At His Throat, a Promise (21 page)

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AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

“Yes, Sir,” Ellis said, brows drawn. He"d never been…

cosseted before. It wasn"t exactly a bad feeling.

He also didn"t mind when the master insisted on feeding him himself, though he was sure his blush broke through his training.

After Ellis"s stomach was sated, a soft kiss was placed on his lips, and William took him into his arms, wrapping himself around Ellis. It was different, being the one protected. Easy to get used to.

Dangerous, though.

But he"d think about that another time.

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Heavy curtains kept the judgmental morning sun from blinding him, but once he woke up, Ellis found sleep elusive.

He watched William for a while, intrigued by the lines and contours of his face. William was, objectively, quite handsome. He had broad, masculine features, dark, decisive eyebrows, and lips that were usually pulled taut, but were now slack with slumber. His eyes were dark, but no colour other than simple brown. His hair was much the same. Even his skin was a very light brown, more tan than a lawyer should be, but that was the way of Mensonites.

They were naturally darker and larger, which led some people to think they were barbaric, and this stereotype was further perpetuated by their lack of traditional slavery. How could they 177

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

learn, demanded Spirans, a generally more fair and slender people, without giving themselves over to the profession, mind and body?

For that was what William was: a representation of the law. So Harte and Ellis submitted themselves to the symbolic personification of their future profession in order to become immersed in it.

But Ellis didn"t think that William looked barbaric. He didn"t look different enough that people could immediately guess his heritage, but enough that people could say they"d always thought so
after
the truth was revealed.

William groaned a little and Ellis quickly shut his eyes. He knew the moment the master awoke because his breathing changed, and the weight of his gaze made Ellis feel sheepish for pretending to be asleep.

He opened his eyes and looked into William"s.

“Good morning,” William said, voice scratchy with sleep.

“Good morning, Sir.”

“How do your feet feel?”

Ellis tentatively flexed his toes. Masking a wince, he said,

“Better, Sir. They are a little sore, though.”

“To be expected. Luckily, the largest cut was on the side, so you should be able to walk without causing further injury.”

“Thank you for taking care of me, Sir,” Ellis said. He felt a little strange, lying in the master"s bed beside him. It was almost too comfortable, too casual.

William didn"t say anything, just nodded. Ellis bit his lip and tried to think about what to do—should he leave? Go back to sleep? Offer himself?

But William negated the decision by kissing him. It was a slow, soft meeting of mouths that made Ellis sigh inside his head. He"d 178

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told William that his old master had been fond of kissing, and that was true, but it hadn"t been like this. Ellis hadn"t been expected to reciprocate in any way. The master had made use of his mouth just as he had his other orifice.

William, contrarily, expected Ellis to participate, and Ellis always wanted to.

He was even bold enough to place his hands against William"s chest as the kiss grew deeper, relishing the firmness and solidity of the body. There was a permanence to William, an unassailability.

With a slick slide of tongue over Ellis"s lower lip, William broke the kiss. “Will you go wake Harte and bring him back here?” Ellis stiffened. Had he been a mere warm-up, and now William was going to use Harte because Ellis was unsatisfactory? He nodded numbly and left the room, pausing to collect himself before knocking on Harte"s door.

Harte opened it at once, as if he"d been waiting. His eyes rested on Ellis"s kiss-swollen lips and he smiled. “Master"s in a good mood?”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“It isn"t time for my punishment yet. Do you want to have a shower with me?”

“Sir wants you in his chambers, actually.” Harte smiled brilliantly. “Did he tell you what my punishment would be?”

“No, he didn"t, and he would have no reason to. Now come with me!” Keeping the master waiting was insolent, especially when he could probably hear their conversation.

Harte scurried after Ellis, who held the door open for the smaller slave before backing out.

“Ellis! Where are you going?” William called.

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“I thought you… ” Ellis hesitated. “Sorry, Sir.” He re-entered the room and closed the door behind him.

He was pleasantly surprised to see Harte kneeling on the floor by the bed and moved to join him.

