Room at the Top (31 page)

He lingered long enough to watch Jay’s reddened arse sway as Jay crawled across the room, then he left, closing the door firmly.

The only blessing was that he wasn’t at all aroused when he yanked the door open.

“Mr. Thornton. So nice to see you!”

Liam tried not to scowl. One of his neighbors, though he didn’t know her name, with a clipboard in her hand. He pasted a reasonably genial look on his face. “Yes? I mean, good to see you too, uh…”

“Tina. Tina Wilder?” Her arch look made him uneasy, but she was wearing a wedding ring, so presumably she wasn’t here to flirt. Not that he could be sure of that. Being single, employed, and reasonably good-looking—not to mention having a cute accent—meant that Liam had been invited to dinner parties, barbecues, and get-togethers of all sorts since he’d moved in. Most of the invitations had included the promise that there’d be a woman there that he just
had
to meet.

He’d been firm but polite about refusing all of them.

“Am I disturbing you? Only I saw the cars in the drive, so I knew you were in—or at least
someone
was. Maybe one of those young men I’ve seen about the place recently?” She blinked at him, blue eyes innocently wide.

Liam had grown up on a housing estate near Reading, and he was well aware of the information-gathering skills of the average suburbanite—the ones who didn’t work and had nothing better to do, at least. He didn’t make the mistake of underrating her or giving her any crumbs.

“What can I do for you, Tina?”

“Your accent…I could listen to it all day. It’s just like Colin Firth’s.” She sighed. “Don’t you just love him?”

Hiding his frustration, he smiled at her. “Colin Firth? Is he an actor?”

“Is he—Oh, you’re teasing me!”

She was edging forward with every sentence, giving Liam the choice of stepping back and letting her over his threshold—not going to happen—or having her plastered against his chest. He stood firm. “I’m in the middle of something right now, so I’ll have to make this quick, I’m afraid.”

“Oh. Oh, well that’s too bad.” She pouted. When Jay did it, it made Liam long to spank him, but Tina’s pout left him cold. She was attractive in a generic way, but he could hear his grandmother’s caustic voice in his ear describing one of her neighbors in Manchester. “
That one? Red hat, no drawers
.”

It had confused him, but his mother had told him later that drawers in this case meant knickers and that he wasn’t to pay attention to Granny, who was getting old. But the phrase had stuck.

“I just wanted to ask you to sign this petition to stop them extending the gravel pit.” She shoved the clipboard at him. The petition didn’t have many signatures on it. Liam scanned it quickly and felt no rush of civic indignation. He wondered if Jay and Austin were obeying him and staying quiet. Was Jay wriggling his arse; were Austin’s nipples throbbing so much that he’d have tears gathering in his eyes?

“What gravel pit?”

“It’s the one on the edge of town? It’s going to have a dreadful effect on property prices, and the
dust
—”

Irritated by the questioning lilt in her voice, he shook his head. “I’m a lawyer. I don’t sign anything. Besides, that quarry is ten miles from here. Sorry.”

“Oh, but—”

“Good night, Tina. Nice to see you again.”

“Likewise, I’m sure,” she snapped and turned on her heel to stalk away.

Liam closed and locked the door, then leaned his head against it. In the den, two impatient, naked men were waiting for him to come up with something special to save the evening from being a total disaster, but the mood had been ruined.

He walked back into the den and opened his mouth to tell them that he was sorry, he just couldn’t carry on after the ill-timed interruption.

They were kneeling in perfect silence. Tears were trickling down Austin’s cheeks, his cock straining upward, the head dark red, filmed over with clear fluid. The clamps hung heavy from his nipples, the chain connecting them quivering with every shuddered breath he took. Jay was facing the wall, his spanked arse raised, his arms quivering as they held his weight. Liam could see the shape of his balls between his well-spread legs, the shadowed cleft, the hole he’d intended to spread wide and torment later.

Liam kicked the door closed behind him. Went to Austin, not to release him from the clamps but to tug down once, twice, three times on the chain, sharp, short tugs that made more tears spill as Austin cried out for him, holding position beautifully. There was no confusion or misery in his eyes now.

