Page 112 of Under His Heel

“How did you expect this to go down, Mr. Stone? I would pay you the ransom, and then you’d leave? If I took you up on your offer, you would travel on my ship with me and Alex?”

Nick tried to move his head away from the boot. “Sounds right. But hey, if you don’t like that, it’s cool. Just let me up, I’ll be out of your hair.”

“No. I really would like to understand this thought process of yours. What on earth possessed you to think this was a good idea?”

Alex pushed against Nick’s arms for good measure, and Nick yelped in pain. “Bro! Stop! I just—money’s been tight and a bunch of dudes are hot on my trail, okay? Figured I’d be safer on your ship, or at least I could use a payout to get the fuck out of here.”

“Hmm. What do you think, Alex? Should we just let him ‘get the fuck out of here’?” Tracht ran a hand over Alex’s hair casually. “Or should we play it like Mr. Messner? Like Mr. Parsons?”

Did Alex actually have a choice here? He thought about it. He didn’t want to let Nick go. Fuck Nick. Everything was Nick’s fault.

Playing it like Parsons—that would be watching Nick get whipped bloody. That would be hurting Nick and seeing him suffer and writhe in pain. The idea sent a visceral thrill through Alex.

But that was so simple. Nick getting beat up? Alex could do that himself.

Playing it like Messner—that would be Nick getting humiliated and degraded on the same level as Alex had been experiencing for the past few months. Nick could bounce back from pain—despite all of Alex’s efforts, Nick had occasionally still gotten hurt. But humiliation? That was something that would stick with Nick for a much, much longer time.

“Messner. Let’s do it like Messner,” Alex said.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Tracht smiled widely and reached into his pockets. He pulled out a pair of cuffs. “Restrain his arms, please.”

“Alex! Come on, there’s no need for this!” Nick wheedled. “I’m your brother!”

Alex snapped the cuffs around Nick’s wrists and jerked on them hard, making Nick cry out in pain. “Yeah, you’re my brother, you dick. So why’d you try to get me in trouble with Tracht?”

He got off Nick’s back and forced him up onto his knees. He was glad to note that there was no more prickling in his limbs.

Nick was still smiling, but he was nervous now, his eyes darting between Alex and Tracht.

“No, see, you’re doing really well for yourself. There’s no need to hold grudges. Share the wealth a bit!”

Tracht hmm’ed. “It’s strange. He looks like you, but I find him not nearly as compelling.” He leaned forward and traced Nick’s cheek, right on the spot where Alex’s scar was. “Maybe we should make him look more similar to you?”

Nick shook his head and shuffled sideways on his knees. “Woah, woah. No need for violence. We’re all friends here.”

“Do you have a knife?” Alex asked, while taking hold of Nick’s hair. He pulled backwards, exposing Nick’s throat, and he saw Nick’s eyes widen in fear.

Good.

Tracht sighed. “Unfortunately not. I never took the time to learn knifeplay. But I think we can still have some fun with him. Remove his clothes as far as the cuffs allow.”

“Wait, what?” Nick struggled while Alex pulled his shirt over his head and pushed it down to his cuffed wrists. Alex felt no remorse in “accidentally” knocking Nick around a bit, especially after Nick tried to get up and run again.

“Alex! Alex, stop! I’m your brother! Come on!”

Oh, fuck. Alex’s face heated up and he felt his cock try to chub up in its cage. Hearing Nick begging, finally having Nick off-guard and out of control was way hotter than it had any right to be. Nick was his twin.

“Hurry up, Alex,” Tracht said, but there was amusement in his voice. And—yeah, he was getting hot for it, too.

Alex pulled Nick’s shoes and pants off. He left the socks, just to make Nick look extra ridiculous.

Huh. Nick’s body really was a lot skinnier than Alex’s. They were twins, but they didn’t have all that much in common anymore. No way would anybody ever confuse skinny, flabby Nick with Alex, that was for sure. His stomach even had a little bit of a paunch to it. He was hairy too, his pubes not even trimmed.

Tracht picked up Nick’s discarded belt. “Mr. Stone—no, that’s going to get too confusing. Nicholas. I think it’s high time you learned that you aren’t quite as charismatic or smart as you think you are.”

“Woah, woah, what the fuck are you doing with that?” Nick tried to crawl away again, but Alex grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to stay up on his knees.

He didn’t expect Tracht to slap Nick. The sound cracked loudly in the silence, followed by Nick whimpering.

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