Succession (15 page)

I consider going back to my old room and sleeping there. I’m sure it’s as destroyed as the rest of the house. I haven’t even looked at it yet, too busy with everything else, but I’m certain that my room would have been scrutinized as much as Cash’s. It would probably be for the best to sleep there; I’m exhausted, confused. I need time to sleep, and I really need time by myself to process everything that’s happened.

It’s not that I don’t want to talk to him. I just don’t know where to start. I need a few hours to relax, to stop wondering whether I’m really home or whether I’m dreaming again. I need time to reconcile my feelings for Cash and Sy. But I know Cash would be worried, hurt. Sy was right, I do care about him, and I care about hurting him. Resigned, I make my way to the bedroom, half hoping that he’s asleep when I get there.

My wishes never come true.

The light is off when I go in, but the street lights streaming in the window make my master’s face instantly visible. I can see him staring up at the ceiling, pensive. I step into the room tentatively, almost waiting for something. After only a few seconds, Cash turns to me.

“Come to bed, Sascha.” His voice is quiet, and despite the fact that the words indicate an order, I hear something that’s almost a request. A hopeful one, at that.

I slip off my clothes and slide into bed next to him, trembling at the size of the bed, the high quality sheets, the pillows that are actually sturdy enough to accomplish something, the sensation of someone other than Sy bedding down with me for the night. I feel a hand on my hip and I freeze.

“Everything okay?” Cash asks. I can tell he’s trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. “You know, if you’re uncomfortable sleeping with me—”

“Please don’t make me go!” I beg, clutching at his hand. It would be too much, I couldn’t take that. Not tonight. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but now that I’m in bed with Cash, I know I don’t want to be away from him again. I don’t want to be alone. I do want to sleep with Cash, I just need time to adjust. I bite back tears as I cling to his hand, willing him not to send me away.

Cash sighs, reaching around with his other arm and pulling me close before I have a chance to fight him.

“Sascha, I won’t make you go anywhere,” he growls into my ear, holding me until I’m still before pushing me back just a little, just enough so he can look at me. “I just wanted to give you the option. If you want to sleep with me, I’d love it more than anything; but if you want to sleep alone, you may. Even if you want to get out of my bed and sleep with that hulking monster down the hall, I wouldn’t stop you.”

I breathe a little more easily with the reassurance and wriggle closer to him. “I want to stay here.”

“Good, then it’s not a problem,” Cash says, exasperated. “Is Sy all settled in?”

Suddenly, I remember the other reason I was reluctant to come to bed, the shitty way that he treated Sy. “Yeah, no thanks to you.”

I try to pretend that my words are threatening and forceful, even though I’m cuddled up with my master and loving the feeling of his skin touching mine.

Cash snorts. “And exactly what did I do that was so terrible?” He asks, mostly rhetorically. “Getting him out the detention facility? Feeding and clothing him? Offering to arrange for his continued existence and safety?”

“You intimidated him!” I protest, feeling the burn of righteous anger that I had earlier. I’d pull away to emphasize my point, but I’d rather stay cuddled up.

“Was he really intimidated? I didn’t think anything could faze the man.”

I’m about to say yes, but then I stop and think about it, I was the only one upset by their exchange. “You were being intimidating,” I amend.

Cash shrugs. “I’m his master.”

I’m quiet, trying to put my thoughts into words. Sy dismissed me when I apologized for Cash, now Cash is dismissing me when I try to confront him. “He’s not the only slave you own.”

“I probably should have had most of that discussion with him in private,” Cash relents. “There was no need to put you in the middle of it, and there was no need to have you witness it, either. It was petty of me, but I was tired, and I didn’t want to send you away. Besides, you would have thrown a goddamned fit if I had asked you to leave me alone with him.”

I would have. “So you wouldn’t, like…” I can’t finish, because I don’t want to ask anything specific.

“I won’t mistreat him, if that’s what you’re asking.” Cash shifts me into a better position. “I wouldn’t hesitate to punish him if I thought it was necessary, but I highly doubt that it will ever be necessary. Unlike you, he has quite a bit of restraint. And I wouldn’t sell him over a petty moment of obstinacy, although I think it didn’t hurt to remind him of that possibility. I know you, Sascha, I trust you, I can depend on you. He’s a complete stranger. He’s aligned with a criminal organization. I need to make it clear that it is my will that will be obeyed.”

