They were on Atalanta for only three more days. With the ship gearing up to depart, the whole crew was busy. Cargo was moved on board, and teams were handling storage and maintenance. Tracht kept Alex close, occasionally explaining why they were doing half the shit they did. Alex didn’t always understand it—there was a lot of complicated physics and engineering involved with getting ships moving—but it made following Tracht around a bit less boring.
Alex saw Parsons a few times, but thankfully there was too much to do, so Parsons couldn’t take the time to be a self-righteous dick at Alex.
On their last day before departure, Alex was once again on his knees under Tracht’s desk, gently suckling on Tracht’s cock. Alex was mostly focusing on keeping his jaw loose and breathing through his nose while Tracht took care of the last of his business calls.
Alex wondered if the people on the other end also had a bondservant sucking them off or eating them out. If they were anything like Tracht, it was impossible to tell from just their voices. How Tracht managed to sound calm and composed with his dick in Alex’s mouth, Alex had no clue. Alex was half tempted to start sucking Tracht’s cock for real, but he was pretty sure that distracting Tracht from business would be a quick way to earn a punishment.
The sound of an incoming call made Tracht shift forward and slide further into Alex’s mouth.
“Johannes! Did I catch you before you departed?”
The use of Tracht’s first name piqued Alex’s interest. He’d been mostly ignoring the other calls, but now he strained to hear better.
“You know you did, Vasilis. What can I do for you?” Tracht traced his finger along the shell of Alex’s ear.
If Alex remembered right, Vasilis was Tracht’s brother-in-law. The rich one that was the reason for all of Tracht’s fortunes.
“Can I get you to try another route? I don’t understand all of the details, but the navigational department thinks we could cut time off the trip if—”
“Wait a moment. I’m not alone.”
The call went still abruptly—Tracht must have muted everything. Alex was confused when Tracht actually pulled out of Alex’s mouth, and even more when he encouraged Alex to come out from under the desk.
He understood when he saw the earplugs Tracht was holding.
“I can’t have you overhearing this conversation.” Tracht placed the earplugs into Alex’s ears, muting the rest of the world.
Boring. Now that Alex was barred from listening, he really, really wanted to know what was being said. But Tracht cuffed Alex’s hands behind his back and then pushed him back under the desk to continue where he’d left off.
It was hard to keep track how long the call went on. Alex figured that it had ended when Tracht pulled on Alex’s hair and started thrusting in deep, at times robbing Alex’s breath entirely.
“What was so private about that call with your bro?” Alex asked after Tracht let him up.
“My bro? Oh, Vasilis. Simply that I can’t risk compromising his business in any way, and you have definitely not been cleared for trade secrets.”
Alex scowled and tried to ignore the weird feeling in his gut. “You think I’m not trustworthy?”
That made Tracht bark a laugh. “Absolutely not. You have shaped up a bit, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you decided to betray me if somebody gave you a better offer.”
That was—that was true. At least, Alex thought it was supposed to be true. It made the most sense. Nick might have been using Alex, but he’d also taught Alex that they had to look out for themselves first and foremost. That nobody else mattered. Alex thought it meant nobody except the two of them, but Nick apparently had taken it to mean really only himself. So Alex should do the same.
Alex still had the vague urge to protest.
===
“It’s a shame we can’t have running water in space,” Tracht lamented with a sigh. “A warm bath would be nice now.”
Sprawled on the couch in only his boxer briefs, he didn’t look nearly as threatening as usual. It helped that he looked about as exhausted as Alex felt. Actually being involved in departure proceedings was less relaxing than sitting around waiting for things to happen.
Alex crawled onto the couch and squeezed himself next to Tracht. A tight fit, but the couch must have been chosen with something like this in mind because it did accommodate them both. Alex settled with his arm loosely around Tracht’s waist and his head against Tracht’s chest.
It was nice when Tracht started stroking his scalp and running his fingers lightly along the shell of Alex’s ear.
“They have water on some ships,” Alex said. “The big luxury ones. Nick wanted us to sneak on board one, but security was too heavy for us to figure out a way on without getting caught.”
