by M. Q. Barber
“On your feet, please. We’ve seen all we needed here.” He patted Jay’s thigh and stood. “We’ll find another source of entertainment.”
At his direction, Jay restored the bench to its regular position. He smiled encouragement and delivered praise. But as he entered the general flow of foot traffic with Jay once more at his heels, Henry cursed in silence.
From what he’d seen tonight, testing the boy’s boundaries would be painful for them both. Reinforcing the lesson on safeword use, however, would be a kindness. An absolute necessity.
He must be cruel to be kind. Shakespearean phrasing filtered back through uncounted talks with Victor on the joys and frustrations of loving a masochist. Jay wasn’t Emma. He would lack the perspective as yet to see the kindness in the cut. Mmm. As if the whole sordid mess had worked out with such loveliness for Hamlet.
A door up ahead swung open, driving a commanding voice into the hall. “You’ll take your punishment, and then you’ll begin again the way I showed you.”
The sub’s answer, if one followed, came too quiet or too slow to be heard before the door closed.
His feet heavy, Henry affected a casual tone as he guided his partner toward the scene. “Tell me your safeword, Jay.”
“Safeword, Master Henry.”
“Good boy. And when are you to use it?”
“When—” Jay flinched, muscles pulling across his back. “When I’m pushed too hard.”
“Or if you’re uncomfortable or confused.” As Mr. Kress would be soon, a hoped-for and not-hoped-for outcome mixing a muddy brown mess in his veins. The scene came into view on his right. Too late to separate the colors. “You won’t be punished for bringing such things to my attention.”
A male dominant wielded a leather spanking paddle on a male submissive, which ought to trigger Jay’s nerves, but with enough differences to allow for some distance. No whip. The bottom bent at the waist, draped over a spanking bench, rather than tied to a frame.
He eased to a stop and tugged Jay forward, keeping hold of his left wrist to monitor his pulse. The boy’s comfort level ought to sprint to intolerable. He would use his safeword, and they would go.
A half-dozen viewers stood inside the room. The thwack of the split paddle sounded even with the door closed.
Jay trembled.
Another strike. The submissive’s cock bobbed as the force thrust him forward.
The trembling became a full-body quiver.
“Would you like to step inside for a closer look?”
The boy shook his head, so quick as to be instinctive aversion rather than thought. His pulse raced.
Pleading in silence, Henry waited for the sweet sound of a safeword. If Jay didn’t speak up for himself, he’d have to pull him away. Better for his self-confidence if he could do it himself.
A green-ribbon reached for the door as a thwack reverberated. He pulled it open.
“Please, sir, please.” The sub’s begging mixed with sobs. “I’ll do better.”
The green-ribbon stepped inside.
“I’m not convinced you deserve another chance.” The dom projected well, with a harsh snarl.
The door began to close.
“I could replace a repulsive cockslut like—”
Jay twisted and flung himself against Henry, arms wrapping like a vise, body shaking, breath whooshing along his shirt collar. “Safeword. Safeword safeword safeword.”
“Good boy, Jay.” He steadied himself against the onslaught and cradled his tender charge. “My brave boy.”
Refusing to permit even the thinnest distance between them, Jay wriggled and burrowed his way inside the flaps of Henry’s suit jacket. He clutched at the back of the shirt beneath, his bare chest heaving against the light broadcloth as he held on.
The narrowest threads of propriety. Not all of the shudders rocking them belonged to the boy. The rushed breaths and the woody scent of Jay’s skin conspired to raise scandalous thoughts among other, more substantial things.
He sought a bit of privacy, as they’d drawn no shortage of glances. “You’ve done so well.” He sidestepped to an unoccupied alcove.
Jay stumbled along on clumsy feet.
“That’s enough for tonight, my brave boy.”
“No, please.” Jay dug his fingers into his back. “I want to stay with you.”
“Shhh, I’m not leaving you.” He backed his partner to the wall and shielded his shaking body. “It’s all right. You did exactly right. I’m so proud of you.”
Jay’s heavy, panicked breathing slowed to short, shuddering exhalations at his throat.
He hummed the opening bars of Für Elise at half-speed as much to calm his own pulse as the boy’s. Nothing like the thought of piano lessons with Mrs. Fogarty to wilt an erect cock.
Plastered to his body, Jay no doubt had already felt his arousal. A reaction to his submissive’s achievement and trust, not his fear. The younger man’s instinctive turn to him as a protector and the willingness to use his safeword proved a powerful intoxicant.
Muffled whimpers fading, body swaying, Jay brushed his nose along Henry’s neck.
A few minutes’ comfort wouldn’t be enough. The boy needed more aftercare than that.
The hallway traffic would distract. The bright lighting of the salon would inhibit relaxation. The main hall might suit, unless a demonstration was in progress. Somewhere darker, quiet and womblike, would put his submissive back on an even kilter.
