Free Axel's Pup by Kim Dare Page A

against him. “Alcohol doesn’t work on us. Neither do human drugs.”
    “They don’t affect you at all?”
    “Once a guy bet me I couldn’t down a bottle of vodka. It made me a bit sleepy.” He thought back to that night. “It didn’t taste very nice. Beats the hell out of me why anyone would drink it if it wasn’t a bet.”
    * * * * *
    Axel chuckled at the obviously genuine bemusement in Bayden’s voice, but his expression turned serious again as he returned his attention to Bayden’s flogged back.
    Richards had thrown all his strength into it. He’d raised welts. The fact he’d switched hands and purposely crossed his strokes only made it worse. The skin was broken so many times. Each wound was small. There was no question of any of them needing stitches. Masochists had received harsher treatment in the pub and thrived on it, but it wasn’t the same.
    “Fights and vodka are one thing, but you were a fool to take this bet.”
    Bayden said nothing. Axel waited, wondering if Bayden was silent because he was mad or because he was in too much pain to answer.
    Axel was doing his best to be gentle, but it still must have hurt like hell. Bayden hadn’t complained once; he hadn’t even flinched. Axel held back a sigh. He shouldn’t have baited him. Silly little fool probably thought he had a point to prove about that too.
    “It was worth it,” Bayden said.
    Axel wasn’t sure if it was the pain from the wounds, but it sounded suspiciously like Bayden was reminding himself of that as much as anything. “Why? What made it worth it?”
    Bayden was quiet for a long time. Axel started to think that he wasn’t going to answer, but finally he did.
    “It’s no different than a fight. Humans think they can break us—proving they can’t is always worth it.”
    “What?”
    “Humans have always thought that if they whip us, or screw us, or whatever, they can put us in our place and prove that they’re better than us. They’re wrong.”
    Axel frowned at the back of Bayden’s head, unable to think of a single thing to say.
    “He threw the best he had at me, and the worst it was, was boring.”
    A couple of puzzle pieces fell into place. “And just in case you didn’t prove that well enough during the whipping, you had to shoot him down at the end?”
    Bayden’s shoulders twitched as if he started to shrug, then remembered why that was a bad idea. “Humans aren’t always quick on the uptake. Just not showing them respect isn’t enough.”
    “Richards definitely doesn’t deserve anyone’s respect,” Axel said. “But don’t make the mistake of thinking all human doms are equally clueless.”
    “I don’t think you’re clueless,” Bayden said. His voice was steady. Any pain was well hidden. “I think you’re a hypocrite.”
    Axel raised an eyebrow at the back of Bayden’s head. “Oh?”
    “The way you’re acting, anyone would think you’d never whipped a guy.”
    Axel straightened up in his seat. “Not for a bet, I haven’t.”
    “You’ve been thinking about doing something like this to me ever since we met,” Bayden said, with easy confidence.
    “Yes.” Axel had no intention of lying about it. “I wanted to screw you the moment I saw you. I’ve wanted to turn you over my knee ever since you took that first stupid bet.”
    “You can if you want to.”
    “Let me guess, you’ll bet that you can take it?” Axel asked, with forced calm.
    Bayden was silent for several seconds.
    Axel held his breath.
    “No bet,” Bayden finally whispered. “But, I—”
    Axel waited, but that seemed to be all Bayden intended to offer up. “But you what?”
    “But nothing,” Bayden said. “You can, if you want to. Either, or both.”
    Axel ran his gaze over Bayden’s back. The wounds were clean. None of them were bleeding. Time would be the only thing that helped them further. He moved his chair around so he could see Bayden’s face. “But you what?” he repeated.
    Bayden stared at the table for