Room at the Edge Page 7

  Jay was gone.

  He didn’t think he’d safe worded, but he was vaguely aware, like experiencing the world through a layer of thick fabric, that it was over. Liam murmured something stern but reassuring to Austin. Jay felt his feet being untied and dimly waited for his hands to be freed as well, but that didn’t happen.

  “There, now. No, don’t try to move. Just stay where you are and breathe. Austin, bring that here.”

  The blindfold was gently removed, but Jay didn’t try to open his eyes. It would be too bright, and he was too exhausted. He was glad Liam hadn’t untied his hands, because he probably would have just fallen onto the floor and lain there. Instead he felt the cool touch of Austin’s hands again. He realized he was waiting to hear Austin’s voice, and then that he wouldn’t because Austin was still under orders not to talk.

  Something wet touched his hot ass, and he whimpered and twitched away, but there was nowhere to go. It was Austin pressing the cool, soft cloth to his burning skin, and Jay wasn’t sure how it felt. Not really good, because he was so raw he knew he’d have welts on top of welts. The cold just made the burning worse, and he focused on that, letting the waves of it pull him deeper under again. There, that was what he wanted, to drift peacefully.

  If Liam had further plans for him, they were going to have to wait.

  Chapter Five

  Liam could hear Austin and Jay fussing over each other in the family room, exchanging anxious inquiries, whispered reassurances… He watched the jug fill as coffee dripped through the machine, the second pot of the morning, and smiled wryly. After Jay’s whipping, he’d ended the scene, meaning Austin’s arse was in good shape, and Jay had loved what’d happened to him, so Liam wasn’t quite sure why he wasn’t the target of their sympathy.

  He was the one who’d gone to bed alone, after all, his balls aching, his arousal too intense to be quenched by his hand. He’d jerked off before he went to sleep and then woken in the middle of the night, his prick stiff and his hand already reaching for it.

  Letting the two of them sleep in the spare room instead of with him had been an easy decision to make. Jay had been out of it, mumbling disjointedly when Liam had tended to his bruised skin and falling asleep immediately. Austin had been concerned for Jay and, though he probably didn’t realize it, as frustrated as Liam. If Liam had suggested the two of them share his bed and let Jay sleep alone, Austin would most likely have turned him down.

  Liam didn’t deal well with rejection.

  He filled three mugs with fresh coffee and put them on a small tray to save him making two trips. The crop he’d used on Jay tucked under his arm, he walked into the family room.

  Austin and Jay were on the couch, Jay understandably curled on his side, his head on Austin’s shoulder. They were both bare-chested, wearing soft sleep pants, Austin’s a plain, faded navy, Jay’s bright green, patterned with a cartoon character Liam didn’t recognize. Jay should’ve still been riding the high of the night before, but his eyes were clouded and Austin’s mouth was pinched with worry.

  Neither expression pleased Liam, but they made what he was about to say easier. As their Dom, it was his responsibility to take care of his subs during and after a scene. As their boyfriend, though the word was too juvenile to sit well with him, their happiness was his priority.

  He’d been failing them if they could sit there and look at him like that. He set the tray on the coffee table and placed the crop beside it. In this formal room, lit with the soft, gray light of a dull October morning, it should have looked incongruous, even obscene, but what it represented was the foundation of their relationship. It belonged in here with them.

  “I don’t think I could take even four from it today,” Jay said, a hint of regret peeking through.

  Liam longed to see Jay’s arse. From what he’d gathered at breakfast, Austin had already slathered it with arnica cream, but the bruising would be spectacular. The trouble with seeing them infrequently was that he didn’t get to monitor the slow fade of the marks he’d put on them or get involved in the aftercare. Those were his bruises and he’d wanted to be the one to tend to them, but it would’ve seemed petty to point that out. “Probably not, but Austin’s going to do his best to take, let me see…eighteen. Yes.”

  The two turned nearly identical expressions of shock toward Liam. It would have been comical if Liam hadn’t been deadly serious.

  “What, you thought I’d forgotten? You’ve said you’d like to make our arrangement full-time—you must realize this is how it would be.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Austin? Don’t keep me waiting.”

