Love in Chains

Nye woke up in a bed. It wasn't his bed but it was soft and comfortable and he wasn't alone in it. He sighed and stirred, groaning as the movement caused pain. The person who was lying next to him stirred and threw an arm over him. He groaned again because it hurt. He was lying on his stomach and his back was raw.

"Nye?"

"Adam?"

"Thank God. Are you okay?"

"Define okay."

Adam laughed, I am so sorry about what happened Nye. If I had known..."

"If I thought you had known I would be kicking your arse right now... no matter how painful it was."

"Does it hurt a lot?" Adam stroked his back and he sucked his breath in sharply. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Slowly Nye turned over, ignoring the pain that wracked almost every part of his battered body and screamed in his head. He lay panting, staring up into Adam's face and thought that the look of love and concern it contained was almost worth it... almost.

"I know. Why did he do that to me?"

"He..." Adam looked away and then back. "In a way he was right Nye. It's true that if you are going to make it in this business you have to know the rules and obey them. It's true that you have to have first hand experience of how everything feels before you can apply it to the clients. It's true that I have been treating you too gently and it's true that I overstepped the mark with Lian. I should have got his approval before I started training you my way."

"Training me?"

There was something in Nye's voice that caught Adam unaware. The look he was giving him was harder than his usual too. He had to be careful. Nye was a sweet innocent boy but he had strength too and if he started using it, questioning too much, he might just slip the silken noose Adam had been tightening around his neck for some time. This was why he had acted as he had, this was why he hadn't wanted to have Lian involved from the start. If Nye started fighting him he would have two choices... let him go or break him; either way he would lose.

He forced himself to smile and gently stroke the lovely face that remained immobile and unsmiling.

"Maybe that was the wrong word to use at this time, especially after what you have been through. I meant training in the usual sense of the word. Showing you the ropes, so to speak. You are no one's slave Nye, never will be."

"Not even yours?"

"Not unless you want to be."

"Why would I want to be a slave?"

"Because sometimes it's easier. You don't have to think, don't have to worry about anything but pleasing your master. By giving up your freedom you gain a different kind of freedom. You have no control but you have absolute protection, absolute loyalty and devotion."

"I... don't think..."

"No. Don't think. Not now. You need to rest and heal and get strong again. A couple of days and you'll be back to full strength and we can talk. The commitment I made to you still holds. You're approved now so your position here, in The Club, the business, the organisation, is assured. You did well my love."

Nye frowned. "Does everyone have to go through that? You; Jon: the rest of the staff?"

"Something like it, yes."

"And what Lian said... about it being unacceptable to be exclusive... what does that mean?"

"It means nothing, not to you. It means that a slave has to be prepared to service others at the whim of his master, but you never have to fear that from me."

"Unless it's Lian."

Adam flinched and turned his face away. "That... and..."

"And?"

"And anyone that Lian appoints."

"Might he?"

There was a tone of bitterness in his voice when he replied. "He might... but in that case we both have the option to decline."

"Is it a real option?"

"Mostly."

"Adam. I think we need to talk."

"Yes... but not tonight. Not when you are so..."

"Adam?" Nye's voice was soft but hid...something... something that made Adam almost reluctant to look at him.

"Yes?"

"I could have died. I was poisoned and I could have died."

"Yes, yes you could have. But you didn't."

"Does that happen often? Do people die?"

"Nye..." He pulled away, rolled over. Nye didn't move, but his voice, although still soft was demanding.

"Do they Adam? Do people die in there?"

Adam was a maelstrom of raging emotion. He was angry with Nye for putting him in this position, for questioning him like this. He was angry with Lian for possibly ruining all the hard work he had put in these last few months and, especially this last week. He was shaken and upset by what had been done to Nye and even more so by what had been done to him. He was humiliated, embarrassed and sore. He wanted to hit out at someone and he gritted his teeth against the impulse to turn and slap Nye for not being cowed, for not being a quivering wreck clinging to him in pain and fear, seeking reassurance. That was how it was supposed to have been.

