Work Text:
Lavinia’s work had been cut out for her the moment Signora Sicilia gave her and Leontuzzo permission to carve a city of their own out of Volsinii. For the hope of a world without famiglie domineering it, as she’d repeated to hundreds of skeptical lawyers and bankers and everyday Siracusans. The work she did every day for that world was the most important thing she'd ever done, and she wouldn’t give it up for anything. Still, Lavinia would really appreciate it if her job wasn’t so damn exhausting.
As a judge in Volsinii, she had struggled with meticulous law exams and court cases that could mean her life or her citizens’. Her work now was a new kind of struggle; a frustrating cycle of writing and arguing and rewriting. Every famiglia hunted loopholes like it was a sport, and she could only do so much to force the full spirit of the law into its letter. This resulted in days like today–spent at her desk poring over a dusty textbook next to a bill that she had drafted, annotating where the law could be weak or used in bad faith, with no human contact outside a quick trip to the break room to retrieve her lunch. (Which was, of course, eaten in her office.)
The problem she was handling today was her attempt to counter small and developing famiglie from organizing in Nuova Volsinii behind closed doors. It was her third day drafting the bill, and it really needed anyone else’s eyes, but she needed to have it written at all before she could ask her peers for input. She needed her sturdy principles and impenetrable language, both of which felt miles out of her grasp at this point. She was supposed to be sturdy, she’s Lavinia, operator Penance, the righteous Judge Falcone of Volsinii, for god’s sake. At least the larger famiglie were easier to handle, if only in that they understood the rules of the city and how to follow them in the most disobedient way possible. (Alberto Saluzzo had been perfectly, disgustingly cooperative.) Smaller famiglie, on the other hand, crawled through her city’s blind spots like a pest eating at the walls of a house. A single insect can be crushed as it’s seen, but the effort it took Lavinia to find termites and seal them out of the city with nothing but legal jargon and determination was immense.
She locked the heavy door of her office behind her with a quiet sigh. Guards stood by the doors to the city hall, as they always did, but she’d stayed much later past any of the affable old clerks or bright-eyed interns–a pattern she hadn’t managed to break in the months since she’d come to work here. The notes she had been writing had turned nearly illegible, and she took that (and the heavy shadows the setting sun had been casting across her office for the past hour) as a sign to go home before she brought herself any closer to a headache or tears. She shrugged her coat on and stepped out the door. As her eyes caught on the burning red-orange of the sunset, her phone buzzed from the inner pocket of her coat. (Had she left it there all day again? She really should work on that. Maybe set herself a reminder, next time she was in the office…) Lavinia pulled her phone out. A message from Leontuzzo, she realized with some relief.
Leon: How was your work today? 17:22
Leon: It’s getting late. Are you headed home soon? 18:48
Penance: Mi dispiace–I left my cell phone in my coat. I’m walking home now. Work has been frustrating, to say the least. I’m working on drafting the bill I mentioned on Tuesday. 18:49
His response came quickly. She remembered their conversation this morning–he had left city hall early to have supper with some visiting officials from Rhodes, something that had surely ended by now. He must be home already.
Leon: I understand. Would you rather peace and quiet or stress relief? You know I can take your frustration if you need to let it out. 18:49
Lavinia chewed on her lip. Their living arrangement had been like this for some time; a respite from their shared burden of a whole city on their shoulders, and a routine of increasingly rough sex, when a cup of coffee and an old record weren’t enough. She hesitated to call this romantic, and it had certainly not started that way. They’d never talked about what they were now. She called herself his owner, sometimes, but only to Leontuzzo himself. Never anything like ‘partner’ (something they already were in the professional sense) or ‘girlfriend’ (the thought felt childish, she was a grown woman and certainly nobody’s girl.)
Besides, romance was something soft, and freely given. More than just two Atlases interlocked so that no one else could see their painful vulnerabilities. That’s all she felt for Leon. (Lavinia often had to push her soft, never-given thoughts of the late Don Bellone out of her mind. Bernardo was gone, so very gone, and she had Leontuzzo Bellone and his so-very-similar yellow eyes instead.)
(She thought, sometimes, about how it was sort of poetic that Bernardo had died at the precipice of their step forward into the unknown. Maybe one day this would be their familiar struggle, rather than the terrifying and lonely depths they found themselves in. Maybe one day she would die for it, and Leontuzzo would step over her body to find a new, better world.)
