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D aniel slumps back onto the bed, exhausted and content in a way he hasn’t felt since the experiment changed him into a submissive. The constant lust he’s felt since his change is finally quiet. What a burden it was to be so needy but pretend he wasn’t. To suppress it all and constantly fear that he’d give himself away, disappoint his father and his brother—everyone who was working so hard to turn him into the Dominant they all wanted him to be.

This is the first moment of peace he’s had in years.

How long will it last? Will surrendering always be so pleasurable? Now that he has a Dominant of his own, will he get to feel good and sated all the time? Liam’s words echo in his ears and Daniel blushes at the praise.

Just perfect, Daniel.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

Liam’s fingers are still inside of him, waiting for the last shocks of pleasure to subside.

“You are very welcome,” he says with a grin that makes Daniel blush and want. Liam’s fingers slip out and Daniel gasps at how empty he now feels. His hand tries to go down between his legs, to take the Dominant’s place, but he stops himself, sliding his hand up and under the pillow so he doesn’t forget.

Oh no.

The desire and need he feels is still there, after all. Having Liam’s fingers in him kept it at bay. But it’s fine. He’s survived worse.

Liam rises, going to the sink to wash his hands, and Daniel lets himself really look at the man who is going to be his Dominant. He didn’t believe it before, that he’d be able to go home with him, get pleasure and a knot. Maybe even be called “boy” and “sweetheart.”

But now he does. Now it feels real. His Dominant is tall and broad shouldered, his hair straight and to his jaw. He needs a shave. Daniel had felt that on his lips when he’d briefly gotten to taste his mouth.

Kiss him.

Liam turns back to him, his gaze roaming over Daniel hungrily, and Daniel can feel that lust directed at him. This Dominant wants Daniel in return, and it makes him want to be bent over on his hands and knees so badly. He wants the Dominant’s fingers plunging in and out of him, slamming deep inside. And then his cock.

His Dominant.

Something he didn’t ever think he’d get. Getting fucked by a Dominant is supposed to make the ache go away, fill up a submissive and make them feel content in a way they only get from a Dominant’s come, sometimes a knot if the submissive is very lucky. Daniel is going to be mounted and bred and all the things he’s never gotten to have.

All the things they told him were wrong. All the things he himself was terrified of when he worried about becoming submissive and what that might entail.

Daniel wants it. He didn’t need to be afraid of getting it, he needed to be afraid of not getting it. He can’t and won’t tell this Dominant no. Ever. Which makes it acceptable to follow and want, makes Daniel’s own instincts almost overwhelming. He can go quiet and soft and wanting and this Dominant will get exactly what he wants from Daniel. “No” isn’t the right answer anymore.

The Dominant is older. He’s been in the sun a lot and probably spends a lot of time outdoors. Probably not older than forty. He has a straight nose with the faintest bump on the right side, probably from being broken once upon a time. And to think he’d once been terrified of wanting a Dominant, wanting to submit, worried that it would be awful. Wanting this man is as easy and natural as breathing.

“Let’s try the ultrasound. Do you want to present for it?” Liam asks.

Daniel wants it so badly he freezes. It’s training. Giving in to his instincts might not be so easy after all.

“What is it?”

“It just feels like presenting is wrong. What if you don’t like it? What if I do it wrong?” Is it a trick? He couldn’t stand that. It would destroy him if he obeyed and became accepting, and then it turned out to be a trap. Or what if he doesn’t do it right, or it’s just gross and pathetic? Maybe he shouldn’t do it, after all. Maybe there was comfort in saying no.

He isn’t vulnerable when he says no.

Liam’s nostrils flare, able to smell Daniel’s anxiety. He grabs Daniel by the chin. “I need this from you now. Be good,” Liam orders, even more beautiful standing over Daniel, command radiating from him.

Daniel gets to his knees on the bed, swaying in close to his Dominant without really meaning to. Daniel is just so drawn to him. He tries to scent him, his lungs warm, suddenly a little lightheaded. He touches Liam’s shoulder and he sways again. Liam looks at his neck. Should Daniel offer?

And suddenly he can hear his father’s voice in his head, echoes of him telling Daniel not to be a needy slut. Daniel straightens, hurrying into position. Who does he think he is, wanting a bite and a fuck like a whore, ungrateful for the gift and power he’s been given?

His father never would have let Daniel do this if he’d known Daniel would be so weak. Too weak to be a Dominant, to realize the change’s full potential.

He needs to fight his instincts. Make some effort , his father would yell, voice sharp and angry. That was when he’d look to his handlers, to the doctors, silently pleading for someone to step in.