  It didn’t surprise him that Austin obeyed, turning around to face the back of the couch. “Eighteen? No. No way.”

  “It isn’t up to you, Jay,” Liam said sharply. “Austin agreed, and he isn’t the type to break his word, are you, Austin?”

  “No, Sir.” Austin was kneeling, hands braced on the upholstery. There was nothing about this he liked. Liam could see that in the tension held in the curve of his lower back. It was one thing to submit to something you’d enjoy, and another entirely to submit to an act that frightened you. Austin’s strength in accepting this when it wasn’t something he wanted was impressive.

  “Liam—” Jay started, and Liam focused on him.

  “You either trust me, Jay, or you don’t. Which is it?”

  Jay swallowed and slowly nodded. “I trust you,” he said quietly and slipped off the couch to stand over near the wall.

  The relief he felt was huge, but he allowed himself only an exhaled breath before he picked up the crop and stepped closer to Austin. He hooked his fingers under the elastic waistband of Austin’s pants, noting that Austin flinched at his touch, and slipped the pants down to the bottoms of Austin’s thighs so his arse was bare. He let his fingertips brush over Austin’s skin. Austin shivered convulsively, his skin prickling into goose bumps.

  “Eighteen,” Liam said. The crop was in his right hand, so he lifted Austin’s cock in his left. It wasn’t entirely soft, and as he held it, he could feel it beginning to harden. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Austin whispered and let his head drop down.

  Liam liked to think he was relatively skilled with a crop, and the first time he struck Austin’s naked arse with it, he felt that his belief was confirmed. He swung the narrow braided leather quickly so that it would make noise as it cut the air, then pulled the blow at the last second. It struck Austin hard enough to sting, no more.

  “One?” Austin said doubtfully as Liam paused, and Liam punished him for his cheek by letting the second strike sting just a little bit more. Austin gasped and trembled for him, just deliciously apprehensive now, his fear fading. “Two.”

  There was no comparison between the force he used on Austin and what he’d done to Jay the night before. Jay wanted the pain—that wasn’t what Austin wanted at all, and forcing it on him would have been shortsighted and cruel. As Liam struck Austin, he wondered what Jay was thinking.

  He didn’t have to guess with Austin. When he’d finished, Austin’s arse was patterned with dark pink lines, all fading fast, and half-hard had become erect and eager. Smiling, Liam delivered a final slap that left more of a mark than the crop had. “One to grow on.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” Austin said, the routine words infused with genuine gratitude. He turned his head to give Liam a hopeful look. “If you’re tying up loose ends from last night…”

  “Yes?” Liam prompted when Austin fell silent.

  “He means you said he could blow you,” Jay told him in a quiet, abashed voice. “He wants to.” Jay slid to his knees, his gaze fixed on Liam. “I do too, Sir, but I don’t deserve it after arguing with you again.”

  At breakfast they’d called him “Liam” and he hadn’t minded, not really, but he had to admit that he was enjoying this. Not a session, not a scene…just an ongoing exercise of his control over them. He’d always thought having a sub 24-7 would blunt the edge of the thrill, but he was reconsidering
.

  After all, it was in his hands, all of it. If he chose to allow them some leeway, he could; if he chose to keep them naked and cuffed for the morning, well, he could do that too.

  “No, probably not, but if I recall correctly, I told Austin I’d use his mouth to come in. I don’t see why I should deprive myself of the pleasure of having both of you serve me until I get to that point.” Liam put the crop on the couch and unzipped his pants, pushing them down with his briefs and kicking them away. He was as hard as Austin, the playful spanking the perfect start to the morning. If they moved in with him, he could start every day off that way…but there was more to consider than that, of course.

  He sat on the couch and beckoned to Jay. “Crawl over here and take off my socks. Slowly, kissing my feet as you do it. Let me see some penitence from you, my gullible little pain slut.”

  Jay’s eyes shone at the use of his pet name from Liam, his bare chest rising and falling rapidly, his cock hardening. Good that they were all on the same page. “Yes, Sir.”

