At His Throat, a Promise (35 page)

“Beautiful name, but that is to be expected. Many claims must have been made for you tonight.”

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Ellis smiled. He couldn"t even count how many business cards the master had been given over the course of the evening. “I suppose, Sir.”

“I suppose I could be… ah…
nonchalant
and say, „What is one more?" but I want you to tell your sponsor that it is
me
you like.

Surely he will listen to you?”

“He is capable of making the right decision for me without my input,” Ellis said, struggling to find a way to say that he had no idea.

Jude seemed to understand. “He must be very wise, then.

Perhaps even wise enough to see that I would be the correct choice.” His bright smile turned the arrogant words to self-deprecating, but Ellis knew Jude believed what he"d said.

William"s voice coming from his side startled Ellis.

“Harte, didn"t I tell you to be good?”

Looking over, Ellis saw that Harte was openly flirting with the slave girls, who"d moved beside him on the sofa.

“I was, Master!” Harte cried, his old bratty side coming through. “Ellis was busy and I was bored.” Ellis glared at Harte, who bit his lip apologetically. Rolling his eyes at the slave, Ellis turned to William.

“I nearly fell and this gentleman was kind enough to catch me.”

“Ah, William,” Jude said, offering his hand. “I might have known when the boy said his sponsor was wise.”

“Jude, how are you?” William said in a cool tone. He seemed disapproving of Jude, but Ellis couldn"t imagine why.

“Excellent, my friend. I heard you picked up the Samson case.

My office would not touch it. Who did you manage to wrangle into taking it?”

William"s eyes narrowed and his countenance became hostile.

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“I"m taking it. And I"m not surprised your lot wouldn"t take it.

There"s a significant amount of work involved, after all.” Ellis was surprised to hear William insult someone so openly; usually his barbs were subtler, leaving people to believe they"d been complimented until they got home and really thought about the comment.

But Jude just laughed heartily as if nothing had ever been so true. “But we are not here to discuss work, are we? Tell me about young Ellis here.”

William"s hard eyes were enough to tell Ellis that he shouldn"t have introduced himself, but he"d had no choice. William hadn"t been around and Jude wouldn"t have left without it.

“Ellis is an ideal slave. Not only is he agreeable, affectionate, and responsive, he"s also very clever and wise beyond his years.”

“Ah,” Jude said with a soft chuckle. “He compliments you as you do him. Perhaps you are drawn to the wisdom in one another.

How does that bode for a fool such as myself?” William smiled harshly. “Maybe you"ll learn something from him.”

“Indeed. But maybe I also have a lot to teach.” Jude"s hand found its way to Ellis"s hip, using it to draw Ellis closer. “May I?”

“Please,” William said. He turned to the sofa and shooed the girls away, sitting next to Harte, whose eyes were now on Ellis.

“I should not like to mar your makeup with a kiss,” Jude said, touching the tip of his nose to Ellis"s.

“Whatever pleases you, Sir,” Ellis said, finding himself affected by the proximity of the attractive and droll man.

Apparently it did please Jude, after all, to mar Ellis"s makeup, for he kissed him softly, tongue seeking entrance right away. Ellis opened up under him, letting Jude press close against him.

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Jude"s hands touched Ellis"s wrists and encouraged his arms around the master"s neck. Kissing someone his own height was something of a novelty, and he enjoyed it, though he missed the bending-back that he did with William, and the leaning in he got with Harte.

Jude pulled back and then kissed Ellis"s ear, whispering, “I would love to explore you further, but I am not one for such public displays. Remember what I said about telling William you like me.

My other slaves are perfectly content, well cared for and secure in their positions as well as their futures. You would do well to accept my claim.”

“I shall certainly express my opinion to Sir,” Ellis said, feeling pressured. He wasn"t sure how he felt about Jude. He was a far cry better than Jack, whose cruel streak was revealed after only a few moments, but Ellis had no way of knowing his preferences behind closed doors. He hoped William had more of an insight.

