“Thank you, Master,” Daniel whispered.
Seldon got up. “Go on, change the sheets.”
“Yes, Master.”
God, he’s like a fucking echo of himself! Seldon tried to remember whether he had ever had a slave that timid. Three hundred years of training them, he did, but remembering them from each other in the early days was nearly impossible. That and the fact that they were usually trained to be common place breeders and not companions. He had earned his reputation as one of the best once he became a light blue-eyed Incubus and still held the title as the one who could break the fighters. What bothered him so much, this time, was that he never intended upon it. He didn’t think he’d ever had someone this…delicate? Would that be the word to describe him?
A different matter entirely was that the boy needed some clothes his own size. Seldon’s too big ones did nothing for the beautiful body underneath. Seldon had planned for the boy to be naked when it was just the two of them, but he wondered how that plan would work out if Daniel kept being this afraid of him. The problem was that he had to teach him not to be self conscious about his body which was why they stripped them from the moment they were brought onto the train. Another was that Seldon’s hunger rose by watching the boy change the sheets and a glimpse of a fantasy rushed through his mind, making him hard again. Shit. Now was not the time to imagine what Daniel looked like in rapture or what he sounded like when moaning in ecstasy.
Daniel finished and stood with the dirty bedding bundled in his arms, waiting. Was he ever going to ask what to do with it? Apparently not.
“Come on, I’ll show you the washroom.” Seldon left the bedroom to open the first door to the left in the hallway. Daniel followed, and Seldon stepped aside to let the boy pass as they entered the laundry room. Daniel put the bedding in the washer and stood up, looking nervous. “Ever washed your own clothes?”
“No, Master.”
“Okay. I usually have cleaners come by and do most of this, but it’s your job now. I’ll keep them on for a while longer to teach you. For now, look.” Seldon showed him the programs and soap, explaining the basics of using a washing machine.
They then returned to the living room where Jeff sprawled comfortably on the big pillow, zapping through the channels. Daniel sat where he had earlier, still as rigid as before.
“Do you guys want to use the pool? Or play pool or something?”
“Sure.” Jeff turned off the TV and got up, looking to Daniel. “Come on.” Jeff held out his hand to Daniel and pulled the boy to his feet. Seldon went ahead of them and stopped by the glass montre in the poolroom. He needed to channel some of all these feelings, so he opened the montre and pulled out a transverse flute, assembling it while he thought about what to play. He had a thing for Scottish folk songs at the moment and pulled out the binder with those sheets.
He heard the splash and looked around the pillar to see Jeff swimming under the water. Daniel didn’t look like he wanted to strip now that he had finally been given clothes. He sat on the edge, staring longingly out the window. Sadness crept into Seldon at the look of hopelessness and reminded him of a melody he didn’t need sheet music for, so he wet his lips and put the flute to his lips. As the clear tone escaped the flute, Daniel looked up, catching his eye.
Seldon loved this flute. He had so many different kinds, but this one had a special sound to it. Airy, yet clear once he had learned the embrasure of the lips. He had everything from old baroque ivory flutes, gold flutes, a few plastic, just because he wanted to hear them, and wooden flutes. He didn’t play those anymore because he didn’t get to play them enough to maintain the tune. But he had, once.
Seldon got lost in the music and wandered as one melody took the next. He ended up by the panoramic window facing the center of their compound built into a canyon in the middle of fucking nowhere. Here they were left alone, and the human military kept the area closed off as per agreement and for payment.
“I love it when he plays,” Seldon heard Jeff say. It warmed his heart. “I can play the piano, but my Sire doesn’t have one. It’s been years since I’ve played anything. You play?”
“No,” Daniel said.
“Never? Not at school, either?”
“Yeah, we had to learn a recorder. Completely stupid kid’s flute.”
Seldon cringed at the lack of respect for a flute with so many tunes in it. Then again, most kids in the third or fourth grade probably never got to be good enough to hear what it could do and figured it only covered one octave. He returned the transverse, cleaned and wiped down, before fishing out a plastic baroque recorder. It had a surprisingly good sound in it. He ran the fingering chart through his head and found another binder. This melody he needed music sheets for—at least to brush up.
