Sevastyan
They ate breakfast, the three of them, in the kitchen.
Ellisandre had already left in the early hours of the morning.
With Alexi coming, they were back to protocol: Master at the table and slaves on the floor.
With their injuries, it was hazardous to do a normal kneel.
Sevastyan had Lisa and Rei stay on their hands and knees.
He fed them from his plate, holding morsels in his palm and leaning down to feed one and then the other as he worked his way through the meal.
It required time, but it was worth the quiet easing back into their roles.
He took their permission to speak away, leaving them only the option of silently approaching his feet and waiting.
Cuddling and affection seeking was left open for both of them, both towards him and each other.
Instead of giving Rei crutches, he left him to crawl or carried him. The crutches stayed in the closet.
Rei and Lisa spent hours curled up on the floor at his feet in the pile of blankets and pillows, sleeping.
While they rested and healed, Sevastyan worked on something different: Dirk.
Even if his own wound itched and the ache of the bruises lingered, now that the drugs were long gone from his system and he’d had a blood infusion, he was nowhere near as injured as Rei and Lisa, and merely waiting was not something he could tolerate.
Nor could he afford to hesitate. While his body rested, his mind worked.
There was an outline of a plan in him, one that lent itself well to what was coming. He wrote messages, took calls, and ordered jewelry from one of his storage vaults. When there remained nothing more to do, he closed his eyes and let himself sleep.
Whispers woke him.
“You have to ask.” That was Rei.
Lisa’s voice responded, miserable and low. “Don’t want to.”
“It’s the whole point.” Rei’s tone was anxious and breathy. “Don’t hold it.”
“You could help me.”
“You know I can’t,” Rei retorted. “That’s . . . that’s . . .”
“Defeats the whole point, I know,” Lisa muttered.
Time to interrupt. The anxiety already spiraling between the two had soared too high. “I can always bind and muzzle Rei too, Lisa, if that will make it easier on you.”
“No,” Lisa snapped. “This isn’t about him.”
“And you’re making it about him.” Sevastyan sat up. “Neither of you are supposed to be speaking. Do you need the facilities?”
Lisa nodded miserably.
Sevastyan stood and leaned down, pulling Lisa to his feet, careful of his injured thigh. Lisa went with Sevastyan’s lead, eyes wide. Sevastyan picked him up, an arm under Lisa’s rear. “Believe me, there is nothing about the human body and fluids I haven’t seen.” He moved towards the bathroom.
Lisa was mute by way of humiliation instead of submission when they were finished.
He tried to pull away and curl up on the floor apart from both Rei and Sevastyan when they returned to the living room.
That was not going to happen. Sevastyan brought Lisa with him, forcing the other man to lie with him on the couch, his leg thrown over Sevastyan’s own, and his head on Sevastyan’s shoulder, his back against the cushions.
It trapped Lisa and kept him close. Then he ignored the slave, going back to reading a writeup about an upcoming auction in Brazil.
In time, as Sevastyan had hoped, Lisa softened, exhaustion and pain breaking him down and making him rest against Sevastyan.
Rei stayed close, leaning against the side of the couch from his place on the floor.
Now and then Sevastyan dropped his hand and stroked Rei’s cheek or played with his hair.
He didn’t deserve the pleased smile Rei shot him each time.
But he treasured them anyway, smiling back and tracing the arch of Rei’s neck with his finger, just to see him lift his chin and his eyes slide shut, enjoying the touch.