7. Steak And Cream 7

She has no idea what she’s doing, but that’s never stopped her before. She slaps Luo Fei back into the chair and stands over him in exactly the way she saw Ben do when she first entered the room, standing between his thighs with her toes tucked under the front of the chair, she’s so close. She crosses her arms for extra authority. She expects him to complain, to question, to fuss.

He doesn’t.

He clenches his jaw and looks away, but she knows he could get up and leave if he wanted to, so she doesn’t move. She watches him closely, trying to read his mood, and catches his profile. He, too, is a handsome man, if in softer ways than Ben. The sinuous curves of his face are elegant and stately like a nobleman of ancient times. If he had long hair, she muses, he would be striking.

“Isn’t he beautiful?” Ben asks quietly from where he is now leaning against the partition.

She looks over at him and nods.

“Tell him to stay in the chair. Tell him he’s not allowed to leave it until one of us gives him permission. Tell him he has misbehaved.”

Xiaoman pauses at that. Is this another test? If so, who is Ben testing, her or Luo Fei?

Luo Fei rolls his eyes and huffs his breath, crosses his arms reproachfully, his earlier vulnerability chased out by pride, maybe, or simple obstinacy. She’s sure that Luo Fei will not take such crude instructions but she’s here, and she’s in it, and again: she trusts Ben.

She trusts Ben.

She wags her finger at Luo Fei, feeling silly anyway. “Stay there! You have been disobedient and willful! You do not get to leave this chair until we allow you to!”

He makes as if to wave his arm at her in dismissal, but the defiance of it makes her furious. After all he’s put her through, after the pain he’s caused Ben for no reason , he has no right to treat her this way. She grabs his wrist and slams it onto the arm rest, holding it down with all her strength, to the point she thinks it might bruise.

She doesn’t know what he will do next — laugh at her? Snarl and snap back? Get up and push her out of his apartment?

But no.

No, instead he is looking up at her with surprise and awe. His eyes are wide and his mouth is barely parted, his lips wet, and there is clear, naked hunger etched over every feature. He is so, so pretty that her chest aches with desire.

Ben pushes away from the spot he was leaning against and walks over to stand next to her. He studies where her hand has locked Luo Fei’s wrist to the armrest.

“I love you,” Ben says to Luo Fei, who goes from besotted to destroyed in a heartbeat. Xiaoman finally lets go of his wrist but he does not move it from where she had it pinned. Ben continues, “But you keep testing me.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, making it unruly. It is surprisingly not a bad look on him, Xiaoman thinks. “Therefore we must remind you whom you belong to,” Ben finishes.

The words startle Xiaoman. “Belong to?” She repeats. It is an odd term to use.

He shifts to sling one arm over her shoulders and hunches down a bit, as if they are schoolkids on an athletics field, placing bets on a fight. She imagines this is how he behaves with Luo Fei, behind closed doors. “I told you from the start that my tastes are eccentric.”

Her brain spins. She’s a police officer, she’s heard of many of the depravities that people get up to, but she’s not sure what applies here. If Luo Fei is a masochist, is Ben a sadist? Her unfamiliarity with this bothers her, which she tries to convey to Ben with a pointed look.

“It’s not just about pleasure and pain. Luo Fei belongs to me. He is mine, so I take care of him. And when he has been reckless, or childish, then it is my job to punish him and set him to rights.” He squeezes her shoulder with his hand. “Some would call me his master.”

Luo Fei shakes his head and snarls silently, but again, doesn’t protest.

It’s a loaded word that Xiaoman doesn’t like. Men are too often called the master of the home and while she loves her aunt and uncle she has seen much to persuade her that a relationship like that only leads to abuse and unhappiness.

Ben studies her, then shrugs. “He can leave, if he wants. I do not oppress him. Anyway, he’d make a terrible servant.”

Luo Fei hilariously doesn’t seem to know whether to argue that, or agree. Xiaoman has to stop herself from smiling, looking back up at Ben.

She freezes.

His eyes are dark and electric, narrowed at her in concentration, his voice a low snarl. “Make no mistake: I enjoy the power I have over him .”

She shudders. She wants that, she thinks in a daze. That power. That confidence. She wants it as much as she wants them. She takes a deep breath and warns herself to stay in the moment, to follow Ben’s lead.

Ben squeezes her close to his side, his disposition once again turning warm and light. “We could spank him. But, he enjoys that too much, and the lesson doesn’t stick.”

Luo Fei makes a high pitched whine, squinting his eyes closed. Xiaoman’s mind has gone blank, though. Spanking? That...she shudders as a thought of his bare ass spread out on his bed flashes through her mind, unbidden and carnal.

Ben smirks at her flushed cheeks. He looks positively gleeful.

“I take it all back, I want nothing to do with either of you,” Luo Fei says in a strangled voice.

Ben sweeps down and captures Luo Fei’s chin with his hand, holding him still, then kisses him. The sounds are soft and sensual and Xiaoman doesn’t know what to do with herself.