“Do that,” Jude said with one last kiss. He shook William"s hand again before handing him his card. “I am making a claim.” And without waiting for a response, he walked away, leaving the party altogether.

Ellis noticed that William didn"t write a single thing on Jude"s card.

* * *

“Torture devices!” Harte grouched as William walked around the front of the vehicle to the driver"s side.

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Ellis wholeheartedly agreed. His feet were aching and swollen, and there was a cut across his big toe that just throbbed.

He couldn"t be more thrilled to be going home. They pulled away from the brightly lit mansion with its classy libertinism and drove in silence until Harte, of course, put an end to it.

By jumping on Ellis.

“Oomph!” Ellis exclaimed, finding himself with a lapful of squirming, kissing, delicious-smelling slave. “Ask Sir,” he hissed, not wanting to get stopped like they had on the way over.

“Master, Ellis wants to know if he can ravish me.”

“You can do whatever you want, as long as neither of you come. I have plans for you both.”

“Plans,” Harte said, eyes twinkling. “I like the sound of that.” Ellis shifted into the centre of the backseat to give Harte"s desperate thrusts more leverage. He was grinding against Ellis, both their cocks near to bursting from the evening of teasing.

“Not so fast,” Ellis said, placing steadying hands on Harte"s hips. Harte immediately slowed to a stop and leaned down to kiss Ellis, instead.

A tongue laved over his waxy lips before slipping inside his mouth. Harte kissed him obscenely, not even bothering to close his lips against Ellis"s, just letting his tongue do all the work. Ellis twitched his hips against Harte, unable to resist, but the bait wasn"t taken. Harte continued the messy kiss until both their faces were smeared with lipstick.

Ellis turned them both so Harte was lying stretched out on the seat and Ellis was on top of him, pinning his hands against the door. He slowly ground their groins together, relishing the hot blast of
want
that erupted from the motion.

“Hope Master wants you to fuck me tonight,” Harte whispered.

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“Been thinking about your cock all night. All those people touching you, wanting you. But none of them can make you feel the way Master and I can, right?”

“That"s right, Harte,” Ellis whispered. He didn"t want William to overhear. He knew it was prohibited for master and slave to express any deep, romantic feelings toward each other, but for slaves, it was a bit of a grey area. Most masters didn"t want their slaves" affections given to anyone but them—and most slaves were too smart to fall for another slave. “Just you and Sir. No one else knows me.”

“No one else makes you crazy,” Harte retorted, a conspiratorial grin on his face. “Just us.”

“And don"t forget it.”

The rest of the drive was spent in much the same manner, with the two slaves bringing each other within moments of climax and then forcing themselves to tear apart but starting back up minutes later.

At one point, Harte wrapped his arms around the master from behind, nuzzling his neck and nipping his ear, but William pushed him away with a smile, saying he had to focus on driving. That didn"t stop Ellis from catching him looking into the rearview mirror more often than was probably safe.

Once they turned onto the winding, forested road that led to William"s home, Ellis pushed Harte away, wanting the time to get himself under control.

Pulling up to the house, Ellis reflected that he rather liked William"s home better than the Cohens". There was a homey feeling to it, despite the size. Ellis would miss it when he had to leave.

Harte pulled Ellis out of the car just as he had when they"d first 304

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

brought him home. Having stockinged feet on the gravel drive wasn"t very comfortable, but there was no way he could even think about putting the shoes back on.

“Up to my bedroom,” William informed the jittery Harte, who bolted without letting go of Ellis, forcing him to follow, leaving any semblance of grace behind.

In the bedroom, Harte began to work on Ellis"s corset ties.

“Won"t Sir want to do that himself?”

“Trust me, Master"s going to want you undressed as much as possible. If I don"t get this off you, he might not bother, and I don"t want you fainting while he"s fucking you.”

“You think he"ll fuck me?” Ellis asked. Ellis and William had been together quite a few times, but it never seemed like enough.

Ellis knew William was with Harte much more often, not that he minded. Still, he couldn"t help but look forward to it. William was so masterful, and he took complete charge and care of Ellis.

“Definitely. He"s been watching your butt all night like all he wanted was inside.”