“A little longer,” Liam told him, brushing his fingers against the pinched, tortured flesh. “You can take it for me, can’t you?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Liam went across to Jay, caressing the spanked skin and letting his hand slide between Jay’s legs to cradle his balls. Jay’s skin was warm, the hair around his balls a crisp tickle against Liam’s fingers. He captured a single hair between his thumb and finger and pulled it out, ignoring Jay’s startled yelp of pain. Hmm. Interesting reaction. He had a pair of tweezers somewhere… “Let me see, I was spanking you for being graceless and disrespectful. Show me that you’ve used your time in the corner to think about that. Stand, turn to face me, and kneel. When I’m satisfied, Austin’s clamps can come off and we can all move on.”

Jay rose, spun, and went down to his knees, every movement coordinated, smooth, just the tiniest wobble as his knees touched the carpet.

Liam pursed his lips and went back to sit in his chair, where he could see them both. He felt his connection to them like reins in his hands, not frayed by irritation as it had been at the start, but strong, alive. “Better, Jay, but not perfect. Again.”

Austin whimpered and Liam smiled.

Chapter Eighteen

Liam had only been gone for two days, but one of them had been Friday and Jay was already finding Austin impossible to deal with. Okay, maybe not impossible, but definitely unpleasant. He’d insisted they make plans for Friday night, knowing Austin was going to need the distraction so he wouldn’t just sulk about missing out on their usual night with Liam.

They’d gone out to dinner, and that was fine, but some kind of technical problem at the movie theater meant that their movie had stopped suddenly halfway through, and after that everything had gone to hell. Austin had gone back into cleaning mode when they got home. Jay went into the kitchen to find him scrubbing around the faucet with an old toothbrush.

“You don’t think that’s a little OCD?” Jay asked.

“Yeah, cleaning is OCD,” Austin said sarcastically.

“I don’t mean cleaning in general. I mean doing it with a toothbrush.”

“This place is filthy. Can you move a little? Yeah.” Austin went back to work.

Jay sighed. “It isn’t filthy.”

“Please. Like you’re a good judge. You’d probably sleep in a trash heap and not notice.”

“You’re being a jerk,” Jay said. “I know you’re stressing about Liam being gone, but that’s no excuse.”

Austin dropped the toothbrush into the sink next to a bowl of white powder Jay assumed was some kind of cleanser and not, you know, cocaine. “I know. I’m sorry.” He didn’t sound all that sorry, though.

“Patrick missed a Friday now and then.”

“I know.”

“Liam left us his key. We could go over there tomorrow, maybe work out or something?”

“
No
.” Austin’s jaw set like concrete. “Not without Liam there.”

“He said we could.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have to do everything he says. Our lives aren’t one long kinky session with Liam micromanaging every fucking second.”

“No,” Jay said slowly, “because that’s not what we want, any of us. It doesn’t mean that he’s ordering us to go there when he gives us a key and the security code and says we’re welcome to crash there if we like.”

“What would be the point?” Austin pulled off what looked like half a roll of paper towels and started to dry behind and around the faucet. “Look, I know I’m in a shitty mood. Maybe just stay away.”

Jay moved to the fridge and took out a bottle of juice, then poured himself a glass. “Right, because that makes sense. You’re mad ’cause Liam went away, so I should go away too?”

“Not go away. Just, you know, avoid me.”

“And that’s different how?”

“I don’t know,” Austin said.

“You know he’s coming back, right?” It wasn’t the first time Jay had asked the question, but he wasn’t sure what else to ask.

Austin glared at him. “Yes, of course.”

“Then why are you so freaked out?”

“It’s just so
easy
for him, you know? To leave. It’s not like we matter to him or anything.”

“Are you insane?” Jay asked, not even trying to keep the warmth from his tone. “You don’t really think we don’t matter to him, do you?”

“Maybe,” Austin said sullenly. “Not enough, anyway.”

It wasn’t often that Jay took charge of things between himself and Austin. It was less to do with his submissive tendencies and more to do with the fact that drifting was easier than making a decision. Austin generally picked the movies they saw, the restaurants they went to, even some of Jay’s clothes. Jay liked it that way. Now and then, though, he took a stand and this was too important to ignore in the hope that it would go away.

He took a sip of juice, then set the glass down. “Austin. You need to stop doing whatever the hell it is that you’re doing and come and sit down.”

“No. I want to do this, and I’m not in the mood for a lecture or you trying to cheer me up.”

“I could make you.”

Austin snorted. “Dream on.”

“I could beg you.”

“Your puppy dog eyes work on Liam. They don’t work on me.”

