At His Throat, a Promise (5 page)

“But Sir said no penetrative sex.”

“Pretty sure that just meant fucking.” Harte moaned and pushed back against Ellis"s fingers, but Ellis hesitated. He"d already fucked up with William; he didn"t want to make things worse.

“I won"t go inside,” Ellis said firmly, his fingers pressing and dancing over Harte"s furrowed centre.

“Fuck,” Harte whined, hand moving rapidly over his cock.

“Fine. Bite me, then.”

Ellis was cautious about leaving marks, so he bent and bit Harte"s nipple instead of the flawless skin of his shoulder where Ellis really longed to sink his teeth. Harte cried out and gasped for more, so Ellis bit his other nipple even harder at the same time that he flickered his fingertip against Harte"s entrance.

The combination was good, and Harte whimpered through his orgasm, come spilling onto Ellis"s thigh and spent cock.

Harte wrapped his arms limply around Ellis"s neck, and Ellis 33

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

supported him without thinking.

“I"m definitely asking Master about the penetration thing, because your fingers are… amazing.”

Something Ellis hadn"t felt for a long, long time made him realise that things were going to change for him. It was a blush.

* * *

Dressed in his embarrassingly short white sheath, Ellis sat at the dining room table and tried not to fidget. Harte was sitting across from him, eating toast with jam and looking entirely too pleased with himself.

The room, like the rest of house, was done in classic, understated colours. Dark wood made the room masculine, but brushed pewter accents kept it elegant. There were no curios or knickknacks to speak of, just clean, bare surfaces, clear of even a mote of dust.

He studied his surroundings until William walked through the door and immediately sat in the chair at the head of the table. Harte pushed his chair back and kneeled before the master, and Ellis followed suit, uncertain of the protocol.

William touched Harte"s cheek softly, which seemed to be the signal to rise and be seated. He then turned and faced Ellis, looking at him for a long time. Ellis began to tremble under the scrutiny, but he kept his eyes on the floor.

William reached out and cupped Ellis"s cheek, trailing a thumb over his lower lip. Ellis longed to kiss it in a gesture of apology, but he didn"t dare.

“Are you okay?” William asked quietly.

Ellis nodded, confused. “Of course, Sir.” 34

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

“Sit and eat your breakfast.”

Taking his seat once again, Ellis tried to get himself under control. He"d been punished before. William had said a lashing for breaking the rules—that wouldn"t be too bad. He wasn"t sure why he was so afraid.

“We won"t have lessons this morning,” William announced.

Harte whooped but settled at a stern glance from his master.

Ellis bowed his head. William didn"t even think he was good enough to teach.

After a breakfast that tasted like sawdust, Ellis sat quietly as William and Harte talked about something in legalese. Ellis was amazed at how much Harte seemed to know. He regretted that he wouldn"t be in a position to learn like that.

“You"re excused, Harte,” William said a few moments later.

Harte left the table quickly, and Ellis tried not to watch him leave. With Harte there, he felt safe, even though he was pretty sure William wouldn"t beat him in his dining room.

“Ellis, come with me.”

Following William through the house, Ellis was surprised when the master stopped outside Ellis" bedroom door. William nodded at the door, and Ellis opened it and followed William in.

Sitting on the bed, William patted the seat beside him and Ellis sat, stomach in knots.

“Harte told you he told me about the kiss, didn"t he?” Ellis nodded numbly, staring at William settled against the headboard and stretched long legs in front of him. Again, he gestured for Ellis to sit beside him, and Ellis got up and walked around the bed so he wouldn"t have to crawl over the master. He sat stiffly against the headboard and folded his hands in his lap.

“This”—William gestured to the bedroom—“is your safe place.

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AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

You will never be punished in here. You will never be hurt, or harmed, or yelled at. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir.” With new eyes, Ellis took in the room. It seemed larger now.

“I could tell you were scared. You thought I was going to punish you, yes?”

“It would be deserved, Sir,” Ellis said miserably.

“I disagree. Yesterday, I believe I told you I wouldn"t tolerate deliberate rule breaking.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“After speaking with Harte, I don"t believe what you did was deliberate at all. Did your previous master kiss you?”

