Room at the Top (23 page)

“We’ve been wondering for a while if you were as straight as you said you were.” The sheet hung heavy from his hands, and he sat down abruptly, sweat breaking out over his back. Okay, maybe he’d overdone it for his first day out of bed. “Before you freak out, we weren’t being, uh, disrespectful. It was just that we were getting some mixed signals.”

“Oh God.”

The mortification and shock in Liam’s voice made Austin grimace involuntarily.
Shit.

“Liam—” Had he ever called him that directly? Not that he had much choice.
Sir
wasn’t going to work, not for this conversation, and they’d gotten
way
past
Mr. Thornton
. “It’s okay. Really. We don’t mind. We can all sit down and um, renegotiate things.”

And wouldn’t
that
be a fun discussion if Liam was still in this prickly, snappy mood.

“You don’t sound angry,” Liam said slowly.

“That’s because I’m not. Frustrated, sure, because I missed out on last night and because Jay’s unhappy about you being unhappy. But not mad.”

Liam hesitated. “You don’t mind that Jay and I were intimate.”

Austin laughed and tucked the phone against his shoulder so he could ball up the dirty sheets. “Liam, you’re
always
intimate with us. Why am I even explaining this? You know it, all of it. Stop being so focused on what life is supposed to be like and think about what our lives are actually like, you know?”

“You didn’t want sex to be part of what we did.” Hesitancy and Liam didn’t go well together. Hearing the doubt in his voice made Austin want to do or say anything to restore the confident, crisp bite he was used to.

“That was…” Austin had so much to say that he couldn’t decide where to start. He let the sheets fall to the floor again and wandered over to the window. Fresh air seemed like a good idea. “Okay, I’m going to babble like Jay here, so bear with me. First, we’re used to having sex with our dom—with Patrick, anyway. Not full-on fuck-us-through-the-mattress sex, but blowjobs, sure. We’re not naive and what we do is a turn-on for everyone in the room, so yeah, stuff happens. Like last night.”

“He… I would never have—” Liam made a frustrated sound. “I didn’t plan it.”

“I
know
.” Austin worked the stiff window up and shivered as a cool breeze blew in. “Jay didn’t either, if that helps. He enjoyed it, though. Especially you slapping him. That’s been a fantasy of his forever.”

He could hear the soft, quick breath Liam took. Okay, knowing Liam was probably getting aroused on the other end of the line was making it hard to concentrate. “Uh, okay, that was one. Niall wanting us for nothing but sex was two. We were really freaked out by what happened with him. Three is, well, three is that we thought you were straight, and we didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. We needed you. God, you have no idea how much we need you, and we didn’t want to do anything to—”

“Scare me off?”

Austin grinned. “Yeah.”

“I don’t scare easily. I’ll admit to a few qualms about the logistics of dealing with both of you at once, but it worked out surprisingly well.”

“Stop talking about it in the past tense,” Austin said, alarm making him reckless. “You’re not ditching us over this, Liam. Tell me you’re not going to be that stupid.”

There was another pause. With most people, silence was just emptiness, but Liam’s pauses always seemed to be crammed full. When he spoke, it was a single chilly word. “Liam?”

“Sir,” Austin said quickly, relief flooding through him. He wanted to get back to normal—but better—and it was starting to look as if Liam did too. “I’m sorry, Sir.”

It was ridiculous when he wasn’t even in the same room as Liam, but he yearned to go to his knees. It felt wrong to be standing, looking out at the street below, after using that tone to Liam. He wanted to be on his knees, his eyes closed, Liam’s voice filling his head, making everything simple and easy. Waiting until Friday to see Liam again would be a struggle, but never seeing him again? Austin couldn’t go there. It made his gut clench with dismay. The only thing that would hurt more would be losing Jay, something Austin couldn’t contemplate without feeling a dark, helpless panic.

Slowly, his cock hardening, he sank down to the floor and positioned himself the way Liam liked, back straight, knees just a few inches apart. He’d done this as a teenager on the bathroom floor with the door locked—the only way to get any privacy in his crowded home. He’d closed his eyes and pretended he was in a room with his dom, a belt looped around his neck in lieu of a collar, jerking off like that, hearing a calm, stern voice giving him instructions.

