Possession

[Disclaimer:This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.]

. . .

“When the trainer reenters you should bow your head. If you’re seated always stand and then bow.”

“I’m not bowing to that ass.”

“You will bow or you’ll be punished until you bow.”

“I won’t bow.”

Selix shook his head. “After you bow to the highest rank you continue down the line. Never sit at anyone’s feet but your Master’s. Never sit above him unless directed to specifically.”

“I’m not going to do any of this.”

“But I’ve told you about it, which means the trainer will take that into account.”

“Will you be punished if I disobey?”

“You shouldn’t care either way. Don’t speak unless addressed directly, always call others by their title.”

“This should be fun.”

“No but it will go quickly if you obey. You don’t really have a choice.”

The door opened to the training room and Selix bowed first to his Master and then to the eldest Vesperian and finally to the trainer.

“Good boy.” Clientin patted his head. “I assume you informed the new pet about greetings.”

“Yes, Trainer Clientin.”

“Good boy.” Clientin ran fingers through Selix’s hair, well aware it was one of the pet’s favorite rewards.

“Connor you are to greet your Master.”

“I have no master.”

“You will greet us appropriately or you will be punished and then greet us appropriately.”

“I have no master.”

“Strip him.” Cleintin nodded to the guards who began to undress him with none to gentle tugs of his clothing. “Your cloths, your food, your body is property of Darius Vesperian. Until you can respect him you will forfeit the rights of his protection.”

“I don’t want his protection.”

“Trust me. Unless you want these guards fucking you. Unless you want to be beaten, bow.”

“I have no Master.”

“Very well take him away. Place him in empty rooms. I will be in to fit him later.”

The guards nodded and took him away.

“Would you enjoy some time reading to me?” Clientin turned to Selix.

“If it is my Master’s wish.”

Clientin chuckled. “Of course. May I borrow your pet for a bit? I’d like to reward him.”

“If you like.” Mikhael nodded.

Selix bowed. “Thank you, Master Vesperian. Thank you, Trainer Clientin.”

Clientin sat in his rooms. Selix read from the small novel and rested his head in Clientin’s lap. The fingers in his hair brushed their locks back and forth. “I’ve had enough of the novel, pet.”

Selix nodded and shut the book. “May I get anything for you, Trainer Clientin.

“No pet. I do have a question for you.”

“Yes, Trainer Clientin. “

“Does Mikhael offer you to guests?”

“No trainer, Clientin.” Selix ignored the warning in his head. “He has never offered me to anyone else.”

“Would you like to share my bed, pet?”

“If it is what my Master desires, Trainer Clientin.”

Clientin laughed. “I thought not. Mikhael is lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, Trainer Clientin. I am lucky to have Master Vesperian.”

“Calm down, pet. I won’t ask him for you.” Clientin sighed as Selix rested his head again.

. . .

Selix looked down at the plate of fresh fruit and forced another bite down. He knew Conner would eat nothing. Connor was more of a pet than he was. From the corner of his eye he looked at Connor’s Master. The two brothers looked so much alike. How could one brother be so passionate and the other want him so little. Selix swallowed another bite of the sweet fruit on his plate.

“Last night I caged Connor, today we will see how he responds to that.”

Selix involuntarily shivered at the idea of punishment. He didn’t like the idea of Connor being so heavily punished.

“I don’t want Connor injured.”

He hasn’t been. We’ve moved his bonds every two hours. We’ve fed him nutrition pills. He’s healthy just unhappy and uncomfortable. He’s very right to move is yours and he needs to know that.”

. . .

Connor waited as the guards retied his hands again. Every two hours they’d come and move him completely. Waking him just as he would fall asleep, they forced the pills into his mouth and then down his throat. They’d even escorted him to the bathroom four hours after he’d needed to pee. Sooner or later he’d break down like this. It was only a matter of time before the sleep deprivation and regulation broke him down. He’d seen it happen to the resistors. He’d even loathed seeing it used against the Banpo. He knew the options; give in or let them break him slowly. The guards left and Connor slowly waited for the next wave to begin. He counted in his head, knowing that sooner or later the counting might save him a day or two of resistance. Anything to keep his mind engaged.

