The Gift (5 page)

39

The Gift

by Kim Dare

Nicky looked up and met his eyes. Charles knew.

For a moment Nicky thought he would slacken the bow and relieve the pressure, but he merely checked it was not tight enough to do any permanent damage and left it there.

Nicky squirmed. "Master?"

"Yes?" Charles ran his fingers down the length of ribbon leading down his back between his buttocks. The ribbon rustled between his cheeks. The plug moved inside him.

Nicky couldn't manage anything more than whimper in response.

Tugging at the bow, Charles worked the plug out of him.

"Very festive," he noted when he saw the pattern, and slipped it back inside him.

Nicky whimpered again.

Charles pressed it deeper inside him only to pull it out again.

Nicky tried to be patient. He tried to stay still and let his master play with him however he wanted. It just wasn't possible. "Please, master?" he whispered. Nicky tried to look over his shoulder, but he couldn't see Charles. He could only feel the movements of the plug. Charles thrust it back into him.

"I think I shall enjoy playing with my new toy," Charles mused. "Is that what you are, Nicky? My new toy?"

"Yes, master."

Charles sat up and touched his cheek. "No."

Nicky, blinked. He looked away. This wasn't what his master wanted after all. It was a bloody stupid idea from the start. He began to work his hands out of the bow.

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"A pet," Charles declared. "Isn't it traditional for people to be given pets at Christmas?"

Nicky nodded, offering his master a hopeful smile.

"Yes, I think you make a far better pet than a toy."

Nicky bit his lip, not sure what to make of that pronouncement, only knowing he wanted to be whichever his master thought was best.

"Small, affectionate, infinitely pettable," Charles ran his fingers through Nicky's hair. Nicky leaned into the touch. "But with some special features making you far more interesting than a puppy or kitten."

Charles wrapped his hand around Nicky's erection. Nicky thrust into the contact.

"How long were you out there under the tree?"

"I don't know, master," Nicky whispered. "Not long, I don't think."

Charles took the plug out of him and began to unwind the ribbon. "Sore?" he asked, nudging Nicky out of his restrained position.

"Only a little," Nicky whispered.

When Charles reached the bow around his cock, he left it in place and started unwinding from the other end. Nicky's erection throbbed, pleading for release or attention. When he was done untangling, Charles began to rewind the ribbon around him.

"Master?"

"You are not the only one who enjoys wrapping presents, Nicky."

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Nicky watched him carefully, trying to work out what his master wanted from him.

Charles frowned as he trailed the ribbon around and around, giving his whole attention to the job in hand. He wound the ribbon around Nicky's shoulders and his arms, trapping them down against his sides. He worked the ribbon down over his chest. Looping it around Nicky's hands he took them behind his back, tying them firmly behind him.

A noise from his left broke Charles's concentration.

He looked across to the spirit. Christmas Past was
obviously enjoying the view of Nicky, naked and bound. The
line of his toga was severely disrupted by a very obvious
erection tenting the thin fabric.

The spirit's jaw hung slack, his breaths coming in shallow
pants. He was obviously unaware Charles was watching him
rather than history repeating itself on the bed.

"Enjoying the show?" Charles asked.

The spirit tore his eyes away from Nicky for a few
moments. He at least had the grace to look embarrassed by
his voyeurism. "Nicholas Lewis is very beautiful."

"True, but he's not your personal porn star," Charles
snapped. "Is watching Nicky get laid part of your job
description or just a perk?"

The spirit blushed bright red. "The Christmases I visit are
not usually so ... um..."

Charles let him struggle for the words.

"So, active," the spirit finally trailed off. He turned his gaze
away from the scene on the bed.

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Charles wasn't fooled. He knew the spirit would go back to
staring at Nicky the moment Charles turned his attention
away from him to do the same. Still, he felt a lot better just
by making it clear that, while the spirit might be able to move
them through time and watch whatever happened between
them in private, Nicky was his.

Charles turned his attention back to bed.

Nicky tested the ribbon holding his wrists.

Picking him up like he weighed nothing, Charles settled him to sit astride his lap.

"Let us see what my pet can do for his master," Charles said.

Nicky lifted himself, putting his weight on his knees so he could lower himself onto his master's erection. Charles rested a hand on his hip, guiding him, while his other hand held his shaft steady. Nicky gasped, dropping his head back. He slowly slid down his master's hard cock. It filled him perfectly.

Charles took his hands away, leaving Nicky to set his own rhythm. Nicky knew Charles liked to be ridden hard and fast.

He set out to oblige him. Charles lay back watching Nicky do all the work.

Breaking out into a sweat, Nicky moved faster and faster, raising and lowering himself until his legs burnt with lactic acid and his breaths came in shallow gasps.

Charles only set his hands on Nicky to keep him still when he finally came. Nicky's head dropped forward. The bow still trailed around his cock. He whimpered when Charles recovered from his orgasm and teased the tip of his cock with a finger tip.

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"Master?" Nicky asked.

"No."

Nicky risked a glance at him.

"Next time you will plan better how to take care of yourself. Then, perhaps, I will let you enjoy your plans when they come to fruition."

Nicky swallowed down the protest that rose instinctively to his lips.

Charles left him sitting there while he softened inside him.

Nicky tried not to squirm. He tried not to make any movement to jostle the ribbon around his erection.

Charles finally lifted him off his lap. He immediately slipped the butt plug back into place, bow and all, and Nicky realised he would stay like that until morning.

"Uncomfortable or painful?" his master asked.

It was tempting to lie. The word painful would secure his immediate release from the ribbon. It wouldn't mitigate the need Charles saw for a punishment to teach him to take care of himself better, but it would alter the punishment.