“They scan for stowaways regularly and keep very extensive passenger and crew manifests. They also have specialized pods for ejecting stowaways. You get placed on one and shot off towards the nearest colonized planet or station. And by towards, I mean in the general direction. The navigation systems aboard those things tend to not be quite so accurate to compensate for sudden changes in orbit due to unexpected obstacles such as asteroids or space debris.” Tracht chuckled and scratched a bit harder on Alex’s scalp. “You might have starved to death in space.”
Wow. Alex was really glad that Nick hadn’t figured out a way to get on board. He nuzzled his nose against the hairs on Tracht’s chest.
“How come you wanted to be a ship captain?”
“I believe most people would answer that question with a trite story about how much they loved the stars, or traveling, or maybe the importance of supplying the stations with food and other resources.”
“But not you?”
“No. The real reason was that I liked the idea of being completely in charge, and I’m anti-social enough to prefer the complete isolation that long-distance space travel provides.”
That sounded about right. “But now you have what, fifty people in close quarters at all times?”
“Forty-two, yes, and you’ll notice that I don’t socialize with them. Short of Dr. Singh, Ms. Espinosa, and Mr. Strobel, I hardly talk to them outside of work.” Tracht yawned. “But enough of that.” He sat up and pushed Alex away. “Let’s go to bed. I think I want you to give me a massage.”
A massage sounded harmless enough. Alex followed Tracht to the bed. He got Tracht’s underwear thrown in his face, but even that felt a bit playful. Tracht got face down on the bed and looked over his shoulder at Alex.
“Come on then.”
Uh, okay. Alex hadn’t ever really given a massage before; one of the girls he’d briefly dated had hinted that she really wanted him to, but Alex had willfully ignored those hints.
Ignoring Tracht wasn’t an option. He got on the bed and straddled Tracht’s back. “Don’t blame me if this sucks.”
“Of course I’ll blame you.” Tracht looked over his shoulder at Alex. “But I’ll help you out, since this is the first time.”
Under Tracht’s instructions, Alex started massaging Tract’s back. He pressed harder when Tracht told him to, and he kneaded skin with his knuckles. He started on Tracht’s shoulders and worked his way down his back, until he reached Tracht’s ass.
Softer than Alex’s ass, probably—Alex didn’t regularly grab his own ass—but yeah, definitely not a bad specimen. A bit flat, maybe. Alex wasn’t really an ass guy anyway; that had always been Nick’s thing.
“Mm. Keep going.” Tracht sounded on the verge of falling asleep. Which was... good. Since that meant he wouldn’t want more from Alex.
If Alex weren’t caged up, he thought he’d be hard. Had to be the proximity to ass.
“Can I fuck you?” Alex asked. Dumb question, he knew that as soon as he asked it, but now that he had the image in his head: wow, yeah. Fucking Tracht would actually be pretty hot.
“No.” Tracht yawned and parted his legs a bit. “You can rim me though. In fact, I think I’ll insist on it.”
“Just one night, can’t you not ask me to do something I don’t like?” Alex whined.
“Alex, do you really want to start a fight over rimming?” Tracht propped himself up on one elbow. “I can certainly find something you’ll like even less.”
Alex shook his head and hurried to bend down. It was his first look at Tracht’s hole, which looked like any other person’s asshole, honestly, though maybe a bit hairier. He’d never really paid much attention. Even the few times he’d fucked dudes before, it was them lubing themselves up and him sticking it in. He’d never done anal with chicks, even though Nick swore by it.
He spread Tracht’s ass cheeks apart and tentatively licked along the rim. Tracht moaned lightly, which Alex took as a good sign. He circled the puckered skin, forcing himself not to gag when he felt hair drag across his tongue.
Tracht lowered himself back to the bed. “Suck a little bit.”
Alex tried that—it was kind of hard to figure out what part of the skin would be good to suck—but he must have done it right, because Tracht made another satisfied sound. And, texture aside, Tracht’s ass didn’t taste any worse than the rest of his body. Maybe a bit of a sweaty, musky scent.
He kind of liked it when Tracht started squirming and making little noises. Alex took a chance and licked all the way down to Tracht’s balls and back up again.