“Harte!” Ellis cried, embarrassed.

“It"s true. Even
I
wanted to fuck you. But not as much as I want you to fuck me.”

Once the corset was off, Ellis took a few breaths to get reaccustomed to inhaling deeply. His head immediately cleared of a fog he hadn"t even known had formed. He helped Harte unhook his own corset and garter belt, and Harte practically tore the rest of the outfit off until all that was left was his thick white headband.

“Leaving your stockings on for Master,” Harte instructed, lounging on the bed and pulling Ellis with him.

Ellis jumped when Harte bent over him and bit his nipple, but the sharp pain immediately shifted into pleasure as the very tip of 305

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

Harte"s tongue flickered across the hardened nub and repeated the treatment on its twin.

“So impatient,” William said, entering the room to that tableau.

Harte got up from the bed, made-up and hairless and hard as stone. Ellis quickly followed and together they undressed the master. William groaned when Harte dropped to his knees and engulfed him. He reached out and pulled Ellis against him, kissing him more fiercely and possessively than any other person had that evening. Ellis liked the thought of William marking him in that way, writing over the graffiti on his body left by greedy, rough hands.

“Harte, get on the bed,” William said, and then he pushed Ellis so that he sat on the edge of the bed, naked except for his stockings.

William knelt by Ellis"s feet, and the inversion of power made Ellis tremble. He shouldn"t like seeing William on his knees; it wasn"t right. But there was something twisted happening inside Ellis—a strange thought that maybe the three of them weren"t meant to have defined roles. Maybe they could be fluid. Maybe William
didn’t
have the most power.

Before he could really focus on that elusive thought, William began to pull off one of Ellis"s stockings, exploring every smooth, naked inch on the way down. When his legs were bare, William lifted one foot and pressed his lips against the arch, biting it gently before marking it with his tongue, all the way up Ellis"s leg. The lack of hair made the sensation more intense, and Ellis shook when William"s tongue grazed his sac.

Ellis heard a moan and looked at Harte, his cock jumping as he did. The blond was lying on his back, one knee to his chest, three fingers pumping into his tight hole.

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William brought his attention back by smoothing the head of Ellis"s cock over his lips, anointing them with pre-come. He then moved over Ellis, bringing him back onto the bed beside Harte.

Harte jumped up and kissed the master, sharing Ellis"s seed between them. Ellis thrust his own fingers into Harte"s hole, finding him slick and ready.

“Yes,” Harte hissed, pushing back into Ellis"s hand. “Master, what do you… ?” He didn"t seem capable of finishing his sentence.

He just moaned and let William kiss him and Ellis finger-fuck him.

“Ellis will fill your tight little hole,” William said, moving Harte onto his back, hips supported by pillows. “And I"ll fill his.”

“Oh, please, fuck me, Ellis. I can"t wait.” A look to the master granted permission, and Ellis slicked his cock with the lubricant he found by the pillow.

“Wait,” William said.

Ellis bit his lip and forced himself not to look at his own pink, throbbing cock, or Harte"s twitching hole. The master moved Ellis"s hair and removed the sponsored slave necklace. He placed it in the drawer of the nightstand, out of sight. The missing weight seemed to free them all.

“Thank you, Sir,” Ellis said. “May I?”

“Make him feel it.”

Ellis thrust into Harte with one brutal stroke. Beneath him, Harte writhed and cried out, but his cock didn"t flag, and Ellis knew that if he"d hurt him, Harte wouldn"t be afraid to tell him.

He withdrew at a pace so slow it must have been agonising, and indeed, Harte sobbed for more, faster, harder.

When he was almost all the way out, William"s hands stilled his hips. Letting the master manipulate him, Ellis leaned forward, bracing his hands on either side of Harte"s head, spreading his legs, 307

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

and arching his back slightly.

“My beautiful boys,” William said. Slick fingers sank into Ellis, and unlike the other violations he"d suffered that evening, this one was welcomed. William let Ellis fuck himself on the fingers, which sank him into Harte at the same time.