At His Throat, a Promise (51 page)

“Oh, Ellis.” William sighed, though he didn"t sound frustrated or upset. Just… tired. He pulled back the covers for himself, and Ellis curled instinctively toward him, something he"d never have dared before. The hardness of William"s body soothed him, even when the master"s hand touched the back of his thigh where one especially painful welt throbbed at the contact. “I"ve never met anyone like you, you know.” William"s voice was low and melodic, and Ellis let it carry him away. William didn"t seem to require a response. “And I don"t just mean as a slave, but as a man.

You"re incredible. So strong.”

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AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

As Ellis drifted off to sleep, he
felt
strong. Strange that being punished could bring that out in him, but he"d endured something he"d never thought he could. Pain had always been something to avoid at all costs, but after Jude, where pain was arbitrary and encompassing, he felt like he could handle anything. The pain William inflicted wasn"t out of spite or a need to break him.

William punished Ellis for Ellis"s own sake, not because he deserved it, but because he
needed
it.

Letting William take care of him like that would be difficult.

He had experience with allowing others to run his life, and while he was good at letting go, he didn"t want that. He wanted to be present for William, to be there while William guided him. As long as William was there, Ellis vowed to himself,
he would be, too.

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AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

When Ellis woke up, he didn"t even have time to be disappointed that William had left some time during the night.

He didn"t have time because his arms were full of Harte, his mouth was full of Harte"s hair, and his cock rather wanted Harte to be full with him.

It was still something of a surprise, his body"s ready reactions, after going so long without any. Even though Jude had been an attractive man, Ellis had never actually
wanted
to be with him.

He"d done so because it was his duty, but he"d never felt anything.

He"d even begun to wonder whether his body would ever experience that heady rush of desire again, but he obviously needn"t have worried. All it took was the right incentive.

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AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

“What are you doing here?” he murmured against the halo of Harte"s hair.

Harte sleepily pushed back against him, his ass pressing into Ellis"s groin. “Couldn"t sleep.”

“So you came to bother me, instead?”

“Wasn"t a bother,” Harte said with the certainty of one who
knew
. “You didn"t even wake up. Now stop complaining about things that you weren"t even aware of. And I
would
have bothered Master instead, but
someone
was hogging him all night!” Ellis stiffened. Maya had always accused him of
hogging
Jude, as if he
wanted
all that attention. Though he
did
want William"s attention, so it was different. Harte was used to having William to himself, and Ellis had just walked back into their lives, and no one had even asked Harte how he felt about another slave—

“Are you honestly taking me seriously?” Harte rolled over so he was facing Ellis, close enough that their noses touched. Ellis tried to pull back, but Harte grabbed the back of his neck and held him steady. “Are you really worried about taking Master"s attention away from me? Do you think I"m going to punish you or something?”

Ellis shook his head. Of course not. But Maya hadn"t been a mistress and she"d still found ways to hurt him.
Harte isn’t Maya,
not even close!
“I"m sorry, I… ”

“I"ll forgive you because you"re tired and because you"ve had a long few months. But Ellis… I
begged
to have you back.

Whenever I could, whenever I could get Master to listen to me and sometimes even when he wasn"t around, I begged an empty room.

And then you came back.
I
got what I wanted. We got you back.

Did you get what you wanted?”

“Yes,” he whispered, his mind and heart full of everything he 443

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

never thought he"d have.

“Then we"re in agreement. And you can have Master to yourself whenever you need him. I"ll never hold that against either of you. I just want to be included sometimes, that"s all.” The reason William had even been in his bed came back to him at the same time as his pain receptors decided to remind him. “I was punished,” he said. He bit his lip and looked at Harte"s dimpled cheek.

“He punished you? For sucking me off? That wasn"t your fault!”

Harte looked ready to jump out of bed and punish
William
, his face so fierce that Ellis almost laughed, which of course made Harte glower.