“Mmm. That’s good.” Tracht spread his legs a little wider and canted them up a bit. Alex reached down to cup his own cock... and then groaned when he felt the metal of the cage.
“Can I jerk off? Please?”
“If you do a good job, I’ll think about it. Now get your tongue in there.”
Alex repressed a shudder and reminded himself it wasn’t any worse than sucking on Tracht’s cock or fingers after they’d been in Alex’s ass. And he liked how Tracht was squirming. It made Tracht seem more human. Yeah, obviously Alex had seen him come, but Tracht was always in control. Alex had no input at all usually.
So, tongue. Alex dripped some saliva on Tracht’s hole, took a deep breath, and then got in there.
It wasn’t as gross as he expected, and wow, he could feel every single little twitch. Tracht moaned and shuddered, especially when Alex using his piercing to press down on sensitive skin. A few times Tracht pressed back, demanding more pressure, though Alex couldn’t figure out if those movements were on purpose or involuntary.
“God, it’s been a while,” Tracht huffed. “One finger, Alex. Just one. And do not get it anywhere near my prostate.”
For real? Alex wasn’t going to ask for an explanation. He pulled away just long enough to coat a finger in spit and then he was back in there, gently worming his finger inside and using it to stretch Tracht’s hole. He made sure not to stick it in too far, but he did get his tongue in a bit farther, and Tracht clearly loved that.
Okay. He could sort of see the appeal of doing this.
“Your other hand. Wrap it around my cock.” Tracht lifted up a bit to give Alex access, and once Alex’s hand was there, he began thrusting in small motions. Alex tried to keep up, working to keep licking and sucking and giving Tracht the best rim job ever.
He felt triumphant when Tracht came with Alex’s tongue and finger buried in his ass. He spilled all over Alex hand, and then collapsed on top of it. Alex grunted and had to close his fist and drag it away to keep from dripping the come all over the bed.
Tracht rolled onto his back and smiled down at Alex. “Mm. Well done.”
Alex felt his face heating up. He quickly licked his hand clean and crawled to lie next to Tracht. “Huh. That wasn’t so bad. Can I jerk off now?”
He thought he was going to get lucky, because Tracht started reaching down towards Alex’s cock. Then he stopped. For a split second, it looked like Tracht was annoyed with him.
The expression smoothed over and Tracht yawned widely. “No, I’m too tired for that.” He sat up against the headboard. “Go clean up, and when you’re done I’ll put you in the cage. I think I’ve left your ass a bit empty for too long too, I’ll find a nice plug for you.”
What the hell? It felt like a punishment, and Alex couldn’t figure out what he’d done. “I’m sorry? I don’t need to come. I’ll be good, just let me stay!”
“No. Go.”
Alex stomped over to the bathroom and stepped into the scrubber, fuming and hurt and still desperately horny. He’d done what Tracht wanted! Why the hell was he being even more of a dick to Alex.
He didn’t even pretend to be indifferent about the cage, glowering with anger the entire time while Tracht pushed the plug into him and blindfolded him.
If Alex at least knew why he’d been denied sleeping with Tracht, he wouldn’t be so pissed.
===
Alex fumed to himself. The only satisfaction he got was that he could hear Tracht tossing and turning, apparently unable to sleep. Served him right.
But when Tracht quieted down, Alex couldn’t maintain his anger. He should have been fine with the situation. Yeah, the plug was irritating him, and fine, the cage was a lot less comfortable than the bed, but as long as Tracht let him out to eat and drink in the morning—
If Parsons saw Alex now, he’d have a fit. Maybe he’d yell at Tracht. Hah. That’d be kind of hilarious. Alex tried to imagine it, only he couldn’t decide if he wanted Tracht or Parsons to win. Parsons was a stuck up prick, but Tracht was an asshole.
Suddenly he heard the bed creak and Tracht approaching the cage. Had it been that long? Alex wasn’t even really tired yet. The cage door swung open, and he felt Tracht’s foot tap his.
“Come out.”
He couldn’t tell if Tracht was pissed or what. He crawled out slowly—wincing when the plug shifted inside him and pressed against his prostate—and then waited on his knees. He wished he could see Tracht’s face.
