At His Throat, a Promise (33 page)

He was to grin and bear it all, for although it might be 281

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uncomfortable, it was necessary.

William was determined to find him a perfect fit, he said. A match any slave would be envious of, he said.

Ellis said nothing.

The makeup took more time, and Harte made a few mistakes because William insisted on watching with a rather brooding look on his face that Ellis knew from his talk with the master was a cover for how much he actually liked the makeup.

Ellis wondered why William sometimes hid what he liked. Was he embarrassed?

In the end, the effect was almost shocking. Harte, especially, looked like a girl. Only his straight waist, flat chest, and bulge gave him away.

Ellis didn"t have the straight waist, but he still felt he looked male. His legs were too coltish, and his ass not quite as round as Harte"s. The makeup was even more dramatic than it had been last time. Dark and smoky liner and shadow made his light grey eyes look very strange. The only colour in the entire ensemble was on his lips. They were a bright red, sultry, seductive.

“I"d love to see those lips around my dick,” William whispered in Ellis"s ear. Feeling brave, Ellis licked his lips, ignoring the waxy taste in favour of the way William"s entire body reacted without really reacting at all.

“Let"s go,” William said when Harte"s makeup was finally done.

The two slaves teetered after the master, who walked too quickly for them to keep up with grace.

“One more thing,” William said. From the top shelf of the foyer closet he retrieved two boxes. From the first, he pulled out a broad white headband adorned with a single crystal butterfly. He 282

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placed it in Harte"s hair so his bangs still covered his forehead.

“Thank you, Master,” Harte said, laughing as he touched it.

“And for you.” From the second box, he held out a black strip of glittering material.

Ellis took it and gasped. It was a slave collar, completely covered in crystals. There was a pendent, also bedecked in jewels, that resembled a lock.

A sponsored slave"s collar.

Swallowing hard, Ellis put it on. He knew his thanks didn"t seem heartfelt and he didn"t really care.

It was like wearing a price tag.

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In the car on the way to the party, Harte was true to his word from earlier that day—he plunged his hand into Ellis"s panties, making them both groan. Despite the weight on his mind, Ellis"s cock reacted immediately.

“Harte, save it,” William said from the driver"s seat.

Harte pouted but stopped, reaching for Ellis"s hand instead.

Ellis held it as he watched the trees whip past under the cover of night. It was beautiful, this far into the woods. Not really scary as he"d thought as a child, but kind of peaceful, serene. Certainly private.

The lock weighed heavily on his throat as Ellis studied the scenery to keep his mind off of what was to come.

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The drive took the better part of an hour, but Ellis knew they were close when Harte turned to him and asked how his makeup was. It was fine and Ellis said so. Harte did something to Ellis"s lip and then declared him fine as well.

“We"re here,” William said a few moments later as he pulled into a circular cobblestone driveway.

Ellis couldn"t help but gape. William"s home was a hovel next to this. It was the type of mansion one only sees in movies, big enough that twenty people could live within and never see each other. There were massive columns by the main entrance, manned by servants in jaunty livery.

William pulled up behind a car stationed in front of the entrance. As Ellis took in the sheer size and ostentation of the mansion, he also noticed the people leaving the car in front of them. Two young slaves, a boy and a girl, held hands as the driver conferred with one of the servants. They were perfectly still, and so they should be, as they appeared to be wearing nothing but makeup. Or paint. Covering the essentials and nothing else, the two were decorated with painted leaves, and a flower for the girl.

Their owner walked away from the servant and the two quickly followed.

William drove up and replaced the car that had been taken by a valet.

“Just wait,” Harte said, bouncing slightly.

Ellis"s door opened, and the master leaned in to offer a hand.

Feeling unsteady on his feet, Ellis took it and exited, standing tall as his corset demanded. There were no other masters or slaves outside, just the servants, though a line-up of cars suggested he was being watched. William reached in for Harte, who was smiling as he came out.

