CSI New York Romanology, Scroll 2

 

Author: NA70

Fandom: CSI: NY

Pairing(s): Mac/Danny

Warnings: this is an AU fic in which the Roman Empire

never fell, with the following: slave!fic, violence, D/s, blood-play, non-con, rough m/m sex, mentions of castration with the potential for actual castration down the line.

Spoilers: none

Summary: Sassone is out of jail and wants Danny back.

 

Nominated Category:

Most Angst: TV & Movies

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Separation The Right Thing

Separation

 

Danny was walking down the hall when Shari called his name. Turning in surprise, he found her rushing towards him, looking as unhappy as he’d ever seen her. He had a bad feeling as to why she wanted to talk to him and sighed when she stopped beside him. “Hey, Shari. What’s up?”

 

“What’s up? Danny, how can you even ask me that? Do you know what this is doing to the Professor?” Shari exclaimed. “How can you be this vindictive? He’s an old man and you go ahead and have him arrested? Have him subjected to ridicule and his life’s work flushed down the drain? How could you do it?”

 

Flinching when she took an aggressive step forward, Danny stepped back, arms crossing defensively over his chest as he answered, “I’m not being vindictive, Shari, honest. And no one’s ridiculing him. It’s just...we aren’t the only ones he’s done this to and people hop on a bandwagon, you know that. The press has a mind of its own, there ain’t nothing me or Mac can do about it. We haven’t given any interviews, you gotta know that.”

 

“Is this woman bothering you, Danny?” Flack questioned, coming up to them.

 

Grateful for the support, Danny nonetheless shook his head and answered, “No, I’m okay, Detective, thanks.”

 

Flack gave Shari a pointed look before saying to Danny, “I’m right over there if you need me.”

 

“Quite the watchdog you’ve got,” Shari said bitterly once the cop was gone. “Too bad the Professor doesn’t have one.”

 

Danny sighed. “Look, Shari, I’m sorry he’s having a hard time of it, but he brought it on himself. I told him what I wanted and he just decided I wasn’t competent to make that decision. He kept me from the man I love and to whom I want to devote my life, almost permanently. And maybe you can’t understand that, but it would have been the end of me, okay? Even discounting how I felt, he still broke the law. If he hadn’t, then he wouldn’t be in this mess.”

 

Shari shook her head and said sharply, “He was trying to help you, Danny, and whether or not you realize it, you do need help.”

 

Drawing back nervously, never quite having heard that tone from a woman before, Danny replied, “I don’t, Shari. I’m happy. Happier than I’ve been in God knows how long.”

 

“Okay, that’s enough,” Flack interrupted, rejoining them. “I think you need to leave now.”

 

Shari gave Danny a hard look. “You only think you’re happy, Danny. You don’t know any better and someone needs to show you.”

 

Stepping between them, Flack ordered, “Get out of here before I have you escorted from the building, ma’am.”

 

She moved back, but didn’t really leave as she promised, “I’ll make sure you know what you’re missing, Danny. You’ll know this isn’t the life for you.”

 

“That’s it. You’re gone,” Flack snapped, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the exit.

 

Unexpectedly, Shari struggled against him to get back to Danny as she shouted, “You don’t know any better! They’re the ones, Danny, they’re the ones who’re keeping you from true freedom! We’ll get you out! I’ll get you out if it’s the last thing I do, Danny!”

 

Shaking as he watched Flack and a couple of cops drag Shari from the building, still screaming, Danny jumped a mile when a hand settled on his shoulder. He pulled a neck muscle, his head turned so sharply, so fast.

 

Hawkes looked at him with concern and asked, “Are you all right? What was that about?”

 

“I um, I’m not sure,” Danny admitted.

 

Flack walked down the hall towards them, sour expression firmly in place. “This city gets more and more whackos every damn year. Who was that chic?”

 

“She works with, worked with Professor Gelnich,” Danny explained. “Part of the mentoring program for newly freed slaves.”

 

Gaze narrowing, Flack said, “I need to tell Mac about this, then.”

 

Danny asked quickly, “Can I? Please?”

 

Giving him a long look, Flack finally nodded. “Okay, sure. But make sure you do it tonight. Because if I bring it up in conversation tomorrow and Mac doesn’t know what the hell I’m talking about, your ass is grass.”

 

“I will, I promise,” Danny assured him. Flack nodded headed out, leaving him with Hawkes. He gave the black man a weak smile and said, “Thanks for checking on me, but I’m good.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yeah, I’m sure, thanks.”

 

Hawkes nodded and also left, but not without giving him another concerned look.

 

Wishing that Mac was actually in the lab so he could find the familiar strength and comfort in his arms, Danny sighed and went to his Master’s office. If he couldn’t have Mac, he could at least be surrounded by his things.

 

• * * *

 

“Excuse me? I’m looking for Detective Taylor.”

 

Looking up from the computer at Mac’s desk, Danny found a pretty, petite, dark-haired woman standing in the door. Not recognizing her, he immediately hopped out of Mac’s chair and went to his knees beside the desk as he replied, “Detective Taylor isn’t here, Mistress. May I assist you?”

 

“Oh, well. My name is Lindsey Monroe. I’m supposed to report in to him today to start work here,” she explained.

 

Danny frowned, not having heard that anyone new was starting on the team, but only answered, “He’s at the zoo, Mistress, working a case.”

 

“Thanks! I’ll see you around.”

 

Danny looked up when the door closed, still frowning, and got slowly to his feet. Maybe Aiden would know what was going on. Decision made, he hurried out of the office to find the other slave and figure out why Mac had hired someone who was definitely not even from New York.

 

• * * *

 

Aiden looked through the microscope, carefully observing the differences and similarities between the two fibers and making notes as she did so. They were from the same dye lot, no doubt about that, but the ends didn’t match, so the one hadn’t been torn or cut from the other. Standing upright, rubbing her eyes, Aiden wondered if maybe she could convince Stella to take some time off the coming weekend. They hadn’t had any real time alone in forever and it was starting to get a little lonely.

 

“Aiden, hey,” Danny greeted.

 

Opening her eyes brought the other slave into a blurry kind of focus, so she blinked a few times to get him looking normal. “Hey, Danny, what’s up?”

 

He gave a hesitant smile and asked, “This a good time?”

 

“Always,” she confirmed, motioning him closer. “I could use a break before I go cross-eyed.”

 

Leaning on the other side of the large white table where they processed evidence, Danny said, “So this woman just came into Mac’s office sayin’ he hired her, name’s Lindsey Monroe. You know anything about her?”

