“Are you sure? You look like you’re in pain.” Propping himself on an elbow, Talha pressed his palm to Slater’s chest, feeling for the chaotic drumming of his heart.
The raw smell of arousal and sweat screwed with Talha’s head. Messed up, flustered, on the edge of insanity, Slater was weak, powerless, and alluring. Gaze fixated on the parted lips, Talha brushed long fingers over his own mouth, reanimating the memory of the kiss. He already missed the taste of Slater’s lips and their softness. Shaking his head, he reached behind Slater’s head and unfastened the blindfold before he made even more mistakes tonight. “Better?”
Red, swollen eyes squinted under the soft light, scrutinizing him with an obscure, destitute look. Unable to resist the urge, Talha brushed the back of his index finger against a feverish eyelid; it trembled under his touch.
“No…” Dodging the contact, Slater whipped his head to the side, wiping his face against the pillow. “Slater can take everything. Slater is strong. Slater can do this,” he spat out fast words, clenching his teeth. “Master can’t win. Slater will stay… There is no escape, Master.”
Arrogant. Daring. Bold. Slater was everything Talha didn’t want him to be.
“Is that so?” Slater’s sobering words brought cruel notes to Talha’s tone. “Then, maybe I shouldn't hold back.”
An acute need to teach the reaper a lesson clogged his veins. Slater had to understand, had to learn to submit. Pushing the reaper to his back, Talha got to his knees and blew a long path from Slater’s neck down to his groin. The defiant look disappeared as Slater threw his head to the side and squeezed his eyes.
“No, no, no…” A half-groan, half-cry, tore out from Slater’s throat as he thrashed with his whole body. “Master is so cruel...”
“Am I? Are you complaining?” Talha smirked, but his mood changed, and he added in a serious voice, “Do you want me to be kind and gentle with you? Do you want me to make you cum?”
Teeth clashing in the air, Slater growled, rolling his head until his searing glare met Talha’s eyes. “No. Master can’t…”
Talha sighed.
“Slater, you have to understand that Master can do anything he wants.” Ignoring his own arousal, Talha licked his lips and clasped his mouth around the glistening pink head of Slater’s cock. Soft, slick, hot, it felt good on his tongue. Talha almost moaned as he squeezed it.
“No-o,” Slater cried out. His mouth froze open in a painful grimace, and his head snapped forward. A violent jolt shot through his body, tensing every muscle. Hot, salty-bitterness gushed out of his cock into Talha’s mouth.
“Oops,” Talha grinned. Swallowing, he gave Slater’s cock a few long licks, before pulling back. “My bad.”
Red spots dotted Slater’s shoulders and stomach, his pale eyes fixed on some invisible point. Disbelief twisted his features. His brows knitted together, as he shook his head and grounded out a single, “No.”
Talha froze, drinking in Slater’s emotions. This was the first time he’d seen Slater show an expression except contempt covered with a wicked smile, raw hunger, or mocking curiosity. Incapable of deep emotions, Slater was an uncontrollable knot of desires, stripped of guilt, remorse, and empathy. He took and took, never giving anything back.
Then why?
Wanting to see more, Talha said, “You came, Slater. What will you do now?”
In slow motion, Slater linked his watery eyes with Talha’s. His lips parted, trembled, and liquid words slithered out. “Master is cruel.”
His glare hardened, glinted with boiling frenzy. Slater jerked, trying to break the restraints. He rolled to his side, panting and growling, then jerked again. A strained voice full of hurt and disdain chilled the air as he spoke, “It means nothing. Even if Master doesn’t want Slater anymore, Slater won’t leave. There’s no escape, Master.”
A myriad of contradictory emotions prickled in Talha’s chest. Rolling to his throat, they closed his air passage, making it hard to breathe. Watching Slater’s face contort in desperation, he thought that if he pushed a little more, Slater would definitely cry. The darkest part of his soul burned with a need to see Slater’s face drenched with tears. However, instead of correcting Slater’s behavior, he whispered, “I don't want to escape.”
Slater squinted, calming down. Using the moment, Talha trapped his elbow, tugging the younger man into his arms. “Come, let me take you.”
LYING ON HIS BACK on the cold, moist sheets, Talha lazily stroked Slater’s flank with his fingertips. His chest still hurt from the blinding orgasm as he stared up at a ceiling drowning in darkness.
“Slater… Are you mad at me?” he whispered in the night. The younger man didn’t move, but his skin prickled with goosebumps under Talha’s touch. “Can we talk? Can you concentrate?”
The minutes stretched, but Slater said nothing. Talha heaved a sigh.
“About that woman–” He wasn’t sure why he tried to explain himself. They weren’t lovers; they weren’t friends. Talha didn’t carry illusions about Slater harboring feelings for him, except for his need for this weird, symbiotic relationship, but he still finished the line. “–It wasn’t for pleasure. It was business.”
Slater didn’t move. His breathing remained soft and deep, barely audible. Talha wondered if he was indeed sleeping. Rolling to his side so he was face to face with Slater, Talha brushed the back of a finger against the swollen, fresh bruise at the corner of Slater’s mouth. Hot and red, it pulsed under his touch. “You know, sometimes, I wish you were a little more normal. Sometimes, I want…” He cut his thought, smirked, then sucked in a deep breath. “Never mind… I guess, if you sleep with the Devil, you can’t expect to get out of Hell.”
The thin, blue vein rhythmically trembled on Slater’s temple. Unable to resist, Talha pressed his mouth to it, then skimmed down and brushed his lips against Slater’s in a featherweight kiss.
“Sleep.”
Rolling to the edge of the bed, Talha got up and left the room.
SLATER’S EYES FLEW OPEN. Master’s words instilled uncertainty into his mind. With the uncertainty, a worm of a doubt awoke in his chest, pushing him upright.
“Master is weird…” His fingers brushed over his lips, remembering the gentleness of Talha’s mouth. “Master kissed me.”
A smile stretched his lips as a pang of frost shot through his chest. Throwing the heavy blanket off, he placed his feet on the floor. Warm carpet bounced under his naked weight as he stood up.
“Interesting…”
SEARCHING ONE ROOM AFTER ANOTHER, Slater ghosted through the house, looking for his master. His body still ached from the rough sex and Master’s fists, turning his gait slow and clumsy. The whispers of the night, coming from every direction, messed with his dulled, exhausted senses. Every now and then he had to stop and listen.
The carpet beneath his feet morphed into the cold, polished marble of the staircase, as Slater descended to the first floor. He froze again. The muffled voices grew louder, coming from a small living room located in the farthest end of the south wing. Following the sound, he took a right, slapping barefoot down the corridor.