The door clicked open again and Connor looked up in anticipation. It wasn’t tie for a change yet. Selix stood in the doorway. The look on his face was unreadable before he stepped forward and let out a long sigh. “Trainer Clientin won’t be back until tomorrow. Until then we have about an hour and a half until they move you.” Selix moved forward and began to mess with the bonds. “I can’t take them off but I can loosen then enough that you’re a bit more comfortable.”

Connor raised an eyebrow.

“Are you thirsty?”

Connor nodded warily as the smaller man padded to the small stall in the corner of the room. Selix stared at him for a moment before standing close and taking a deep breath. Soft gentle lips pressed against Connor’s. They were supple and wet with the gloss that kept them plump and perfect. Connor gasped at the though only to discover the flood of water flowing over his lips. Connor swallowed and was too shocked to resist the fingers that wiped up trails of water pouring from the corners of his lips.

“I’m sorry there was nothing to carry the water with.”

“So you thought you’d just kiss me.”

Selix scowled. “It wasn’t a kiss. I thought you would prefer water over modesty in this case.”

“Thank you.”

Selix looked at Connor unexpectedly. Those eyes were stunning in their clarity. “Don’t thank me.”

“Why not? You’re being kind.”

“I’m not doing it for you.”

“Oh really? Who then?”

“Not important. Do you want more water?”

Connor stared at the smaller boy, impressed that not only did he have the courage to defy the master that he so desperately wanted but the courage to help a man that could easily kill him. “Yes.”

The silent journey ended much like the first. Selix looked up at Connor with a pale blush on his face. He tilted his lips up to the resistors and parted them. He was almost shocked at the softness of the other man’s mouth and the gentle suction of the other mans mouth against his own as the water flowed from between his lips. When they parted again Selix couldn’t think to look at Connor, not after having met him so intimately. “Enough?”

“Yes.”

The wordless silence settled down over the room. Like an uncomfortable veil, it lay against the moment creating tension and stiffness where it rested.

“I thought it might help pass the time if I read to you.”

Connor nodded slowly, “More pet protocol?”

“No. I thought perhaps you might like to hear something else for a change. This is a novel I found in the libraries.”

Connor didn’t say anything but settled his arms at now unfamiliarly comfortable angles. Selix’s voice wasn’t a drone but it most certainly wasn’t the most pleasant melody to listen to as both men faced their own distractions. In another life it was quite feasible that the young man in front of him would have been just another one of the playful children Connor raised in the fertile fields of his home. The practiced grace of those lean limbs folding together as Selix knelt artfully in the hard floor, his knees no doubt lamenting the patience that it took to be so graceful. The brief flicks of pages turning counted down the moments until Selix stood again.

“I have to retighten the ropes now before they come in.” Selix bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”

Connor raised an eyebrow.

“I have always loved my purpose. I didn’t know…. I didn’t understand what slavery meant to you.” Selix retied the bonds and bowed. “I will see you during your lessons.”

With a nod Connor dismissed his would be helper.

Selix took one last look back at the man in bondage. At the trainer’s he’d never felt a moment of sympathy for the other men there when they earned their punishment. Something about Connor made him wonder if he would still feel that way today. In his heart he knew that he would return again to recommit his crime.

. . .

Days stretched out in the solace of the library. The moments of joy in Selix’s life were ink stained fingers and carefully penned notation. What broke apart these moments were the bliss of usefulness in Master Vesperian’s study or the hours of torment with Trainer Clientin training.

“Selix, I believe it’s time for Connor’s lessons.”

“Yes, Trainer Clientin.” The practiced smiled burned Selix’s lips. During these trips to the sparse rooms that made up Connor’s life, Selix pondered what it might be like to forget his training and let his lips crack and peel, leave his fingers unpolished and his hair unkempt and tangled. For now, he settled for his hours reading to Connor.