 

Surprised, Aiden frowned at the news and answered, “Never heard of her. Stella didn’t mention her to me.”

 

“Oh. Okay, then,” Danny replied, looking more uncertain than usual. “I guess they just needed some help and I’m too far away from getting any of my certs.”

 

Still doesn’t explain why Stella didn’t tell me about it, Aiden thought, irritated. Out loud, she assured him, “It’s nothing on you, Danny. I know Stella’s been saying for a while now that they needed some more hands, I just didn’t know that Mac had gone ahead and done something about it.”

 

Danny nodded, but didn’t look all that reassured. “All right, well, I’ll leave you to it. Unless you want me to stick around?”

 

Normally, she would say yes, but Aiden knew she was too pissy just then to be good company so she said, “Nah, thanks though. I’ve gotta work on this fiber analysis.”

 

“Okay. I’ll see you later.”

 

Feeling vaguely guilty as Danny walked away, shoulders slumped despondently, Aiden waited until he was down the hall to pull out her cell and call Stella.

 

“Aiden? Something wrong?” Stella asked on picking up.

 

She wanted to say yes, but that would only open a whole host of things, so she just said, “Danny just told me some woman was looking for Mac. A Lindsey Monroe?”

 

“Oh great!” Stella exclaimed. “I hope he sent her this way, because we could use a hand.”

 

She knew, Aiden thought, more than a little hurt.

 

“How’s that analysis coming along?”

 

Stiffly, Aiden answered, “It doesn’t match.”

 

“Damn. Well, call me when you finish up.”

 

Aiden knew better, but couldn’t help being a little snide as she answered, “Of course, Mistress,” and hung up without saying goodbye. She didn’t even really care if it earned her a beating, she was too pissed at being excluded.

 

• * * *

 

As Stella stared at her phone in surprise, Mac frowned and asked, “Something wrong?”

 

“I don’t know,” Stella admitted, closing the phone and facing him. “Aiden’s got something up her ass, that’s for sure. Oh, and Danny sent Lindsey over. At least, I assume he did. Aiden said he told her that Lindsey showed up looking for you.”

 

Mac groaned. “Damn it. She’s early and I didn’t get a chance to tell him about her. I hope he doesn’t take it the wrong way.”

 

“How could he?”

 

“Trust me, he could,” Mac replied, dry. “He gets insecure over the strangest things.”

 

Stella frowned, thinking about Aiden’s attitude. It can’t be that she’s insecure. She doesn’t go out in the field and knows exactly what her place is on the team. Something else must be going on, but what?

 

“So now that we have most of the body parts recovered, what do you think?”

 

Shading her eyes against the sun and looking up the wall of the tiger pit, Stella asked, “I think we should find out if this was maybe a dump job.”

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“No screams for help, for one thing. I can’t see someone just letting a tiger eat them without screaming.”

 

He followed her gaze up the side of the pit and replied, “True. All right. You thought of it, you investigate it.”

 

Stella made a face at him and observed, “Who says chivalry is dead?”

 

• * * *

 

Lindsey turned out to be just as quiet and soft-spoken in person, as on the phone. She was also highly intelligent and intuitive, but just as logical, which was an odd combination in his opinion. Most people were one or the other, not both. Still, he was treated to a very different style of investigation and she didn’t complain about the grunt work, which was a bonus. Later in the day, Mac discovered that the petite woman packed more than just a solid punch when she line-tackled a suspect on the run without any apparent difficulty at all. He couldn’t help teasing, “What do they feed you up there in Montana?”

 

By the time they got back to the lab with their leads, and information, and evidence to go through, it was late afternoon and he was more than ready to take a break. Not that he could, really, but it was a nice thought. First things first, he decided, and headed for his office where Danny should be waiting.

 

The slave was napping on the sofa when he got there and Mac smiled fondly at the sight. Danny hadn’t been sleeping well lately, nightmares of his time with Sonny waking him deep in the night. Mac did his best to comfort Danny, but there was only so much that he could do. Therapy had been rejected out of hand by the slave and since Mac didn’t want a fight on his hands, not just yet anyhow, he’d given in. He tried to get Danny to talk to him about that time, but was mostly unsuccessful with that, too.

 

Sitting on the edge of the sofa, he lightly combed his fingers through the wild hair that had grown in and said softly, “Danny? Wake up, baby.”

 

Danny sighed and shifted sleepily, blue eyes meeting his and a smile surfacing. “Hey, Mac, you’re here.”

 

Mac smiled, bending in to capture Danny’s mouth in a slow kiss before answering, “Yeah, I’m here, baby. Everything all right?”

 

Yawning, Danny nodded and stretched a little, twining his hand with Mac’s as he replied, “Everything’s fine, so far as I know.”

 

“Good, good,” Mac murmured. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you about Lindsey. She wasn’t supposed to be here for another few days, but I’m sorry, I should’ve mentioned her.”

 

Danny shrugged and pointed out, “It’s your lab, Master, you don’t need to run your hiring choices by me.”

 

“I just don’t want you to feel left out,” Mac told him.

 

Bringing Mac’s hand up to kiss the back of, Danny said, “I was a little surprised, but I got over it.”

 

“Just surprised?”

 

“Well…maybe a little hurt,” Danny admitted. “But it’s not like you have to tell me everything.”

 

Mac tugged their hands up so he could kiss Danny’s knuckles. “I know, but I want to. Communication goes two ways here, Danny, and I mean that.”

 

The brilliant smile that practically exploded over Danny’s face was irresistible. Mac leaned in and kissed him again, devouring the willing mouth hungrily. It had been a few days since they’d had time for more than quick kisses here and there, and he was definitely feeling the strain. Pulling back just a little, he murmured against Danny’s mouth, “I want you.”

 

“Take me,” Danny murmured back.

 

Before Mac could do more than groan in anticipation, a loud knock on the door interrupted them. Gritting his teeth, Mac took a few seconds to calm down before standing to look at who was there. It wasn’t anyone he recognized, but looked official, so he requested softly, “Drop for me, Danny.”

 

Danny immediately climbed off the sofa and knelt silently on the floor beside the desk.

 

Walking over to the door, Mac opened it and greeted, “Can I help you?”

 

“Detective Taylor, my name is Gerald Biancini and I represent Sonny Sassone,” the man stated. “I’m here to speak with you about your illegally acquired slave.”

 

Fury lit him from within, but Mac managed to keep a civil tone as he replied flatly, “There was nothing illegal about Danny’s purchase.”

 

“Except for the fact that the overturning of Mr. Sassone’s conviction means that his assets, including this slave, were sold off illegally. I’m here to collect the slave and return him to his rightful owner.”

