Damien looked up. Angelo was on one side, Mark on the other. He was strapped down on a bed, his legs and arms starfished and bound, his hips positioned on a wedge pillow which put his genital region in a totally vulnerable place.

His heart began to hammer in his chest as he realized the danger he was in. The Vitali investigation was closed. None of them were wanted - and he wasn’t exactly on the radar either. At Mark’s request, he’d taken an extended leave of absence from the agency. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. At the time, it had seemed like such a good idea. They’d have the chance to travel, to experience once in a lifetime carefree romance.

And now he was tied up in a basement, between highly dangerous men who had serious axes to grind. This was not going to end well. Damien felt fear creeping through him. He didn’t want to be scared, but he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t like Angelo. He didn’t crave death. He wanted to live. More than anything.

“Hey there,” Mark said gently. He reached out and brushed a few strands of hair off Damien’s forehead.

“Mark… why?”

“It’s going to be okay,” Mark soothed. “This will only be as bad as you make it.”

Damien felt as though he was being ripped apart. Everything he’d done had been in service of saving Mark, and in the end, Mark hadn’t wanted to be saved. Their love was over. It had to be. Damien knew that his only chance now was to escape and never look back. These men weren’t just dangerous. They were twisted in a way he couldn’t understand.

Mark had looked him in the eye and told him that he loved him. Mark had promised to live a life together, to work at breaking Bobby free from Angelo, and taking down the remnants of Angelo’s network. But it had all been a lie.

“I know you hate me,” Mark said. “But one day you’re going to understand why this was necessary.”

“Fuck off,” Damien growled as anger took the place of sadness and fear. “Fuck you. You’re weak as hell. You chose him over me. Get the fuck out of here.”

“Shh, boy.”

It was Angelo’s voice which intruded on Damien’s anger. It served to scare him more. He tried to pull out of the ropes, but they were solid and squirming only made them pull tighter. There was no way out. He hated being naked like this. He could imagine what they were thinking as they looked at him.

“Mark,” he said, his face contorted, his tone pleading as he swung back into the realm of fear. “Don’t do this, okay? It’s not too late to let me go. I understand if you want to stay, but let me go.”

“It’s not as bad as you think,” Mark said, crouching down next to the bed, and taking Damien’s bound hand in his own. “It doesn’t even have to hurt after this first time if you just give in.”

“He won’t give in,” Angelo said. “He’s too proud, too brave, and too strong for that.”

Mark bowed his head, and Damien felt the despair emanating from his lover. Mark didn’t want to be doing this. He was being forced somehow. If he could just get Mark alone, maybe they could escape.

“Eyes on me,” Angelo said, his deep, accented tones suddenly more powerful than ever. Damien’s eyes went to him of their own accord.

“We did not meet on suitable terms, boy,” Angelo said. “You’ve been led to believe that I can be bested, because you were set on me like a dog. I don’t know who sent you, but I can tell you now, they did you both the greatest service of your life, and they destroyed everything you had before.”

“I got you,” Damien said.

“You did. And you wasted your advantage. I will not make the same mistake. I tried to train you, but you thought you knew better. Now you’ll learn, boy.”

Angelo reached back behind him and picked up a leather riding crop. Damien let out a short laugh of relief and surprise. A little leather lash wasn’t going to do fuck all to him. He knew what it was to be shot, seriously wounded. His naked torso bore the marks of several violent encounters.

“That’s what I’m supposed to be afraid of?”

“It’s not about the level of pain,” Angelo said softly. “It’s about the intensity of it. What it means to a man. You shot me, but there was no meaning to it. Hollow brutality has far less effect than what I will do to you.”

The leather began to trace over Damien’s chest, a feather soft touch across his bare skin.

“You thought it was about hurting me, but the pleasure is so important, Damien. If you don’t bring the pleasure, the pain means nothing.”

“Mark,” Damien whimpered, even as he started at Angelo.

“Relax,” Mark murmured.

How could he possibly relax? This was his nightmare. At the mercy of Angelo Vitali, and with the man he loved simply encouraging him to submit, Damien was utterly fucked.

“Please just let me go.” He hated that he was begging, but he had never been in a position like this before. In the military they were trained to resist interrogation, but Angelo wasn’t looking to extract information. With the triumphant gaze in his dar eyes, he looked more as if he was trying to extract Damien’s soul.

“I told you once that everything you did to me, I would do doubly to you,” Angelo purred.

“Uhmmm…”

“You shot me, Damien. And you had me thrown in jail. Separated from those I love. You tried to take Bobby from me, and you nearly did take Mark. They’re my family, boy. I warned you not to cross me, and yet you attacked me in the most primal of ways. Did you not take my warning seriously? Or were you so secure in your profession that you didn’t imagine I would ever have you this way?”

