At His Throat, a Promise (17 page)

“Are you all right?” William asked softly.

Ellis shook his head, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

“I made a mistake, but I"m not bad.”

Just as he closed his eyes, he felt hard arms all around him, bringing him against an equally hard chest. “You"re not bad, no.

You"re very good. But I have to punish you for deliberate mistakes. I told you this.”

“But so
much?
” he cried, his emotions unravelling as they"d been waiting to do all week.

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A heavy sigh ruffled the hair around his ears, and Ellis shivered. “Not so much, not ever again.”

“Do you promise?” Ellis whispered, knowing he had no right to ask such a thing but unable to let it go without some sort of reassurance.

“I promise you that I will never punish you to that extent again.

I just needed to know your limits. By the time I realised I"d surpassed them, it was too late. When I did the same thing to Harte, it only took a day for him to break down and demand I forgive him. I suppose I was waiting on the same thing from you, though I should have known better. The two of you are nothing alike. I won"t make that mistake again.”

“I wanted to demand,” Ellis said against William"s chest where his shirt was open, his lips moving over skin with his words. “I wanted to beg and break down.”

“But that"s not who you are,” William said, kissing the top of Ellis"s head. “I know that now.”

“If I make another mistake, will you just whip me instead?” Pain was manageable. Pain was fleeting.

“Let"s not talk about that now.” William cupped Ellis"s cheeks with his hands and turned his face up. Soft kisses were placed on his lips, undemanding.

Ellis turned into the touches like a sunflower to its namesake.

“Will you use me now, Sir?”

William paused. “Would you like that?”

“Oh, yes, Sir. Very much. I miss being touched so badly.”

“I"ve missed touching you… more than you could know.” Ellis didn"t think it was the same, though; William had Harte and even Gabriel to replace Ellis. He"d had no one. But he didn"t want to think about that now. Now, William wanted him and Ellis 141

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wanted to make things better.

Ellis was pliable as William removed his shift and laid him gently onto his back. Long fingers began touching at his toes and moved up his body. William shifted until he was pressed against Ellis"s side from shoulder to ankle, one hand supporting Ellis"s head, bringing him up for soft kisses while the other hand explored his body.

“Did Gabriel"s kiss feel anything like this?” William whispered before kissing Ellis so thoroughly his head spun. William"s teeth and tongue were everywhere as Ellis just tried to keep up. He recognised William"s tone as one of jealousy, and he reeled to think that William felt that way.

“Nothing like it, Sir,” Ellis said. While Gabriel"s kiss had been sweet and soft, there was nothing of the burning fire that lit him when it was William"s lips on his.

“Don"t forget,” William said. “No one can make you feel like I can.”

“No one,” Ellis repeated before letting his eyes fall closed.

Instead of Ellis tending to William as he had with his previous master, William took over, not even letting Ellis undress him or stroke his cock as he so badly wanted to.

When William"s fingers grazed the underside of Ellis"s shaft, his hips jerked up, desperate for a firmer grip. He knew he was close and there was a moment he longed for his cock cage so his reactions wouldn"t be so obvious. But William didn"t make him feel dirty by drawing his responses out. Ellis felt beautiful, known, forgiven.

“I love touching you,” William said, his fingers teasing and pulling at Ellis"s foreskin, revealing the glistening head and swiping it with his thumb.

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“More, Sir,” Ellis said, opening his eyes to see William watching his own hand as it stroked Ellis. And his gaze was heavy as his hand moved farther back, cupping Ellis"s balls for a blissful moment before trailing along the expanse of skin between his sac and his hole.

Ellis held his breath as the master"s finger pressed against his entrance. His cock was throbbing, and he hoped he could last at least until William was inside him.

Then William drew his hand back and brought his finger to his own mouth, wetting it as Ellis watched on in shock. It was dirty and no master should ever do such a thing. He opened his own mouth in an unconscious offer, but William"s hand was back between his legs, which Ellis opened even more. William didn"t tease, just slid his finger inside, immediately seeking out and pressing against Ellis"s prostate.

