Taken in Hand (14 page)

With the last class over, Adam walked out of Park Hall

and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, if a little

chilly. Rather than go immediately to his car, he took the

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campus bus to the downtown area and strolled across the

street to do a little shopping for Chad. A small specialty

boutique he went to from time to time carried some of the

things he had in mind. After leaving, he stopped by a men’s

store to buy some jeans and slacks in Chad’s size, along with

a few shirts a bit dressier than the T-shirts that seemed to

make up a large portion of his off-duty wardrobe. He walked

back to the bus stop and rode the campus bus to his car.

Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was almost five o’clock.

Chad had been in the cock cage for over ten hours and

would probably be beside himself by now. Not that the device

was all that uncomfortable. He’d had some of his subs wear

them for days, but this was the first time for Chad, so he

knew Chad would be more than ready to get the device off

when he got home.

Sure enough, when he pulled into the garage, the door

to the kitchen opened up right away, and Chad stood framed

in the doorway.

“Where have you been? You said you’d be home by

three, damn it.”

Adam got out of the car. Allowing himself only one look

to let Chad know how he felt about his attitude, he took his

time getting his packages and briefcase. Chad was smart

and probably a little desperate.

He lowered his gaze immediately, shoving his hands in

his pocket. “I-I’m sorry. I was worried.”

Remembering why Chad was here in the first place,

Adam stopped short. “Oh shit, I’m sorry. It never even

occurred to me you’d be worried.” It was true. Ever since

Chad crashed into the house the night before, he’d been so

consumed with thoughts of him that the murder

investigation had taken a back seat. He needed to get his

head back on straight. “From now on, I’ll stick firmly to my

schedule. All right?”

“The people working surveillance should have had you

all day, so it was probably okay. They’re supposed to be

following you. I’ll call tonight and make sure.”

“Okay.” Adam set his bags down on the floor near the

kitchen table. “I’m hungry. I don’t usually eat it, but shall I

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order some pizza for us tonight? Only because I’m too tired

to cook. What kind do you like?”

Chad shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, but-but what

about
this
? Could you please,
please
get it off me? It’s been

bothering me all day.” He gestured down toward his groin.

Adam took his time answering. He called and ordered

dinner, a large vegetarian pizza, and then leaned back

against the countertop. “Since you asked me nicely, and

since this is your first time to wear one, I’ll take it off after

you tell me what you learned.”

“That it’s damned uncomfortable, and I never want to

wear one again. Ever!”

Adam smiled. “What else?”

He wrinkled his brow and worried at his bottom lip

with his teeth, obviously wanting to give the right answer,

but coming up blank. Adam sighed. “Okay, who’s in charge

of your cock from now until this is over?”

“Oh.” His cheeks turned a deep pink. “You are.”

“It belongs only to me until this is over. You don’t

touch it either. Not without permission. That means no more

jerking yourself off. Understand?”

His eyebrows rose. “Well, what’s the point of that?”

“The point, Chad, is for you to learn obedience. This is

one of the techniques I’m using. Once you learn to be

obedient and look to me for everything, and I do mean

everything, then the faster you’ll be able to appear at the

club or in front of my friends in a believable way. It’s what

you want, correct?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Okay, drop your pants.”

Adam didn’t think it was possible for Chad’s cheeks to

get pinker, but they did, as he eased his jeans down past the

cage and pushed them to his knees. Adam pulled out his

keys, fit one of them in the lock and pulled the cage off.

Chad sagged in relief until Adam pushed it back into his

hand. “Go clean it with soap and hot water. Dry it off

carefully and put in on my dresser.”

“Okay,” he said softly. He pulled his jeans back up and

headed to the bathroom.

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Adam laughed softly and went over to sit on the sofa in

the den area. So he didn’t like the cock cage. Something to

remember for next time, because he had no doubt Chad

would screw up again. As a matter of fact, he thought Chad

might screw up on purpose, just to get a punishment. He’d

said it was uncomfortable, and since the cage was designed

for long-term wear, there was only one reason for that. His

prick must have been trying to get hard all day long, and the

cage prevented it.

He heard footsteps coming back down the hall and

looked up with a smile when he saw Chad hovering near the

door. “Come in, Chad, and sit down. Why are you standing

there?”

“I didn’t know. I—I mean you said you’d be training me

now, and I didn’t know if I was supposed to.”

“Chad, this isn’t a master-slave relationship, or, I

mean, we’re not pretending it is. I made you sit at my feet in

the club and fed you because we were playing that night. At

home, I might be in charge. I may even ask you to wear fewer

clothes, but that’s about it, unless you’re being punished. I

think I told you one time my subs in the past usually went

without clothing at home.”

“Um, yeah. I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Bring me the bags there by the table, will you?”

Chad brought them over and sat down on the sofa

when Adam gestured for him to. Adam dug in the smallest

bag and came out with a specially designed jock strap, the

likes of which Chad had probably never seen before. Made of

a pale blue thin, lightweight material, it was formed to create

a pouch in front.

Chad asked, “Just what is this supposed to be?”

“A jock strap.”

Chad scoffed. “This doesn’t look like the old ones I

used to keep in my gym bag in high school.”