 

“Wait, Sassone’s been freed?” Mac demanded incredulously. “I wasn’t notified of any such thing.”

 

“I don’t believe that the courts are obliged to notify those who worked on the case,” Biancini pointed out.

 

Son of a bitch! Mac thought furiously. “You can forget about me just handing Danny back to that bastard.”

 

“Mr. Sassone thought you might say something like that. Therefore, I’m here to serve you with a subpoena for arbitration. We’ll see you tomorrow, Detective Taylor.”

 

Mac opened the subpoena as the lawyer walked away and scanned through it. Everything looked legit, but he would have Terry take a look at it. Mac turned to Danny only to find the slave’s nails dug so deep into his palms that blood dripped onto the floor. Alarmed, he rushed over to pull the fists apart, exclaiming, “God, Danny, come on, don’t freak out on me here. We’re going to fight this. I will not let you get sent back to that monster, I swear it.”

 

“But what if you can’t stop it?” Danny whispered, panicked eyes meeting his. “What if the courts turn me over to him? What if…”

 

Mac pulled Danny hard against him, holding the slave as Danny shook with fear, helpless to do anything else about it.

 

• * * *

 

Stella didn’t find Aiden in the trace or audio labs, or the break room. By the time she’d hunted through the entire floor and gone down into the records storage only to come up empty again, she’d moved passed furious and gone straight to worried. She tried Aiden’s cell phone, but it went to voicemail. Hurrying to Mac’s office, Stella was about to barge in when she caught sight of them on the floor, the slave held protectively in Mac’s arms. She stopped short and worry kicked sharply into panic at the thought that something had seriously happened to Aiden and Mac was comforting his slave.

 

Paling rapidly, Stella moved away from the door, holding her stomach as she tried to summon the strength to interrupt and find out what had happened.

 

“Stella? You okay?”

 

She turned to Flack and demanded, “What happened to Aiden? Where is she?”

 

Taken aback, the cop answered, “I have no idea.”

 

“I can’t find her!” Stella exclaimed. “I can’t find her, and Mac’s holding Danny who looks like he’s crying so something’s happened to Aiden! Flack, please, you have to tell me!”

 

Flack grabbed her by the shoulder and said firmly, “I haven’t heard anything about Aiden being hurt, Stella, so you need to calm down, okay? We’ll find her.”

 

She nodded, taking a few deep breaths to get a grip on herself. “Okay. I’m good.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

He looked at her a moment longer, then nodded. “Okay. Let’s knock on Mac’s door and find out what’s going on in there first. It’s probably got nothing to do with Aiden at all. Danny had a problem this morning with some abolitionist nutjob, so it’s probably just to do with that.”

 

Stella followed him to Mac’s office and they waited for Mac to respond to the knock. It took a few minutes for him to disentangle from Danny and the hard look on his face didn’t bode well.

 

“What?” Mac snapped.

 

Unperturbed, Flack replied, “Just wondering when the last time Danny saw Aiden was.”

 

Mac frowned. “What? Why? Is she missing?”

 

“I can’t find her anywhere,” Stella confirmed.

 

Rubbing a hand over his forehead, Mac muttered, “When it rains, it pours. Sorry, Stella, but we’re having our own crisis here. Danny? When did you last see Aiden? Did she tell you where she was going?”

 

The slave joined them, tucking in along Mac’s side and hanging onto his shirt as he answered, “A couple hours ago in the break room. Far as I know she was heading back to work on some trace you guys sent in.”

 

“Damn it!” Stella hissed. “Do you know what she was upset about? Because she sounded upset on the phone earlier.”

 

Danny hesitated long enough for Mac to prompt him, “Go on, Danny. What happened?”

 

“She was upset because Stella didn’t tell her about that new girl joining the team, I think,” Danny answered finally. “I mean, she hid it pretty well, but it was a blow. I think she felt, I dunno, excluded.”

 

“Enough to take off?” Flack questioned.

 

Stella looked at him sharply and stated, “Aiden wouldn’t run away, and sure as hell not over something like this.”

 

“Which is it? She wouldn’t run away, or it would take more than this to push her into doing it?”

 

Glaring at Flack, Stella exclaimed, “She wouldn’t run from me,” but inside, she wasn’t as sure. Knowing that she’d been somewhat neglectful of the other woman’s needs lately, Stella admitted to herself that some kind of rebellion was surely due. Aiden needed a very firm hand and that hand had been lax of late.

 

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Mac interrupted. “We’ll start a search from top to bottom of the building. I’ll call all the department heads and have them keep an eye out for her while you all divvy up the rest of the floors. If she’s here, we’ll find her. If she’s not, well, we’ll handle that if it happens.”

 

Stella’s cell rang just then and she answered it automatically, “Stella Bonasera speaking.”

 

“This is Officer Franklin down in the 3-5,” a man answered. “You got a slave named Aiden?”

 

Knees going a little weak, Stella exclaimed, “Yes! Is she all right? What happened?”

 

“She’s fine, just a little shook up is all,” the officer assured her. “Witnessed a shooting about an hour ago and was held for questioning. You can come down and get her any time now. And don’t worry. Soon as she said she belonged to a CSI, I kept her separate from the others and made sure no one touched her.”

 

“Thank you,” Stella replied gratefully. “Thank you so much, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes!”

 

“No problem.”

 

Hanging up, Stella told the others, “Aiden witnessed a shooting and she’s being held at the 35th Precinct. I’m going to pick her up.”

 

“Need a hand?” Flack offered.

 

Stella shook her head. “No, thanks. Mac, do you mind if I bring her home right from there?”

 

Mac waved her off and ordered, “Go take care of her, Stell, we’ll be fine. Lindsey can pick up some of the slack.”

 

Grateful that the new girl had shown up early, Stella smiled vaguely and hurried away to get Aiden back.

 

• * * *

 

Danny tried to curl closer to Mac, but it wasn’t really possible, given how he was draped over the other man. Mac’s arms were a comforting weight around him, the other man’s chin resting on Danny’s shoulder. They’d returned to Mac’s office after Stella had gone after Aiden where Mac had bandaged his hands and then promptly pulled Danny down onto the sofa, tugging him over his lap. Now they waited for Mac’s lawyer to show up.

 

“You know that I’m never giving you up, right Danny? Not to Sassone, not to anyone,” Mac murmured.

 

Danny sighed and repeated, “You might not be able to stop it, Master. If the Courts order it…”

 

“Never.”

 

The flat statement reassured Danny even though he had no idea how Mac could possibly keep such a promise. He sighed again, this time to relax, and drifted in the contentment of being held in his Master’s arms.

