New tricks (3 page)

Quinn did as he was told, and felt something cool and smooth coiling over his wrists. It felt familiar. “Aaron, are those reins? Damn, have you got a leather fetish going on, too?”

“No, baby, it’s not the leather, it’s the horses. I hope you won’t mind wearing a bit and a having a fake tail sticking out of your ass.”

“Okay, I’m pretty understanding about all the porn, but you should probably stay off the fetish sites, okay? I really don’t think you need any more ideas.”

“I need
lots
of ideas. I’ve got a lifetime to look forward to with you, and I want to keep things interesting.” He kissed Quinn’s shoulder, then jerked the leather reins tight. Quinn tried to move his arms, and found that they were, as he’d expected, tied to the headboard. Aaron really wasn’t missing a cliché. And every damn one of them was adding to Quinn’s arousal.

Aaron’s hands weren’t doing anything to help Quinn calm down, either. He was acting as if he’d never seen Quinn’s legs before and was tickling the skin, kneading the muscles, and then kissing all the most sensitive spots. Well, all but the one
most
sensitive spot, the only part of Quinn’s lower body that
wasn’t
being lavished with attention. He tried to shift a little, tried to subtly suggest that maybe Aaron would like to move up just a little bit, but if Aaron noticed, he didn’t respond. Quinn thumped his head back into the pillow in frustration, then tried to make his body relax and enjoy the attention that it
was
getting.

But as soon as he started trying that, even that unsatisfactory attention went away. Aaron was gone, the mattress shifting as he climbed off the bed, and then just—gone. No noise, nothing. It was disconcerting. “Aaron?” Quinn tried. There was no answer. “Aaron? Did the aliens beam you up? Did you fall asleep? Go out for coffee?”

“You were warned, Quinn.” Aaron’s voice was quiet, but close. “No more questions.” Something soft dragged up and over Quinn’s face. “I love you, so I won’t use your dirty socks. This one’s clean.”

“Oh, come on, Aaron….”

“Open your mouth, Quinn.” Quinn thought about objecting, but did as he was told. Instead of having the sock stuffed inside, though, Aaron laid it crosswise in Quinn’s mouth; if it had been longer, it could have been tied behind his neck. As it was, though, it didn’t seem very effective. Then Aaron explained. “I’m just going to leave it there. You can spit it out anytime you need to. But if you spit it out, or if you try to talk around it—the game’s over. I’ll undo your hands, and I’ll go make us some dinner while you jerk off in the shower, alone, and that’s it for the night. You understand?” Quinn nodded silently; he understood too well. Aaron had made the gag pretty damned effective, after all.

“Okay, then. Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was taking pictures. I’m going to go back to that, now. You—relax. Be patient.” A kiss on the forehead, and Aaron was gone.

It was hard to figure out what was happening. Quinn was pretty sure that Aaron wasn’t taking pictures for the entire time. He’d climb back on the bed fairly frequently, for a quick kiss to one of Quinn’s nipples, a finger’s touch to some muscle somewhere, and, on one glorious occasion, a full-mouth kiss to the head of Quinn’s cock. But Aaron always left again, left Quinn alone and aching for release. Aching for Aaron.

Finally, Aaron seemed to have mercy. He crept up the bed from the foot, sliding his body along Quinn’s all the way, and then lay down gently on top of them. At some point, Aaron had lost his clothes, and they were both naked now, their hard cocks lined up perfectly. It would be so good, so easy…. Quinn shifted his hips, just a little; if he wasn’t allowed to ask questions with his voice, he’d have to try to ask them with his body.

Aaron’s answer wasn’t quite what Quinn had been hoping for. “Not yet, Quinn. Almost. I promise. Just one more thing on my list, and then whatever you want. I’m yours after just one more thing.”

