Fine Lines: Burn Outs #2

by Dani Hermit

  “I’m to show our new friend to one of the guest rooms so he can freshen up and eat,” the greeter said, nervously looking at Thomas like he might decide that human flesh was on the menu.

  “Nothing says welcome like food.” Thomas grabbed the man’s hand and shook it firmly. “Thomas Davos, nice to meet you. I could eat everything. Any chance of a shower?”

  “We have a great chef.” Curtis patted Thomas on the shoulder. “Maybe don’t eat everything. I’ll see you soon.”

  Curtis headed to the elevator, trying not to be to excited about what Leo might have in store for him. He was a little surprised Leo didn’t want him to run right up with Thomas so he could confirm it was really him. He looked at himself in the mirrored door. Not the most fashionable outfit but Thomas had healed most of his injuries. And the bandages. Should he remove them? Best not, they might be holding something in. The burns from Matt still were sore. Curtis tried to fix his hair a bit as the elevator stopped. He made it down the hallway as calmly as he could and knocked on Leo’s door.

  “I’m home.”

  Leo threw the door open and pulled him inside. “Why are you wearing bandages?” He began poking at them, checking over every inch of Curtis he could get to.

  “They didn’t like that I wouldn’t give them any of your secrets.” Curtis giggled a bit. Leo’s poking felt a lot like tickling. “So they got a little aggressive. Especially the fireball.”

  “Are you okay?” Leo asked, holding Curtis at an arm’s length. “Really and truly?”

  “Well, I’m better than I was thanks to our new recruit,” Curtis sighed leaning a little into Leo’s hold. “But if I’m being honest, boss-man, I was tortured and I’m not feeling so great. Getting to be with you is going to be the best part of the day. Could we just this once cuddle in that big comfy cloud bed?” To be held close seemed like the most necessary thing in the world to Curtis right now.

  “Come with me,” Leo pulled Curtis towards the doors to the ritual playroom. “I have a better idea.”

  “Oh well, that could be fun too.” Curtis gave his most playful smirk. “The bed maybe can come after.”

  “We’ll see,” Leo pushed the door open, and took Curtis right to the center piece where he could set him up for the draining ritual to fill his powers back up. “This should help with your healing process, but also I have some questions, my dear.” Leo was adjusting the wrist straps before he was done talking. “Like, just how is it that you lost Mythos?”

  Curtis’s first thought was to answer simply. Maybe keep a few facts out of the explanation. But before that, maybe he could appeal to Leo’s gentler nature. “So, uh, boss-man, I don’t know if you realize I’ve been asked a lot of questions over the last few hours. It would be great if we saved some of that for tomorrow. I mean,, you wouldn’t want me to feel like I was still being interrogated, right?”

  “Curtis dear,” Leo ran his hand, covered in a slick black glove, over the side of Curtis’s face. “You know that you are very special to me. You were the first to join me, even before Jammer and the others. You found me this lovely place.” Leo’s hand stroked through Curtis’s hair as he spoke. “But make no mistake, my dear. This is an interrogation.”

  The red pupils of Leo’s unusual eyes sparked brightly as he yanked Curtis’s hair, pulling his head back so that he was looking right into Leo’s face. The young man then went to work securing Curtis’s legs.

  Not ready for the intensity of Leo’s gaze or his words, Curtis trembled. “I’ll try to answer you satisfactorily, boss-man. I don’t think you’ll have to, uh, do anything you’d regret later.” There was still affection in Leo’s voice but he couldn’t tell if it was genuine. Maybe he didn’t understand. Maybe he should tell him. “I’m frightened.” Curtis admitted, his voice soft and hopeful.

  “That is usually the point of an interrogation.” Leo said, hands running up Curtis’s long legs from the ankle restraints to cup his ass as Leo drew close. “I will endeavor not to make this too horrible, but you need to help me, Curtis dear. Answer my questions, and by the end your fear will be nothing more than an aphrodisiac in our game.”

  While it wasn’t a complete sigh of relief, Curtis breathed a little easier. “Oh, well that’s not so bad.”

