Page 26 of Under His Skin

Alex got up onto the couch and gingerly held the bowl. He had the urge to pop a cherry orange into his mouth immediately, consequences be damned, but Tracht’s hand on his thigh made him think better of it.

For a long time, all Tracht did was squeeze and stroke Alex’s thigh, all the way up to his crotch. The hairs were starting to grow back, so every movement was strangely itchy. Tracht seemed to know it too, purposefully pushing the hairs against the grain.

“You’re due for a shave. Or a waxing. Or maybe I should find an epilator.”

“Can’t we just laser it off permanently?” Alex complained. “That’s way less trouble.”

“That, Alex, would be a permanent body mod. And it’s against the contract, which you’re still under.” Tracht reached over to tap on the bondcollar. “For now, your little hairs remain.”

“Then why don’t we just get it removed?” Alex gripped the bowl of fruit tighter. His stomach growled again.

“I just said—”

“No. The bondcollar. Or, the contract, I mean. We were there the other day to close it off. Vasilis said I could go get it done alone, but I don’t want to go to the center without you. But if getting it removed means we can laser my hair and I don’t need to ever get waxed or epilated ever again, I’m down for that.”

He must have said the wrong thing, because Tracht’s amusement dropped from his face, only to be replaced by one of his incomprehensible expressions. Before Alex could figure out what he wanted, Tracht gripped Alex’s hair and pulled him into a rough kiss, biting down hard on his lip and making Alex wince in pain.

Alex nearly dropped the bowl of fruit; he had to fumble to balance it, and the movement had Tracht pull away.

“Ah, right. I remember what I was doing.” Tracht settled fully onto the couch again. “Feed me, Alex.”

“Feed—?” Alex stared at Tracht in confusion and was met with a sadistic grin.

“That’s right. Take a piece of fruit and feed it to me.”

It took a moment for the implication to sink in: Alex wouldn’t get to eat the food that was so tantalizingly close.

“You’re such a…Why do you pretend to be nice to me if you’re just gonna torture me right after?” But Alex picked up one of the cherry oranges and brought it up to Tracht’s lips.

It wasn’t the usual way they did it. Normally Tracht was the one to feed Alex, tantalizing little morsels to reward Alex. The reversal unsettled Alex, but he didn’t hate the way Tracht’s tongue licked over his fingers, and he definitely didn’t hate it when his lips sucked on the tips.

Alex hadn’t ever thought his fingers counted as erogenous zones. Maybe having his dick caged all the time meant his body was confused, and started to get hot from all other random things.

When Tracht was done, he said, “Another one.”

So Alex picked up a yellow grape and pushed it towards Tracht’s mouth. This time Tracht took the tips of Alex’s fingers entirely into his mouth, licking and sucking around the small fruit before finally pulling away. Alex had to watch as Tracht chewed and swallowed the grape.

“Please,” Alex begged. “Just one?”

“I don’t know… there’s a very nice dinner waiting for us later today, I’m sure. Anna wouldn’t let you starve, especially not now. She has to look like a caring, empathetic person.” Tracht picked up another cherry orange for himself and popped it into his mouth.

Tracht kept playing this game, making Alex feed him, until there was only a single cherry orange left in the bowl. Those were Alex’s favorites, so he’d tried to save them for last, hoping that Tracht would give in. But even this last fruit was plucked out by Tracht.

“Well, I think I’ve had enough. Let’s see if there’s somebody who can take all the plates off our hands.” Tracht started tapping on his tablet, probably to call up the house’s intercom system. The final cherry orange was balanced between his index and middle fingers on the other hand.

“Tracht. Please.” It seemed stupid to beg for just one small fruit, but it was right there in reach.

“Do you remember the first time I fed these to you?” Tracht asked casually. “I think it was after that first party I took you to. That was fun. Should I ask Singh if she knows of any parties happening soon?”

The only thing Alex wanted was to eat, so he didn’t say anything even while he internally shuddered at the thought of going to another party. He wondered if there was something he could do or say to get Tracht to reward him with that last fruit. Maybe if he initiated a blow-job.

He’d set his mind to it when a knock came from the other side of the door. Tracht gave Alex a sadistic smile before popping the cherry orange into his mouth.

Alex didn’t hear anything over the growling of his stomach.

He’d really thought that Tracht was maybe not going to suck this evening. He’d seemed kind of upbeat. And he’d been smiling! And he’d kissed Alex. And—

Tracht got up and went to talk to whoever had interrupted the session. Alex realized it was the cleaning staff, here to pick up the tray of empty plates. He had the sudden urge to storm over there and punch them, but that would make things worse. His arms shook with suppressed anger.

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