Free Loyalties by Rachel Haimowitz, Heidi Belleau Page A

told him not to neglect his chores, he picked up his sponge again and he picked up the stubborn pot and resumed scrubbing, the motion of his shaking hands across the bottom of the pot following the rhythm of Nikolai’s strokes inside him.
    Dougie was a good boy. He kept on washing even when Nikolai grabbed his cock and jerked him hard, bringing him off so fast his head spun and he had to cling to the counter’s edge just to stay upright so Nikolai could continue chasing his own pleasure inside Dougie’s abused ass. And Dougie held still for that, even through post-orgasm sensitivity that set his teeth on edge every time Nikolai’s cock drove over his prostate—a pleasure so raw, so far past good it might as well have been the punishment he’d been begging for.
    Dougie was a good boy. When Nikolai finished with him, filled him with seed and plugged him up again and told him to clean up the mess he’d made, Dougie knew he wouldn’t be needing the sponge.
    Dougie was a good boy. He licked his master’s cock clean, and then he turned and did the same to the cupboard doors, lapping up his own dripping semen with a happy, sated hum.
    Dougie was a good boy. He knew that his master hadn’t punished him upstairs, even though he’d deserved it, because it was only through denial that he’d learned the value of that punishment.
    A reminder of who was in charge. Who was owner, who was owned. Who did the thinking and planning and worrying, and who accepted his fate with dignity and humility.
    Yes, Dougie had forgotten that. Been bad. But Nikolai had guided him in ways he hadn’t even begun to be able to see, and now he was back on steady ground and a good boy again, and Nikolai had rewarded him with punishment and pleasure, had given him what he’d needed and then what he’d wanted, and this time when Nikolai had finished with him and left him alone with Jeremy again, Dougie didn’t mind, not even a little.
    Because Dougie was a good boy. And he’d stay a good boy, and one day Nikolai would come back for him and keep him and love him forever.

Mat was eating an austere lunch of toast and jelly and applesauce—but hey, solid foods, big step in the right direction—when he heard the key in the lock of his door. He put down his spoon. Shucked off his shorts and draped them over the back of his chair.
    By the time the door opened, he was on his knees in front of it, legs spread and palms up, waiting.
    This time, it wasn’t Roger who came through the door, not that Mat had ever thought it would be. Not this time.
    This time, it was Nikolai.
    It couldn’t have been anybody else, of course, because it was time , and Nikolai was never early and he was never late for anything.
    Right on time.
    “You’ve decided to live.”
    Mat looked up into Nikolai’s eyes, giving him a hard stare to prove he still had what Nikolai wanted, that Nikolai hadn’t broken Mat, but merely tamed him. “Yes,” he said. Not Yes, sir or Yes, Master . Just Yes.
    Mat would obey, but he wouldn’t cower.
    Obey, and bide his time, but Nikolai didn’t need to know the second part. Or maybe he already knew the second part, but thought he could still come out on top in the end.
    Yes, Mat was done underestimating Nikolai. But Nikolai had always underestimated Mat, and that would be his downfall. All in good time.
    “I’m ready to do what you want. I’m ready to be who you want.”
    Nikolai nodded, not smiling, not showing any emotion at all, not even victory. Just acknowledgment. “Let’s begin, then.”
    You and me. You versus me.
    Mat nodded, too. “Yes, let’s.”

Bookended
    Giving an Inch (Professor’s Rule, #1), with Amelia Gormley
    Apple Polisher (Rear Entrance Video, #1)
    With Violetta Vane :
    Mark of the Gladiator
    Galway Bound
    The Druid Stone
    The War at the End of the World
    Hawaiian Gothic
    “Salting the Earth,” a short story in the anthology Like It or Not
    Cruce de Caminos
    Harm Reduction
    The Saturnalia Effect

    Power Play: