by A. M. Arthur
Slow and steady wins the race.
Colt stared up at him with a dazed expression. “Please, Sir, may I have some more?”
“No.” Avery pressed the pad of his thumb against Colt’s lip, intending to silence him, so he could consider his next step. His eyes widened when Colt began to suck on the digit. “You keep acting out, you may get a spanking.”
The threat did its job; Colt sucked harder, then reached down to grope his own erection through his jeans. Avery looked around the room, taking in the lack of personal items—and the distinct lack of anything he could easily ease for restraints. Sheets were too clunky, but they worked in a pinch. He’d already used Colt’s belt once, and Avery liked variety.
Colt pulled off Avery’s thumb and said, “Bottom dresser drawer. The black velvet bag.”
Shock rolled through Avery’s system. “You kept it?”
“It was the best present you ever gave me, Sir.”
Avery pressed a hard kiss against Colt’s forehead, then investigated the dresser. The cheap wood creaked and fought him, but he got it open enough to sift beneath a handful of LA Angels sweatshirts for the black bag. He nearly fumbled it twice carrying the bag back to the bed, where he sat in front of Colt. The weight was the same as he remembered.
“I never thought I’d use it again,” Colt whispered, as if too afraid to disturb the moment. “But I couldn’t throw it away.”
A new wave of affection rolled over Avery as he opened the bag’s drawstring and reached inside. Withdrew a length of Asanawa rope. The three-strand jute rope had been Avery’s favorite kind to tie with, because of its durability and comfort. Avery had given it to Colt less than two weeks before they broke up. In some ways, Avery had sensed that the end was near, and he’d wanted Colt to continue ropework with another Dom at some point, and he’d intended the gift to drive that point home.
Instead, Colt had avoided what he needed, and he’d kept the gift hidden away.
But he kept it. It means something.
Avery stroked the soft material, fingers itching to create the intricate knotwork he’d spent years perfecting. To see Colt’s body encased in his art. To make Colt squirm with arousal before Avery finally fucked them both senseless. To slowly release Colt’s limbs and massage them back to life, before putting them both to bed.
Not today.
“Avery?”
The naked emotion in Colt’s voice drew his attention from that coiled length of rope. Colt watched him with so many questions, so much need in his eyes that Avery felt bowled over. Avery held the rope to his chest like a shield, unsure if he could handle all those emotions at once, so he put his own walls up, adopting the position of Sir and putting Colt out of his place as a man of infinite emotions, and firmly as pet.
“Strip,” Avery said.
Colt hurried to comply, standing to complete the task. He carefully folded his clothes as Avery had taught him, and then he was back by Avery’s knees. A thick cock strained toward Avery, and he licked his lips, remembering all the times he’d touched it, stroked it, sucked it—and the one time it had been inside Avery’s body.
The one time that dominating, rather than giving up control, had been what Colt needed. And Avery had gladly given it to him.
“You’ll do anything I say,” Avery stated.
“Yes, Sir,” Colt replied with a dip of his head.
“Even if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Even if I told you to open the cabin door, so that anyone who passed by could hear us? See us?”
Colt’s chest flushed. “Y-yes, Sir.”
Avery would never do that, and they both knew it. Maybe his parents liked to perform for an audience, but for Avery, BDSM was private and for the two (or more) people engaging in the activities. He’d never invite strangers to look at Colt’s naked body.
Mine.
“Give me your hands,” Avery said.
Colt held both over Avery’s lap. Using the rope, Avery tied a simple, single-column knot around Colt’s wrists, binding them together. With the slack, Avery bound Colt’s wrists to the headboard of Avery’s bed, Colt still kneeling on the floor. The position was slightly awkward, but Avery wasn’t sure he trusted the thin, springy beds. The very last thing they needed to do was report to Arthur that they’d broken a bed and why.
Avery studied the swaths of suntanned skin exposed to him and noticed a small tattoo that he hadn’t spotted in the dim barn light. On the top of Colt’s right shoulder was a small red heart, and the letter A inked in black in the center. He touched the ink with a trembling finger, overwhelmed by what it implied.
