Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

((Many thanks to my reviewers, I luff j00 all! -Ahem- Anyway, Jace, thanks for pointing that out. I\'ll bear that in mind in the future, but I\'ll go back and edit it when it\'s done seeing as it isn\'t the biggest mistake. As for Raf\'s screaming, he did, it just didn\'t want to be copied from the word document so I\'ve edited it in. Many thanks for pointing it out. And now, everyone enjoy the new chapter!))

Chapter Six. Warnings - Tiny bit of Minor.

With drooping eyelids, the slaves entered the washroom where the two guards were waiting to the side, their dark navy blue clothing a stark contrast to the pale creams and whites of the room. They didn’t have to be told to remove their robes as they were ushered towards the bathtubs by the guard behind them. Their robes slipped from their shoulders as the two weary slaves lowered themselves into the hot water.

After the abuse their bodies were subjected to courtesy of Hadrian, the hot water was bliss, soothing their aches and soreness, easing the tension from their muscles. Leon never wanted to leave, it felt so good after what he’d been put through in the room and he never wanted to go back to the room that held Hadrian within it. Despite the amazing décor of that room, it was evil. The extravagance was merely a mask over the horrors that hid behind that ornate oak door.

Washing himself at a slow and leisurely pace, taking great care to be gentle around his genitalia, Leon looked across at the formerly rebellious slave. Although neither had said anything, Rafael looked particularly reclusive, like he was trying to build walls around himself so that he wouldn’t get hurt as he already had. He had just lost his virginity in a less than pleasant manner after all, so Leon couldn’t blame him for feeling a he did. Leon’s first time had been very different to Rafael’s but he certainly knew what it was like to be raped like that.

The young blonde slave had given his most intimate gift to Luca, and in return, the master was gentle with him…

It’s okay; I’m not going to hurt you…”
“But I’m just a slave and everybody beats us.”
“A slave should only be beaten when they have disobeyed, you haven’t disobeyed me, so there will be no punishment.”

The boy, of fourteen years of age, was with Luca, whose kind smile and gentle eyes relieved some of the nervousness the boy felt at being alone with the man in his bedroom. He was dressed in neat robes of a pale green hue with a rope belt of a light golden colour and stood, shifting nervously before his new master. He’d been passing from hand to hand for about a year by then, doing whatever was asked of him from each of his respective owners, but never had been in a situation like this before.

The boy had fear in his eyes and only a mild degree of understanding, after all he hadn’t been taught about the male reproductive system, and everything he did know, he found out himself when he had a private moment to explore his own body.

One of his small hands were taken and he was led to the bed, sapphire eyes wide and scared, especially as the master, who was pleasantly young, only in his early twenties, reached for the rope belt and loosened it before gently pushing the robe from his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor.

The boy’s body obtained a light pink blush as his body was displayed and Luca admired the flawless milky skin that was baby-soft to the touch. “You’re beautiful.” He whispered, letting his own robe fall to pool around his feet and it was then that Leon was allowed to see the human body in its natural state without fear of being punished.

When prompted to do so, Leon climbed up onto the comfortable bed and watched as Luca climbed on with him, gently caressing his skin with light fingertips. The boy shuddered but didn’t mind the touches; they were more pleasant than what he had expected and then Luca lowered his naked body over him, sporting an obvious erection that made the boy nervous once again, he wasn’t sure what it meant, knowing only that when it had happened to him before, it had felt really quite nice.

So Leon let it happen, let Luca collect some wild berry scented oil and smooth it carefully around and inside his virgin entrance, squirming at the burning sensation that emanated due to the actions. Wide and innocent blue eyes watched as Luca smoothed the oil on his erection and then the boy tensed as the sensitive head of the oiled length pressed against the tight ring of muscle that guarded his entrance. After more comforting words, Luca eased himself inside; delighted by the boy’s tight heat and the young slave moaned softly in such a pain/pleasure mix he had never felt before. Luca’s hand was trailing down his body, reaching down towards his crotch and…

And a sharp cuff was dealt to the side of his head, jerking him from his memories and rousing him from where he’d fallen asleep. The water of the bathtub sloshed as the boy shook off the last lingering dregs of the dream and blinked clouded blue eyes as he regained his bearings, noting the scowl on the face of the guard towering above him. The blonde youth looked down at his hands to find his fingers beginning to wrinkle and he suspected that his toes would wrinkling too, so, feeling the glare on the back of his head as he lifted himself from the water, Leon reached for the towel and began to dry himself off.

