A nice long one to make up for all the waiting lately. thank you truly for your patience and continued support. Enjoy and please review. :)

Iason entered his condo a short while later, handed his cloak and briefcase to Cal and, as always, asked the same question he always did on arrival.

"Master Riki is laying down in your room."

"Is he feeling unwell again?"

"I don't believe so, although I could not get him to eat anything today. He went out for a little while, then came home and shut himself in your room."

Iason had received a notification that Riki had left the apartment, but his pet had just appeared to be wandering the salons and lower levels, so he gave it no further thought. It pleased him to see his pet out and about finally, but then he had a meeting with Raoul and had lost track of where the young man had been. Of course, he no longer worried about Riki trying to escape, so he tried to allow the boy some privacy; given his attempt to be social.

"Hold dinner for us for a little while then."

Cal nodded as Iason moved forward to find his pet. He entered their room, found the lights had been dimmed and soft music was playing, and was shocked to find Riki, naked on their bed, with the mongrel's wrists locked to the headboard by a pair of binders.

"Riki?" Iason began, moving further into the room. He could see the sweat glistening off of Riki's body, his muscular chest was heaving uncontrollably as if he couldn't catch his breath.

Riki's eyes opened slowly, painfully. God it hurt! Everything hurt so much and he needed release so badly. He had swallowed the contents of the vial almost two hours earlier, thinking that Iason would be home sooner, and had bound his wrists to keep from attempting to satisfy himself. He knew he would have to wait, but he didn't think he would have to wait this long!

"I…Iason," he gasped and writhed as even the sensation of his own breath against his skin was like molten fire spewing hot razor sharp needles. "P…Please….do…something..."

Iason strode forward and settled on the bed, immediately placing his gloved hand against Riki's chest, watched as the mongrel arched towards him. "Riki, what has happened to you?"

While he usually enjoyed seeing Riki writhing beneath him and in an enjoyable flux of torment, he could see that this was not the pain of denied pleasure, but of suffering. Riki's cock was near blue from the strain of denial and the youth's face was far too flushed to be healthy.

"Touch me!" Riki moaned as his body tried to curl around Iason's, his bound hands preventing a proper union. "Please…I…I can't take it!"

"Who did this to you?" Iason demanded, caught Riki by the shoulders and giving him a quick shake. "Tell me!"

Riki continued to moan as tears filled his eyes. "Please…do…something!" Riki was beyond reason, beyond pride. It hurt! It hurt so very much in every corner of his body, beneath every follicle and slice of skin there was burning heat and searing pain.

Iason's eyes narrowed, torn between allowing Riki to suffer until he admitted the truth, and ravaging the naked young body before him. He rose, his eyes never leaving his tormented pet as he reached to press the button to call Cal.

"I'll call for a doctor…."

"No!" Riki nearly screamed in frustration, then frantically began pulling at his hands, until a thin line of blood started to appear. "Fuck me! Just f…fuck me!"

Appalled, Iason quickly reached above Riki's head and released the binders. "You're hurting yourself!"

The moment he was released Riki threw himself at Iason, started rubbing frantically against him. "Now!" He hissed. "Do it now!"

Iason, in an effort to control the mongrel pushed Riki back onto the bed and pinned him with his own body. "Stop this!" He ordered confused as to what was going on and who had done this to his precious pet.

His keen eyes spotted the corner of an empty vial almost buried beneath the pillow. Securing Riki's hands over his head with one hand, he picked it up, sniffed it, and frowned.

"What did you take, Riki?"

"Had to…Have to…be able…fuck…." Riki was trying to form coherent words but all he could think about was the need to be touched, to feel release. "Please…f…fuck me, Iason. Please!"

What had happened to Riki's fears and anxiety? Had his pet taken this step on his own hoping to cure himself? "Riki, you didn't have to do this." He knew how much Riki hated aphrodisiacs; so why would he willingly take them?

"Don't….don't wipe…me…" Riki whimpered as all rational thought left him and he began to babble in his delirium. His heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest! "F...Fuck me…any…any way…just don't…have to…stay me…have to…can't lose any…more."

Iason's eyes widened. How had Riki learned of Raoul's suggestion? Was that what had possessed him to make such a drastic choice?

"Oh God! Please!"