Getting himself under control he turned and stared down at the beautiful boy. The sight of his calm green eyes soothed him, as it always did and he sighed.

"Yes Nye. Sometimes people die. Sometimes things go wrong, or go too far; people get hurt and they die. It doesn't happen often and it hasn't happened for a long time, not here, not with me. I am a good master and I am careful with all my people. The last time someone died here it was a terrible accident, a tragedy and I have mourned him ever since. I swore that I would never allow it to happen again and I haven't.

"How long?"

"Almost four years." He gently caressed Nye's hair and his expression softened. "That was mostly his fault Nye. He wandered into territory he wasn't equipped to traverse. He broke the rules... no he flouted the rules and he paid the price. That will never happen to you. I will never let that happen to you."

"You almost did."

His voice was still soft, as were his eyes. There was no accusation but the fear that he had felt when he thought Nye was dying created its own.

"Nye, I told you. I had no idea. I would never have let him do that to you if I had known. For God's sake do you think I'm a monster? Are you so unsure about my feelings for you that you would think I would deliberately poison you?"

Nye flinched and looked uncertain. "No of course I'm not. Of course I don't think that but... I mean... It happened. He didn't even flinch... and all those things he did to me..." He shuddered. "And you let him."

"I had no choice."

"Maybe. But now, neither do I."

"Nye... it isn't like that. Things like this don't happen all the time."

"But they do happen."

Adam's patience snapped, helped by his own emotional condition and frustration. "You knew what you were getting yourself into Nye. I have never hidden anything from you. You knew the nature of the business I am in, the kind of people involved. You knew what I do, what I expected you to do."

"I thought I did." He said softly and turned his head away, tears pooling under his closed eyelids and running down his face.

'Fuck!' Adam thought desperately. 'Fuck, I'm losing him'. His anger gave way to a fierce desperation. He needed Nye. He hadn't realised how much until today. When he thought he was going to lose him he had felt a desperate, urgent feeling that was as close to real love as he had ever come. 'Careful', he cautioned himself. This was a crucial moment. He had to deal with this one carefully or he would lose Nye and that, he was not prepared to do.

Gently he cupped Nye's cheek and turned his face back towards him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so blunt but... I thought I was going to lose you today my love and I was more frightened than I have ever been. I have tried my very best to shield you from the darkest side of this world and I succeeded too well.

"What happened was mostly my fault. I should have been more careful. I should not have made this commitment until I had brought you more fully into my world. I shouldn't have shown Lian how much you mean to me until you were ready to face the consequences and so was I. I didn't think."

Nye opened his eyes and looked up at him. God they were beautiful. Someone could get lost in those eyes and never get out with their sanity intact.

"I made a mistake and it cost you dearly but... in a way... I don't regret it. I know that's easy for me to say when it wasn't me who went through it... although you should know that I didn't have an easy time of it either... but..." He smiled wanly and bit his lip endeavouring to look uncertain and vulnerable, to reach Nye in the way he knew he best responded to. "I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone and I couldn't help myself. I need you Nye. I need you in my life, in my heart, in my bed." He smiled trying to lighten the mood a little and was rewarded by the ghost of a smile.

"I meant every word I said to you in the restaurant and I promise you this. I will never, ever allow what happened to you today to happen again. Even if I have to break my connection with Lian. It's... complicated but... He's a very important and powerful man. Clients come to me because of him and he has influence over the business in a hundred small ways. Without his endorsement I can't keep the business going. For one thing it wouldn't be safe and for another no one important would come to me.

"But for you I would give it up. I would hand over The Club to someone else and walk away."

Nye's eyes went wide. "But The Club is your life."

"If that is what it takes to keep you by my side then so be it."

Nye shook his head. "No Adam, that's not what I want. I don't want you to walk away from The Club, from your life, not for me."

"I would do it Nye. For you and no one else I would do it. If you're not up to it..."

"It's not that Adam." Adam smiled inwardly at the speed and vehemence with which he had spoken. "I am up to it. It's just... today..."

"Today will never happen again. I swear it."

