Page 78 of Forge the Blade

“Good work,” Sevastyan pressed a kiss to the side of Lisa’s head. “Let’s get back to the Bolthole.”

Ellisandre and Rei hadn’t returned yet. Sevastyan set Lisa to doing laundry and he put together dinner. When Ellisandre and Rei did arrive, they were both filthy.

“We’ll shower,” Ellisandre said. Then they looked between Rei and Sevastyan. Rei raised his eyes to Sevastyan and quickly dropped them, but put his hand in Ellisandre’s. Sevastyan gave a nod to his goddex, even as his stomach tightened. Whatever had happened today had drawn Rei and Ellisandre closer together.

Ellisandre stripped in the hall and Sevastyan helped Rei get out of the last of his clothes. He was limping and favoring his ribs and his eyes were bloodshot and tired. Sevastyan frowned, touching Rei’s dirt-smeared cheek. Rei gave him a wan smile and smothered a yawn. Ellisandre held out their hand. They helped Rei into the tub and turned on the shower, not closing the door or the shower curtain. The shower mat was going to be soaked. Sevastyan crossed his arms and leaned against the door jam, watching the two of them together.

With him, Ellisandre was power and grace and mystery. Watching them with Rei was to see a different facet of a person he already loved. They were gentle, almost motherly, handling Rei like glass, turning him this way and that under the water and stroking away the dirt on his cheek instead of scrubbing at it. Rei complied with each silent direction, his body aware and submissive, but without the prescription of his actions around Alexi. He was reading Ellisandre and responding. Communication instead of protocol.

Ellisandre finished showering Rei and moved back, preparing to work on themselves. Rei wrapped his hand around theirs. Then he held up one of the washcloths and started on Ellisandre’s arm, cleaning them like they had cleaned him. Ellisandre’s lips parted in surprise. They didn’t move, but they also didn’t stop him. They looked up, meeting Sevastyan’s eyes, a question in them. Did you tell him to do this?

Sevastyan shook his head. Ellisandre looked back down at Rei, and stroked their fingers through his hair as he lowered himself to one knee, washing their legs. When he tried to come back up, his stance wobbled. Ellisandre caught him and said something soft that Sevastyan couldn’t hear over the sound of the water. Rei’s lips rose a little and he let Ellisandre move him into the spray. When he was rinsed, Ellisandre nodded to Sevastyan.

Sevastyan grabbed a towel and stepped into the bathroom, bracing Rei as he came out. His ankle was certainly unhappy.

“Hold on, little one,” Sevastyan ordered. He wrapped the towel around Rei and lifted him off his feet.

“I’ll be out in five,” Ellisandre said, moving under the water to rinse their hair.

“Dinner’s ready to be served.”

“Be right there.”

Sevastyan took Rei to the couch and sank down, holding his boy in his lap. A strain of tension that had been there all day, knowing that Rei was out in the world without him, melted away. He started to rub Rei’s limbs with the towel, soothing himself with the motions. Rei’s weight grew heavier and heavier. Then his head dropped against Sevastyan’s arm. Sevastyan looked down.

Rei was asleep. Mouth open, eyes closed, limbs completely limp kind of asleep.

Lisa came out of the kitchen carrying the pot of curry and stopped to stare. Sevastyan motioned him to put down the pot and hand him one of the quilts. Together they wrapped Rei in the dry material and Sevastyan arranged his smaller slave on his lap. If Rei was this tired, he probably needed the sleep more than food.

Sevastyan

The next day was moving day. Most of the items had already been delivered or sent ahead and Lisa had sorted them out the day before. Rei kept smothering yawns after he woke up. He practically crawled into Sevastyan’s lap for his morning discipline with his eyes closed. Sevastyan ran his hand over Rei’s bare ass. “Little one.”

Rei turned his head and fluttered his eyes open. “Master?”

“Are you even awake?”

“I don’t think so, Master.”

Sevastyan chuckled. Across the bed, Lisa choked back a laugh.

“How am I supposed to discipline you when you’re still asleep, precious boy?”

Rei’s eyes started to fall closed again. “You can always discipline me, Master.”

Sevastyan bit the inside of his cheeks and fought not to make eye contact with Lisa. This was against all the rules. But Rei seemed to be in a happy place. One of his arms came up and wrapped around Sevastyan’s thigh and he spread his legs and arched his back, even though it looked like he was falling right back to sleep. Sevastyan gave one exploratory spank to Rei’s upturned rear and Rei’s spine rippled, his shoulders relaxing and his cheek rubbing against the cover.

Sevastyan gave up. He looked away and covered his mouth with his hand. “Rei, little one, wake up.”

Rei was sound asleep. Sevastyan bit his lips and finally made eye contact with Lisa. The other slave was red in the face trying to suppress his laughter.

“I’ve never spanked someone to sleep before,” Sevastyan said. “You will never, ever repeat this, not while the Merchari still stand.”

“Yes, Master.” Lisa sputtered and half turned away, pressing a hand to his mouth.

“I think being out yesterday wore him through.” Sevastyan looked down at his lapful of affectionate submissive and sighed. “As master, I’m calling it. Health day.” He pulled Rei off his legs, despite the smaller man clinging like an octopus, and turned to Lisa. “We’ll do yours instead.”

“Yes, Master.” Lisa turned to face Sevastyan.