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“You"re allowed to hold each other"s hands, kiss each other on the lips, whatever you want to do. Follow me unless I say otherwise. Tell me if you"re uncomfortable, hungry, upset, scared, anything. Be gracious, especially you, Ellis. Harte… be good.” Harte immediately reached out and grabbed Ellis"s hand as the master turned away and stopped at the entrance. An older, male servant greeted him, and William gave his name, as well as Harte"s and Ellis"s first names.

The servant nodded and let them in, writing something down on a strange glass clipboard.

Ellis looked around nervously. Everything seemed to be accented in glass. There was an odd, colourless appearance in the massive ballroom they"d entered. The floors were marble with streaks of white and silver jetting through, and the walls were all draped in white fabric and decorated with glittering glass orbs.

There were people everywhere, dressed in the strangest and most revealing fashion. There seemed to be at least three slaves to every master. Some had veritable harems. Almost every slave was collared, which reminded Ellis that Harte wasn"t. Perhaps he was recognisable enough as being William"s slave that he didn"t need one. Ellis had half-thought they"d be walking into an orgy, but any sexual activity was subdued so far. Ellis saw the leaf-painted slaves taking turns kissing their master. Another slave in bondage gear was rubbing himself desperately against his master"s thigh.

His eyes were glazed and his hands twitched in a way that Ellis recognised as being drug-induced. In the far corner, two female slaves were kissing each other, surrounded by a small group of masters and mistresses, who were talking calmly while keeping one eye on the girls.

“Ah, William! So glad you could make it. Annie Cohen almost 286

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had me convinced you wouldn"t come.”

They all turned to face the voice, and Ellis recognised the man right away. He"d been the one to comment on Ellis"s eyes at the Lounge the day he"d met William and Harte. He"d also been surprised that William had taken on another slave.

“Arnold MacMillan,” William said with forced fondness.

“How nice to see you.”

Arnold"s rheumy eyes rested on Ellis, who focused his attention on the man"s receding hairline. Ellis was taller than him, and he liked being in the position of looking down, even though without the shoes it would have been a different story.

“This is the slave from the Lounge? Why, William, he"s nothing short of spectacular! Did I hear correctly? You don"t intend to keep him?”

“That"s right. Unfortunately it wouldn"t be feasible for me to have another slave at this time.”

“Indeed, indeed,” said Arnold, distracted as he took in Ellis"s body. “May I?”

Ellis saw dislike flash across William"s features, but he nodded and said, “Of course.”

Arnold ran a pudgy-fingered hand down Ellis"s faux waist, resting his thumb in the hollow of Ellis"s hip before snaking around to cup his buttocks. He squeezed brutally, but Ellis forced himself not to make a sound.
Be gracious. Especially you, Ellis.

To Ellis"s great relief, the squat man made no attempt to explore further. “Lovely. Best of luck in finding him a new master, William. Though… I suspect you might have some difficulty. I sense a little… rebellion in this one.”

“You are mistaken,” William said, his eyes narrowed. “Ellis is an ideal slave.”

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“Just not for you,” Arnold said astutely.

Ellis flinched, but covered it up with a slight adjustment to his collar. The action drew Arnold"s eyes back to him, and Ellis smiled sweetly, letting his fingers drag down his chest until they hit the corset.

Arnold licked his lips before nodding at William and walking away.

“What an ass,” Harte said, pouting adorably. “Calling
Ellis
rebellious.”

“Hey, you rhymed,” Ellis said, nudging Harte"s hip with his own. He didn"t want to talk about what that man had said about him. It just wasn"t true.

“Are you all right, Ellis? I"m afraid it"s just going to be more of the same,” William said into Ellis"s ear.

Meeting his concerned eyes, Ellis said, “I"m fine, Sir. I don"t care about his opinion. Just yours.”

William kissed him on the cheek. “That"s the attitude. Now let"s mingle.”

Mingle they did. It took them nearly two hours just to make it around the circumference of the room. Ellis had been squeezed, poked, prodded, penetrated, cupped, caressed, and even spanked once. He was exhausted, his feet were aching, the other slaves kept glaring at him as if it was
his
fault the masters liked him.

