Florentine

by Mazarin Stone

  Alex sucks in a quick breath of surprise, and his back arches as he lifts his head off his hands, but otherwise he doesn’t seem distressed or upset by the sensation. It might take him a bit more warm-up to decide how he feels.

  “Color?” Mahiro asks and gathers up the fall again.

  “Green. Sir.”

  Mahiro drops the flogger again in the same place, letting gravity do most of the work for him and not adding much momentum to the blow. Alex twitches this time and twists to look over his shoulder to watch.

  “See how pretty your skin is?” Mahiro asks and shifts to the left cheek before moving up over his back. The skin pinks up so beautifully, going from alabaster white to flushed rose after very few strikes. Alex breathes out low, rumbling groans every time the flogger lands, each utterance hitting Mahiro right below the belt in the best way. The room is so quiet otherwise, but for the sound of the flogger striking Alex’s back again and again and sliding through Mahiro’s hands as he readies it for another, his breathing a counterpoint to the motions of his arms. His vision is completely focused on Alex’s body, the toss of his hair as he takes another soft blow, the twitch of his ass around the plug. As Mahiro steps back to give him a small reprieve, Alex lifts his upper body to lean on his elbows, his forehead dropped to his clasped hands, cheeks pink, back heaving.

  Mahiro can see sweat starting to form at the nape of his neck. He wants to lick it off.

  “You’re doing well, my beautiful boy,” Mahiro hums and runs his hand possessively over Alex’s rear before tapping the plug lightly.

  “Oh,” Alex says, then drops his head back down to his hands. “I’m… this is really. I….” He trails off, apparently unable to finish his thought. Mahiro’s inner self purrs satisfaction, and he practically struts around the bench until he’s right in front of Alex’s face.

  “Look at me, lovely,” he says, and Alex lifts wide, lust-drunk eyes to Mahiro’s face. “You’ve been such a good boy, and it’s time for your reward now. Would you like that?” Alex nods, and Mahiro lets it pass for now, accepting that the intensity of a first flogging might leave him just a bit too mind-blown for a proper response.

  Mahiro helps him up from the bench and directs him to kneel at the end of the lounge. Mahiro strips his pants off in one fluid motion before climbing up in front of him and leaning back on his elbows, arranging himself so Alex is now kneeling between his thighs. They’re both hard, Alex wet and leaking and almost vibrating with arousal, and Mahiro feels a surge of want so strong his cock flexes with it.

  “Suck me,” he demands. “Open that lovely mouth and let me fuck it. Make me come.”

  Alex whimpers and runs his hands up Mahiro’s thighs, his eyes intent on Mahiro’s cock. “What am I allowed to do to you?” he asks and leans down to give a soft kitten lick to the head. Mahiro breathes in quickly through his nose, trying to remind himself that control is as critical now for him as it is for Alex.

  “Anything. Just no touching yourself. You only come when I say. Understood?”

  Alex nods quickly and bends back to Mahiro’s cock, dragging his lips up the shaft, licking around the head, and then taking him down in one swift move. Mahiro gasps at the wet heat of his mouth, the suction as he draws back, and the slide of his lips down the sensitive skin. Alex is good at this, incredibly so, and Mahiro uses the grip on his hair to guide Alex’s mouth back down until he can feel his cock pushed toward the back of his throat, testing to see how good he really is.

  “Breathe and swallow,” Mahiro murmurs, one hand curled around the back of Alex’s skull. He can feel Alex trying to swallow around the head of his cock, and when Alex gags, Mahiro lets go. Alex pulls off with a gasp. “Good job, sweetheart. Can you try again?”

  Alex nods. “Yes, sir,” he rasps and dives back in. He sucks Mahiro’s cock all the way down, his nose almost buried in the small thatch of Mahiro’s pubic hair. Mahiro thrusts just slightly, enough to feel the head of his cock press into the back of Alex’s throat for a heart-stopping moment before Alex is pulling back off, coughing. That’s enough of that for now, but Mahiro adds a bit of training to his mental to-do list.

  “So lovely,” Mahiro says and closes his eyes and tilts his head back, the thrum of arousal burning through him. He can feel Alex shift position and his arm bumps Mahiro’s thigh, and he bends back down to suckle lightly at the head of Mahiro’s cock. He hitches a quick gasp against Mahiro’s skin, and Mahiro tenses and opens his eyes.

