Like the Seasons

by Tymber Dalton

  He met Caleb’s gaze with an icy stare and tapped his desk with the pen for emphasis. “Give it at least a couple of weeks before either of you mention anything around coworkers. In fact, the less you say, the better. I receive any complaints from anyone about the two of you, at that point it’s out of my hands. This is your only mulligan. Got it?”

  Caleb felt the sick fear that had been tightly lodged in his stomach start to ease. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  “I’m not going to tell Calvin the real reason why you have to be transferred, obviously. I’ll parse this so it looks like it’s coming directly from me because of the upcoming workload. There’s no money to hire anyone extra in either department right now, and we were going to have to transfer someone in anyway. It would behoove you both to go along with that story, because that’s how I’m selling it. Understand?”

  Caleb nodded, close to throwing up from how relieved he felt.

  “All right, we’re done here. Leave the door open, please.”

  “Thank you.” Caleb fought the urge to run from his office. Instead of heading to his desk, he stopped by the bathroom and locked himself into the wheelchair-accessible stall so he could splash water on his face. At least he worked in a cubicle by himself, but he’d have to pass Boyd’s office to return to his desk without taking the long way around the office and having that look…strange.

  Staring into the mirror, he felt rage wash through him, struggling to dominate the fear already filling him. Part of him wanted to call his mother and scream at her, except he knew that would very likely make the situation worse.

  I can’t do anything before I talk to Boyd.

  * * * *

  Boyd struggled against the urge to stand in his office doorway and wait for Caleb to walk past. Ed Thorton was a good man, a fair man, and hopefully he’d find his way around this without either of them losing their jobs over it.

  He hoped.

  His phone rang about fifteen minutes after he’d returned to his office—Ed Thorton.

  “My office, please.” Ed hung up without awaiting a response.

  Shit.

  When Boyd stepped out of his office, he nearly ran into Caleb, who’d been walking head-down as he returned to his cube. Caleb froze, fear splashed across his face.

  Feeling like every eye was on them, but knowing in reality no one could see them, Boyd whispered, “Good boy,” then stepped around Caleb without glancing around to see if anyone had been close enough to hear. Usually not, because that corridor ran along a wall, with his office at the end and the flat sides of cube walls lining it, their entries to the inside.

  Hopefully this wouldn’t take long.

  Ed was alone in his office when Boyd reached the doorway. He was on the phone, but motioned for Boyd to come in and shut the door. Boyd retook the seat he’d occupied earlier and waited until Ed ended his call.

  “I’ll keep it short. Caleb swears there was no impropriety at work or on your part. He also swore if I try to file a report that the two of you will counter-file a complaint that you’re both being discriminated against for being gay.”

  Boyd struggled and somehow won the battle to not burst out laughing.

  That’s my boy. “Okay. Thank you.”

  “Calvin’s on his way down here now. He was upstairs talking to one of the commissioners. Here’s how we’re spinning it—the transfer is my idea, because they’re going to need extra help with the comp plan stuff coming up anyway, so I’m not waiting to make the personnel transfer. Caleb is the most junior staffer, lowest salary, easiest to transfer, has the zoning experience, and you’ve signed off on the transfer already. It’s happening today because I didn’t want to bother you while you were out of the office, or I would have done it last week. Got it?”

  Boyd’s relief helped him rein in his amusement at Caleb’s quick thinking. “Got it.”

  “You follow my lead, and maybe we all get out of this with nothing more than the good start on an ulcer.”

  Boyd nodded, relaxing in his seat.

  The knock on the door sounded seconds later. “Come in,” Ed called.

  Twenty minutes later, the meeting ended with Calvin taking on Caleb and Ed already making the changes in the HR file to move him to Calvin’s department.

  On Boyd’s way to his office, he turned and walked through the cube corridor, pausing at Caleb’s. Caleb sat at his desk, in front of his computer but with his hands in his lap and a distant stare in his eyes.