“This kind of kid’s flute?” He brought the binder to a deck chair and sat straddling it so he could look through the sheets. And there was the melody. He began playing it, seeing Jeff hang on the edge of the pool, staring at him. Daniel looked surprised at how that kind of flute could actually sound. It made Seldon smile a bit around the mouthpiece. Had he done that while playing the transverse, his embouchure would have been ruined and the tone destroyed. But this flute could be paired with a little smile.
He wondered why Jeff had never told him he played the piano since he’d heard Seldon play before. Now he wondered whether he should get one. Or tell his Sire about it. Maybe he knew and didn’t care? Maybe it was time Seldon just learned a new instrument? He’d always favored wind instruments, though.
The melody ended, and Seldon looked at Daniel. “Still think it’s a kid’s flute?”
“No, Master.” Daniel looked away, and Seldon lost the good mood the music had brought about. To follow his mood he found an alto recorder instead, thinking the deeper and richer tunes would be a better fit for his new mood.
When he really got into it, he could play for hours. Today he needed it. As he walked the length in front of the windows and got lost in the music, he heard a splash. Daniel had apparently decided to join Jeff, and they didn’t leave the pool before the groceries arrived an hour before dinnertime.
Seldon sat at the dinner table and watched the two cook the recipe, and Daniel was a disaster in a kitchen. No way was he going to get a chance to have Jeff feed him while they were cooking because Daniel couldn’t do the simplest of things and allow the time for a feeding. Jeff would be dessert. At least his breeder, Alex, would be there around eight.
Daniel kept quiet and kept looking over his shoulder at Seldon. He had to do something about this, so he went to the living room to give the boy space and opened a document on his computer, jotting down everything about the boy. He had documents on some of the slaves he had trained. Always kept journals but they had always been handwritten. A lot had been lost to time, but the remaining had been transferred to digital so he could also follow his own progress, see what worked, what didn’t, and what could work.
Right now he was thankful for his organization skills. He could look up the timid ones. Problem was, he’d never trained a timid Untouchable, so he started out with listing questions about his methods and what the outcome so far had been. He didn’t get far before Daniel and Jeff had dinner finished and he moved to the table to keep them company, enjoying a cup of tea while they ate.
“How’s the outcome?” Seldon asked.
“Pretty good,” Jeff said.
“It’s a good recipe, Master,” Daniel said quietly. Jeff shot Seldon a glance, and Seldon didn’t try to hide his annoyance with what he had caused. Not that the boy would notice, he was too busy staring at his plate. At least he was eating.
Seldon stayed quiet, thinking about the lists and what to do. Leaving the kid alone and not demand anything of him would be just as counterproductive because he’d just be some ghost in the apartment. That wouldn’t help him to become a good partner to a Cubus. At least Seldon hadn’t expected this to go smoothly from the beginning. This was his first Untouchable to train, and he
had expected snags and that he had to revise his methods. This wasn’t just about making a compliant breeder out of a problematic human after all.
“I’ll help you with the dishes,” Jeff said once the two had finished eating.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Seldon reached for Jeff’s arm as he was about to stand. “You feed me, first.”
Jeff mock gasped. “You spoil me. First a bowl of candy and now dessert. Sire will probably comment on you making me such a sweet tooth.” A shit-eating grin spread on Jeff’s lips.
Seldon grinned. “Yeah, he’d thank me.”
Daniel hurriedly collected the plates and glasses and left the table while Jeff slid to his knees, pulling at Seldon’s pants. He loved the breeder’s sense of humor and understood why another green-eye had claimed him as more than a regular breeder. Too bad he wasn’t a Changeling, and too bad he couldn’t dose him and feed from him in more ways than this. But the energy was so pure and satisfying because of the lack of dosing.