  “Austin, you get to start at the top and work down.” He pulled Austin closer and kissed him firmly, reassuringly, sensing that for the moment, at least, Austin was happy and relaxed.

  He was willing to label himself a sadist, but it was astonishing how disturbed he became when his subs were upset.

  Austin kissed him with an eagerness that would have been convincing even at the time Liam had still considered himself straight, one hand on Liam’s shoulder. It was a light touch, a gentle, tentative curl of palm and fingers. Liam found it more arousing than he would have dreamed. At his feet, Jay had stripped off his socks and was leaning in to press his lips to the top of Liam’s right foot.

  Austin began to pull away, and Liam made a little growl of protest and put a hand around the back of his head to kiss him one more time. It turned into another half dozen kisses, but by the time it ended Liam was more willing to let Austin slide his mouth lower along his jaw and throat. “Such a good boy,” Liam said with a sigh.

  Austin rested a hand on his thigh and whispered, “Love you.”

  Liam didn’t care a bit about the fact that Austin hadn’t added Sir—perhaps he should have cared, but he didn’t, not right then. Not with Austin’s tongue sliding over his nipple and Austin’s hand moving slowly up his thigh toward his cock, brushing over his balls.

  Liam inhaled shakily as Jay crawled onto the couch. Not nearly enough penitence, but it was difficult to care when Jay was looking at him hopefully, leaning in for a kiss. In this instance Liam decided he’d take the contrition Jay couldn’t seem to freely give. He grabbed on to Jay’s long hair and kissed him hard, pleased when Jay whimpered into the kiss and clung to him. Oh yes, he was the one in charge here, no forgetting it.

  He took his time kissing Jay as roughly as he cared to while Austin’s lips trailed down along his stomach toward his erect prick. “May I, Sir?” Austin asked, breath warm over Liam’s most sensitive skin, and in reply Liam ran a hand up Austin’s spine to the back of his neck and squeezed.

  It was a heady feeling, these two men striving in their different ways to please him and getting as much out of their efforts as Liam was. Such a perfect match of needs, Liam thought hazily as Austin’s tongue teased the head of his cock, just the way Liam had taught him. I want to control them, hurt them, and they want to obey me and be hurt. So fucking simple.

  He kept his hand on Austin’s neck, not holding him down but letting Austin feel its weight. Austin liked the reminder that Liam was in charge, and Liam loved caressing that smooth expanse of skin, with Austin’s fair hair tickling the back of his hand if he moved it higher.

  He drew back from Jay’s kiss, ignoring the resulting pout, and slid his free hand inside Jay’s sleep pants, mindful of bruised, swollen skin, but not to the point of denying himself this touch. Jay’s arse was slick with the arnica cream Austin had evidently applied with a lavish hand, and that made it easy for Liam to slide his fingertips over the tender, punished flesh.

  Jay’s face flushed hotly, his eyes widening, his breath quickening with what Liam knew was desire, not discomfort. Well, maybe some discomfort, but for Jay the lines between sexual pleasure and pain were blurred until there was no black or white, only gray. “Sir! Oh God, please.”

  “Painful?” Liam inquired with an entirely fake solicitude as he thrust up into the waiting warmth of Austin’s mouth, needing to feel his cock surrounded by that soft, wet suction. He dragged his nails lightly across Jay’s arse. “Should I stop?”

  “No! No, Sir. It’s good.” Jay’s breathing was ragged as Liam teased his sore, bruised skin. “Maybe too good.”

  “Hm?” Liam slid his hand around to fondle Jay’s cock. Jay’s breath caught, and he bit his lip in a way that was utterly endearing and ridiculously sexy at the same time. “I see. You’d like to come, would you?” That shouldn’t be surprising, as he hadn’t been allowed to the night before.

  “Yes, Sir.” Jay’s voice was tiny, and his prick was very hard in Liam’s grip, the only part of him unyielding.

  Liam tugged at Jay’s balls until Jay whined. “All right.”

  Jay’s eyes, which had been half-closed, flew open. His lips were parted, soft, vulnerable.

