Settling Down (10 page)

“Yes. We… no, I… I thought it was important to let Mistress Rarity know about the sort of Dom Max was.”

Tim was dangerously still, except for his eyes, which he darted up at Jae. Like a squirrel who’d just heard a threatening sound. “With what proof?”

Jae stood up straight. He would man up to this, as he told everyone else. If Tim was going to “kill” him, he wouldn’t be a coward about it. “With what happened to you. I wouldn’t allow him to keep trying to intimidate you or try to worm his way to another sub to hurt.”

“Too late for that,” Tim muttered. “He had a big date with a new sub. Poor thing.”

“Well, not completely. There’s a notice posted on the subs’ forum, reminding single subs to be more careful about any new Doms who might be looking during the Ball. Just stick to their limits, seek out a familiar Dom or Dungeon Master if they don’t feel safe. You know the drill, Tim.”

Tim was quiet for far too long. Seconds passed, then a minute. Jae cleared his throat. “How does that make you feel, Tim?”

The answer came quick. Good. “Betrayed. Angry. No, pissed. Scared. What if he finds out? What if it comes back to me? That violates the order. He can sue me. I’ll lose everything.”

As Tim talked he started to shake. Jae stepped forward, coming closer as Tim continued to babble, his voice growing louder. “Why? Why did you do this? I would have been fine otherwise. No one had to know. How fucking dare you!”

Jae kept his voice level. “Because you’re my responsibility, remember? Your care is my priority, and it’s obvious you’re not ‘fine.’ You’re so far from fine that you’re going to fall the fuck over at the mere mention of his name. That is not fine.”

“And how does this protect me? He doesn’t even know that I’m yours. Or anyone’s. Not that he’d believe me if I told him.”

Good, Tim was still “his.” “He’ll know, alright. And if that makes him mad, then I’m here for you. You are not alone in this. Not anymore.”

Tim flinched when Jae put a hand on his shoulder. “Put the mug down.”

Jae wasn’t expecting Tim to jerk away from his touch, glaring with white-hot anger. Neither one of them seemed to expect the mug to hit the floor and shatter. Tim’s rage immediately turned into shock, surprise, and he looked up at Jae for something.

Guidance. The one thing Jae had been denying him.

Enough.

“Step out of the mess, slowly,” Jae ordered, and just like that, Tim’s body relaxed, the twitch easing as he looked down to obey, moving away from both the shards and Jae until he stood on clear tile, eyes down, breath held.

Yes. That was it. Jae felt immediately ten times better watching Tim submit. But it wasn’t enough. He submitted to Jae that night at his apartment as well. Tim needed to know this wasn’t just play.

Jae needed to reclaim his role as Head of this Fucking Household.

Making sure he was free from stepping on any bits of mug himself, Jae made a show of tutting as he walked toward Tim. “So many rules we’ve broken, pet. I know about your meltdown at the store. I’m glad your dad was there, but you didn’t contact me. Why?”

“You were busy. With your parents.”

“And you haven’t been talking to me about this Max thing, how it’s affecting you. Why?”

“We were both busy. There wasn’t any time for me to… for me to fall apart. Poppa needed me, the shop needed me….”

“And you thought you didn’t need me?”

“You were busy. I tried.” Tim’s voice cracked with tears. Jae’s heart broke. How did he miss how much Tim needed this?

He resisted the urge to reach out and pull Tim close. Tim needed something a bit more than a cuddle right now. He needed discipline, to have the guidelines reestablished so he could feel safe once again. “Never again, you hear me? I will never be too busy for you. You need to contact me, like we agreed. Understand, pet?”

Jae didn’t think it was possible for Tim to relax any more until he said “pet.” But he shook and let out a relieved sob. Jae passed his hand through Tim’s hair. “Five minutes in the office corner for not following through on our agreement.”

“Bu… but the mug….” Tim sniffled, loud and wet, and Jae went to the paper towel roll above the sink to get him one square to blow his nose.

“It can wait. Don’t worry, you’ll get to it. Now go.”

ON A
practical level, a grown adult shouldn’t need to be sent to the corner to think about what they did, but Tim was far from a practical man.

He was alone in the office, crying, just letting the hurt and the stress out, and he knew Jae knew it.

