At His Throat, a Promise (25 page)

“Just like Harte,” Alastair said. He shook his head. “Silly slaves thinking they"re more than slaves.”

“You"re more than a slave to Master Alex,” Ellis rejoined, hurt by the offhand remark.

“Yeah, but
he’s
not more than a master to
me
.” Ellis glared. He suddenly wasn"t in the mood for games. “Who are you to judge how a slave gets through their tenure? Just because you don"t have a heart—”

“I don"t have a heart?” Alastair scoffed. “We"re not
allowed
to have hearts. Do you know what happens to a slave who admits to loving his master? He gets taken away! That"s the
law
. It"s a conflict of interest! I"m sure you"ve heard that term. And the same goes for the master. Masters and slaves aren"t allowed to care 211

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about each other like that! Harte and Master William play a dangerous game, but I"m not that stupid.” Ellis closed his eyes. “Can you untie me?” Alastair sighed. “Look, I"m sorry, all right? I"m sorry if it bothers you that I can talk about
feelings
and all that. I thought we were here to
fuck
not wax poetical.”

“It"s not that, Alastair! I don"t care what your feelings for your master are or aren"t. I just don"t like you calling Harte stupid, and I especially don"t like you saying it about Sir!”

“You know, you"d better learn to shut your mouth or someone might report
you
for feeling a little too much!” Ellis gasped. “Are you threatening me?”

“No!” Alastair shouted, then shook his head and said quietly,

“No, Ellis. Promise. I"m just warning you. Friendly advice, okay?

Don"t take it all so personally. You"re not even his.”

“I know that,” Ellis snapped.

Alastair"s hands, which had been resting on Ellis"s legs, started rubbing absently. “But you want to be, don"t you?” Ellis shrugged, feigning casualness. “Who wouldn"t? He"s a good master, a good man.”

“Hmm.” Alastair didn"t look convinced, but Ellis didn"t care.

“Untie me, Alastair. I"m serious.”

Appearing to contemplate the decision, Alastair continued to touch Ellis. “I will, but let me say one more thing, okay?” Ellis nodded.

“I know that you probably don"t believe in loyalty among slaves. Survival of the favoured, after all. But the truth is, if we don"t stick together, they"ll walk all over us. Just like Harte"s old master did. Just like yours probably did.”

“So this camaraderie, is that why you fucked me so hard I was 212

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sore for days?”

“I was jealous, okay? You"re pretty and quiet and so fucking
obedient
. I"ll never be those things. So I got scared. Who doesn"t, now and then? I"m sure you do, too. When you see Master William look at Harte with those eyes like he wants to
consume
him. It must scare you to know that while you"re close, you"re not what he wants.”

“Fuck you,” Ellis said, and to his horror, his voice broke. He looked away, hating the bonds now.

“Hey, hey, no… ” Alastair made short work of the pillowcase, and Ellis curled onto his side, facing the wall.

“I didn"t mean it like that. Of course he
wants
you. He takes you, doesn"t he?”

Ellis didn"t say anything.

“It"s just… Look, I"m only trying to look out for you. You seem like a sweet kid. I like you. I"m sorry I fucked up with you before. But let"s stick together, like I said, okay?”

“Why?”

“Because you need someone who still has a part of themselves to give. A part that doesn"t belong to someone else.” Ellis cringed. He couldn"t offer that. He couldn"t, because he wasn"t sure he had anything left to offer in return.

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Ellis groaned when a sharp elbow dug into his thigh.

“Sorry!” a voice whispered, and yet the elbow didn"t retreat.

Then a body squirmed up alongside his, settling behind him, trapping him between it and Alastair.

“What you are doing, Harte?” Ellis asked, turning to face the newcomer.

“I just wanted to see what you guys were up to.”

“We"re sleeping. What else would we be doing? What time is it?”

“It"s early. We won"t be needed for a few hours. I"m sorry. I woke up and couldn"t get back to sleep. I started thinking about what you two could be doing, and, well… ” Harte pressed his hips 214

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

forward, showing Ellis exactly why getting back to sleep was a pipe dream.