“Yeah, they do.” Jay got closer, ignoring the irritated jerk of Austin’s shoulder. He put his arms around Austin and nuzzled into the back of his neck. “That’s why you’re not looking at me right now. ’Cause if you do, you’ll cave and we both know it.”

“You really think so, huh?” There was a subtle softening in Austin’s stance that told Jay to keep pushing. Austin didn’t want to feel like this, miserable and upset—no one would—but he needed some help getting out of the hole he’d dug.

“Look at me and prove me wrong.”

Austin let go of the wadded paper towels and turned within Jay’s arms, a bored expression pasted on his face. “Fine, I’m looking. Not caving.”

“Gotcha.” Jay swooped in and kissed him, hanging on when Austin struggled, patiently waiting for Austin to kiss him back.

If Austin had really fought to free himself, Jay would’ve let go, but his efforts felt more like his way of testing how determined Jay was. Jay could get behind that. The first thing he did when Liam tied him down was tug hard to prove to himself that he wasn’t going anywhere. Nothing beat that first delicious rush of arousal when the bonds held.

“Love you,” Jay said and bit down on Austin’s lip. “Love you so fucking much, and I’m not going anywhere unless you’re with me.”

Austin made a small, hungry sound and rolled his head to the side to expose his neck, inviting a bite there. “Show me.”

“Show you I love you? Yeah, I can do that.” Jay licked the side of Austin’s neck before using his teeth, and felt him shiver. He pressed his body up against Austin’s, his cock hardening, the quick intake of breath from Austin telling him that he wasn’t alone in that. “Trust me?”

“Always.”

Good to know.

“Going to tie you to the bed and do wicked, naughty things to you.”

Austin’s hands tightened on Jay’s arms, an involuntary response more honest than his bored, “Same old, same old.”

“You’re gonna pay for that,” Jay promised him. Being in charge, if only fleetingly, was exhilarating and scary. He wasn’t sure how Liam did it. He tried to sound as sure of himself as Liam always did. “And after you’ve come so hard you need help adding two and two, we’re going to talk, Austin.”

“You’re gonna have to make me to do that too,” Austin said. It was possible that he was playing now, just a little bit, and that made Jay feel more confident.

“Bed,” he said. “Let’s go.”

Austin allowed himself to be led into the bedroom, let Jay undress him and find the silk scarves tucked under the mattress. Even let Jay tie him to the bed frame, all without saying anything aside from the occasional murmur of agreement.

Jay tugged at the scarves where they were looped around the frame, making sure they were snug enough to hold even if Austin fought them. Then, grinning, he licked Austin’s ankle. “I don’t care if you talk,” he said. “I’m not Liam, I’m me. This is just us, and that’s okay.”

“Better than okay,” Austin said, then squeaked when Jay bit his toe. “Hey!”

“I like that,” Jay said. “That’s a good sound. Make it again.”

This time he bit Austin’s knee, and Austin did squeak again. “Just don’t bite anything important.”

“You wouldn’t care if I did.” Jay licked Austin’s balls and then bit at them, but gently, careful not to really hurt. No matter what Austin said or liked with Liam, he didn’t want to be hurt right then and Jay knew it. Jay knew Austin inside and out—sometimes, maybe better than Austin knew himself.

Austin’s cock was stiff, flushed pink. Jay loved his coloring, the way his little nipples got pink and tight when he was turned on, the way his eyes went kind of hazy and warm. There wasn’t anything about Austin that Jay didn’t love—okay, maybe there was the occasional thing he didn’t
like
, but that was the exception to the rule. “I love you so much,” he said. “More than anything. More than anyone.”

“Me too,” Austin said, lifting his head and looking at Jay like he was worried.

“No, it’s okay,” Jay said. “I’m good. I’m so happy, with you.” To prove it, he bent down and took the head of Austin’s cock into his mouth.

“Considering where your mouth is right now, I really hope so,” Austin said.

Jay pulled back and glanced up the bed at Austin. “Okay, I’m starting to see why Liam makes us shut up.”

Austin pouted at him, all fake contrition. “Am I distracting you?”

“Yes. From something very, very…” Jay didn’t bother to finish his sentence. Far more important to get the solid weight of Austin’s cock back where he wanted it, lying heavy against his tongue. He didn’t move for a few seconds, luxuriating in having his mouth filled, then took in a little more until the head of Austin’s cock had nowhere to go, pushing against the back of his mouth, blocking his throat.