He wanted to know what his marks looked like with the ink. He wanted to turn that sweet, bare ass colors.
As if his boy could hear his thoughts, Troy nuzzled into his neck with a barely-there moan.
“Got you,” he whispered. Done deal, then. They had safe words for a reason.
He put his beer down and braced himself on one arm so his boy could lean on him, feeling that little promise hum like electricity between them.
Yeah. It was time.
34
The world was a better place with coffee, no lie.
Troy sat in his recliner, wrapped in a huge blanket, and watched the sun come up. Damn, that was pretty. The trees that would turn had started making colors, the promise of fall in the air.
He grinned at himself. Last night’s gathering had felt amazing, and he was still buzzing happily from his Master’s touch, the connection between them. From belonging.
Saul’s playfully stern voice startled him from the top of the staircase, echoing against the ceiling. “Hm. Strangest thing… the bed is cold and my boy has coffee, but I don’t. Does any of that sound right to you?”
He chuckled softly, his grin growing into a smile as he rolled up to pad to the kitchen. Oh, chilly. “Good morning, Master. I love you.”
“I love you too, boy.” Saul came down the stairs, stopping before making it into the kitchen. “Oh, look at that sky.”
“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” He started Saul’s coffee before heading to get a hug. He should have put clothes on, but he had his blanket.
Saul had pulled on a pair of sweatpants that looked like they could unravel any minute. “Beautiful. Mm. This view is inspiring too.” Saul pulled him right in and surrounded him with long arms. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Master.” He loved the way Saul smelled, fresh out of bed. It was pure male.
“I hope you got a good night’s sleep, boy. We’re going to have our coffee and a little talk, and then I hope to get right to work.”
“I did. I was warm and happy. Last night felt good.” A little talk. Huh. Troy found himself curious, but not worried, and that felt so good. “Let me fix your coffee. Do you want breakfast, Sir?”
“I don’t think so, thank you. The coffee will be enough.” Saul let him go and took a seat at one end of the couch, leaving plenty of room for him.
“Yes, Sir.” He doctored Saul’s coffee and handed it over before grabbing his own cup and his blanket. He wrapped the covers around him and settled in close.
“Last night was great.” Saul blew across the top of the mug and then took a sip. “Good company, good conversation.”
“Yes, Sir. It was…” It seemed ridiculous to say it was magical or a dream, but it was. He’d craved having a true partner, someone to share his life with. “…lovely.”
“I felt good there, too. Respected, supported. Close to you.” His Master hooked an arm around him. “We’ll get things out in the open with Carter and Geoff later, and we’ll all feel better, right?”
“I hope so. I don’t think I’m ready to go back. I don’t know if I can make our bills teaching yoga, either. But I know I need more time.”
“We’ll talk money and figure it out. I do okay. I think we might be able to make it work. Maybe you can do part-time or something for a while. I’d like to keep the conversation with them about your health and your mental state though. Okay?”
“Yes, Sir. The rest is for us to talk over, in private.” He was comfortable with that. Carter and Geoff were good friends, but he and Saul needed to make their life decisions together.
“Good. So. You remember what Matt said last night about knowing when and how far to push? I’d like to push today. I’d like to see what’s reasonable. I don’t think we even have a benchmark starting point right now, you know? So I want you to tell me how you feel about that, and whether you think you’re up to some real work.”
How did he feel? It took a moment to unpack it, to listen to his soul. “I’m excited, hopeful, a little worried that I’ll fail you.” He chuckled softly. “Which is the paradox of being a sub, isn’t it? You worry about failing when you know this shouldn’t be a fail situation.”
Saul rubbed a reassuring hand over his back. “It’s not. But I understand worry, I hear you. There may be a time when I do ask you for something you’re going to have to work hard for. Not today though. Today I want to take steps together, communicate, see where we can go. I think ‘hopeful’ is an interesting choice of words. What are you hoping for?”
“That we find something new together, something special. I hope that this brings us closer together.” Troy met his Sir’s gaze and smiled, feeling a sweet anticipation buzzing through his veins. “I hope we both get what we need.”
Saul looked right into his eyes, totally open to him. “Mmm. I hope so too, boy.” He got a kiss, just a light one, only enough to leave him wishing for more. “Are you leaving the mechanics to me? Do you have any thoughts? Something you feel like you need? Something you’d like?”
God, it had been so long. He had good memories and bad, but he wasn’t sure what had been changed by time.
“I’d like to wear your marks. I’d like to see what makes you feel strong.”
“Thank you, boy. Marks are on my mind too.” Saul sipped his coffee. “When we worked with the flogger before I tried not to, but I’d like something I can see this time. Something that will stand out on top of your ink if you can handle that. That will probably be pretty intense.”
His Master caught his eyes again. “You know what I want. If you say that you’re ready for that and then it turns out you’re not, I need to know that you’ll use your words even though you might feel like you’re disappointing me. Can you promise me that?”
“Yes, Sir.” Saul had promised him that no one was keeping score, and Troy had to believe him. “It will be hard, but you have my word.”
“Good boy, Thank you. I can’t promise you won’t need those words.” Saul put down the coffee and pushed a hand into his blanket. “It’s warmer upstairs, but if you think you’ll be chilly you can start a fire.”
“Oh, that’s tempting, but I’ll wait for an evening scene when it’ll be so pretty.” He could lose himself in the dance of the flames.
“Ooh. I like that idea. I’ll just have to keep you warm.” Saul’s fingers grazed over his nipple, circled it, rolled it, pressed it against his chest.
He blinked, his body waking up, heating, and his heart rate quickened. “You’re good at that, Master. Warming me up.”
“And we haven’t even started yet.” Those fingers moved to his sternum and flattened out against his chest. “Feel that heart pounding.”
“Yeah…” He looked down, then blinked back up at Saul. “Master, it doesn’t hurt. I mean, at all.”
Saul nodded, smiling at him. “Stronger than before, right? That’s what they said.” They shared that moment, eyes on one another until his Master sighed and kissed him. “Breathe, now. Focus, hm? Calm.”