“Come up here, keep me company.”

Harte crawled onto the bed and sat almost demurely near the foot. If it hadn"t been for their talks the day before, Ellis would have thought Harte was angling for something. But maybe the other slave was finally beginning to understand his place.

Ellis sat back on his heels beside Harte, surreptitiously glancing at William to see if he could tell what the master had in mind. As far as Ellis knew, William hadn"t made use of Harte since before Gabriel had left. That would certainly explain why Harte was only just containing himself, though a slight twitching of his fingers gave away any excitement he might feel.

“Ellis… kiss Harte, won"t you?” William"s voice was strategically nonchalant, as if he needed to feign perfect control.

Ellis scooted closer so his knees touched Harte"s and kissed him, keeping his hands firmly on his own thighs. The kiss was chaste, only a soft meeting of lips for a few seconds, enough to satisfy the requirements of the demand.

“Now kiss him how you want to kiss him.” Harte smiled a little shakily as Ellis held his face with both hands. This kiss started off slow, but there was nothing of the former sweetness. Ellis pressed and pressed until Harte had to arch his back to accommodate the onslaught. Harte"s natural submission brought out something unfamiliar in Ellis, something he"d only ever experienced with Harte. He thought back to what William had said the night before:
You will be a great master one day.
Before that, he"d never really considered that he might take a slave once 180

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he was free to, but having Harte bending against him, bent to his will, really, made him throb with desire.

“Harte, stroke him.”

Immediately, and without breaking away from Ellis"s demanding mouth, Harte"s hand found his cock beneath his sheath and began tugging. Ellis panted, close to coming just from the thoughts racing through his mind. Images of Harte tied down, whipped,
fucked
, all mingled with images of himself in the same situations.

“Slowly,” William amended, apparently noticing Ellis"s needy state. “Ellis, prepare him.”

Ellis moved until his knee was pressed between Harte"s legs, nudging his sac, and Harte"s leg similarly between his own. He was close enough to reach around the smaller boy, and he held him open with one hand as he teased the entrance with his fingers.

Harte moaned and thrust up greedily, his cock not coming into contact with anything but still moving. Harte whimpered when Ellis tried to press his finger in, and the noise shot right to his cock.

“Wet his fingers if you don"t like it,” William said. His voice was becoming more hoarse, and his hand was clenching on his thigh.

Harte obediently opened his mouth, and Ellis put his fingers inside, eyes falling shut as Harte"s quick and talented tongue laved and sucked.

When he brought them back to Harte"s hole, they slid in more easily, and Harte pressed back against them.

Wanting desperately to finger-fuck Harte hard and fast, Ellis instead waited for the master"s instructions.

When they came, Ellis almost thought about asking for a cock ring, because there was no way he"d be able to make it without 181

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

one.

“Ride his fingers, Harte. Harder. Good. Good boy.” Harte was rising up and slamming back onto Ellis"s fingers, which he had to hold as steady as possible so Harte could fuck them.

“Sir… ” Ellis rasped, desperately close and getting closer just from watching Harte and feeling him tense and ripple around his fingers.

“Stop.”

Harte whined but stopped himself. He was flushed pink from his cheeks halfway down his chest, and the sight of it made Ellis want to lick and taste him.

“Ellis, I want you to fuck him,” William said.

Ellis shot a disbelieving glance to William, who now had his cock out and was stroking it leisurely. He nodded at Ellis to reiterate his order.

It wasn"t that Ellis was opposed to fucking Harte—not even close. He watched the smaller boy get onto his hands and knees, perpendicular to William, who was eyeing them both avidly. No, he very much wanted to fuck Harte. He"d just thought that William would be doing the fucking. Why would he want to watch instead of participate?

Still, his thoughts on the matter weren"t important, not when Harte"s hole needed slicking and then filling, the first of which he did quickly with lubricant offered by William.

