Love in Chains

The events at The Club... all of them, including the meeting with Miriam, had badly shaken Nye. It wasn't until he was standing under the hot water in the shower of one of the changing rooms adjacent to the dungeon that the enormity of what had happened hit him. Not what had happened to him as such but the fact that he had been seen in the way he had by his sister. He had burned with embarrassment and continued to burn all through their meeting and beyond.

It was all he could think of in the car on the way home, that and... and... He wondered whether there was any chance that he could sneak away for a time to see Kane. Adam had never precisely said that he didn't want him to but Kane hated Adam. He made no attempt to hide it and it had made Adam very uncomfortable to the point that the very mention of his name set him on edge. The fact that he had admitted to Adam he had once been in love with Kane, that they had been together for a while, hadn't helped. He smiled about the fact that Adam was jealous.

"What are you smiling about? You've been very quiet."

"I'm sorry. I was smiling because I realised how far I've come, how lucky I am to have you."

Adam smiled and put his hand on Nye's thigh. "I'm the lucky one Nye. You are a very special person."

"No I'm not. I'm just an ordinary person who is made special by being with you."

Adam laughed with genuine pleasure and Nye's heart soared. "You are special Nye, more special than you will ever know. I have never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. You've stolen my heart. You are so incredibly beautiful, sometimes I can barely believe you are real."

Nye laughed too. "Oh, I'm real. Of course I am. And I'm not as beautiful as you."

"Well, let's not get into the 'who is most beautiful' argument." He fell silent and the smile slipped from his face. "Your sister caused me a great deal of embarrassment today. I lost face in front of clients and staff."

"I'm sorry about that. I have no idea how she knew where I was and why she came looking for me. Although..." He stopped looking up at Adam, startled.

"Although?"

"Well... it was... lucky that she came when she did. I was... It was..."

"I told you I was sorry. Are you going to keep beating me up about that?"

"No, of course not. I... It's just..."

"It was out of line Nye. I was careless. I didn't take care of you as I should have but the fact remains your sister had no business being there."

"I know." It was barely a whisper.

"You know what's going to happen now don't you?"

"What?" He looked up again, startled.

"She has never liked me, none of them have. For some reason, and heaven knows why, your family and friends seem to have taken against me."

"I..."

"Let me finish Nye." He subsided immediately, mumbling apologies. "Your family and friends have a very low opinion of me as it is and now your sister is going to be bad talking me for what she saw and what she thinks she saw... You know how people on the outside feel about what we do... they just don't understand. And now everyone is going to be thinking that we are both freaks."

"No. They wouldn't..."

"You don't know people like I do Nye. I have been in this business for more than fifteen years and in that time I have seen a lot of things. One thing I have seen plenty of is the way that we are viewed by so called 'normal' people. They fear anything and anyone who is different to them and they turn on it. They turn on us. It's only a matter of time."

"Then I should go and speak to them."

"I think that would be a very bad idea. Miriam is all fired up and she is going to get everyone else in the same state. I think it would be a much better idea if you let everything die down for a few weeks and then go and speak to them, when it's all calmed down. By then you will have done a couple of weeks behind the bar at The Club and, hopefully, if you have been a good boy, you will have been down to the dungeon a couple of times and you will have more experience to speak from."

Nye's heart plummeted. He had all but decided to go and see both his sister and Kane very soon but he saw the truth and logic in Adam's words... he always did. Adam was so much older than him, and so much wiser. He was teaching him so much, more than he could ever have imagined. If he had thought Kane had broadened his horizons it was nothing to what Adam had already taught him in so much shorter a period of time.

"That makes sense."

"I always do."

Nye smiled and nodded, suddenly feeling utterly exhausted. Adam patted his leg.

"Are you very tired sweetheart?"

"Very."

"When we get home you can take a nice long bath to ease your muscles and warm up properly and then you can go to bed. I think an early night will do you the world of good."

"What about you?"

"I have work to do."

"You're always working. You know what they say... all work and no play makes Adam a dull boy."