Six hours a day, Selix repeated protocol to Connor. The long hours were like torture to them both; Clientin would stand in the corner asking questions and Selix would kneel on the stone floor and recite perfectly memorized answers. Connor wouldn’t say a thing, or at least hadn’t since the third repetition. The guards came in and moved him into some new position. Every day, General Vesperian would come in and every day Connor spat and cursed until the fourth day when Connor remained silent. Even in their secret moments together, Connor no longer spoke. Though Selix thought this was a form of punishment, he mourned it more than the loss of his position as pet. Part of him was glad that everything seemed to be breaking down, and the other half screamed in agony as Connor withdrew from him completely

Clientin ran a hand through his hair again. “You’ve been a good boy Selix. Our lessons are done for the day.”

“Thank you Trainer Clientin.”

“You may return to your duties now.”

“Thank you, Trainer Clientin.”

Selix walked slowly through the halls, his knees in pain before he entered Michaels’ public living room. He bowed to the Guard at the door. “Guard Zenill, will you please announce me to Master Vesperian.”

The Guard nodded and poked his head into the private chamber. “Commander Vesperian, Selix is here.”

Mikhael rolled his eyes at the protocol. “In.”

Zenill nodded with a smile of understanding and opened the door for the pet.

Bowing low, Selix spoke with all the glee and mirth he could muster. “How may I serve you, Master.”

“No formality here Selix.”

“Yes Master.” Selix stood and grimaced internally. “I’m sorry, Master.”

“No need. I realize Clientin’s presence requires things from you that I don’t.”

“Yes Master.” Selix stared down at his hands. How he longed just to throw himself under the lash in Connor’s place; the freedom of punishment meted out and forgiveness granted in the form of pain. “Might I write for you today?”

“No I’ve taken care of it.”

“Is there further cataloging to be done?” Selix relished the opportunity to expand his duties again. Now he wrote, cataloged sometimes even looked up a bit of information and tucked them into master’s notes during his studies. Master was risking a lot keeping him. He could return the favor.

“No, nothing.” Mikhael turned back to his text.

“Would you like me to read for you?”

“I thought you would have had your fill reading to Clientin every night.”

“No, Master.” The genuine purr in Selix’s voice surprised both of them.

Mikhael nodded and held out the pages. Selix took it carefully bowing to his knees and winced at the soreness there.

“You’ve been crawling around quite a bit lately.”

“It is the duty of a pet, Master.”

“From now on you will kneel or sit only on pillows. I won’t have this foolishness be the cause of any further suffering.” Mikhael pulled him up onto the couch. “Now read.”

“Thank you, Master.” Selix loved the care in Mikhael’s eyes but pushed away the thought. He was a slave not a pet here. The two of them knew that dangerous, dirty secret. A few more chapters into the book and Selix looked over at Mikhael’s sleeping face. For a moment he stared at the young Master. His fingers brushed the dark hair back from his forehead. “Master.” The pained whisper crossed his lips before he thought about it consciously.

Vesperian’s eyes opened.

“I believe you are sleeping.”

“I’m sorry Selix. I think it’s best if I rest.”

Selix nodded. “Thank you, master.” His steps were quick and nearly silent. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he made it to his rooms without interception. The loneliness of the night was cool and needed against his hot thoughts. No amount of reading aloud would fix today and he wanted the petting in his hair to be from Master.

That night he prepared for sleep slowly. His mouth tasted bitter as he smoothed lotion over his skin and tipped some of the massage oil down the drain of his bath. In his mind he concocted the scenario for the evening. He would have taken Master’s hand and led him to bed, massaging the oil into Master’s back until the older man fell asleep. In his fantasy, he slipped into bed next to him, wrapped in warm skin and pleasure. Selix sighed as he sank back into the bed and pulled the silk up over his body.

. . .

Selix kneeled on the cold stone of Connor’s room. After another week of the other slave’s constant silence, he didn’t think he could take much more of this. The customary click of the door let Darius Vesperian into the room.