It felt so good to not have to think about how to protect himself from himself right now. What he’d been doing sure as fuck wasn’t working, and it made every moment he wasn’t at work a misery.

But here in the near quiet—since he could hear Jae moving around in the house—there was peace. Such peace and quiet he missed so much. He didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, crying into a paper towel that was far too rough for his sensitive nose, and it didn’t matter.

Jae—no, Sir—was allowing him some time for himself. He wouldn’t worry about how long they had before they were no longer alone. Or even how he’d replace that mug, all shiny black with a blooming flower etched in gold. Or even about fucking Max.

Way too soon Jae’s voice called from the door, “Time’s up.”

Tim gave a stuffy little sniff and blew his nose one more time. “Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”

Jae waited for Tim to turn around and face him before speaking. “Do you trust me?”

Tim’s eyes, red from crying, widened. “Of course, Sir.”

“Do you trust me as the Head here?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“And what does that mean to you? Me as the Head?”

They’d had to have that conversation before, when Jae was researching and they were coming together with how they wanted Domestic Discipline to work for them. Tim knew that.

“That I place my trust in you to guide me, steady me, protect me, keep me focused.”

“Then let me apologize. I haven’t earned your trust lately, and I realized that. I forgot that this is something you need. I’m sorry, pet.”

Jae would never get used to Tim’s surprise when he apologized. Even when he burned Tim’s thigh with black wax by accident, watching him be shocked was so strange. He still wasn’t okay with a Dom owning up to a fuckup, and that made Jae want to punch Max in the face for putting that falsehood in his head.

“Thank you, Sir.” Tim dared a look up at Jae and smiled softly.

Jae returned the smile with one full of warmth. “I’m not calling this a do over but an improvement. Come here.”

Tim was in his arms in the very next breath, and Jae held him close, nose in his hair, inhaling sweat and a hint of product that was post-work Tim. He liked postwork-Tim scent.

“Just me?” Tim asked quietly. “This is just about my needs?”

“And mine,” Jae was quick to reply. “I need your submission so badly that I feel like I can breathe right, now that I have it. If you ever doubt that, check in with me.”

“We need to check in more often.”

There was the educating sweet sub Jae loved. Not leading, but helping, advising. “I know, I know. If I could do this week over again, I would make it mandatory.”

“But we can’t redo the week, can we?”

“We can make this weekend worth the misery.” Jae tipped Tim’s chin up and kissed him, soft and sweet. “I can’t wait to see you all Mad Hatter’d up.”

Tim got up on tiptoe to return the kiss. “We still need to talk collars.”

Jae chuckled. “I haven’t forgotten. But we can’t get one before tomorrow to prove what’s-his-name wrong.”

Tim snorted. “I don’t need a damn collar to know I’m yours.”

“But you want one anyway.”

Before Tim could say anything more, Jae moved in quick to capture his lips in another kiss, deepening it until his pet was moaning in his arms. Damn, he was so easy to rev up once he was all relaxed and happy.

But first….

“Rubber gloves are on the counter in the kitchen. Be a dear and clean up that mess, will you?”

Tim half groaned, half whined against Jae’s lips, pressing kisses in a futile bid to get him to kiss again. It was one of those things Jae loved when Tim did it. “Right now?”

“Yes. Right now.”

SWEEP INTO
the dustpan, empty. Do it again.

Sweep into the dustpan, empty. Do it again.

It was a meditation. Repetitive, what Tim needed to calm his soul.

Jae watched him from the living room. Their eyes met as Tim walked to the trash can. Tim hoped the little smile would convey just how grateful he was that he was with someone who was truly, honestly trying to accommodate his weirdness. Jae would nod each time, a tiny smirk never leaving his lips.

Once every speck of broken mug had been swept clean, the broom, dustpan, and gloves put away, Tim took to his knees near the counter island. He didn’t want to get up, wanting to stay at his place, show with bent knees and bent head where he belonged.

His focus, the spot on the wooden floor just in front of his knees, was filled by Jae’s bare feet. He didn’t hesitate, bending forward to press a kiss to the top of each one, his eyes closed, knowing the motion by heart. Jae guided his head to the front of one of his thighs and just held it there, stroking Tim’s hair.

“Feel better?” Jae asked.

“Yes, Sir.” It all came out as a happy little sigh.

“Good.” Another long stroke. “I think it’s past time for bed for the both of us, don’t you?”