Hearing Angelo talk about family sent a chill through Damien. If Angelo was going to take revenge, Damien hoped it wouldn’t be on those who had the misfortune to be related to him.

“My family…”

“Are safe,” Angelo said. “Because I have you, and I intend to take every bit of your insolence out on you personally. Out of respect to Mark, I’ll even refrain from wounding you. Wouldn’t you say that was kind?”

“Uhhh…”

“Suddenly so incoherent,” Angelo smirked. “Let’s begin. Mark, clamp his nipples.”

Mark reached behind him and produced two chained clamps, small in size. They weren’t exactly wildly intimidating. The little clamp parts even had rubber tips, but even that flimsy little chain between them represented something he could feel in the air. He was captive, and he knew it to his marrow. Even if he somehow broke free of the ropes and ran, he would be leaving Mark behind. Mark was a tether to Angelo that Damien wouldn’t break.

“Mark…” Damien heard his voice crack.

“You’re going to like this,” Mark said. “I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but trust me, you’re going to enjoy it.”

Damien’s nipples were already erect with fear, so there was no difficulty for Mark to slip the purpose-made clips over the two buds. Damien felt two small pinches, which intensified as Mark dialed the clips into place, squeezing the sensitive buds. It didn’t hurt in the traditional sense of hurt, and Damien could easily withstand the pain, but there was something embarrassing about it. Everything about this situation was humiliating.

“Lust is what drives us,” Angelo purred. “You’re already beginning to feel it, aren’t you, Damien.”

It was true. The clamps on his nipples were sending traces of physical desire to other parts of his body. He didn’t want to get turned on. He wanted out of there, away from Angelo. Every nerve in his body was screaming for freedom, but there was no way out. He was tightly bound, at the mercy of a man who had no mercy in his soul.

“You’ve known pain, boy.” Angelo ran the tip of the crop over the scarring which was largely hidden on Damien’s belly. The surgeon had done a good job of sewing him back together in a way that followed the natural contours of his belly, and time had turned what were thick ugly marks into thin lines - but Angelo knew what they were, because Angelo knew everything.

“Yeah,” Damien said. “A bit.”

“You might think it’s ridiculous to torment you like this.” Angelo reached down and gave a light tug on the chain between the nipple clamps, sending more zaps of pleasure right to Damien’s dick. He was starting to get aroused, even though he really didn’t want to. He wanted to keep his desire between him and Mark, but this was confusing. Mark was right there, and Angelo was somehow part of him now.

Had he ever really known Mark? Probably not. In Afghanistan they were little more than overgrown horny teenagers. And in the last few weeks, playing happy families, Damien had sensed there was something behind Mark’s eyes. Angelo had never really left the room. He had always been there with them. Maybe Mark was right. Maybe there was no point in resisting. Maybe Angelo really did always win.

“What are you thinking, boy?”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t just want your body. I want your mind. Tell me what thoughts hide behind those pretty eyes.”

“I…” Damien hesitated. “I thought you’d hurt me more.”

“You thought I’d beat you. I will, soon enough,” Angelo smiled. “Something tells me you’re the sort of boy who will need a good beating or two to keep him in line. But I do not engage in cruelty for cruelty’s sake. I do what is necessary for each of my boys. Mark is such a good boy he barely requires punishment at all.”

Damien looked over and saw Mark blush. Jealousy flowered in his chest.

“Mark is mine.”

“Possessiveness won’t work with me, boy,” Angelo flicked the crop sharply against the inside of Damien’s thigh. “You all belong to me.”

The sharp sting didn’t hurt a whole lot, but it made Angelo’s point for him. Damien’s body was no longer his own.

“I know this isn’t what you’re used to,” Angelo purred. “You like to shove your cock in a hole, cum and be done. But that’s not how we do things here. You’re going to learn to give pleasure and take pain before this night is done.”

He ran the crop down between Damien’s legs, where the little leather tongue found the sensitive bud of his anus. Damien blushed furious red as Angelo began to slap him there, the leather striking his bottom hole over and over with stinging swats which became increasingly more intense the longer he let the leather lash.

Crying out in pain was not an option, but Damien couldn’t hide the way his body was responding to the shameful stimulation. It hurt. But it was hot. And his dick was getting harder by the second, like some fucked up sex toy inflated with tap after tap of the leather stimulating what felt like the very core of him.