  Austin’s mouth tightened around Liam’s cock, sucked harder, and Liam felt himself teetering on the edge of release sooner than he’d expected. But he didn’t need to wait. He gripped the back of Austin’s neck, thrust upward into his mouth, and came, hips jerking and his other hand surely too rough on Jay’s cock.

  He loved how Austin swallowed around him, how Jay came in the grip of his hand and slicked his fingers with warm fluid. The sheer relief of coming was incredible.

  Austin didn’t pull away, the gentle lapping of his tongue easing Liam down from his climax. When even that soft caress became too much, he tugged at Austin’s hair and felt a twinge of satisfaction when Austin immediately straightened, his eyes lowered submissively, his cheeks pink.

  Liam held out his wet hand. “Clean me,” he ordered without getting specific, curious as to what they’d do. Strip off and use their sleep pants? Go for the porn movie option and lick it?

  Not for the first time, they surprised him. Austin moved to cup Liam’s hand in both of his, containing any drips, and Jay left the room, hurrying, tugging up his sleep pants as he went. He was gone less than thirty seconds, returning with a cereal bowl filled with water and a paper towel.

  Liam held back a grin. Austin looked so solemn, his eyes still lowered, his erection evident through the pants he’d pulled up after his spanking, a mute plea for release that Liam intended to listen to.

  He let Jay clean his hand with a soaked piece of paper towel, noting with approval how careful Jay was, drawing out the task so that it became sensual, wrapping the paper around each finger in turn, then drawing it away slowly. Jay set the bowl and paper on the coffee table, then turned back to Liam. He put his hands under Austin’s, connecting them all, and pressed a kiss onto Liam’s palm, his tongue flicking out boldly. Then he captured one of Liam’s fingers in his mouth and sucked it, the sensation sending a shiver of desire through Liam. His mind didn’t seem to care that his body wasn’t capable of rousing again this soon.

  Austin bent his head too, kissing Liam’s wrist, the brush of his lips fervent, appealing.

  “God, you two are so fucking perfect,” Liam said, letting his pride in them show in his voice.

  Austin looked up. “So are you, Sir.”

  Jay nodded. “Perfect for us.”

  Liam opened his mouth to demur but changed his mind. The hell with modesty, never a favorite virtue of his. He’d trained them. He’d given them structure and release. He was proud of them and himself.

  “Let’s finish this,” he said. “Austin, lose the pajamas and sit on my lap. Jay, use your mouth on him. Hands behind your back. I want to see what you’re doing, so tuck your hair back too.”

  With Austin in his lap, using Liam’s shoulder as a pillow, and Jay on his knees
, Liam had the perfect view of Austin’s cock sliding between Jay’s lips. His arms wrapped around Austin, giving Austin the illusion of being in bondage, he could feel Austin’s reactions as if they were his own, each shiver, each arch upward, each gasped-for breath.

  He almost found himself wishing he hadn’t already come, that instead he was still hard and inside the hot, tempting clench of Austin’s body. Christ, it would have felt so good. He’d have to remember the idea for a future session. Now he pressed his nose into Austin’s hair and inhaled the scent of him, felt as well as heard the whimper when Austin tried to hold off.

  “So lovely,” Liam murmured into Austin’s ear. “I love that you’re waiting, wanting to please me. Do you have any idea how amazing you are?”

  Austin didn’t reply, but he reached up with one hand and grabbed on to Liam’s wrist. Jay’s eyes were closed, cheeks hollowing with every suck.

  “Come now,” Liam said, and Austin obeyed, his body jerking in Liam’s arms as Jay swallowed him down. He was perfect, beautiful, exactly what Liam wanted.

  When he finally relaxed, still draped over Liam, he rubbed his hand along Liam’s arm in gratitude. “Thank you, Sir.”

  “You’re welcome,” Liam said. “You deserved it. You’ve been so willing to please me.” He ran his hands over Austin’s chest, marveling at how natural it felt now after a lifetime of believing he was heterosexual. He accepted that he was bisexual, but he still didn’t find any men but Jay or Austin attractive. For all he knew, the fact that he wanted them sexually was some offshoot of their Dom/sub relationship—and that didn’t trouble him in the slightest.

  Jay wiped the corner of his mouth and grinned at them. “This was different.”