After the End Ch. 10

I'm sure I really did die when the orgasm hit. In any case, I didn't remember anything else until the ropes were off and Julian was rubbing my arms awake. I turned my head toward him, and he met me with a kiss -- safe, solid, real. His.

"Alright?" he asked quietly. His thumb stroked my cheek while he studied my face.

I really didn't know how to describe what had just happened. But I didn't want him to be worried.

"I...yes. I'm alright."

"Vik?" he checked next.

I dragged my attention to our third partner sitting beside me on the bed. He seemed calm, but he watched me as if he were still bound and waiting for my touch.

"I'm alright," he answered, just as quiet, then his gaze shifted. "Julian, can I do something for you?"

"Thank you, but I'd like to wait until Avery and I are alone."

"Of course," Vik replied, always ready to serve, even if that was by removing himself. He got up to dress. "I'll get out of your way."

Julian followed and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to imply you should leave right away. You went deeply under tonight -- we're here for whatever you need."

Vik gently shrugged him off. "I appreciate that, but what I need is not to be intruding on your evening."

"When I'm running a session," Julian argued, "I'm responsible for your emotional as well as physical wellbeing. It isn't an intrusion."

For someone who regularly let us take complete advantage of his body, Vik was standing his ground with respectful finality. He spoke as if Julian were the one needing comfort.

"The session is over, Julian. Take care of your partner, and let him take care of you. I'm alright."

Julian seemed to relent. At least, he didn't say anything else. I was in no position to intervene, so I just watched as Vik finished putting on his clothes.

He came over to give me a kiss. "Thank you, Avery," he said with his usual warm sincerity. "I had a wonderful time."

Words still weren't that easy to find, so I just hugged him awkwardly from the bed and said, "Me too."

I was a little relieved when he kissed Julian goodnight too. "I look forward to being in your ropes again soon."

Julian just nodded and let him go. When the door was locked, he blew out the candles, and I heard him removing his own clothing. Then he lay on his back, guided me into his arms, and pulled the extra blanket over us.

Part of my brain was definitely still floating, but I sensed a possessive quality to Julian's embrace. I supposed he had just watched me share an extremely intimate experience with someone who wasn't him, and all he'd gotten to do was tie the ropes and finish me off.

I snuggled closer against him. My reproductive system was starting to recover from the violent discharge earlier, and I could feel Julian hardening where my leg was bent over his crotch.

"What can I do for you?" I asked, echoing Vik.

His reply was quiet. "I want you...inside me. If you think you can manage that."

Well, that put some juice into my drained batteries. "I can absolutely manage that. Just give me a minute."

I rolled on top of him and met his lips. His fervent need for me, held in check during our session, surfaced immediately and surprised me with its force. I kissed him and let the current sweep me along until I was just as hard as he was.

I broke away to grab the supplies and started to lay beside him. When we did this, he almost always preferred to ride me from above. It gave him the most control and the least risk of feeling raped. But he tugged my arm.

"You on top."

Damn, this really was my lucky night. I lubed myself and moved into position while he drew his legs back. My cock was throbbing in anticipation, but I paused to reach for Julian's first, feeling him up the way I had Vik not long ago.

He gasped and pulsed in my hand. With his own hands holding his legs, I could almost imagine he too was bound and helpless. He certainly didn't move to stop me, even when my fingers traveled down to spread some lube onto his asshole. I couldn't resist playing with his opening for a minute, drawing tiny movements from his hips and hitches from his lungs. I didn't get to touch him here very often, and I still found it incredibly exciting whenever he gave me access to his vulnerable channel.

Soon enough I mounted him, fitting into the space he'd created. My cock speared his hole and I kissed him, leisurely and lavish, while he let me inside. We stayed together for a few breaths when he was fully impaled, trading oxygen with our lips millimeters apart.

It was almost like the moment I'd had with Vik, when he was captive and motionless in my embrace, when all I'd wanted to do was stroke his face. Buried inside Julian, his body spread open around me and his mouth yielding beneath mine, I felt so fully connected to him, it seemed almost redundant to do more. He was mine -- this stunning, powerful, aristocratic warrior. He wanted me; he needed me. He needed this from me, and because of that, I had everything.