Rafael was already out of the water, sat on a marble bench with a towel around his shoulders, lank black hair falling forwards over his face, hiding his features from view. He was hunched forwards, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on the palm of one hand, his eyes closed. He felt lost, empty inside, like everything was some kind of realistic twisted nightmare that he had no hope of escaping.

After their washing, they were both urged to cover themselves in thin cloaks while they traversed the halls as they were led to their room. Bare feet pattered softly down the high hallways of the mansion but neither slave took any notice of their surroundings. It didn’t matter; they would be seeing more of Hadrian’s room than anything else, so there was really no need to pay attention to the twists and turns of the halls as they only ever walked them when under surveillance.

A few minutes of walking down passages ended when the pair were pushed up to a small, normal looking door and ushered inside, the door almost slammed closed behind them and the quiet click of a lock being turned. Rafael made straight for the two single beds and lowered himself gingerly onto one, testing it. It was hard and the sheets thin. Apparently although they were supposed to be looked after, their accommodation left much to be desired, despite it being a large step up from the disgusting cells.

Meanwhile, Leon had skittered off the use the little en-suite bathroom to relieve himself, and then he looked around for something that might soothe them both, some balm of some description that could perhaps ease the burning sensation that was driving him crazy. It was probably doing the same to Raf who can’t have been feeling comfortable after having his virginity taken like that.

It took a minute or two of searching before a small ceramic pot was found that had some balm in it that smelled pleasantly of Lavender and after discarding the cloak around his shoulders, he began to apply it to himself slowly, feeling the cool balm soothe the inflamed skin. He felt distinctly uncomfortable applying it himself as Luca had always done it for him in the past, but Luca wasn’t there now, and he had to accept that and move on. He thought he’d already done that, but being in Hadrian’s room had roused the memories he’d buried.

Swiping a finger through the balm, he inserted that one digit into himself and did the best he could to smooth it across the sore skin and torn muscle. Hissing quietly at the dulling pain, the younger slave sorted himself quickly, if a little awkwardly and was soon shuffling back into the main section of their room, ceramic pot in hand and minus the cloak.

Grey eyes glanced up as the smaller slave came back into the room, carrying something small with him and he couldn’t help but notice that the boy was completely naked once again, he did have a beautiful body and it certainly was a shame that it had to be so abused. His eyes lingered on the pierced nipple and he sighed softly, that was there because of his disobedience and it had hurt the boy, making Rafael feel incredibly guilty. His eyes remained on the figure that looked almost ethereal in the moonlight that drifted in through the barred window and he was afraid to blink lest the boy disappear as if he were an apparition that his pain-clouded mind had conjured.

Leon shuffled closer, his footfalls barely audible on the thin rugs that lined the room. The youth stopped in front of Rafael who was lying in the bed with the thin blankets drawn up to his chin, obviously cold. Still nothing was said as the boy held out the pot of balm for Raf to see and the older male slowly drew back the covers and removed the cloak he was still wearing; trusting the boy to do what he could with what was available.

Rafael squirmed as the balm was applied, not comfortable with having any extremities inside him, but if he wanted to recover quicker, then it had to be done. The boy was surprisingly gentle with him, surprisingly, because he’d felt the strength in that little body and doubted that after the pain Rafael put him through, he would be gentle at all with him. Soon enough, the pot was put to the side and Rafael set the covers back over his body, shivering with the cold. His gaze searched the young slave’s face for the emotions that were there, but the boy looked away in what Rafael recognised to be shame.

After a brief pause, Raf held the edge of the blanket up to invite the youth beneath them with him and to his joy, Leon climbed under with him and curled into a ball against his chest. Rafael’s arms went around him to hold him close and he breathed in the sweet scent of the boy’s freshly washed hair, lightly nuzzling against him. The feeling of something damp spreading across his chest made him hold the boy back a little so that his face could seen properly. His heart broke when he saw that Leon was weeping softly against him, his clear blue eyes bloodshot and watery and he held the boy to him again, stroking his back in what he hoped to be a comforting gesture.

“I’m sorry… for hurting you.” Leon whispered, his voice thick with the tears he hadn’t shed. It was muffled against his companion’s chest, but at least he’d said it. He hadn’t wanted to hurt Raf, far from it, but he hurt so much.

