Room at the Top (24 page)

Silence, thick with questions. He smiled. Good.

Fitting the blindfolds was an exercise in willpower. He wanted to stroke and tug at Jay’s silky hair, touch his mouth to the bite mark. Wanted to run his hand over Austin’s back to the upward curve of his arse and push his fingers into the cleft between the cheeks and feel the buried heat. He settled for fitting the blindfolds around their heads with meticulous care.

“I want silence for this. It won’t be easy, but I will punish you for any failures. I’m not interested in excuses, apologies, or explanations. Each sound will count. Keep track of them if you like, but my tally is the one we’ll be using.”

He could see Jay fighting not to speak, to protest. It was amusing, really, how much of a struggle keeping quiet was for him.

Well, perhaps a distraction was in order.

He took a finger of ginger from the bowl and shook it free of water. The pale golden root was carved smooth, the fibers shining wetly. He fitted his fingers into the groove at the base and sat down on the bed behind Jay.

“I’m going to put a small piece of ginger inside each of you. It’s cut into the shape of a plug, so it’s easy enough for you to hold it in place. After a very short while, you won’t want to, but I can assure you that despite how it might feel, it’s not hurting you.”

He parted the cheeks of Jay’s arse and ran the smooth head of the ginger down to its goal. It slid home easily enough, and he waited until the muscles contracted, holding it where it needed to be.

Jay shifted uneasily but stayed quiet. “Good boy,” Liam said and allowed himself one kiss, just one, against the bruised, bitten skin of Jay’s shoulder.

Next he moved to Austin, who was completely unmoving and silent but fully erect now. The young man had an amazing ability to be still, almost like a statue. When Liam pushed the plug of carved ginger inside him, he trembled, and Liam indulged himself in watching him, rapt, as his cock twitched and a bead of clear fluid welled from the tip. He allowed himself to wonder what it would be like to lick across it and taste Austin properly.

He accepted that at some point he would find out. Last week with Jay had made that inevitable.

Jay was tense now as the ginger began to create its heat inside him. Liam didn’t know from personal experience what it felt like, but he had a perfectly reasonable imagination and could make guesses based on using it on other subs in the past. The longer it was left inside, in contact with sensitive tissue, the burn would become more intense until the sub was desperate to get it out.

There was little Liam enjoyed as much as watching a sub come to a fresh realization, and even with Jay’s and Austin’s expressions obscured by blindfolds, it was easy to see the significance of their situation was beginning to sink in. Now that they couldn’t see him, Liam was free to surprise them however he liked, but for now he let the ginger do its work.

Jay being Jay, he seemed incapable of staying still. His hips shifted; his thigh muscles tensed and relaxed and tensed again. He was obviously trying to keep his arms from moving, knowing that movement on his part would cause Austin to move as well. It was so representative of the two of them and their relationship that it made Liam smile.

Austin, on the other hand, wasn’t moving, unless Liam counted the way his cock had now produced enough fluid that a bead of it was slowly heading toward the mattress. No surprise there. Liam knew Austin in particular would get off on this scenario. Jay would derive more pleasure from being punished for disobeying the order to be silent.

“I’m sure it’s beginning to feel very uncomfortable by now,” Liam told them. He walked around to Jay’s side of the bed and jostled the ginger plug a bit. Jay reacted by squeaking slightly. “Quiet.”

Well, that was one for Jay.

He slid the plug out and back in a few times, the action itself probably exquisitely uncomfortable as the fibrous root rubbed against all that heated flesh, not to mention the release of more of the watery juice. Some had found its way into a small nick on Liam’s finger as he’d peeled the root, and it’d stung fiercely.

He was enjoying this: the quiet air of the room disturbed only by the increasingly heavy breathing from both of them. Even Austin was starting to show visible discomfort in his face, his mouth tight, though his body was still, motionless.

“You’re both doing so well for me.” Surprisingly the words of praise brought a moan from Austin, the sound one not of pain but pleasure, as if he’d been thirsty for hours and been given cool water to drink.

Liam smiled, unseen, and ghosted his hand down Austin’s back, never touching skin, but close enough to it that his palm felt the heat radiating off Austin.

Time to cool them down.