Penance: You know me well. I’ll be home in a half hour. Have your collar on before then. 18:50
Leon: Yes, ma’am. 18:50
The long way home wasn’t really much more scenic, but it gave her time to steady herself and stretch her aching back and hands. The empty streets would be eerie on both routes, anyways. Clean gray stones and quiet people. No watchful eyes and no bloodstains to wash out with rainwater. It didn’t rain much, anyways; March was a bit early for the dry season, and the dry streets and stale air only made her feel more severed from the familiar but terrible Siracusa she knew so well.
Soon after, she approached the quaint brownstone that she shared with Leontuzzo. Her heels clicked on the brick steps, grounding herself from a haze she hadn’t realized she’d been in. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door, letting the creaking hinges announce her presence. Just inside, she hung her coat and keys, then slipped her shoes off. She quietly entered their living room, and saw Leon.
Her boy was laid on the couch, tail curled around his legs and arms draped over the edge of the cushions. The record he had set to play quietly in the corner was one she recognized from meetings with Bernardo, making her feel young and strange for a short moment. Leon was wearing plain black boxers and one of the loose undershirts he wore when he didn’t want Lavinia touching his chest. More importantly, he was wearing a heavy leather collar around his neck, with a tag they had commissioned from a discreet metalworker on Rhodes Island—one side with “Leon” in plain text, and the other with “Di Lavinia”. Hers, her Leon, her pup. The sight already pulls her back into the routine, a version of Leontuzzo that only she had the privilege of enjoying.
Their eyes met, and he flicked his ear after a moment, an unspoken are you ready? She nodded, just slightly.
“Up,” she said, voice clipped and awkward from disuse. He kept her gaze, unimpressed, and then stretched out on the couch, the metal on his collar clicking softly. So that’s how it is. Disobedience was something she knew well how to handle. “Up, pretty boy,” she said more firmly. “Unless you want me to turn around and leave you here alone? I can spend my evening elsewhere. I hear Cellinia’s in town.” She’s not sure what she’s implying with the threat. He knows as well as she does that Cellinia’s not interested, and is certainly busy with business or her friends right now.
He seemed to consider his options, a ghost of a smirk passing over his face at the mention of Texas, and gave her a wide yawn, making a show of sleepy reluctance. “I’m coming.” His voice was bored and childish as he rose to his feet, and Lavinia clicked her tongue loud enough to freeze him.
“You know better. Try again.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he corrected himself. She nodded approvingly, and started towards the stairs. He knew better than to lag behind her, and there was no reason to, if he was as eager as he usually was behind his mask of indifference.
Their house had two bedrooms, one for each of them. Leontuzzo’s was the smaller of the two; it had his bed and a few comfortable chairs, alongside a sturdy desk. They had an agreement to not bring work home for their health, but of course they faltered–their work was their home, after all. Lavinia spent long nights there with him, curled in a chair and frowning at thick sheafs of paper under lamplight. Lavinia’s was larger, and had only her bed and several large chests of drawers on a thick brown rug. These dressers held clothes, as most did, but organized in similar wooden chests were carefully kept weapons and battle gear and two drawers of a neatly organized sex toy collection.
She led him into the room, barely sparing a glance towards her boy as she opened one of the two. “Sit next to the bed. On your knees, per favore.” When she looked over a second time, she saw him obediently kneeling facing the bed, hands folded in front of him. She almost smiled. “Good boy.”
He couldn't hide how his tail twitched side to side for a moment at the praise, but he stayed quiet, waiting for her. She eyed a few toys, but only pulled out one for now, a short leash that matched his collar’s thick silver hardware and dark leather. Simple, but very effective, as Lavinia liked her tools.
“You will do as I say, and only as I say,” she said as she settled on the bed, legs resting either side of Leon. “If you disobey, I will punish you as I see fit. You have no say in what you may or may not deserve, so I will not accept backtalk.” She used one hand to tilt his chin up and stroked his cheek with her thumb, then hooked his leash on with the other hand. “Do you understand?”
“Yes ma’am,” he said, watching her with hungry eyes. She remembered, seeing his piercing gaze, how unpredictable a creature he was. Smart little thing, never obeying blindly, always a spark of cleverness or resistance before his compliance, if not more. Lavinia didn’t care. She knew how to make him obey.
“Good. Take these off.” She draws her pleated skirt down, one thumb revealing the tight black panties she was wearing. Leon brought his hands up, carefully pulled off her skirt and panties, neatly set them beside him on the ground and returned to his position between her thighs. He looked back up at her and her slow motion of unbuttoning her shirt expectantly. Once Lavinia only had her (very practical) lace bra covering her, she smiled and ran a hand through his hair. It was getting long, always falling over his eyes. She wondered if she could braid it, if he would let her. On the fourth stroke down the back of his head, she gripped his hair and pulled him into her cunt. He made a lovely surprised noise, one she’d play on a record if she could, his nose buried in her bush.