Adam laughed, pulling in to the side of the road outside his well appointed home. Before he got out of the car he leaned over and ran his hands through Nye's hair glorying, not for the first time, at how soft and fine it was, running through his fingers, turned metallic silver by the moonlight.

Burying his hand in the softness he pulled Nye towards him and kissed him. Although he tried hard not to Nye hissed with pain and Adam, after kissing him soundly for a good five minutes pulled away and smiled. "Right. Bath for you. Right now."

"Can I get out of the car first?"

"Carry on giving me that look and the answer to that question will be a 'no'." His voice was almost a growl, husky with desire. Nye smiled, then winced.

"I had better stop then because, whatever I might have said to my sister, I feel like crap and I am really not up to any hanky panky tonight."

He didn't see the look that Adam gave him as he turned to get out of the car. It wasn't a nice one.

***

Adam sat on his black leather sofa, his long elegant legs crossed, one hand twirling a fine crystal goblet containing a generous measure of a very good whisky. He was smiling.

There had been times when he had doubted his choice in Nye. True he was probably the most strikingly beautiful boy he had ever come across but he had been surprisingly resistant to all attempts to introduce him to the world in which he lived, the world of pleasure and pain. He was a good enough fuck, if somewhat inexperienced but Adam had had his fill of straight sex a long time ago. It bored him now... he needed more, and he knew that Nye could provide him with everything he desired, longed for, if only he would let go of his narrow preconceptions and allow himself to feel the true pleasure to be found in pain.

Adam had been surprisingly patient with him, wanting him to come to it freely and willingly, to encompass it wholeheartedly without having to be broken in the process. He had done that too many times; achieved too many willing slaves, who were... open but docile and unimaginative. He wanted a challenge, someone to stimulate him as well as pleasure him.

He was getting on for thirty five and it had been years since he'd had any kind of meaningful relationship. There had been a succession of pretty boys who started out as Nye had, impressed by his wealth and status, drawn into his web of darkness only to panic when they got down to real business, to the point when he had to take drastic measures, to break them, to coerce them, to turn them into docile willing slaves prepared to do his bidding, to cater to his every whim, to subject themselves to whatever depravity might take his fancy... they still would, they still did. But where was the challenge in that?

He could buy slaves if he wanted to. He had done so many times. They serviced his clients in the dungeon and in the more conventional atmosphere of the upstairs themed rooms. He could make them too; train them in any way he pleased, to do anything he wanted to whoever paid the most. But he had become bored and weary with the process. Where was the challenge? Where was the stimulation? Mindless slaves were just no fun anymore. Beautiful bodies faded with time and use. He wanted a beautiful mind too, someone who would be in it for the long haul, who would eventually become his partner, his equal, his mate.

He believed he had found him in Nye but the process was too slow. Nye was too much of an innocent, too much of a moralist. Yes, he had been very patient, but lately his patience had been wearing thin.

Tonight had been an experiment and he was immensely pleased with the results. He had deliberately subjected Nye to far more than he would ordinarily have done with new meat. He had pushed him, tested him, and he had come through with flying colours. Of course, he hadn't been too hard on him, not for the first time. It wouldn't do to frighten him too much. No, this time fear wasn't his friend. Nye was fearful enough as it was. Well... a few months working behind the bar at The Club would cure him of that. He had trained his bar staff well and they knew what to do to ensure success.

This time he had been testing his resolve, his stamina, his endurance, his heart. He had become concerned that Nye appeared so fragile. He was prone to dark moods and depressions and the pressure he had been put under by Adam to surrender to the darker side of his nature had driven him into himself. He hadn't been sleeping or eating properly and had lost weight and condition. Adam was afraid he would be too fragile to cope with what was coming.

He had no such fear now. Nye had done well, far better than he had ever expected, taking everything that was thrown at him without a murmur. The pleasure, the pain, everything. And he had endured to the point of foolishness. His stubborn nature was a natural bonus and his desire to please was already becoming a conditioned response; and he hadn't had to hurt him very much at all to enforce it. Nye loved him. He almost laughed aloud. Nye loved him with an adoring abandon that made it easy to make him desperate to please. Punishment and reward on only the most superficial level had already brought him to the point where he would have done almost anything for his lover; for his attention, his approval, his love.