Mark captured Damien’s mouth in a deep kiss as Angelo’s crop left his asshole and ran along the thickening shaft of Damien’s cock. The pleasure was where the danger was. Pain could easily be resisted. Hate was easy, but Angelo was toying with his affections, manipulating the very chemistry of his mind.

“You were a very bad boy,” Angelo purred. “And you were out of your league from the beginning. You should have let me go, Damien. None of this had to happen.”

Mark broke the kiss and Damien took a deep breath.

“Please,” he said one more time. “Let me go.”

“Let you go? Why? So you can lurk in urinals and waylay other men?” Angelo smirked, his eyes dark with perfect triumph.

“I won’t do that. I won’t…” Damien gritted his teeth. “I won’t come for you again.”

“You don’t even believe that,” Angelo laughed. “The secret to telling a convincing lie is to believe it yourself. But I will untie you, boy, because there’s something that’s long overdue. Mark, loosen his bonds. And Damien, don’t you dare make so much as a move. If you so much as twitch a finger without my permission, I’ll leave you tied here for a week.”

Damien had no difficulty believing that. He nodded swiftly, and felt a wave of relief as the ropes were loosened from around his wrists and ankles.

Angelo reached down, grabbed him by his hair, and pulled him off the table before pushing him down to his knees in front of Mark, who seemed to know what was coming, because he unzipped his fly and pulled out his very erect dick.

Damien felt a pulse of arousal run through him. Mark had always had a nice cock, but Damien had never lowered himself to actually taking it before. He’d always thought that might make him, well… fully gay. That didn’t make sense, and yet it did.

“Suck his cock,” Angelo commanded, his hand still scruffed in Damien’s hair. “You’ve never taken him in your mouth even once, have you Sergeant? You always wanted him on his knees…” he laughed at Damien’s expression. “Oh yes, I know about you, Sergeant Colt. My boys tell me everything. I knew who you were the moment you told me your name. And I knew who you were really coming for. Now you have him, don’t you?”

Damien opened his mouth to retort, and Angelo pushed his head forward so his lips were wrapped around Mark’s cock. The hard shaft plunged into Damien’s mouth.

This was sex as he had never experienced it before. This was degrading. Humiliating. This was… fucking hot. His dick was like iron against his belly.

“Keep sucking,” Angelo instructed as he let go of Damien’s hair.

SWISH… WHAP!

A leather belt landed across Damien’s ass, bringing with it a hot flash of pain. He yowled around Mark’s cock. It wasn’t a one off slap. It was a full beating, Angelo making good on his promise that Damien would one day feel his leather. As much as it hurt, it stoked his arousal.

There was something to this dark, twisted, filthy sex. Something alluring. Something that tempted him to just give in, forget himself and his priorities and simply become a slave to Angelo’s will. Damien fought the urge with all he had.

Mark’s cock stiffened and twitched and Damien knew he was about to take a mouthful of cum. It was only fair, really. In Afghanistan all those years ago, Mark had taken dozens and dozens of loads of his, and even more recently in their sporadic sex, Mark had been the willing recipient. This was karma in the form of cum, and as Damien had anticipated, it soon came spilling into his mouth, pushed down the back of his throat by Mark’s insistent strokes.

Mark pulled out, a sated expression in his bright blue eyes and smiled down at Damien with a broad, approving expression which made Damien melt from the inside. So this was what it was like to submit. It wasn’t as painful as he’d imagined it would be, though the taste was going to take some getting used to.

“Very good,” Angelo smirked. “That’s an excellent start. Next time, it will be my cock.”

“I wouldn’t put anything in my mouth you don’t want to lose,” Damien said, attempting to regain composure and some kind of status.

“Mark, hand me that gag,” Angelo said, his voice short and clipped.

Mark grabbed it off a nearby counter and gave it to Angelo. It was a circular structure, wide enough to hold the teeth apart and to allow a cock to pass through the center of the ring. Angelo dangled it in front of Damien’s eyes.

“Apologize for threatening me, or this goes in and I use it right now and then have Bobby take a turn too. We’ll turn your stomach into a swimming pool for our sperm.”

“I’m sorry,” Damien mumbled. Fuck. It galled him so deeply to apologize to Angelo Vitali. It made him feel as though the bile in his stomach was literally boiling. Taking Mark’s dick was one thing, but the thought of having Angelo inside him was fucking unthinkable. Angelo knew that too, and Damien could tell by the look in Angelo’s eye that sooner or later, it was going to happen.

“Good boy,” Angelo smirked, taking a step to toss the gag back off to the side.

Angelo still walked with a slight limp, Damien noted with no small measure of satisfaction. He had made his mark on Vitali. But it wasn’t enough. Angelo was stronger than he had ever been. And that meant there was just one thing left to do.