They’d started shocking him when he’d offer his throat, get slick, try to present, or cry. It seemed like whatever his instincts were, everyone hated them. They did their best to get him trained into behaving like the Dominant he was meant to be, trying to salvage something from the disaster.

And that’s all Daniel really knows. He’s learned those lessons thoroughly through fear and pain. They’re drummed deep into his skull, carved into his bones. His submissive responses are wrong.

Which makes it hard to trust this. He should go back to hiding.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Why are you anxious?” Liam asks, petting his hair, his voice a rumble.

“This is bad. They’ll hurt me.” Even before he finishes saying it, he realizes where he is. The circumstances have changed, even if it’s just for a while. His father is sick. This isn’t his father making this decision, but a doctor who wants him to be treated like a submissive. He tries to chuckle. It doesn’t sound right. “Sorry, I got confused.”

“You thought you were somewhere else? Does that happen a lot?” Liam asks.

Daniel knows he’s trying to keep his voice even and calm. But it isn’t normal or healthy to make that sort of mistake. This isn’t his first experience with doctors. He knows the tone of voice they get when they’re surprised or disappointed with him.

“It’s fine. I know where I am. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need you to be fine, and I don’t need you to be sorry. I need you to answer the question honestly.” His warm hand squeezes the back of Daniel’s neck. “You always answer me, Daniel. You always tell me the truth.”

He risks a glance. “What makes you the exception?”

“You’re mine now. My submissive.” And then his hand is on Daniel’s bare bottom, sliding between his cheeks, rubbing over his hole. He gives him a gentle spank, right on his hole, and that explodes through Daniel in a burst of pleasure. He gasps and shudders. It takes him a moment to remember what they were discussing.

This man owns him.

“It happens sometimes. No more than once a day… usually.” Which is a lie. His dreams are vivid nightmares of past treatments. And those memories are close, always creeping in at the edges of his vision, wanting to overwhelm him and drag him down. It’s so hard to pay attention to the world around him. A moment’s inattention and he’s lost in his own memories of pain. The wrong sound and he thinks it’s a metal instrument being set down on a tray; someone walking too loudly and he’s sure it’s a doctor coming in to torture him. It usually is.

Was.

“And you freeze why?”

The question confuses Daniel. “What do you mean?”

“Is it instinct or intentional? Are you escaping into your mind, or do you not have the choice?”

“I don’t have a choice.” He’d have thought that was obvious. Are there people who choose to live in their nightmares? “Do you want me to promise not to do it again?” Daniel asks, eyes filling with tears because it’s impossible. How can he stop it? But the doctors like it when he tries. So he should offer it to this man even if he can’t keep his promise.

Liam growls low in his throat. He leans close, rubs his face against Daniel’s, and squeezes the back of Daniel’s neck with a strong hand. “Don’t you make me any promises you can’t keep. That’s just about the same as a lie. I don’t have expectations of you. It’s hard, I know you’ve been taught differently. But what I want from you is your natural response. Not what you think I want. Not responses based in fear and self-protection. You just let yourself be and I’ll be happy with you.”

Oh. That’s not something Daniel has ever done. “They punish me for behaving like a submissive. Wanting to be one. Doing things they do.”

“You are a submissive,” he says firmly.

“Am I?” Daniel asks, because he isn’t sure of the answer. He’s been living a lie for so long he has no idea what he really is.

“Do you want me to prove it to you?”

“Yes,” he responds before he can think about it too much.

Liam’s brow rises. Maybe the question was rhetorical.

“Alright, I’ll prove it to you.” Liam takes off his t-shirt, baring his chest, and hands it to Daniel. Daniel takes the shirt and raises it to his face, inhaling his scent, the Dominant’s warmth still in the fabric.

“I feel dizzy,” he confesses.

“Good.”

His Dominant is perfect.

“Get your face in my shirt and breathe in my scent so you don’t forget who you’re pleasing.”

“Yes, Sir,” he says gratefully. His face is hot. Liam’s shirt smells like him—so safe and masculine that Daniel moans as he buries his face in it.

“That’s perfect, Daniel. Do I smell good?”

“Like home,” he mumbles into the shirt.

Liam chuckles, pleased. He gets the ultrasound wand ready and puts his thumb on Daniel’s hole, rubbing gently.

Daniel trembles and shifts his legs wider apart. He’s not used to being touched there and now the Dominant is touching him again and it’s just too much.

“Don’t. It feels good,” he mumbles, confused about where he is and what’s going on, lost in the floaty aroused feeling the shirt and this man make him feel.

