Page 11 of Damian & Jun, Episodes 9-12 (The Residency Boys #8)

Jun crawled up between Collin and the back of the couch. He didn’t go for émeric but laid his head on Collin’s belly, wrapping his arm around his waist. He pulled Collin toward him until he felt trapped against the back of the couch.

A bit of tension rolled out of him. He could handle being apart from Damian if this was what he had in return.

“Collin and I were plotting how to turn this room into a studio for you and Damian.”

Jun tipped his chin up so he could make eye contact with émeric. He sort of remembered that there had been plans to do this. But so many things had happened since that conversation.

“It’s perfect.” Collin swung one hand toward a door inside the room. “That’s the third bathroom. We can get some freestanding closets, and if you need separate sections, some cubicle dividers could parse out the spaces.”

“Cave.” Jun smirked at Collin. “Damian needs a cave. And make it a surprise so he doesn’t know.”

Collin’s eyes widened, then turned knowing. A secret smile played across his face. “Deal.” He offered Jun his hand. They shook, the angle making it awkward.

Collin went back to talking about specifics. He was as passionate about the functionality of the room as he was about any of the spaces at the church.

The playroom door opened. Footsteps retreated down the hall toward the bedrooms. Showers ran somewhere. Jun listened with half an ear.

Richard arrived first, carrying a tray of tea and hot apple cider. “Collin, there’s a second tray in the kitchen. Please bring it in.”

“Yes, Master.” Collin extracted himself and went off.

Richard eased himself down on the chair near émeric. Their hands twined together. Jun dropped his eyes, giving them their moment.

Damian came through the door, loose black pants hanging low on his hips. He was shirtless, and his wrists were both marked. Jun sat up, hesitating. Should he run up to Damian like he normally did or give him space?

“There you are, wolfling.” Damian moved toward him, slower than normal but with a bit of a prowl in his gait.

Jun sat up and pulled his knees up, the hair on the back of his neck rising. Damian came forward until he was leaning over Jun. Jun leaned back, keeping eye contact. Damian’s hand settled over the front of Jun’s throat, pressing him back against the couch.

Jun squeaked in surprise. His hand came up to grip Damian’s. Damian smirked, moving in with one knee next to Jun’s hip. He tilted Jun’s head back and kissed him. Jun whimpered. His other hand waved in the air, seeking traction. He grabbed Damian by the shoulder.

Damian groaned, pressing Jun deeper into the cushion. His back was warm to touch. Very warm.

Jun squirmed out of Damian’s grip and turned his Alpha around.

His back was red, bits of the skin were raised in strips, and there was bruising up and down either side of his spine and across his shoulders.

The residue of a high-quality cream was still soaking into the warm skin, and arnica scented the air.

“He whipped you?”

“Flogged. And caned.”

Jun pressed his hand gently against the skin. Damian winced. Jun pulled his hand away. “Should I not touch?”

“You can touch, wolfling.”

“Is it always like this?”

“No.” Damian dropped a kiss on Jun’s face. “I needed more than normal this time.”

Jun looked for Richard. The man met his gaze. He nodded, offering agreement with Damian’s words.

“Shouldn’t you be in aftercare? Like you did with me? Shouldn’t he be holding you? You should sit down.”

“I wanted to see you.”

Jun poked Damian in the chest with a finger. “I could have come to you.”

Richard laughed. “Told you, Pup.”

Damian growled. His arms came up, and Jun tumbled into his lap, unwilling to fight his Alpha while he was hurt. “This, I wanted to do this.” He sat fully on the couch, pulling Jun in against him.

Jun growled back, righting himself and turning around to straddle his alpha. “You should be resting.”

Damian’s arms encircled Jun tightly. He pressed his face against Jun’s stomach and nibbled. Yikes ! That tickled. Jun squirmed. This was so not fair. Fighting back wasn’t an option when Damian had literal welts.

“We’re talking about making the lounge into a studio for us,” Jun sputtered.

Damian looked up, blinking adorably. “Sounds good.” He bent down as if he was going back to making a snack out of Jun’s middle.

Jun caught Damian’s face between his palms. “What do you want in it? Collin has a plan, but what do you want?”

“Butterflies.” Damian’s eyes glowed. “I want butterflies. And a Buddha, like the one you wear.”

“Come on, little one.” émeric patted Collin’s cheek. “I want some cream on my crepes.”

Collin’s face crimsoned. “Yes, sir.” He rolled off the couch and stood.

“I like crepes,” Jun said. “I’ll help.”

Richard chortled, his hand coming up to cover his mouth. Collin muttered something and turned to run.