  To see Alex quickly move his hand back to a position next to Mahiro’s thigh.

  “Were you just touching yourself?” Mahiro asks, the warning clear in his voice.

  Alex doesn’t say anything, just continues to kiss and lick at Mahiro’s cock, and adds deft fingers on Mahiro’s balls to the sensation.

  Mahiro pauses. He knows Alex was just touching himself, against explicit instructions. He’s going to have to do something about it.

  “Alex,” he snaps and grabs Alex by the chin to lift him off Mahiro’s cock. “I asked you a question.”

  Alex stares at him, panic clear in his eyes. “Um. Yes. Sir. I’m so sorry, sir, I was just so turned on, and sucking you felt so good, and I thought….”

  Mahiro groans internally. Fucking hell, he’s going to have to punish him now, and he really, really doesn’t want to. He scoots back, away from Alex’s hands, and stands.

  “I told you not to touch yourself, didn’t I?” he says.

  Alex is still kneeling, eyes wide and shoulders tense. “Yes. I’m sorry. Can we please keep going? I won’t do it again, I promise.”

  “No, Alex. You deliberately broke one of the rules I set for tonight.” Mahiro walks to the cabinet, retrieves his riding crop, and walks back over to the lounge. Alex watches him carefully.

  “You’ll get five strokes for your disobedience,” Mahiro says. “Come and lay over my lap. Now.” Mahiro sits down, and Alex, after a moment’s hesitation, arranges himself over Mahiro’s lap. “Color?” Mahiro asks, because this isn’t at all what Alex expected, he’s sure, and he needs to know everything is still okay.

  “Green,” Alex whispers, and Mahiro can feel him trembling. He raises the crop and brings it down in a half-powered snap against Alex’s backside, careful that the leather tongue strikes only the fleshy part of Alex’s ass and doesn’t hit the plug at all. Alex jumps under his hands and hisses.

  “How many was that?” Mahiro asks him.

  “One.”

  “One what?”

  “One, sir,” Alex grits out.

  “Count the rest, then,” Mahiro says, and slowly, carefully, gives him four more, Alex gasping out the count after each one. Each crack of the crop across his skin echoes in Mahiro’s ears, and he watches the skin turn red. After three, Alex whimpers audibly but still calls green when Mahiro asks. After five, Mahiro drops the crop and helps Alex stand up. To his astonishment, there are tears sparkling in the corners of his eyes.

  “You did well, my beauty,” Mahiro says and brings Alex’s head to his shoulder, hugging him and rubbing the back of his head. “I know you didn’t mean to disappoint me. It’s okay. You’ll do so much better next time.”

  Alex wraps his arms around Mahiro’s waist and slides to his knees. He buries his face against Mahiro’s stomach, tears hot against Mahiro’s skin. “I’m so sorry, sir,” he chatters out. “I’m so sorry.”

  Mahiro pauses, all residual arousal draining from him in an instant. Alex sounds like he’s in real, significant distress. Has he hit subdrop already? Was the punishment too much after all? Regardless, all play is over for tonight. Mahiro needs to talk to him.

  “Let’s get you into the bath, okay?” he says and guides Alex from the floor and into the bathroom. He turns on the water and leads Alex to sit on the little stool until the bath is ready. Alex looks at the floor, sniffling occasionally, and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. Mahiro sends him off to the toilet room so he can remove the plug and have a little privacy, and when he comes back out, Mahiro t
urns off the water.

  “Come on, in with you,” Mahiro says quietly and helps Alex to settle in. He’s added some bath oil to the warm water, but Alex still flinches when his ass hits the surface.

  “Take it easy, okay? I didn’t leave any bruises or anything, I promise. It’s just tender after flogging too. Let’s soak your muscles and then I’ll rub you down.” Mahiro goes to pass his hand through Alex’s hair, but Alex turns his face away and looks at the wall. Mahiro’s heart drops to his stomach as he pulls his hand back.

  “Alex, please talk to me. I know this was your first time with something like this, but I need to know how you feel. If you’re that upset, then something isn’t working right. I would have stopped immediately if I had known.”

  Alex sighs. “No, it’s not that. I just didn’t mean to mess up, and I didn’t want to upset you and ruin the night. You’re doing so much for me, teaching me, and I didn’t take what you said as seriously as I should have, I guess.”

