Florentine

by Mazarin Stone

  “Did you stretch like I asked?” he says.

  “Yes, sir. I stretched most of the week, and today I got to your neighborhood early and did a few things in the park across the street.” Alex says this primly, without any shame whatsoever, as if stretching into splits or catching his foot behind his head in a modified arabesque is what everyone in New York does on the street on a normal Friday night.

  Mahiro laughs. “Very good. Remind Adam of your safeword, please.”

  “Salchow,” Alex says obediently, and Mahiro almost dies on the spot. Adam is going to give him so much shit for this.

  But in the moment, because he knows how important it is, Adam simply repeats it. “Salchow. Got it.”

  Mahiro smiles at Alex. “Are you ready, my beauty?”

  “Never more ready, sir,” Alex says, and his voice is slightly breathless, soft in the way he gets when he’s starting to feel arousal thrumming under his skin. Oh, this will be beautiful.

  “Then let’s begin.”

  IT’S NOT that Mahiro doesn’t find bondage in this style particularly appealing; he absolutely does. The patterning of rope knotted across someone’s skin is such a beautifully visual cue to the sorts of things they enjoyed that Mahiro couldn’t help but respond to it. But he much prefers the quick action of a pair of leather cuffs, or a simple binding of the wrists, to leave his partner helpless and wanting.

  But in this case, when his partner needs to be taught patience, the long, drawn-out process of kinbaku bondage is invaluable. He knows Alex could draw on an endless well of strength and self-determination; but to wait, to push him to check out of himself and just feel, well. Mahiro wants to give him that more than anything, a rest after a lifetime of an overworked mind and body.

  He has Alex stand almost directly under the hardpoint, feet apart, and double-checks he’s not locking his knees. He picks up his first set of ropes, and the hemp slips through his fingers without a snag. He wraps the ropes around each other and across Alex’s chest, then around to his back, looping them together and across Alex’s body until there is a web of diamonds down Alex’s chest that will support him. Alex gives him heated looks from under his eyelashes as he works, and it makes Mahiro wonder, as they regard each other in the soft stillness of the playroom, if Alex is remembering their date Saturday night and its spectacular, crashing finish. Mahiro is, and each glimpse he gets of Alex’s body, of the hard and straining line of his dick, the shadow of muscle across his back, transports him to a dark and dingy alleyway and the taste of Alex’s skin under his mouth.

  Mahiro tucks his fingers under the ropes and catches Alex’s warm glance. Each brush of his fingers now carries the weight of expectation, the expression of everything they can be together. Mahiro can feel the burn of arousal and affection under his skin as he drags that touch up and over Alex’s hips, the dip of his spine. Alex has charmed his way through all of Mahiro’s defenses, and the ropes he’s crossed over Alex’s chest could just as well be over his own heart.

  “You’re doing so well, my beauty,” Mahiro says and looks into Alex’s eyes. He’s smiling, and he twists slightly to get a good look down his body at Mahiro’s handiwork.

  “I’d like a photo, if I may,” he says hesitantly. “I’d like to see better, later.”

  Mahiro nods at Adam, who gets the hint and grabs Mahiro’s phone from the inside of his cabinet and unlocks it. “Want me to wait until—”

  “Yes,” Mahiro says. “I’m not finished.”

  Alex tilts his head, puzzled, and Mahiro takes another length of rope and wraps it around the delicate skin and fine bones of his wrists. It’s too early to tie his arms behind him, to put the stress on his chest and shoulders that would come from such a position, until he’s more experienced. Mahiro lifts his bound hands and kisses them.

  “It’s almost time,” Mahiro says and watches Alex’s breathing pick up. “Color?”

  “Green,” Alex replies and glances at the ring in the ceiling.

  Mahiro positions him carefully under the ring and attaches the four weight-bearing ropes he knotted into the four corners of his back—shoulders and hips—to a large carabiner that he then clips into the ring. Adam moves then, toward the hoist pulleys attached to the wall.

  Mahiro kisses him once more and joins Adam at the hoist.

  “Ready?” he asks Adam. Really, he could lift Alex alone, but having two sets of hands on the ropes helps prevent a slip, and Mahiro isn’t going to gamble with this body in particular. They pull until Alex is lifted from the floor enough that just the very tips of his toes are able to touch, and he stands there, faced with a conundrum of holding his weight on his toes or trusting the ropes to hold him. Mahiro watches, heart hammering, as he decides. Alex stands for a moment, perfectly balanced, and then slowly sinks forward and down into the rope webbing, trusting in not just the ropes, but in Mahiro’s skill to keep him safely held.