“Oh, honey,” Liam says but doesn’t stop. “It should feel good. You’re going to be getting a lot of good things while we’re together. We don’t stop when things feel good, Daniel. That isn’t a reason to tell me no.”

Daniel whimpers.

“Now let’s get the wand in you. It goes deep.” Daniel doesn’t look as Liam gets the wand ready. He can hear the slathering of lubricant and his hips tilt even more, an instinctive response. The plastic wand isn’t all that cold but the lubricant Liam slathers on his hole is. And then he’s breached. The wand eases inside him, a stretch as his hole opens.

“Relax. Let it in. It’s not very big, honey. Just let it in,” Liam says.

“Oh god.” He’s going to come. This is too much. “Stop. Out. Take it out.”

“Why?” Liam asks. He goes still, using his free hand to rub soothing circles on Daniel’s back.

Daniel can’t say. They’ll hurt him if he’s honest.

“You’re clenching and releasing all over this wand, honey. And your cock is dripping. Do you need to come, Daniel? You can, baby.”

He whimpers. “Can I? Please?” Daniel begs, half expecting to get punished for begging but risking it because the need to come is too intense.

“Of course. Yes. What pretty manners you have, sweetheart.”

Daniel moans and comes, shifting a little so the head of the wand squeezes his glands. He knows he should be quiet but he can’t help it. There’s something inside him, finally, and his Dominant is here and the scent of him is in Daniel’s lungs. It’s perfect.

“Oh, oh. Th-thank you! Thank you,” he gasps, and then sobs into the shirt.

“You needed that, didn’t you?” Liam asks roughly. He strokes his hand up and down Daniel’s back and then he’s reaching between Daniel’s legs, stripping Daniel’s cock in quick, long strokes. Daniel flinches at the touch, conditioned to pain and denial.

“Shh, it’s alright to feel good, Daniel. I’m glad you came.”

The words don’t even make sense. They’re just not believable. No one has ever told him his pleasure was a good thing.

There’s a sob stuck in his throat. He sniffles, knowing he’s soaking the shirt with his tears. “I’m sorry I’m crying.”

“Did they tell you not to cry, too?” Liam sighs. “Of course they did. That’s wrong, Daniel. It’s good and right that you’re crying. High-level submissives need to cry. You have too many hormones to get out. You can’t come enough, baby. It’s another form of release and you need it. Let it happen. You’ll cry a lot with me, Daniel. And I love it. I love the tears, and I love to make you cry and get you feeling better. That’s just how you’re built, that’s the submissive designation. And that’s how I want you, too. You cry and then you curl up next to me and let Daddy fix it.”

Daddy. Is that who Liam will be to him? Daniel sobs harder. He couldn’t stop the tears even if he wanted to. Which he doesn’t. It’s as if everything was a lie. How is it that this stranger is the kindest person he’s met since the change happened? How does he know all the right things to say and do?

Maybe because this isn’t real, either. It’s Liam’s job. This is what Daniel gets because his father isn’t around to control who has access to him. Because his current doctor wants him to be treated like a submissive. If he’d just been a random soldier, would his life have been better?

Hasn’t he known the answer to that for years?

And now Liam has called himself Daddy. Might Daniel get to call him that, too? Can he get this Dominant to be his Daddy and take care of him? At least for a little while? The sobbing takes all of his attention and he barely notices the wand inside him as Liam finishes the exam. Then it slides out and Daniel moans at the loss.

“I know, you need something inside you. We’ll get you filled up, Daniel. On your side,” Liam says, and Daniel obeys, lying down on his side. Gentle touches encourage him to pull his knees up, getting him into a fetal position because he’s still crying and that feels right. “How about you tuck your fingers into your hole for me? Self-soothe, sweetheart. Can you do that?”

He’s not supposed to. He’s never been allowed. There was always somebody with him to make sure he didn’t succumb to any of his submissive impulses. They didn’t even let him shower alone. He had to leave the door unlocked and ajar for the bathroom.

Now Liam is telling him to do the things he fantasizes about. How many times did he ache and feel half crazed because he couldn’t have something in his ass, stretching him open and full when he needed it?

Ever since the change he’s felt empty. He looks at everyday objects and imagines them inside him. It’s horrible and disgusting how fixated on it he’s always been.

A horrible, shameful thing that they knew to watch out for.

But he didn’t ask to be like this. He can trust no one. Everyone is always waiting for him to fail. And he does. And then it’s back in for tests and corrective measures. More experiments.

