“Don’t spoil him.” Stella admonished.
Annoyance flashed in him, and Faris pulled Ulric a little closer to his chest. “He deserves more than you give him.”
He would have protested more, but Stella lifted her foot and thrust him away from Ulric with the sole of her boot. “How dare you presume to know what he needs. You barely know how to use your cock and you think to tell me what I should be giving him?”
With his head screaming that this was all wrong, Faris scrambled back to his knees and captured Ulric’s hands in his own.
“We need to leave. I can…I can take care of you somewhere else. We can talk.”
“See what happens when you act impulsively, Ulric.” Stella sauntered away from where they sat, but Faris heard her anger. “He doesn’t understand, despite you showing him.”
Bitch. “We can leave. Now.” Faris squeezed him. “Please.”
“You can leave. I won’t stop you. But if you go, I won’t be here upon your return.”
Faris realized it wasn’t a threat, merely a simple statement of fact, one that gave Ulric the power of choice.
“Please,” Faris begged once more. “We can go to my ship and discuss this. You can tell me what you need and I’ll do it. She said herself I could be a master if I needed to.”
Ulric closed his eyes, turning his face away from him. The older man swallowed, hesitated, but eventually pushed himself to his feet. Faris could only watch as Ulric stood tall above him.
“I’m sorry.” There was no weakness in Ulric’s voice, no doubt in his movements as he moved to stand beside Stella. “But I made my choice long ago.”
“Ulric, I don’t understand—” Faris snapped his mouth shut at the look on Ulric’s face.
He wasn’t going anywhere with Faris.
Chapter Four
Ulric’s heart sank and his chest tightened as he watched Faris move toward the door.
The younger man didn’t understand what he’d been trying to show him. Like usual, Faris was over-thinking things and not willing to trust Ulric enough to follow him to a place where few of Faris’ people had ever gone before. Ulric could only imagine what the younger man thought about him now, seeing him begging for Stella to punish him. Most likely thinking Ulric was weak because of his need to submit to Stella.
What his friend didn’t understand was how much he would require the ability to disconnect from the weight the universe would place on him in the years to come.
It was a lesson Ulric hadn’t learned quickly enough. He had nearly been crushed beneath the pressures of command. He’d needed escape, to be pulled out of his head and the worries of the millions of people who counted on him to dissipate the rising tensions in the sector. Ulric had needed to be taught that despite his failures, there was at least one person who cared enough to punish and forgive him.
Faris had screwed up on this mission.
Had Faris not been so blinded by his loyalty to Ambassador Gravlin, the bloodshed on the planet could have been avoided. One simple communication at the wrong time and everything Ulric had worked so hard to prevent came true. The Tensans attacked the colony and hundreds of people had died.
Ulric had compounded Faris’ mistake by not anticipating Gravlin’s move. The ambassador was power hungry, looking to advance up the Tensan military chain however he could. Ulric knew Gravlin wasn’t to be trusted, yet Ulric didn’t move fast enough to stop the fighting. Ulric had been too wrapped up with the colonists, convincing them to trust him enough to deal with the Tensans on their behalf, to actually do any good.
Telling the ambassador what he did wasn’t Faris’ fault—he was simply performing his duties as he was ordered to by his superior. Somehow Ulric had hoped Faris saw Gravlin for the monster he really was.
Ultimately, Ulric was responsible for the people beneath his command, and all aspects of any diplomatic negotiation he was a part of. He could have done more, giving Faris all the information he needed to make an informed decision, rather than try to shelter him from the worst of Gravlin’s actions. In the end, Ulric still felt he was the reason people had died.
Faris didn’t see it that way. The young man had grown withdrawn in the hours after the colony massacre. Ulric had watched as Faris spent hours on the communicator trying to get an acceptable answer from someone on the ambassador’s ship about what happened. The younger man stopped eating, started drinking, which went against his Tensan beliefs. It was only a matter of time before something in him broke beyond repair.
Faris needed an outlet. He needed to accept his mistakes and forgive himself or else he would never make it through. Ulric cared enough about the younger man to want to do something to help.
“Mistress, please,” Ulric spoke softly. “He needs this, Stella.”
The words came out with far more authority than Stella would normally allow.
Neither of them was listening to him, to what he knew Faris needed. His frustration grew.
Her fingers brushed against his skin above the leather around his wrist. “You know I can’t. It has to be his choice to be here with me. He won’t learn the lessons otherwise. I’m sorry.”
It had to be Faris’ decision. This wasn’t a lifestyle a person could have thrust upon them. Acceptance of one’s own limitations and a willingness to trust another person to help you push past them…no, it wasn’t for the weak of spirit.
Ulric watched as Faris moved to the door, stopping before it, his hand hovering over the release button. The pause, the slight hesitation was enough to tell Ulric that Faris was unsure, that he still needed to learn his place in the world. That Faris still needed him.
There had to be a way.
“Mistress,” Ulric said in a voice loud enough to fill the room. “I have gone against your wishes and need to be punished.”
Faris froze, but made no move to turn around. Ulric swallowed and braved Stella’s wrath by meeting her gaze full on. “I disobeyed your orders and brought myself to orgasm without your permission.” It wasn’t true, but he needed to pull Faris back. If it took sacrificing himself to do it, then he would. Happily.
Stella stiffened, her grip tightening on his arm as her nails drove into his skin. “You wouldn’t dare?”
He dropped to his knees, locking his fingers behind the back of his neck and fixed his gaze on the toes of her boots. Heart pounding in his chest, he swallowed past the sudden, painful lump in his throat. “I did. I’m sorry, Mistress.”
Stella held still, but he could sense her working out the new rules to the game. He trusted her with his soul, he had to believe she wouldn’t crush it. But when she yanked his head backward, digging her nails deep into his bald scalp, forcing him to look her in the eye, he wasn’t so sure. Not that he could stop his body from reacting to her mastery and control. His cock, already painful from the lack of attention, throbbed as she glared at him.
“You wouldn’t,” she said, running her thumb across his forehead. “But I cannot believe you would purposely mislead me either. Your training has not been enough to hold you when you leave me and are out there. If that is so, then there is nothing I can do for you.”
Ulric didn’t know if she was calling his bluff or if he’d risked too much and was about to lose it all. His body swayed toward Stella. “I’m so sorry. Please. I can do better if you give me time. Help me.”
She pushed him away and strode to the window. With her back to him, her expression was hidden, her voice void of emotion. “No, I am sorry. You need more than I can give you. I free you from—”
“No!” Ulric was on his feet, heat racing and his body shaking. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body to his chest. He ignored the pain from the clamps as his nipples were crushed to her back. “Stella, Mistress, don’t leave me. I need you more than anything. Anyone. I can’t do this alone.”