“You didn"t stop to think that maybe we were asleep like any normal person would be? We"re not all nymphomaniacs, you know. Some of us
can
go a day without getting laid.” Harte"s mouth dropped open. “Wow, you"re grouchy today!” Alastair rumbled behind them, throwing one muscular thigh over Ellis"s and matching the action with an arm. Ellis frowned but didn"t try to slither away. Despite their disagreement the night before, Ellis and Alastair had come to a sort of détente. Ellis did have to admit it was nice sleeping with someone so much bigger than he; it was very warm, at least.

“Ellis didn"t get off last night. You"d be grouchy, too.” Harte smacked Alastair"s thigh. “You didn"t get him off?

What"s wrong with you?”

Alastair reached over and pulled Harte closer to Ellis, squishing all three of them together. “Listen, you little minx. I would have gladly gotten him off. But we got distracted halfway through the more interesting stuff, and then continuing wasn"t exactly on the menu.”

Harte"s fingers stroked Ellis"s cheek. “What distracted you?” Ellis didn"t want to tell the truth, so he just yawned, hoping Alastair would cover it.

“Oh, you know, philosophy, that sort of stuff.”

“You were distracted from sex by philosophy?” Harte asked, eyebrow quirked.

Ellis almost rolled his eyes. He"d hoped Alastair would have something more believable up his sleeve than that.

Luckily, Harte wasn"t the type to dwell on things. “Can I distract you from your distraction, then?” he purred, rubbing 215

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

against Ellis"s body like a cat.

Already interested just by the simple factor of warm bodies around him, Ellis grinned and nipped at Harte"s shoulder. “Why don"t you try, and I"ll let you know how you"re doing?”

“Oh, I think that, between the two of us, we can suitably tear your mind away from… distractions,” Alastair said, thick fingers running over Ellis"s flanks, tickling him.

Harte nodded and grabbed Ellis by the wrist, pulling him forward a little. But when Ellis winced—his arm felt sore—Harte immediately stopped.

“What"s this?” he said in a dark voice, holding up Ellis"s arm.

He was looking at Alastair, whose eyes widened.

“Whoa,” he said, shaking his head. “I used a
pillowcase
, Harte.

I swear!”

Ellis looked at the arm that was being held up. There was a mottled bruise around the boniest part. He checked, and the other wrist was the same, though not as bad. “He"s telling the truth. I"ve always bruised easily.”

“Easily enough to be marked by
cloth
?” Harte demanded.

“Apparently!” Ellis felt defensive. He didn"t understand why Harte was so upset.

“When Master sees this… Did he give you permission to tie him up?”

“Did who give permission?” Alastair asked.

“Either of them! Master or Ellis!”

“Harte, calm down. I told him it was all right. I
wanted
him to do it. I remembered what you said… about Alastair liking it… ” Alastair took the arm that Harte was still holding up, touching the wrist tenderly. “You did it just because you thought I"d like it?”

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Deciding it wasn"t the time to confess to ulterior motives, Ellis just remained silent.

“If that isn"t the fucking sexiest thing I"ve ever heard, I don"t know what is… ” There was a groan in Alistair"s voice.

“It won"t be so sexy when Master finds out,” Harte said, a warning in his voice.

“Why would he be upset? It wasn"t in the rules, and you and Alastair do it.”

“Yeah, but Master and I had a big talk about it first. Limitations and all that. And Alastair knows better than to leave marks.”

“How was I supposed to know he bruises like fruit?” Ellis was starting to feel a little nauseous. “He won"t… he won"t punish me, will he?”

“Oh, no,” Harte said, snuggling closer, which should have been impossible because Harte was practically on top of him as it was.

“He"ll just be concerned about you. He"s very protective. But you know that.”

“Let"s not worry about that now,” Alastair said, kissing the back of Ellis"s neck, which was stiff with tension. “If Master William is upset, I"ll tell him it was my fault. Let Master punish me, I don"t care.”

Ellis, beginning to suspect that Alastair"s toughness was a façade, said, “You don"t have to do that. It was my choice. And Sir said he wouldn"t repeat the punishment from before.”

“If he beats your feet, I wonder if he"ll let me watch,” Harte mused, pressing his hips against Ellis and showing him exactly how much the idea intrigued him.

“His
feet?
” Alastair said.