  My poor boy. “Can I talk to you for just a second? My office, please.”

  Boyd didn’t wait. He was already sitting behind his desk when Caleb appeared in his doorway.

  “Door open, please,” Boyd said, when Caleb started to close it, trying to keep his tone normal.

  Hopefully Caleb would take a hint that things were okay.

  “Sir?”

  In some ways, they could get away with that at work, if it wasn’t too obvious.

  “Have a seat.” He didn’t want to close his blinds in the window open to the corridor, because that would also be unusual for him.

  Pulling his boss mask into place, Boyd didn’t leave Caleb spinning after he took a seat. Boyd knew no one could hear them talking, but in case someone walked by, he wanted a full sell on the story. “Ed Thorton is transferring you to Zoning to ease their workload. Calvin Estes will be your new supervisor.”

  He paused as Caleb slumped in his seat, obvious relief painted on his features. “I need you to head over to his office to talk with him,” Boyd continued. “He’s expecting you. He’ll tell you where your new desk will be and get you up to speed there. You can finish anything you’re working on for me that you’re deep into, but anything you’ve just been assigned, that needs to get passed off to other planners. We’ll need to talk to IT about moving your phone and your laptop docking station and stuff when you know where your new desk will be.”

  Caleb nodded, a little too eagerly, his smile a little too wide. “Yes, Sir.”

  Boyd winked, wishing his cock wasn’t hard as he imagined putting Caleb on his knees under his desk to blow him. “Before the end of the day, please send me a list of what you’re working on and what needs to get handed off.”

  “I will, thank you.”

  “That’s all.” He turned to his computer and hoped the rest of the day would settle down.

  Caleb stood, but didn’t leave.

  “Was there something else?” Boyd asked.

  Caleb’s voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. “Perhaps Daddy should lock down his Facebook privacy settings the way he ordered his boy to.”

  Oh no he didn’t.

  Boyd slowly leaned back in his chair and spotted the playful smirk Caleb tried and failed to hold completely in check. Boyd slowly held up five fingers, waggling them at Caleb and arching an eyebrow at him.

  Five strokes.

  Caleb’s smile broke through and he nodded. It wasn’t often Boyd assigned strokes like that, but usually it was because Caleb had turned a little bratty, just a smidge, deliberately. Like he had on the phone with him before.

  Boyd loved his playful spirit. He pointed at the door. “Go on. Good luck over at Zoning.”

  “Thank you…Sir.” That one was accompanied by a wink. Boyd struggled not to reach down to adjust himself and give Caleb the satisfaction of knowing he’d done that to him.

  I’ll show him later tonight.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Caleb struggled to focus for the rest of the day. Not just because of the scare at work, but his bubbling rage at his mother for honestly thinking she was going to interfere with his life like that and control what he did.

  So much for her silence being a good thing.

  All that tempered by more than a little bit of the good kind of anticipation over the five strokes he’d earned himself.

  Worth it.

  He usually wasn’t mouthy like that to Boyd. Caleb didn’t like being a brat, and Boyd wasn’t particularly fond of bratty behavior.

/>   Except every once in a while, it was fun to test the waters.

  He thought about asking Boyd if he wanted to go grab lunch, but when he walked to Boyd’s office, his door was shut and he could see Boyd working head-down over his computer, his back to the windows.

  Then again, maybe that wouldn’t be a good idea. Don’t want to push the envelope.

  He headed downstairs and to the sandwich shop they’d first gone to. It was tempting to call his mom and bitch her out, but he wanted to talk to Boyd first. Besides, Boyd had ordered him to wait for his input.

  Caleb had no more patience, though. After this, he was done with his mom.

  Period.

  He’d let Boyd decide how to handle this. Plus, the longer he maintained a radio silence with his mother, the more he knew it would likely make her nervous. She was used to dealing with outbursts from his father.