“I trust him,” I mumble, pulling away a little.

Cash lets me go without a fight. “I know you do, and I don’t doubt that I will come to share your faith in him, but it’s a little much all at once.”

“I just want everything back to normal,” I manage.

“I’m working on it,” Cash assures me. “And if it will really make you feel better, I’ll apologize to Sy in the morning. I may have carried things a little too far, despite my best intentions. I’ve been rather defensive with the man since I met him.”

I smile, cuddling up against him again. “Thank you, Cash.”

We lie silently for a few minutes. “Why did you ask him if he wanted to fuck me?” I blurt out. I assumed it was just to shame Sy, to put him in a vulnerable position, but it doesn’t make sense. It’s so petty; even at his worst, Cash has never relied on outright humiliation.

Cash shrugs, cool as ever. “I’m trying to understand his motivation. I get that you’re grateful that he helped you—I am, too—but he used you, and he’s a marked man. I need to know that he isn’t a threat. If he didn’t know he was going home with you, and he didn’t really fuck you, I don’t understand why he was helping you.”

“Maybe because he’s a decent human being?” I wonder why Cash is trying so hard to find an ulterior motive.

“Perhaps,” Cash says, doubtful. “Or, he’s infatuated with you. Makes more sense in my mind.”

I just nod. Let Cash assign his motives as he will. I trust Sy; that’s good enough for me.

“Besides, I wasn’t lying when I said you two made an attractive pair,” Cash mentions. “Sy isn’t really my type, but he has a certain appeal. It’s not like I missed the way you look at him. I was exploring the possibility.”

“You didn’t ask me if I wanted to,” I mention, not entirely sure of what that means.

“I knew you would tell me if you weren’t interested,” Cash dismisses me. “Syrus would see it as a power play; humiliation, perhaps, to make him admit that he desired you. If you didn’t return the feelings, it would become a non-issue.”

I’m glad he doesn’t make me admit that I’ve thought about it. The thought turns me on, sending a shiver through my body. “Would you want to be there?”

Cash smiles. “I would love to watch someone else fucking you, perhaps while my cock is in your mouth. I’ve never suggested it, because I would never let another free person fuck you like that, and it’s not like I’m about to borrow a slave. Besides, I would want to be in complete control. I know you’re safe when I own both of you; someone who I don’t own might be able to do things to you that I wouldn’t approve of, and that wouldn’t end well.”

Cash is always so possessive.

“But the main thing is, I’ve never seen you so attracted to another person,” Cash says. “I am a little jealous. There seems to be attraction there, and it seems to go both ways.”

I grin, breathy with excitement. I’ve never had a threesome before, not with two other people I actually wanted to have sex with. Gang rapes don’t count.

“It’s up to him, mostly,” Cash shrugs. “I know this will be a lot of adjustment, and I think he feels guilty about what he’s done to you, he feels, without your permission.”

Sy has told me about as much, and no matter how much I disagree with him or correct him, he still insists on acting like he forced me to do things.

“I didn’t let him do anything, but I wanted to,” I admit to Cash. “I wanted to take him up on his offers to give me head, to jerk me off… so many things.”

Cash smiles. “Nothing wrong with that,” he muses. “You’re young. Healthy. Sexual appetite is something you don’t need to worry about.”

I blush at the strangely paternal comment, especially from a man not quite ten years my senior, a man I like to fuck as often as possible. It is nice to know, that he doesn’t automatically assume it’s because I’m a whore, some sort of sex-crazed fiend. No, he just says it’s normal, and he says it so nonchalantly that I have to believe him.

“You really do like the idea,” he comments, reaching down to stroke my cock, noticing it’s grown hard during our conversation.

I arch into his touch, needing more. It wasn’t how I planned to end the night, but I welcome it.

He doesn’t have sex with me so much as drag an orgasm from my body, working my cock with one hand while using the other to pull me on top of him by my hair, only to pull me down to kiss him. It’s a position I like, and I know he likes it, and I feel myself getting close quickly, thrusting harder into his hand, jerking my head so that he pulls harder at my hair. I work myself into his fist, trying to finish.

