At His Throat, a Promise (62 page)

William took him into his arms. He kissed him on the temple and then the lips. “I want something, too,” he confessed, his words a whisper over Ellis"s lips.

“What is it, Master?” he asked, smirking a little because he expected William to make an innuendo. He prepared to slip to his knees. William hadn"t been in the mood much since Harte had gotten home because the other slave was so hesitant about being with them.

“You.”

If ever the world was in a word, it was that moment.

“Me, Master?”

William nodded, his features serious, firm. “You and Harte, with me. After all this, Ellis. When you"re free.” That William would know—know and grant—his heart"s innermost desire, the wish he"d never put to words, the one he"d barely even permitted himself to think… it was almost unbearable.

“As… ?”
Equals? Lovers?
Would they maintain the admittedly unbalanced relationship they had now? Would William expect him to kneel and to service his friends? Would he…

“You are thinking too much—slow down so I can hope to guess your thoughts as they parade across your face.”

“It"s just… I"m honoured, of course, Master.” Ellis brought the hand in his to his lips and pressed a kiss to an ink-stained knuckle.

“But I don"t want to be a slave forever.”

“I don"t want you to, either.” William looked confused. “I want 537

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you to be by my side. Not at my feet.”

Ellis fought with himself a second. His mind scrambled to find the flaw, the caveat, the condition. There was nothing. Here was what he"d wanted, sitting beside him, looking hopeful and a little nervous like it
really
mattered whether Ellis said yes or not. Then it was like a calm settled, a storm that had been raging ever since Harte had danced with him that very first night finally broke and the sunlight pierced the clouds but didn"t burn him. It was perfect.

“Yes,” he whispered, then in a loud voice as he moved to straddle William and press their bodies together, “Yes, please, oh, yes. Master, I want that.”

“William,” said William in a rough voice. His dark eyes smiled.

“Pardon?”

“Say „William," call me by my name, just this once. So it"s real. So it"s us.”

Ellis bit his lip. He put his arms around William"s neck and leaned in until their lips were ready to kiss. “William. Yes.” William might have tried to say Ellis"s name in return, but he didn"t care. He ate the words and any other sounds his master made with a kiss so hard, so vicious that it was unbreakable.

When he did pull away, he asked what he already knew the answer to. “And Harte?”

“Always Harte.”

Ellis kissed him again. “So let"s ask him. Master.” William must have thought that was a great idea, for he stood and hefted Ellis over his shoulder, patting his bared bottom as he ascended the stairs—carefully, to Ellis"s relief. Ellis watched with rising desire and appreciation as the muscles in William"s back and ass worked as he walked. William stopped and knocked on Harte"s 538

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door.

He knew exactly what met Harte"s eyes as he opened his bedroom door because the younger slave burst out laughing. “You brought me a present,” he said, giving Ellis"s bum a light slap.

“Hey!” Ellis cried in mock indignation.

“Can we come in?” William"s voice was serious when compared to how comical he had to look with a bare-assed slave over one shoulder.

Harte must have stepped aside, for William was walking again.

Ellis cried out in shock as he was deposited on Harte"s bed. He shimmied over to one side and watched as William and Harte spoke by the doorway. He couldn"t hear them and he didn"t really try. This was between the two of them. If Harte had changed his mind after his ordeal and decided he wanted to strike out on his own after his slavery was over, Ellis"s presence would make things even more uncomfortable.

Ellis knew his heart would break if Harte didn"t want them. In fact, his own eagerness was balanced on the fact that they would
both
be with him. Without Harte, could there even be a
William
and Ellis
?

Ellis knew from Harte"s own hints and intimations—and sometimes flat-out declarations—that he wanted to stay with William after he was freed. But that had been before Develyn. The man was a monster and there was no telling what he"d done to Harte—no telling because
Harte
wasn"t telling.

Harte was crying. Even though that meant that he was either very happy or very sad, Ellis couldn"t help but feel it was the latter.

His stomach roiled in protest against the very thought.

When Harte jumped up into William"s arms, however, Ellis"s guts uncurled. He let himself smile. That had to be a yes.

