Page 46 of Under His Heel

“Then she should have considered that before she created trouble on board my ship,” Tracht countered. He made a vague shooing motion. “Now please leave. I have no interest in discussing the matter further.”

Rodriguez’s lips wavered, and she took a deep breath. “Sir, if you dismiss Paula, then I’m leaving too.”

Alex wondered if he sounded that stupid when arguing with Tracht. He wasn’t surprised at all when Tracht’s response was a sharp bark of laughter.

“Very well. Enjoy your unemployment together on Atalanta. I hope your relationship with her is worth it.” Tracht sat back on his chair, and though he was doing his best to keep his expression neutral, Alex could see that there was a small hint of amusement there too.

Alex couldn’t stop himself from laughing at Rodriguez’s shattered expression. Like she actually had enough sway over Tracht to convince him to change his mind.

Unfortunately, the noise drew Rodriguez’s and Tracht’s attention to him.

“All this because of a bondservant, sir?” Rodriguez demanded, gesturing in Alex’s direction. “Paula is worth more than him! As captain, shouldn’t you care about the crew more than some... some...”

She must have realized that her words were having the opposite effect of what she’d intended. Tracht’s expression had gone from cold to what Alex thought of as his perverted smile, and he had steepled his fingers in a classic villain pose. If Rodriguez weren’t in the room, Alex would definitely be throwing himself at Tracht in an effort to turn that good mood towards himself.

“Ms. Rodriguez. Please, do go on about how I should or should not run my ship.”

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean...” She took a few steps back.

“No, I insist. How much do you believe your labor is worth over Alex’s services to me?” Tracht snapped his fingers in Alex’s direction, and yeah, it was going to suck doing any of this in front of somebody else but Alex would take it. He got up and walked over to Tracht, standing slightly behind and to the left of him.

“This morning I caught you fraternizing with Ms. Carpenter. Is that the kind of service I should expect from my crew?”

Rodriguez shook her head. “No! Of course not. I mean, if somebody on the crew wanted to—”

“But you just accused me of favoring Alex. Do you think I’d be less inclined to favor a crew member I was sleeping with?” Tracht wound his arm behind Alex and left his hand right on the small of Alex’s back. Rodriguez stared hard.

“Or maybe you think I should parade a crew member around the way I’ve done with Alex? That I should treat a crew member as I would Alex?” Tracht emphasized this by using his other hand to cup Alex’s cock through his pants. His fingers pressed against Alex’s balls, and yes, despite everything, it felt good. Alex wobbled a bit.

Rodriguez was shaking her head. “No, sir, I didn’t mean...”

“You meant that Alex is completely replaceable, yet you and Ms. Carpenter are somehow so valuable to my crew that I must be beholden to you?” Tracht let go of Alex and stood up, leveraging himself on the desk and leaning forward. “I can assure you that there are hundreds of equally competent sailors at every station who would jump at the chance to work on my ship, and who won’t make the mistake of neglecting their duties or disrupting the careful order I’ve created. But I have yet to find anybody else who submits to my predilections even half as beautifully as Alex.”

It was hard to hear Rodriguez’s response over the rushing in Alex’s ears. God, there had to be something wrong with him that Tracht’s words were making him happy. But this was good. It had to be good, it had to mean that Alex would be allowed to stay. He thought he might have whimpered.

“Now, with all the respect that I owe a crew member: get out of my office before I have Alex forcibly remove you.”

Rodriguez didn’t leave so much as flee the room.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Tracht slumped back into his chair and closed his eyes. “Dear god, I hate people.”

Alex wasn’t sure what to do. He opened his mouth a couple of times to say something, but he didn’t know what was safe to say. He thought of begging. Kneeling. Offering... offering something.

“Go on,” Tracht said, eyes still closed. “Try to convince me to keep you. In three sentences or less, please, because I’m too tired to deal with anything else.”

Alex wrapped his arms around his body and thought hard about something he could do that would get Tracht to change his mind. Something that he couldn’t already get, probably. Something like...

Sweat broke out across the back of his neck. Right. He could do it. He took a shaky breath and said, “I’ll consent to a... a piercing.”

Tracht opened his eyes and he swiveled the chair around to face Alex. “A piercing?” There was enough interest in his voice that Alex thought he might be on the right track.

“Yeah. A... a real one. Not temporary. Any—” Alex’s voice trembled, “anywhere you want to put it.”

Oh god, that was a dangerous offer. He could already see Tracht starting to plot something terrible. Alex got to his knees and placed his head against Tracht’s thigh. He was rewarded with Tracht gently ghosting his fingers across Alex’s scalp.

“Hmm. Anywhere. Where do you think I’ll want it, Alex?”

Alex squeezed his eyes shut. His balls, always tender lately, felt like they wanted to crawl inside his body. “On my dick? Or taint?” Alex and Nick had once looked at all the kinds of genital piercings people got, and agreed that anybody who got their junk pierced was crazy. Alex didn’t know which kind would hurt more, but he already knew he would hate it.

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