“That"s what Master did to me.” Harte"s voice took on a dreamy quality. While he obviously hadn"t enjoyed the punishment 217

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

itself,
being
punished was still something he needed and relished.

“It hurts
so
bad that you feel like you"d do anything to stop it.”

“That"s encouraging, isn"t it, Ellis?” Alastair said teasingly.

Ellis nodded wryly. “Very.”

Harte seemed to snap out of it. “But you"re tough, you can take it. And I don"t think he"d do it to you, anyway. He did my feet because I ran away. Maybe he"ll do your wrists. Or your cock, since that"s what you were thinking with.”

“You think he"d
cane
my
cock
?”

“Harte, stop scaring the poor kid! Look, his erection"s going down. Better do something about that.”

Harte"s hand snaked between them to stroke Ellis"s wilting arousal. Despite the horror of the possibilities of punishment, Harte"s hand quickly drew the desired reaction.

“Good as new,” whispered Alastair, licking Ellis"s ear.

Trembling under the dual onslaught, Ellis could do little more than kiss wherever he could reach—except for mouths, of course—

and caress similarly.

“Get the lube, Harte,” Alastair demanded, his fingers skimming along Ellis"s crack, making him squirm.

Harte huffed but pulled away to get the jar from the nightstand, practically throwing it at Alastair. He then devoted his attention to licking Ellis"s nipples, and sucking them, and biting them. Alastair especially enjoyed the last as it made Ellis arch his back and press his ass into Alastair"s groin.

Alastair grabbed Harte"s hand and placed it on Ellis"s ass, and Harte got the message immediately and opened him up for Alastair"s slickened fingers. Ellis could no longer even make the pretence of returning the pleasure bestowed upon him, especially not after Harte got a hold of the lubricant and spread it over Ellis"s 218

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

cock, his hand twisting and tugging just enough to make Ellis wish the rules were different.

Unlike last time, when Alastair had first fucked him with dry fingers, and then too many, too quickly, this time Alastair took his time, much more than was really needed. One finger slid in leisurely, and Harte"s hand slowed to match the pace. Ellis whimpered in distress, but they didn"t listen.

Another finger joined the first, and the stretch made his mouth fall open. All three were writhing together, naked and panting as they made Ellis the centre of their worlds.

“Please,” he whimpered, uncertain whom he was asking: Harte, for his hand to hurry, or Alastair, for his fingers to.

They must have liked the sound because they both rewarded him with exactly what he wanted. With three fingers buried deep inside him, a hand practically flying over his throbbing cock, and two mouths sucking and biting wherever they could, Ellis couldn"t hold back anymore. His need was intensified from not coming the night before, and there was nothing he could do to make it last, if he even wanted to.

“Fuck, yes, Ellis, come for us, show us how much you want us,” Alastair said, groaning, into his ear.

Harte was thrusting against Ellis, his leg thrown over both the other slaves as he ground himself to completion. He said only,

“Ellis,” in the softest of whimpers, and when he came, it was enough for Ellis, too.

“Oh!” Ellis cried, biting his lip to keep his noises locked away.

His balls tightened, his cock thickened, and he came all over Harte, mingling their come together.

“Ugh, so tight around my fingers,” Alastair said, sliding them out gently.

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Ellis was a little embarrassed when Alastair"s cock slid along his greasy crevice, almost fucking him, but he was too weak and too satisfied to protest Alastair finding his own pleasure—which apparently included very dirty talk.

“Wish the masters were here so I could fuck you… fuck you so hard, your tight little hole would gape open for me… but you"d still beg.”

Harte was panting a little at the words, reaching over Ellis to pull at Alastair"s hip and help him thrust against Ellis.

“Oh, yes, coming!” Alastair cried, and then Ellis"s body became a lot messier.

Alastair slumped against Ellis, holding him close and pulling Harte in as well. “Fucking amazing,” he muttered, holding Harte"s neck and kissing Ellis"s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Harte whispered. His cheeks were flushed, his hair wild, and his makeup from the evening before was smudged indecently. Ellis supposed his didn"t look any different.

Ellis wanted to say something in agreement, but he figured it was implicit in the way his body had reacted.

“I came to get my slave, but I wonder if you two will even give him back?”

Ellis was the only one who jerked up as if he"d done something wrong. Which he hadn"t.
Right?