“Be quiet,” Ben whispers before letting go to stand up to face her again, leaving Luo Fei gasping like a caught fish. “Are you a virgin, Xiaoman?” He asks with all the brisk professionalism he would give to a case, or a corpse.

She fights off her blush and stands tall. “No. I am a modern woman.”

“But not experienced?”

She glances at Luo Fei, whose skin is flushed dark, from embarrassment or arousal she doesn’t know. She shakes her head. “Not particularly.”

“Would you please get on your knees in front of Luo Fei?”

She startles at that and catches herself staring at Luo Fei’s lap before answering. “Isn’t this...isn’t this his punishment?” She grimaces.

Ben frowns at her. “Yes.”

“But, well. Most men, ah, in my limited experience, so I’ve heard anyway, enjoy...ah, enjoy that?”

“I would prefer the whip to this slow execution by cross examination,” Lou Fei announces. Ben looks sharply down at him and Lou Fei goes pale.

Before Xiaoman even understands what is happening, Ben has pulled Luo Fei’s long tie off, wrapped it twice around his head and knotted it in his mouth.

Ben pats his hands together as if wiping off dust. “I was not expecting to take matters this far but he keeps interrupting .”

“He...does that.” Xiaoman agrees weakly, staring at the gag.

“You will not be using your mouth. His punishment is to watch.”

She feels her eyebrows flying up and away. “Watch?” She squeaks.

Luo Fei fusses garbled curses into his gag, shaking his head. Ben ignores him. “Yes, watch. He hates being ignored.” His tone is mild and friendly, the words are wicked. “But he started this a few weeks ago by asking me to ignore him, so I shall.”

He steps up to Xiaoman and puts his hand under her chin to raise it, as if showing her off to her best advantage (she has none, but this isn’t for her, she realizes). “If he behaves, if takes his punishment, if he stays in the chair : then we’ll consider rewarding him. Agreed?”

Xiaoman can only nod, her throat parched and her mind going in 50 different directions.

He turns her so she is fully facing Luo Fei again and stands behind her with his chest to her back, then pushes down on her shoulders. Her instinct is to fight him but she feels him sinking down with her until they are both on their knees, with Xiaoman cradled between his spread thighs. She looks up at Luo Fei, who is wild-eyed and panting already, gnawing at the knot in his mouth, and she honestly cannot tell if he’s excited or angry.

Still, he doesn’t take out the gag and he stays where he was put.

Interesting.

She’s not quite in Ben’s lap, resting more on his upper thighs. His hands rub up and down her back a few times, then he slowly removes her jacket. His hands return to massage her neck and shoulders, and she feels her exhaustion creeping up on her again, eyes fluttering closed.

“You are as good at this as Luo Fei is with foot massaging.”

Ben stops and her eyes fly open at the genuine sound of distress from Luo Fei, who looks panicked and is shaking his head at her. Oh.

“Was he not supposed to do that?”

“No.” The word is sharp but he returns to massaging her shoulders again, so she doesn’t complain. Luo Fei slumps back in the chair, looking miserable. “I do not trust him to service anyone without my supervision,” he adds simply.

She has something to say to that, a question perhaps, but then Ben’s hands trail over her shoulders and down her arms before slowly moving back up under her arms and sliding to her waist. He pauses, but she can barely breathe much less argue, and after a moment he gently pulls her shirt out of her trousers. He slowly unbuttons it from the bottom up, his cheek resting against the side of her head. “I will stop if you ask,” he whispers.

“No! No. I...please continue.” She cringes at the formality of her reply but her mind is in chaos. She looks up at Luo Fei as the buttons fall open one by one, Ben’s wrists rubbing slightly over her nipples as he works. Luo Fei is following every motion Ben makes with fevered eyes, and she can tell that the gag is already thoroughly wet with his saliva. Part of her thinks she should be appalled by the whole scene, but as Ben gently tugs her shirt open, she can’t keep her eyes off of Luo Fei. He is desperate and strains forward as if invisible ropes are tying him to the chair, his skin flushed and sweat already starting to bead at his hairline.

He is so beautiful.

Ben cups her breasts through the simple bandeau she wears to control them, cotton and plain. He is massaging them, squeezing softly and pinching her nipples just a little with his fingers. She’s already damp between her legs, but she doesn’t dare move.

“He hates what he needs, fears what he desires.” Ben says, just above a whisper. Xiaoman’s breath stutters in her lungs at the revelations, at the secrets he’s spilling onto her skin. “He’s in a constant of of in extremis . He’s hurt himself and let others hurt him, both as an escape and as payment for his sins.” The words are rolling of off Ben’s tongue like a confession.

Xiaoman pulls in a deep breath. “And...and you don’t? Hurt him?”

He shakes his head. “Not like that. I love what is mine.” He squeezes her breasts hard for a moment, biting the back of her neck. Chills run down her spine and her heart is already pounding in her chest as his hands slowly drift down to unbutton her trousers.