He didn't quite feel he had everything yet. "Fuck me, Avery," he murmured against my lips.

Passion surged through my core and ignited my cock. I started thrusting, taking my pleasure from his tight, muscular ass. He moved with me, drawing me deep, moaning low but nakedly needy. He let go of one leg and reached between us to stroke his granite shaft.

I wrapped my forearms under his shoulders and fucked him to my own rhythm. But there was something I wanted to know about his sudden desire to take my cock.

"Were you jealous?" I asked into his mouth. "When I was with Vik earlier?"

His hips rocked with mine and his hand kept moving. Finally he confessed, "Yes. Very."

New heat radiated between my legs. I thrust faster into his back channel, feeding off this energy source I hadn't known I possessed: the power to arouse his envy, to rattle his unassailable composure. To be the weak point in his armor. I wanted to parade my status in front of everyone I knew, and I felt a little guilty that his discomfort meant so much to me.

"Is it wrong that I'm getting off on you being jealous?" I whispered into the security of darkness and nakedness and two years of intimate connection.

His hand sped up too. "No, babe."

Soon we were both arching and releasing our seed -- mine into his ass, his onto his stomach. I collapsed against his body and didn't get up for a long time. There wasn't anywhere else I wanted to be.

"I love you, Avery," he told me before we separated. "Very much."

I found the leather cord around his neck and fingered the familiar glassy semicircle pendant. "I love you too."

* * * * *

Vik:

I tried to focus on sensory details as I crossed the encampment to Julian and Avery's quarters: The crunch of fallen leaves beneath my shoes. The smell of wood smoke wafting from flickering fire pits. The light of stars displaying constellations as they existed hundreds or thousands of years ago. Tangible, here-and-now data points that kept me from getting overwhelmed by the magnitude of what was about to happen to me.

In his typical skillful, mature fashion, Julian had negotiated this scene with me several days ago. Avery had been so pleased at our last meeting by the effect the rope had on me that Julian wanted to pursue it further. The proposal, like all the others, was simply an invitation that I was free to accept, decline, or counter. He always asked for my input and never pressured me. Which made it all the more difficult to refuse. No matter how excruciating his plans were likely to be for me, I trusted him to execute them safely and within my limits. For me, satisfaction lay in subordinating my wishes and choices, my body and even my mind, to someone else's control. What did I gain if they only ever asked for what was easy to give?

Still, I hadn't had reason to be this nervous about a sexual encounter in years. Not since some of the adventures Darius, my partner in Houston, had cooked up. Julian had amazing instincts for this kind of play, and he'd revealed just enough about tonight's activities to hollow out my gut and dump the contents into my pelvis.

First, I'd agreed to forfeit my orgasm, which wasn't much of a surprise at this point. Second, I'd agreed to be blindfolded. Third, he'd reiterated that per our regular terms, he and Avery were allowed to touch me wherever, however, and for any length of time they chose.

The last one sent a shiver down my spinal column: I'd agreed to let him bind me fully, giving them both unlimited access to every square centimeter of my naked, immobile, unbearably sensitive body.

It was quite possible I would soon deeply regret every one of those agreements. But despite my apprehension, if I were being honest, the dominant sentiment was excitement. Darius had taught me that identifying and acknowledging the emotions I was actually feeling, no matter how shameful or embarrassing, was crucial to successful power exchanges. And nothing put fire in my veins like erotic torment.

I knocked on the door when I arrived and Avery greeted me with a kiss, the press of his shapely lips easing a little of my anxiety. He was a mesmerizing creature of dramatic eyes and tousled curls, variegated moods and generous affection. The beauty of his features and of his personality only seemed to intensify as he advanced through his mid-twenties. It made complete sense to me that Julian alone had been powerful enough to bottle Avery's lightening. I felt incredibly grateful to catch any spark of it, even secondhand.

I stepped into their increasingly familiar space: boots stored under the bench, tattered books stacked in a crate, honey-scented candles on the nightstand. Except one thing was glaringly different -- a rectangular wooden frame standing against the wall next to the bed. A frame approximately the same size as me, if my limbs were spread. Another cold tingle raced the length of my spine.

