"Fuck you? Did I promise to fuck you?" Noah growled behind him. "You're going to have to do much better than that if you want my cock in your ass." Noah suddenly spread Tobias' ass wide with his fingers and the unmistakable hot warmth of Noah's tongue invaded him.
Tobias screamed. He knew he did, he hated that he did, but he had to. "Oh, God, no," he yelled, fighting not to come. "Sir, please! Please!"
Noah pulled back. "Please what? More of my tongue? Fuck you? Stop? Please what?" Noah teased and badgered him slightly, his voice raised. "Come on, think! What do you want? Tell me! Make me want to do it, boy. Beg me." Noah didn't wait for an answer before picking up where he left off, tongue and teeth teasing Tobias' hole.
Tobias shook, tried to spread his legs, to move, but couldn't. He cried out and moaned, finally sucking in a deep breath and obeying. "Lick me, sir! God, yes, please more. Need your tongue, fuck me with it, please, sir! Lick me, fuck me, shove your cock in me and fuck me hard, sir!"
Noah groaned into his ass, fucking him with his tongue for a few long moments before pulling away. Tobias heard the familiar pop of the lube before Noah's legs straddled his bound ankles, and then his Master was pressing against him, pushing slowly into him. Maddeningly slow. Torturously slow. "Fuck, yes, boy. Tight." Noah stopped, balls deep, and leaned over Tobias back to lick him between the shoulder blades. "Can you hold on a little longer?" he whispered, his tone suddenly gentle.
"Yes, sir." Oh, God, he hoped so, prayed so. Tobias tried to breathe, tried to hang on to his control over his own body.
"Good boy. Such a good boy," Noah praised him softly and started to move, picking up the pace with each thrust until he was grunting with them. His fingers held Tobias' hips firmly and their bodies came together with the rhythmic sounds of skin on skin. "Beautiful boy," he panted. "Making me so proud."
Tobias moaned, soaring on the praise. "Thank you, sir," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "God, feel so good, sir. Thank you." He moaned and gasped, his back arched and he swayed with every thrust.
"Gonna let you come, boy. Soon now." Noah grunted and started to surge harder, deeper into Tobias. "Soon. God. So tight, so good."
Tobias whimpered. He concentrated on Noah and not on his own prick, tried to make it good. He squeezed Noah's cock hard when he pushed in, adding a little friction, a little pull. If he could have, he would have added a shimmy or something else, just anything to make Noah fly with him.
Tobias knew it was time seconds before Noah said it. Noah's body got tight, his thrusts faltered, and his fingers dug harder into Tobias' hips. "Now, boy. Come for me. Come now!" Noah ordered with half-filled lungs and a shaky voice.
Tobias came. He came in soft waves that flooded through him. He came in leaps of flame. He came in gushing spurts that soaked the bed. And through it all he was crying out, wanting Noah -- wanting his Master -- to come with him, to be there with him.
"Yes!" Noah shivered and spilled over. He shoved his cock deep and kept it there, throbbing inside Tobias as his release washed through him. He made delicious pleasured sounds, moans and sighs, and a long groan, at the end of which he planted kisses along Tobias' back. "Oh, good boy, good boy," Noah pushed a hand into Tobias' hair and tugged it gently, then scritched his fingers through it.
Tobias might have purred. He wasn't exactly sure, as he was busy trying to breathe and stay conscious, but there was a very strong chance he was purring. "Thank you, sir," he said softly.
"You are so very welcome, boy." They hung there together for a while, each recovering to some degree, each regaining some conscious thought and settling their breathing. When Noah finally pulled away, he sighed heavily, and kept contact with Tobias, leaving his hands on him. "I'm going to take these off now, boy. It'll take a little time, just relax. Sometimes this can be the best part."
It did feel good. Noah's hands on him, the ropes sliding over his skin... everything was sensitive, every touch magnified. Tobias moaned as Noah moved over and around him, freeing his legs but not stopping the constant contact.
Noah helped him stretch out on his stomach before removing the ropes on his arms and wrists. When he was done, Noah tossed several neatly coiled ropes on the pillow by Tobias' head before he climbed onto the bed with him. "Come here, I want to hold you." He opened his arms and waited for Tobias to settle himself in them.
The purr was joined by a cling, and the few remaining clinical parts of Tobias wondered when he'd turned into Phan. He decided he didn't care, and rested his head on Noah's chest, kissing the closest bit. "If I say thank you again will you get annoyed?" he asked with a smile.
"No." Noah laughed softly.
"Thank you, then." He sighed and wiggled his toes. "That was amazing."
"That was...
not how I expected the evening to go.