Lou Fei is whining softly but she can’t bring herself to look at him again.

She grabs Ben’s hands as he pushes one down into her pants. “You don’t—”

“Shhh.” He runs his nose up and down the skin behind her ear, but doesn’t fight her hold on his hand. “Luo Fei does not like to think I know what I’m doing with women, but I do.” His tongue traces the shell of her ear and her hands spasm, letting him go. He reaches down to cup her mound, his large hand covering her fully, and just holds her like that from the base of her entire being while she gulps for air. She can feel him smiling against her neck. “After all, I am a student of anatomy.”

She giggles, and feels him laughing softly behind her. It breaks through her discomfort. Then his fingers are stroking her, pushing through her folds to gently rub at the nub that gives her so much pleasure in the dark. She gasps, arching away from him, but he splays his other hand over her bare stomach and holds her to him.

“He wants you. He’s longed for you to touch him, he’s dreamed of his mouth on you, bringing you pleasure. He wants to be under you, held down by you. He’s so scared that you will reject him, if you see his truth. That I will turn away because of his desire for you.” He’s talking just above a whisper, and there is no doubt that Luo Fei can hear him, making her blush even further. His words bore down into her, tugging at her heart and making her light headed. She is already too hot and wound up.

His fingers start stroking her harder, faster, and she can’t stop her hips from jerking forward, trying to get more friction. His other hand plunges down and a long, hot finger enters her, then two. They curl and she whites out for a moment as shock travels through, right from her very core, and she feels lost.

“Put your hands on my thighs,” Ben orders, although it is soft. She slams her hands down and claws at his trousers for a moment before finding purchase, clutching at the muscles she feels flexing. She’s riding his hands, feeling the shift and pull of her nerves as he takes her apart, and tries to push her thighs further apart. She’s never felt quite so shameless or exposed, and she’s still half-dressed. Ben is an anchor at her back, his own thighs caging her in, a support to lean against as sensations start spiraling.

In between one gasping breath and another she opens her eyes to look directly at Luo Fei, who is drooling through the gag. His eyes are fiery as he shifts his focus between where Ben’s hands disappear into her abused trousers and her own eyes.

“Let him hear you, for heaven’s sake,” Ben says, sounding breathless but a little frustrated.

Used to her own ministrations in the deepest hours of the night, quiet and hidden, it takes her a moment to find her voice. At first all she can manage are a few gasps and moans, but then Luo Fei’s name slips out and Luo Fei gives a full-body flinch. He’s squinting at her as if in pain, and she gets it then, how this is his punishment. Ben is forcing Luo Fei face his greatest fears, in whatever combination drove him to self-imposed solitary confinement.

This is not exclusion; it’s an invitation.

Even as her body reacts and her breath turns shallow she understands how this will break Luo Fei apart. How they will be there to sweep of the pieces of him.

“Luo Fei! Luo Fei, we will catch you. I promise...oh!”

His eyes are fever-bright with longing, hope, desire, desperation — he’s always been so easy to read, and right now every emotion is charged between them like electricity.

It’s too much to watch. She knows Ben will hold them both together, somehow, so she tips her head back onto his shoulder, staring up at the ceiling and chanting Luo Fei’s name as she writhes. She gets closer and closer to her climax, her nerves pulling every ounce of pleasure out of her, until she needs to see Luo Fei again, to know that he is with them through this.

Despite the fog of her lust she notices tear marks streaking down his cheeks. Her nerves are shot raw and aching by Ben’s fingers, but the reality of it hits her solar plexus just as Ben’s fingers push harder and faster against her. She chokes when her climax kicks at her, still staring at him at Luo Fei.

She shakes as she is swept away, crying out when it crests and breaks over her. Her hips bear down on Ben’s fingers without her control, still riding his hands desperately as her muscles convulse and she curls forward, throwing her hands out to land on Luo Fei’s knees, gasping for air.

Her muscles continue to jerk and snap as she starts to come down from her pleasure. She’s leaning forward, head hanging from her shoulders, her forehead resting on the seat of the chair between Luo Fei’s thighs, the top of her head pushing up against his cock, which is swollen and trapped in his own trousers.

Ben’s hands have stilled, simply holding her as she finishes, her tiny gasps and whines the only sound in the room.

“Can you undo the gag?” Ben asks, still not moving to release her.

She takes a deep breath and nods once, pulling herself up awkwardly with Ben's hands still in her trousers, still in her , and reaches out to fight at the soaking wet knot in Luo Fei’s mouth. Her hands are unsteady so she struggles with it for a few seconds until it unthreads and she lets it fall. His mouth, red and abused, hangs open.

Ben finally, gently, withdraws his fingers from inside of her and raises his glistening, slick hand up in front of them. “You’ve been so good,” is all he says before shoving his fingers into Luo Fei’s mouth.