“I wanted him to,” he explained. “I needed it. To know that there were still rules. To know that punishment isn"t arbitrary. To know that he cared enough to discipline me.”

“But you didn"t need that,” Harte protested. “Couldn"t he have just
told
you?”

“I needed to feel it. It"s not important that you understand, you know. We"re really different, and I don"t mind if you think I"m strange.”

Harte laughed his high, soft laugh and kissed Ellis on the cheek. “You
are
strange. But you know… I"m still crazy about you.”

“Crazy about you, too,” Ellis whispered, letting his eyes fall closed and his mind take in that he was really
home
.

“Want to show you how crazy,” Harte continued. He pushed Ellis onto his back, and somehow the pain of his cane stripes didn"t take away from the pleasure of Harte"s hot and eager mouth against his, his grip just as heated and furious. It only added to it, 444

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

and when he came, it was almost violent, like the punishment had been foreplay.

After realising Ellis didn"t even need to return the favour—

Harte was too eager for his own good, apparently—Ellis was told to get dressed and meet Harte downstairs. Ellis showered quickly, wanting to know what Harte was up to. All his things were exactly as he"d left them, except for the items he"d brought with him to Jude"s—those had all been replaced and were waiting for him.

When he made his way downstairs, he was surprised to see William in the dining room with Harte. He knelt beside his master and waited for the touch on his cheek that sent him into a chair.

“Master took the day off work,” Harte informed Ellis with glee.

“Don"t look so stricken,” William said, shaking his head at Ellis, who had, indeed, furrowed his eyebrows at the thought of William missing more work thanks to him. “There"s nothing wrong with wanting to spend more time with my boys, is there?”

“Of course not, Master,” Harte said soothingly, as if the question hadn"t been rhetorical. William smiled at him, and Harte beamed.

Ellis squirmed a little in his chair; though they were cushioned, his bottom still protested the hard wood beneath.

“We"ll be going into town today,” William explained. “Don"t eat too much, Harte, because we"re going to Wender"s for lunch.”

“You didn"t tell me that!” Harte cried, throwing his toast down with passion. “Oh, now I"ll never have room for the seafood linguini!”

Ellis could only watch as the two had an animated discussion.

Would he ever feel free enough to talk to William like that? Did he want that type of freedom? Harte sometimes acted as though they were simply boyfriends, but at the same time, when he
did
submit, 445

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

it was beautiful in its honesty and wholeheartedness.

“Ellis? What do you think?”

“Um, that sounds fine, Master.”

William gave him a look that showed he knew Ellis hadn"t been paying attention, but he didn"t seem upset. In fact, William didn"t seem to get upset anymore. Before Ellis had left, William"s temper had been short and he hadn"t smiled very often. He seemed more… relaxed, now. Ellis liked it—he wondered if that was Harte"s influence. Had William been less relaxed because Ellis hadn"t been around?

He couldn"t seem to get his brain to turn off and let him enjoy himself.

“Harte, go get your collar. I"m not taking any chances. Ellis, come with me.”

He followed the master into his study, where he knelt beside William"s desk chair as he had a hundred times before. William turned the chair toward him and ran his fingers through Ellis"s hair, tugging on a strand and looking thoughtful.

“I never thought I"d take another slave. I was fully prepared to have Harte be it for me. And when it was time to release him, I"d never intended to take another. Slaves are a lot of work, as I"m sure you"ve seen. But more than that, I just… didn"t have room in my heart for another because I never thought I"d meet anyone like Harte. He
forces
people to fall in love with him—they"re left with no choice. I know you know that as well as I do.” Ellis nodded. He did know. He loved Harte. He"d known that for ages, possibly even the moment he"d met the younger slave.

