The snap and click of Stella’s boots on the floor preceded her return. Ulric closed his eyes and willed his body not to react. He could do this.
“You are lucky, Ulric. Had you chosen another, less controlled man, you would be looking for a new mistress.”
His stomach flipped and he struggled to turn in his restraints. “No, Mistress. I am very sorry. Please.”
The scrape of nails along his buttock burned against his skin. He sucked in a breath through his nose and forced his body to remain still.
“You still struggle.” She wasn’t pleased.
Goddess, why do I always fail? “Mistress, I don’t mean to.”
“It’s been a year, Ulric. You’ve taken longer than most to learn your place.”
He ignored the flash of rage, knowing there’d been others before him. “I’m sorry.”
“Those are only words. You know they are meaningless.” She shifted behind him, doing something he couldn’t see. Not that he dared turn his head. “You know the only things I care about are your actions.”
He wasn’t expected the sting of the wooden paddle as it landed full on his ass. The cry of shock exploded from him before he could stop it. Stella didn’t say anything, instead landing three more smacks against his stinging flesh in rapid succession. This time Ulric bit the inside of his cheek to keep quiet. The burning sensation spidered out across the fleshy part of his ass and drew tears from his eyes.
“Why did you bring Faris to me?” Curiosity tinted her question—an unusual occurrence. When he didn’t answer her right away, she paddled him twice again.
“Ulric, you are testing my patience today.”
His heart ached, but he couldn’t tell her. Not yet. He shook his head and pressed his chin down as far as his suspended position would allow.
Stella moved to stand in front of him. He couldn’t risk looking into her eyes, despite the desire to see her reaction. She could read him too easily when he was like this. It wasn’t until the smooth edge of the paddle pressed into his chin, lifting his face that he was forced to meet her gaze. For a fleeting moment he saw her frown, the concern in her countenance, before it melted away into her impatient mask.
“I see.” Stella frowned. “This is unexpected.”
Ulric immediately dropped his gaze. He wasn’t worthy of her attentions. Goddess, he wasn’t worthy of the mantle of responsibility others had placed on him. Good men, people like Faris who had the ability to take the sector into a realm of peace, they were the future. But Ulric couldn’t risk Faris becoming broken and damaged like himself.
After the day’s events, he knew his protégé would be at risk for just that. Stella could help Faris, show him how to separate and step away from the insanity of it all.
Faris could let go.
He just needed to be shown how.
Stella slapped the cage around his cock, sending a jolt through Ulric. Pain and pleasure mixed in his body, firing his senses and pushing at the darkness in his head.
“You realize, Ulric, you leave me no choice in this. Everything that is about to happen is your fault. I have no choice but to punish you for your insolence.”
“Yes…Mistress.”
She walked away, leaving him hanging. The stretch of his arms made it hard to pull air into his lungs and the ache in his shoulders was beginning to give way into pain. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe through it. It took his considerable concentration to hold still and relax as much as possible.
He would do it, take whatever she threw his way. Ulric knew he was greedy, wanting them both in his life. He’d saved Stella from hell and gave her whatever he could to make her happy. Faris, well, he wasn’t lost yet. Ulric had time to make things right, to save him too.
“Isn’t he beautiful like that?”
For a fleeting moment, Ulric thought she was speaking to the room. He couldn’t stop the shudder from ripping through him when he realized it was Faris to whom Stella spoke. His cock twitched but he held the rest of his body still.
“Lost your voice?” Stella teased.
Ulric heard a body shifting against leather. Faris adjusting himself? The Goddess only knew what she would do to him. Faris wasn’t familiar with this world, and had signed no contract outlining what was acceptable behavior for either of them. Stella would never push Faris into things, not without understanding more about him.
“You want to get closer, don’t you, Faris?” A pause followed by a sigh. “Yes, I can tell that you do. You’ve never seen a powerful man trussed up like this before, have you?”
Another pause. “No,” Faris said with a soft moan.
“He really is powerful. I’ve seen him, you know. In the council chambers during negotiations, as he commands his armies from the bridge of his ship. So many people fear him, the things he can make people do, or not do, with a few choice words and a wave of his hand. But what people don’t seem to realize is that the more power a person wields, the heavier the responsibility, the greater the need that person has to let go.”
“Ulric shouldn’t need this. He has others to help take some of the burden from him,” Faris said. “I can help if he’d let me.”
The passion with which the words were spoken jabbed into Ulric’s heart. This was why he’d brought his friend here. The connection and mutual respect that bordered dangerously on something else—something he wasn’t ready to face, but wanted desperately.
Still, Ulric needed Faris to understand what that was. If along the way he was able to help Faris learn something about himself, then risking Stella’s wrath was worth it.
“Come see, Faris.” The click of Stella’s boots again, moving closer. “I know you want to.”
“No.”
“It’s okay, you know. Ulric would never have brought you here if he was ashamed or didn’t want you to witness how he lets go. Despite what you may think, he needs you to do this. You don’t want to make him suffer? Do you?”
Ulric couldn’t draw breath to fill his lungs, the anticipation gnawed at his calm reserves. It wasn’t until he heard the shift of leather again, the soft thuds of a man’s footsteps approaching him, Ulric was able to relax.
The wave of body heat was the first indication that Faris was close. He knew it wasn’t Stella. Unfamiliar hesitation drew out a new torrent of sensations from him.
Faris’ familiar scent filled his nose and made his cock twitch. Ulric had memorized the smell after long nights spent together discussing their negotiation strategy.
“Touch him,” Stella encouraged. “He won’t move or struggle. You can do what you want to him.”
A gentle brush of fingertips across his shoulders had Ulric sighing.
“What if I hurt him?” The uncertainty was endearing to Ulric.
Stella merely chuckled. “If you think I would let you do anything to him without my approval, you really don’t know anything. Now touch him.”
This time the brief pause was followed by a firm caress, the open palm hot on his cooling skin. Ulric was forced to keep his vocal appreciations bottled up, not having been granted permission to voice them. Instead he squeezed his eyes shut and did his best not to move. It proved harder than he thought it would be as Faris moved his hand across the back of his shoulders, then the press of fingertips along the bumps of his spine. His journey stopped just above the valley of his ass, leaving Ulric’s skin burning.
Stella moved to stand in front of him while Faris remained behind, exploring. He wanted to weep when she reached out and caressed his cheek before reaching down to slap his cock again.