Avery followed my gaze to what had distracted me. "Yeah, I didn't know he was making that until I got home this evening. Spares no expense for you." He flashed a deservedly fond grin at his partner, who was sitting on the bed next to an intimidating pile of the hemp rope he'd used before.

Julian returned the expression, then he focused on me. "No traumas today?"

I shook my head. "Just a few routine patients for chronic conditions. Dr. Atherton is on call for the post-op if any complications develop."

"Good." He gestured with his head to invite me closer. "Come sit."

I left my shoes and tan leather jacket by the bench and joined him on their worn quilted bedspread. Avery followed, settling with his knee nudging mine. Messages and responses buzzed along my vagus nerve -- my systems freeing up resources in preparation for stress. I forced myself not to dwell on what would happen once I was secured to that frame. The future is merely an idea, never a reality. Submission is possible only in the present. All I had to get through was one moment at a time.

By the soft glow of the candles, Julian started the necessary and appreciated pre-session conversation. An extraordinarily handsome man, he'd inherited a Mediterranean-inspired form perfectly finished to the tiniest detail. He augmented his looks with an aura of impenetrable authority that, to me at least, was arguably even more attractive. Avery had thawed him in a good way from the icy, unsmiling automaton he'd been when he joined our community. He still didn't smile much, but the heart inside his formidable chest was very much alive and beating.

He guided us through the usual liturgy of limits, authority, safe words, and consent. I affirmed my agreement to all our normal terms and to the stomach-churning list of activities we'd previously discussed. Avery hadn't been given any conditions, and he didn't seem nervous at all. His frequent glances at me held only anticipation and lust.

Too soon, or not soon enough, Julian was directing us off the bed so he and Avery could lift the frame onto it. Then he stepped to me and lay a hand on my back.

He spoke with the usual combination of compassion and command that amplified his calming effect. "I know you've already agreed, but we're asking a lot of you tonight. I'll do my best to interpret your nonverbals, but if it ever gets to be too much, I need you to tell me. No one will be upset with you."

I nodded, and his hand moved to my neck. "Kiss?" he asked.

"You don't have to ask if you can kiss me. I always want you to."

His expression softened. "Habit. Paranoia. But thank you." He moved in to take my mouth. It was different from kissing Avery -- not better, but really good in its own way. Julian was my age, my height, my intellectual equal. Avery was plenty intelligent, but I couldn't really picture him passing an advanced anatomy course. I had no doubt Julian could have been a doctor if he'd wanted to be, or if his family would have allowed it. Probably a better one than me.

Julian was also closer to my brand of thoughtful and reserved. I adored Avery's smiles, melted for his touch, and craved his satisfaction. But Julian's sparing affection carried its own gravitas that made me feel secure in a way Avery couldn't. It was one of the reasons I loved having two partners -- just as they complemented one another, they each nourished different aspects of me.

When our lips parted, Julian's tone turned sultry. "Let's get you out of these clothes."

He started to undo my shirt, one button at a time, and my gut hollowed out again. Sometimes the simplest acts required the most discipline. Like standing here, letting him slowly peel away my only protection from the terrible, wonderful things they were about to do to me. I breathed and surrendered and let him uncover me.

He removed my indigo dress shirt, then my t-shirt and jeans. Lastly my trunks, leaving my erection exposed to the room.

I stood still, hands at my side. My body wasn't mine right now. When they wanted me to make use of it, they would instruct me. I sank further into the peaceful void of having only one responsibility -- to obey.

Julian bent to place a kiss on my shoulder, then he provided the first command. "Lie down inside the frame, on your back."

I did as he said, my pulse picking up. He'd reinforced it with diagonal segments at the corners to make sure it wouldn't warp. There were notches along the wooden beams, likely where he'd be anchoring the ropes. He could have run them to the bed frame, but that would have drastically increased the quantity of luxury rope he'd have needed to acquire. This was an elegant solution.

Julian uncoiled the first twisted length and started wrapping my wrist. "It will take some time for me to secure you. Just relax, and Avery will keep contact to ground you."