“Welcome, Master Vesperian.”

Selix thought his eyes would fall out of his head. Connor had dropped his eyes submissively in his bonds. The words were plain but clear.

“Good boy, Connor.” Clientin grinned.

The horror and shock must have been clear on Selix’s face but he quickly shook it away and replaced it with a wobbly smile.

“Thank you, Trainer Clientin.”

It was a nightmare come to life and all of the hope in Selix crashed to the floor in that moment.

Darius nearly fell over. His pet actually said the words. Darius reached out to touch his pet, the soft skin felt cool under his fingertips.

“Thank you, Master.”

The breathy words of his pet made his libido do flips.

“Would you like to be untied, Connor?”

“If it would please you, Master.”

“It would.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Vesperian took his time unknotting the ropes of Connor’s complex bindings. The smooth muscle under his hands tensed before relaxing into his grip.

Inside something was screaming. There was no mistaking the way Connor leaned back into the touch of his Master. Pure unadulterated jealousy boiled inside him. Even the petting hand on his head, did nothing to stop the ill feeling in his stomach. He though nothing in the world could make him feel any worse.

Master Vesperian entered the room.

“Welcome, Master.” Selix bowed low and took his place at Vesperian’s feet. He could almost feel the disapproval of the man rolling over him like a whip.

Mikhael couldn’t believe what he was seeing. ‘This actually worked?”

“All pets want to be taken care of, some just need to be reminded of everything that protection entails.” Clientin smirked. “I’d like to continue his lessons tomorrow in the study. He’ll need to earn back clothing and the treats of a pet though.”

Darius nodded.

“Was Selix kneeing in here again?” Mikhael noticed the absence of a pillow in the room.

“As he assisted me in the lesson.”

Mikhael looked down at Selix’s bowed head. “He is only to kneel or sit on pillowed surfaces.”

“Thank you, Master.” Selix purred from his feet sexually.

“I’d like to use Selix in some of the more advanced lessons.”

“Meaning?”

“He’ll give more explicit examples of some responsibilities of a pet. Simulated, of course.”

Mikhael stiffened at the words. “No.”

“I’m sorry for asking. I didn’t realize you were so attached. I can imagine why. He was an excellent student.”

“I don’t agree with your tone of voice.”

“I meant no offense. I’m proud my trainee provides such service.”

“Selix, return to my study.”

“Yes Master.” Selix bowed and turned to the older Vesperian “Good-bye General Vesperian, Trainer Clientin, Conner.”

Mikhael bit his tongue as Selix slid past him. “I realize Selix was trained by you, but you will not be using him as an example of anything in your lessons. He belongs to me, not you. I loaned him a bit too much I think.”

“I apologize for monopolizing him, Commander.”

Mikhael stormed out of the room.

Darius looked Clientin over with wary eyes. “As for more advanced services, I will be teaching Connor my preferences myself. He will have no outside instruction.”

“Very well, General Vesperian.”

. . .

Mikhael walked into his study not entirely surprised to find Selix kneeling on the floor. “Why didn’t you tell Clientin about the kneeling.”

“I forgot about it.”

“I doubt that. The moment you kneeled you would remember.”

“Yes Master.”

“You remembered?”

“Yes Master.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“No Master.”

“Why?”

Selix kept his eyes on the floor. “I didn’t think it was appropriate to be comfortable when training another pet.”

“So you would suffer because of the resistor.”

“I didn’t want to flaunt favor I hadn’t earned.”

“You need to earn comfort.” Mikhael repeated the statement and longed to shake the younger man until all the programming fell out.

“Yes. That is what pets do. That is what we just taught Connor. We pay for comfort with our companionship. I didn’t earn your kindness.”

“You want to crawl around and beg for what’s necessary.”

“No, Master. I won’t endanger you further by expecting more than what I deserve.”

“Danger?” Mikhael was simply dumbfounded. The entire idea of Selix kneeling on the floor to protect him was preposterous.