"I..." He crumbled and Adam's inward smile turned into a grin. "I'm sorry. It's been too much. I was scared Adam. I thought I was going to die... and they hurt me... they hurt me so much."

He began to cry and Adam took him into his arms, gently so as not to hurt him anymore than he could help. This was right... this was the way it was supposed to be... this was what he had wanted from the start.

"Hush now. It's over. It's all over. Don't cry. I'm here and I am going to look after you and protect you and no one is going to lay a hand on you again unless you want them to. I promise."

For a while Nye sobbed and then grew quiet and still. Adam still held him close, stroking his hair and whispering empty promises and words of blind comfort until the trembling stopped and Nye's body relaxed against him.

When Adam laid him back onto the pillows he was asleep and Adam smiled down at him. 'Got you' he thought with a self satisfied smirk. If Nye could have seen his face in that moment he would have run from him, but Nye was fast asleep, ignorant to it all.

Adam brushed the hair from his face and caressed his cheek, provoking a soft sigh which made his loins tighten. Following the silky hair along its length he stroked Nye's collar bone and chest running his hands over the smooth muscles down to his belly. Nye shuddered and stirred, murmuring in his sleep but did not wake.

Thinking about what he had witnessed in the dungeon that afternoon Adam felt his cock hardening. His eyes were burning and hungry as he devoured Nye's naked body with his eyes, remembering how it had shuddered and bucked in the throes of ecstasy and how it had writhed and convulsed in the midst of pain. Touching the now flaccid penis he thought about how it had felt when it had ploughed into him that morning, so much sweeter that Lian's uncaring member and his thumb ran over the tip as he closed his eyes and imagined the catheter and the electrode sliding into it.

Nye shuddered and moaned, turning his head from side to side on the pillow and Adam stared at his parted lips remembering how it had felt to plunge his cock into the sweet cavity of his mouth. He touched them with his finger and they trembled. Wanting so badly to take him, here and now, and knowing that it would be a very bad idea Adam slipped from the bed and quickly dressed.

Outside the door of the room one of the attendants was standing, head bowed, still but alert.

"I'm going down to the dungeon. See that no one disturbs him and if you hear movement from in there send for me immediately."

"Yes sir."

***

The next time Nye awoke it was morning. The sun was streaming through an unfamiliar window and he was alone. He stretched and immediately regretted it as he felt that someone had kicked him in the stomach. Turning on his side he curled into a tight ball wrapping his arms around himself and drawing up his knees. That hurt too but he needed to do it.

He couldn't help his mind wandering to everything that had happened over the last couple of days. He had been higher and lower that he had ever been before. It was a lot to take in, to process.

It was hard to believe that Adam had been part of the nightmare, that he had allowed it to happen to him, although he supposed that he hadn't really had a lot of choice. The memory of Adam bound, gagged and swinging from the hook with Lian pawing him, came suddenly to his mind and made him shudder. Adam would have hated that, really hated it. Thinking on it he supposed that Adam had paid as high a price as he had for Lian's continued patronage.

Fuck... he had poisoned him. Adam had poisoned him. Okay he hadn't know at the time he was doing it but still... Fuck! He could have died. He was minutes away from it. If Lian hadn't given him the antidote in time... He shuddered and hugged himself tighter.

And what the fuck had they done to him at the end. The rest hadn't been so bad... and he had to admit that he had had some pretty fucking amazing orgasms. He had never passed out from sheer pleasure before and now he had done it twice... or was it three times? Some parts of what had happened were kind of blurred and he had no idea exactly what had been done to him, only how it had felt and even then...

Rolling on to his back Nye groaned and ran his hands over his body checking for damage. He felt as if he had been punched repeatedly in the stomach... which, now he came to think of it, he had...only from the inside. Raising his head to look down at himself he was a little surprised to find that there was no outward sign of the violence to which his body had been subjected. He had expected at least bruises.

Somewhat nervously he reached down and felt around his cock and balls. They were a little sore but everything seemed to be in order and not too badly battered. With a sigh he lay back and rested his hand on his belly. It was a strange thing but, even after everything that had happened he didn't regret a thing, not really.