“I never forgot you,” Colt said.
Avery kissed the tattoo, then continued his appraisal of Colt’s body, from the tops of Colt’s shoulders, down across the ripples of his back and spine—and that damned bullet scar—to the swell of Colt’s ass. Long, muscled thighs and calves. Calloused feet. So beautiful and all Avery’s. He touched the bruise he’d sucked on Colt’s shoulder, then pressed. Colt gasped.
“Whose tattoo is this?” Avery asked.
“Yours, Sir.”
“Who do you belong to?”
“Master Avery, Sir.”
Avery shivered, then rubbed his own erection through his slacks. He loved moments like this, when he was still clothed while Colt was fully bare to him. The power dynamic was a heady thing. He could walk out of the cabin and leave Colt like this for hours, if Avery wanted, and Colt would stay put. But Avery didn’t want to walk away again. He wanted to make Colt his pet again.
He trailed his fingertip down the length of Colt’s spine, right down to the small of his back, and he had to squat so he could rub it over Colt’s entrance. Colt thrust against the single finger, eager, so Avery grabbed his hip with his free hand and gave it a firm squeeze. Colt stilled.
“Can you take my thumb dry?” Avery asked.
Colt’s breath hitched. “I…anything you want, Sir. But there’s lube packets in the bathroom.”
“Hmm.” Avery reluctantly stopped touching Colt so he could fetch a few of those packets. Deposited them on his bed within easy reach. “Never hurts to have backup.” With those words, Avery pulled Colt’s cheeks apart and licked a stripe from behind his balls to the small of his back. Colt cried out, his entire body tensing. Avery had rarely indulged in this with Colt, and the first time had been after he’d helped Colt with an enema, using the buildup of those long moments in the shower to fuel their eventual coupling. It had been intense, but also planned.
Avery was winging it right now, doing what he knew would help Colt fly.
And Colt flew, bucking back against Avery’s tongue and lips, not censoring the noises he made. Avery worked him wet and loose, enjoying the musky flavor and the way tight muscles gave way for him to fuck Colt with his tongue. Colt tugged against his restraints and made encouraging sounds. Desperate sounds. Avery rolled his balls, noting when they drew up a little too tight.
Colt wasn’t allowed to come yet.
Avery sat back on his heels, then landed two hard smacks on Colt’s ass, one on each cheek. They pinked up nicely. “Too bad I threw away all my old toys. Your ass needs a plug, and I’d love to put a cock ring on you.”
“Fuck.” Colt gasped. “Got a cock ring. Shoe box. Under bathroom sink.”
Curious as to the extent of Colt’s toys, Avery returned to the bathroom and found the shoe box. Metal and leather cock rings, vibrating dildo, small butt plug, a real bottle of lube, and a Fleshjack. He brought the whole box back with him.
Colt’s shy smile nearly undid him. Avery sat on the bed near Colt’s bound hands, his erection pressing painfully against his pants. “You have an interesting collection.”
“Sometimes you have to make your own fun,” Colt replied.
Avery chuckled. “You remember the day I sent
you to the grocery store wearing a plug?”
“I was beet red the entire time, and I wanted to kill you.” Colt winked over his shoulder. “But you fucking blew my mind that night. One of the best orgasms of my life.”
Holding up the plug, Avery asked, “Would you wear one to work tomorrow if I asked you to?”
“Yes.” No hesitation, no shame in his eyes. “I’ll do anything Sir asks.”
“Then maybe one day you’ll do that. But not today.” Avery popped open the lube and coated the plug with a generous amount. “Spread your knees wider.”
Colt did, his eyes never breaking from Avery’s. It was awkward to reach for Colt’s ass and still maintain eye contact, but Avery managed. He watched every squint and flinch as he pushed the plug slowly past Colt’s tight rim. Stretching him open wider and wider, as Colt’s eyes went wild. Avery went slowly, making it last, drawing out every possible second as he breached Colt with that plug.