“Shh.” Rafael soothed, placing a gentle kiss to the boy’s hair and then stroking the soft locks that were still in cute disarray. “I’m just glad it was you and not him.” He murmered, hugging the boy to him for both their comfort and warmth. “Just get some sleep.” He insisted gently. Sure, he hurt and probably would for a while, but Leon was younger than he was and hurt more, mentally as well as physically, so he would push his fears and such to the side in favour of caring for the boy.

It wasn’t fair for someone as young as Leon to be put through such torture and degradation, his little body wouldn’t take it and there was no doubt that he’d break if Hadrian was as harsh upon him everyday as he was with them earlier. The older slave sighed softly as the little blond bundle crawled up so that his head was resting on Raf’s chest before settling down again, a soft sniffle the only sound he made as his eyes closed.

Hadrian meanwhile was lying out on his bed, still naked, staying at the canopy to his bed. The drapes were across, enclosing the bed in pure darkness, trapping the warmth within. The bed itself now reeked of a mixture of sweat, sex and the oil Hadrian had used on his length again, but Hadrian found it to be a pleasing aroma, that spoke of the events that had come to pass on that bed, events that Hadrian had very much enjoyed. Sure, perhaps the screams of Rafael would have sounded sweeter if he had been the one inflicting the pain, but still, at least he had the enjoyment of taking the smaller slave twice. He would certainly be doing that again if he could drive Leon to becoming that wanton mess he was last time. Just thinking about it made his groin stir.

He fell asleep like that, spread-eagled on the bed, inhaling the delicious scents that wafted around him. He was hungry, he was human after all, but he felt sated in a way that food could not possibly make him feel, and that alone was enough to allow him to rest easy, content in the knowledge that his two new slaves were the best that he’d had in some time.

Leon was sleeping against Raf, curled up into a ball with Rafael curling around him so that they were conserving warmth. Despite the situation, that he was warm and relatively comfortable, the burning sensation all but gone from his lower body, he couldn’t sleep. Seeing as the boy was fast asleep already, the poor thing, Rafael was free to let his mind wander without feeling responsible for the youth cuddled up with him. His thoughts drifted to when he was free…

“You can’t tell me what to do! I’m only a kid!”
“Come back you little scoundrel! You’re supposed to be learning so you can take over!”

The little jet haired boy laughed and bounced away, grey eyes twinkling in the sunlight and looking almost liquid silver, beautiful pools of swirling colour. His youthful body was nimble enough to dodge the reaching hand as it sought to latch onto his tunic and his laughter rung merrily in the air as the merchant sighed and gave in, returning to tending to his wares.

“I don’t wanna be a merchant when I grow up! I wanna be a king! With a white horse and loads of people who love me! And we’ll be really powerful and have lotsa men under my command!”

The boy struck a dramatic pose, danced out of the way of another grab for his tunic and dashed off down the hill, kicking up the dust as he ran.

Rafael couldn’t help but smile. To most, that would be a rather insignificant event, but it was one of his fondest memories, declaring that he wanted to be a king, not a handsome knight like most boys his age, but a king. And then he considered his surroundings, the smile sliding from his lips. He was locked in a room with a boy a few years younger than himself and being used as some sadistic bastard’s fuck toy.

It certainly wasn’t the future he’d planned. He had to make the best of his situation though, after all, the boy was cute and Rafael was beginning to like him as more than just a companion in the same predicament. All things considered it probably wasn’t a good idea for him to get attached to the boy, but he couldn’t help feeling responsible for him and he made a mental note to see if the youth would tell him about himself, about where he came from and how he came to be stuck in that hell-hole.

Sighing softly and nuzzling lightly into the boy’s hair again, Rafael closed his eyes. He wanted to get some sleep, after the events of the day he felt drained and violated and could only hope that he fell asleep and perhaps didn’t wake up again, at least not in that place any longer. They needed to get out of there, whatever it took. Wait, they? Yes, he intended to take the boy with him, they could escape together, go into hiding somewhere or something, but they’d do it together.

Even though it took a while longer, with his mind full of plans for the future, for the escape that they would succeed in, Rafael’s eyelids began to droop. Soon enough, the older slave, as naked beneath the sheets as the day he was born, was fast asleep with the youth, and it completed the serenity of the scene. Two boys curled up together, moonlight dimly illuminating the room. Too bad there was no one there to appreciate the picture they made.

((Loving my reviewers, keep your comments coming and if you think something should happen in the future, don\'t be afraid to put a suggestion forward. Many thanks, and stay tuned for the next chapter. xD ))