“You
should
be sorry,” Liam said on the other end of the line. “I don’t tolerate disrespect, Austin.”

“I know, Sir.”

“What do you think a reasonable punishment for disrespect should be?”

Austin tried to think, but he was already getting turned on and that was always distracting. “Um…a whipping?”

“At the very least,” Liam said severely. “And I’m sure I’ll think of something else as well. I’ll dole out your punishment on Friday. I expect you to be prepared to behave yourself.”

“Yes, Sir,” Austin said gratefully. “Thank you, Sir.”

Liam’s voice softened the barest fraction. “Now take care of yourself and feel better. I’ll see you on Friday.”

Chapter Fourteen

Liam stepped out of the shower and reached for the thick white towel on the rack. He always showered before a session, even though it was likely he’d need to repeat the action after it ended. Disciplining one sub had often left him pleasantly exhausted; two was a real challenge from a physical and mental standpoint.

There was something about the routine he’d formulated over the past few months that grounded him. Making sure the floor of any room that might be used was free of anything that could dig into bare flesh, that there were drinks at hand, towels, scissors, a first aid kit fully stocked in a drawer or cupboard, that any equipment was clean, in good repair…minor chores, but necessary.

He’d done all of that, and his heart was still hammering fast, making him feel light-headed. He had to get himself under control or the coming hours would be a disaster.

Dried, he walked out of the bathroom into his bedroom, where he’d laid out clean clothing with the meticulous care a valet would have used. It was, though he’d never told them, his way of showing respect toward his subs. They deserved the best, and until last week, he’d been confident he could provide it.

He’d learned so much about them, what they liked, what they needed—not always the same, of course—and how they would respond in certain circumstances. Hell, he’d even jotted down notes in the messy scrawl he called handwriting, notes, plans for the future, subjects to research, equipment to consider buying…

He played golf with colleagues, online Scrabble with a cousin back in England, and he loved swimming. They were hobbies, pastimes. This was part of his life. He needed it. How in God’s name had he gone so long without it?

He couldn’t lose it. He couldn’t lose
them
.
His
Jay,
his
Austin. Even if they belonged first and foremost to each other, for the time they were with him, they allowed him to pretend they were his with a generosity Liam knew he could never match.

It was why he’d been left shaken at the thought of walking away and leaving them to replace him, though if they’d told him it was what they wanted, he’d have had no choice. He cared for them too much to come between them—and when and how that’d happened, he didn’t know.

He could understand now, on one level, why Patrick had chosen to move to another city altogether. Of course it had been more complicated for Patrick, who’d been running from the memories of his previous, irreplaceable life, but Liam had actually considered that if things with Jay and Austin ended, he’d quite possibly choose to move away as well. It would be too difficult to be in this house and not see their ghosts in every corner. His feelings for them were complex. He wasn’t sure if he was in love with either of them, but he cared about them.

He cared about them more than he’d have guessed would be possible.

Checking the clock showed there were only five more minutes before they’d be arriving, so Liam finished buttoning his shirt, slid his feet into his waiting shoes, and went downstairs. Everything was ready.

They were late.

Liam was surprised by that and more than a little irritated. They’d always been so prompt before. Concern began to swamp irritation, but the car pulled into the driveway at nine minutes past the hour. Jay and Austin nearly flew up the steps to the front door.

He pasted an unamused expression onto his face before he answered their knock.

“We are so sorry,” Austin said. He appeared to be fully recovered from his illness of the week before. “We lost track of time.”

“I was finishing a book,” Jay confessed. “He tried to tell me it was getting late.”

“I see.” Liam made a show of checking his watch. “Nine minutes you kept me waiting.” He stepped back to let them in, and Jay closed the door behind them. “Take off all your clothes and kneel.”

They exchanged a look, then scrambled to do as they’d been told. The only place to pile their shed clothing was on the small table where Liam kept his keys in a brass bowl that was one of the few tangible items left from his marriage.