It popped through the widest part, and Colt sighed as he closed around the narrow base. Avery tapped it a few times, mostly to hear Colt gasp and whimper. “So beautiful, pet,” Avery said. He stood, the bed creaking beneath him. “I expect to find you in this exact position when I return.”
“Sir?” Colt’s head whipped around, his eyes saucerlike. “You’re leaving?”
Not forever, not like you did.
No, old hurts didn’t belong in the room with them. “If you move, you’ll be punished.” On that, Avery carried himself and his raging boner out the cabin door and into fresh, late summer air.
He stepped into the narrow space between this cabin and the one next door, bent at the waist, and sucked in a few centering breaths. So out of practice being Sir again that it was threatening to overwhelm him. The absolute trust from Colt, the huge responsibility to get them both off and not hurt either of them—physically or emotionally. The high of tying someone up again, even just simple knots around their wrists and to a headboard. Nothing like the intricate Shibari knots he’d spend an hour lovingly tying, but no less intense for how new it all felt. Like Avery was once again a virgin, feeling his way through being a Dom not only physically, but also sexually.
“Are you all right?”
Reyes’s unexpected voice made Avery let out an undignified yelp. He spun around, both surprised and annoyed to see the cowboy standing in the mouth of the small alley between cabins. Nonplussed, Reyes held up both hands in surrender.
“You’ve been living with Colt for less than an hour,” Reyes said. “What did he do already?”
“He didn’t do anything.” Avery straightened his spine. “We aren’t fighting. I simply needed a moment to clear my head.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I tied him to my bed.” Avery blushed hot and hard, unsure why he’d admitted that out loud, and to Reyes of all people. One of Colt’s friends! Except Reyes had a calm steadiness about him that made him easy to talk to—and easy to trust with private matters.
Reyes’s eyes danced with humor. “Willingly or unwillingly?”
“Willingly.”
“You tied him up and left the cabin?”
Avery shrugged. “I’ve done it before.” He was already blushing, but somehow his face got hotter. “Why am I telling you this?”
“Because you’re finding something about it overwhelming and you need a neutral party to talk to.” Reyes didn’t phrase that one was a question. The humor in his eyes turned serious. “Was that part of your previous relationship with Colt?”
Avery wasn’t completely comfortable sharing Colt’s private life, so instead of answering, he bit his lower lip.
Reyes took that as the silent confirmation it was meant to be. “Without getting too nosy and crossing a line, I’m going to assume you both have lingering feelings for each other.” He looked briefly uncomfortable. “Full disclosure, Colt told me this morning that you two fucked last night.”
“Of course he did.” Colt was never good at those kinds of personal boundaries. Not that he’d ever told his SWAT buddies he was into being tied up, but he did like to repeat stories of his friends’ sexual exploits to Avery. Especially the humorous ones. “Yes, we still have feelings for each other. We did when we broke up, and seeing him again… I’ve missed him.”
“But you’re scared because it didn’t work the first time?”
“Precisely, so we’re keeping things strictly physical right now. But I haven’t, uh, practiced since Colt, so I’m worried I’ll do something wrong.”
Reyes observed him silently for several moments, his dark eyes emotionless. “You want some unsolicited advice?”
“Please.”
“Go slow. Colt is impulsive and he can barrel headfirst into danger without a second thought, so don’t let him. Let both of you ease back into your…relationship. However you define it.”
“I planned to go slow, but being within ten feet of Colt fucks with my restraint.”
“As the Dom, it’s your job to restrain yourself.”
Avery blinked hard, then stood straighter. “I know. Why do you think I came outside?”
Reyes smiled, and his eyes gleamed with something lighter. Almost tender. “Then take care of him. He needs that more than he’ll ever admit.”
“I will. Thanks for the chat.”
“Not a problem, man.” Reyes stuck out his hand, which Avery shook vigorously. “Also, most of the hands are either wrangling guests or wrangling horses, in case he gets loud.” With a wink, Reyes left.
Avery chuckled to himself. He could see why Colt and Reyes clicked. Reyes’s steady stoicism was a good balance for Colt’s higher energy, and they genuinely cared about each other. Colt was lucky to have him. Avery’s own work-first, social-life-meh attitude had left him with no close adult friends. No one to hang out with or confide in, other than Violet. And even then, he’d never been able to talk to her about how much he missed Colt.