He did his best to retrieve the ice quietly; this would be more fun if he didn’t give it away. The cubes had been out of the freezer long enough that they’d started to melt, so they were slippery. It made Liam think of Popsicles, and wonder, not for the first time, if he’d enjoy sliding a Popsicle inside a sub’s arse. They’d have to try that at some point. Jay in particular would be delightful under such circumstances. Maybe he could make them lick each other clean of all the sticky mess leaking out as the Popsicle melted, their bodies curved head to tail, a living yin-yang symbol.

For now Liam picked up one ice cube and held it over Austin’s ear, waiting for a droplet to fall and the inevitable reaction. When the icy drip touched skin, Austin flinched, and his breathing sped up. Liam let a second drop fall, then moved the ice cube to Austin’s chest and rubbed it over a nipple. He loved the way Austin gasped, and how his nipple tightened at the contact. He loved watching Jay’s reaction to Austin’s reaction too. They were so in tune with each other that something done to one was nearly done to the other as well.

Jay was somehow managing to stay mostly still and to strain toward Austin at the same time. Their erections jutted out from their bodies and were only a few inches apart—significant movement on either of their parts would bring them into contact, which Liam wanted to avoid for now. Later he thought he’d like to see them rubbing against each other, even coming on each other’s skin.

Hmm. To give Austin more or to give some attention to Jay
? He decided to walk to the other side of the bed and, without hesitating, directed a line of melting ice drops down the length of Jay’s body, starting with his temple and ending at his toes. Jay twitched nearly every time a drip of water hit him, and the one that hit his cock elicited a squeal.

“That’s two now,” Liam said reprovingly, and Jay dug his teeth into his lower lip.

Liam wrapped his fist around the ice cube he was holding until his skin hurt, then swapped the cube to the other hand and wrapped his icy fingers around Jay’s cock without warning. Jay’s cock jumped in his hand.

A hiss of breath through gritted teeth. Did that count as a sound? Liam decided to give Jay that one. He held on, taking the heat from Jay’s skin to warm his palm, then reached around and caressed Jay’s plugged, hot hole with the remnants of the ice in his free hand. Fragments of ice slid down, destined to melt on the back of Jay’s balls and his thighs. Harmless pieces of frozen water, but from the violent jerk Jay gave, they might as well have been thorns or flames. Jay shuddered and cried out, a harsh, disbelieving cry that sounded louder than it was after the enforced silence.

Liam sighed. “Oh dear. You were doing so well too, Jay.”

Jay moved his head on the pillow, though Liam couldn’t tell if it was meant to be a yes or a no. He was squirming now, small, involuntary shivers as he endured the constant burn of the ginger and the suspense of never knowing when or where the ice would be used on him.

“Austin, we had a recent phone conversation in which you were less than polite. I believe we agreed a whipping was in order to remind you that when you speak to me, it’s important to be respectful. I think it’s a lesson Jay would benefit from too.”

Jay stopped wriggling at that.

“And of course, both of you have earned a little something for not being perfectly quiet. It’s really getting difficult to keep track of all these transgressions. Luckily I have an excellent memory. Three for Jay, one for Austin. Not bad, but far from perfect.”

He went to get what he wanted from the chest of drawers by the wall. A long, heavy ruler that would leave wide, dark stripes, and a five-stranded flogger that would blur the lines the ruler had left. As he turned with them in his hand, his breath caught. God, he was glad they were still blindfolded so they couldn’t see the open longing on his face. He was achingly hard, greedily taking in the picture they made.

Their faces were close enough that they had to be able to feel each other’s breath. Giving way to an impulse he couldn’t explain, he walked to the end of the bed and said, “I want to see you kiss before I remove your blindfolds. I don’t expect to see any other contact.”

Was he being cruel or kind? He couldn’t decide, but he felt that it mattered. He was going to take off their blindfolds when they were whipped so they could watch each other suffer, and yes, that was cruel, no doubt about it. But a kiss? If he’d asked them if they’d wanted to kiss, they’d have said they did, he was sure of it. However, he wasn’t doing this for them. It was just for him. Maybe that was all that counted.