He tried to contain himself, but he squirmed and writhed in an attempt not to come. “Sir, please,” he whispered, his hips thrusting up. Another finger pressed inside, less slick than the last, making the burning stretch something to savour.

Ellis was suddenly empty and cold as William reached for the nightstand where the lubricant was. He took the opportunity to get onto his hands and knees, wanting to feel William"s thighs against the back of his, fingers on his hips, teeth on the back of his neck.

William groaned deeply, and Ellis shivered because it sounded like a promise.

“Perfect,” William said, sliding lubed fingers into Ellis"s twitching hole. “So tight, so pretty.”

William said pretty like he really meant
dirty
and it made Ellis feel dirty
and
pretty, his body moving like he was already being fucked.

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“Tell me you want this inside you,” William rasped, dragging his cock over Ellis"s hole.

“I want it. I want you, Sir,” Ellis panted, forcing himself to be still.

“Very good boy,” William said as he sank inside.

Ellis exhaled slowly as the immediacy of fullness overtook him. William gave him barely a moment to adjust before he began to thrust, deep, brutal thrusts that would have moved Ellis right across the mattress if William hadn"t had such a grip on his hips.

“Love fucking you,” William said, slamming in hard to emphasize his point.

Hands balling around the sheets, Ellis didn"t have the ability to answer, just feel. He never thought he"d want a master so much.

His previous experiences were something to get through, but this…

this was like a reward, and Ellis wanted to be
very good
so he could have more. For the first time he thought maybe he understood Harte"s absolute pleasure at serving, because there was something beautiful in pleasing someone so perfectly. In belonging to someone so completely.

William leaned over his body, pressing his front to Ellis"s back, no longer really fucking, just rocking their bodies together. When his hand slid beneath Ellis to cup his cock, not stroking, but pressing it firmly against Ellis"s body, Ellis came, fast and hard and with a cry of abandon that shocked even him.

The master continued to use his body, forever, it seemed, until finally he came, biting Ellis"s neck as he"d imagined before.

William didn"t pull away; he laid them both down on their sides so they were still connected, Ellis feeling brilliantly full and sated. William"s hot breath centred him, gave him something to focus on as his body drifted away.

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“Sleep, Ellis,” William whispered, lips against Ellis"s ear.

It was an order, and Ellis was a good slave. So he slept.

* * *

It had been a strange but somehow perfect two weeks with Gabriel. The first week had, of course, been painful due to Ellis"s punishment, but the second week had been filled with long talks and sweet moments together.

So it only took one look at the master"s stern but sorrowful face for the slaves to see that it had come to an end.

Harte kissed Gabriel before following Ellis, who had never again kissed Gabriel, even platonically.

William offered them the use of the sofa as he always did when they were in the study to learn, but by unspoken accord, both Harte and Ellis knew that this was a matter to do with slavery, not learning. So they knelt beside William"s desk chair and waited.

“I have done everything I can,” he began.

Harte let out a sob, crying, “There must be more!” but William shook his head and let the smaller slave burrow into his knees and cry.

Ellis looked up at the master. He seemed very tired. He had been working on Gabriel"s case night and day; he had even gone to court to petition for sponsorship of Gabriel, but Gabriel"s master"s actions were deemed nonexcessive, and the death of his slave was considered natural causes.

Natural.

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“Sir, this isn"t right,” Ellis said. He"d promised Gabriel that he wouldn"t have to return. He couldn"t have broken a promise that meant so much to him.

“No, it"s not.”

“W-what will it t-take?” Harte forced out. “He"ll k-kill him, M-Master!”

Ellis curled against Harte"s back, trying to somehow get him to channel the strength Ellis knew he had.