Ellis ran his hands over Harte, starting at his shoulders and dragging over his back, his buttocks, down his thighs. William didn"t tell him to stop or hurry up, so he continued his exploration in hopes that it would help calm his arousal.

When Harte began wiggling, pushing his ass back at Ellis and 182

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making tiny, desperate sounds, Ellis couldn"t hold back any longer.

After another reassuring nod from William, he moved between Harte"s legs and pulled the boy up by his hips.

“Okay?” he asked, sliding his cock along the slippery crack before pressing at Harte"s entrance.

“Please,” Harte said, a far cry from his usual unrestrained begging and bargaining.

Ellis sank in, past the token resistance, deep inside Harte. He gritted his teeth and tightened his back muscles in an attempt to escape the intensity of Harte"s overwhelmingly tight body.

But he couldn"t hold back for long. He"d never done well under orgasm denial, and he"d certainly never been trained to fuck with stamina. He lost himself for as long as possible in the rhythmic movements. In, grind, out, slowly in, sharply out, hard in, easy out…

“Master, may I… finish?” Harte stuttered, his arms stretched out in front of him, his upper body almost entirely flat against the bed.

Ellis was proud. Harte had never asked to come, not in any manner other than a
Better give me permission because I’m going
to come anyway!
kind of way.

“Yes, whenever you"re ready. You, too, Ellis.” Harte grabbed himself and stroked mercilessly for a moment before crying out. His body went limp everywhere except his hole, which clenched and twitched almost to the point of pain around Ellis"s cock.

But it was enough to bring him over. His climax tore through him, and he felt visceral pleasure at filling Harte, feeling the way within slicken with his come.

He almost slumped down with Harte, but William"s grunt of 183

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completion made him turn his head. He was almost disappointed to see William come into his hand. It seemed like such a waste.

Ellis licked his lips unconsciously and crawled up the bed to straddle William"s thighs. Without thinking of anything but what
he
wanted, Ellis took up the hand cupping the come and licked a stripe through it. It was still warm. Silence surrounded him, but he continued to lap at the wet hand until he could only taste the salt of William"s skin.

He gave kitten licks to the pads of William"s fingers, entranced by the roughness of his hand and the dirtiness of what he was doing.

When he finished, he stiffened. It wasn"t like him to do something like that without asking. The need had just overtaken him…

He opened his mouth to apologise, but William"s lips were suddenly in the way. He was kissed hard and fast, and like with so many of William"s kisses, he could do nothing but let his mouth fall open to be ravished.

William broke the kiss by pulling Ellis away by his hair. The master"s eyes were dark and glinting, his lips parted and red. “You please me greatly,” he murmured, a satisfied smile on his face.

Ellis exhaled in relief. There were some things, it seemed, that didn"t need permission. He hoped he began to better learn the difference.

The master situated Ellis along his side with an arm around him. Ellis rested his head contentedly on William"s chest.

Harte was struggling to get back up on his knees, but he managed to do so after losing his balance only once.

He looked well and thoroughly fucked. His blond hair was a tangled mess, his eyes were dreamy and faraway, his cock lay soft 184

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amidst matted curls, and there were vibrant red marks all over him.

“Master,” he said, wiping his hands nervously on his thighs.

“It"s noon.”

Oh, good boy, Ellis thought. Harte was
really
trying.

He looked up at William and wasn"t altogether surprised to see that he seemed to be contemplating letting Harte off without punishment. But, as Ellis hoped he knew, this punishment would be about more than just running into the woods when he was scared. It was also for his outburst when Gabriel left. Even more than those things, it would be a new start. A way for Harte to become the slave he had the potential to be, and for William to let out the master they all knew was there.

After all, William didn"t
have
to be a master. He didn"t
have
to keep slaves. He must like some part of it, or else he wouldn"t have rescued Harte, and he certainly wouldn"t have taken Ellis on. There was a part of him that craved to discipline, to punish, maybe even to cause a little pain. He knew how to do it. He"d most likely been trained somewhere along the way; that was traditional. He seemed to
want
to punish Harte except for one thing…