Well, one thing at a time Iason decided as he touched the ring on his finger, loosened Riki's cock ring, and began to stroke his pet. The young man came almost immediately with a guttural, near agonized cry, but was hard again a second later.

"A…again."

"Yes, pet." If Riki had taken the dosage he believed, he would not feel proper relief for hours and so Iason quickly began to tend to the suffering man.

Riki couldn't breathe, couldn't think. He had come three times already and still the drugs in his system demanded more. Iason had not yet penetrated him, instead the Blondie did everything else possible to bring him to climax.

Riki tried to explain, tried to tell Iason what was needed, because he was worried that the drugs might wear off before the Blondie did it and they'd be back to square one, but then he was lost in the sensations of Iason's talented fingers and the pleasure and pain of the drugs.

Riki woke, feeling exhausted, sore and incredibly anxious. Iason had spent hours with him last night, touching him, fingering him, sucking him, finding various and creative ways to give him pleasure and stem the feeling of the drugs, but he had not once penetrated him. Now that the drugs were nearly out of his system, he worried that he had missed his chance and that Iason would still decide to wipe his mind if he had another panic attack during sex.

The object of his thoughts appeared with a tall glass of water, sat on the bed and helped Riki to sit up.

"Drink this, you lost a good deal of body fluid and need to replenish."

Riki didn't argue and gulped down the water. He handed the glass back and lowered his eyes ashamed. "Why didn't you do it?" he demanded, quietly. "You could have done it to me and we'd be past this already."

Iason set the glass on the nightstand. "Yes," he agreed as he cupped Riki's cheek and forced him to meet his gaze. "But had I taken you last night, while you were in such a state, your trust in me would still be broken, and we would be no better off."

The idea that Riki had gone to such extremes, knowing how much he abhorred aphrodisiacs because of how badly they affected him, warned Iason how fragile and uncertain his pet really was. He wasn't sure how Riki found out about the mind wipe, but this latest development worried him.

If Riki had gone through this much because he was that afraid of losing a few memories, then the mind wipe was no longer an option. He truly did not want to cause his pet any hardship or suffering.

Riki tried to pull away, but Iason held him firm.

"Riki. We need to discuss this."

Riki shook his head and again tried to wrench his chin from the Blondie's grip.

"Riki…"

Riki pushed at Iason's chest. "I'm gonna be sick," he whispered, and Iason, rather than release him, gathered him up and swiftly brought him to the bathroom.

Riki emptied what little there was in his stomach, as Iason reached past his pet and started the shower.

"Oh Riki," he sighed, then helped the shaking youth to his feet and supported him up the two steps and into the wide, tiled shower. Hot, steaming jets pounded into Riki from all sides and he whimpered, until Iason adjusted the spray to a soft, relaxing cascade.

"Where did you get the drugs?"

Riki was silent, and braced his hands against the wall to push his head further under the spray.

"Riki."

Riki felt Iason's slick hands slide up his back, not for pleasure but for purpose. "I won't do it again."

"No, you won't." Iason poured some more soap into his hands and slid them around to Riki's chest. "I am well aware that pets can get such things without their master's consent, however the solution given to you was far too strong. It was dangerous, Riki. Your heart could have stopped."

"I asked for a strong one. I…I didn't know how hard it would….I wasn't sure if it would…" There was no way to tell how much of the drugs he would need to push past his fear and he was ashamed now for having thought that way; for having chosen such a foolish, pitiful option.

Iason gently turned Riki to face him, then lovingly started to lather Riki's hair. The fact that his pet was not protesting at all told him how drained Riki still was from the drugs. "I will find out who it was one way or the other, Riki. It would be better for you to tell me now, than make me annoyed by wasting my resources on such a trivial matter."

"If it's trivial than can't you just forget it?"

Iason's silence was Riki's answer, that and the sharp tug against his scalp.

"I don't know his name," Riki insisted. "He had a stall among all the other stalls in the square. They all looked the same."

"Who brought you to him?"

Riki felt a flush of heat as he thought of the kid who had helped him. "No one, I just found it on my own. I know things too you know?"

"How did you pay for it? I have checked my statements and your last purchase was for cigarettes." Iason rinsed Riki's hair then yanked Riki's head back, forcing the mongrel to meet his icy gaze. "I know how you dislike owing anyone, pet, so how exactly did you pay for the drugs?"