Sure. Just relax, while he bound all my limbs and exposed my most sensitive spots for what was sure to be devastatingly effective teasing. And edging. And tickling. I couldn't stop another shiver from brain stem to tailbone. There wasn't a chance in hell they were planning to completely immobilize me and not tickle me into a frenzy. Not after how hot Avery got for it, that night he came over alone.

I didn't know how I could stand it. But then, I never knew how I could. I just did it. Because whoever I was submitting to wanted to exploit my over-reactive nerve endings. They wanted me utterly undone and at the mercy of their lightest fingertip. And I wanted to give them anything they wanted to take.

Sitting at my right side, Avery held my free hand and laid his other on my chest, while Julian worked his way around the frame.

First my left arm was bent and attached above my head. Not just at the wrist; he carefully anchored my bicep and forearm too, so I couldn't pull my arm down or pull my elbow in. My left leg was treated similarly: bent and wrapped on either side of my knee, as well as above my ankle, so I couldn't move it in any direction. He supported my joints with pillows and folded blankets, so I could relax without hurting my muscles. Not that it would be very possible to relax once they started taking advantage of my vulnerable position.

My cock, naturally, didn't object at all to the otherwise terrifying loss of motion. It flared like a beacon while the rest of me was locked down around it. Knowing I wouldn't be allowed to achieve release had its usual perverse psychological effect of making me even harder and needier. As if my cock were determined to make the most of any stimulation it did receive.

Avery was watching in fascination while Julian shaped the twisted hemp into cuffs and knots. To keep my mind from trying to handle the upcoming sensory overload all at once, I rested my attention on Avery. Periodically, his gaze swept my naked, stretched body and lingered on the places that interested him most: my armpits, my nipples, my cock, my upper thighs. I flushed and let him look -- not that I could have stopped him. His desirous gaze was soothing, gratifying, a form of ownership nearly as powerful as touch. I was his to enjoy; I wanted him to enjoy me.

"How are you doing?" Julian asked when he took my last limb from Avery's hand.

I swallowed so I could speak. "I'm good."

He smiled while he wrapped supple cords above my elbow, and there was lust in his gaze as well. "Avery and I are both very impressed by your bravery. And by impressed, I mean turned on."

"Fuck yes," Avery agreed. "And you're looking pretty impressed yourself. Which is fucking hot."

"Yeah..." I sighed. What else was there to say? I was completely helpless, and helplessly excited about it.

"I'm gonna tease the shit out of that hard cock," Avery threatened in a sexy, knowing tone that made my pelvic floor clench. "And every other part of you that's teasable."

"I know..." I groaned, my irises rolling toward the headboard above me. Heat surfaced on my face and flowed across my skin, all the way down between my legs. God, it was bad enough just hearing about it. I couldn't believe I was going to have to endure it. And yet -- my erection bounced again. There was no denying that deep down, my cock was desperate to have the shit teased out of it.

Julian finished tying me off and checked his work one more time. I tested my bonds -- I could shift only millimeters in any direction -- and confirmed that none of the placements were causing undue pressure. As a final step, he used heavier rope to secure my frame to the bed on either side, just in case I were able to rock hard enough to move the whole thing. Imagining what could make me do that sent another surge of blood into my cock.

Satisfied, he stroked once through my hair. "Close your eyes," he commanded with that hint of smile that made his domination so addictive. Some people wanted to rule for the sake of ruling. Julian loved using his power to create unforgettable experiences for his partners. His fond manner didn't detract from his authority; if anything, it enhanced it. It proved he didn't need fear to obtain absolute obedience.

As soon as I lost my sight, my skin started tingling. Suddenly I could be touched anywhere, at any time, without any warning. Fuck, it was intense, since every part of me was accessible and no part of me could move.

"Good," Julian praised softly. I didn't feel anything until soft cloth draped my eyelids -- maybe a folded pair of their lounge pants. He secured the material around my head, tying it on the side so it wouldn't fall off when I inevitably started squirming.

"Can you see anything?" he asked when he was finished.

I tried, but the fabric held my lids closed. "No."

"Then there's just one more thing you should know." My pulse elevated to tachycardic while I waited in my private blindness. "From this point on," Julian continued, "the only thing that's going to touch you is this."