by Romilly King
Birch arched off the bed, held down only by the restraints, coming again with only a few thin white drops that trickled down the side of his cock. His stomach contracted, and he fell back onto the mattress with a raw sound.
"God," Ivo said, near-vicious with wanting and delight, "I wish I could show you this, I wish I could make you feel what I feel when I look at you."
He touched the probe to Birch's prostate, held it there, pressed in until Birch came dry, and began to sob as his body convulsed. Birch was red-faced, his eyes wide, luminous with tears, and he looked at Ivo with a combination of worship and fear. Ivo felt like a god.
"Again?" Ivo asked, smiling.
"No. No. I really don't think I can-"
"I know you can," Ivo said encouragingly and turned the probe on.
Birch screamed and came again. And again.
Spattered in his own come, limp and pushed to the edge of his limits, too far gone to even think of struggling Birch’s chest jerked up and down as he sobbed for breath. He barely twitched as Ivo laid the probe down and slid the speculum out. His eyes were wet, and he rolled his head and moaned as Ivo undid the restraints.
Ivo took a deep breath and pushed his scrubs down. He pulled his cock out and had to fight down the urge to come at just the touch of his own hand. His arousal was a thundering cacophony of blood in his ears, his whole body felt as wired as Birch’s had been.
He stood between Birch’s legs and slid into him like a hot knife into butter. Birch was loose and slick and yielding, he was everything Ivo had ever wanted.
Birch moaned and managed to hook one leg around Ivo’s hips, then he just lay there, passive, totally open, and breathless moans fell from his lips with every thrust of Ivo’s cock.
Ivo felt himself tightening. A thin boiling strand of light ran from his limbs into his core, and sparks of delight rushed up his spine. He rose up onto his toes and fucked inward one last time, and his orgasm spilled from him into Birch’s soft heat, and he groaned at the utter joy of it
Birch sighed. His leg fell from around Ivo’s hips and dangled in the air. His head fell to one side, and he closed his eyes.
Ivo rested against Birch’s limp body, braced against Birch’s warm thighs. He allowed himself a minute, just a minute to luxuriate in the completion. He closed his own eyes and offered a prayer of gratitude to whichever deity let him have this.
He tucked his spent cock back into his scrubs and carefully wiped down Birch’s come splattered chest and abs before he took Birch in his arms, one arm under the smaller man’s knees, the other around his shoulders and carried him to the bed in the recovery room.
Ivo settled on the bed and pulled Birch against him. He wrapped his arms around Birch and murmured praises into his hair. Birch gave a watery snuffle and nuzzled under Ivo’s chin.
“You okay?” Ivo whispered.
“I think I saw heaven,” Birch said, and Ivo hugged him and laughed into his hair.
Chapter Twenty-three - Griffin
“Would you like to see him?”
Griffin looked up from the book he had tried and failed to read. Ivo lounged against the door to their bedroom, he was in his dark blue scrubs, and he looked sated and relaxed like Griffin had only ever seen him before at the successful end of a lengthy procedure.
“Do you mind?” asked Griffin.
“I think it would be good for you to see him,” Ivo said.
Griffin slid out of bed and pulled a pair of sweats over his shorts before he followed Ivo to his wing. Ivo’s office was lit only by the desk lamp, and Ivo took his hand to lead him through the examination room to the cozy bedroom that he had never visited before.
Ivo called it a recovery room, but with its walls of sea green and taupe and large central bed piled high with pillows, it was much more than that.
The room was softly lit, a few glowing night lights around the perimeter, and a dimmed lamp over the bed. Birch lay curled on his side, his hands tucked beneath his chin, and his face relaxed as he drowsed. The sheets reached only to his waist, and Griffin saw the smooth skin of his back and the breadth of his chest as it rose and fell with each deep breath.
“He was so good,” Ivo whispered, and he pulled Griffin with him as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Ivo smelled of antiseptic and the faint trace of latex from his gloves, his hand in Griffin’s was cool and dry.
Ivo reached over and stroked Birch’s face, “Hey, baby boy,” he said softly, “How you feeling?”