It didn’t take him long to remember his purpose, though, and he quickly began to work over her folds. He licked a line up her slit, collecting wet heat on his tongue. Lavinia hummed appreciatively, running her hand lower and petting the scruff of his neck. She’d needed to train him how to eat her out, but he had always been a quick learner, and he had gotten quite good at finding the ways to make her fall apart as quickly as his could. Leon’s incisors skated across her swollen clit as he kissed it, and her breath caught. He huffed a hot breath of satisfaction at her reaction and did it again, sending another jolt of pleasure through her core. She let herself moan, low and languid, then shifted to stroking the soft shell of Leon’s ear. Sure enough, he whimpered, a soft vibration against her pussy. However clever and independent he liked to seem, his buttons were so easy to press. She tried another trick, yanking his leash back suddenly to hear the pretty, keening noise he made whenever there was a new pressure on his neck. So predictable, if you knew him like she did. She didn’t need to look to know that his knees had spread wide on the ground unconsciously, or that he had soaked through his boxers, aching for something to rut against aside from the empty space between Lavinia’s heels.
She gave another yank on the collar a few moments later, pulling him back from her cunt. This time, he gave her a high-pitched whine, looking up at her through his thick eyelashes. His lips are parted and wet–her slick is around his mouth and dripping down his chin with his spit. “Oh, you look so cute,” she said, only partially teasing. “Cucciolo mio, so good for me.” Her hips twitched forward into his mouth as the leash went slack again, searching for the missing friction of his tongue against her. Leon sank back into her, lips pressing on her sensitive clit, drawing more languid, satisfied moans out of her.
For good measure and her own desire, Lavinia pulled his leash once more, seeking another pretty, desperate sound. Instead, he followed the leash to the side, his teeth finding her thigh. He bit her, teeth digging into soft skin, and she gasped. It didn’t draw blood–he knew better, and neither of them enjoyed cleaning wounds enough to do it for fun–but it hurt, and it sent a hot rush of pleasure through her. Still, it was brazen disobedience. “Cazzo!” She grabbed him by the jaw and narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, a spike of uncertainty hit her in the chest; her impulses were selfish, cruel, unfair. She tried to tell herself that this is her choice, that her harsh hand was what they both wanted, but she couldn’t help but let her grip falter. How could she treat Leon like this, her Leon–
Leon caught the doubt in her eyes, already understanding what she was feeling. He tilted his head into her touch, almost comforting her, and then twisted further suddenly, taking her thumb into his mouth. He bit down hard, pricking dull pain at the flat of her palm. Disobedient, hurting her back. “Ah–” he got a sharp sound of surprise and pain out of her. With her doubt fading away, she refastened her grip, pulling his mouth open with her thumb pressed against his gums. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she snarled. “Cattivo cane, behave yourself.”
With the hand in his mouth, she pulled him to his feet. Ignoring his yelp as he staggered, she pushed him onto the bed. Lavinia twisted over him to rest one knee against his soaked boxers and held him against the bed by the base of his throat. Leon was breathless, and when she realized he was smiling at having successfully provoked a reaction, she bared her teeth. “You’re going to submit,” she growled. “Unless you want double the punishment you’ve earned so far? People have taken beckbeasts back to the pound for less than what you’re trying to get away with.” She pressed a little harder against his sternum. “Well, pretty boy?”
“Yes ma’am,” he gasped, through the pressure on his neck and thick, heady arousal.
“Good.” Lavinia released his neck and sat next to him, pulling his hips into her lap. “Mm-mm, stay down, puppy. I’ll give you what you earned.” Honey dripped from her tone, and she felt Leon shiver when her fingertips brushed the flat of his stomach. She tugged at Leon’s boxers, letting her boy twist in her lap to pull them loose.
Lavinia pulled his hood back with two exploratory fingers to reveal his swollen, wet t-dick. “Oh, you’re so hard for me,” she hummed appreciatively, and resolved to save her praise of Rhodes Island’s hormone treatments for later. “You must want me so bad… Is that why you’re acting up, pretty boy? Because you just couldn’t wait for your owner’s knot inside you?” She laughed at his soft whine. “I should punish you just for that, pup.”
Leon tossed his head, burying his warm face in the bedspread. His collar clinked with the movement and pulled at the half-forgotten leash with it. “Oh, sweet thing,” Lavinia cooed. She traced down his slit with the same light touch. “What do you think? How many?” she asked, pressing her palm just a little too hard into his clit.
