Lee chapter 29

[maculategiraffe]

Things have been a little crazy lately, so I'm sort of afraid to give this one the usual final read-through before I post. I just want to go ahead and get it up. Please forgive any quality control issues, typos etc.





Holden had been getting steadily more annoyed with his daughter over the past two weeks, and at this fresh indignity, he felt his temper rising the same way it had when Valor was a child and threw herself on the floor shrieking for her mother. Except that back then, she'd had some excuse, because she'd been five.

Holden took a deep breath and looked at the four kids on the couch. Lee looked frightened-- which probably meant Holden needed to control his expression better. Bran looked worried, Lisa looked apologetic, and Inga looked-- Inga looked the way a slave was bound to look when her mistress had skipped town without warning. Though in all fairness-- and Holden pretty much had to be fair right now, since there was nobody here he could comfortably punch-- Valor had never been a slave, and maybe you couldn't really understand this unless you had-- the owner, even an owner you weren't particularly fond of, as your anchor, your justification for being in any particular place. The vertigo when the owner made any too-sudden moves, or looked like leaving you behind.

Holden was on his feet, without having made a conscious decision to move; he needed to sit down next to Inga, but there wasn't any more room on the couch, so he drew Lee gently up, then sat back down, pulling Lee into his lap, and took Inga's hand. She gripped him back, hard. Lee had relaxed immediately against him, putting his head down on Holden's shoulder, so that was one less thing to worry about.

"You want to go after her?" he asked gently. "We can catch a train back to Tenarus tonight if you want."

"No, sir," said Inga without meeting his eyes. "Thank you."

That was probably for the best. Valor wouldn't respond well to feeling hunted down, especially if she'd bolted specifically at the sight of Holden.

"She said she wanted her mother?" he repeated to Lisa.

"Yes." Lisa shifted uncomfortably. "I think-- um-- well, she was really upset, Mr. Larssen. We left the meeting early, and she was crying, I-- did you say something to her? Something that might have upset her?"

"Not really," said Holden, trying to remember what he had said. Nothing particularly harsh, he thought. Certainly nothing to what he'd intended to say, if she'd come home tonight. "I didn't have the chance to say much. She ran out to the meeting before I'd even sat down."

"Well, something had her upset pretty bad," said Lisa, fiddling absently with Bran's fingers. "Anyway, I tried to get her to come back here and talk to you about it, but she said she had to talk to her mom. And-- well, and Yves, she said."

Holden felt his eyebrows lift sharply. "Her mother and Yves?"

Lisa nodded. "She said-- um, she said she needed to talk to them, and then she said she was messing everything up and she didn't know what to do and-- and she wanted her mom. So. I'm sorry you came all this way-- of course you'd be welcome to stay here tonight."

Holden wasn't sure how sincere the welcome was, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Inga shouldn't be alone tonight, and Lisa Kareyeva didn't count. Not that she wasn't a very sweet girl. Holden was quite fond of her, despite-- if not because of-- the fact that she took after Pavel to an extent that was sometimes unnerving when he looked at her too fast, and the fact that she'd apparently decided to assume boy's clothing wasn't exactly helping with that.

After David had faded out of the picture and Valor had taken up with women to a degree that was starting to look permanent, Holden had even cherished hopes that Val and Lisa might pair off. Of course, Robin was right that that would be weird "even for him," but she was such a restful girl, quiet and thoughtful, and Valor seemed to calm down a little when she was around.

But she wasn't what Inga needed right now. Inga needed her mistress; short of that, and until Valor's head had gotten screwed back on right, she needed Holden.

"If it's no trouble," he said. "Have you eaten?"

"Oh-- yes," said Lisa, with the worried expression of a nice girl with unexpected guests. "And you haven't, right? I'm sorry, I don't know if we have anything in, and I'm not much of a cook--"

"I can look around and see if there's anything I can fix, master," Bran offered. "With your permission, my lady."

Lisa looked puzzled. Holden was surprised, himself; he knew Bran enjoyed helping Fox in the kitchen, and he knew the kid spent time in the kitchen even when Fox wasn't there, but aside from forbidding him to touch the stove after he'd burned himself that one time, Holden's general aversion to the kitchen had kept him from paying much attention to Bran's culinary activities. That and the fact that if there was one thing Holden had proven consistently good at, it was underestimating Bran.