Some women expressed interest as well. Cornering Ellis, the mistresses asked him questions about his talents with women.

When he"d admitted to never having been with one, some laughed.

William coldly stated that Ellis wasn"t right for a mistress—though he said it in such a way that suggested that no mistress would be good enough for Ellis—and they let him be.

The female slaves weren"t cruel or dismissive, but they seemed 288

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even more protective of their masters than the male slaves. Ellis got used to being on the receiving end of hateful glares. He told himself it didn"t matter.

“Do you like girls at all?” asked an older gentleman with silver hair at his temples and a very knowing smile.

“I don"t know, Sir,” Ellis said. “I haven"t known many.”

“Well, it would behove us to find out, wouldn"t it?” The man looked at William, who nodded, looking as though he wished he didn"t have to.

“Katelyn!” the gentleman called, tapping a cane on the marble with a resounding echo.

A very sweet-faced young girl came over, just this side of running. “Yes, Master?” she asked. Her eyes widened when she saw Ellis"s costume, and even more so when her eyes fell upon Harte"s. She stared at Harte a moment with a small frown, so intent on him that she missed her master"s instruction.

“I"m sorry, Master. Could you repeat that?” The gentleman"s demeanour changed from affable to menacing in an instant. He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her against him, hissing into her ear something that Ellis couldn"t make out. When he let her go, she smiled weakly at Ellis and nodded.

“Master would like for us to kiss,” Katelyn said, stepping forward. She was wearing a costume of a character from a child"s nursery rhyme, and the suggestion of innocence made Ellis uncomfortable, especially as it revealed more than it concealed.

With William"s supportive hand on his lower back, Ellis leaned in to kiss the young slave. Nothing happened for a moment and Ellis realised he was supposed to lead. When he kissed William, Alex, and even Alastair, he never needed to worry about that. With Harte, things were almost equal; neither waited for the other to 289

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move first.

He began to move his lips in a slow, gentle motion. She felt strangely soft, small, even though she was about equal in size to Harte. She made a little mewling sound, and Ellis increased the intensity of the kiss in response.

The gentleman laughed and said, “I don"t think your slave likes to share.”

Ellis broke the kiss, confused. When he saw Harte, though, he understood. His eyes were slits and his arms were crossed over his chest as he stared Katelyn down. William touched his arm and Harte became passive, seeming chagrined.

Katelyn had a rather smug look on her face as she licked her lips.

“And?” her master prompted her.

“I think he likes girls,” she said with certainty.

The gentleman looked victorious, though Ellis couldn"t understand why. He didn"t necessarily agree with Katelyn. Kissing her had been nice, but a lot of work. Kissing William was relaxing but intense, and kissing Harte was actually
fun
. He wasn"t sure if it was just Katelyn or if all girls would be the same for him, but he very much hoped that he hadn"t impressed this particular master too much. The thought of doing more than kissing a girl made him feel uncomfortable.

“Take my card,” said the older gentleman, handing it to William. “I"d like to put in a claim.”

“Certainly, Mr. Smythe.”

Ellis"s heart thudded as the master and his slave walked away.

“Absolutely not,” Harte said, looking up at the master. “She"s horrible! Ellis doesn"t want a
girl
. Do you?”

“It"s not my decision, Harte. Whatever Sir thinks is best.” 290

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William looked thoughtful when he said, “I tend to agree with Harte. I don"t think that would be a good match for you.

Unfortunately, he"s both highly influential and he is in prosecution.

Intellectually, he would be ideal. In any case, a decision will not be made tonight.”

Ellis was relieved to hear that. He watched William write something on the back of the card.

“How did you like kissing her, Ellis?” Harte asked, looking away like he didn"t care.

Pulling the smaller boy against him, he whispered, “Didn"t even compare to kissing you.” To prove it, he took Harte"s lips in a hard and merciless kiss, showing him just how different the kisses were—and which one he preferred.

“Come along,” William said, sounding amused.