Page 14 of Justice For Me

“What?” Justice asked innocently. “You told me to lift until I failed. That’s what I was trying to do.” His eyes darted away, fearing Malachi would recognize the nervous fluttering as a borderline lie. The man didn’t need to be troubled with his insecurities and weirdness. He felt nothing but fury and shame for his triggers.

The kid was lying. Well, not exactly lying…but something was off. Or, it had been off.

“Your mind was going a mile a minute, kid. What was that about?”

Defiance danced around in pale blue eyes.

“My mind always goes a mile a minute. Remember? It’s in the top five of my most annoying features…you told me so on day one of our vacation.” Justice joked and sent out a big fake smile.

Malachi jerked him up from the bench and then pushed him down into a kneeling position in front of him. Using one hand, he pulled a handful of silky hair back, forcing Justice to look up at him. His other hand wrapped around the boy’s neck. It wasn’t threatening and there was absolutely no choking pressure used. It was merely a dominant position that most submissives responded to.

Justice melted against the tight hold, loving how the domination made him feel, the way it had made him feel last night. He felt possessed, controlled…like a possession to be cherished and taken care of. All worries started evacuating his mind under Malachi’s strong touch.

“Kid?”

“HmmmMmmm?”

“What was troubling you? What did I say or do that caused you to go all tense on me? What sent your mind off into a wild gallop?”

Well, fuck. He just had to pull out another one of his lethal weapons, his sexy dominant voice that made Justice want to spill the ugly details about every minute of his life, from the time he cut Maranda Carter’s ponytail off in the first grade to losing his virginity at the age of fourteen to a smokin’ hot twenty year old and finishing up with the fact that he had snuck out yesterday…just to piss him off and see what his reaction would be. He wanted to tell it all, be completely honest, but he wouldn’t. He had too much to lose. He had problems, big ones, and he wasn’t going to let them fuck this up for him.

Lips remained tightly sealed.

“Nothing,” he finally lied.

Malachi had watched, again, the inward battle the kid was struggling against. He’d thought he had him, but then those pretty eyes had shuttered up and closed shop for the day. Hell, it must be some kind of secret for the kid to be able to fight so valiantly against his submissive nature.

“You’ll tell me eventually,” Malachi promised. “Get up. Let’s work on those legs.”

Another hour and Justice’s legs were trembling even worse than his arms had been. Dude knew how to push a body to its limits. Pump till you fail. He just might fail to have the strength to walk up the stairs after enduring a workout with Malachi. Fuck, but he hoped they were finished. His entire body felt like a spaghetti noodle.

“Take your sweats off.”

Malachi’s demand came in the sexiest sounding voice he’d ever heard. It was deep and husky, firm and unyielding. Prickling sensations started at his scalp and worked its way down the rest of his body, leaving him humming with the same feeling he’d gotten the minute Malachi had slapped those cuffs around his wrists last night.

“Wh…what?” He stuttered like a stupid school kid. Instead of sexy like Malachi, his voice sounded several octaves higher than normal.

“Take. Your. Sweats. Off.” Malachi’s eyes swept the boy from top to bottom, loving the way his exhausted muscles were quivering and coated with sweat. A man’s body was always more beautiful after pumping iron, muscles standing out and begging to be seen.

Violet eyes challenged pale blue eyes. Shyness struggled with desire. Heterosexual battled against…what the fuck am I doing?

Sweat pants came off and were tossed aside. “Okay. Sweat pants gone. What now, Malachi?”

Malachi’s breath came out in a huff. The kid’s body was…

Damn, he wanted to dominate, punish, and fuck this kid so badly. More than that, he wanted Justice towantit.

“I’m going to look at you. Stay still, arms out to your side and legs spread.”

The kid moved into position without the slightest hesitation.

Malachi walked around him, admiring every detail in the work of art formally known as annoying Justice. The boy’s eyes glittered as he watched Malachi watching him. No, nothing submissive at all in that gaze…until Malachi demanded it of him. The defiance was…fetching. He’d never found it attractive in a sub before, but it fit Justice well.

His fingers grazed his shoulders, tracing the length of firmly muscled arms until he reached a wrist. He’d noticed the boy had a tattoo around each wrist, like a bracelet of some kind. Looking closely now, he saw it was decorative letters. FOCUS on the right wrist. LET GO on the left wrist. He also noticed the kid tensed up like a man at his first prostrate examination the minute his fingertips touched the first wrist.

“What do these words mean?”

“Nothing of importance,” Justice answered in a clipped voice that didn’t fit the boy at all.

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