Bran saw Holden's expression and, predictably, blushed and looked self-deprecating. "I mean, it wouldn't be anything particularly-- maybe Inga can cook, or--"

"I can make toast," said Inga, smiling faintly. "That's about it."

Lisa laughed. "I can dial the phone to order in."

"Bran, why don't you poke around and see what there is in the way of raw materials," said Holden. "Let me know if you think you can come up with something. Lisa," he added as Bran rose obediently and started towards the little demi-kitchen, "what do you think Valor meant, about messing everything up?"

Lisa glanced involuntarily at Inga. Inga didn't move, but her hand tightened convulsively on Holden's.

"That's what I thought," said Holden dryly. "Hey. Inga. Look at me."

She lifted her bruised-violet eyes obediently to his face.

"Valor cares about you very much," he told her, "and that's why she needs to know she's taking the best care of you she possibly can. And you know she wouldn't have left if she hadn't known I was here to look after you."

"Yes, sir," said Inga softly. "Thank you. I'm okay."

"Anything I can do..." said Lisa rather vaguely.

Holden smiled at her. "Thanks for letting us stay. How is your family?"

Lisa smiled back, relieved. "Oh, they're fine. I think Dad's getting pretty serious with this new girlfriend. And David's just studying hard-- and working with Natasha on the legal aspects of Lee's case. You know he's part of our whole group, the-- he'll want to meet Lee, I bet. If Lee's up for it. How long are you planning on staying?"

"I don't know," said Holden, patting Lee, who had tensed slightly against him. "But we'll try not to impose on you too much more. Which reminds me-- may I use your phone? I should alert the family that Valor is on her way."

"In the hall," said Lisa, pointing at the little corridor that led to their bedrooms and the bathroom. Holden excused himself, put Lee gently back down on the couch next to Inga, and went to dial home.

By the time he'd finished explaining the situation as best he could to a long-suffering Alix, and exchanged "I love you"s with Yves-- Jer, not unexpectedly, refused to come to the phone for any such mush-- Bran was standing next to him, patiently waiting.

"I can make seasoned rice and spinach," he said when Holden had hung up, "and a fruit salad, and there's cheese I can slice up. Not anything like what Fox would make, but not too bad. And if there's a market nearby, I can do better tomorrow. May I please use the stove, master?"

Holden reached out and pulled Bran close, covering the boy's mouth with his own; Bran, after a moment of surprise, melted readily against him, letting Holden take the lead in the kiss until the parted lips grew swollen and warm under his and Bran's arms came up to cling to his master for balance. They kissed for what seemed like hours, Holden's greed for the taste and texture and warmth of Bran insatiable; Bran showed no signs of wanting to pull away, either, and Holden leaned heavily on the strong young body for a moment.

"Yes," he said when they finally broke apart. "You may use the stove."

Bran cocked his head quizzically to the side. "I'll be careful, master. This isn't an eternal goodbye or anything."

Holden laughed and reached out to take Bran's hand. "No. I'm going to come watch you work. And help, if you don't mind; I'll chop things for you."

"You don't have to do that, master," said Bran, but he was smiling shyly, obviously pleased at the prospect of Holden's company.

You would think-- Holden thought, still feeling the phantom sensation of Bran's arms around him-- that a man who'd been a half-grown, half-starved gutter rat when a handsome young aristocrat had picked him out to love and cherish, who'd been picked up and forcibly saved after that by Jer and Alix, and forgiven by Yves for more failures and embarrassments than he could count, would get used to being loved by people who ought to know better. But he never had.

"I know that," he said, as they walked back down the hall hand in hand. "I want to. If I'd realized you were so interested in cooking, I would have paid more attention before this. I'm too used to Yves-- he never shuts up about his hobbies, so I don't exactly have to work at noticing."

Bran shrugged. "Yves' hobbies are interesting."

