Page 35 of Under His Heel

Uh, okay. Good mood then. Alex could deal with that. He moved gingerly to wash and relieve himself. He wasn’t sure if air and suction hurt more or less than water would have on his wounds, but he definitely didn’t enjoy the process.

He did, however, very much like what Tracht had laid out for him. A cheeseburger, with tomatoes and lettuce and grilled mushrooms and some kind of sauce that made all the flavors dance along his tongue. Thick fries seasoned with curry powder were on the side. Alex scarfed it all down in under ten minutes, all without sitting down—his ass was way too sore for that.

“If you’re done, come sit with me,” Tracht said, and he motioned to his bare feet. Actually, Tracht was wearing casual clothes, which meant the ship had to be on its evening cycle.

Alex ran his finger over the plate to get all the crumbs and juices and licked those clean too. Maybe he was stalling a bit. If he knelt, he could maybe keep his ass and back from touching anything, but then his knees would start to hurt.

Another thought occurred to him as he sucked on his fingers. “Did you send Parsons to do that on purpose?”

“Hmm?” Tracht looked up at him with his eyebrows raised, which meant he’d probably seen through Alex’s stalling tactic. Alex walked over and stopped in front of Tracht.

Tracht stared back. And then he sighed. “On your stomach across the couch. Put your head on my lap.”

Was that Tracht being nice? Alex wasn’t sure, but weirdly intimate was better than being in pain, so he gladly took that option.

Once he was positioned, Alex’s face turned away from Tracht’s crotch, he asked again, “Did you send Parsons to test me with the food?”

Tracht stroked Alex’s head. “No. Mr. Parsons, from my interactions with him, appears to be fully ‘vanilla,’ as they say.” His intonation on the word ‘vanilla’ made it sound distasteful. “I would never involve somebody who didn’t enjoy it on some level.”

“Hah! What about me then?” Alex countered. He tensed, but Tracht laughed again, and he figured he was probably okay.

“You signed the contract, Alex. It is hardly my fault you failed to consider the implications of it. But you are correct: your lack of enjoyment is certainly a perk. Mr. Parsons, on the other hand, is an employee and must be treated with respect.” Tracht’s hand wandered down to skirt across Alex’s sore shoulders, digging in on a particularly bruised spot. Alex breathed in and didn’t make a sound, not this time.

When Tracht eased off, Alex continued, “So if you didn’t send him, why the f— why does he keep trying to talk to me?”

Was it weird to be having a conversation with Tracht? Probably. But he kind of remembered Nick always talking, always talking. Getting people to open up so he could get all the information possible to screw them over later. This was pretty much the same thing.

“I suspect he may, for some reason, be trying to befriend you.”

“Befriend?” Alex frowned. “Like, what, he wants to fuck or something?”

“Alex—and I say this with only the nicest intentions—have you ever had a friend?”

Alex actually twisted his neck so he could look up at Tracht, who had a condescending look on his face again. Alex could feel anger bubbling up inside him again. “I had Nick.”

“No.” Tracht ruffled Alex’s hair. “I meant a friend, not your manipulative brother. Somebody who cared for you.”

That again. Alex wanted to protest, but lately he was having a hard time convincing even himself that Nick had been looking out for him. He didn’t like Tracht’s implications either. “I had a couple of girlfriends.” Alex reflexively shrugged and hissed when the movement set off another round of pain.

“So, no. Your brother kept you isolated from others to increase your dependence on him.” Tracht set his tablet down and picked up a small jar that was lying next to him on the couch. When he opened it, a strong minty scent wafted out.

“Like you’ve got friends?” Alex snarled and then yelped when Tracht started rubbing something cool across his back. The mint stuff. Once the shock of the cold wore off, it started feeling really nice. Alex relaxed into it.

“Admittedly,” Tracht said, “I find it hard to form close friendships. Dr. Singh and I will occasionally go out for drinks when we are docked. If I have free time at Cadmus station, I will from time to time seek out a few of my likeminded peers. I suspect that at least one of them would help me in a time of need, but I have worked hard to avoid such circumstances.”

Tracht continued spreading the cream over Alex’s skin, relieving some of the soreness and sending little shocks of pleasure down Alex’s back. Thankfully, Alex’s cock didn’t stir, because he really didn’t want to think of coming for a long, long while.

The silence stretched out. Alex went over what Tracht said, about friendship and not fucking people, and Parsons—who had definitely been coming on to Alex, now that he thought about it. “I bet Parsons does want to fuck me,” he declared.

Tracht chuckled. “You would lose that bet.”

“How are you so sure? You think I’m not hot enough for him?”

“You are not nice enough for him, Alex. He strikes me as the type who believes sex and emotions must invariably be intertwined. Though I suppose I could be wrong—certainly there have been others who look perfectly boring on the outside and have a kinky streak a mile wide.”

“I could be nice.”

“Really? The next time you see Mr. Parsons, what would you want to do?”

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