  But silence was like a torture of a thousand painful deaths to her.

  Before he headed back to work he called Ella.

  “How’s it going?” he asked her.

  “I’m okay. Bored out of my head, no offense. Going through employment stuff.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Are you all right? You sound…off.”

  “No, not really.” He gave her a very abbreviated version of what happened.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake! So now they’re trying to harass you and Dad for being together?”

  “You don’t understand—my parents are very homophobic.”

  “But you’re their son!”

  “Exactly. I don’t know what my aunt was doing around this area, but don’t let anyone in and call Boyd or me if someone shows up.”

  “Screw that, I’ll call the damn cops first, then you.”

  At least she’d inherited her father’s spirit. “That’ll work, too.”

  By the end of the work day, Caleb had a new desk on the same floor but in a different area. He already had a passing acquaintance with most of his new coworkers, and it wouldn’t take him long to learn everyone’s names. He’d still be working on projects for Planning for a few days, even as he was brought into Zoning to learn the ropes there.

  While this was stressful, it also felt exhilarating—one step closer to being married to Boyd and having his dream guy for life.

  Boyd was still working with his office door closed when Caleb left work for the day. When he walked into the house, he smelled that Ella had dinner cooking and found her in the kitchen, fortunately sitting in the wheelchair, but she had her crutches propped against the counter. She’d made meatloaf and macaroni and cheese.

  “I figured you guys would want some comfort food tonight.”

  “Thanks. I’m going to go change. I don’t know what time your dad’s going to be home. He was still working when I left.”

  “Are your jobs safe?”

  “Seems to be. I’m already moved to my new department. I guess we’ll have to see what happens next.” He headed to their bedroom and changed clothes. After thinking about it, he walked over to the closet, retrieved the cane, and left it on the bed.

  He was still in the bathroom when he heard the front door open and close, and the sound of Boyd’s voice. Caleb was finishing up in the bathroom and had just washed his hands when the bathroom door opened.

  Caleb spotted in the mirror that Boyd held the cane.

  He immediately shoved his shorts and briefs down and bent over, hands on the counter.

  In the mirror he watched Boyd smile as he walked over. “Good boy,” he softly said.

  He held the back of Caleb’s neck with his left hand and delivered five hard, stinging strokes with the cane over the still fading marks from the last five he’d earned.

  Boyd set the cane aside and reached around Caleb, grabbing his cock. “You can come—you earned it.”

  Caleb didn’t argue, meeting Boyd’s gaze in the mirror as the man jacked his cock, feeling Boyd’s hard cock pressing against his ass through the man’s slacks. When Caleb came, Boyd brought his hand up to Caleb’s mouth and made him lick it clean. Then he pulled him up from the counter, spun him around, and pointed at the floor.

  He dropped like a rock, fumbling for Boyd’s fly and finally freeing his cock, moaning when Boyd took over and quickly fucked a load down Caleb’s throat. Then Boyd pulled him to his feet, holding him.

  “Such a good boy,” he whispered. “You did so good today. I’m so proud of you.”

  Everything inside Caleb’s brain shut up and shut down except for the sound of Boyd’s words whispered in his ear. All the stress—gone. Melted away with the pain and the love his Sir gave him.

  “Are we really okay, Sir? At work?”

  “Yeah. We’re safe.” He kissed him. “You know what happens now, right?”

  “Sir?”

  Boyd smiled. “We get to shop for wedding rings.”

  * * * *

  With their secret out at work, there was no longer a reason to delay their wedding.

  Since Ella was already a member of Venture, and knew about their relationship, Boyd opted to hold the wedding there two weeks after his return from Oregon. He didn’t need to invite people from work, thinking it was probably better they didn’t attend.

  Caleb agreed he was happy with that decision.

  Boyd also invited Kent, Tim, and Paul, since Kent especially played a key role in them reaching that point.

  That past Wednesday, on their lunch hour, Boyd and Caleb went down to the county clerk’s office and got their marriage license.