From where Seldon sat, he could see Daniel doing the dishes. He was still nervous the boy would harm himself, but at least being able to see him while feeding let him enjoy it. Jeff had a wicked glint in his eyes as he licked and nibbled. The fact that the breeder took pride in what he did, made watching him so much better. Just because he didn’t feed Seldon if he gave Jeff a blowjob didn’t mean Seldon hadn’t thought about it.
An undosed moaning breeder. Just the thought had him shiver and groan. Yeah, Jeff moaned and loved it, but only when giving and thus feeding the Cubus. Seldon felt confident he could make him, though, except he wasn’t allowed to try. Not without permission from the Cubus who had claimed him, and it seemed something akin to being unfaithful if Jeff was with another Cubus in a way that didn’t feed that Cubus.
In all his years, Seldon had never wanted a human like that. Sure he liked Jeff, but not the way Jeff’s Sire loved him. He wondered what it was like. It was probably the biggest difference between the Cubi race and humans. Love. Humans often paired it with the kind of intimacy that the Cubi depended on for sustenance. It didn’t spark the same kind of feelings. Love wasn’t a rarity—it was just rarely associated with sex. At least in Cubi couples. It was the Cubi-human couples that were rare because the humans held onto that notion and sometimes managed to seduce the Cubi. It was quite the fantasy and probably one of the most popular amongst Cubi. He didn’t always get the fantasies he read online or in romance novels.
An image of Daniel in the shower, stepping close to wash him because he wanted to touch and run his hands over Seldon, pushed through the rising pleasure. Jeff took him in deep and swallowed, and paired with the fantasy of being seduced like that tipped Seldon over the edge, going rigid to a point where he almost slid off the chair. Jeff held on tightly, keeping him in his mouth until the orgasm ebbed out.
“Fuck,” Seldon groaned and held onto the table as he shuddered in the aftermath. Jeff sat back and grabbed his own cock, jerked it a few times and spilled over his fingers and some on the floor. The facial expressions he made kept Seldon hard and hungry for more. And now he’d have that damn fantasy in his head for days.
Daniel finished up, still with his back to them, as Jeff scrambled to his feet. Seldon reached for him to sit on his lap as he sucked off his fingers.
“Damn, you came hard. That was an XL protein shake,” Jeff whispered. Seldon chuckled and licked the last cum off Jeff’s fingers. “I better get home. Walk me out?” Jeff said, smiling. Seldon got up, pulling on his pants.
“Sure,” Seldon said, thinking Daniel would be safe alone the short time it took. So he followed Jeff to the door and opened it.
“What did he see, Seldon? I don’t believe watching an O.D. can scare him that much,” Jeff whispered.
“He saw me pull ten fingernails off a new breeder who attacked me with a chair.”
Jeff gaped. “Jesus, Seldon, no wonder he’s freaking out.”
“Yeah, well, hopefully, it’ll blow over, and he won’t do something as stupid and earn himself a whipping or some shit.”
“I think this one needs to be handled with cotton gloves on. He said something…I don’t remember the wording, but if I knew whether you only hit with a flat hand. Like if he ruined the clothes washing them if you’d…he asked if you’d beat him with more than your hands for stuff like that.”
Seldon’s stomach sank. Did the boy expect to be beaten to a bloody pulp or something? No wonder he was like that.
“Be careful with him, okay?”
“Telling me what to do now?” Seldon joked.
“No, come on, Seldon, don’t be a dick when I’m trying to help you.” The sincerity in Jeff’s eyes conveyed the missing parts of what else Daniel might have talked with Jeff about.
“I’d had actually come to that conclusion myself.”
“Do you know what finally made me fit in? Sire earning my trust. He then earned my respect, too. Yeah, you can get obedience through fear, and we’ll definitely say the word master to not be abused, but is that what you’re looking for?”
“No, and I didn’t try for fear, just…point taken,” Seldon said, listening for sounds in the apartment. There were none. “Thanks.”
Jeff smiled and left. Seldon returned to the kitchen to see what Daniel was up to. Jeff was right. Earning trust to gain respect seemed a good approach.