 

A tap on the door broke through the comfort, but Mac’s arms simply tightened to keep him in place as he called, “Come in, Terry.”

 

Danny peeked at the lawyer and found a man in his forties with dark hair and eyes, slightly rounded but with a sharp air that spoke of high level competency. The man pulled one of the chairs over and sat in it, facing them. “I checked into the whole situation and it’s not good, Mac. I know there was a payoff somewhere, but there’s no way to prove it. I have no evidence. Right now, he’s in the process of collecting his former belongings, and that includes his slaves.”

 

“How many slaves?” Mac questioned.

 

“Sixteen, plus Danny.”

 

“Any chance of getting the Abolitionists involved? I assume he took about as good care of the others as he did of Danny.”

 

Terry grimaced. “Given your standing with them right now, I wouldn’t recommend that tactic.”

 

Danny tugged on Mac’s shirt to get his attention.

 

“What is it, Danny?” Mac asked.

 

Taking a breath, Danny suggested, “You could check with Mrs. Sassone. I mean, about the slaves. She’s no abolitionist, but she’s a good lady. And what she says, goes. No one’s ever gonna gainsay her, you know? Maybe, maybe if I ask her?”

 

“I’d rather not owe anyone from that family a favor, so we’ll keep that as a last resort,” Mac said, rubbing Danny’s back. “Terry? Other options?”

 

The lawyer sighed. “I’ll fight him in the courts, of course, but with what happened to Markoni, you don’t have a lot of juice there right now.”

 

Mac snorted and commented, “It’s not like I killed him.”

 

“Still. People aren’t real happy with you. Look, just let me work this for a couple of days and I’ll figure out a way to stop it, okay? And don’t be late to the arbitration tomorrow. I managed to swing it into being here at ten.”

 

“Okay. Thanks, Terry.”

 

“No problem.”

 

Danny watched as Terry left, then asked, “Master?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What are we going to do if Terry can’t fix this?”

 

It was Mac’s turn to sigh as he replied honestly, “I don’t know, Danny. I wish I did.”

 

• * * *

 

Facing Sonny Sassone across the conference room table pushed just about every button Mac had. He wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug look off the punk’s face with his fist. Danny had had nightmare after nightmare the night before, keeping them both awake for most of the night. He’d considered drugging the younger man, but decided to hold off in case the situation got worse.

 

“I see you’re taking bad care of my slave,” Sonny observed, sneering.

 

Mac knew he was referring to Danny’s hands and didn’t rise to the bait.

 

Answering for him, Terry said, “I think we can get this started.”

 

The arbiter was a steady looking woman in her mid-thirties with dark hair and eyes named Maria Gonsalves. She nodded and agreed, “Good idea. This is the matter of Sassone v. Taylor regarding the disposition of one slave, Danny Taylor nee Sassone. The crux of the disagreement is the sale of the Sassone estate while Mr. Sassone was in criminal custody. In the typical process, a Not Guilty verdict is nigh unheard of and therefore, the selling of the prisoner’s assets takes place to cover court costs. As Mr. Sassone has willingly reimbursed all court costs, the matter becomes re-appropriation of his property. Detective Taylor acquired the slave in good faith and has no desire to return him. On top of this, slave Danny was freed and then voluntarily committed himself to Detective Taylor’s care. Are we all agreed?”

 

“Danny volunteered?” Sonny snarled.

 

Mac couldn’t help the smirk as he replied, “The day I freed him, as a matter of fact.”

 

“You little bitch.”

 

Mac put a hand on Danny’s shoulder at the slave’s flinch, squeezing tight and then rubbing the tense muscles between Danny’s shoulder blades. This was absolutely killing him, Mac could tell. Even without breakfast, Danny had thrown up twice on the way to the conference.

 

“Please refrain from such language while in my company, Mr. Sassone,” the arbiter ordered coolly.

 

Sonny offered a patently false smile as he apologized, “I lost my temper, mea culpa. Please, continue.”

 

“Detective Taylor, will you relinquish your slave?”

 

Mac shook his head. “No.”

 

“Mr. Sassone, will you relinquish your claim?”

 

Sonny shook his head. “No.”

 

“I wish to hear from the slave regarding his treatment from both masters.”

 

Sonny’s lawyer quickly demanded, “Relevancy?”

 

A dark eyebrow arched at him as Maria replied, “Because I wish to hear it. Danny? Please sit by your current Master and tell me of your time with him, since it is freshest in your mind.”

 

Danny swallowed heavily and climbed unsteadily to his feet to take the seat beside Mac, looking at him for guidance.

 

“If you’re going to insist upon this, Taylor shouldn’t be present to intimidate,” the lawyer said quickly.

 

On the one hand, Mac wanted to hear what Danny had to say about him. On the other, he had no desire to hear what had happened to Danny by Sassone under these circumstances. He wanted Danny to be able to talk to him about that time because it was something the slave wanted to do, not because he was being ordered. He spoke up with, “I’ll leave if Sassone does.”

 

Maria nodded. “That is acceptable.”

 

Sassone looked about to protest, but a sharp glance from the arbiter quelled him. Giving in with ill grace, Sonny stood and motioned for Mac to precede him.

 

After giving Danny an encouraging smile, Mac walked out of the conference room. Knowing that Terry would beep him when it was time to go back, and that he would go crazy sitting outside the room staring at Sassone, Mac headed for his office. It was only just down the hall, so Mac felt comfortable going there to wait.

 

As comfortable as I can be, he thought, grimacing.

 

• * * *

 

Danny didn’t say anything at first, not knowing where to look or what to do with his hands, let alone what words to speak.

 

“Danny, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me anything.”

 

Startled, Danny looked at her and asked timidly, “Can I ask why not? Why the show?”

 

The woman looked tired and sad as she explained, “The decision’s already been made to return you to Sassone if an agreement can’t be worked out between them.”

 

Horror clawed at his throat, but he managed not to start screaming, instead only whimpering in fear.

 

To her credit, the Arbiter’s expression grew shamed as her eyes dropped and she told him, “I’m sorry, Danny, but I don’t have a choice in this either. The courts can’t risk the abolitionists gaining a foothold and your Master, well, he doesn’t have many friends right now outside this lab and the police. I promise to do the best I can to solve this so you aren’t permanently returned to Sassone. Could you handle a split in the custody? Two weeks with each, say?”

 

If Sonny doesn’t kill me, then I could do that. I could survive it until I get back to Mac. I could survive anything to get back to him, Danny thought, stomach like lead. Swallowing back the nausea, he whispered, “Yeah, just. Sonny’s gonna kill me first chance he gets.”