“Upstairs. No, stay on your knees. Jay, you can show Austin where to go. I’ll be joining you in nine minutes.”

Liam found the thought of the two boys climbing the stairs naked on their hands and knees far too amusing. He knew he’d never keep from smiling if he watched them doing it, so he went to the kitchen and put some ice cubes from the freezer into a small bowl.

All the toys were fun, but really, give him a well-equipped kitchen and he had plenty to work with. He found he was humming under his breath as he opened the fridge and took out a bowl of peeled ginger floating in water. Before his shower, he’d carefully carved a shallow groove an inch or so from the base of each five-inch finger, leaving a stub that would poke out in a way he’d always found rather appealing once the finger had been pushed inside a sub’s arsehole, though it’d been years since he’d last done this.

Ice and heat. Extremes were so intriguing. Which sensation would the two upstairs dislike most? The ginger would stay inside them, the burning heat building unbearably, while the ice would touch their skin unexpectedly, its freezing bite not unlike a flash of flame. Luckily for them, he wasn’t cruel enough to make them choose.

They’d take both, for as long as he wanted them to, and thank him afterward for every moment of discomfort.

When he walked into the bedroom, they were kneeling, eyes down, totally silent, the rise and fall of their chests the only sign of movement. His nerves had disappeared the moment they walked through the door, a profound anticipation of pleasure washing away his self-doubt.

He set the bowls on the bedside table. The fitted sheet of the bed was hidden by towels, large, thick ones, and he’d taken the precaution of fitting a waterproof sheet over the mattress. Ice melted.

When he turned, they were still staring down at the carpet, but he could feel their interest and he smiled. An indifferent, passive sub was hell to work with, but these two would never be that.

“Jay, onto the bed. Lie on your side facing the center.”

Jay got into the requested position quickly enough that Liam had no reason to reprimand him, and when Austin was given a similar order, that was followed as well. They were clearly intent on putting forth their best efforts to smooth over the residual awkwardness from the week before and their late arrival.

“Now roll onto your backs a bit so that I can reach your wrists. No, keep your hands there. Good.” Swiftly and efficiently, Liam tied their hands together between them, so that all four wrists were bound to each other. There was no way to do it in a truly comfortable manner, but he was satisfied he’d done a good job and that neither of them would be injured by spending an hour or so where they were.

He then had them stretch out their legs so that he could tie their ankles to the bed frame. The fabric was a strong, soft silk, easy to work with and, more importantly, easy to tie very snugly. That afternoon he’d tucked a pair of sharp scissors beneath the mattress in case of emergency, and he wouldn’t hesitate to use them if the situation warranted.

Done with this first part of the session, Liam stepped back and looked them over carefully. They would have made a lovely photograph, now in black-and-white and then later, once he’d slapped a flush into their arse cheeks, in color. He stepped closer to the bed and reached out to caress Austin’s hip.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but since we’ll be trying something new, I’ll remind you that your safe words exist for a reason and you should use them if something is wrong.”

“Yes, Sir,” they chorused.

“Now I’d like you both to shift backward away from each other so that the only parts of your bodies that are touching are your wrists. Jay, a bit farther, please.” They were both on the way to being hard, and he didn’t want them to be able to rub against each other just yet even if he knew it would happen sooner or later.

“Waiting isn’t one of my favorite things. Delayed gratification, on the other hand, well, it’s not quite the same. I’ll tell you two now that if I’m pleased with you—and after you were so late, that’s not the case right now—I’ll allow you to come at some point. You’re going to want to. Pleasure can be as hard to bear as pain if there’s no end in sight, and I’d enjoy proving that to you.”

He saw Jay bite his lip, a furtive gesture. He could also see, quite clearly, the faint mark his teeth had left a week earlier in Jay’s shoulder. Good. He’d wanted it to last.

“But let’s start with some pain.”

Austin closed his eyes, hiding the flash of stark need Liam had hoped for, Austin’s cock half-hard, thickening as Liam stared at it, openly now, appreciating the view.

“I’m going to blindfold you both. And I know we covered this in the past, but you don’t have any food-related allergies? Only speak if you do.”