Deviations: Submission (33 page)

"Yes! Yes, I need it. Yes. I think about men, dream about them touching me, find them sometimes, in dark, seedy places where no one knows me." Noah was panting. He lowered one hand to grip himself and the other he overlapped slightly with Tobias' against the wall. "One, two, five, sucking me, fucking me, I don't care as long as they want me." He grunted, tugging on his cock.

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Tobias' thrusts grew longer, smoother, as he pulled almost all the way out and began to slam back in, one hand steadying Noah's hip, the other turning just enough to tangle their fingers. Noah's hand sped, and Tobias could feel him tense, his back tightening and his legs starting to shake.

Finally, he allowed himself to push deep, grinding his hips against Noah's ass. "Come for me," he whispered urgently.

"Make me come in your ass, boy. I want to feel you around me, want to feel your hungry body quiver and shake for me.

Want to see you, want to smell it, want to hear you come because of me."

Noah made a strangled whining sound and nodded. "Yes ...

for you," he sobbed out and gasped as his climax surged through him. Tobias could feel it, from the very first moment as his toes curled and his body went rigid, to the moment when Noah tightened around him and shot hot liquid over his fingers. He squeezed Tobias' fingers and rolled his hips slowly as he came down, panting hard. "For you," he repeated.

"For me." Tobias moaned and withdrew a tiny bit, just enough for friction, and he plunged in again and came, his cock throbbing. "My boy. Oh, God, Noah! Sweetheart!"

"Yes, yes, sir. God, yes," Noah mumbled softly, pressing his back into Tobias' chest and gripping his fingers that much tighter. "So good, so hot," he said, turning his head until his lips touched Tobias' hair. "Love you, sir. Love you."

Tobias forced himself to breathe properly, not to gasp or say anything stupid-but it was a close call. He'd been there before, in a moment so intense that things got said, and he wasn't about to let Noah panic over it. They could talk later, 298

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and would, but at the moment he had to take care of his boy.

So he gently pulled away, just enough for his softening cock to slip free, and then he turned Noah around and kissed him breathless.

Noah kissed him back hungrily, and when they finally broke apart he was panting and grinning. "Pardon me, sir," he said, chuckling softly. "I just have to breathe a minute..."

"If you insist." Tobias smiled at him and kissed the tip of his nose. He made a show of propping him against the wall and went to fetch the key, disposing of the condom on the way. "Better now?" he asked, kneeling to unlock Noah's ankles.

"Good. Great, yes, sir," Noah said, nodding slowly. "Man, those shackles are heavy."

Tobias laughed, the chains clinking loudly as the fell away from Noah's feet. "I imagine they are. Still want a steel collar, boy?"

"Oh, yeah. Even more now," Noah said, still smiling but coming down a bit. He sighed. "Did I blow the end of the scene there? Sorry about that, sir."

Tobias grimaced as he undid Noah's wrists. "No, that would be me. I doubt if a duke would fondly call his thief

'sweetheart', hmm?"

"True. But I liked it anyway."

"Oh, good." Tobias smiled at him and kissed his nose again. "And now we're at the part I like. The part where you get to clean up, I get to watch, and then we take a bath. Get to work, my little thief, and you can wear my clothes back to the house. Yours seem to have ... died."

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"A tragic, but very sexy, death." Noah grinned and scooped the shreds off the floor and disappeared to one of supply stalls to fetch cleaning supplies.

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Chapter 28

Blue jeans, Harley boots, black turtleneck sweater, leather jacket. It was important to him that he look every bit the off-duty cop. There had been a message from Phan on Noah's voicemail when he returned from the country saying, no, not Thai after all, he was in the mood for Indian, and he knew this little dive with great food. Great food Noah was ready for, the location of the restaurant he wasn't. He knew this neighborhood and the ones around it very well. He drove it regularly; in fact, he and his partner had passed this very restaurant six or eight times today alone.