“Persons of military rank can’t hold slaves other than pets.”

Mikhael shook his head. “In return for keeping you, you won’t except the perks.”

“No, Master. I already owe you my life. You own me. I don’t wish to be a further burden.”

“Taking care of you isn’t a burden.”

Inside Selix, something pulled all the strings of his body tight. “It is, Master. I know you don’t want me, Master. I know that my presence is troubling to you. You don’t like or want pets. So I will be like any slave and I will keep my secret.” The word secret sounded like shame. “I will keep you safe.”

Mikhael looked down at Selix who was visibly shaking. “Than accept what I offer you.”

Selix felt a sob well up in his throat. “I can’t… please Master. Please don’t make me.”

“You act like I’m beating you buy asking you to sit on a pillow and not the floor.” Mikhael reached out to comfort a bare shoulder, only to be shrugged aside.

“I can’t take your kindness, Master. Please, It is hard enough knowing you don’t want my services. It is… difficult to accept that what I am repulses you. Please don’t be so kind to me.”

“Selix.” The word escaped his lips almost as quickly as Mikhael dropped to his knees. “You don’t repulse me.”

“Don’t lie, Master. Please don’t touch me… Master.”

Selix pushed back and lay his front half completely against the ground In the deepest bow Mikhael had ever seen. “Please Don’t force yourself to touch me. I know you don’t want to… it hurts… it just hurts when you do.”

Mikhael withdrew from the sobbing figure, wanting to reach out and pull Selix close but unable to do so. “You’re beautiful” Mikhael pulled Selix up and into his arms even as Selix fought his embrace. “Shhh… You’re beautiful and sexy and incredibly tempting.”

The cooing words repeated over and over again until Selix’s shoulder steadied and Mikhael slowly released him.

“Please.”

“Shhh.. It’s okay. Go and rest. We’ll finish this discussion another day.” Mikhael wiped away Selix’s tears. “Until then do as I say.”

Selix bit back another sob and nodded miserably.

“Now go rest.”

Selix nodded obediently and wiped his face before leaving the room.

. . .

The darkness of the night descended over the estate slowly. Selix remained awake and unable to sleep in the comfort of his bed. He crept silently in his flowing robe toward the darker places of the house. The guards outside of Connor’s room were the same two from earlier in the day. “I have a message for Connor from General Vesperian.”

The guards nodded, believing that such a well trained pet would not lie.

Inside the room was dark. Connor was now allowed the floor. Shackles adorned his wrists and ankles but he could move as he pleased because he’d moved as his Master pleased first.

“How could you? What happened to your pride? What happened to all that talk about Banpo scum?” Selix pushed him harder. “Why… why would you give in to Trainer Clientin. You didn’t speak for days… why.” Selix was crying and hitting Connor with weak flailing limbs before he calmed and stood their panting. “How could you just give in? You said pets are stupid, weak, idiots, worthless, mindless.”

Connor didn’t speak. He didn’t have permission to.

“Say something.”

Connor shook his head and motioned to his mouth.

“No.” Selix shook his head as if everything might shift back into place. “Say something. You don’t need their permission to speak.”

Connor nodded.

“Nononononononono.” Selix backed into the wall and began to pull at his hair. “This isn’t right. It shouldn’t have worked… why did he do it? You were different. He wants you! They want you! Why were you different? So we’re the same which means… I’m like you… I’m not… you’re different. Why!”

Realizing the break for what it was Connor rushed to Selix and pulled the smaller man into his arms. “I can talk Selix… I can talk.”

Selix babbled, his mind unable to comprehend that he’d help break what was unique in the universe, something strong and different.

“Selix.”

The strong shake woke him from his haze.

“Selix. It’s a strategy. I’m lying I’m not a pet. ”

“Connor!” Selix threw himself into Connor’s arms and pressed his lips against the other slave’s. The kiss was eager and unpracticed, a press of lips together and then the deeper embrace of one open mouth to another.