"Whereas a skill that can feed your master and fellow slaves under adverse circumstances is endlessly tedious," said Holden dryly as they reached the living room, where Lisa was awkwardly patting Inga's shoulder. Inga looked vaguely tolerant and preoccupied, like a young queen being affectionately mauled by the child of a foreign dignitary during peace negotiations. Lee and Inga were holding hands; they'd clearly hit it off during the sex, and Lee was looking positively happy. Holden was beginning to wonder if it was time to retire and hand the business over to Bran.

"Don't feel you have to entertain us," he said to Lisa. "Just do whatever you'd normally be doing at this time-- homework, or debauched parties, or whatnot."

Lisa smiled, taking her hand off Inga's shoulder. "I should be studying. But-- where are you all going to sleep?"

She was eyeing Bran, of course. Holden suppressed a sigh. He really would have liked Bran in his own bed tonight, preferably somewhere with soundproofed walls, but he didn't want Lee sleeping alone in a strange place, and two per narrow bed plus one-- Inga, he supposed, if she didn't mind-- on the couch probably made more sense than three in one bed with Lisa and Inga both sleeping alone. Anyway, Lisa was doing them a favor, so it was probably only polite to do her one in return, if Bran didn't mind.

He glanced at Bran, who smiled at him briefly, ruefully, his expression clearly conveying the same reluctant ceding of desire to practical considerations, before he said courteously to Lisa, "I would be honored to share your ladyship's bed, with my master's permission."

Lisa looked pleased and slightly pink as she said, "I'd like that."

"It's all right with me," said Holden.

Lisa nodded. "But I should go study for a while first. I guess I'll go to my room, or I'll keep wanting to talk and distract myself."

"We'll try to keep it down out here, then," said Holden, "and I'll send Bran along when it's bedtime."





"Are you sure you don't mind sleeping with Lisa tonight?" he asked Bran in an undertone, once Lisa was in her room with the door closed and Bran was busying himself with the dinner preparations. "What with servicing Inga and now cooking dinner for us-- I feel like you're doing all the work, here."

Bran shook his head absently, measuring out water in a graduated pitcher. "I don't mind, master. This is fun. And Lee did most of the work with Inga. You should have seen him going after her clit-- once I showed him where it was."

Holden glanced into the living room, where Lee and Inga were conversing in similarly lowered voices. "Andrei will be disappointed if it turns out he has more of an affinity for women."

"Mona won't, though." Bran raised his eyebrows at Holden, who had picked up a large knife and an apple. "Um, master? Do you know what you're doing?"

"No," said Holden. "Why, do I need to?"

"Well, it's just a personal preference," said Bran, eyeing the knife, "but I kind of like you with ten fingers."

"Do you?" said Holden, putting the knife down and moving in; Bran tried to dodge away, but Holden pinned him against the counter. "And how do you like your ass-- regular or blistered?"

"As it please my master," said Bran, dropping his eyelids, but grinning irrepressibly.

"I owe you a good spanking for all your sass on the train," said Holden, sliding his hand through Bran's hair, "but I guess I should hold off until after you've rescued us all from starvation and serviced our hostess."

"Probably, master," Bran agreed demurely. "I'm sure her ladyship wouldn't want to take sexual advantage of a helpless slave whose master had just beaten him."

"I have to stop letting you hang around with abolitionists," said Holden, and leaned in to snatch another quick kiss from Bran's curved lips before he stepped back to let him move back to his measuring. "So what can I do to help without the risk of accidentally mutilating myself?"

"Um," said Bran, glancing around, and then smiling winningly at Holden, "you could sit there at the table and talk to me."

"With my hands nicely folded in my lap?"

"If it please my master," said Bran, moving the knife further away from Holden.





After the four of them had eaten, without much conversation or comment besides a series of extremely sincere compliments on the food, Bran, who was clearly flustered by all the attention, asked Holden's permission to go to Lisa's bed, and Holden, with a quick kiss and nibble to the nape of his neck, granted it. Holden was yawning himself, and when he suggested to Inga that he and Lee should share her bed while she took the couch, she agreed quickly, looking relieved, if anything. Since Valor had been sleeping on the couch, it wasn't much of a labor to make it up for sleeping, and Holden tucked Inga in and kissed her on the forehead before he took Lee by the hand and led him to the bed that still smelled faintly of Inga's satisfaction from earlier.