Her boy squirmed under his touch. “Whatever you decide, ma’am,” he answered hesitantly.
“Mm.” Lavinia slapped the inside of his thigh. Just hard enough to pull a squeak of surprise out of him. “Look me in the eyes when you’re talking to me. How about ten?”
Leon chewed on his lip and turned his wide eyes back to his owner. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Ten sounds good.”
“Good boy,” she purred. One more slow stroke up the length of his cunt, the tip of his dick dragging on her hand, and then a firm slap that earned her a gasp.
“What do you say, puppy?”
“Thank you, ma’am–ah!”
Lavinia smiled. He really did make the prettiest noises. She spread his lips, admiring shining pink tightening around nothing. She could see that Leon was losing his hold on his obstinance, trading it for a fuzzy look in his eyes. She smiled, and hit him a third time, admiring the way he jerked under her and pressed his knees together.
“Don’t be shy, little thing, let me see you.” He whimpered softly, letting his thighs open again for her. “Seven more, okay, love?”
“Y-yes, ma’am,” Leon gasped. “Thank you.”
The next two were in quick succession, harsh on his t-dick. He bucked into the empty space where her hand had been, whining pathetically. “Shh, shh. You earned this, remember? Disobedient puppy.” Her voice was warm, sweet. “Take your punishment.”
Leontuzzo did take it, beautifully. He squirmed and whined through the rest of his punishment, leaving Lavinia with her boy panting in her lap. His cunt, slapped red, dripped between his legs and onto her thighs. A perfect picture.
“You learned your lesson, tesoro mio?” Leontuzzo nodded emphatically, gazing at her with his wide, foggy eyes. “You ready to behave for me?”
“Yes, I’ll be good, yeah,” he slurred.
Lavinia smiled, and stood. In the chest of drawers, she found her harness, and surveyed the assortment of silicone dicks that fit onto it. There were some especially punishing options, and a few that she knew were her boy’s favorite to have inside him–but this wasn’t about what Leon wanted, not really. She selected one of her own favorites: a thick red thing with an even thicker knot at its base and a pointed tip. She’d always found it easier to think of this one as her cock when she had it on, compared to long, colorful things that were just tools for her.
She slowly walked back to the bed as she fastened the strap around her waist and thighs. She knew she was giving a show, and Leon was eating it up, even before she looked up to see his eyes fixed on her. Lavinia stilled for a moment, enjoying her view. Leon was sprawled on the bed, limbs akimbo, save for a hand she knew he was only barely keeping on his stomach and not any lower. His leash lay next to him, tangled in sheets. He thumped his tail against the bed impatiently. She huffed in condescending amusement.
Lavinia pulled his hips closer to the edge of the bed, and trailed her hands downwards to lift his calves over her shoulders. “Now,” she said gently. “I would like to hear an apology. Can you do that for me?”
“I–aah,” he lost his breath with one gentle finger pressing on his clit, barely giving any friction at all against his warm skin. Lavinia’s hands were pockmarked with scars from the golden thorns she carried near-daily, and Leon told her once that the scars made her hands feel better, rougher. “I’m sorry, Vinia,” he hissed.
Lavinia gently set the tip of her cock on his slick entrance, its rounded point cold against his warmth. “Hm? What was that, pretty boy?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, please,” he mewled, voice trailing off. He was trying to contain himself, she noticed.
“What are you sorry for? Come on, cucchiolo, don’t hold your breath. Your voice is so handsome, it’s a waste if I can’t hear it.”
“I’m sorry for biting you, sorry for biting your ha-ohh,” his voice cut into a whimper as she sunk her cock into him. She spread his folds with her hand, watching the way his eager cunt clenched around her cock. She was barely halfway in, Lavinia noted with amusement. The widest point wasn’t quite inside, and that was nothing compared to the knot at its base.
“Good boy,” she said, despite his unfinished sentence. His moans were enough of an apology for her. “And why should I forgive your disobedience, pup?” She saw his hands, one reaching towards his cunt, and caught them in midair with her free hand, pressing them to the bed above his head. “I didn’t tell you to touch yourself. Speak, pup.”
Leon gave her a pitiful little noise. “I’ll make it up to you, ma’am, I’ll be good–fuck, please–” he arched his back and tried to push himself further on her cock, to no avail. Lavinia looked down at her Leon, her toy, and smiled at his helplessness. All hers.
“I’ll take you at your word, pretty boy. You look so desperate, after all. Just don’t forget that you’re being good.” She punctuated the last word with a sudden thrust and a pinch to his clit, pushing everything short her knot inside him.