“Stop.” Cash sits up and pushes me down on my back.

I whine at him with need and impatience, and get rewarded with a light smack to the inside of my leg, pushing me even closer to the edge.

Leaning forward, he puts his head between my legs and takes my cock into his throat, sucking hard and intensely. Within seconds, I feel myself come, and I whimper as I clutch the bedspread. He finishes me off with his tongue, licking a slow trail back up to my lips to kiss me again.

I lie there exhausted. A part of me feels like I should reciprocate, half from desire, half from courtesy.

“I can… if you want.” I don’t even know what to suggest.

“You’re tired,” he shakes his head at me. “You can wake me up like that if you really want to, but right now, I just want to sleep with you. Don’t feel pressured.”

I cuddle into his arms, and even though I do feel his cock poking hard into my leg, he doesn’t move to do anything about it, and neither do I. Eventually, I feel myself drifting off to sleep, thinking of just how fucking lucky I am.

Chapter 14
Rekindling Relationships

I awaken the next morning with Sascha curled tight around me, his arms and legs intertwined with mine and his face pressed firmly against my chest. I wonder if Sy has been subject to this sort of affection over the past few weeks, or if Sascha has saved it all for me. I run my hand down his back, stroking over the soft skin, and I think of how glad I am to have him back. I need to start making arrangements immediately; ensure that he is never subject to that again.

As I plan, I hear the insistent beeping of a com call, and the display lets me know that Oliver is calling. As much as I am reluctant to talk to him, I can’t very well ignore my business partner.

“Good morning,” I answer, trying to stay neutral. I don’t know what sort of deal he made with Sascha; with everything else going on, we didn’t get a chance to talk about that yesterday.

“Cashiel,” he replies, sounding pleased. “I trust you’re safe at home?”

“Yes. Thank you for posting bail. I’ll arrange to pay you back as soon as I can,” I answer, giving him the credit he deserves. “I appreciate it, Oliver.”

“Never a problem. I thought I might stop by and visit. I can bring some food by—you know what, I’ll even bring my new toy along. I know, you never want to play, but he cleans well, and I saw what was done to your home. Kristine and her little raid. Looks like it’s backfiring against her, now! Fluffy can get your place back in order while we talk business.”

I cringe at the name he’s assigned his newest slave. It’s bad enough that he tortures them in private; I wish he’d at least have the courtesy to spare me the details. “That would be great, Oliver,” I lie. I don’t want him around. I know he’s going to place demands on me in exchange for his help. “I just woke up, I’ll need a little time—”

“See you in an hour,” Oliver cuts me off. “And make sure Sascha’s there. We can discuss the arrangement I made with him as well.”

He hangs up, leaving me frustrated. I don’t want him anywhere near Sascha. I glance down, wishing I could just let him sleep peacefully, but I need him awake. I give his shoulder a gentle shake, prompting him to open his eyes and look at me hopefully.

“Just a little longer?” He slides his legs up and down against mine. “I miss waking up with you.”

I lean over and kiss him, pulling him up to sit. I want to linger, but I’d rather have time to prepare. I break off the kiss and go to my feet. “Oliver’s coming over,” I tell him, watching as his face falls. “He’s bringing one of his slaves to clean the place up, breakfast for us to eat, and he’s going to fill us in on what’s been happening.”

Sascha nods, getting out of bed.

“He also wants to discuss the deal you made with him.”

When I mention it, Sascha goes still, pale. He’s scared, and I hate that I ever brought him around Oliver Torenze.

“Sascha, what did you agree to?”

He doesn’t look at me, he just goes to his space in my closet and starts digging through clothes.

“It’s not a big deal,” he says, his words muffled. “I saw him in the detention facility. I said I’d visit him again. He said he’d give me some time to readjust.”

“Visit him… as in what?”

Sascha is quiet again, picking out clothes before turning around. “Like last time,” he says, quiet. “I’m sure he wants to fuck me, torture me, humiliate me. It’s fine, Cash, I can handle it. I’ve done it before.”

I beckon him close, putting my arms around him. “You don’t have to do this, Sascha. We can find another way.”

He starts shaking. “I do. And I agreed to do it every other month.”