Birch hummed and blinked his eyes open slowly. When he saw Ivo his face broke into a broad smile, “Hi,” he said quietly, “I feel good thankyou, Doctor,”
“Griffin’s here,” Ivo said, and Birch turned his head to look at him.
“I hear you were a very good boy,” Griffin whispered, he leaned against Ivo and rested his hand on Birch’s thigh.
“Yeah, I was really good,” Birch agreed, his smile dopey, his features relaxed and open.
“Was Ivo good to you?” Griffin asked. He felt he knew the answer, but he actually wanted Ivo to hear Birch’s response.
“He was awesome,” said Birch, “The scene was awesome,” he looked at Ivo under his lashes, “Thank you, Doctor,” he whispered.
“Oh you are welcome,” Ivo stroked Birch’s face again, a lingering, loving touch, “You are going to get the biggest reward I can think of for being so perfect,”
“Don’t want reward,” Birch pouted adorably, “Don’t need a reward, just like being good for you,”
“You were,” Ivo assured him, “Now go back to sleep, I’ll be staying with you, so you don’t need to worry,”
Birch yawned, “Not worried,” he said and snuggled down into the pillows, his hands back under his chin. It was then that Griffin noticed the collar around Birch’s neck. Birch wrapped his fingers around the white leather of it as he drifted, and Griffin wasn’t sure how he felt about seeing Ivo’s mark of ownership on the boy. He did know that he wished he had thought to get Birch a collar.
Ivo stood quietly and beckoned Griffin to follow him.
Reluctantly, because looking at a sleepy, sated, Birch caused something warm and glowing to pulse inside him, Griffin got up.
Griffin followed Ivo out of the room. He caught up with Ivo in his office and pulled his husband into his arms, “I’m sorry,” he said.
“What for?”
“For doubting you, for not being open-minded about your kink, for not getting any of it,”
Ivo shrugged and wrapped his arms around Griffin’s waist, “You don’t have to get it,” he said, “But you do have to know that I will behave in the safest, sanest, most consensual way with our sub,”
Griffin sighed, “I have always known that, deep down, I just,” he rested his forehead against Ivo’s, “I keep applying my responses to Birch’s, and that’s stupid,”
“It kinda is,” Ivo agreed, “Birch matches me in the same way as he matches you, the algorithm said as much, even if his experiences didn’t. Birch has enjoyed being with you, why would you not think he wouldn’t enjoy being with me?”
Griffin just shook his head, the shame swirled like a cloud in his head, “Because I’m an idiot,” he said, “And I got it all wrong. I thought your kink was sadistic, and I don’t like hurting him, but your kink is as loving as mine, maybe more so, and I can’t believe I didn’t know that!”
“I think it takes seeing it work to understand it,” Ivo said, “And that boy in there, he’s amazing, he is so brave and so giving and so,” Ivo shrugged, “I haven’t got words for it, but I am so proud of him,”
Griffin had never seen Ivo like this before. Usually, his husband was stoic, a man of few words but deep thoughts that he kept inside. Seeing him this open, this relaxed and pleased, it made Griffin wish he was a better man for him.
He kissed Ivo gently, just a press of lips, “I am so proud of you,” he said, “For the way you are with him, the way you have made him feel tonight, it’s clear he got as much out of this as you
did,”
They stood quietly for a moment, their arms wrapped around each other, Ivo’s cheek against Griffin’s shoulder, his breath warm on Griffin’s neck. In the silence and shadow of Ivo’s rooms, Griffin found he could say things he had needed to say for a long time.
“I don’t think I tell you often enough how much I love you,” he whispered to Ivo, “I am so proud of you, and you are so far beyond me I find it hard to show you what you mean to me,”
Ivo shook his head, “Don’t say that,” he said, “You and I are amazing together,”
“We are,” Griffin agreed, “But you are the better Dominant, you are the more confident Dominant, you are the better man,”
“No,” Ivo grasped Griffin’s chin and looked him in the eyes, “No, never say that. I love you,”
“I know you do,” if Griffin knew one thing, he knew Ivo loved him, “But I still wish it was as easy to show you as it is to show that boy in there.”