"Just a bit uncomfortable, master," he admitted.

Charles made him meet his gaze. He read the truth there and made no adjustments to Nicky's bondage before he turned off the bedside light and pulled the blanket up over them both.

Nicky rested his head against his master's chest when Charles allowed him to cuddle close to his side.

It was after midnight. A present had been given. No matter the definition, he was allowed to say it. Nicky still 44

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waited until he was sure Charles was asleep before he whispered the words.

"Merry Christmas, master."

Charles knew the sight of his pet sleeping contentedly, if a
little frustrated, in his arms wouldn't last. In moments it
flickered and disappeared.

He turned to the spirit still lurking behind him, wondering
what he would have to say about it all.

"He really loves Christmas, doesn't he?" the spirit asked,
obviously trying to get back to his job and ignore how his
erection bobbed in front of him with his every movement.

"Yes," Charles agreed. "He loves Christmas."

"But you do not?" the spirit asked.

"I have never stopped Nicky from celebrating the holiday
any way he chooses," Charles said sharply.

"And that is enough?"

Charles frowned at the space where Nicky had lain. He
hated watching him fade away. Knowing the real Nicky was
still in their bedroom packing presents didn't help. He owned
Nicky—all of Nicky, not just the particular bit of him existing
in the present, all of him.

Another picture came into existence around them. Charles
closed his eyes. He waited until everything had time to settle
into place before he opened his eyes in hopes it would help
the motion sickness.

"What year is this?" he asked, walking across his dining
room to where Nicky sat on the floor front of the fire place. All
around him were boxes of cards and envelopes.

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"Two years ago," the spirit said. "At which time Nicholas
Lewis had been under your influence for three Christmases."

Charles glared at the implication in the statement.

He looked up when the door opened.

Gavin, Nicky's friend, walked in and sat down next to Nicky
on the floor.

"How many Christmas cards do you write?" Gavin grumbled, putting a glass of water on the hearth. "My tongue's getting tired."

Nicky picked the glass up and put it back down on a coaster. "You're almost finished."

Gavin opened one of the cards and glanced at the message Nicky diligently inscribed. "Do you sign all of your cards off Charles too?" He slipped the card into the appropriate envelope and licked the flap.

"Most of them." Nicky flicked onto the next page of his address book and selected another card from an assortment separated out in neat little piles from where he sat all the way across to the fireplace.

"Does he mind?"

Nicky shook his head. "I wouldn't sign my master's name to them without asking him first."

"Did you warn him just how many cards he'd be sending each year?"

Nicky addressed the envelope and held it out to Gavin.

"Put your tongue to better use," he said with a smile.

Gavin was quiet for all of two minutes. "What are you getting for him this year anyway?"

"Lots of little things," Nicky said.

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Gavin got bored. He started to wonder around the room.

"What's this?"

Nicky glanced up from his selection of cards. "An advent calendar."

"Yours?"

Nicky shook his head. "My master's. I made it for him."

Gavin looked at the twenty four little parcels hanging from a mini Christmas tree set on the side cabinet. "What does he think of it?" He didn't sound too sure of its reception.

Nicky wasn't sure yet either. "I'm going to give it to him tonight."

Gavin wandered back to the hearth rug. "You're really going all out trying to convince him to like Christmas, aren't you?"

Nicky shrugged. Gavin had no idea how hard he worked to make Charles enjoy the winter holidays.

A sudden click followed by a whirling sound indicated Charles had pressed the button that opened the garage doors.

Gavin stood up. "I guess that's my cue to make myself scarce. Good luck getting
him
to lick the rest of your letters for you."

Nicky smiled at Gavin's retreating back.

A few moments later Charles stepped into the room looking far from pleased. "I appear destined to spend half my life passing the same boy in the drive way."

Nicky uncurled himself from his position sitting on the hearth rug and knelt, waiting for his master to formally 47

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recognise him. Charles slipped a finger tip under his chin and tilted his head back.

His master studied him for what felt like a long time but he turned away without touching Nicky's collar and giving him permission to rise. Nicky stayed where he was, able to lift his gaze from the floor, but otherwise trapped there until Charles returned to him.

"Who is he, and what is your relationship to him?"

Nicky's eyes opened very wide. "Gavin?" he asked.

Charles raised an eyebrow.

Nicky tried to keep up with the conversation. "His name is Gavin Thomas, we went to school together."

"He's gay?" Charles asked, sitting on the dining room chair furthest away from Nicky.

Nicky nodded. "Yes, master."

"Does he live the lifestyle?"

Nicky hesitated before he nodded. "In his own way, master."

"If he has pretensions to call himself a dominant, he should have more balls than to run away every time I walk into the house."

Nicky shook his head. "He's submissive."

Charles raised an eyebrow. "Which leads me to wonder why he thinks I would have any objection to him visiting you in our home?"

Nicky bit his lip. "You, um..."

Charles stood up and walked across until he stood in front of Nicky. "I?" he prompted.

"You make him nervous," Nicky blurted out.

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"I do not believe I have ever exchanged more than two words with the man."

"He's used to dominants who are more..." Nicky trailed off again.

"More?"

"Submissive?" Nicky suggested.

Charles's lips twitched into a smile. He touched Nicky's collar. Nicky stood up.

"Come," Charles said, stepping back to let Nicky precede him from the room, "you can tell me all about his submissive dominants while I have a drink."

Nicky hesitated. Charles seemed to be in a good mood and comparisons between himself and the type of dominants Gavin dated could only improve his humour. "May I bring something with me?"