émeric grabbed his wrist and pulled his submissive down into his lap. “I’m afraid I don’t share this cream, at least not yet.” émeric smirked. He kissed Collin behind his ear. “Where do I get my cream from, pretty boy?”

Collin squirmed in émeric’s arms, his normal composure gone.

“Come on, boy. Tell Jun where I get my cream.”

“Me, sir.” Embarrassed tears glimmered in Collin’s eyes.

émeric’s hand slid down Collin’s stomach and cupped his groin.

Jun blinked twice. He glanced at Damian and then Richard.

“You get cream from Collin. From his…oh.”

Jun’s cheeks tingled a little in sympathy for Collin. “I thought you said Collin didn’t come.”

“He doesn’t,” Richard said. “émeric milks his prostate. There’s no orgasm involved. I don’t think Collin has come since just before Christmas.”

Collin had given up. He was curled up in a ball of embarrassment against émeric.

“There, there, mon petit chaton , I’m not sharing. Your milk is all for me.” He stood, Collin in his arms. “We’ll be back in an hour or two.”

“I’ll bring the crepes,” Richard said, giving émeric a nod.

“You should lie down.” Jun turned back to Damian. Whatever was going on with Collin was obviously fine.

Damian smirked. “Make me.”

Jun smirked right back. He turned toward Richard and batted his eyes. “Please make my alpha take care of himself.”

“Hmm. This is new territory.” Richard stroked his jaw. “Technically, I’ve agreed not to dominate Damian in front of others, typically. But I can tell you this. I would hazard an educated guess that if you put your mouth on his dick right now he’d melt right down into that couch.”

Jun looked back at Damian and grinned, his hand already dipping into the front of Damian’s pants.

“You’re going down, Alpha.”

Damian groaned. “Oh, you’re evil, sir. And wolfling, you’re so paying for this later.”

Jun didn’t answer; his mouth was too full of cock. This was a fight he wasn’t going to lose.

Stifling heat held Jun’s limbs down. He twisted, struggling to get away. Flaming beams crashed down around him. He flailed.

“Got you. Caught you. Jun. Junseo!”

His eyes flew open. Damian was in the act of pulling the covers off both of them. They were in his bed. A light from Damian’s phone illuminated the room. He dragged clean air into his lungs. The taste of smoke was still in his mouth, coating his throat, filling his nose.

“It was burning. The resort. It was burning, again.”

Damian nodded.

Jun fumbled to a seated position on the soft mattress. They fell into the center together. “Sorry to wake you.”

Damian wiped sweat off his head. “You didn’t. I was awake.”

“Why?”

His alpha grimaced. “Howser. He shot you. And I couldn’t stop him. I was bleeding out, and you were…” Damian choked up.

Jun fell over, reaching for Damian. He had to hold him, to keep his DaSu safe even from the inside of his head. “I’m alive. I’m here.”

“People have to damn well stop trying to kill you.”

“They’re not, really. Not so much.”

Damian growled, holding Jun tighter.

“I’m alive.”

“Every person, every last person in The Residency, wolfling, has been in a hospital in the last three and a half months. All of you with your eyes closed, all of you lying too still: you, Richard, Collin, émeric, all of you.” Damian was outright shaking, his voice cracking.

He pulled Damian tighter against him. Had it been so recent? A little bit of math confirmed it. He hugged Damian even more, rocking them both for comfort. “I’m alive. I promise, I’m alive.”

Damian pressed his nose against Jun’s neck, breathing him in, their combined nightmare sweat mixing where their skin touched.

Monday morning came slowly, neither Jun nor Damian able to sleep for long again.

In the early-morning light, Damian nudged Jun out of bed.

Jun shoved his feet into thick house slippers, and Damian pulled on socks.

They both wrapped themselves in warm robes.

Jun followed Damian into the kitchen. Mutely, Damian made coffee.

Jun found coffee mugs, setting out five.

Damian shook his head and rolled his eyes when Jun passed him the dog-head mug, but he stroked it fondly with the side of his thumb as he waited for the French press to steep.

Jun tugged down the collar of Damian’s robe to check his back. It wasn’t warm anymore. The welts were less than half the size they had been. He pressed a kiss to one bruise.

“I’m proud of them,” Damian murmured. “You don’t have to worry.”

Jun paused in his movements, listening.

“Richard and I don’t play like this often. It’s not play. Pain, this level of pain, is always serious between us. He trusts me, and I trust him. It’s always a journey.”

“Where did this journey go?”

Damian turned, his back against the counter, and cradled Jun against his belly, their robes parting to connect them skin to skin.

He stroked Jun’s chest, eyes on his fingers moving over Jun.

“Sometimes you don’t realize that what you’re holding on to is what you need to let go so you can be where you want to be. ”