“He is very easy to show affection to,” Ivo smiled into Griffin’s eyes, and for a moment, they shared their mutual appreciation of their Submissive.
“I better go back to bed,” Griffin said eventually, “Will you be staying here with him?”
“Yes, I need to stay with him,” Ivo replied.
It was on the tip of Griffin’s tongue to ask if he could stay too, but he swallowed the request, and instead kissed Ivo on the nose, “How about I bring you both breakfast in bed in the morning?” he said.
“That would be an excellent way to demonstrate your love and affection for me,” Ivo teased.
“You got it,” reluctantly Griffin released Ivo, “Sleep well, baby,” he said before he made his way back to his own room.
It took Griffin a long time to force himself to sleep. Seeing Ivo and Birch together in aftercare had been intimate, and it made him want to be included. It showed him that being together as a threesome was something that he wanted. He wanted more than they had had so far. He wanted their boy between them, but he didn’t know how to achieve that.
The bed felt too big without Ivo in it, and Griffin wondered if he could come up with a reasonable excuse to slip back to the recovery room and crawl into bed with them.
Nothing presented itself, and Griffin knew he was going to struggle to bring this up with Ivo. Maybe he could demonstrate what he couldn’t say?
Eventually, he dropped into a restless sleep and dreamed of Birch in his arms, his soft breath on his chest, and Ivo’s eyes meeting his above their Sub’s head. In the dream, Ivo wore the same soft and contented expression that it had worn when he came to their bedroom.
✽✽✽
The days settled into a routine, and Griffin held his tongue and tried to find a way to let Ivo know that the three of them playing together was on the table, if only he suggested it.
Birch was kneeling for them every evening he was at the house. The evenings he wasn’t there felt unfinished, incomplete, and Ivo and Griffin tended to call for takeout and eat in front of the tv. On the nights when Birch’s personality lit up the house and the kitchen smelled of mouth-watering meals and a naked sub met them at the door, those evenings started with laughter, and gentle touches before one or the other of them took Birch away to play. And every time it happened, it seemed to get harder for them to pull themselves apart.
They didn’t need to pull apart, Griffin thought, they could play together, they just needed an excuse.
Griffin took to touching Birch more in front of Ivo. One evening as Birch tidied in the kitchen and Ivo stacked plates in the dishwasher, Griffin grabbed the naked sub and sat him on the counter. He had held Birch’s arms behind his back and kissed him thoroughly. Birch had squirmed and laughed, and then eventually became aroused and moaned under Griffin’s heated kisses. Ivo had watched with complacency.
On another occasion, at dinner, Griffin hauled Birch up from his cushion onto his lap. He had held the boy close, stroking his smooth skin. He even went so far as to toy with Birch’s cock while he held him, his eyes fixed on Ivo across the table.
Ivo had looked on with approval but made no move to join in, his eyes had been dark with arousal as he sat and toyed with the stem of his wine glass, but he did nothing. And he never touched Birch in front of Griffin.
Griffin grew increasingly frustrated.
Ivo remained passionately attentive to Griffin’s own needs, and it had become a routine that whichever of them scened with Birch either jerked the other off or gave a sloppy blow job when they finally got to bed together.
Griffin didn’t know what he enjoyed more, scening with Birch, or receiving a report from Ivo after his scenes, accompanied by his expert touches, which invariably led to a mind-blowing orgasm of his own.
Chapter Twenty-Four - Ivo
“Ivo!” Griffin yelled, “Birch is being a brat, please will you come and discipline him?”
“I’m not,” Birch yelled in outrage, “Griffin is groping me when I’m trying to cook,”
Ivo sighed and pushed himself up from his relaxed position snoozing in the sun on the orangery sofa. He had planned to listen to a new recording of Giselle, but the loud outbursts from the kitchen over the last half hour had put paid to that.
“What the fuck is going on?” he groused as he walked into the kitchen, “It sounds like a kindergarten in here,”
Griffin had a blob of cake mix on his cheek, and Birch, his nakedness covered only by a skimpy and ridiculously frilly apron across his groin, brandished a wooden spoon at him.
“I’m trying to make you a cake, and Griffin keeps groping me,” Birch said and flicked more cake mix at Griffin.