Oh, he wished that it had never happened, that he had never met Lian, but in a way it was almost worth it to know that he had been approved, was truly becoming a part of Adam's world. True he would have preferred it if Adam's world was a little less scary and... painful, but wasn't that what it meant to become a man? To face the harsh realities of the world head on? To undertake your rite of passage and emerge on the other side stronger, more at peace with your life and being?

That had been a right of passage alright... and his passage was still bitterly complaining about it but... hell he had made it, he had come through and he WAS stronger, or at least he damn well was going to be once he got his stupid childish emotions under control. Feeling somewhat ungrateful he remembered why all this had happened in the first place. Adam had given him a commitment, more than he ever had to anyone, he had given him the keys to The Club, the apartment, everything. He had made him his equal, his partner.

Nye smiled and relaxed...until a frantic rumbling from his stomach reminded him that he had not had anything to eat for... well by the look of it for more than twenty four hours. No wonder he suddenly felt absolutely starving. He sat up and looked around for his clothes. They were folded neatly on a chair beside the bed... with the keys on top. Nye smiled.

Slowly sitting up he realised two things... firstly he hurt, really hurt and second he was stiff and sticky from his head to his thighs. Looking around the room and wondering for the first time where he was he spotted a door which looked likely to lead to a bathroom.

Nye got to his feet using the foot of the bed to haul himself up, and found that it hurt but was bearable to stand. He staggered slightly but managed to get to the door without mishap. Using the toilet was no picnic and hurt in every way imaginable but, again it was bearable and he didn't seem to be bleeding so that had to be good...didn't it?

When he was done he turned on the shower and stood for far too long under the warm water, soaking his hair and body, washing away the memory of the previous day. At one point he almost fell asleep and jerked awake as he started to slide down the wall. He slipped and grunted aloud as he caught himself and hauled himself up again.

With a sigh he climbed out of the shower and rubbed himself dry in the slightly rough towel. He looked at it curiously and found the logo of The Club sewn into one corner. He was still in The Club then. He hadn't been aware that there were any bedrooms here. He wasn't in the dungeon that was for sure.

Still puzzled he slowly pulled on his clothes, blanching when he had to bend to tie up his shoe laces. God that hurt.

When he opened the door of the room Nye was surprised to see the attendant leaning against the wall outside. Was he a guard? If so was he meant to keep him in or someone else out? Nye frowned and the guard bowed his head.

"Master Adam bade me apologise for having been called away. He suggests that you have the kitchen make you something to eat. If you would prefer I can have it brought to your room."

"This isn't my room. How long has Adam been gone?"

"About an hour, Sir. He expects to return before the end of the afternoon and would quite understand if you felt that you needed to go home. You can either take a taxi or the car."

Nye was quite taken aback by the deferential manner of the attendant.

"Where is Adam?"

"Attending to business downstairs, Sir."

"Down...? Oh, I see. Thank you. I'll go down to the bar to eat and then I'll think about going home."

"Would you like me to organise a meal, Sir?"

"Um... yes, yes alright. That would be kind. Thank you."

"Is there anything you would prefer?"

"No thank you, just something light... and quick. I'm very hungry."

"As you say, Sir."

The man hesitated and Nye realised that he was expecting him to precede him down to the bar. He narrowed his eyes slightly. Clearly Adam had not wanted him to be wandering around alone up here. His curiosity was piqued but not enough tempt him into a conflict with the attendant today... and he had the distinct impression that if he tried to look around he would be gently but firmly diverted.

Turning, Nye made for the stairs. He stumbled and caught himself with a grunt of pain to find the attendant at his elbow slipping an arm carefully around his waist to support him.

"Are you sure you're alright to go downstairs?"

The deferential tone had gone to be replaced by one that actually sounded concerned. Startled Nye looked at him and found himself staring into a pair of amber eyes in a very pretty face. The man was barely older than he was. Why did he think that all the attendants were old? He shuddered at the thought of how old this one had been when he had been 'trained'. He had known that some of Adam's previous lovers had been very young but he had never had the courage to ask how young.