Daniel shakes his head, scared of obeying the suggestion. It has to be a trap. He’s going to panic. He looks wildly at his Dominant, needing to see the lie on his handsome face.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“I can’t! I’m not supposed to. It’s bad. What do I do?”

“You obey me. Now. Fingers in your hole! Soothe yourself.” His voice is like the crack of a whip, keeping Daniel’s past experiences from closing in.

Daniel freezes with indecision.

“You’re fine,” Liam says, and urges Daniel’s hand between his legs, fingers to his hole. “There you go. Good boy. Deep, baby.”

He whimpers and presses two fingers inside, shivering at the calm that instantly descends on him.

Daniel makes a soft sound when he exhales, letting his eyes close, desperate to believe that he’s safe for the moment.

“There you go. Doesn’t that feel good? You just obey your Daddy.”

“A-are you?” Daniel whispers, forcing his eyes open to look at Liam’s face. To see the lie, if he can. “My… Daddy?”

“I am,” he says, like a vow. “I promise… Daniel, I swear you can trust me. For as long as you’re with me, I’ll be your Daddy.”

“You’re… you’re with them.”

Liam sighs heavily. “Let me go see about getting you out of here. One step at a time, okay?”

“Sir?” he asks before the Dominant moves away. “You’re still… it’s still better than anything else I’ve ever had. I’m grateful. Maybe just… if you could… don’t make promises you can’t keep, either. Please?”

Liam’s lips go into a hard line, his eyes very blue as he stares at Daniel for a long moment. Then he gives a forced smile. “I understand. I’m going to go talk to the doctor for a minute. And then I think we should be able to go. I’ll help you get dressed and get out of here. Can you just lie there until I get back?”

“Yes.” That might be all he can do.

“Good.”

Daniel clutches Liam’s shirt to his face.

Liam leaves the room and all is quiet. His hole feels so good and warm. His balls aren’t nearly as swollen, and he’s quiet in body and mind. He stares at the wall, content to look at nothing. When Liam comes back in, he has a black t-shirt on and Dr. Chang is with him.

“Daniel, you’re in good hands here. How are you feeling?”

“Good,” he says, voice slurred. He swallows, surprised he wasn’t clearer, that his voice wasn’t stronger. He thinks about sitting up, but it’s difficult when he’s so tired and weak.

Dr. Chang chuckles. “I’m going to recommend that you have Liam for at least a month. No guarantees, of course. But that will be my recommendation. And if your numbers improve like I expect they will, we’ll be able to make a good case for it.”

Daniel closes his eyes. “That sounds amazing,” he whispers.

Liam touches his hair, petting him gently. Daniel wants this Dominant so badly that he’s going to put his needs first. He’s going to demand to keep Liam if he can. He’ll speak up, disobey, risk whatever punishment his father wants to give him for a chance with this man.

Daniel’s never fought for himself. He had no idea what he was missing. Now he does. And soon he’ll get more.

Dr. Chang leaves and comes back with a t-shirt and sweats for Daniel to wear. Liam stands next to his bed, touching him gently until the clothes arrive.

“Up, sweetheart,” he says, and Daniel shoves to a seated position. Liam looks at his chest and blinks. “Look how pretty you are.”

Daniel blushes. “They’re big,” he whispers. It’s harder to see when he’s lying down.

“Yeah, they are. Spectacular. You’re making me so impatient, Daniel. I want you on my knot so bad. Can’t wait to get my hands on those pretty tits.” Liam reaches out, cupping the flesh in his hands. “Oh sweetheart, you’ll be so swollen and soft when I’m done with you.”

Daniel blushes harder, wishing Liam would squeeze. He presses against Liam’s hand, goose bumps breaking out all over his skin at the pressure, the zap of electric pleasure.

Liam grins at him. “You little minx, trying to entice me. I’m gonna get you home first—a sweet little thing like you deserves to be mounted in a bed. Just a little longer. I’ll breed you up so good, Daniel.”

“P-please,” he says shyly.

Daniel gets the sweatpants on, and Liam lets him wear his shirt, which is so calming and arousing that he’s leaking onto the bed. Then they realize he has no shoes, either. He’d collapsed before he put them on. Liam frowns at his feet and goes to get him shoes, coming back with some cheap hospital flip-flops that Daniel puts on.

They leave medical together, Liam with an arm around him, seemingly unwilling to let Daniel be away from him at all. It’s nice. It makes him feel protected and wanted. He feels smaller somehow, and he finds himself slouching and ducking in close, wanting to touch and scent his Dominant.

“You’re going to stay right next to me. Snug and close, understand?”

Daniel blushes and smiles at him. It’s exactly what he wants.