"I didn't do anything like that!"

"Then how?"

Riki glared at him mutinously. He would not rat out Aiden or the drug dealer. Iason didn't understand that would make things even worse for him with the other pets. "You talk about trust but you never trust me! I didn't fuck or blow anybody for it. I didn't steal it and I didn't beg for it. So, if you want to waste your fucking time then send out your spies or dogs or whatever you use, I don't care. I'm telling you the truth and if you can't trust me then…then how do you ever expect me to trust you?"

Iason regarded Riki for a long, hard moment, then he suddenly lowered his mouth to ravage the mongrel's for several, long, hot minutes.

"Trust," Iason muttered as he spun Riki around so quickly that Riki had to throw his hands out to catch himself against the shower wall. "You ask me to trust you, yet you will not let me have you. You tremble in my arms as if I were the devil incarnate, then you take my devotion and twist it to your own needs."

Riki tensed as he felt Iason prodding the opening of his ass. "W…wait."

"Why? What am I waiting for, Riki? You deny me the joy of being inside of you, yet you buy drugs to seduce me. You demand that I ignore a man who put your life in danger, yet you were crying for my help only hours ago."

Riki felt the panic well up inside of him as Iason's member slid against the crease of his ass, and he tried to pull away. "Don't…"

"Where is the trust now, Riki? Will you not trust me to be gentle with you?" Iason's mouth was close to Riki's ear, his voice a smooth, sinful seduction. "I shall let it go, as you say, if you will. Can you let it go, Riki? Can you let go this fear that is consuming you and allow me to pleasure you properly?"

Riki's hands fisted against the wall and he knew this was his only chance to get back to the way they were and save what little he had left of himself. It was the only way to avoid mind wipe. The only way to get past this fear that was holding him hostage.

With great effort, he pressed back at the terror that threatened to engulf him. "P…promise me," he whispered, even as a single tear slid from his eye and his entire body trembled violently and the idea of what was about to happen. "Promise you won't hurt me again."

Iason's hand slid around Riki's waist, pulling him closer. "I promise you," he whispered back. "Give me your trust, Riki, believe in me and I shall believe in you."

Riki gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes tightly shut and pushed back against Iason, causing the Blondie to thrust deep inside of him. However, the moment he felt that achingly familiar pressure he almost vomited, and to struggled to get away.

"Sssshhh, Riki." Iason did not move inside his pet, instead, he concentrated on trying to still Riki's movements with one hand while the other soothingly caressed his chest. "I am in, pet. I am in and you are fine. Can you feel me, inside of you?"

Riki sobbed and managed to nod.

"You have the control. Make it feel good for you, Riki."

Riki curled and uncurled his hands into fists as he tried to control his breathing. Iason was right, it didn't hurt, it was a familiar feeling, a good feeling, but he was so afraid that when Iason started to move it would happen again. That Iason's thing would grow and expand and this time rip him apart.

"I…I'm scared."

"I know." Iason kissed the back of his neck, his shoulders and between his shoulder blades. "That is my fault, but I will not do it again. Do what you want to do, in this moment. Listen to what your body is telling you, not what your mind is saying. Your body is more honest, your body is more real."

Riki wanted to pull away, run for the bedroom or any other room and lock himself away, but there was nowhere that Iason would not find him, nowhere he could hide. The feeling of Iason inside of him was both exquisite and torturous and despite the Blondie's offer and compliance, he could not force himself to move.

Iason's free hand wandered down to gently stroke Riki's flaccid penis in slow, soft movements until it started to grow. "Is this not better?" he continued in the same, soothing voice. "Than how those drugs make you feel? Can you see that you still have control, Riki?"

Riki could feel the arousal building inside of him, and almost wept as that feeling started to win out over his panic. "Y…yes." He closed his eyes, tried to think only of Iason's hands around him, of all the ways that the Blondie knew to make his body feel so good. "M…more."

Iason's strokes increased and now that Riki had stopped struggling, he moved his free hand up to play with Riki's nipples. "Like this?"

"Hmmmm…" Riki arched instinctually, felt the movement inside of him again, and tensed once more.

"Take what you want, Riki. As much as you want, as hard or as easy as you want. You are in control."