  Of course, Leo had to run a huge undertaking. Any plan he had that went astray cost him greatly so he couldn’t just let it go. That was likely the more practical point of this. It had to feel like a consequence before it could feel better. Curtis let his fear relax but still wash over him. He needed to accept while punishment could be divine, this wasn’t playtime.

  “One of them stole the gift you gave me. That’s how it started.”

  “Your special drug? You didn’t mention that when you called.” Leo asked for clarification. “What came next?” He had stepped away and was collecting several items from the various shelves and cabinets along the one wall. Leo lined them up on the fancy bar cart that he was pulling around with him.

  “I got it back, but much later.” Curtis wished he could see what Leo was collecting. “That’s how I knew we could trust Mr. Davos.”

  “Echo helped you get it back?” Leo came closer, leaving the cart just out of Curtis’s sight. He trailed the ends of a flail over Curtis’s chest. “I think you’re leaving out a lot of details, Curtis dear.” Leo brought the flail down with a soft crack on Curtis’s back. “Just how is it that you lost Mythos? And don’t make me repeat myself again.” Leo landed a second slap with the flail.

  Trying to remember it was a game, Curtis struggled but let his usual reaction to the kind of things Leo could do to him win. He felt the light bite of the flail and enjoyed the shiver it sent through his body. “I may have made a few poor choices in that regard.”

  “Such as?” Leo prompted, another lash from the flail. But this one was harder, louder. He was circling Curtis, his high-heeled boots making a sharp sound as he moved. “Based on how you smell, and the guilty look in your eyes, I’d guess that you took some gifts from someone else.” Leo’s voice was losing its playful, affectionate tone. He was landing solid lashes all along Curtis’s back.

  “I made sure he was secured.” The relaxation was starting to fade, but Curtis still believed it was rough play and not an actual beating. “And then,” he winced at the pain the flail was sending through his back. “I mean very secure and he seemed into it. Like I am into that kind of thing, so I thought he’d be there when I got back.”

  “You tried to convince Mythos to stay put on the off chance you could find that one dominant bone in your body and,” Leo paused to consider what it was that Curtis actually meant to do. “My dear, you did not actually think that you would be able to dominate Mythos, did you?” Leo set the flail aside and came to stand in front of Curtis. “I would have thought that you would know better.”

  There it was, actual concern. Curtis’s stinging back took on a different feel. He drew in the sensuality of the moment like he was breathing it in. He was getting aroused, thank god. “In the fight, I took in a lot of energy to make opposing attacks. Mythos messed with my mind and somehow I felt like I was Hammer for a few seconds. It’s kind of a blur. Or maybe it was the power rush of defeating all four of them.”

  “Which I am very proud of you for,” Leo caressed Curtis’s face again. Then he drew his hand away and back-handed the other side of Curtis’s face. “But it was very stupid of you to take on all of them at once. You could have been killed.” Leo set to work peeling off Curtis’s bandages to get at the wounds on his chest. He all but ignored the unbuttoned shirt, except to push it out of his way as he worked.

  “Guess I kind of deserved that.” Curtis, while surprised by the back hand, had felt much more severe pain at Thomas’s hands tonight. “Careful. I don’t know what that’s going to look like. Don’t want my guts falling out. But, boss-man, you wanted Mythos, and he was surrounded by protection. I had to go on the offensive.”

  “I understand,” Leo said softly, running his fingers over t
he partially healed burns. They were sealed, not infected, but some of them ran deep. “It looks like he was trying to tear your insides out. Was it Echo’s former partner? Mythos’s lover, the Hammer? You know they used to call him the Forge because of how hot his flames could get?” He laid a series of soft kisses along the forming scar tissue. “That’s where those silly names of Hammer and Anvil came from when they were teamed up.”

  Leo was using the Chosen history lesson to keep himself talking and to keep Curtis distracted. He was using his kisses to make light moist spots and the gentle fingers that followed were placing little bits of crystal against Curtis’s skin. Leo was creating a pathway along Curtis’s body for the energy from his glowing replica of the Disk to flow.