Her boy cried out, and Lavinia fell into silence as she watched him shudder and squirm. Slowly, she pulled away, and slammed into his cunt again, met with another sweet moan.
“Ohh, fuck,” she sighed, and settled into a steady pace. “My puppy, tesoro mio. Tell me who you belong to.”
“I belong to you, Lavinia,” he panted, and she chose not to comment on the title. He was taking her so well, it’d be a shame to ruin such a pretty moment.
“Say it again.”
“You, I belong to you, fuck.” His back arched up from the bed. “I’m yours, please, I’m yours,” he repeated, again with each thrust. Lavinia saw his thighs trembling, and released his hands to rest one at his hip. “I’m so close, please…” He looked up at his owner with his desperate yellow eyes.
“Waiting for permission, good boy.” Lavinia gave him a sweet, unrelenting smile. “Hold on a little longer. I know you can.” She took a long few moments to enjoy the way he clenched around her cock and twitched his hips into her touch, all out of his control, as he desperately tried not to cum. Finally, she leaned over him, pressing her knot against his entrance. “Ready?” Leon nodded fervently.
“Cum for me,” Lavinia commanded, the moment she pushed her knot into him. It only took the sudden stretch and pressure of her knot filling his needy hole and one drag of her thumb along the length of his t-dick for him to let out a rasping cry.
“That’s it, that’s my boy,” she said, running one hand through his (now thoroughly messed up) hair. His chest rose and fell, with the thin cotton covering it thoroughly soaked in sweat. “Such a good boy. Do you like my knot in you, sweet puppy?”
“Yes, you feel so good,” he panted, sounding like he had gotten exactly what he wanted. She leaned away, and heard his breath stutter as her cock shifted inside him. She smiled, and reached down to her harness. It only took some fiddling and careful movement (and one “accidental” brush against Leon’s clit that made him jolt) to pull the silicone cock out of the harness. She made quick work of getting herself out of the harness itself, and realized just how aroused she was, having left a wet mark on the leather. He’d not made her come before he decided to disobey, after all.
“You’re not done yet,” she reminded Leon, and before he could respond, she lifted herself over him and bracketed her legs on either side of her head. She smiled down at her puppy. “Make me cum, pretty thing.”
“Yes, ma’am,” her boy breathed, and she lowered herself onto his outstretched tongue. Leon ate her like she was his entire world, and in that moment, she was. He belonged to Lavinia, and Lavinia only.
“Fuck, you’re so good,” she moaned, rocking her hips against his eager mouth. Lavinia had already been close, so it really only took him a few moments to bring her to the edge. “My pretty boy, my Leon.” He looked up at her with his sharp gaze under heavy eyelids, lapping at her folds until her breath caught. “Ohh, I’m–”
Leon worked her through her orgasm, his eyes fluttering shut. When the sensation started to edge into discomfort, she pulled away, collapsing onto the bed next to him. They lay next to each other, with only the sounds of their heavy breathing filling the silence. When Lavinia decided she’d caught her breath, she leaned over to unfasten Leon’s collar and pull him close. “Thank you, Leon,” she said quietly, and kissed his forehead. In their months of this routine, they’d never kissed on the lips. Neither said why, but Lavinia would feel too… normal. This wouldn’t be a suspension of their real lives. They’d just love each other, with all the hangups and truths that came with it, and she would never tell a single soul she was in love with Leontuzzo Bellone. If it were true.
“You needed it,” Leon responded matter-of-factly. “Vinia, bella mia. Would you get us water? I would, but, ah. You left your cock in me.”
“Oh!” Her face flushed, with embarrassment rather than exertion now. “I’ll, hang on…” she sat up on the bed, and placed one hand on Leon’s belly as the other drew the silicone knot out with a slick noise. He winced. “There. And yes, water.” Lavinia stood, pulled two bottles of water from the drawer where she kept them for this exact purpose.
“Are you feeling alright? I didn’t hurt you at all, nothing’s…?” Her anxiety is etched onto her face, she knows, as she returns to the bed.
Leon sighed. “Vinia, you’ve wrapped thorns around my wrists as cuffs before. You stretched me out a little, that’s it.”
“I know, I know,” she said, and her ears fell back to press against her skull.
“No, shh, shh, come here,” he said, shaking his head. He pulled her against the soft fabric of his shirt. “Do you feel better, cara mia?”
She smiled, leaning into him. “I do,” she mumbled. “You were good, Leon.”
“And you were very, very hot. Lovely. Good owner. Brava.” She laughed, and Leon smiled and reached up to pet her ears. How lucky was she, Lavinia thought, and let her eyes close as she leaned into her lover’s touch.