“No, it’s nothing like the dirty, stretched out ones you

no doubt wore in gym class.”

Adam tossed it into Chad’s lap. Chad poked at it with

one finger. “It’s not made like any I’ve ever seen either.”

“That’s for your package. It lifts you up and makes you

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look bigger. Not that you have any problems in that area, but

it will enhance what you have and make you look good. I

bought three of them, in different colors. This is what you’ll

wear at home instead of your usual underwear. Leave your

shirt off too. That way, if one of my friends stops over, you

can take off your jeans and just wear this, and they won’t be

suspicious.”

Chad’s face got red again, but he nodded. “Okay, I

guess I can do that.”

He swallowed hard and sighed, showing his

resignation. Satisfied, Adam moved to the kitchen sink and

washed his hands, not looking at Chad. “Why don’t you put

it on now and wear it around to get used to it?”

Only silence answered him while Adam rinsed the

soap from his hands and dried them on a paper towel. Just

when he decided Chad wasn’t going to answer, Chad cleared

his throat and said softly, “Yeah, I guess I could do that,

too.”

Adam nodded, still not looking at him, and Chad left

the room. Damn, he was getting too involved with this man,

after he promised himself he wouldn’t. Leaving aside the

kink aspect of the situation, Chad was in a profession known

to be homophobic, had parents and family he worried about,

and hadn’t even been able to completely admit, even to

himself, that he was gay. Adam had no business even

thinking about an involvement with him. Any relationship

with him would be too complicated. He liked his private life

to be orderly and controlled. Life with Chad would be

anything but. No, he had to pull back, and he would,

starting now. Turning toward a slight noise behind him, his

mouth went dry, and his mind corrected the thought.

Starting tomorrow.

Chad stood in the doorway, his beautiful body wearing

only the blue jock strap to match those icy blue eyes. He

pivoted slowly and looked back over his shoulder. “I-uh-I’m

pretty exposed here.” Blue straps joined the waistband with

an elegant arc of spandex, nicely displaying his butt cheeks.

“Think I could have something a little more traditional?”

“You’re not playing high school football, Chad. The

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idea is not to look like you just came in from the practice

field, but to display your body. I think it looks very nice.”

He turned back around. “Okay. Maybe I should wear it

around a little—just to get the feel of it.”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea.”

The doorbell rang, and Chad whirled, a deer-in-the-

headlights look on his face.

“Calm down, it’s probably just the pizza guy. Go back

in the bedroom so he can’t see you, if you like.”

Chad took off like a shot. Adam went to the door and

paid for the pizza, then brought the box back down the hall,

headed toward the kitchen. Chad poked his head out from

the bedroom, saw the coast was clear, and followed Adam.

Adam pulled out dishes and bottles of water, and they both

perched on stools at the granite topped island to eat.

Afterward, Chad volunteered to clean up, saying, with

a cute little smile, “I’ll clean, since you cooked.”

Adam tried not to stare at Chad’s ass as he disposed of

the box in the garbage and rinsed the dishes before putting

them in the dishwasher, but it was a losing battle. He found

himself sneaking peeks at the muscular behind every chance

he got.

To distract himself, he picked up his briefcase and sat

down in his chair. Turning on the television, he found a

news program, before opening his briefcase and pulling out

papers he needed to grade, the bane of a literature

professor’s existence. He often spent evenings like this,

finding the monotony of it soothing, and it helped him to

wind down after a stressful day. Tonight though, he was too

aware of Chad sitting down a bit gingerly on the sofa, pulling

at the strap and restlessly jiggling his leg. Adam waited him

out. Before twenty minutes passed, Chad turned off the

television.

“Nothing on.”

Adam nodded.

Chad bounced his legs until Adam couldn’t take it

anymore. “Must you do that, Chad?”

Chad looked down at his knees. “Huh? Oh, sorry. I

don’t get why I’m so nervous. I just…I don’t feel right.

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Something’s wrong with me, and it’s bothering me.” He

looked up with a pleading gaze that hit Adam hard.

Adam wanted badly to help him, and he thought he

knew how. “I think I know what it might be. You’re a strong

man, Chad, and a responsible one,” Adam said. “You want to

take care of all the bad guys out there, but outside of work, I

think you want to lay that burden down. You want someone

else to take care of the details and take the load off your

shoulders. In return, you want to take care of just one

person. Be everything to that person and concentrate on

doing whatever you can to make them happy. I don’t think

you even knew what it was you wanted until we talked in the

restaurant. I saw the light in your eyes that day, but you’re

still afraid of it. Your reaction to your spanking convinced me

further, but you still need me to spell it out for you, because

you’re scared to admit that what you are is a submissive,

who you are is gay, and there’s not a damn thing wrong with

either one of those things.”

“I…uh…” He cleared his throat and crossed his arms

again, but his cock had begun to swell and was showing off

quite nicely in his new jock strap.

Pointedly ignoring what Adam said and changing the

subject, Chad asked, “So…uh, is this what you’d normally do

in the evenings when you were with a boyfriend?”

“We weren’t having orgies every night, if that’s what

you were thinking.”