To the world, Orlando is beautiful, and no one knows that more so than Dom. In their little home, Dom sets his lover free to glow aflame, until the walls singe and smell of smoke. He dresses Orlando up in long colorful skirts that sweep along the floor as he walks. Orlando wanders about the halls, arms stretched and mouth grinning bright, while Dom reads his scripts and watches from a distance.

Sometimes, Dom asks Orlando to dance for him, to spin and swirl so that his skirts move and cling to the contours of his body. When Orlando lifts his arms, his shirt reveals a strip of flesh, just thin enough for Dom to fit the tip of his tongue and paint the exposed skin with his mouth.

Orlando lets his hair grow long and wild, curls only tamed by the white strips of gauze that Dom ties to keep his locks from getting too tangled. Dom loves to comb Orlando's hair, running his fingers through the soft strands. And Orlando closes his eyes and leans into his touch, sighing constantly from Dom's gentle caresses.

Sometimes, Orlando sits by Dom, like a little pet, happy just to have someone to love. He nuzzles the palm of Dom's hand, and licks his wrist playfully when Dom reaches down to stroke his head. And then he would laugh and bite at Dom's fingers until Dom laughs and starts to bite back.

Inside their little home, Orlando is whiter than light, with precious stones set for eyes, and a voice that flitters like music. Dom always wonders how he ever won the heart of so pretty a creature.

When Orlando goes out to show himself to the world, Dom picks the dullest clothes to fit him in. He chooses dark suits, and gels his hair until it is stiff to the touch. Then he sends him out to greet the masses, tempered and tamed. And he knows that the girls will scream and cry for him, but none will become so mad as to try and steal him away. Orlando is safely tailored to be released into the world and Dom knows that when the night is over, he will return untouched and unharmed. Dom waits for Orlando to return each night, waiting to wash his hair and strip him bare and make him moan into the soft fabric of their bed.

Dom is careful, so careful to make sure that Orlando stays, and he stakes his claim deep and hard. Beneath Orlando's clothes, his body is covered with bites and bruises. They circle his thigh and trail patterns across his chest. Deep red scratches blaze down his back and if Orlando isn't filming, there will be rope marks around his wrists from where Dom tied the bonds too tight. Most nights, Dom and Orlando fall asleep side by side, with Orlando bound to one bedpost. But some mornings, Dom wakes up to find Orlando already wriggled loose from his ties, caressing the red skin lovingly. And Dom will smile and kiss his wounds and roll on top of Orlando to claim his smile with his own lips.

Dom is always scared that Orlando will find someone pretty and pale and perfect like himself and run away from their little home. He's afraid that Orlando is too beautiful to be kept caged and his slim hips and pale skin are really the marks of a ghost, easy to slip through the bars and fade into the air that's thick with lovers. But Orlando is solid to the touch and clings to Dom whenever they are wrapped around each other. He falls asleep with rough ropes tied about his waist, knotted himself even before Dom come to bed. Dom thinks that Orlando is used to the ways that he tries to show his love, and sometimes he wonders if he really needs the ropes to hold his lover close.

Dom would do anything for Orlando, and when Orlando kneels by his side to ask for a wish, he can not help but try to grant it. Orlando is told by the world to go find a girl and he goes to Dom to plead for help. Dom is quiet and hopes that Orlando can't hear the little snaps of his heart cracking. But he sees Orland's desperate eyes and he can't bear to refuse his doll a little companion.

When Dom sees Kate at a premiere, with pale hair and even paler skin, he wonders if she too has an owner. He brings home photos of her to Orlando, who traces her face with his fingers. He stares at her smile and he says that she is pretty and Dom knows that he has found the right mate.

When Orlando meets Kate, she is as soft and as porcelain as Dom expected. He guides their hands together and when she smiles, Orlando smiles back. When they meet, Dom makes sure to keep Orlando's curls loose, so that she will be as enchanted by him as he is by her.

Orlando spends his time in her company when he leaves for the outside world. They huddle at tables and kiss each other sweetly and smile and laugh like gentle music. And when it grows dark, they bid each other farewell and Orlando slips into a cab to return to his little home. When he greets Dom, he embraces him hard, thanking him with licks and strokes and a few happy tears. Dom returns the thanks and thinks that he has been too cruel and that Orlando has been too kind. They fall asleep in bed, Dom with his doll and Orlando with dreams of his newfound girl.

Then, Orlando comes home one day, face flush from shame, his hair limp and tangled. He says that she saw the marks on his body, and that they frightened her away. He says that he will always be alone because he is so painfully painted. He turns away from Dom's touch, and Dom is tempted to lay another bite on Orlando's hips, just to stake another claim into him. He is so scared that Orlando will leave. He reaches to rub a bruise that peeks from under Orlando's sleeve and leans down to kiss the dull pain away. He tells Orlando that he is never alone and that Dom proves it all the time with teeth and nails. With enough words, gentle and soft, Orlando curls back into his arms, and Dom thinks that he will stay.

Orlando keeps flying out from their little home, their little cage, looking for a new companion. But each girl is frightened off and he retreats back home to feel loved by Dom. Dom says that Orlando should give up, and Orlando is sad, so sad when he hears that.

Eventually, Dom offers Orlando a porcelain doll, of white skin and pale hair and Orlando holds the toy gently as if it were real. He says that it will be enough and he carries the figure all through the house, holding it tight and kissing it at night. Dom thinks that he has kept Orlando happy, and that he has stopped listening to what the world wants him to do. He thinks that they can live inside their little house even longer without ever having to deal with anyone else. He tells Orlando this, and Orlando thinks that they can.

Dom stops tying Orlando to the bedposts, but still wakes up to find Orlando straddling him, rope held between his teeth. He presses Dom's fingers harder into his skin as they fuck, begging to have a reminder. Orlando stays in their little house, but he still asks to be marked, as if he is afraid of being tempted away without a reminder on his body.

Dom finds Orlando's porcelain doll, scratched and marked with a paring knife. He sees the signs of where Orlando has broken and re-stitched the doll together over and over again, rebuilding it and destroying it every night. Dom looks at Orlando's precious and bruised treasure, and wonders if it was not merely his bruises that chased Kate and all the other girls away.

Dom runs his fingers along the doll's rough cuts. The marks around the wrists are sliced the deepest

Slashababy 2004 Stories