Wow." Noah petted him some more, running his fingers over every inch of skin he could reach.
"Nor I," Tobias said with a laugh. "But I'm glad you ran with it. I haven't had a night like this in... well, how old are you again?" he teased.
Laughter shook Noah's abs. "I haven't ever had a night like this."
"Are you sure?" Tobias asked with a grin. "You knew what you were doing. Noah, I hadn't been that far into subspace in literally fifteen years, perhaps more. That was damn fine work."
"Well, the rope bondage I'd done, but not in this context. The crop? Well, that's just something I picked up when I was between Doms. As for the rest, I've been observing the best for a while now."
"It was good," Tobias said again. "You could train, if you were interested. Someday when you're bored with me and want someone to spank..."
"Pfft!" Noah snorted. "Bored with you? Bored? Shit, you're a bottoms-up Dom, how the hell could I possibly get bored?" He laughed again.
Tobias laughed too, laughed until his sides started to hurt. "Oh, God, I love you."
"Love you too, old man. But we reek. We need showers."
"I'm not able to move yet."
Noah gave him a push onto his back. "Okay, then. Just kiss me."
That he could do. That he wanted to do. For a long, long time. Like sixty years or so.
Noah and Tobias coasted on the high of that strange and powerful night of role reversal for days. It seemed like time had flown by with all the activity surrounding moving, and Phan, and the arrival of spring. The renovations at the new house went fairly quickly as far as construction went -- less than a month to complete everything, including the long-lusted-after hot tub. Not that Tobias had permitted anyone to see it yet; he claimed it was a surprise. By the time the three of them did their final walk-through before hiring the movers, the house had already started to feel like home.
Phan continued his therapy with Dr. Brewer, and while he had the occasional bad day, mostly Noah was seeing positive things. Phan seemed a little more self-possessed, and in general more confident and happier than Noah had seen him in... well, quite frankly, ever.
They hadn't had any tense moments or rough scenes yet. Noah continued to search his soul for the last vestiges of jealousy over Phan but honestly hadn't found any. He kept looking for the feelings he'd buried or the needs he'd put aside to make sure Phan felt safe and wanted, but they just weren't there. It surprised him, and it was a relief, too. He was on solid ground; very solid, secure ground.
Things were going well. The move had been horrid. Absolutely horrid. There had been the truck from Tobias' condo, the truck from Noah's place, and, in addition, Bradford had stuffed Tobias' truck with things that belonged to Phan. It was near chaos directing the movers, and finally Tobias had told Noah and Phan to go sit on the deck until the movers had gone. They didn't pout, but Phan was close, and Noah was frustrated and angry. They went to sleep behind three separate closed doors, and it was the best thing, really. By the morning they were all rested and hungry and ready to start unpacking.
It had taken days. But the fun part, the best part, was saved for last -- the playroom. And that was where Noah had spent the last day and a half, hanging chains, moving equipment, and seeing to the safety of the room. Phan, bless his heart, had spent his time unpacking and repacking the trunks, organizing the armoire, and picking out curtains. And all the while, Tobias had animals in labor to contend with.
The longer Noah was on top of the ladder, the more he was glad this was only May and not the dead of summer. But all the same, it was hot. He sat down on the top step and sighed, letting the drill rest in his lap.
He looked down at Phan, who was doing a bang-up job of holding the ladder steady for him. The boy hadn't even broken a sweat. "Toss me up that water bottle, hon?"
Phan grinned at him and passed the water bottle. "I can do that, too, you know. I don't have to just hold the measuring tape. And the level. And the ladder. I'm not entirely without talents, I promise."
"Oh, I've never questioned your talents. But I've been warned by he-who-is-delivering-a-foal that you are not to be trusted with anything more complicated than a hammer, and even that is to be with close supervision. You want to argue, argue with The Man, not me." Noah smiled, accepting the water bottle. "Could you open a window or two?"
"Yeah, yeah. Break one little table, try to fix it, and never get to use a drill again. It's my lot in life," Phan grumbled, going to the windows. He opened two and turned to look at Noah. "Mind you, I get to look up at your ass a lot doing this. And that's never a bad thing. Think you can put on your uniform for me?"
"I think if drilling through your finger hadn't sent you to the emergency room things might be different." Noah laughed. "And no, you slut, I am not putting on my uniform." He upended the bottle and drank deeply.
"Okay, then. Just keep giving that bottle head and I'll
imagine
you're in uniform. And I didn't drill a hole through my finger. It was my thumb. Stupid thing. And! While we're talking and not working... how come there are three sets of chains, hmm?" Phan wiggled his eyebrows. "And how come Sir won't let us look in the safe room? And how come you got the bedroom closest to the bathroom? And what's for supper?"