 

The Arbiter shook her head grimly. “I will make certain that doesn’t happen, Danny. It’s the very least I can do.”

 

Hugging himself, Danny thought numbly, It can’t get any worse than this.

 

• * * *

 

Mac sifted through paperwork for a few minutes before giving up. Not even mind-numbing human resource paperwork could get rid of the disturbing thoughts going around his head. There was no guarantee that the Arbiter wouldn’t find in favor of Sassone. It wasn’t their job to make law, but to interpret it. Because of that, their findings could be challenged and brought up to a judicial level at which time the findings were final.

 

“Want some company?”

 

Startled by Stella’s offer, Mac frowned and asked, “What are you doing here?”

 

“Flack called, told me what was going on,” Stella answered. “How’re you doing?”

 

Leaning back in his chair, Mac sighed. “I’m fine, aside from the fact that no matter what the Arbiter decides, one of us will challenge. This piece of shit is going to do his damnedest to get Danny back without any care for his feelings. Danny’s a possession to him. A thing.”

 

Lips pursed, Stella pointed out, “He’s your possession, Mac. Nine-tenths of the law, and all that. And Arbiters are human. I’m assuming that Danny’s telling her his story right now?”

 

“Yeah,” Mac confirmed.

 

“Then I don’t doubt he’ll officially be yours by the end of that.”

 

“And then Sassone will challenge her ruling and we’re back to square one.”

 

Stella closed the distance between them and rubbed his shoulders. “We’ll fight it, Mac. Danny belongs with you, not just to you.”

 

Mac leaned into the caress and offered a wry smile as he replied, “Thanks, Stel. So what’s going on with Aiden?”

 

Stella grinned, a wicked thing to see, and squeezed his shoulders one more time before hopping onto his desk. “Right now, Aiden is pondering her insecurities with a very sore ass as she hangs from that suspension swing we picked up last month. And before you ask, my mother is there in case she needs anything.”

 

Holding up his hands, Mac smiled briefly and said, “You know how to take care of her, Stella, I’m not going to tell you how.”

 

“Sometimes I wish you would,” Stella commented, sighing. “I’m a hack, compared to you and you know it.”

 

“Stella.”

 

“No really!” she insisted. “You would’ve seen this coming a mile away. I forget just how insecure Aiden can be and deal with her like a free citizen far too much. I’ll tell you one thing though. Aiden won’t soon be forgetting her place in the near future.”

 

Mac was almost afraid to ask. “Why is that?”

 

“Let’s just say that she will won’t feel alone and empty again for quite a while.”

 

Practically assaulted by the many, varied images of what Stella could mean, Mac swallowed heavily and cleared his throat.

 

Chuckling, Stella patted his shoulder and commented, “I distracted you now, didn’t I?”

 

“Pretty thoroughly, yeah,” Mac confirmed, grinning in return. “I don’t suppose you’d care to go into more detail?”

 

Before she could, his beeper went off and Mac looked down to find Terry’s number on it. He sobered and stood. “Time to go back in.”

 

Clearly worried, Stella asked, “That was fast, wasn’t it?”

 

Mac nodded and replied, “It was, yes.”

 

“Come on, I’ll walk you back,” she offered, taking his arm.

 

Grateful for the support, Mac walked back to the conference room with her. He stopped in surprise on finding an older woman waiting with Sonny. He knew her as Mrs. Sassone from the pictures in the Sassone files that he’d read on acquiring Danny. She wasn’t very intimidating, either in person or in the pictures, but there was something about her that put him on alert. Sonny, at the least, looked pissed as hell to have her there.

 

“Detective Taylor, I presume?” she asked on his arrival.

 

Mac took her hand with a nod. “Mrs. Sassone.”

 

She dimpled at him and said, “I knew those surveillance boys were good for something. Saves time on the introductions. I understand that you have Danny.”

 

“I do, ma’am,” Mac confirmed.

 

“And you’ve no intention of letting him go.”

 

“No, ma’am.”

 

Nodding, Mrs. Sassone offered, “I have a suggestion that will save face for everyone.”

 

“I don’t care about that, Mrs. Sassone. I only want Danny to be happy.”

 

Dark eyes assessed him at that, then she asked, “Do you really? Even if that’s not with you?”

 

“It isn’t with your son,” Mac stated flatly.

 

Mrs. Sassone flashed her son a disgusted look. “I am well aware of my son’s faults as a human being, Detective. When you challenge the arbiter’s decision to return Danny to my son, the courts will back her decision. They will do so because to find in favor of a freed slave is unacceptable.”

 

Something that hadn’t even occurred to him before, but now hit with alarming force. Stella grabbed hold of his arm, supporting him. Of course they wouldn’t find in favor of a freed slave. The institution would be maintained, no matter what. “She could find in favor of me.”

 

The older woman shrugged. “Then my son will challenge her and the courts will return Danny to his somewhat questionable care.”

 

“Ma, come on!” Sonny protested.

 

She glared at him and exclaimed, “Be quiet! I have put up with more from you than your father ever would have, Sonny, but my patience is at its end.”

 

Sonny grumbled, but didn’t really say anything more.

 

“Here is what I propose,” she continued, brushing away imaginary lint from a forearm. “The Arbiter will find in favor of Sonny because that is what she has been ordered to do. Don’t look at me like that, young man, the Empire runs on more than just laws. There are traditions and powerful families to consider in cases like these. You may think no one is paying any attention to this matter, but you’ve provoked a lot of people in the last few months, Detective.”

 

Mac’s stomach churned acid and he bit out, “What do you want?”

 

“Danny will live with me. The two of you can petition me for ownership over a period of weeks, perhaps months, and what I say will finalize the matter.”

 

“You can’t do this to me, Ma!” Sonny exclaimed harshly. “Do you know what this will do to me?”

 

“Help you use some brain cells, I hope!” she replied tartly.

 

Mac had no choice. She was right. Between Markoni and ticking off the Abolitionists with Gelnich, he had no one to help with this. He was Danny’s Master, but not a Master in and of his own right. His position gave him power, but he’d used a substantial amount of it to keep his lab from feeling the repercussions from the cops who were friends with Markoni. All he could do was trust Danny’s assessment of the woman and hope that she found in his favor, even if it meant going against her own son.

 

The door behind them opened unexpectedly and Danny stepped out, ashen and shaking. Mac immediately went to him, pulling him in tight and holding fast. Rubbing his back as Danny clung to him, Mac murmured nonsensical words to soothe him.

 

“Enough of this, Taylor, hand him over!”

