Beyond Eden (32 page)

“What does that mean?” Eve asked as she fell down to her knees next to them and spread out a towel. “You said that before, what do endorphins do?”

“They’re released from massive amounts of pain. They work on his brain just like morphine and make him euphoric,” Danny explained clinically. When Eve’s head shot up, her eyebrows raised curiously, he huffed in exasperation. “He’s stoned.”

“Legitimately stoned?”

“Legitimately stoned,” Danny agreed as he ran his fingers through Paul’s hair and tugged his head back. “Look at your girlfriend.”

Eve leaned in, staring at Paul’s eyes, finding that they were dilated and glazed in a way that until that moment she thought could only happen from really good drugs. She gave a tight nod as she went back to spread out the towel and arrange the medical kit and alcohol next to it.

“So, he’s addicted to pain?” Eve asked in a low, panicked voice. “This is a problem.”

“I suppose,” Danny admitted reluctantly. “I mean, anyone can get an endorphin high from pain, but it’s usually pointless because the agony makes us too miserable to enjoy it.”

“But if you enjoyed pain—”

“Then it makes an endorphin high the highlight of a really fun game,” Danny finished for her as he ran his arm up Paul’s arm. “Okay, lie down and I’ll fix your back.”

Eve stood and watched Paul stretch out lazily on the towel, resting his cheek on his folded arms contentedly. She stared down at his back then, finding it covered in bleeding lashes that were hard to see from all the blood.

“I can see why you wouldn’t want him to do this with strangers,” Eve mumbled as Danny finally got up to go the bathroom. He wet a towel and used it to clean off his chest and arms, seeming unconcerned with the blood. “He doesn’t let other people make him bleed, does he? He doesn’t end up on a towel with his back torn up for someone else?”

“God, no,” Danny said, still working on getting the blood off him with harsh motions that made it seem as if he was punishing himself now. “He hasn’t been with any other Master but me since he was twenty-two and I’ve been there for any bad punishment since he was nineteen. I never let anyone provide aftercare, even the best-trained Dommes weren’t allowed to touch him if they’d broken the skin. He threatens on a regular basis, but I’d beat the shit out of him before I let him expose himself to HIV or something else. He’s not a boy scout, Evie. He’d take the risk. He just has an asshole Master who won’t let him. I showed you my tests and Paul gets them every six months with me, so don’t freak. He’s clean. The only other one he messes with is Trisha and she hadn’t had a lover in three years before they hooked up.”

Eve felt tears roll down her cheeks when Danny started washing his shaking hands with harsh, furious movement that betrayed self-loathing. “I don’t think you’re an asshole.”

“You should,” Danny said as he left the sink running and brushed past Eve. “Turn that off for me, please.”

Eve walked into the bathroom and flipped off the sink, knowing Danny didn’t want to touch it because he had to stitch up Paul’s back. His obsession with cleanliness suddenly made much more sense. Someone who had to take responsibility for a person with Paul’s condition had to be exceedingly clean. Eve realized Danny had been doing this since he was nineteen when the most Eve had to worry about was her next big test in college.

“Shit,” Danny whispered in anguish as he got down on his knees and stared at Paul’s back with wide, horrified eyes. “Why didn’t I just let you safe word and fuck Evie?”

“’Cause you’re awesome,” Paul offered with a sated smile. “Don’t forget, you promised a happy ending. I heard you. You said if I stayed on my feet we’d make Evie happy.”

“It’s okay if we don’t,” Eve said as she got down on her knees next to Danny and opened the alcohol bottle for him, knowing he wouldn’t want to touch the lid. “Do you want me to do it?”

Danny nodded, still staring at Paul’s back with dark, horrified eyes as if not knowing where to start. “Yes, please.”

Eve winced as she stared down at his back that was covered with deep, open wounds and then looked at the bottle of alcohol in her hand with trepidation. “Paul Guy, this might—”

“Don’t even waste your breath,” Danny said with a shake of his head. “That’s pointless.”

Eve realized he was right and went ahead and poured the alcohol over Paul’s back. He moaned in pleasure, his hips arching against the towel, making Eve feel like she had just given him the world as she poured alcohol over his back, being careful to spread it evenly so that all the wounds were cleaned. Blood and alcohol rolled off his back onto the towel and Eve had the off thought that it was a very good thing they had hardwood floors. With the alcohol washing away the blood, Eve saw that most of the injuries were on the broad expanse of his shoulders. The curves in his waist, his neck and most of his lower back were free of injury.