Griffin made a grab for Birch and Birch scooted away giggling, his silly little apron flipped up as he swerved and allowed Ivo to catch a glimpse of his pretty cock, half-hard between his legs, no doubt due to Griffin’s groping.
Ivo’s mouth went dry.
“I’m allowed to grope you,” Griffin yelled and tried to catch Birch, “I’m your Dom, it’s practically compulsory,”
Birch squealed as he dodged, his foot slipped on the tiled floor of the kitchen, and he flailed wildly. Ivo reached out a hand to catch him, and Birch fell back against him, the spoon full of cake mix slid up Ivo’s arm, leaving a trail of sticky residue in its wake.
“Oops,” said Birch.
Ivo looked sternly at Birch, “Sorry,” Birch said, then he smirked and tapped the spoon against Ivo’s nose, “Boop,” he said.
“Kneel,” Ivo thundered, and Birch dropped to the floor.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” Ivo yelled, “It is Sunday afternoon, it is summertime, it is a time for gentle pursuits and languid nights, it is not the time for racing around the kitchen having a food fight,”
“Do we do that at Christmas then?” asked Birch.
Ivo looked at him, horrified, “What have you done to him?” he asked Griffin,
Griffin shrugged, “Nothing, he just seems a bit hyper, that’s why we were playing,”
“If you didn’t tease him all the time he wouldn’t be hyper,”
“Oh but he’s so cute, and he is just irresistible in his apron,”
“I am aren’t I,” Birch interrupted, “I think I’m adorable,”
“You are a brat,” Ivo pointed a finger at Birch, “You’ve turned him into a brat,” he complained to Griffin, “You need to take him in hand, you need to punish him, right now,”
“No, no, no,” Griffin held his hands up, “I’m the nice Dom, you’re the nasty sadist, you punish him,”
Birch nodded sagely, “He’s rubbish at punishment,”
“Hey, I resent that,” Griffin said, “I can punish as well as the next Dom,”
This was unendurable.
“Enough,” Ivo yelled again, and coughed when the shout hurt his throat, “Griff I really think Birch needs to be spanked,”
“No, I don’t,”
“I’m not doing it,”
They both spoke at the same time.
Ivo sighed, “Right,�
� he said, “I’ll do it,”
“No, no, no,” Birch was off his knees and out of the kitchen door before Ivo could do anything to stop him.
“This is entirely your fault,” Ivo said darkly to Griffin, “And now I’m going to have to deal with it,”
Griffin looked unrepentant.
It took Ivo a good ten minutes to catch Birch and divest the wriggling sub of his frilly apron.
“Stop it,” Ivo said as he grasped Birch and manhandled him into the house, “I won’t have a brat in the house, you are going to be punished, it’s just a shame that Griffin doesn’t get to see what trouble he has caused,”
Birch had a rebellious look on his face, but he allowed Ivo to lead him upstairs to his office and through it to the bedroom he used as a recovery room.
As they entered the room, Ivo felt Birch tense, and a little gasp fell escaped him. Ivo looked up and saw Griffin reclined comfortably on the bed, his long legs stretched out, a smirk on his handsome face. “I changed my mind,” he said, “I think I’ll join in his punishment,”
Ivo felt himself get hard in his jeans instantly.
Chapter Twenty-Five - Birch
Griffin had arranged the pillows to comfortably support his neck and had settled back with his legs spread. He crooked a finger at Birch. He didn’t even need to speak before Birch had crossed the room and obeyed, climbing up to kneel between Griffin’s legs on the mattress.
Griffin reached up and pulled Birch down, so he lay with his head on Griffin’s chest, his knees underneath him, his ass in the air.
“We’re not mad at you,” Griffin told him. He looked over Birch’s shoulder and said, “Go on Ivo.”
Birch felt the bed dip with Ivo’s weight. He pressed his face against Griffin’s chest as he felt the cloth of Ivo’s jeans against his bare skin. “No, we’re not mad at you,” Ivo confirmed, “But you do need to feel some pain,”
“Colour light system, okay?” Griffin asked, and Birch could feel his breath on the back of his neck.
“Yes, and I’m green,” Birch said.