 

Danny flinched at Sonny’s command and seemed to lose control of his body, dropping heavy into Mac’s arms. Grunting in effort to keep from dropping the slave, Mac hurriedly brought him over to a nearby chair. Danny refused it, though, sliding to his knees to wrap his arms around Mac’s ankles in a death-grip.

 

Looking at Mrs. Sassone, Mac questioned, “You give me your word that you won’t give him to your son simply because of blood? You give me your word that you will consider placing Danny with one of us fairly and impartially?”

 

Mrs. Sassone nodded and replied, “Danny will be well cared for while I have him, Detective. It truly is his best interest that I have in mind here. Will you agree?”

 

And even though it tore at his heart, Mac agreed, “I agree.”

 

It took three of Mrs. Sassone’s slaves to carry Danny out of the lab, shouting for Mac the entire time. The pain and betrayal in the younger man’s voice cut into Mac with every step that took Danny from him. He signed the arbitration agreement only after Terry had read it, but the document said exactly what Mrs. Sassone had verbalized. She would have the final say in Danny’s placement, whether it was to serve her, Mac, or Sonny.

 

Mac looked at her and said simply, “If you betray this, I will kill you.”

 

She nodded, taking the warning seriously as she replied, “You may call on Danny starting tomorrow at ten. Sonny no longer lives at the house, so I won’t have to worry about you boys getting into a scuffle. I’ll see you then, Detective.”

 

That taken care of, she left with her son in tow.

 

It wasn’t until they were out of sight that Mac allowed himself to collapse on the nearest chair. Stella was at his side instantly and pulled him into her arms, soothing him with gentle caresses as she murmured, “You didn’t have a choice, Mac. You did the right thing.”

 

Bleak, he leaned on her and asked, “Still want to be me, Stella?”

 

She didn’t answer.

 

 

---

The Right Thing

Danny hugged his knees to his chest as he sat on the bed, caught between anger, betrayal, and fear. He’d spent the entire afternoon in that position. Mrs. Sassone had promised that no one would hurt him, but having just been promised by Mac that they wouldn’t be parted, he was fresh out of trust. It didn’t help that he knew that she couldn’t really believe that Sonny would hurt him. Oh, she knew that Sonny beat him, but beating a slave was so commonplace that it didn’t really register. She’d interfered once before, but he didn’t expect her to do so again. Not on a permanent scale, anyhow.

 

No, Mrs. Sassone would pay lip service and let Mac see him once, maybe twice, but then hand him over to Sonny. And Sonny would kill him six months, maybe a year down the line. Mac would’ve moved on by then and maybe six months after his death, no one would even remember that a slave named Danny had even existed.

 

“Danny? You haven’t eaten,” Mrs. Sassone scolded, entering the room.

 

He didn’t look at her or the food, keeping his eyes on his bare feet.

 

She sighed and came close enough to brush fingers through his hair. “I know you don’t like me right now, but it was the best thing under the circumstances. You have to trust me.”

 

That brought his head up and he looked her in the eyes as he replied simply, “No, I don’t.”

 

Looking taken aback by his quiet declaration, Mrs. Sassone frowned and said, “I’m going to do what’s best for you, Danny.”

 

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Sassone, but you’re not,” Danny countered, abruptly exhausted. “You’re going to give me back to Sonny and he’s going to kill me in a rage one day over something I didn’t even do. That’s just a fact. If you really wanted what’s best for me, you’d never have taken me from Mac. The man I chose to be my Master because I love him.”

 

And then he disrespected her by turning his back on her. She could easily have had him beaten for it, that’d happened for less provocation, but Danny didn’t even care. Resting his chin on a knee, Danny stared down at his bare feet again, deliberately blanking everything else around him out of his mind.

 

• * * *

 

Mac took in Mrs. Sassone’s pale, worried expression and felt his anxiety ratchet up several notches. He hadn’t expected to be put off for as long as he had, but it had been over a week since Danny had been taken from him.

 

Since I let him go, Mac corrected himself viciously.

 

It didn’t matter that he called every day, trying to get a chance to see Danny. It didn’t matter that his work had suffered so badly that Stella had essentially confined him to his office if he came in, even though he was her boss. Nothing mattered except that he’d given Danny to someone else.

 

Bracing himself, Mac questioned harshly, “What’s wrong?”

 

“We can’t get him to eat,” she told him. “He picked at his food the first couple of days, but not a bite has passed his lips since Sonny saw him a few days ago.”

 

Of course she would have let Sonny see him first. In spite of everything that Sonny had done to the slave, he was her son. Mac’s stomach twisted as he imagined the state Danny had to be in.

 

“And now he’s developed a fever somehow,” Mrs. Sassone continued.

 

Mac did his best not to glare at her as he demanded, “Where is he?”

 

“Come with me.”

 

He followed her impatiently, silently yelling at her to hurry. They went upstairs to a small, but comfortable bedroom at the back. Danny lay on a twin bed, sweaty and flushed, looking far too vulnerable without his glasses. Mac immediately strode to him and sat on the edge of the bed, palming Danny’s forehead. It was hot as a furnace and slick with perspiration. His stomach twisted further as he took in how rapidly the slave had lost weight. Not that Danny had been robust even at their best, but now he looked positively gaunt.

 

Furious, he snapped at the older woman, “This is how you keep your promises? Where’s a damn doctor?”

 

“He was here this morning. Told me there was nothing to worry about. That Danny just had a bug and would sweat it out,” she replied, defensive.

 

“Well, he’s a damn quack,” Mac snarled. “I want to give him a cool shower, to start. He needs a fever reducer, now, and then fresh bedding. I’ll need someone to change the sheets while I get him cooled off.”

 

Even though it was her house, Mrs. Sassone acquiesced without a protest, perhaps out of guilt. Mac didn’t care what the reason was, he was just glad she left to start preparations. Turning back to Danny, Mac gently pulled off the sleep pants, the only clothing that the slave had on. She was back by the time he was done and he took the four pills and glass of water from him.

 

Pulling Danny into a sitting position and resting the slave against his chest, Mac urged, “Danny? Baby? I need you to take some medicine for me, okay? Can you hear me? Danny?”

 

Danny mumbled in protest and didn’t open his eyes, but his mouth lowered enough for Mac to put a pill inside. He swallowed the water, just enough to get each pill down, and then turned to Mac, holding on tight, face pressed to the crook of Mac’s shoulder. Momentarily letting himself just hold the other man, Mac felt tears threaten at such explicit trust, even after everything had happened.