“Do I have to get up?”

Jae gave his locks a brief tug. “No, you don’t. Come on.”

Tim followed Jae’s steps, crawling carefully on the floor until they reached the carpet of the bedroom. He stopped at the foot of the bed, a spot that was kept cleared off just for him, next to the trunk.

“Get out of those clothes.”

The trunk made a nice place to place each article of clothing as Tim removed them. The sound of Jae unbuckling his belt made him a bit sad, though. He wanted to undress his Sir, do something that would make him happy, make having him as a sub worth it.

Ah, well, if he couldn’t do that, there was something else he could do.

Once he was nude, Tim bent over on the bed, toes flexing in the plush carpet, head cradled on his folded arms.

The sudden intake of breath behind him and a hand caressing his ass told Tim he had done a good thing.

“Is this for me?” Jae asked, the caresses turning into outright gropes. “You’ve done enough to satisfy me. Not as a punishment, remember?”

Like he needed the reminder.

Tim leaned back against those hands. “Not as punishment. This is yours. I’m yours. Please, Sir.”

The first strike made him arch up on his toes and gasp. The second, and the third, and the fourth drew the same reaction. Each hit was solid and heavy, Jae proving just how good he was at warming Tim’s ass up.

Tim gripped the cover with both hands. If that was the warm-up, he’d need to hang on for what was to come. His cock, hard against the side of the mattress, throbbed with every blow as he rubbed against the blanket with each arch and wiggle.

Jae rubbed the ache in, giving him a moment to catch his breath.

“So pretty,” his Sir growled. “I’ve missed seeing you like this.”

“…been only a week…,” Tim gasped.

Jae’s laugh was unexpected. Was that really so funny? “Shows just how much I need you. Ready for more?”

Oh, he was beyond ready. “Oh yes, Sir!”

Jae proceeded to let him have it, the blows harder and faster, hitting the meat of his ass, his thighs. His legs were kicked wider, and Jae gave the sensitive skin of his inner thighs a few sharp smacks. Tim’s voice was out of his control, crying out incoherent sounds of both pain and delight.

At some point Tim swore he heard Jae mutter as he whaled on Tim’s behind. It sounded like he was saying “mine” over and over again, and his heart melted along with his entire body. It was too perfect. A Master wasn’t much of one without a submissive to love and cherish and possess.

He lifted his head and moaned, “Yours. Yes. All yours.”

The smacks ceased, and Tim looked over his shoulder just in time to watch Jae sink down behind him. His stinging cheeks were spread apart, and Tim was lost again as Jae’s tongue bathed his aching hole.

He was too far from the nightstand to grab anything that would make what was to come easier on them both, and Jae didn’t seem likely to allow him to move, not with the way he was hungrily eating him. His fingers dug into Tim’s ass, adding to the pain of the spanking and making Tim dizzy with pleasure.

“Oh shit, yes, yes, Sir, yes!”

He tried to hump at the bed again to ease his cock, but Jae held him still, working until his tongue was inside, then a finger, slick with spit, opening Tim up.

Tim relaxed, let Jae have him, and before he was aware of anything else, Jae was over him, bare chest on his back, teeth of the zipper of his open pants pressed into his ass, and slick cock pushing itself way inside his well-prepared hole.

And Jae slowly, oh so slowly dragged himself out and back in again. His arms, braced on both sides of Tim’s shoulders, shook, and Tim felt his lips against his own temple, pressed there tight. When did he lube up? Did it matter?

Jae held back at first, making it good for both of them, nice and slow, a contrast to the brutal spanking session. Tim moaned and arched into each glide, trying to twist his head up and around to kiss Jae.

“I love you,” Jae whispered. “I love you.” He kissed Tim’s temple. “I love you.” He pulled out almost all the way and surged back in.

Words again were lost. Tim could only rock and groan. He’d say them back, of course, but not now. Now was the time to just feel. Being fucked into the mattress, held down by Jae’s body, it was everything he desired and more. His body was so greedy, taking it all and begging for more, knotting his hands in the blanket, clawing and pulling the fabric toward him. The bed was going to be a mess when they were done, but he was too lost in Jae to care.

Tim didn’t last long, and he begged for permission to come and was denied. “What?” God, he was going to lose his mind if he didn’t blow right the fuck now.