He was in control. Riki continued to chant that over and over in his head as he forced himself to push back, them move forward. Push back and forward. He was controlling it, Iason remained completely still except for his hands. He bit his lip and pushed back again. God! It did feel good, it felt incredible!

"I…Iason," he gasped as he felt his orgasm building. So soon? God, why was he ready so soon? Were the drugs still affecting him, or had his body missed this that much?

"Yes, pet?"

"F…faster. P…please?"

"Then go faster, pet."

Riki did, pushing back faster and harder until he was almost impaling himself on Iason's rod, yet it wasn't enough! His legs were shaking and threatening to buckle, but he didn't want it to stop yet. "I…can't…help me."

Iason's arms looped closer around Riki's waist, almost completely supporting his weight now as the blondie started to thrust with vigor. "Like this, Riki?"

"Yes. Yes!" Riki through his head back in pleasure. "More! Faster!" Iason complied. "God! Oh God! I'm coming! Iason!"

Iason was insanely close as well and he reached down to loosen Riki's cock ring. "We'll come together," he whispered, as his own head whipped backward in the throes of passion.

And so they did.

Riki awoke once more on the bed, curled against Iason who appeared to be asleep, but he knew better. He tried to move and winced. Oh, yeah…definitely been awhile.

Iason's arm tightened around him but his eyes remained closed. "What is it, pet?"

"My ass hurts." Riki felt the light rumble of laugher from Iason's chest and almost smiled himself, before catching it and turning it into a scowl. "It's not funny."

Iason opened amusement filled eyes and peered down at his pet. "Would you like me to massage it until it is better?"

Riki grunted. "You've done enough." He tried to pull away and Iason resisted. "Let go! I gotta piss!"

Iason laughed and released Riki, watching as the young man scrambled off the bed, still wincing, and moved into the washroom where he closed the door. He rolled onto his back and lifted his arms over his head, contentedly; his Riki was back to being his normal, rebellious sarcastic self.

His fingers touched the cool metal of the binders that Riki had been wearing earlier and he again felt a spurt of rage at the idiot that had given Riki such a dangerous mixture of aphrodisiacs. Still, he had sort of made a deal with Riki, so while he could easily find out who the cretin was, he'd let it go, this time.

Riki flushed the toilet, moved to the sink to wash his hands and then stared at his reflection in the mirror, which was looking entirely too satisfied. He smirked, dried his hands and paused as he remembered Raoul's words. What if it wasn't enough? What if Iason decided to wipe his mind anyway? Or what if the panic attacks returned?

Iason had asked for his trust, and while Riki wasn't one hundred percent sure he believed Iason would not hurt him again, accidentally or otherwise, he realized that he had trusted Iason until that moment. Somehow, at some point, he must have trusted Iason because despite everything the Blondie had done to him, he was still here.

He could continue to deny it, claim that it was because was forced into this choice, in order to keep Guy and his friends safe, but in reality, he hadn't really thought of his old gang in several months now, not since he had been back here. So if he was truly honest with himself, while he hated being kept as a pet, hated the politics and bullshit of Tanagura, he wanted to be with Iason Mink. Was it because he wanted that, and had been seriously considering what that choice meant, Iason's actions that evening had effected him so severely?

His stomach was still a little queasy from the after effects of the aphrodisiac, but he knew it could have been much worse. It had been a stupid idea and only seemed to piss Iason off, but he supposed something extreme had been needed to get them both beyond what had happened.

Riki's eyes flickered back to his face in the mirror. He hadn't admitted it before, but the truth was that Iason had raped him. He'd been a sex toy for a blondie well before now, but he'd always been willing to some extent. Once Iason started to touch him he was always willing, but that time…that time he had said no, screamed no, and Iason had not stopped.

Could he trust Iason to keep his promise? Yes, he realized that he could, but forgiving him, that would not be so easy. He sighed heavily, leaned over the sink. When had things become so complicated? When had he bothered to worry about how he felt about Iason or how Iason felt about him? Did such feelings even matter between a Master and pet?

Releasing the binders from the headboard, Iason tossed them to the other side of the room as Riki returned. "Come back to bed, pet."

"I'm tired, Iason," he warned, even as he crawled between the covers again. "And sore, thanks to you."