 

Getting control once more, Mac shifted Danny across his lap and then into his arms. He stood with the slave in his arms and was alarmed at just how much lighter Danny had become. Jaw clenched, he asked, “Where’s the bathroom?”

 

“Two doors down,” Mrs. Sassone replied, motioning to the right of the room.

 

Mac found the room easily and set Danny carefully in the tub so he could undress. Moments later, he pulled Danny upright and leaned the slave against him, supporting him with an arm around the waist. He started the water at lukewarm and gradually cooled it to not-quite-cold. Danny immediately started shivering, his arms tightening around Mac as his body fought the temperature change.

 

They were in there for almost a half-hour before Danny’s eyes opened and he blinked owlishly at Mac.

 

Smiling, Mac greeted softly, “Welcome back.”

 

“Mac?” Danny asked, clearly confused. “What’re you doing here?”

 

Mac stifled the hurt the question prompted, knowing that Danny had no reason to think that he would ever show up again. Maintaining the smile, he answered, “Taking care of you. Where else would I be?”

 

It was obvious that Danny could hardly make him out, despite their proximity. He kept blinking and squinting at him. Finally, he admitted, “I didn’t think Mrs. Sassone would let you see me again.”

 

“Me, either,” Mac confessed. Kissing Danny’s temple, he asked, “Do you feel better now?”

 

Danny nodded. “Not boiling out of my own skin anymore, thanks.”

 

“Good. Come on, let’s get dried off.”

 

“Do we haveta?”

 

The plaintive tone said clearly that Danny thought the visit would end as soon as they told Mrs. Sassone he was better. Taking Danny’s mouth in a slow, gentle kiss, Mac’s arms tightened around him. He wanted nothing more than to take Danny home and lavish attention on him, wait on him hand and foot until he’d regained all the weight he’d lost and the sparkle in his eyes. That wasn’t possible, so this brief connection would have to do. Danny’s breath hitched audibly in his throat, even as he responded with a desperation that took Mac’s breath away. Breaking off the kiss left an actual ache in his gut.

 

“Please don’t leave me, Master, please, please,” Danny whispered. “I’ll do anything, please?”

 

Mac’s throat tightened at the heartbreaking words and he pressed his lips to Danny’s cheek, and then his tightly closed eyes. “I’m sorry, baby, I don’t have a choice.”

 

Danny cleared his throat loudly before nodding and saying, “I know. I just…I miss you. So bad.”

 

“Me, too, Danny,” Mac replied, voice choked. “Come on, let’s dry off. I don’t want you getting worse.”

 

They were silent as Mac dried Danny off. He took his time, rubbing the soft towel over the lean body and kissing various parts of it when the urge struck. When he was done, Mac wrapped another towel around Danny’s waist, tucking the edge in firmly. Looking into the squinted eyes, Mac told him, “I want you to start taking care of yourself, Danny, and that means eating.”

 

Danny sighed. “What for? She’s just gonna turn me over to him.”

 

Mac didn’t like the resigned tone and countered sharply, “You don’t know that.”

 

Unexpectedly, Danny’s hand reached out and cupped Mac’s face. His thumb brushed slowly over Mac’s cheek as he said, “I wanna thank you, Mac. You showed me what love’s really like and I never knew before.”

 

“Danny, don’t talk like that,” Mac pleaded, hearing death in his voice. “This isn’t over!”

 

A half-smile surface on Danny’s face and he leaned in to kiss Mac, short and hard, then left without another word.

 

Stunned, Mac didn’t move for a few seconds. He abruptly snapped out of the shock and grabbed his clothes, yanking them on as fast as he could. Running out of the bathroom, he dashed the short distance to Danny’s room but found it empty. His heart pounded in fear and he shouted, “Danny! Danny, where are you?”

 

There was no answer, so he started searching room by room. Mrs. Sassone hurried over to him not a minute later and demanded, “What’s going on?”

 

“I think Danny’s going to suicide,” Mac snapped, scanning another room.

 

Appalled, she exclaimed, “Suicide? What on earth would he do that for?”

 

All patience gone, Mac shouted, “Because you haven’t left him any fucking choice! What did you think would happen, you stupid woman? Help me find him, or get the hell out of my way!”

 

A scream from downstairs sent a slice of horror through Mac and he ran for the source. It seemed forever before he reached the kitchen, where he found three slave girls doing their best to stop Danny from bleeding out. Towels were wrapped around each wrist and they held pressure on it while a third held a bunched up towel in Danny’s gut. Even as Mac pulled his cell phone out and dialed 911, he noted the large butcher’s knife tossed aside. He dropped to Danny’s side and added his own strength to the pressure with one hand.

 

“911, please state your emergency,” an operator answered.

 

“This is Detective Mac Taylor, badge number 4659. I need a bus at 154 Hall St. for multiple knife wounds,” Mac snapped into the phone. “Put a rush on it, he’s losing a lot of blood.”

 

“Right away, Sir! It’ll be there in three minutes.”

 

Mac dropped his phone back into his pocket and used his free hand to keep two fingers on Danny’s ever-slowing pulse. He prayed then, as he hadn’t in years.

 

• * * *

 

Danny hadn’t expected to wake up, but there was no mistaking the steady beeping of life support or the nauseating taste of what had to be anesthesia in his mouth. The last thing he remembered was the agony of shoving the knife into his gut. He hadn’t been sure if just the wrists would be enough to kill him fast enough, not with Mac in the house.

 

Apparently, he should’ve waited until Mac left.

 

He sighed and opened his eyes, finding the blur of an unfamiliar room to confirm that he was in the hospital.

 

“Danny?”

 

Mrs. Sassone’s voice startled him and Danny glanced to his right, blinking and trying in vain to bring her into focus. She surprised him again by putting glasses on his face. He couldn’t remember seeing her so sad since her husband’s death. He managed a smile and told her, “Can’t be that bad, Mrs. Sassone.”

 

“Oh, Danny,” she sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. I gather you’ll just do this again if I give you to Sonny.”

 

Danny’s lips twisted as he said, “Won’t have to. Sonny’ll do it for me, few months down the line. I just wanted the last thing I remembered to be a good memory. To be Mac. I didn’t want to die looking at your son. No offense.”

 

The matter-of-fact tone seemed to make her even paler, but he didn’t try to take it back. It was only the truth, after all.

 

She took a breath and then told him, “I’m sorry, Danny. If I’d known you felt so strong, I wouldn’t have drawn this out. I’m signing you over to Detective Taylor.”

 

Stunned, unable to really believe her, Danny whispered, “Really?”