"Are you five?" Noah nearly dropped his drill, he was laughing so hard.
"Not in ages, kiddo. How come you're laughing at me when you should be giving me kisses to shut me up?"
"Because you're eight feet below me. I got the bedroom closest to the bathroom because I called dibs before you did, the safe room is a surprise and I partly know what it is, the chains are for you, me, and someone taller than both of us... and you're making dinner because I can reasonably count on you not hurting yourself while doing it."
"Dibs?" Phan yelled. "There was dibs and you call
me
five? Jesus. And what's the surprise? And we're ordering pizza, yay!"
"I'm not allowed to tell what the surprise is, and it's not like I've seen it, I just know what Sir and I talked about." Noah tossed the empty water bottle to Phan and stood up again, pulling a heavy bolt from his pocket. "Oh, and I have money in my wallet, and make sure you order me sausage and mushroom."
"My treat," Phan said absently, looking at the chains. Noah had hung them at Tobias' request, a little promise of things to come after their successful and satisfying evening trading roles. "Um. Who's the tall guy we have to kill? I mean be nice to?"
Noah laughed and stretched up to slide the bolt through the top of the St. Andrew's Cross. "The man I tied up the other night with that red rope you were admiring." He pulled out his wrench and started to lag the bolt into place.
There was dead silence from the floor.
"I see you've guessed it." Noah peered down at Phan and had to laugh again; Phan was staring in complete disbelief. "He requested them. I measured him this morning."
"Shut the fuck up. He didn't. You didn't. Shut up." Phan was staring up him, looking more stunned by the moment. "No way."
Noah seated the bolt and made his way down the ladder. "Oh, yes, I did. Rope bondage and that short whip I kept in my dresser." Two more steps and he was standing right in front of Phan. "It was the night you went to Bradford's. We hadn't planned it at all, it just happened. It was his idea, really, or his offer, and I took him up on it. It was... it scared the hell out of me at first, but you know how I am with roles, I just kind of went with it."
"It... you. Oh, man." Phan let go of the ladder and leaned on the wall, sliding down into a crouch. "You flogged Sir."
Whoa. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything; Phan looked a little pale. "Phan? Are you all right?" Noah knelt next to him on the floor.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Phan blinked at him a few times. "You got off on it? Since when do you switch? Since when does he switch? God, I go to one party..." Phan grinned, but it looked like it was an effort.
"I don't switch," Noah protested. He didn't really, did he? "This was my first time, I'd never done a full scene before, but it seemed like Sir wanted it and... yeah, I got off on it a little. Maybe more than a little. I don't know..." Noah sat next to Phan, also leaning on the wall. "Maybe we did switch. I really don't know. It was incredible."
"Oh." Phan still looked stunned, but maybe there was a bit of curiosity working in there too. "Um. Okay. Whatever works, I guess. Everyone had fun? He... huh. I mean, I know he likes to bottom every now and again, I guess I just never thought about him subbing, too."
"Trust me, he loved it. If he'd thanked me one more time I might have had to slap him. I never thought I could do it, Phan, not to anyone, let alone him. But when he wants something... I just want to be what he needs. It's so important to me." It was maybe the most important thing to him.
Phan nodded. "I get that. Trust me," he said. "Was it weird for you the next day? Not with him, I mean, just in general. When I used to do something really new like that it took me a couple of days to really wrap my head around it." Phan's eyes were definitely full of curiosity now.
"Yeah, it was weird. I felt so out of my skin, kind of disoriented. Work helped a lot, because I'm used to putting Sir and the lifestyle aside when I'm working. I think without that to ground me things would have been much harder to resolve. And I'll be honest, I haven't thought that hard about it until now." That was the truth. Thinking about it meant redefining himself in a way he hadn't ever expected he'd need to. He found himself thinking out loud. "I don't have a niche anymore."
"Of course you do," Phan said immediately. Phan pulled him over, wrapping his arms around Noah and kissing his cheek. "You're his. His pet, his lover, his partner. That's all you need to know, kiddo. No matter what, you're his, and he'll walk you through whatever you need."
Phan's words were like fresh air. Noah leaned on him heavily and sighed, relieved to hear the one truth that outweighed absolutely every dilemma. "God, Phan. You're right. You are so right." He sighed again. "Thank you."
"Hey, I'm the guy with the answers. Not allowed to use power tools, but I'm good with love stuff."
"I'm glad someone is." He pulled away from Phan and kissed him. "You have been such a blessing in disguise. I hope you know that." He got to his feet. "If you'd lean against the cross for me I'll have it done in five minutes."