That sounded pretty good. And chances were, Quinn wasn’t going to exactly hate whatever the one more thing was, either. He nodded, not that Aaron had technically been asking for his permission. He waited for the new sensation, trying to trace through his memory, sorting through porn clichés that Aaron had likely seen, debating which ones would be next. But Aaron wasn’t doing much. He slid most of his weight over so that he was lying on his side, snug up against Quinn’s body, and he used his long reach to pet Quinn, smooth strokes from his face down to his thighs, sometimes skimming just beside his cock, but never giving Quinn what he wanted so much. Quinn tried to relax and enjoy, but then Aaron started talking, his voice right beside Quinn’s ear.

“Quinn—I love you.” Quinn’s body froze, and for the first time he felt trapped by his restraints. Aaron’s hand continued its soothing path, but Quinn knew that it was running over muscles that had been loose a moment earlier and were now tense. There was no way Aaron wasn’t going to notice that. But he didn’t comment on it. He just repeated himself, and then kept going. “I love you. More than I ever thought I could.” A quick kiss to Quinn’s ear, and then, “I’ve never been an unhappy person, not really. But I always felt like there was something missing. And I don’t feel that way anymore. Because of you. Because I love you, and you love me back, and neither one of us is perfect, but we’re perfect for each other.” Quinn thought about spitting the gag out. It was torture to have to listen to all this and not be able to respond, to not deflect or joke his way out. He wondered whether Aaron had planned this all, right down to the punishment gag, or if that had just been lucky.

Aaron shifted so that more of his weight was on Quinn’s body, and his hand slipped down to wrap around Quinn’s cock, not working it, but not
exactly
still either. But Aaron wasn’t done with his monologue. “I’m not going anywhere. Not until you kick me out, and if you do that, I’m going to spend a
hell
of a long time trying to fight my way back in. Okay? I love you, Quinn.” His hand tightened on Quinn’s cock, and now it started to move, slow and easy, but snug. Perfect. Except that Aaron was still talking, low and steady, right in Quinn’s ear, as if he wanted to find the shortest route from his lips to Quinn’s brain.

“I love you, Quinn.” A soft, wet kiss to Quinn’s jaw. “I love you.” And Aaron shifted again so that his hard cock was lined up with Quinn’s, and then Aaron’s huge hand was wrapped around them both, still slow, but tighter now, and Quinn had been wrong to think that the earlier grip was perfect; he was wrong to ever use that word around Aaron, because as soon as Quinn thought things were as good as they could get, Aaron found a way to make them better. “I love you, Quinn.” He kissed Quinn’s temple, but that wasn’t enough, it wasn’t what Quinn needed. Aaron seemed to realize that.

“Still no talking,” he said firmly, and then he lifted the sock away from Quinn’s mouth, presumably with his teeth. One more “I love you, and I’m not going anywhere, ever,” and then their mouths joined, and Quinn let his body arch up into Aaron’s, hard muscle finding its match, hot skin melting together. As they reached their climax, their mouths broke apart so they could get more air, but Aaron didn’t let up, murmuring “I love you, I love you,” even as his hips began to move, driving into his hand, into Quinn, and Quinn could feel his own blessed orgasm wash over him just as Aaron’s body tightened and shuddered above him.

Finally there was quiet, and Quinn tried to get his composure back, tried to re-center himself, but Aaron beat him to the punch. “I love you,” Aaron said, and he brought his wet hand up between their bellies and played with the mess there, tickling and smiling as he said again, “I love you. More than anything. I, Aaron Miller, love Quinn Donahue.” He kissed Quinn’s nose playfully. “And he loves me back. And
he’s
allowed to say it, but when
I
say it, he gets all weird. But not anymore, right?” Aaron shifted again, his full weight now on Quinn, pinning him to the mattress, and he used both hands to hold Quinn’s head still, facing him. Quinn tried to ignore the come that he was sure Aaron was smearing on his face; he could shower soon. For now, he let Aaron have the attention he apparently needed. “I’m serious, Quinn. If the only way to get you to listen to me is to tie you up and gag you, then this is going to become a nightly routine. Okay? I love you.”

Quinn nodded reluctantly. He
did
like hearing it. He did. It was just hard to let himself believe it.