“Yes, Sir, quite often.”

William nodded. “So you see you were simply doing what you were trained to do. This is not the sort of infraction I would punish.

If you do it again, we will have another talk, and it won"t be in this room. Do you understand what I mean by that?”

“That you might hurt me or yell at me.”

“That"s right. But it won"t happen again because you seem very bright and your reaction tells me that you don"t like making mistakes. I"m not a hard man to please, Ellis. I"m sorry if my rules confuse you.”

“They don"t, Sir!” Ellis cried, not wanting William to think he was stupid. “I only lost myself for a second. Harte"s very… and I"m so sorry!”

“Hush, it"s all right.” William put an arm around Ellis"s shoulders, and Ellis automatically leaned into the touch. “No harm done, really.” He ran his fingers through Ellis"s hair for a few minutes and seemed to be thinking. “That tunic is way too short for you,” he said, chuckling.

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AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

Ellis glared at the cloth and tugged it down to cover more of his thighs, but William stopped him. “It"s not exactly a bad thing,” he said in a low voice, his fingers teasing the skin just beneath the hem.

Looking up at William, Ellis"s mouth went dry at the desire he saw. He"d known that William would use him, but he"d never really thought he"d
want
to. Ellis had figured he"d do it just because he could.

“So, do you enjoy kissing?” William asked, his hand flat and caressing the expanse of Ellis"s thigh, pushing the sheath up higher.

Ellis shook his head slowly. His body was responding to the gentle touch, and he wished for his cock cage.

“Then why did you want to kiss Harte so much?”

“I thought it would be different,” he said quietly, eyes on William"s shirt.

“I"m going to kiss you, all right?” William tilted Ellis"s face up with gentle fingers, eyes searching.

“All right.”

Cupping his cheek like he"d done in the dining room, William leaned in and pressed his lips against Ellis"s. It was already more of a kiss than the one he"d shared with Harte. William"s mouth didn"t move much at first; his lips were soft and steady, not demanding anything.

After a moment, Ellis couldn"t help but feel something was missing. He"d been kissed many times in many ways, but it had always been more than this chaste touch. Ellis moved his lips experimentally, having never really initiated anything before.

William made a quiet moan of approval, and Ellis"s eyes fell shut as the kiss really began.

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AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

William"s fingers moved to his jaw, and his other hand searched out one of Ellis"s and held it firmly between them. Ellis wanted more from the kiss. He"d never felt anything so intimate.

William pulled back a little to tease Ellis"s lips with his tongue, and Ellis opened his mouth, wanting more but not knowing exactly what. Participating in a kiss was something he wasn"t very familiar with; most people just kissed him, they didn"t worry about whether he returned it. But that seemed very important to William.

Then William was gently licking inside his mouth, his tongue flicking against his teeth and tickling his palate. Ellis squirmed closer, wanting more of the delicious sensations. When their mouths pressed together, Ellis let his tongue slide along William"s, feeling very bold and brave.

And then William pulled away, though he didn"t go far. Ellis could feel his breath against his lips, which were swollen and sensitive.

“I almost feel guilty for denying Harte kisses like that,” William murmured, touching their foreheads together. “But I think I already told you I"m a very selfish man.”

* * *

Ellis let his head fall onto the tome in front of him. He was a reasonably intelligent person, he thought. He"d never had trouble in school and his education had been more than adequate.

But the things Harte was trying to teach him made him feel dizzy.

“I"m sorry,” he groaned without lifting his head.

Harte just laughed. “Do you know how long it took me to get the hang of this stuff? And it"s not like I know everything—I"m 38

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

only teaching you the things I"m good at.”

“Can we go over the tort stuff again?”

“You know what? Let"s take a break. We"ll go sit by the pool and I"ll tell you all about what we do on weekends. I"m so glad it"s Friday.”

Ellis followed Harte out the back door. He noticed it was locked from the inside with a simple bolt. He would remember that in case he ever got to go outside by himself. Not that he minded Harte"s company.

The backyard was so much more than a yard. It was a field.

There wasn"t a discernable fence, but rather a forest that began abruptly about a hundred metres from the house.