He flinched when Tracht grabbed his hair, expecting a harsh tug, but Tracht just held him.
Then he heard a long sigh.
“I suppose you have no idea why I put you in the cage.”
“Because I begged to come?” It didn’t feel like the right answer—Tracht loved it when Alex begged—but it was the only thing that fit.
Tracht laughed and ran his fingers down Alex’s face, along his nose and scar. “I guess I should be very, very glad that you are not all that astute.”
Whatever the heck that meant. Alex felt Tracht tugging at his shoulders, so he got up, and he was confused when Tracht started kissing him.
They stumbled back into the bed, Tracht on top of Alex. He made Alex hold his arms above his head and keep them there, and he made the plug in Alex’s ass start vibrating at irregular intervals.
“Don’t move those hands,” Tracht ordered, which would have been easy, only Tracht started with the tickling, and dammit, Alex had almost forgotten how much he’d hated that. Tracht straddled Alex’s hips to keep him from writhing too much, and every time Alex bucked his hips up his caged cock bumped against Tracht’s ass, tempting him with forbidden fruit.
“Stop! I can’t—!” Alex’s arms automatically flailed and attempted to protect his vulnerable armpits and sides, and he got hard pinches to his nipples for that.
“Arms back up, Alex.” At least Tracht sounded happy now.
Alex shook his head and wished he could see Tracht’s face.
Then he howled in pain when Tracht pinched Alex’s balls, and the pressure just got worse until Alex lifted his arms again. Dammit. Alex could feel tears building under the blindfold, and he was starting to wish he’d been left in the cage after all.
He had to endure more tickling, unending agony where he bucked and writhed and tried desperately to not curl away from the onslaught. Every time his arms dropped, Tracht would pinch him somewhere, forcing Alex to choose between pain or helplessness. Alex didn’t know which one was worse.
Finally, Tracht stopped torturing Alex and pulled the blindfold off. Through teary eyes, Alex could see Tracht’s satisfied smile.
He started kissing Alex, first his lips, but soon he was licking Alex’s cheeks and kissing the corners of his eyes. Alex was too exhausted to do much more than lay there, and god but he was desperate to come. He didn’t dare mention it though.
Then Alex noticed that Tracht wasn’t really hard. Alex frowned lightly. “You’re not… you’re not gonna make me suck you off or something?”
“It’s flattering that you think I have that kind of energy,” Tracht responded. His hands trailed lower. “Spread your legs.”
Alex ended up with one knee bent up and angled out, Tracht pressed up against his side. Tracht played with the plug a bit, driving Alex even crazier, and Alex couldn’t stop the sounds coming out of his mouth, desperate and pathetic and he really, really needed to come now. He let out a giddy laugh when Tracht pulled the plug out and replaced it with his own fingers. His cock was in so much pain and his hips kept thrusting upwards automatically despite how useless the movement was.
Then Tracht pulled his fingers out.
“No!” Alex cried. “Please! More!” He twisted his head and kissed Tracht’s jaw. He’d been aiming for his mouth, but coordination was tricky.
“Hmm. No.” Tracht smiled as he replied, and this time he seemed completely pleased by Alex’s begging. “But I’ll make sure to milk you in the morning. Come on then, let’s get some sleep.”
God. Alex’s body went limp in exhaustion, and he hated Tracht for winding him up like that. If he wasn’t going to get Alex off, he could have just left Alex in the cage.
“What did I do wrong? That you put me in the cage,” Alex whined. “I gave you a massage. And the rimming.” He shifted and threw an arm around Tracht’s waist. Tracht started petting Alex’s head.
“Nothing at all.” He yawned. “And once I thought about it, I realized that I actually did want you in bed with me. Don’t worry about it, you’ll never understand anyway.”
“Was it ‘cus I begged?”
“Drop it, Alex. And no, I love hearing you beg.”
“But—”
Tracht pulled sharply on Alex’s hair. “It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with misplaced anger on my part. Now shut up.”
Alex almost asked again, but the cage was still looming in the corner. He kind of wished he could ask somebody else about it. No matter how many times he went over what happened, he couldn’t figure out what had gotten Tracht so mad.