Aaron seemed almost satisfied. “Okay, final quiz. You’re allowed to talk now, and if you get the answers right, you’re free. But if you screw up, we’re back to the very beginning. We’ll do this as long as we have to, Quinn.”

Quinn rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, okay.” It felt strange to use his voice.

Aaron braced himself on his arms and lifted his chest away from Quinn’s. It put a bit of pressure on Quinn’s groin, and damn it, he felt a stir of interest. Maybe he wouldn’t mind too much if they started at the beginning again. Or maybe this time, it could be Aaron’s turn to get tied up….

But Aaron’s mind was not racing alongside Quinn’s. Instead, he was focused on his damned quiz. “Okay, question number one—do you love me, and, in case you want to distinguish, are you
in
love with me?”

Quinn opened his mouth to answer, but Aaron held up a finger to stop him. “I changed my mind. You can’t talk yet. Here, take the sock back.”

“Are you serious? You just—” Quinn stopped abruptly as he felt Aaron’s sharp teeth rest ever-so-gently on the tender skin between Quinn’s nipple and his underarm. “Seriously? You’re going to—Ouch! Jesus! Damn it, that—Ouch! Okay, shit, stop that! Give me the sock.”

Quinn let his mouth fall open and accepted the sock between his teeth. He felt a little better when Aaron slid back down and kissed the spots he had bitten, but, still—this whole thing was getting out of hand.

Then Aaron was back next to his ear. “Okay, sorry I had to do that. But you need to stay obedient for just a little bit longer. And I think it’s best if you just answer yes or no by nodding or shaking your head.” He kissed the corner of Quinn’s mouth. “So, we’re back to it. No talking, just nod yes or shake your head no. The question is: do you love me, and are you
in
love with me?”

Quinn wished he could use words to elaborate on the situation, but he settled for nodding his head up and down, and was rewarded with another quick kiss. Then Aaron said, “Okay, next question. And the reason this is only yes or no is because I don’t want to hear any of your ‘it’s not really possible for me to answer that’ or ‘those words need to be defined’ bullshit, okay? I just want a yes or no. And the question is: do I love you, and am I
in
love with you?”

Well, damn it, that was harder. He knew the answer Aaron wanted, but Quinn wasn’t going to lie, and this was—well, damn it, he needed his words. He needed to explain how impossible it was to tell the difference between infatuation and real love, when it was the first time for both. He needed to clarify that he didn’t think, not for a second, that Aaron was
lying
, he just thought maybe Aaron didn’t know quite as much as he thought he did.

Then he remembered Aaron’s words, whispered so intensely, so freely. Quinn knew they weren’t just words, weren’t something that Aaron said casually. Quinn had trusted Aaron without hesitation when it came to his body; maybe it was time to let himself trust Aaron with his heart as well. He moved his head slightly, and it felt right. It felt like something that he was strong enough to do. He moved it further, made it a clear nod, and as his head came back down his lips met Aaron’s, waiting for him. The sock was quickly dragged away, and then Aaron’s hands were on Quinn’s, loosening the leather until Quinn could slip free and bring his arms down to pull Aaron closer. The blindfold was the last to go, impatiently pushed up over Quinn’s forehead. “I love you, Quinn,” Aaron said fervently.

Quinn fought back the disclaimers. Instead, he pushed with his hips and his shoulders, and rolled them over so that Aaron was flat on his back with Quinn hovering over him. Quinn looked down at the beautiful, trusting,
loving
face that was looking back up at him, and he said the only thing he could think of. “Thank you.” From Aaron’s smile, Quinn was pretty sure that his words were enough.

About the Author

K
ATE
S
HERWOOD
started writing at about the same time that she got back on a horse after a twenty-year break. She’d like to think that she’s far too young for it to be a mid-life crisis, but apparently she was ready for a few changes!

Her writing focuses on characters and relationships, people trying to find out how much of themselves they need to keep, and how much they can afford to give away. Kate finds that real-life monogamy is much easier to maintain when she gets to spend time with so many different men in her stories.

Copyright

New Tricks ©Copyright Kate Sherwood, 2011

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