  “Beautiful,” Mahiro says. He admires the long, lean form of Alex’s body set at an upward angle, head higher than his ass, legs hanging freely with toes barely brushing the mat, his body held in a cradle wrapped around his torso. “Give me your left leg, please,” Mahiro says.

  Alex puzzles over that a moment, and then with a wicked grin straightens his hands out in front of him and arches himself into a perfect midair arabesque, left leg extended, the muscles of his body in stark relief. His toes aren’t pointed, no, not like Mahiro’s are at the barre, but held at the angle Mahiro knows instinctively means he’s feeling the hold of a skating boot around his ankle. Mahiro can barely breathe.

  He hears the shutter of his phone go off behind him. He doesn’t even flinch. Alex has caught him in that vivid blue gaze, and he knows this particular performance has been devised just for him.

  He can’t help, then, to catch Alex’s chin in his hand and crush his mouth to his, force his lips apart and lick into the welcoming heat. Alex whimpers at Mahiro’s hard hand on his jaw, the bruising impact of his kiss, and the sound only ramps up Mahiro’s arousal a hundredfold, his cock growing hard against the fly of his pants.

  “You fucking tease,” Mahiro says. “You know how beautiful you are, don’t you.”

  “Yes,” Alex says, and the rest of his sentence feels unsaid, a secret smile playing around his lips.

  Mahiro can feel the awareness of that smile tingling over his scalp and down his back. He releases Alex’s jaw and moves behind him and takes that maddeningly long, gorgeous leg and folds it up toward his chest, before looping a length of rope around it to hold it there, slightly spread and to the side. He has no intention of binding Alex’s repaired knee right now, not when he’s unsure of the limits of his endurance, but just the one will be fine for what he wants today.

  Mahiro pulls the nipple clamps from his pocket. “I think it’s time for these, don’t you?”

  “Is it?” Alex says and bats his eyelashes. “I thought you’d forgotten.”

  Mahiro laughs and brushes a kiss across Alex’s forehead. “Never, my beauty.” Mahiro reaches for Alex’s nipple and twists gently, rolling the nub between his fingers. Alex reacts with a sharp gasp and a shiver that leaves the harness swaying. Mahiro separates the magnets that make up the clamp and carefully slips one over each of Alex’s nipples. The gold and rhinestones are beautiful against his skin, his nipples beginning to turn slightly puffy and red. Mahiro flicks his finger across one and Alex moans.

  “These are really intense,” he says. “Thank you, sir. I really like them.”

  “Good. I’ve got one more thing I’d like to do.” Mahiro retrieves a length of soft black cloth from a nearby table, gently places it over Alex’s eyes, and ties it behind his head.

  “Yellow,” Alex says without prompting, tilting his head.

  Mahiro stops and places one hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Should I take it off?”

  There’s a pause, and Mahiro’s heart is in his throat.

  “No,” Alex says. “I got very nervous for a minute, but it’s passed now.”


  Mahiro smooths his hands over the blindfold and presses a kiss to the corner of Alex’s mouth. “Thank you for trusting me, my beauty,” he whispers. “You look so incredibly gorgeous. I can’t wait to touch you.”

  “Me too,” Alex says and then tucks his hands up under his chin and settles himself with a shift in his shoulders, and Mahiro can see, then, his body give up its tension, the way he sinks into the sensation. Mahiro knows he’s likely trying to absorb everything right now: the cut of the ropes into his skin, the overbright sounds from being blindfolded, the burn in his muscles from the forced positioning of his body.

  He nods to Adam, who gets back into position next to the hoist, a pair of safety shears nearby.

  Mahiro can’t seem to turn away to go to the cabinet for his flogger, and he instead runs his hand from the top of Alex’s shoulder, down his side, and over the curve of his ass. He remembers what it was like to be buried to the hilt between those muscular curves, the sweet taste of his skin. Alex’s not wearing his plug today, but when Mahiro slides his fingers over the meat of his ass and into the crease, ever so slightly spread from the position of his legs, he finds his hole slightly soft and a little bit wet, and the little smile he gave earlier suddenly makes sense.

