Page 4 of Under Control

“Crawl?”

“Yes. You’ve been getting full of yourself, Alex. It’s time for you to remember your place on this ship.”

The absolute despair on Alex’s face was priceless. Tracht gave him no reprieve though. He pulled on the leash hard enough to choke Alex a little.

Unsurprisingly, Giehl openly leered. Bauer’s eyebrows shot up, but there wasn’t any disgust in her eyes. Not that it would matter if there were.

Alex kept his gaze down as he hurried to crawl at heel. Tracht alternated his speed in order to keep Alex off-balance. He stopped to chat with a few sailors on the way to the elevators, delighting in how Alex squirmed at every delay, every very public instance of his humiliation. From above, it was easy to see how red the back of Alex’s neck and ears were.

It wasn’t until they were in the elevator that Alex spoke again. He leaned against Tracht’s leg and mumbled, “Why you gotta make me do that in front of the crew?”

One side effect of indulging Alex as often as he did these days was that Alex had grown bold. Alex no longer feared that Tracht might annul the contract or that he’d permanently disfigure him.

Tracht made himself keep his voice stern as he responded, “Because, Alex, what you desire has absolutely no relevance at all. And I’m getting very tired of having to remind you of this.”

Alex scowled just as the elevator stopped on their floor. “That’s not even true. You love hurting me.”

The audacity of the statement startled a laugh out of Tracht. He had to admit, Alex wasn’t wrong. “All right then. Since you know me so well, you know that I’m going to have a lot of fun punishing you now.”

He pulled hard on Alex’s leash and didn’t slow at all to accommodate Alex’s slower pace, which resulted in Alex making pained noises that went straight to Tracht’s cock. He’d already had a few ideas on how to torture Alex before he’d gone down to the lounge, but Alex’s reticence made the choice easy for him.

The first thing Tracht did was take his own boots off. He saw Alex’s scowl, and that was exactly why he’d skipped their usual ritual. It was another way of showing his displeasure with Alex, one that Alex didn’t quite understand but was effective anyway.

“Strip, and get on the bed, face down and ass up,” Tracht commanded, unhooking the leash.

Alex sulked while he did as directed, although he did carefully place his clothes in the hamper where they belonged. Because he knew that skimping on that step would only make things worse for him.

While Alex got on the bed, Tracht got out the tools he needed from his chest of toys. A spreader bar and a spider gag, along with a pair of latex gloves. He set all of them down beside Alex’s head. Alex had chosen to rest his head on his crossed arms, while his legs were set apart only a short distance. Tracht ran one hand down Alex’s flank, and watched him shudder.

“Now, as you’ve clearly pointed out, I don’t really need a reason to punish you,” Tracht said. “But you’ve given me plenty of reasons today. You chose to spend time with the crew rather than waiting on me. You know exactly how much of a toll departure takes on me, and yet you still chose your own entertainment over my needs. You also talked back to me multiple times.”

“Sorry,” Alex mumbled, his voice half swallowed by his arms.

“You are always sorry after the fact. I thought you’d gotten better about thinking lately, but clearly you’ve gotten cocky. You believe that I am not going to do anything you truly hate.” Tracht spanked Alex’s ass, enjoying the red that bloomed out on Alex’s skin. “Spread those legs wider. You’re not hiding anything from me today.”

Alex sniffed pointedly but did as he was told. His ass sank down a bit, but that was fine. Tracht used the spreader bar to force his legs apart even further.

“Good. Now, hold your cheeks apart. I’m going to inspect your hole.”

“What? Why?” Alex looked up, bewildered, while Tracht snapped on the latex gloves.

Tracht gave Alex a stern look. “And you’re talking again. I thought the spider gag would be a clear sign to shut up, but I suppose I shouldn’t have expected even a modicum of intelligence from you.”

He’d only used the spider gag on Alex a few times, but he knew that Alex hated it more than the other gags. It was one of the reasons he didn’t use it all that often; he had to save it for the times when he really wanted to make an impact on Alex.

Alex kept his mouth stubbornly shut, which shouldn’t have amused Tracht as much as it did. Tracht made sure not to let his amusement show though; it wouldn’t do to give Alex ideas. Instead, he pinched Alex’s nose and said, “I don’t know what you hope to accomplish. You’re never going to win against me, Alex.”

Alex held out longer than Tracht thought he would, but the need to breathe, and possibly the underlying part of himself that wanted to impress Tracht, had him gasping. Tracht waited for Alex’s breathing to slow before pushing the gag into Alex’s mouth. Alex had to widen his jaw to accommodate it.

When it was in place, Alex was left with his mouth gaping open and the metal digging into his cheeks. Some of the defiance had left his eyes, but he wasn’t even close to crying yet. He was, however, already making some delicious sounds, helplessly groaning around the gag, with drool beginning to slip out of the corners of his mouth. Tracht rubbed the drool across Alex’s jaw.

“Next time I ask you to do something, you won’t think of talking back, will you? It doesn’t matter where we are. If I give you an order, you obey.”

Alex nodded, more drool slipping out of his mouth.

Making sure to stay within Alex’s line of sight, Tracht slipped on the latex gloves. Alex’s eyes widened and he whimpered again.

“Now. I won’t repeat myself. Spread those cheeks of yours so I can see your hole.”

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