 

Brushing his bangs from his face, Mrs. Sassone nodded. “Really. My lawyer’s on his way over with the paperwork. I’ll call Detective Taylor to let him know as long as you promise me that you’ll never ever do anything like this ever again. Danny, you’re truly special to me and I would never knowingly put you in any kind of harm.”

 

“I know, Mrs. Sassone,” he replied, smiling.

 

It didn’t feel real to him, that he was really going to go home with Mac. Probably wouldn’t until he was actually there. Maybe he could convince Mac to chain him to the bed or something, just to help him along. He yawned, the short exchange tiring him out more than he would’ve expected.

 

“You concentrate on getting some rest,” she ordered kindly. “When you wake up next, your Detective will be here instead of me.”

 

Danny nodded and closed his eyes as darkness tugged at him gently. He wouldn’t really believe it until it happened, but it was a nice thought.

 

• * * *

 

Mac slowly opened the door to Danny’s hospital room, careful to make no noise that would wake the sleeping man. Danny wore his glasses and they gave him an endearing look as he slept. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he just sat there for a long time watching Danny. A little frown marred the slave’s forehead, as if even in sleep, Danny couldn’t find peace. His wrists were heavily bandaged and Mac imagined his stomach was, too. The surgeon had told him that it had been a close call. They’d had to repair the small intestine, which had been nicked by the blade.

 

The very start of peace was beginning to creep over Mac, now that he had the sale papers in Terry’s safe at the lawyer’s office. In order to make sure no one tried to repudiate a ‘gift’ slave, Mac had insisted on paying the going price for a slave of Danny’s caliber. It had set him back almost forty-thousand, but he would bankrupt himself to keep Danny safe.

 

Danny snuffled in his sleep, frown deepening in something like pain. Mac ghosted a hand over the slave’s forehead, combing fingers through the unruly hair. Something like a sigh passed Danny’s lips and he woke slowly, blinking a few times before he focused on Mac. “Mac?”

 

Mac nodded and took the nearest hand in his, carefully bringing it up to kiss the palm. “I’m here, Danny.”

 

“I want to go home,” Danny whispered.

 

Kissing Danny’s palm again, Mac replied, “We will in a few days. You did some pretty good damage, baby. The doctor had to repair your small intestine.”

 

“I’m sorry, Mac, I just couldn’t go back to him,” Danny continued, as if he hadn’t spoken. “I couldn’t go back. I just, I couldn’t.”

 

Mac covered Danny’s lips with a finger and soothed, “Ssh, baby, it’s okay now. You’re mine. I’ve got the papers and no one, no court, no government, no one can take you from me again. I’ll kill the next person who tries.”

 

Danny stared up at him a long moment before nodding slowly. “Thank you, Master.”

 

“Get some rest, Danny. I’m not going anywhere.”

 

Smiling wanly, Danny nodded again and closed his eyes.

 

Mac stayed there, watching over him.

 

• * * *

 

Curled up against Mac as they walked down the hall towards the apartment, Danny didn’t care that their pace was comparable to that of a snail. Mac’s arm supported him around the waist and his cheek rested against Mac’s shoulder as they moved. The hospital stay had been longer than anticipated, even without complications, and it was almost a week later that he’d been released. Visits from Stella and Aiden, Sheldon and Flack, even the new girl Lindsey, had helped pass the time, but he’d still been confined to bed.

 

By the second to last day, he’d been more than a little cranky, but Mac had merely smiled and promised the next day was the last. The good news was that he didn’t have hardly any pain anymore. The long, thin scabs on his wrists were ugly but they itched, more than anything else, and his gut only ached or hurt when he moved too fast.

 

“Here we are,” Mac announced cheerfully, stopping in front of their door.

 

Danny held fast to Mac as the other man unlocked and opened the door, pushing it in. The place was warm and a little stuffy, no surprise since Mac hadn’t been home in days. Mac’s scent seemed intensified because of it and Danny inhaled deeply, ignoring the pinch in his gut.

 

Mac grinned. “Happy to be home?”

 

“You don’t even know,” Danny confirmed emphatically.

 

Mac’s grin faded a little as he replied, “I think I do, a little.”

 

Mentally wincing, Danny said hastily, “There’s something I want you to do, if it’s okay?”

 

Immediately focusing on Danny, as intended, Mac asked, “What’s that?”

 

“Chain me to your bed.”

 

Mac blinked at him for a surprised moment, but then the grin reappeared. “I think that could be arranged. Come on. I want you to take a bath and relax for a while, so let’s cover up the bandages.”

 

Danny not only allowed the fussing as Mac made sure his bandages were watertight, he enjoyed it to the fullest. Little kisses were interspersed with soft words and he soaked up both like a sponge. It wasn’t too long before he sank into a hot bath with a groan of pleasure.

 

Mac smiled at him and stole another kiss before standing and saying, “I’ll be back shortly. Just want to put fresh sheets on the bed.”

 

And he really wasn’t gone that long. It seemed like he’d just closed his eyes when Mac was back at his side and shaking Danny’s shoulder. Yawning, Danny said, “Guess I was more tired than I thought.”

 

“Guess so,” Mac replied, smiling.

 

The drying off this time was so much different than the last, in Mrs. Sassone’s bathroom. When Mac nuzzled at Danny’s crotch, it felt natural and Danny cupped the back of Mac’s head, urging him on. He groaned when Mac slowly engulfed his cock, wet heat surrounding him. The suction sped up his hard-on, desire and need coiling tight throughout his body. Mac’s tongue swirled around and over his dick, adding to the sensation.

 

Leaning against the sink for support, Danny started panting, legs spreading for better balance. It was all over when one of Mac’s fingers pressed against his hole, the tip just barely entering him. Crying out in release, Danny spilled into the other man’s mouth without a single thought except to come.

 

And then Mac was standing and supporting him with a shoulder under his arm, leading him to the bed. He grinned happily on seeing a set of chains attached to the headboard. Mac had taken him literally. Stretching out on the bed, Danny smiled up at Mac as the other cuffed him in softly-lined, leather-bound cuffs. They were loose enough not to aggravate his bandages, but tight enough to be felt, which was what he needed.

 

Mac stripped in short order and joined him on the bed. Pulling the blankets over them, he slid an arm under Danny’s pillow and pressed them full-length together, the other arm wrapping around Danny’s waist. Pale blue eyes stared into his as Mac leaned in and kissed him with heartbreaking emotion. Danny sighed into the hungry, gentle possession, mouth opening to it.

 

When the kissing stopped, Mac whispered, “Mine forever, Danny.”

 

Resting his head on Mac’s shoulder, breathing in the heavy scent of the man, Danny sighed in deep contentment and whispered back, “Yours forever, Master.”