Noah stood outside a moment wondering if tonight would be the night he finally started drinking. He was definitely nervous. He just hoped no one he knew would be inside to overhear their conversation. Taking a deep breath and trying to look friendly, he opened the door and made his way in. He was hit by the smell of warm, spicy curry, one of his favorites, and suddenly the idea of Indian food seemed very much better.

He hadn't quite adjusted to the light when a hand landed on his wrist and Phan popped up next to him. "Noah, hey, great timing. Got a table near the back, c'mon." And then he was gone, slipping through the tiny spaces between tables that were supposed to be room for the waiters. Phan's hair was still like bright copper, but the rest of him wasn't really what Noah'd expected; gone was the leather and showy display, leaving Phan looking rather like a normal person. Still 301

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high energy, but pretty nondescript in jeans and a light blue sweatshirt.

Noah followed him, having no real choice in the matter, and sure enough, they were at the back-all the way at the back, and Phan sat with his back to the door, letting Noah have a clear view of the room.

Noah grinned. "Hello to you, too," he said with a laugh.

"Did you know this was my beat, or is that a coincidence?"

Phan grinned and shrugged a shoulder. "Took a guess.

Figured if you worked uptown you needed to see my part of town-and if you knew it, even better. Got your gun with you?

And are you sure you don't top at all—you look fucking hot, man."

Noah tilted his boot and lifted his jeans just a bit to show Phan his ankle holster; that was all he was going to say about his gun. "I've topped a few times, it wasn't really my thing.

Besides, I'm in this sub contract at the moment, in case you hadn't noticed." He wondered how much of the compliment was genuine and how much was an ice breaker ice-breaker, but what did it matter, really? Phan was making an effort to be friendly, and Noah had to appreciate it.

He shrugged out of his coat and hung it over the back of his chair. "So you live around here? I'm about six blocks north. We're practically neighbors. God, this place smells great, I haven't had Indian food in ages."

"Me neither." Phan grinned at him again and tilted his head to the side, making him look like a curious puppy. "I live a few blocks east. Used to spend a lot of my lunch hours in here. And you don't have to be a Dom to top, if you know 302

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what I mean, but that's none of my business. So, how was your weekend?"

Well, Noah wouldn't have guessed that about Tobias, but he decided, despite his discomfort with the idea, that he'd better not rule it out. "Hm. Thanks for the tip, pun not intended. The weekend was wonderful, thank you."

"Cool. So, why am I here? Aside from the food and all?"

Nothing like getting right to the point, was there? Noah looked at Phan and sighed. "Honestly? Because for whatever reason, I've let the fact that you and Tobias are still friends get a rise out of me and I need to let it go. I'm hoping that getting to know you a little will allow me to do that."

Phan looked at him for a long moment, his eyes serious and his mouth set in a straight line. Then he suddenly beamed and laughed, a delighted sound that could have been infectious if Noah hadn't been so tense. "All right then. Get to know me. You'll either love me or use your gun, and it'll be a trip finding out which." Phantom leaned back and grinned.

"Bet Tobias just loves this. I can hear him now, all concerned and firm. God, that used to make me almost cream my jeans."

Noah didn't laugh with him; he didn't much feel like it just then. "I'm sure Tobias told you what he thought of it when you checked with him before accepting my invitation."

Phan's grin grew a little wider. "Uh huh. Sir was real happy you'd called. Told me he didn't mind-that he wants you to be comfortable with my ... presence in his life. You pissed I called him?"

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"Pissed? Not really. A little annoyed. I'm not much used to people making my mistakes for me." Noah sighed. "It might have been wrong of me to call you without telling him, but blowing the whistle on me wasn't really necessary, was it?"

Phan shook his head. "Had nothing to do with you, kiddo.

Was all about me and Tobias-no fucking way am I meeting with his new boy without clearing it through him. I owe him my life-it'd be piss poor of me to go behind his back on something, now wouldn't it?"

"Hm. Well, you have a point. Of course, he didn't spin it that way, but maybe he was looking for a reason to paddle me." Noah grinned that time and took a sip of his water.