“Why not spread the love a little?” Eve asked curiously as she leaned in closer, trying to get the cut on his shoulder clean. “Wouldn’t it be easier if you didn’t just pick on these spots?”

“You don’t want to hit his kidneys or anything internal that’s sensitive to injury,” Danny said, reaching into the medical box Eve had opened for him and pulling on rubber gloves. “That’s bad form. Only an amateur would do that.”

“And you’re not an amateur,” Eve mumbled, still staring at Paul’s back. It took real skill to whip him in a way that didn’t cause anything but superficial wounds. “You’re a professional.

“Yes,” Danny said as he worked at threading a large, curved metal needle. “When I was young, I thought it would be fun to grow up and be a professional asshole. It worked out nicely.”

“You always do that,” Eve said darkly. “Whenever you have to talk about something that upsets you, you get sarcastic.”

“What do you want me to say, Evie?” Danny asked as he leaned over Paul, tilting his head once more and studying his back as if deciding what to stitch up first. “You want me to tell you that Paul Guy is so famous in the BDSM world for being a complete freak of nature that other submissives would literally beg his Master to dominate them in hopes of getting their pain tolerance to the point that they could just lie on a towel happily while someone poured alcohol over their back that had just been torn to shreds? This is going to scar, I just know it. I don’t think I can fix it this time, Paul Guy.”

“You’ll fix it,” Paul said confidently.

“This is pretty bad,” Danny said in anguish. “Maybe we should call Jason now.” “Happy ending,” Paul reminded him. “You promised.”

“And when you promise something you have to keep it,” Eve said softly realizing now why Paul kept reminding him. “Or his trust will be ruined.”

“That’s the ticket,” Danny said as he started stitching one of the largest wounds on Paul’s back. “Hopefully stitches aren’t a buzzkill for you. That’d be very inconvenient.”

Actually, they were a huge buzzkill. Eve thought she might get ill if she had to keep watching Danny threading that needle in and out of Paul’s flesh. So she stopped watching and stretched out next to Paul instead, reaching over to stroke his hair as she studied his face a breath away from hers. He was sighing contently, his eyes closed lazily and it was obvious he was enjoying the stitches as much as her fingers in his hair.

“I love you,” she whispered after several long, quiet minutes while Danny worked diligently at fixing the damage he caused.

Paul’s eyes blinked open. They were darker than usual, his pupils still extremely dilated. “I love you too,” he said with a soft, adoring smile. “I’ve missed you.”

She smiled back at him as tears pooled in her eyes, making him a watery blur. “Ditto.”

“You don’t hate me?” he asked curiously. “You don’t think I’m a freak?”

“Oh, I think you’re a freak,” Eve said with a broken laugh. “But I could never hate you.”

“That works,” he said, his eyes drifting closed again.

Eve let her eyes close with him as she continued to stroke his hair, savoring the feeling of it against her fingers again. As Danny worked on stitching his back up, Eve lay there in the hazy realm between consciousness and sleep and replayed the romance that had taken up her entire childhood. There had never been anyone other than Paul. He had been her entire love life from the point in seventh grade when he first kissed her, until her pestering after over two years of fooling around got him to agree to actually fuck her. That had left her with a sweet, beautiful football player for a lover from ninth grade all the way until she had left for New York.

Eve was fairly certain Paul had never known how Eve had suffered for having him to herself through their high school career. Pretty cheerleaders and rich, spoiled socialites never understood why the most handsome, most talented player on their football team wanted an eccentric artist instead of one of them. They had done everything in their power to get Eve to give him up, using sheer malice and cruelty only teenage girls were capable of and Eve had never told Paul. It would have upset him terribly.