Iason grinned and snaked his arm around the reluctant mongrel, even as Riki tried to turn away from him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Hey! I'm trying to sleep here!"

"Your place is beside me." Iason spooned tightly against Riki, leaving his pet little option but to remain where he was. "Did you forget so soon?"

"Whatever."

"Or, we could discuss where you got the drugs, if you prefer?"

Riki half turned to look at him. "You said you'd forget about it."

Iason's cold blue eyes flashed in challenge. "Make me."

Riki's gaze narrowed as he tried to ascertain if Iason was messing with him or if he was really expected to offer more to convince the Blondie to drop the subject. "How?" he demanded.

"That is for you to figure out, pet."

"I'm tired."

"You're always tired, Riki." Iason ran his fingers lightly across Riki's mouth. "What I want won't take that much energy from you."

Riki sighed and started to slide down in the bed, assuming that Iason now wanted a blow job for payment, but Iason's grip on him tightened.

"Not there, pet." He tapped his own lips. "Here."

A kiss? All he wanted was a kiss? That was odd, Riki thought, but then realized that he had never initiated a kiss between them. Was Iason testing him again?

"So fucking kiss me then."

Iason shook his head and continued to stare at him.

Fuck! Fine! He turned, grabbed Iason's face with both hands and planted a kiss on the Elite's lips, but before he could pull away, Iason's hands slid up to cup his neck and continue the kiss, sliding his tongue in between Riki's parted lips and sensually exploring Riki's mouth.

Fuck it, Riki thought, closed his eyes and allowed their tongues to meet. He could hear Iason's sharp intake of breath, could feel his own chest starting to heave in excitement, and then, suddenly, Iason pulled away.

"What…" he protested, then glared at the triumph in the Blondie's eyes. "Fuck you."

Iason laughed, lay back down and pulled Riki with him. "Later, pet. You said you were tired."

Forgiveness was a funny thing. Riki thought, as a strange feeling settled over him. He could still feel resentment over what Iason had done, and yet…and yet at that moment, he felt warm, sated and comfortable. Maybe forgiveness really didn't matter, when you had a warm bed and a hard body to sleep against, or maybe it wouldn't be so hard to forgive Iason after all.

He yawned and shifted slightly so he could slide one hand under the pillow and then dropped the other across the arm Iason curled across his chest. "Possessive bastard."

Iason linked his fingers with Riki's and lay his head next to the mongrel's. "Of course." Iason closed his eyes, and started to shut down for the evening, when he heard Riki speak again.

"So…are we…okay now?"

Iason knew what Riki was asking, the boy was still afraid of having his mind wiped. "We're okay."

"You…you said….you told Raoul that you were…considering the mind wipe."

Iason was silent for a long moment. "How do you know about that?"

Riki was reluctant to say, because he was afraid he would be punished for it. "I…was in the atrium earlier. I heard you talking."

"I see." So that was how Riki knew. "It is rude to eavesdrop, Riki. I expect you to know better in the future."

Riki understood the unspoken warning in Iason's voice. "I couldn't help it. I didn't know you would be there or what you would be talking about."

Iason supposed that was true so he would forgive the indiscretion, this time. He kissed Riki's forehead. "I would never change a thing about you, Riki. Not one thing."

"Then why did you tell him you would do it?"

"Raoul…" Iason began, paused, then continued. "Raoul is a good friend, however once he gets is mind set on something he rarely lets go. I will admit that I had considered his option for a very brief moment."

He felt Riki tense again.

"However, I would never want to lose anything of who you are, Riki. I was searching for other avenues to explore that would help us through this difficult time, and Raoul continued to push that one method. What I said and what I would do were not necessarily in agreement. at that time. Do you understand?"

"So…you said that just to get him to stop asking?"

"Something like that, yes."

"And…if I…mess up again, will you….will you go back to that option?"

"No. Never."

He felt the tension ease from his pet's body in one fluid moment, and his smiled widened as Riki shyly coiled his fingers around several strands of his long hair.

"Okay. Okay, good." Riki closed his eyes, adjusted his head across Iason's arm and the pillow. "Night."

"Sweet dreams, Riki."

So... technically the story can end here, they have both reached somewhat of a happy ending, but I feel like there may be more to write. What do you think? Is there anything else you would like to see?