Chapter Nine
Doing the dishes, Daniel wondered whether it was actually possible getting used to living in a house where people fucked all over the place. Or did Seldon keep that in the bedroom but blowjobs wherever he pleased? Daniel wouldn’t say he had gotten used to it, but his limits had definitely been moved.
It hurt watching him with the other humans. Not in a jealous kind of way, but because he was nice to them. To Jeff at least. The other breeder definitely hadn’t gotten on Seldon’s good side, but Jeff knew how to. Or was it something else? He kept talking about his Sire as if he was owned, too. He wore a collar. The breeder that morning hadn’t. What about the ones in the stables? Or were they sold after that first year once broken in? Did that mean Seldon had to be nice to Jeff? How did Jeff’s Sire punish? If at all?
Something Jeff had said lingered in Daniel’s mind, and he contemplated it as he washed the pan and tried to tune out the moaning from the dinner table. Just do as Seldon says. I don’t know him to punish without reason. Great. Now he just had to figure out the reasons and what kind of punishments the different transgressions could unleash because guessing at them stressed him like hell. He knew of the spanking for failing in calling him master, and since he hadn’t been spanked, not counting the slaps that morning, then he hadn’t failed in it. But that was starting out easy as Seldon had said. What were the harsher punishments and for what transgressions?
Daniel constantly felt sick to his stomach and eating was a chore. The recipe was good, but Daniel’s mind had been on Seldon’s expectations to his table manners. God only knew his mom had pointed out his terrible table manners plenty of times, but now his actions reflected back on Seldon, and if he made Seldon look bad it was bound to be bad for Daniel, too. Daniel had done his best to not attract attention during dinner.
Seldon reached his orgasm and roared, and seconds later Jeff grunted repeatedly. Daniel glanced their way, seeing Jeff straddle Seldon’s thighs for a little aftermath snuggle time. They then left, and Daniel found it safe to go about the kitchen and put the clean plates away. He had wanted to wait to not watch them again. As he turned to put the cutlery away, his eyes fell on the third drawer.
There was no way past Seldon, no way out from the maze. Would his life be so bad that…
He took a deep, shaky breath and opened the first drawer, finding the serrated blade of a steak knife to the right. They were supposed to be in the second drawer. He put the clean cutlery away and took out the steak knife. Closing the drawer, he stared at the blade. Today had taught him that he was not a brave man. They said that people who killed themselves were cowards. Staring at this blade, Danie
l thought it would take a helluva lot of guts to kill oneself because even though he feared getting beaten by the big Incubus, then he couldn’t imagine running this blade across his arm.
“Drop the knife!”
Daniel looked up, finding Seldon entering the kitchen. He let go of the knife, and it jumped around on the floor as he backed away.
“I wasn’t going to do anything with it. I was just going to put it in the drawer,” Daniel said, backing up as the huge Incubus closed in on him. Oh shit, that was definitely a pissed-off expression—even his green eyes glowed more intensely. “Please, I didn’t do anything, I wasn’t going to do anything,” Daniel cried and hid his hands behind his back. What would Seldon do? All that replayed in Daniel’s mind was the breeder screaming as his nails were pulled off.
“You don’t need a steak knife for a casserole.”
Daniel’s back hit the wall. “No, please, I was just gonna put it in the right drawer.” But pleading wouldn’t help. He’d already learned that today.
“Show me your hands.”
“Please,” Daniel whimpered and slid down the wall, still with his hands hidden behind his back.
“Show me!” Seldon grabbed him by the shoulders, keeping him on his feet. Daniel cried out at the painful grip in his arms but finally held out his shaky hands. Seldon grabbed them and turned them palm up before running a finger down the inside of his arms as if checking for marks. “Fuck, Daniel.”
“I didn’t…I wasn’t going to do anything.”
“Then why the hell stand with the knife gripped like that and stare at your fucking wrists?” Seldon let go, and Daniel slid down the wall to sit on the floor.
“I thought…I thought it took a braver man than me,” he croaked.
Untouchable Beauty Page 9