Lee curled up to his side, and Holden closed his eyes, trying not to think too hard about Bran and Lisa's activities in the other bedroom. Bran enjoyed sleeping with Lisa, but not enough to make it reasonable for Holden to be jealous; she was just a nice, gentle girl who let him pleasure her and take his own pleasure at the same time. So Bran was taken care of for the night, and there was no point wishing they were all at home where he could spend the night doing everything he wanted to Bran. Time enough for that later on.

He was drifting vaguely away from these thoughts and in the direction of sleep, when Lee put a hand on his cock.

Holden froze. So did Lee, or at least he stayed still, his hand cupping Holden without moving.

Palming the master's cock out of nowhere would have been a bold move for Yves, and Holden was pretty sure Lee hadn't thought it through. Now he was probably thinking it through, which meant Holden had to be careful or the kid would get re-paralyzed with terror. It wasn't helping that the cool, slim-fingered little paw on his penis was doing things to his circulatory system, or that the idea of his cock in Lee was all mixed up, in Holden's half-awake state, with Bran's eyes on him and Bran's lips on Lee's, Bran unreasonably in the other room and not under Holden, the way he should be.

"Lee?" he whispered.

"Master?" said Lee, almost voicelessly. Holden didn't know if that was excitement, terror, or just Lee.

Holden brushed his fingertips against Lee's knuckles where they lay over his cock. "You got plans for this, sweetheart?"

"Would it please my master to-- to--" Lee trailed off, burrowing desperately against Holden's chest, his hand still on Holden's cock as if he were afraid to move it.

"To fuck you?" Holden said, very quietly. "Is that what you want?"

Lee just pushed his face harder into Holden's chest.

"Take your hand off me, sweetheart," said Holden gently, and Lee obeyed instantly, jerking away as if he'd been burned. "Now put your arm across my chest-- good, just like that. Hold onto me-- and I'll hold you. Are you comfortable?"

Lee whimpered softly, trembling.

"Shhh," Holden soothed him. "You want me to fuck you?"

Lee, still trembling, nodded against him.

"Why?"

Lee cleared his throat before he said, "I pleased you-- before, master, my-- my body pleased you, you were-- you said-- you said I was-- your good boy--"

"You are," said Holden. "Good and sweet and beautiful-- and very brave, Lee, because I know you thought being fucked would hurt, didn't you?"

"Yes, master," said Lee, relaxing incrementally. "But it-- it didn't. But I don't-- if it pleases my master to hurt me-- then that would be-- I wouldn't mind--"

"Being hurt? As long as I was pleased with you?"

Lee nodded again, relaxing a bit more. Holden stroked his back gently.

"But when your old master hurt you," he said softly, "you wanted him to stop, didn't you?"

Lee's arm tightened around Holden, but he didn't say anything.

"Even though it pleased him to hurt you," Holden went on. "You didn't want to please him that way. But you want to please me any way you can-- to be my good boy. Don't you?"

"Yes, master," Lee whispered.

"Were you a good boy with Lord Dunaev?"

Lee hesitated before he said miserably, "No, master."

"Yes you were," said Holden firmly, and when Lee didn't answer right away, "You were the same boy, Lee. You were the same good, sweet boy with him as you are with me. But you feel very differently towards me and towards him, don't you? Why is that, do you think?"

There was a silence before Lee said, tentatively, "You're-- good to me, master."

Holden stroked the silky hair. "Even if I hurt you?"

"Yes, master," said Lee more confidently.

"Then what's the difference between me and him?" Holden asked, and into another silence, "Don't answer right away. Think about it. And let me go to sleep, sweetheart. I'm tired."

A tiny puff of laughter stirred the hair on Holden's chest, and Holden smiled as Lee said, "I'm sorry, master."

"That's okay, kid," said Holden, liking that Lee sounded more sheepish than abject. "You're sweet to offer. But it's been a long day, and sometimes it's nice just to cuddle like this. Don't you think?"

"Yes, master," said Lee, snuggling closer. "This is-- nice."