Now that he had Colt again, Avery had to take baby steps. Ease them back into things, instead of jumping out of the plane without a parachute. It was up to him, as the Dom, to hold Colt tight and control their descent.
* * *
Colt was losing his fucking mind.
In the best way, of course. He loved wearing Avery’s ropes, and he’d nearly orgasmed simply watching Avery tie those three simple knots binding him to the bed. After that, Colt hadn’t known what to expect. A spanking? Whipping with one of Colt’s belts? A good, hard fuck? Sure, bring it on.
Being left alone in the cabin had shocked the hell out of him, especially after the intimacy of rimming and the plug insertion. He’d panicked for a split second, until his inherent trust in Avery returned. He would come back. This wasn’t the first time Avery left him bound and alone, but the situation was a little different than Colt was used to.
He kept position, though, following Sir’s order to the letter. Barely shifting to relieve his aching knees or flex his aching spine. He didn’t even clench his ass to feel the plug. Sir needed to be proud of him. Sir’s approval was everything. His erection was flagging, but that was okay. He’d be hard again the instant he smelled Avery’s aftershave. A light, slightly citrusy fragrance, not overpowering but distinctly Avery.
His only real worry was someone either knocking on the cabin door, or walking in and catching him tied up and bare-ass naked. Not that he expected anyone to barge in without permission; all the hands respected each other’s privacy. He was more likely to get a cramp and break position than get caught like this.
He wanted Avery to return soon. Their earlier shared kisses promised so many things, including both of them coming like gangbusters.
“When Sir is ready,” he said to the empty room.
His view of the headboard was ridiculously boring, and he could have risked looking around, but moving his head was breaking position. And if Avery asked, Colt couldn’t lie, so he held st
ill and studied the simple wood surface and its various imperfections. Started counting the swirls in the polished oak.
The door swung open, and he tensed so he didn’t look. The sense of being watched made the hair on his neck stand on end. The door shut again. To silence. No footsteps.
What if someone did walk in and saw me like this!?
“Did you break position?” Avery asked.
That voice warmed Colt from the inside out and his knees didn’t hurt so much anymore. “No, Sir.”
“Good. Very good, Colt.”
Colt grinned at the headboard. “May I break now?”
“Yes.”
Grateful for the reprieve, Colt arched his back and used the balls of his feet to lift his knees off the floor. It also flashed his ass at Avery and shifted the plug in a pleasant way. He rolled his neck, too, and a vertebra popped.
“I can’t decide what to do with you,” Avery said. “Maybe I’ll let you kneel there while I unpack. I do love looking at that plug.”
“Whatever you want, Sir.” Colt would much prefer spanking or fucking, but this wasn’t his show. He’d take whatever Sir thought he deserved with a smile on his face and gratitude in his heart, because he was here. Again. With Avery. With his Sir.
Shoes lightly thudded across the wood floorboards, stopping right behind Colt. A belt jangled; a zipper snicked down. Colt squirmed, excited where this could be going. More fabric rustled directly behind him, and it took all his willpower not to look over his shoulder and know for sure if Avery was undressing. The uncertainty buzzed in his blood like adrenaline, and having Avery so close did wonders for Colt’s waning erection.
Avery grabbed his hair and urged him to turn his head, and Colt found himself looking right at Avery’s straining erection. Colt licked his lips. “Open,” Avery said.
Colt did, accepting Avery’s cock into his mouth, relaxing his throat muscles as Avery began to thrust. He kept hold of Colt’s hair, tight enough to keep him still and feel it, but not enough to hurt. The steady strokes had saliva pooling at the corners of Colt’s mouth, trickling down to his chin, and it was perfect. Being used by Sir, giving in as Sir took his pleasure. Avery watched him with so much intensity Colt’s balls tightened. A few quick strokes, and he’d come. Colt jerked his hands, but they were bound too tightly to free himself. Couldn’t touch himself.