“We can only hope—”

“Hope isn"t enough!” Harte shouted. He pushed off from William"s knees, sending Ellis onto his butt behind him. “Nothing you did was enough! What if it were me?” he demanded. He was shaking from head to toe, and Ellis knew it was half from defying his master so vehemently.

Instead of becoming angry, William just stared at Harte. There was no pleading in his face, no sadness. There was just a morbid acceptance of the way things were.

“I won"t tell him,” Harte said, shaking his head and clenching his hands into fists. “I won"t be the one to send him back to that hell where he will
surely
die!”

“I would never ask that of you, and you know that,” the master said severely.

“And what would you ask of me? To be kind to him, to get to know him, to touch and soothe and have sex with him
knowing
what he"d be sent back to! What was that supposed to be, a last meal for a dying man? Then
you
should have fed him, not me, because I don"t have enough to go around!”

“Harte!” Ellis gasped, standing. But William grabbed his hand and held him back, and Ellis knelt, though he didn"t want to.

Someone had to be in control.

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“Go to your room,” William said, tone brooking no argument.

Harte"s entire demeanour shifted. The tension fled him but his eyes were wide and terrified. He looked torn between falling to his knees and leaping at William, who looked more forbidding than Ellis had ever seen.

“I"m—” But Harte didn"t finish, didn"t apologise. William and Harte stared at each other for long, agonising moments until Harte turned on his heel and left the room.

William sat heavily in his chair, put his elbows on the desk, and covered his face with his hands.

Ellis didn"t know what to do except be quiet. He"d seen the master and Harte bicker and play-fight but he"d never, ever seen Harte raise his voice to William, and he"d never seen him do anything even remotely disobedient without begging for forgiveness directly afterward.

“I"ll have to punish him,” William said in a surprisingly calm voice.

Ellis nodded, though William couldn"t see him. Harte"s behaviour warranted punishment and he knew it.

“Even though I think he"s right and I completely agree, I have to hurt him for that.”

“It is your duty,” Ellis said softly, recognising that William needed reassurance. How much he could offer, Ellis had no idea.

“Do you know what turned the case around?” William asked Ellis, who shook his head. “They interviewed the other slaves.

They"d actually subpoenaed me for Gabriel"s statement only this morning, but they got to another slave first. The slave remembered the deceased slave saying she"d rather die than let Gabriel"s master touch her again. The court called that… consent. Suicide.” Ellis"s breath left him in a rush. He"d never heard of such a 147

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

thing, never heard of anything being taken that far. “Sir, I know you did everything you could.”

“And when it"s not enough, what then, Ellis?” Without even asking permission, Ellis stood and moved between the master"s knees, holding him against his body.

William"s arms tightened around Ellis, his face pressed against Ellis"s chest.

“It is enough,” he whispered. “Because it has to be. There"s nothing else.”

Ellis held William for a long time, rubbing his back and trailing fingers through his hair, being the support instead of the one supported. It made Ellis feel strong, which he would have cherished if he didn"t simultaneously feel so helpless.

“Do you need me to tell Gabriel?” Ellis asked when he thought William was starting to pull himself together.

“I could never ask—”

“You"re not asking,” Ellis interjected. “I"m offering. I think you should talk to Harte.”

“I can"t, not yet.”

Ellis sighed. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just come with me when I talk to Gabriel. He won"t have to go back until tomorrow evening, thanks to the paperwork. We"ll have one more day together. I"ve already taken the day off.”

“And Harte?”

“Harte… will need time.”

Assured that William knew Harte better than he did, Ellis held the master"s hand as they went to the sitting room where Gabriel was still sitting, staring sightlessly at the television.

“You don"t have to say,” Gabriel said in a subdued voice. “I know.”

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“I tried… ” William said, but it sounded weak to everyone"s ears.

“And I thank you. And you, Ellis. And Harte. No matter what happens… I"ll be okay.”

But despite his stoical words, Gabriel"s lip was quivering, and he broke down when Ellis took him into his arms. William stood over them for a moment but retreated to his study soon after.