He inhaled deeply, then blew out, the action familiar and comforting, so he did it again. He found calm before focus, but he managed them both.
“Good boy.” Saul stood and offered a hand. “Leave the blanket.”
“Yes, Master.” He took the help offered and stood, half-hard, eager, ready for this.
They went upstairs, Saul pulling him along. His Master placed him in the middle of the room. “This is exciting. It should be. But my focus is on you, boy. On your needs. And yours should be on mine.”
“Yes, Sir. Always.” That was the easiest part—listening to Saul’s need.
“Hands flat on the window.” Saul gave the order and then reached for the toolbox and dug through it.
He did as Saul asked, smiling as he thought of the handprints he’d leave. Reminders. Marks.
“Legs a little wider, please.” But Sir didn’t wait for him to move. The cool touch of a riding crop tapped his thigh, encouraging him, the leather warming quickly against his skin.
“Yes, Master.” He took a deep breath, in and out. “As you wish.”
“Better.” Saul started tapping him gently with the wide, flat end of the crop across his shoulders, hips, thighs, arm, calves, ass. A light but constant touch that seemed random until he realized his Master was choosing the exact same spots, over and over again. “Give me your words, boy.”
“Red and yellow, Sir.” Christ, his voice was husky, like he’d been well-fucked.
“That’s what I remembered. Red and yellow. But that’s not all I want to hear you say. Talk if you want to. Speak respectfully, but freely. This session is to help us figure out what does and doesn’t work for you. For us.” The tapping stopped and Saul stepped close to his back, hands resting on his hips. “I want to know if you love something. And you’ll be sure to tell me if you want more of something too.”
God, those hands. So warm that he could feel every finger, every single finger pressing against his skin. His lips parted, and his abs rolled with the sensation. He made this sound—part “oh” and part “fuck yes” but mostly “please”—that tore out of him.
Saul laughed softly. “Oh, I know, boy. You need this, right? Down deep. It’s been too long.” Saul placed a kiss between his shoulders, stepped back, and drew the crop up the inside of one thigh as high as it could easily go. “Me too.”
The next set of taps were to his sac and grazed his piercings.
There wasn’t pain, but God the vulnerability, the wild rush so much like riding a rollercoaster—there was the spark of fear, the adrenaline high, but he knew he was safe with his Master.
The crop slipped away, and without warning he got a smack to each ass cheek, louder than the little bite would have suggested.
“I’ve barely touched you, but I can see the blush rising up your neck. Lovely.” The next thing Troy felt were the wide falls of a heavy flogger landing with a thud on his ass.
He hadn’t even noticed when his Master had switched tools, and the sting he’d anticipated wasn’t there, so the heavier blow sank deeper than he’d expected. Oh, he felt that.
His Master must have sensed something. “I don’t usually give a warning unless I expect what’s happening next to hurt. I’d have to try hard to make this one painful, it’s pure sensory.” The heavy falls battered his thighs, their weight and the strength of Saul’s arm threatening to buckle his knees. “Oh, yeah. And it gives a sub something to work against. A challenge.”
“Yes.” He was ready to work, to make Saul proud. “I feel that. So deep.” The crop floated above his skin, the flogger got under it. Together they fascinated him.
Saul kept after him with the flogger, the blows shoving him forward so he was forced to push back, to lean into them. “That’s it. I like how you move, boy. I could cuff you if I wanted to, shackle your feet, but those things serve to force a submission, and I want your choices. I want to see you choose not to walk away or put your hands down. I want to be the answer to the question of whether you want to be standing here.”
“Listen to you.” His cock jerked at Saul’s words, but they served their purpose. He would stay where he’d been put, because it was his Master’s will.
“Surprised? I like restraints just fine, as you know. But right now, I want it all to come from you.” There was a short, quiet moment, and then Saul called out, “Next flogger’s gonna sting.”
He heard a couple of swoops but nothing touched him. In the silence that followed his Master took a deep breath. “Left to right, shoulders first, then your ass. Tell me when you’re ready.”
Shoulders then ass. He imagined the way it would feel, the snap, the burn, the rush of blood to the surface. God. “I’m ready, Master.”
“Steady.” Saul didn’t give him a second to think. Four biting blows fell just as his Master said they would, without a breath in between.
Jesus that strength! Fire hit him for a second before it disappeared into ice. The heat crept back in trickles and tingles, and by then Saul was laying down another set.
He knew the third set was lighter, but the warm leather that scraped his skin might as well have been sandpaper. He wetted his lips, willing his damp palms not to slide along the glass. God, he was beginning to shake like he’d taken earthquake pills.
“Boy.” Sir’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Get out of your head. Talk. Tell me how you feel.”
“Burns. I feel like I’m falling, like I’m going to slide, Master. Not bad. I don’t feel bad.” He didn’t want to be misunderstood in his amazing confusion.
“Lower your arms.” Saul moved to him, slipped into the narrow space between him and the window. “Kneel. Lean on me if you need to.”
Troy let his knee bend, trusting his Master to steady him, to ease his way to the floor, and of course, Saul had him, all the way down.
“There. Good boy. Sliding didn’t sound safe.” His Master knelt as well and kissed him as a hot hand wrapped tightly around his cock.
“Master.” Oh he hadn’t even known he was hard. “You were right.” He had been trapped in his own head.
Saul smiled at him and let him go. “Breathe, and then tell me again how you feel.”
“I feel—” Breathe. Breathe, Troy. In and out. “I feel loose. I feel you. I’m so fucking proud of us and turned on.” He chuckled, the sound bubbling out of him. “And I’m really happy.”
He got another kiss and then Sir stood. “You wanted to know what makes me feel strong? It’s this. Making you feel like you do right now. Looking at my marks on your body.”
“Can you see them?” Oh, that pleased him, sort of unreasonably, enough that his cock jerked, clear drops sliding from the tip.
“I can.” Sir moved around behind him, and traced a finger across his shoulders, lighting his skin on fire. “There’s one right here. And another over here. They’re beautiful.”
“Oh fuck.” He jerked, his eyes rolling back in his head, a jumble of emotions flooding him. He didn’t try to fight it. He let them run through, and then he let them go.
“Good? You like that. That’s a reward for good work, boy.” Saul stroked his cheek with the handle of a flogger. “And I’m glad we paused here. But I promised you I would push you, and it’s time. Take a breath.”