He sucked in a breath as the ripple worked through him. This wasn’t the sharp sting of a cut or the snap of a wet towel—not even close. This was…was…

“But you know what I was watching? Drooling over?”

Thump.

The opposite side. Another ripple shuddered over him. Alice would be fair—couldn’t give half of his ass more attention than the other half.

“Your tight ass”—thump—“under those cycling shorts”—thump—“jogging up the stairs.”

She landed two more on his thighs, right at the crease of his ass cheeks, and for a second the overpowering rush felt like he’d come already. His lungs stuttered.

A hand squeezed the outside of his ass, and the touch spread across his whole body. Lips pressed against the other side, a soft, Alice-shaped kiss.

“And now I can tell you to drop your shorts anytime I want.” She stroked his thighs, half hugging him. “How are you feeling now, stud? Still good?”

“Love.” That was the feeling. The thing that made every touch zing through him, that turned the smack of leather into a song just for him. “I feel loved.”

She caught her breath, the tiniest hitch he wouldn’t have noticed if not for the jerk of her head against his back. Her slow exhale breezed across his skin. “You are, Jay. So, so much.”

He gave a sultry wiggle, aiming to stave off the happy tears gathering in his eyes. “Show me, Mistress. Please? I want to keep going.”

Chuckling, she planted a smacking kiss at the base of his spine. “Oh, we’ve got far to go, Jay, don’t you worry about that. I think you have another orgasm buried in you, and I’m gonna find it.”

She pushed upright, using his hips for handles, and the flogger swung again. He didn’t count; she hadn’t told him to, and he wasn’t in a competition. Every strike powered him up, flooding him with more joy and more need, and the stray bits firing in his brain showed him the game she’d played with him before dinner one night—filling a glass with water. And then a little more. And then a little more. Until the water formed a dome over the glass, more than it could hold, but somehow not spilling over the sides. Surface tension. That’s what held him together as she poured her love into him.

This was how it should’ve always been. How he’d imagined it would be when he haunted the hallways, watching others get what he didn’t know how to ask for. How he’d felt watching Alice receive her floggings so eagerly that she begged for them as a reward. Now he understood. The hypnotic thrill was like being underwater, with everything wavy and out of focus. He bobbed on her voice and her rhythm.

Master Henry swam in the corner of his vision. None of this would have been possible without Henry’s acceptance of him. He’d been unbelievably lucky to have fallen into Henry’s path. He licked his lips, tasting the elation of the first time he’d swallowed Henry’s cock, the first permission for the reward he’d wanted all those weeks.

In what couldn’t have been more than a blink, Henry had risen from his seat. Navy dress pants drew closer, with a bulge at the front beckoning to him. But Henry bent at the waist, leaving the prize out of reach.

Face beside Jay’s, Henry rumbled in his ear. “I also have something to give you, Jay. Will you get it good and wet for me?”

Oh yes. Yes, he would.

“I’m aware your talent in the area is considerable.”

“Yes, please.” Next time he’d remember to speak out loud sooner. Or maybe not—Alice had to be magic, because she’d put him in some kind of trance. “I can show you, Master Henry.”

The weight of the belt buckle spread Henry’s pants as he unzipped, the tick-tick-tick of the teeth a clock counting down to Jay’s treat.

He flattened his tongue, and Henry’s cock landed on his offering. He swept around the head, keeping time with Alice, first like a clock, then back the other way. He tugged and stretched his neck, but Henry only dipped and pulled back, his thrusts slow and shallow. He whimpered for more, greedy and pleading, and finally Henry indulged him.

Mouth happily filled, Jay breathed through his nose and kept in motion. Steady suction, flickering tongue, pressure boosts when his tongue insisted on a break. He could give a fabulous blowjob in his sleep. Probably did, in his dreams. With Henry knotting his hand in Jay’s hair and—

Lube-slicked fingers sliding between his ass cheeks. The flogging had stopped, and he didn’t know when, but his ass was toasty warm and possibly pink and eager to accept her second gift. He pushed toward the pressure of her fingers. This too, yes please—he could serve them both at once.

Hadn’t Alice said his body was perfectly formed for pleasure? She had, he’d heard her, somewhere in the flogging haze, every whisper of praise curling down through his ears and into his brain and making a nice big home there so he could hear her say it again anytime he wanted.

A tentative thrust prodded his ass, and he welcomed it, tried to match his hips to Alice’s push. Her slick cock rode a wave of lube and bumped his sweet spot, a bliss-fritz in his brain as his cock arched against his stomach. Fuck, she’d picked a great toy. Way smaller than Henry, but that just meant her knock at the door sent her over the threshold without any waiting.

Henry’s cock slipped from his mouth. He angled to recapture it, but Henry dropped into a crouch and cupped Jay’s chin.

“Both,” Jay whispered. “I want all of you.”

Henry kissed him deeply, swiping his tongue through Jay’s mouth and growling as he ground their mouths together. “Another time, my good boy. I promise.” He ran his thumb across Jay’s lips, tsking Jay’s attempt to draw him back in. “You ought to have your mouth free so Alice may hear your delight.”

Or safeword went unspoken, and he vowed to negotiate a nonverbal signal next time so he really could take them both inside.