Paul had never noticed he was popular in high school, never bothered to pay attention to the fact that he had been every bit as desired as Danny. Eve thought it was because he was down to earth, which made him sweet and endearing, but she realized now it had been something much deeper than that. He had always thought he was worthless. Even when his good looks and popularity were in front of his face, he never appeared interested in other girls who lavished attention on him. Paul was loyal to a fault. All the elements that made Paul long to be a slave to others had always been there, she had just never noticed. Just like his strangely stoic acceptance of pain. Whenever Eve found bruises on him from his father or football, he had blown off her concern in such a way that made it obvious he really hadn’t minded. She thought that meant he was tough. That assumption was probably the grandest understatement she had ever made in her life. The Marines had really missed the chance of a lifetime by refusing him, even with a permanent knee injury.

Eve didn’t blink awake until Danny startled both of them by getting up and pulling the rubber gloves he was wearing off. He went to wash his hands and Eve saw Paul’s body tighten. His breathing fell shallow and he opened his eyes to stare at Eve. They were stormy with arousal, but she could see hesitance in them too.

“How much of a voyeur are you?” he whispered as he studied Eve intently.

Eve felt a blush stain her cheeks. “I didn’t know I was voyeur until I saw you two. You’re both beautiful. Putting you together appeals to my artist mind, the similarities and the contradictions. It’s magnificent.”

Paul frowned, making it obvious he was still out of it and having a hard time putting what she was saying together.

“She’s a hardcore voyeur,” Danny put in as he came out of the bathroom. “Worst I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s a convenient development,” Paul said, his voice wispy as he raised his eyebrows.

“I’m going to put more alcohol on your back,” Danny said as he fell down on his knees on the other side of Paul. “You can take a shower later.”

Eve rolled onto her side, resting her cheek on her hand as she watched Danny use a fresh bottle of alcohol to clean off Paul’s back. She had to admit, it looked much better with the stitches. It wasn’t as big of a tragedy as she had originally suspected. Most of the marks were angry red welts, but Eve realized Paul had already desensitized her. If she had looked at anyone else’s back decorated with strips of stitched-up wounds and deep, red welts she would have been horrified.

“You guys must buy lots of alcohol,” Eve mumbled as she watched Danny work at cleaning off Paul’s back to the point that any trace of blood was gone.

“We don’t do this that much,” Danny admitted in a curt voice. “I very rarely make him bleed and never like this.”

“He’s not a sadist,” Paul said, his voice heavy with arousal, making it obvious he was enjoying the alcohol. “The one fatal flaw in our relationship.”

“Shut up, Paul Guy. Only a sadist could have done this, so stop bitching about that.”

“True,” Paul agreed softly. “My back will hurt for a month. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. I love you, Danny Boy.”

Eve watched Danny close his eyes in anguish as he set the alcohol bottle down. He pushed his hair off his forehead and Eve could see the pain written all over his features as he took a shuddering breath.

“He’s stoned,” Eve reminded him. “His eyes are still dilated.”

Danny shrugged and turned around to the put the cap back on the alcohol bottle. Then he leaned down and draped himself partially over Paul, his lips pressing to the nape of his neck. “I love you too. More than anything.”

“Mmm,” Paul hummed, burying his face into the curves of his arms as his hips pushed against the towel. “Need you. Please.”

“I know,” Danny said, trailing a hand down the curve of Paul’s waist. “Go get your camera, Evie.”

“Fuck my camera,” Eve rasped breathlessly. “I’ll remember.”

“Suit yourself,” Danny said as he reached beneath Paul, his fingers trailing over his stomach. “Go sit on the bed.”

Eve did as told, crawling up on the bed and watching as Danny pulled at the laces of Paul’s pants. He pulled them off, tugging roughly at the leather to get them past his hips as Paul lifted his hips to help him.

He tossed them aside when he was done and then trailed his hand down the curve of Paul’s waist once more. “I’m worried about your back,” he whispered as he leaned down and pressed a kiss into the curve of Paul’s neck. “It’s pretty bad this time. We need to be careful with it.”

Paul groaned, pressing his face into the curve of his arms and mumbling, “You worry too much.”

Danny seemed to consider that and then glanced up at Eve. “You want to help me?”

Eve stared down at Paul stretched out on the towel fully naked, with that beautiful body on display and nodded without hesitation. “What do you need me to do?”

“You’ll see,” Danny said and then leaned down and spoke into the curve of Paul’s neck. “I want you to go to her.”

“That’s a bad idea,” Paul whispered with a catch in his voice. “Why?”