  “I didn’t know that. They’re pretty scary. But so was I… I… did things I didn’t know were possible.” Curtis lived for the light kisses Leo left on him. It was helping him put aside the other kiss. The one that fought for his attention even now. “I sent Hammer’s attack back at Mythos as a living icy flame.”

  “You fought Mythos?” Leo stopped his administrations to Curtis’s chest and rose up to lay a few more soft kisses on his face, these ones without the added crystal sparkles. “That was stupid indeed.”

  Leo stepped back, shaking his head. He walked over to his table and began to run his fingers over the various implements there. “I should really do something to help you understand just how stupid.”

  “I would have thought so too, but I reflected his powers, boss-man. I spoke aloud and controlled Hammer’s mind in the fight. I beat them. Mythos would be here if Jammer had been waiting at the motel.” Curtis beamed a little. “When I have some of the drug you made me, I’m damn near unstoppable. I could hold all of their different energies and attack in anyway I could think of to mold them into the opposing force.”

  Leo listened closely as he worked a drizzle of lube over a particularly large butt plug, carefully standing right where Curtis could see him out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t expected for Dark Mirror to be such a powerful ally. As powerful a focus as he was for the ritual, Leo would have to consider replacing him. It would be a horrible tragedy to burn him out entirely when he could prove to be immensely useful in other ways.

  “You still took a large liberty with something that I believe is mine,” Leo said, letting his power brush ever so lightly against Curtis’s psyche. Not too much, because he couldn’t take the chance that Curtis would turn it on him. But he might mistake it for Mythos’s power, as they were very similar at their core.

  “And that was wrong.” His head felt a little fuzzy, but Curtis kept his focus on what he could see of Leo. “But I was only trying to subdue him. I’ve no idea why Mythos went into a craze when I hit him with the ice.” He shook his head chasing away the sudden sensation that Mythos was there. The same Mythos that made his thoughts turn on him.

  “I am not talking about Mythos at the moment, Curtis dear.” Leo used one hand to unfasten Curtis’s pants and began to pull them down.

  “Oh, you meant…” Curtis missed it the first time but he understood Leo’s intention now. All thoughts of Mythos slipped away from his mind. “My body.” The fuzzy swirl in his brain became a whisper of possession Curtis could do nothing but accept. “Because I forgot I belong to you and I risked harming your…” Curtis wasn’t sure of the word to use to describe himself so he went with, “something important?”

  “That’s right, Curtis dear.” Leo gave up on Curtis’s pants as soon as he had most of his ass exposed. They were too tight for him to keep fighting with. He teased the butt plug over Curtis’s ass, then pushed it in with no farther warning. Making certain it was firmly in place, Leo returned to standing in front of Curtis. “I need to make certain that you understand just how mine you are.”

  “I’m sure I’m starting to do just that, boss-man.” Curtis’s voice had a tiny squeak to it. The discomfort of the plug without any kind of warning made him excited and nervous. There was no getting away from it just like there was no getting away from anything Leo wanted to do to him. Warmth spread through his whole body, his erection straining against his jeans. “I’m not good at it. Being someone’s.”

  “You’ll learn,” Leo assured him, picking up a bamboo cane and slapping it against his palm a few times. “But before we start that, you did earn a thorough punishment.” Leo’s eyes glowed from within, the red pupils nearly overtaking the soft violet irises.

  He moved to stand to the side of Curtis, where he could still be seen. He brought down a trio of smacks with the cane on Curtis’s ass, jarring the plug and leaving red stripes on his pale skin.

  “Is it too late to just say I’m really, really sorry?” Curtis’s body jerked forward from the new sensations. “Wow, you really mean it.”

  “It wouldn’t teach you anything if I took it easy on you,” Leo replied. He brought the cane down again, moving up Curtis’s body to his back and shoulders with every swing. “You are a stupid man and your carelessness hurts me. You should feel a fraction of that pain.”

  Curtis tried to phrase his breathing with the hits, attempting to breathe out the pain with the scattered angry impact. His limbs reminded him how sore they were with every jolt. “Not stupid. Just trying to earn your love.”

  Leo’s barrage of pain paused for a moment. He wasn’t sure of the right response to that. Instead of saying something that would destroy what he was creating with Curtis, he walked around him to begin the same treatment from the other side.