  “Oh, you clever boy,” Mahiro breathes, and Alex snickers.

  “I wanted to be ready for anything,” he says, smiling under his blindfold.

  Mahiro gives him a smack on the ass, nothing hard, but the impact makes Alex suck in a breath, and he swings forward before coming back to rest against Mahiro’s hand. The warm skin against his palm has Mahiro dropping his plans for his flogger, and he raises his hand and spanks him again, this time on the other side. Alex’s breath comes a bit faster now, and Mahiro watches him carefully, not wanting him to fight too much against the strain of the rope.

  “My gorgeous boy,” Mahiro coos, and the sound of hand meeting skin echoes from the ceiling. Alex makes a choked sound, almost a gasp, but then drops his chin to his chest on a deep exhalation. His skin is starting to turn a beautiful shade of red, and Mahiro gives him three more blows on each side of his ass before drawing his nails over the highly sensitized skin. “You should see how wide Adam’s eyes are right now,” he whispers.

  “Ah, fuck,” Alex spits, sharp and needy, and Mahiro knows he’s on the right track. He grabs a quick pump of lube, draws his slick fingers down the crease of Alex’s ass, and rests them right over his hole, Alex’s cock hanging heavy and dark and very hard.

  “You know, I think you might like that he’s watching you, don’t you?” Mahiro traces small circles around Alex’s rim and still doesn’t push in, despite Alex’s useless, squirming attempts to drive himself back. “And I know for a fact he likes what he’s seeing. But he can’t touch you, my beauty. You’re mine.”

  Alex groans. “Yes,” he says. “Yours. Please, sir. Make me yours. Only yours.”

  Mahiro can’t see Alex’s face, can’t see his expression, and he’s thankful Alex can’t see his own, because that declaration has his mind scattering in ten different directions at once, but all circling back to Alex, tied up and begging for Mahiro to claim him. He shoots a glance over his shoulder and Adam is still standing vigilant, but blinking in surprise at what he’s just heard. Mahiro can see Adam’s hard in his jeans, too, and Mahiro really needs to get his mind back in the game.

  He turns his attention back to Alex’s body, wide open and begging for his touch, and without any warning he pushes two fingers against Alex’s rim and in up to the first knuckle. He’s fairly yielding, and it’s not a difficult stretch for him, but Alex gasps nonetheless.

  “Oh, wow,” he gasps. “So glad I prepared, holy shit.” Mahiro slips them out and then pushes back in, deeper this time, his other hand on Alex’s trussed-up leg. “Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.” Mahiro watches with satisfaction as goose bumps erupt all down his body. He’s reaching the point of sensory saturation, and if Mahiro just moves his fingers a little bit deeper….

  Alex yelps when Mahiro finds his prostate, and falls into a breathy chant of “Ah, ah, ah” as Mahiro slowly, carefully, massages him with deft strokes. His cock is beading at the tip, a heavy drop of precome that looks ready to fall at any moment.

  “I want you to come like this,” Mahiro says. “From my fingers.”

  “I don’t know if I… I don’t…,” Alex stutters out, and then writhes on Mahiro’s hand.

  “You can. I’ve seen you almost do it, so do. Let go, Alex. Let me pleasure you.” Mahiro reaches up and flicks one of the nipple clamps and Alex wails, clenching down hard on Mahiro’s fingers. Yes, that’s going to do it. He glances back and Adam is palming himself, but still has a hand on the rope. This has to be timed really well, but he thinks he can manage it. He rubs a thumb along Alex’s rim at the same time he starts thrusting his fingers in earnest, and Alex shakes his head, moaning.

  “I don’t know, I… I’m… I can feel….”

  “Yes, Alex,” Mahiro hisses and bends forward to nip at Alex’s ass. “Let it go for me, lovely. Let it go.”

  Alex sucks in a breath and then shudders and comes, body jerking against the restraints and breath heavy in his chest. Mahiro waits until he’s done, then snags the blindfold from Alex’s face and darts for the hoist, and he and Adam carefully, slowly, lower him until his foot touches the floor.

  “Don’t stand,” Mahiro says. “I’m going to come get you. Okay, Adam, you have it?” Adam nods and Mahiro goes back and slips his hands under Alex’s armpits, holding his weight against his chest as Adam loosens the rest of the tension from the hoist. Mahiro slowly sinks to the floor with Alex in his arms, Alex’s blue eyes blinking at him, dazed.