“The forest is off-limits, obviously. I got lost in there one day and Nell—the cook—had to come find me before Master got home. I was so grateful, but then she went and told Master anyway. She"s a bit of a rat, but I don"t mind her too much. Just don"t make any mistakes around her. I don"t think she does it to be mean; her first loyalty is to Master, that"s all.” Ellis didn"t bother mentioning that such was the case with Harte himself.

“Here"s the pool,” Harte said unnecessarily, as the pool was enormous and impossible to miss. The high blue of the water looked refreshing, and he"d have loved to jump in. He knew how to swim but he"d never been in a pool before, only the lake. “I know you"re probably dying to go in, but we can"t. Master will be home soon.”

They sat on the edge with their feet in the water. Harte tried to engage Ellis in a water war, and then in playing footsies, but Ellis was thinking about the weekend.

“So how do you spend the weekends?” he finally asked when it 39

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

appeared Harte wasn"t going to tell him.

“Oh!” Harte leaned back on his elbows and squinted up at Ellis.

“Mostly we just spend time here, usually just the two of us. Three of us, now. Sometimes Master Alex and Alastair come over, and that"s what"s happening this weekend.”

Harte had the annoying habit of introducing names and not providing any additional information, so Ellis had to press.

“And they are… ?”

“Master Alex is Master"s oldest friend. They went to university together in West Menson. Alastair is his slave. He doesn"t seem like the typical slave, but he"s a good person. Master and Master Alex like to watch us fuck, though I imagine they"ll like it even better with you here.”

“Does Alastair fuck you?” Ellis couldn"t imagine Harte topping anyone, but he"d seen stranger things as a slave.

“Yeah. I think if I fucked Alastair, he wouldn"t even notice.” Ellis immediately protested—Harte"s penis was perfectly proportioned to the rest of his body, so it was on the small side, but one would certainly
notice
.

“Oh, I only meant because Master Alex is
huge
. Bigger even than Master, and it"s okay to say that because Master knows it.”

“Have you ever been inside someone?” Ellis asked, curious.

“Yeah. You?”

Ellis shook his head.

Harte lay fully on his back, arms stretched above his head. Ellis noticed his sheath was tenting a little—Ellis himself wasn"t completely unaffected by the conversation.

“It"s amazing. It"s really hot, so hot you think you"ll die. And
tight
. You think it"s never going to go in, but then it
does
… Yeah, it"s amazing. You"ll get a chance, I"m sure.” 40

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

But Ellis doubted it. If this Alastair person was used to topping, and Ellis and Harte couldn"t fuck, he didn"t see who he could do that to. But he didn"t really mind—he enjoyed his position.

“What do you like better?”

Harte laughed gleefully. “What do you think?” He ran a hand down his body, skimming over his crotch. “I was made to bottom.

Master always says so.”

Ellis leaned over and bit Harte"s chest through his shift.

“Master"s right.”

He hadn"t realised what he"d said until a slow, soft smile spread over Harte"s lips. But the smaller boy didn"t call him on his choice of honorific. He just rolled onto his stomach and got to his feet.

“I"m going in. I have to clean my room in case Alastair goes in, which he probably will, the nosy prick.” When Harte was gone, Ellis sat by the pool, looking into the forest. It was a little forbidding—he couldn"t see very deep inside, the trees were so thick. The house must have been built in the middle of the forest with the trees cleared in a circle for the house and yard. The driveway had meandered through trees as well. They were certainly secluded out here, but instead of feeling trapped, Ellis felt safe.

He liked the feeling.

* * *

Harte came to get him when it was almost time for the master to be home. They knelt by the front door and waited for him.

Harte said that he had grown able to sense when the master would come through the door, but Ellis could hear the faint sound 41

AT HIS THROAT, A PROMISE

of a car on the gravel driveway, and he assumed this was how Harte made his prediction. He didn"t say anything, however, and let the other slave have his fun.

When William opened the door, Harte was transformed. He squirmed like a dog after a long day alone. William must have noticed but did not acknowledge him right away, choosing to take off his coat and rest his briefcase on the sideboard first, though he held on to the two bags he had in his other hand.