For a moment, neither of them moved; then Austin was the first to obey, jutting his chin out until his lips collided with Jay’s cheek. Jay shifted and their mouths met. Jay made a soft, longing sound and pressed forward into the kiss. Liam let it go on longer than he probably should have. It was hard to tell them to end it when he was enjoying the sight of it so much. “Stop, now,” he said finally. “And back to where you were.”

It pleased him that they broke the kiss without hesitation, each of them carefully adjusting his position until it matched the original.

“The ginger’s subtle in some ways. You could walk around, your arses plugged with it, and no one would ever know it was there, though you certainly would. I believe it was once used as a way to get a tired horse to look lively for a buyer, but it’s a very traditional tool for this kind of use too. Maybe next time, I’ll reverse it and the ice can go deep inside you and the ginger can be applied externally. It would feel interesting rubbed over your cocks, I imagine. Did you say something, Jay? Let’s hope not.”

One final, approving look at them and he slipped off their blindfolds, leaving them to blink at each other, exchange smiles, then glance at him out of the corners of their eyes.

He shook his head. “For this, I want you watching each other. You like that usually, but this close, it’s going to feel a little more intimate. I’ll allow you to make some noise, but I don’t think I want you to speak. You may move too, as much as you like.”

That wasn’t merciful; it would mean those hard cocks would brush and nudge each other, a dozen tantalizing contacts distracting them from the continuing burn deep inside and the fresh pain he’d be applying, stroke by stroke. Sadly for them, it wouldn’t be long until what had started out as a distraction became another layer of their ordeal. Would they try to keep from touching or fight to get closer?

He picked up the ruler and slapped it against his palm just for the sound effect.

“Since you earned three to Austin’s one, let’s deal with those first, Jay.” Jay took full advantage of the change in his standing orders, whimpering and arching his ass, blatantly begging for his punishment.

There was nothing like delivering well-deserved blows to an eager sub, especially when he knew there was no need to hold back. It didn’t mean Liam wouldn’t control the amount of force he used; another thing he loved about this was the control it required, the careful measurement of strength and speed.

The first blow wasn’t as hard as the subsequent ones would be, but that didn’t mean it was gentle. The ruler made a faint whistling sound as it traveled through the air, and a solid smack as it hit Jay’s arse cheek. Jay yelped and instinctively jerked his hips forward, which brought his cock into contact with Austin’s. Austin moaned and gave Liam a desperate, needy look.

“That’s one,” Liam said and quickly delivered the second before Jay could take time to prepare himself.

This blow was quite a bit harder than the first. The sound Jay made as it struck was more of a shout, and he twisted his body, rocking his hips and cock against Austin’s not just once but repeatedly. He tilted his chin up and caught Austin’s lips with his.

Liam let the ruler rest against Jay’s arse, a firm pressure, a wordless rebuke. He’d told them they could move, but another kiss? He didn’t think so. Jay moved his head a fraction so his lips weren’t touching Austin, and Austin’s eyes slid closed as if the loss of the kiss had hurt.

“Jay, do that again, and I’ll give Austin double what you’re getting. Austin, open your eyes.”

Jay made a protesting sound but had the sense not to argue. Austin opened his eyes and fixed his gaze obediently on Jay. Liam saw that both of them were showing more of a reaction to the ginger now, their arses flexing, their legs moving restlessly.

“Last one, Jay.” He made it count, watching, fascinated, as the ruler swept down and struck. There was always a gap between contact and the awareness of pain as the body processed the physical changes caused by a hard object striking soft flesh at speed. The pain was inescapable after the blow had been delivered, but for a moment, Jay made no sound, though he had to be aware that—oh, there it was. Jay cried out, a tear trickling down his cheek as he screwed his eyes tight, giving the gathering moisture nowhere to go but out, his face contorted, his mouth hanging open.

He was stunning in that moment, but Liam’s gaze flicked to Austin’s face. Austin was so open, so exposed when he was face-to-face with Jay suffering. His expression hid none of his arousal, and the murmured sound he made was one of encouragement, not sympathy.

Jay didn’t want sympathy, and Austin and Liam both knew it. Jay wanted this precisely delivered pain. He’d have begged for more if Liam had allowed it, but he wasn’t going to get it for the asking.