And he did love him, in his way. He was used to people who feared him, who adored him because of what he had conditioned them to feel not because of what they spontaneously and genuinely felt. This time there was genuine feeling, genuine love, a genuine relationship and he intended it to remain that way. Yes, he loved him well enough, in his own way.

Nye had been in the bath for almost an hour. He'd had to be helped out of his clothes and into the warm scented water. The perfumed oils had hurt him, burned the wounds and chafed skin but he had submitted because he had thought that Adam had put them in out of love, not realising the pain they would cause. Adam smiled again. He had realised alright, although pain had not been his deliberate intention this time. He had realised but he hadn't cared because he wanted Nye to be clean and fragrant tonight. Tonight was going to be a special night, not that Nye knew it yet, not that he would ever know it.

After taking a few sips of the whisky he put the glass down and unfolded from the sofa, stretching to work out some kinks and then strode towards the bathroom, pausing to look out of the enormous floor to ceiling windows over the rooftops of the City below. He smiled.

Nye was asleep, lulled by the warm water which had turned pink. The image was surreal. The bath was a large whirlpool, although Nye had turned off the jets as they hurt too much, and he had slipped down so that only his head and the top of his shoulders were un submerged. His glorious hair was spread out around him, floating on the water, taking on the pink tinge, and the orange gold of the candle light supplied by the dozens of thick white candles that flickered all around what would otherwise have been a stark white room.

He looked like a faery, some kind of water sprite and his beauty was such that it made Adam's breath catch and his stomach contract. He longed to take off his clothes and slip in there with him. Any other night he would have but tonight he did not want to dilute the pleasure that was to come. Let the boy think he was being considerate of his condition. He would make sure he felt cherished and went to sleep with a smile on his lips.

Adam allowed himself another five minutes of unashamed voyeurism, drinking in the beauty, the paleness of the flawless skin, the eerie quality of the long pale hair, the delicate features and long straight limbs, visible beneath the surface. That was the essence of Nye, the beauty beneath the surface, something he wanted to preserve if at all possible, if he had the patience, the self control. In a way it was his own test.

Nye jumped when Adam sat on the edge of the bath and started combing his fingers through his hair.

"You startled me. I was asleep."

"I know, I was watching you."

Nye settled back with a sigh, his head resting on Adam's thigh. "Watching me sleep? Weren't you bored?"

"Bored? How could I ever be bored drinking in such sublime beauty? Besides, I had to make sure you didn't drown yourself."

Nye smiled a lazy, satisfied smile, glowing from the compliment. Adam put his hand on Nye's shoulder and he reached up to cover it with his own. Not for the first time Adam was struck by the grace and beauty of the long slender fingers and the seemingly delicate wrists. He had the hands of a true artist. Adam was of Mediterranean origin and his skin never lost its tan, even in the middle of winter. The fingers that rested on his looked like they were made of fine china in comparison.

Adam leaned forward slightly and touched the livid marks, standing out even more starkly against the pale skin. Nye winced slightly but did not pull away as Adam traced them with his finger. The light touch turned into a caress as Adam became excited by the marks of submission, the bruised and bloodied flesh a mark of his devotion. Realising that his control was slipping Adam drew back his hand and stroked Nye's hair instead.

"Are you ready to get out? The water must be cold by now."

"Yes, it is... but it is so nice just lying here. I'm very tired."

"Then the sooner you get into bed the better. You'll feel better after a good night sleep."

Nye sighed. "Alright."

"Wait there a moment."

Adam went to the airing cupboard and took out a huge soft fluffy bath sheet which he had previously placed on the warming rack. Shaking it out and draping it over the towel rack he turned back to the bath. Nye was dozing again already, his eyes closed, a smile on his lips. Adam watched him for a moment before calling softly. "Nye."

Sleepily he blinked open his eyes and smiled upwards. Adam held out his hands and Nye took them. After helping Nye out of the bath Adam wrapped the towel around him and the soft sigh he gave as he snuggled into the fluffy warmth made him twitch. Nye was just so goddamned beautiful in every way.

