Page 56 of Tribute
“No. Go and eat. When you return, remain on guard outside until I call you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Even Aled detected the unmistakable sound of relief in the man’s voice before he marched away. Palk went in and Aled followed, his eyes adjusting to the harsh light and the whiteness of the furniture and walls. It all looked incredibly luxurious, but then he hadn’t seen a proper couch for weeks.
The smell of food set his stomach to growling, and Palk smiled at him. “How unfortunate that you can’t eat.”
“I . . . cannot, sir?” He risked the question and watched Palk’s face close up.
“You’d puke it up.” Palk moved abruptly over to the dining table and took the cloth off a white tray to reveal a single syringe and glass tube. “This will give you all the necessary nutrition and keep you awake.”
He brought the syringe over and jabbed it into Aled’s bicep, making him breathe out hard through his nose.
“Now strip off your shorts, get down on your knees, and suck me.”
“Do you want me to shower first, sir?”
The question brought a blow to his head that forced him to his knees.
“You will not speak unless I ask you a question. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” He blinked hard and reached for the fastening of Palk’s pants. Heat coursed through his body in great, shuddering waves as if he’d stuck his fingers in a power source. Whatever had been loaded in that syringe was already affecting him.
Palk’s cock was smaller than Kai’s, but it took Aled a lot longer to get him hard, and even longer until Palk eventually came. When he finally eased away, his swollen mouth was already tired and his lip had begun to bleed again.
He gasped as Palk yanked hard on his hair.
“There’s blood on my cock. Lick it off.”
He leaned in and did what he was told and then waited, his gaze carefully fixed on the white carpet.
“Get up.”
He stood and Palk beckoned him forward. “Stand against the wall here while I eat.”
Aled moved into the spot Palk indicated and found himself staring at his own reflection in a large floor-to-ceiling mirror. He looked . . . ripped and exhausted at the same time. Weeks at the facility had honed his muscles to perfection, and there was almost no fat on him. If Kai had wanted to turn him into a supreme fighting machine, he and the program had achieved their aim.
But what was the final aim? No one knew apart from the trainers and Palk, who headed up the program. What task could demand extreme physical fitness combined with the fucking skills of a low-class prostitute?
Palk started to eat, and Aled simply inhaled the scent of good food and wine and tried to pretend he wasn’t hungry. His body was buzzing, his cock was now hard, and there was nothing he could do to disguise that from Palk, who seemed happy to ignore him for the moment.
The meal took forever and was measured in Aled’s heartbeats and the throb of his dick, which was disinclined to go down. Eventually Palk turned to face him, his knife clasped lightly in his hand.
Palk stood and walked over to him and then pressed on the wall by his shoulder.
“Put your hands up over your head.”
Aled complied and felt metal shackles close around his wrists and tighten until they hurt. There was a whirring sound, and his arms were yanked upward until he was barely able to balance on the balls of his feet. Palk waited until the machinery stopped and then rested the tip of the knife against Aled’s sternum.
“It was good of Kai to offer you up to me.”
As it wasn’t a question, Aled chose not to answer.
“He knew of course that with Rehz Akran gone, I would be expecting him to fulfill all of Rehz’s duties. He also knew howmuch I like blood, and gave me a preview of how you’d look when he punched you.”
Aled tensed at the first prick of the blade cutting into his sternum and watched it travel to the bottom of his rib cage.
Palk grabbed his chin. “Don’t look down. Look in the mirror or I’ll add more restraints.”