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The two shared a long kiss that had Ellis opening his legs a little just from watching. There was nothing exclusionary about them being together anymore. They"d been together first, that was true, but now… now they were
all
together. He just had to be patient and let them have this moment.

Thankfully, the moment wasn"t
too
long—Harte broke the kiss and ran at the bed, jumping onto it with the spirit they"d so missed in the time Harte"d been back.

“Looks like you"re stuck with me,” Harte said, crawling up the bed and between Ellis"s legs. Ellis sat up and flipped Harte onto his back, hovering over him.

“Damn,” Ellis joked, feeling free to actually do so—maybe for the first time ever. William wanted him
after
his slavery. That meant William liked him the way he was, not just for how subservient he was or how obedient he could be.

That was freedom. Ellis was
free
. Any chains, any bonds he wore now were just… paper.

He pulled Harte into a hard kiss, knowing without even asking that William would encourage it. They"d both been tiptoeing around Harte since he"d returned, but maybe that was the
last
thing Harte needed. Ellis had been used by Develyn—he knew as well as anyone that Develyn epitomised objectification. Maybe Harte needed to really
feel
something, to really give himself over to someone who wouldn"t just take and take.

“Don"t close your eyes,” Ellis whispered. He looked over when he felt the bed dip. William was sitting beside them, but he made no move to touch. He gave Ellis an approving nod.

Harte"s forehead crinkled and he looked like he wanted to fight the direction, but he kept his eyes open as Ellis lowered his body against Harte"s. Harte was hard, his body was reacting, but his eyes 540

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were on the verge of wildness.

“Shh… ” Ellis ran a soothing hand over Harte"s torso. He bent and placed teasing kisses at Harte"s lips and neck. When William took over Harte"s mouth, Ellis focused his attention on his body, mouthing at his nipples through the slave sheath. He wanted Harte bare before him, but he didn"t want to rush. Still,
he
could be naked. That thought in mind, he lifted up and stripped his sheath off.

Harte"s body was hot against Ellis"s bare skin. The sheath was rough and unfamiliar from the outside. Harte was arching into him, and William"s hand moved down his body to pull the shift up.

“Is this okay?” William asked.

At the words, Harte went stiff. “When has it ever not been okay for you to undress me? Master?” The last was tacked on like an afterthought.

Ellis had to admit his was relieved. That was some of the old Harte coming back.

“Since you returned from… to us.”

There was defiance in Harte"s eyes as he lifted up—as much as he could with Ellis over him—and took off his clothing.

“I wasn"t even hurt. He barely even spoke to me.”

“Master just wants to make sure you"re all right,” Ellis said. In their experience, if Harte wasn"t all right, he"d let them know. But with Develyn, he most likely wouldn"t have been permitted to speak at all.

“I"m fine, I just… ” Harte sighed and clenched his eyes shut, but not before Ellis saw the glimmering of tears on his lashes.

“What?”

“I didn"t think you"d want me after he"d used me, all right!”

“Oh, Harte. No… ” Ellis didn"t know what else to say. He"d 541

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ached
for Harte, even when Harte was right in front of him but still so far away. He knew William felt the same. William hadn"t shunned Ellis, after all, when Ellis had had sex with Develyn. And they"d had sex with other people at the master"s behest.

Maybe that was it. William hadn"t asked him to, so Harte felt like he"d betrayed his lover and his master all in one.

“Listen to me.” William"s voice was firm, immovable as the man himself. Harte couldn"t help but turn toward the sound; even Ellis found himself focused on the words. “He took you from me and I"ll always hate him for it.
Him
. Not you. You"re still the same to me, Harte, not less. Never that. You"re still amazing, brilliant, strong—you still make me laugh. You still make me hard.” His fingers brushed the tears off Harte"s temple. “I"ve never wanted you more.”

Ellis was just about capsized when Harte reared up to embrace William. Ellis had to wonder—were his own insecurities so obvious? Could they have been so easily allayed, if he"d just told them? So much of his time with them had been wasted being
unsure
. Without that weight, he felt like a different person.