"Come here." Very gently Adam took Nye into his arms and, just as gently kissed him. Usually Adam liked to play hard and fast and Nye was taken by surprise by this uncharacteristic tenderness. When Adam broke the kiss he remained immobile looking into his face, slightly dazed.

"What was that for?"

"Because I love you. Because, you are so beautiful, so special. Because I was a fool today and because the thought that there was the remotest chance I might have lost you scared me more than anything ever has."

"It's alright Adam. It wasn't that bad. It was my fault anyway." He frowned and Adam lifted his chin so he could look deeply into his eyes.

"No. It was my fault. I know what you are like. I know how strong you are, how brave. I should have known that you would have taken it all, would never have asked me to stop. I am so incredibly proud of you. I have never been so proud of anyone in all my life. I am a lucky man."

Nye lit up like a candle and melted into his arms as Adam kissed him again. It wasn't his usual hungry kiss but a gentle, cleansing one that washed away all the pain from Nye's day and left only the glow of achievement, of having pleased the lover he adored, having made him proud.

Scooping him up in his arms Adam carried Nye into the bedroom and laid him on the huge wooden four poster bed, which had intimidated him at first but which he was now so used to he barely noticed. Gently rolling him off the towel he took a moment to blatantly stare at the stunning glory of his naked body. Nye blushed and Adam laughed, pulling the heavy quilt in its velvet cover, over him and tucking it carefully around him.

Climbing up onto the bed Adam sat with his back to the headboard and stroked Nye's hair.

"I thought you had work to do."

"I do. I'll get to it in a moment; when I'm ready. At the moment I have far, far better things to do."

"I'm not very good company."

"You're not meant to be, I am. Now close your eyes and go to sleep. I'll stay with you until you're sleeping and I'll be here when you wake."

"And you don't mind that I'm not...?"

"I'm not a monster Nye. You know I would never force you, never demand anything you are not willing to give. You've had a hard day and you need to rest. I'll watch over you tonight and you'll be much better tomorrow. Although you had better be prepared for the fact that I am going to be taking some time off to look after you for a few days. You deserve to be spoiled and I was thinking maybe we could take a little trip, a few days away just the two of us."

Nye could hardly believe what he was hearing. It was worth the pain and fear and even the embarrassment. It was worth it all because it had brought them closer together and given him this wonderful gift of time alone with the man he loved, time and attention of the best kind. He sighed. All thoughts of visiting his family and friends had long since departed.

Adam sat and watched him fall asleep with a smile on his face, stroking his hair and forehead the whole time. He almost fell asleep himself but eventually he stirred and called softly. "Nye?" There was no answer, Nye was fast asleep. Smiling with satisfaction Adam went back into the living room to finish his whisky.

After about an hour, when his work and whisky were finished Adam stretched and sighed. He had been desperate to go to bed for a long time but he had postponed it, first to ensure that Nye was deeply asleep and secondly as an exercise in self control, to raise the tension, prolong the agony, enhance the ultimate satisfaction.

Turning off the laptop on which he had been working, and all of the lights he went into the bathroom, showered, oiled himself with fragrant oils and then blew out all of the candles.

In the bedroom he threw open the curtains and was gratified when the room was flooded with moonlight. Now he would not have to turn on the light and Nye was even more beautiful by moonlight, pale as a ghost, his own living wraith.

He slipped underneath the duvet, although it was not cold in the bedroom, far from it... he had made sure of that too. Nye was curled on his side, one hand under his cheek and the other lying across his belly, on top of the covers. Taking something out of the carved wooden box on the table next to the bed Adam slipped it under the pillow and then he slid in close to Nye and gently stroked his shoulder and arm. Nye sighed and stirred.

"Adam?" He murmured.

"It's alright baby. It's me. It's just me."

Nye sighed again and snuggled in to him. Adam slipped his hand under the duvet and stroked his side and hip then cupped his buttock in his hand and squeezed gently. Nye moaned softly and stirred again.

"Don't Adam. It hurts."

"I would never hurt you baby... not unless I was trying to."