  Curtis wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but having no response except the continued beating made him slip into quiet, lonely anticipation. He couldn’t stop from whimpering when Leo hit the tender spots.

  The physical release that came with swinging the cane was making Leo breathe heavy. He could feel something changing, loosening in his system. The whimpers Curtis was making, the red welts that were rising up on his bared ass, and the assumption of what was appearing under the shirt and pants. Everything was driving Leo crazy. He was hard, not something he usually dealt with when he was in ritual with Curtis. Or anyone he had used before him. Actually, Leo was rarely sexually excited. He had long ago accepted the fact that little about sex interested him.

  This, however, was something else. The freedom to hurt, the absolute possession of Curtis’s body. Knowing that there was nothing forbidden when he had Curtis like this. All of it was going straight to his cock.

  Leo stopped the beating, his breath coming in ragged gasps. There was blood on Curtis’s shirt now. The man might be crying. Or at least trying not to. Leo took a step back, putting the cane down. He couldn’t take his eyes off Curtis. This was the first time that he’d looked at the older man and saw something not just attractive but absolutely beautiful.

  Curtis thought he saw blood dripping onto the floor. It was hard to tell from his tear blurred eyes. His body stung all over and even if he wanted to struggle against the restraints, he was unable to because of Leo’s implanted beliefs. Curtis was his. If Leo wanted to take him to a dizzy ecstasy so be it. If he wanted to beat him to death, so be it. He felt a rise of pride and strength. This was part of the ritual, part of making his Leo strong again. He flexed all his muscles, near preening.

  “I’ll cry for you, boss-man. I’ll love everything you do to me.” He tried to match Leo’s crazy energy.

  Leo took hold of Curtis’s pants and wiggled them down enough to get his cock completely free. He stroked it, before beginning the process of strapping a multiple tiered cock ring onto him. “You are going to suffer for me, Curtis. You are going to refrain from cumming until I say that you can. That might be when we are done here, or it might be tomorrow. I don’t know yet. I haven’t decided how mad I still am.” Leo was nearly snarling. His sweet, calm demeanor was gone.

  Curtis, as only Curtis could, asked, “So, uh is this what a relationship with you is going to be like? I can’t tell if I’m terrified or turned on but I like it.”

  “It depends on how many d
umb things you intend to do,” Leo hissed in Curtis’s ear before biting his earlobe.

  Curtis cried out, caught his breath and then smirked a bit. “Oh, well, I’m probably in trouble then. I’m sort of an expert at doing dumb things.”

  “Then be prepared for this and worse,” Leo said, stepping back and slapping Curtis’s ass.

  He began to adjust the restraints with the clever pulley system, stretching Curtis’s arms out as far as he dared. Then he moved another set of pulleys and moved his feet to lean Curtis back until he was almost doing a back bend. He stood near Curtis’s head, his leather clad erection the only thing the man could see. Leo turned on the Disk replica and the crackling energy shot through Curtis’s body, jumping from one crystal shard to the next until it reached the pinnacle in the crystal tipped cock cage.

  “What is that? What’s happening?” Curtis felt the Night-side power like it was fire under his skin and endless needle pricks on his flesh, all focused on keeping him hard while it took him over. He didn’t feel as able to stop it or hold it off as he had the first time. “It’s not like before.”

  “Of course not,” Leo said. “This isn’t like before. You’re being punished.”

  He turned off the replica Disk and let the power flow around inside Curtis for a long minute. When he was satisfied that the power had renewed and healed Curtis’s body, Leo moved to stand between Curtis’s spread legs. He peeled off one of his gloves, dropping it onto Curtis’s bare stomach. Then he closed his hand around Curtis’s straining cock, gripping tightly. The power rushed out of Curtis into the vacuum of Leo’s depleted body, filling him with power and making the violet of his eyes glow brightly.

  At first it felt good, so good. An absolute release without being able to cum. Curtis wasn’t going to argue with Leo about it feeling like a punishment. Then there started to be a sharp tickle in his neck. Some other energy was being shaken up and pulled out. One that felt to Curtis like it might be vital.