Ellis got off Harte and encouraged the malleable slave to knees.

His mouth was being devoured by his master, and Ellis wanted to taste him, too. He leaned down and took Harte"s pink erection into his mouth. Harte grew harder under his ministrations, and it wasn"t long before he was thrusting into Ellis"s mouth.

He eased off a little when he saw William move behind Harte and lean in much like Ellis had. Harte whimpered and arched back—Ellis saw what was happening and reached around Harte"s slender hips to spread his buttocks for William"s mouth. He returned to Harte"s cock, the musky taste of his pre-come making promises for what was to come.

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Ellis opened his eyes when he sensed William had left his station and divested himself of his clothing, but when he was undressed he returned with lubricant and slicked Harte quickly.

Ellis knew exactly when William"s fingers breached him because Harte cried out and arched into Ellis"s mouth.

“No, no, no,” Harte chanted—he could barely remain on his knees, and both Ellis and William fought to support and restrain him as his came, pressing back onto the fingers inside him and forward into Ellis"s waiting mouth.

“No?” William repeated after Harte crashed back into the vee of William"s legs, boneless.

“I didn"t want to come. It"s been so long, though… ”

“How long?” Ellis asked, swallowing his mouthful. It was thicker than Harte"s normal offering, lending credence to his words.

“Since I left. I didn"t even… you know, myself.” Ellis was impressed, but he understood—orgasm hadn"t even crossed his mind while Develyn had been inside him.

“I"m sure you"ve lots left to give, then.” William"s hand pinched his nipples and moved down his body to cup his limp cock.

Harte groaned but didn"t push him away. Ellis pressed his mouth against Harte"s slack lips, coaxing a kiss from him as William diligently manipulated another erection from him.

“I have to be inside you.” William looked as desperate as Ellis had ever seen—and Harte was as eager.

“Yes,” Harte said, reaching behind himself and grabbing William"s cock.

Ellis"s own cock throbbed as he watched and heard William enter Harte. He stroked himself, knowing there was no way he"d 543

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

last until one of them was ready to either fuck him or be fucked by him. He didn"t mind, though—they had forever, now.

William manoeuvred onto his back, pulling Harte with him so Harte"s back was against his chest. Because Harte was so short compared to William, his head rested on William"s chest. Ellis could see there was almost no capability for thrusting in that position, but it gave him easy access to Harte"s almost-hard cock, and he lowered his mouth onto it without hesitation.

Harte gave a shriek and thrust up, then another as he sank back onto William.

“I was… so empty… there,” Harte said.

William"s hand gently tugged on Ellis"s hair so he came up off Harte"s prick. They both listened to what Harte had to say—if only they"d known the way to get him to open up was to fuck him senseless.

“He never… really filled me. You know? I felt so… so hollow.”

Ellis kissed the inside of Harte"s trembling thigh. William wrapped his arms around Harte"s body. They waited.

“Fill me,” Harte moaned, rocking on William"s cock. “More.” Ellis looked up and met William"s eyes.
More?
they both seemed to ask each other.

“Ellis!” Harte sounded distressed.

Quickly slicking his fingers, Ellis touched the rim of Harte"s stretched anus. The seal was so tight—he could see William was struggling with staying still. After making sure the lubricant was spread all around, Ellis pressed his finger against the rim, pushing into William"s cock a little to allow for more room. To his surprise, entrance was easily granted.

William cursed and Harte gave a moan that was sheer decadent 544

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pleasure. It seemed they were both waiting for something. Ellis pressed another finger inside—William"s cock was throbbing. He could feel both their heartbeats from where he was touching them.

“You, Ellis.” Harte lifted his head despite it seeming a Herculean effort. “Please?”

“Master, is that… ?” Ellis had
heard
of such things—he was pretty sure he"d even seen it at the Cohens" costume gala. But to do it to Harte?

“Harte, are you sure?” William"s hands were moving all over Harte"s flushed body. There was no mistaking Harte"s erection.

“Yes,
please
. I need it.”

“Ellis, it"s okay. Just go slow—press against me, not him. And don"t move until he says.”