  Oh. Oh dear. “I told you what would happen, and I asked you if you were okay to continue. Why did you say it was okay if it wasn’t?”

  Alex swirls his hands through the water, not looking at Mahiro at all. “I don’t know,” he says. “I just thought you’d be mad, maybe. Or make me leave. I’ve read some Doms get rid of subs for safewording. I thought I could handle it. I guess not.”

  “Alex, give me your hand, please,” Mahiro says, and Alex does, with a cautious glance from under his eyelashes. Mahiro threads their fingers together, Alex’s warm and wet from the bath. He wraps his other hand around their fingers and holds it there.

  “I will never, ever be mad at you for asking me to slow down or safewording. Those things are there to protect you, physically and emotionally. If you’re not feeling up to something, or even just want me to explain it better, I need to know that, and I will always abide by your rules in this way.” Alex nods, and Mahiro leans forward so he can rest his elbows on the side of the bath, as close as he can get to Alex without climbing in with him. “Your submission is a gift to me, and it’s something I value. Punishment isn’t easy, but it teaches discipline, which in turn helps you find the release you need. It’s part of what we do, and many people find it arousing. I expect obedience and I will have it, but not at the expense of your well-being. It’s part of my job to take care of you.”

  Alex’s lips twist in an unhappy pout, and Mahiro presses their hands against his cheek. “Come on. Let’s get you fixed up, okay? I’m still holding a coupon for a reward you’re owed, you know.”

  That, at least, gets a smile out of him as he clambers over the side of the tub and Mahiro dries him off. He smooths some aloe over the reddened skin of his back and rear and leads him out to the playroom, where Mahiro wraps him up in a soft blanket and brings him to sit carefully between Mahiro’s knees on the sofa, leaning back against Mahiro’s chest. He’s still not speaking much, and Mahiro’s worried he’s crashing too hard.

  “Tell me how you’re feeling, please,” Mahiro whispers. “I can’t help you if I don’t know.”

  “I’m just mad at myself, that’s all,” Alex says and shifts until he’s turned on his hip, his cheek against Mahiro’s chest. “I know I can be perfect. It’s my own fault this happened.”

  Mahiro rubs his fingertips across the nape of Alex’s neck. “Maybe a little bit. But I’ll back off next time, maybe give you only one thing new to focus on.”

  “Okay,” Alex says, and Mahiro can hear the slightest bit of reluctance tint his voice. Mahiro can feel a strange sort of fear twist its way into his gut.

  What if he pushed him too far?

  MAHIRO CAN’T sleep that night, nor the next. He starts and erases half a dozen texts to Alex, all centered around the one question he wants to ask: Are you okay? and avoiding the one he is terrified to know the answer to: Will you come back? But by Sunday afternoon his concern for Alex’s well-being overrides any other fears and he texts him a simple:

  You doing ok? I’m a little worried.

  Because he is. Alex left Friday night after giving Mahiro a long hug, one that felt too much like a permanent farewell, and Mahiro paced the floors ever since, ignoring Adam’s concerned looks. He knows he shouldn’t have pushed someone so raw, so new, but Alex had wanted it, hadn’t he? Had craved a fuller experience. He’d done so well, too, right up until the moment he’d been so aroused that he’d broken and touched himself against Mahiro’s instructions.

  Maybe that was the problem, then. He’d been on an endorphin high from the flogging, and holding a plug, and sucking Mahiro off, which seemed to get him off even more. He hadn’t come all week. Maybe Mahiro had just overloaded his senses and he didn’t have any resistance built against that cascade of overlapping sensations.

  Mahiro should have known better. And of course Adam had warned him Alex could likely take a whole lot of pain in service to something he wanted, whether he liked it or not. In this case, not disappointing Mahiro.

  Mahiro attacks the floor in the playroom with the mop again. He’s had subs safeword out of intense scenes; he’s had subs completely disobey him because they loved being punished. Chris likes to rebel just to see what Mahiro will do to him this time, because none of it makes much of an actual impact on his behavior. A few have broken the rules and accepted their punishment and even sort of got off on handing him that power. But none of them have been quite as significantly upset about disappointing Mahiro as Alex has.

  His phone chimes from across the room, and Mahiro dives for it, flopping onto the lounge and reading Alex’s reply.

