the spell and ceremony," Aeth suggested.
"Sire?" Dalton asked.
"Right then, make sure she don't try anything," Spike quickly answered, but he sounded distracted. Riley focused on a small bug trying to make it across the length of the wooden floor, but he could just imagine how Xander might be saying goodbye and distracting his master.
"We have a pleasant diversion to attend to as well," Falif suggested as she stood. Riley rose at her side, keeping his head down and avoiding the stares of the court. Victor wanted a human pet badly, and Riley suspected that he was now up for grabs if he wasn't on his way back to the stables. If Master Spike was going to give him to Victor, if they were exchanging silent looks right now, Riley didn't want to know. Then again, Victor might be a better choice than Angel. Riley clasped his hands at his back to keep himself from touching the mark where Angel had bitten him. The vampire was weak, and Riley suspected that it would be entirely too easy for him to slip that leash. The thought of the Rapture houses rose in his memory, half horror and half dream. No matter how long he was clean, Rapture still called to him. Then again, maybe that's where he belonged. Falif started towards the Oden Tal's end of the building, and Riley followed.
The plain gray and steel and wood structure gave way to colorful swirls and patterns painted across hallways. Spirals splashed across doors, long arrows dodged around rough windows cut into the steel siding, red circles dotted the floor like a blood trail.
"He is so quiet," one of the Oden Tal said, and a hand ran up his back, fingers brushing over his scars.
"Were you always so quiet?" another voice asked.
"No," Riley answered.
Falif led to a double door and pushed both sides open. The inside was a riot of color that made Riley blink for a second. "Do you plan to be this quiet all night?" she asked as she held up a silver key-the key to his chastity cage.
"I'm not sure what you want," Riley said honestly. He kept himself still as the Oden Tal moved around him, gathering in small groups on the floor where pillows and throws were arranged in piles. There were probably a dozen women here, and the ones who had not been in court started whispering loudly. Angel had been here one night, Riley knew, he and Wesley both. Fred often came here, but Riley didn't think any of the human pets had even been to the Oden Tal's main hall. No one in the stable had ever mentioned it, and the people there had very little to talk about other than their pasts and the latest soap opera plots.
"We want only for you to enjoy yourself. We know so little about you or Xander," Falif said as she reached forward. She slowly unbuttoned his jeans, and Riley went to parade rest, his hands behind his back so she could work more easily. "Like this," she said as she uncovered his trapped cock. The pink flesh pressed against the plastic cage. "This is not vabata."
"Ma'am?" Riley asked, not sure what she meant. She pushed his jeans open a little more so she could reach in far enough to find the lock.
"This is not respectful of choice. You and Xander allow the vampires to take away your choice to have sex. Why?"
Riley blinked for a second. "It's theirs to take," he finally answered.
"Why?" Falif asked curiously. She freed his cock and slowly pulled the cage away, running her fingers along the head until Riley groaned in need and hardened. "Does that not feel better?"
"Yes," Riley agreed. The conversation had grown quiet in the room.
"But yet you give that choice to Dalton, to a woman. On our world, women are not allowed choice over even themselves."
"That's wrong," Riley immediately answered. The idea of enslaving an entire gender turned his stomach. Falif smiled.
"And yet, you have no choice over yourself," she said.
Riley closed his eyes, wishing this was something as simple as them riding him while he tried to please them all before coming. That would be painful, but not as painful as this. "I made choices, and they were the wrong ones. Dalton and Spike make better choices for me," he said. Falif nodded, and maybe that was the answer she wanted because she turned away and wandered toward one of the groups. That left Riley standing awkwardly at the front of the room, his jeans open and his cock hanging out as he waited at parade rest. He was not into exhibition, and his cock slowly softened and shrank.
Several of the women returned to their own business, talking or watching small televisions, or in one pile, working fingers into each other and writhing in pleasure. He turned his head away when his cock started getting the wrong idea.
"Is he going to stand there all night?" the red-haired one asked loudly. Several of the women laughed, and a couple admonished her.
"Where would you like me to go?" Riley asked, fighting against his own embarrassment. He should know better by now because he had no more right to embarrassment than to any other feeling. This was his life, and he would accept whatever came.
"Where would you want to go?" one of the older ones asked.
"To Dalton," he answered quickly, but then he thought of Dalton, standing with her hand on Aeth's cheek. "Outside, to find Rapture," he amended himself, "which is why I can't be trusted to make my own choices, ma'am," Riley quickly answered.
That caused a sudden silence in the room. A young one said something in a foreign tongue, and one of the older ones hushed her. "Come over here, human," the older woman suggested, holding out her hand to him. Her black hair was just starting to streak with gray at the temple, and Riley went immediately to her, kneeling down in front of her as he took her hand.
"We get very few chances to sleep with males. The males of our own world believe that sex gives them power over us," she said as she ran a hand down Riley's chest to where his cock was still framed by his open pants. Riley glanced over at Falif to make sure this was allowed, but the Oden Tal leader was on her own pile of pillows, looking at an open scroll with another woman with hair cropped close to her head. Riley turned back to the woman who was stroking him and allowed himself to harden under her touch.
"Does he feel like Angel or Wesley?" a woman with short blonde hair asked as she came over and sat close.
"He is human; he feels like Wesley."
"Does that mean he can only choose one of us like Wesley?" she asked, clearly disappointed. The woman looked at Riley, obviously waiting for an answer. Riley glanced around at the number of women watching.
"I can service at least four or five," he said. It would hurt, especially without the cock ring, but he could hold off that long. Old words floated into his memory. Great minds had purpose, his mother always told him. She had told him to find his purpose... his destiny. Riley shoved his pants down and sat in order to pull them off. His mother would cry if she could see him now. He didn't have a great mind. He had a small mind, and the only thing he had in his future was pain.
Riley settled back onto a pillow and held out a hand to the young woman who had been disappointed at the thought he could only serve one woman before losing control. Confusion flashed on her face for a second, and the older woman pulled her close.
"He's letting you be on top, foolish one," she said, but her voice was amused. The young woman blushed as she straddled Riley. Her warmth made Riley harden even more, and he allowed his hands to drift up her thighs as he shifted a bit so he could thrust up.
"Ride him," another woman advised her.
"Do you know how--?" Riley started to ask, but then she finally figured out to line up with his cock and dropped into place. The tightness made Riley's eyes water, and he thrust up involuntarily, hissing at the heat and pressure that made him fully hard immediately.
She gasped, and women's hands steadied her, helping her find a rhythm as Riley just struggled to hold on and not come. Maybe if he was good enough they'd keep him. He fisted a pillow with one hand and reached down where their bodies met with his other. Working his thumb on her clit, he listened to her squeal with surprise and pleasure as he just hoped she would finish soon.
Continue to part B.