Phan pushed himself back up the wall again and nodded. "Right. Me, cross holder. You, power guy. I think I need a union..." But he turned and leaned on the cross, wiggling his butt.
"So you're okay with this, right?" Noah asked one more time before climbing the ladder. "I mean, he didn't tell me I shouldn't tell you so... You should talk to him if it makes you uneasy."
"Nothing for me to be okay or not with," Phan said, looking at the wall. "It's between you and him."
"Between me and..." Noah sighed, not sure how to feel about that. "All right, Phan, if you want it that way." Noah got his wrench out and made his way up the ladder again.
"What?" Phan said, looking up at him. "What does it have to do with me?"
"You're saying I shouldn't have told you."
"I am not!" Phan stared up at him. "I'm saying that if you two want to switch, it's not up to me to interfere or say good or say not. It's not about me."
"No, but it's about Sir. Something's bothering you about it, Phan, I can tell. All I was saying was if you don't want to discuss it with me, discuss it with him." Noah frowned and rubbed his forehead. There had to be a reason he started this argument.
Phan sighed. "I... ah, shit. Just finish up so we can order supper, kiddo. I need to think." He sounded tired, like all the energy he'd had ten minutes before had been burned away.
Noah smiled down at Phan another second. "Right," he said finally and got back to work. Fixing the cross into the wall took him no time at all.
Downstairs, Phan ordered the pizza and looked at the phone for a long moment. "Did he say when he was getting back?" he asked finally.
"No, he said he had a lot of calls." Noah felt bad for Phan, but he'd be damned if he was bringing the subject up again. "Thanks for ordering the pizza. I'm starving."
"Be here in twenty or so," Phan said absently. "I'm going to go shower -- don't eat the spinach, 'kay?"
"I hate spinach. Don't use up all the hot water." Noah sighed and watched Phan go. The house felt big now that he was sitting all alone in the living room. He got up and looked out the window, then wandered a bit from room to room downstairs on the pretense of checking out what still needed to be unpacked, but he wasn't even fooling himself. He was worried about Phan, about what he'd told him, about starting a stupid argument over nothing... and about completely ignoring the issue ever since. He probably should have apologized.
He was lost in thought, leaning in the dining room doorway, when the doorbell rang. It was a grand, loud, musical thing, and it scared the hell out of him. "What the fuck was that?" he practically shouted before heading for the door. He paid for the pizza and took it from the delivery boy but couldn't help leaning out the door and pushing the doorbell button again. Elaborate chimes went off so loudly it felt like their entry hall had become Grace Chapel. "Oh, that has got to go," he muttered, heading for the kitchen.
He was barely finished with his first slice when Phan reappeared.
"Who the fuck put those bells in?" Phan said, eyes wide. "They gotta go."
"I don't know, Liberace? Fucking thing scared me out of my skin." Noah pointed to the pizza boxes. "Yours is on the bottom, appropriately, staying warm."
"Oh, yum!" Phan pounced, grabbing the box and opening it. "So, the scary bells go. We're agreed. We're a united front against the doorbell of doom. It's like church -- and I didn't get on so well with church."
Phan was babbling, which was his way of keeping his mouth so busy that he couldn't talk about the things that he didn't want to talk about. Noah had seen it dozens of times now, and why Phan thought it would fool him anymore, he couldn't fathom. But the fact remained that he didn't want to talk about it either.
"No one that's kinky gets along well with church," he said picking up his second slice.
"I think Elizabeth liked church. But then, she might have just liked to sing. And she wasn't kinky, just... open-minded." Phan finally sat and started eating. He ate one slice and then another, not looking up until he'd started the third. "I'm sorry," he said softly.
Noah snorted. "No, I'm sorry." Okay, there it was, he'd said it. "Your reactions were honest; mine were defensive."
"Yours were honest, too, Noah," Phan said, still speaking softly. "You shared something really important and special with me and I wigged. You're allowed to be defensive."
"You're allowed to wig. Hell, I wigged."
Phan shrugged. "You were in it. It was you -- your wig was earned. Mine was... reactionary and selfish. Why are we arguing about who's sorry?"
"Because we both feel like crap about it. Apology accepted, better?" He smiled. "I do think an honest reaction, though, selfish or not, needs addressing."
"Yep. But I seem to be having some trouble getting to the root of it," Phan admitted. "Might take more thinking."
"Fair enough. You know I'll listen whenever you're ready to talk about it." The knot in his stomach seemed to be receding, and in its place was a big empty spot with room enough for a few more slices. He got up to fill his plate.