  1:43 p.m.—Alex

  I don’t know. I still feel bad.

  Oh shit.

  1:44 p.m.

  Meet me at Central Park, at Strawberry Fields. We need to talk. How fast can you be there?

  1:45 p.m.—Alex

  20 min. I will leave now.

  Mahiro abandons the mop and runs upstairs, throws on his shoes, grabs his wallet and keys, and catches a cab, which disgorges him on the west side of the park in the late-afternoon sunshine. He sprints across the park as quickly as he can, and when he arrives, he’s sweaty and gross and probably stinking of cleaning supplies and sweat, but he doesn’t care, because Alex is there, staring at the small stone set in the center of the walk that simply says “Imagine.”

  “Alex,” Mahiro pants. “Hi.”

  Alex turns, and oh, he looks so beautiful, the sun shining off his hair and kissing the tops of his shoulders. His smile is soft, but there’s a bit of sadness around his eyes.

  “Hi,” he says. “Are you okay? You look out of breath.”

  “Yeah, I, uh. I ran part of the way. Sorry.” Mahiro gulps down some air and motions Alex to a bench. He needs to get this over with. Alex’s mental health is the main concern now, not whatever stupid fear he has about Alex ending their arrangement. They sit down, watching the tourists drop flowers at the center stone. Mahiro catches his breath and tucks his feet up under him, heedless of whatever he might have run through on his way.

  “Alex,” he starts, then pauses. If this goes wrong, Alex will never come back again, and Mahiro is trying to prepare himself for it. “I’m worried you’re still in, uh. Subdrop.” He whispers the last word so some of the people milling around don’t hear it. “It’s from crashing out after all the endorphins you build up while we’re playing. But I think you’re also still upset about disappointing me, and maybe a little mad at me, and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t talk out everything you’re feeling.”

  Alex stops twiddling the edge of his T-shirt and looks up. “I’m not mad, Mahiro. I mean, maybe a tiny bit because seriously, that fucking hurt. But I brought it on myself.”

  Mahiro just sits and waits. He’ll get to the root of it, whatever it is that’s got him so unsettled.

  “I just. Um. I talked to Chris a little, and he gave me some breathing exercises to help center myself, and um. I think I realize now why I’m so unhappy.” He looks down, and Mahiro tries to ignore the buzzing
in his gut, because Alex is really dancing around the issue now, like he doesn’t want to admit what’s wrong, and Mahiro has a strange sense that he’s not going to like it.

  “It’s okay, Alex. I’ll understand, whatever it is. I promise.”

  Alex turns around on the bench to face Mahiro and tucks his feet up as well. “I didn’t expect to feel quite this way,” he says. “I knew, going in, that the power dynamics of these relationships are delicate. But I didn’t—” He stops and swallows. “I didn’t know I could want it this much,” he says, all in a rush and whispered like a secret. “I didn’t know I’d want to please you like I do, and I’m afraid.” Mahiro watches as a blush dusts the tops of his cheeks, and he looks down again, fiddling with the edge of his shirt.

  Mahiro’s hands are instantly at his mouth, because he’s utterly floored by what he’s just heard. Alex wants him, has crossed that line between just dabbling and desiring, and Mahiro wants to scream and punch the air and dance a stupid dance right there in the middle of Central Park with half the tourist population of New York watching him because he’s about to explode with happiness.

  But he doesn’t. He just leans forward and presses his forehead to Alex’s, tastes the air he’s breathing.

  “You don’t have to be afraid, my beauty. I’m right here with you,” he whispers and wraps him in his arms.

  Chapter 6

  ALEX WANTS to kiss him.

  Mahiro’s forehead is pressed to his, his arms circling Alex’s shoulders, his lips a breath away, and Alex wants to kiss him. Wants to know if the taste of his mouth, the caress of his tongue will bring out the same shuddering moans as Mahiro’s does to him, if the heat of his body is enough to satisfy him. Mahiro tilts his head until their cheeks are brushing against each other, skin a gentle slip of silk on silk, Mahiro’s hair tickling Alex’s nose.

  God, he wants.

  “Will you come to me tonight?” Mahiro whispers in his ear. “Will you, please? I think… I think I need this too.” He punctuates his request by pulling back just enough to look Alex in the eye, shy and hopeful, and touches Alex’s lips with his fingertips.