“But you do the same thing, in a different way. With Harte, it"s sometimes easy—too easy—to forget that I"m his master. But with you, I know that my job is to take care of you, and I
want
that. It 446

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

was that thought that made me want to become a master in the first place. I sometimes worried that my desire for a sexually submissive young man got tied up and confused with my desire to be a master. Until I met you, I had begun to fear that I simply wanted to be a Dominant and not a master at all. But you brought out in me the need to truly
own
another person, the need to be someone"s everything. With Harte, he just
gave
me that. But with you, I"ve always had to earn it. Have I?” William looked so sincere and almost uncertain. Ellis was confused by the power he wielded. He didn"t like it, but like William had said, he had to do the right thing with it.

“Yes, Master. A hundred times over.”

Instead of answering, William opened the top drawer of the desk. He pulled out a black leather collar, much like the one Ellis had been given before, except without the lock on it. William watched him carefully as he placed the collar around his neck. Ellis trembled a little. He wanted to remember how it felt, what it meant to belong to someone else, someone who wanted him. He"d save that memory for the rest of his life, he knew.

The collar was softly loose, resting around his neck without restricting him in any way. The leather was supple and there was no stitching to scratch him or cool metal rings to chill him.

“Thank you, Master,” Ellis said. His words were inadequate.

“I"ll make you proud of me, I swear.”

“I am,” William assured him. His fingers cupped Ellis"s chin, tilting his head up. “I"m proud of you already. Now come here.” Ellis straddled the master"s lap as instructed, lips parting when he felt William"s arousal straining against his trousers. Ellis moved experimentally against him, wondering if William wanted him.

He did, but not in the way Ellis had hoped. Not right away.

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AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

William held Ellis"s face and kissed him, so long and so slow that Ellis felt like there was nothing in the world outside the kiss.

William seemed to be learning him, and Ellis let him, let go of everything he"d carried around that wasn"t really him. He wouldn"t try to be like Harte anymore, or anyone else but himself.

He obeyed because he wanted to when William told him to get the lubricant and prepare himself. William"s eyes watching his face for reactions made him even harder, and he didn"t need to put on a show for his master because his reactions were real and beautiful.

That was what William said, and Ellis trusted him.

When William said to, Ellis lowered himself on his thick and familiar cock. He knew he was making little
oh, oh
sounds, but the preparation—something he"d been denied by Jude—made the stretch so much better. He was able to focus on the sensation instead of trying to block it out. Even if William wasn"t quite trying to hit his sweet spot, the feeling of fullness, the satisfaction of pleasing his master, and William"s hand on his cock all made up for that.

“Harder, Ellis,” William instructed, squeezing Ellis"s cock with a firm hand. “Fuck yourself on me.”

Leaning back with his elbows braced behind him on the desk, Ellis rolled his hips in smooth, circular movements, and William"s cock was unerring, pressing against his prostate almost constantly now. Ellis"s head dropped back and his let his body do the work while he enjoyed the results.

William"s hand on the small of his back guided him, encouraged him to move faster, and Ellis did. Everything the master wanted, he did.

He didn"t even care when William told him not to come. He hadn"t planned in it, anyway. William shouted and came inside 448

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

Ellis, who smiled and let his body relax. He was panting and covered in a thin sheen of sweat, but he didn"t mind.

A moment later, William lifted Ellis off his cock and placed him on the desk, pressing him back so he was lying down. Ellis shouted when his cock was engulfed by wet heat, William"s mouth matching the rhythm of the fingers he shoved into Ellis"s come-slicked hole.

Ellis couldn"t hold back, and William told him not to—he came, filling William"s mouth without even trying to pull away this time.

Then William was leaning over him, kissing him, and when Ellis"s lips parted, William pushed Ellis"s own come into his mouth, trapping it there with his lips so Ellis had to swallow. He"d only tasted himself on William and Harte"s lips, never so fully. He tasted much like Harte did, only not as good.

Anything that made William"s eyes go dark and his lips go tight as if he really wanted to say something dirty was not something Ellis was willing to deny.

“I thought collaring him was taking an awful long time.” Harte"s voice was amused and came from the doorway. “Not that I don"t think he looks perfect like that.”