  “Oh my God,” he whispers.

  Mahiro makes quick work of removing the ropes from his body, then gathers Alex up into his lap and kisses his cheek. Adam watches him with liquid eyes, fists clenching, and Mahiro nods to him with a smile. He strides off across the playroom and ducks out quickly, closing the door without a sound. Mahiro briefly wonders if he’ll manage to make it upstairs before he jerks himself off.

  “Oh, you were so good, beautiful. You did so, so well. I’m so proud of you,” Mahiro says and gently slides him off his lap and onto the mats so he can stretch out his legs. Alex’s head is pillowed on one thigh, his body stretching long and lean between the V of Mahiro’s legs. Mahiro stretches back, unbuttons his fly, and finally releases his aching cock with a sigh. Alex’s eyes go wide and he licks his lips. He starts to push himself up on one elbow, but Mahiro stops him.

  “No, baby. You’re too worn out. I’ll take care of it.” Mahiro takes his cock in hand, the arousal he’d been trying to keep under control for the last hour finally given room to run. He strokes himself a few times and lets the sensation wash over him, Alex here in his lap, the high of a well-executed session simmering under his skin. He drags his fingertips over the head and pinches it lightly, the pressure a jolt in his stomach.

  “Please,” Alex whispers, avidly watching Mahiro’s stroking hand from less than a foot away. “Please use me. I’m yours.” He licks his lip again and leans forward enough to lip at Mahiro’s shaft, nuzzle his way into the crease of his groin, and Mahiro finds it impossible to refuse him. His begging to be owned, to be Mahiro’s, is clawing its way into his heart and holding there, and he’s unable to resist much longer.

  “Then open your mouth, my beauty,” he whispers and slips inside, fucking against the heat of Alex’s tongue, his eyes vivid and deep in the low light, platinum hair shining. Mahiro only lasts a dozen shallow thrusts before he comes, hot and messy, over Alex’s tongue and lips and chin. Alex smiles then, and sighs happily before snuggling down on Mahiro’s thigh, marked thoroughly and well.

  Mahiro cards a hand through Alex’s hair as he catches his breath and has a startling, strangely vivid vision of this same scene, but this time with a collar wrapped around Alex’s slender throat.

  “I’M TOO sleepy for a bath.” Alex pouts, as they make their way into the bat
hroom. “I just want to wash my face and sleep for ten years.”

  “You’re covered in sweat. I think you’ll feel better if you at least shower.”

  “Fine, fine.” Alex yawns and lets Mahiro herd him into the shower. Mahiro turns the rainfall showerhead on and soaks them both, and watches Alex carefully so he doesn’t pass out. He quickly washes Alex’s hair and face and scrubs his body down as efficiently as possible. When he turns to his own body, Alex leans hard against the wall and watches with soft, affectionate eyes that strip Mahiro down to his bones, vulnerability crashing over him like a wave.

  Mahiro steps forward under the spray and splays a hand over Alex’s heart, water cascading over his shoulders and streaming into his eyes. He knows that this is where their lives must intersect, and he tilts his head up in invitation.

  Alex leans down and kisses him carefully, a gentle exploration, and Mahiro puts as much feeling as he can into the kiss, tries to let Alex know that everything they do together is part of a whole, that it means the world to him.

  Alex pulls away with a tug on Mahiro’s bottom lip and reaches over to turn the water off.

  “I am yours,” he says simply.

  “I…. Thank you,” Mahiro chokes out, absolutely unable to think of anything else to say.

  Alex just smiles and kisses him again before leading him out of the shower. They towel off, put on robes, and walk back out into the playroom, still silent, Mahiro’s nerves flaring to life in the pit of his stomach.

  Alex collapses into the sofa with a yawn, puts his feet up, and pats his lap until Mahiro settles himself between his legs and across his chest, Alex’s arms wrapped around his back.

  “Thank you,” Alex says into his hair. “Not just for tonight, though that was incredible. But. For everything. For you.”

  Mahiro turns until they’re chest to chest and Mahiro’s cheek is tucked warm against the open front of Alex’s robe. He hugs him, words stuck in his throat and completely unable to verbalize, in any sort of coherent way, what Alex has come to mean to him now, something bigger and better and more than he ever had before. Something with meaning and depth.