Phan laughed. "Yeah, I bet that was horrible for you." He tilted his head again and Noah saw light glint off a gold earring. "How did he spin it, then?"

"That my time is his and if I want to make dinner engagements I had better be ready to ask him for permission first..." Something nagged at him, something Phan had said a moment ago. "Wait, what do you mean you owe him your life?"

Phan waved his hand. "He's right you know," he said, ignoring Noah's question. "You signed a contract-he gets to know where you are and what you're doing, and baby, if he wants you, you better jump. Not that it's bad-it's what you want, right? You want someone to care that much, to want to protect you, that you'll give up control of your free time."

Phan leaned over the table and stared at him. "Don't you?"

Noah leaned across the table mimicking Phan and stared right back. "Yes. It's exactly what I want. And I know he's 304

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right. He's generally right. My ass is still delightfully sore for it."

"Good. Then what the fuck is this shit about me ratting you out? Ditch the attitude, you'll get further." Phan glared at him, inches away and then suddenly darted forward and kissed his nose before falling back into his chair, laughing.

"Feel better now?"

Noah snorted, sitting back and staring at him. This one was definitely a live wire. He was caught hopelessly between annoyed and amused. "I can't decide if you're insane or just fucking with me," he said softly. "I've decided you're fucking with me, and I can't blame you, really. I know I probably seem pathetically needy to you, but do me a favor? This is my beat so don't kiss me again, okay?"

Phan's eyes widened almost comically. "Oh for ... all right.

Like anyone here would care-or like I'd take a chance of damaging Sir's boy." He pouted for a moment and then rolled his eyes. "Fine. No more kissing. Now what?"

"Just here, on my beat. You can kiss me elsewhere as long as it's okay with Tobias, fair?" Noah winked at him. He figured he needed to get better at this game or Phan was going to walk away thinking he was a stuck up ass. Which he wasn't.

Well, not usually anyway. "Anywhere else, I'd be flattered.

You're lovely, I see what Tobias is on about with you."

Phan preened. He actually sat up and preened, his head angled just right and his lower lip full and pouty. "So blow jobs aren't out of the question then? Cool." Noah was almost sure he was kidding. "What do you mean Tobias is on about me?"

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"Oh, he just speaks highly of you. Have we ordered yet? I don't think we ordered," Noah said, blinking the image of Phan giving him a blow job out of his mind. "It's on me; have a drink or two if you like."

"Don't drink, thanks anyway," Phan said, waving a waitress over. "Katie, this is my friend Noah. Give him the best, okay?"

The tiny girl, who couldn't have been much over sixteen, nodded shyly. "And you?"

"Your momma knows, honey. Oh, and lots of ice water-plus what Noah wants."

Noah glanced at Phan, and then back at the waitress. "I'll just have what he's having, and you might as well make the water a pitcher." Noah watched as the girl nodded and hurried off. "I don't drink either."

"How come?" The question was casual, but there was a slight change in Phan's posture. He was suddenly intent, like he wasn't going to treat this like a big joke. A serious Phan was like another creature entirely, yet the change was subtle.

His reasons were simple, and he didn't mind discussing them. "Alcohol is as dangerous as any other drug," Noah shrugged. "It impairs one's judgment," he said with a grin,

"and I have enough issues with bad judgment without it.

You?"

"Tobias. Said I owe him my life-meant it."

"I don't doubt you meant it. He's saving me from all kinds of things. Do you mind if I ask what happened?"

Phan shrugged. "He took me upstairs at the club one night. I wanted more, and he said no. I asked why and he 306

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said I was heading for a fall and he wouldn't take me on unless I could give him everything, let him help. So I left town, found a week-long party and lost a couple of days.

Woke up miserable and sick and headed into detox. Tobias came to visit me."

Noah nodded slowly. Most people thought that his decision not to drink, and in fact his strong aversion to anyone who overindulged, was some kind of activism or holier-than-thou kind of thing. At least that's why he usually got teased about it when he was out with the guys from work. But this was really the reason, people that just didn't know when they were out of control. People who needed help. People like David.