  Today they were making it official.

  With Ella still using the wheelchair, because Boyd was terrified to let her walk and risk hurting herself on the crutches, they gathered at Venture with everyone early before a Saturday evening play party. Boyd had invited a few lifestyle friends as well, like Tristan, Kyle, and Jessica, Cali and her guys, and Loren was performing their ceremony. Jessica had volunteered to take pictures for them, and would be capturing both their collaring and wedding vows.

  “Hey, everybody,” Loren called out with a smile to get everyone’s attention. “Looks like everyone’s here, right? Let’s get started.”

  Boyd remembered how it wasn’t too terribly long ago he’d felt a little envious of Tristan for getting together with Kyle.

  If only he’d known who was awaiting him, he would have happily waited.

  He wasn’t just marrying Caleb tonight—he would also collar him, and he wanted to collar him first.

  Boyd took Caleb’s hands in his as they stood in front of Loren. He smiled as he squeezed Caleb’s hands and glanced at the floor, then back at him.

  Caleb smiled and dropped to his knees in front of Boyd. “You have been through the wringer the past couple of months with me,” Boyd said. “I’ve asked more of you than anyone has a right to, and you’ve kept saying yes to me. As your Dominant, you’ve made me proud. As your Daddy, you’ve always kept me on my toes. But as your Master, you’ve made me weak in the knees and challenge me to be a better man, the best man I can be, someone you can be proud of and want to keep serving. It’s one thing to marry someone, but it’s another to ask that person to give themselves wholly to you. And that’s what I’m asking of you—to be my slave.

  “I know it’s a lot to ask, and I know it won’t always be easy. I can’t promise I won’t screw up, because I’m the first to admit I’m not perfect. But I do promise to put your needs before mine, that you are the only person I want sharing my life and my bed, that I will never betray your trust, and I will always have your back. But if you want that, you need to say it in front of everyone before we take our wedding vows. Because your ring is also your collar, just like my ring will be my statement to the world that you own my heart and I belong to you, too.”

  Caleb blinked back tears. “You already own me, Sir. I want to be yours, and I want you to be my Sir, my Daddy, my Master—mine. I’m proud to be owned by you because I’m proud knowing you want me just the way I am, and I love you and everything we have together.
I’ll gladly be your slave.”

  Boyd helped him stand, and this was where Loren took over.

  “We’re gathered together to join these two men as husbands.” Then she threw in a line Boyd wasn’t expecting. “Who gives these men away?”

  “I do—they’re my dads, and I’ll fight a bitch who says they aren’t,” Ella called out with a playful grin, earning laughs from everyone in attendance.

  Loren softly snorted, and Boyd was really struggling to blink back tears as he stared into Caleb’s eyes.

  “Love is patient and kind,” Loren continued, “although sadists are given a situational exemption for wanton meanness of the BDSM kind.”

  “Damn right they are,” Gilo called out, drawing more laughs from the crowd.

  “Before friends and family,” Loren continued, “you have pledged to each other to be Master and slave, but there is more to be said in the eyes of the law…”

  Boyd focused on Caleb, on his sweet green gaze, on the way he smiled and kept blinking back his own tears as she led them through their vows and exchanging rings.

  “By the power vested in me by the State of Florida, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your boy.”

  Boyd tipped him back for a long, deep kiss he knew would leave zero doubt in anyone’s mind how he felt about Caleb, if there were still any doubts floating around.

  When he finally let Caleb stand, the man wobbled a little on his feet with a sweet smile on his face.

  “I present to you Boyd and Caleb Nyberg,” Loren announced, as Boyd had asked her to.

  If he thought Caleb’s smile was happy before, the man positively beamed now. He rose up on his toes for another kiss as the crowd applauded and hooted their approval.

  “Love you, Daddy,” he whispered.

  Boyd smiled. “Love you, too, boy.”