Giggles sounded behind him. Jay lifted his head.
“Robin, come back here, pet. Miss Marissa’s going to start soon, and we don’t want to be late.”
“Yes, Daddy.” Saccharine-sweet, that one. Over eighteen, or she wouldn’t have been allowed access to the club, though she mimicked a child’s lilting pout.
The role-playing aspects favored among the age-play set disturbed rather than aroused, but the caretaking and comfort might prove precisely what Jay craved in this moment. Safe, nonthreatening, nonsexual play.
The woman skipped down the hall in footed pajamas, pigtails swinging. She slipped her hand into an older man’s outstretched one.
Jay’s shaking had stopped, and his gaze followed the pair. Curiosity overcoming fear, perhaps. Well. He’d promised to help his student discover his own desires.
“Shall we see where she goes?” He eased back.
Jay unclenched from his shirt. “Together?”
“You deserve a reward for using your safeword as a good, responsible player should.” Best to see where the boy’s feelings lay. “I thought we might snuggle a bit.”
He nodded. “I don’t have to. . . .” He glanced down the hall.
That Jay had started raising an objection at all was a positive sign. Building a sense of boundaries would only benefit him. “Don’t have to what, my boy?”
Jay waved at his torso. “You know, with the PJs and the”—he cringed like he’d bitten into a lemon—“the kid voice.”
“The trappings aren’t necessary.” The caretaking mattered. The rest he dismissed. He rubbed the back of Jay’s head, ruffling the short hair. “Except the pigtails, of course.”
The wide brown eyes in response brought out his chuckle before Jay laughed with him.
“You’re teasing, Master Henry.”
“I am. There’s no reason to make everything serious and painful, is there?” He smoothed his hand around Jay’s neck and down the firm muscles and soft hair on his chest. “You deserve to be having fun.”
Jay leaned into his hand and bobbed his head in what seemed an unconscious tic.
“Come along, then.” He led his submissive through the main hall and beyond, down a hall he rarely traveled. The age-play members had a set of nonsexual role-play rooms for indulging their youthful personas. He passed the cheery classroom setup and stopped outside the next door.
“This is a quiet space, Jay.” Precisely what his partner needed, he hoped. “Give it a few minutes, please, and then if you’re bored or uncomfortable, tap my
knee and we’ll go. Understood?”
Despite the wide emptiness of the hall, Jay crowded close. “Yes, Master Henry.”
He opened the door on a woman speaking in a calm, friendly tone. Welcoming them with a wave, she kept up her introductory patter.
With Jay trailing, he crossed the back of the room and selected an unoccupied mat with a satisfactory backrest. He kept watch on Jay as he removed his jacket and folded it in a neat bundle. If the childish décor bothered his companion, he had the good sense to hold his tongue out of politeness for the players. Just under a dozen lay scattered about the room, most in pairs, though some had curled up alone.
Settling on the mat, he leaned into the backrest and tugged the boy down. Mouth alongside Jay’s ear, he whispered, “Make yourself comfortable.”
The reader ended her introduction. Sitting in a waiting rocker, she opened the book and began. Heidi. A classic choice, given her audience featured more “girls” with male guardian figures. Slow starting for the boys, perhaps.
He waited.
Jay gazed around the room.
He expected a tap on the knee at any moment, the trappings too much for masculine pride to overcome. As the first chapter ended and the next began, Jay reclined against his chest, curling his body between Henry’s outstretched legs. Enthralled either by the story or the closeness, he lay still and radiated heat.
No tapping, even as the second chapter gave way to a third. Cuddling dropped into his mental column of the boy’s likes, alongside security, clear directions, attention, and—flourless chocolate cake.
He rubbed slow circles on Jay’s chest. Drooping eyelids fluttered. Mr. Kress embodied the unabashed enthusiasm and open acceptance of a youth who ran full-tilt at life until exhaustion dropped him. Developing stronger protective instincts would keep him safe, but he’d lose the sweet innocence wrapped in his submissive nature. He needed the proper balance of wariness and trust.
A black bear cub. Claws to defend himself. Tumbling about, investigating everything, filled with boundless energy and free to explore without the threat of predators. Except for men bent on hunting him.
He’d seen a cub, once, as a child at the family cabin in upstate Maine. Stood transfixed for most of an hour watching. Compositions flipped before his eyes. The cub clambering over a fallen tree. He might paint a series about a shy, playful bear cub. Shaggier hair would suit the boy.
The reader fell silent.
Henry tore his gaze from his sleeping boy’s relaxed face. He’d lost track of the time they’d spent here, an inappropriate lapse of focus.
The reader laid the book aside as she stood. “Thank you all for your attentiveness during story time. We’ll be continuing at the same time next week.”
Players stretched and gained their feet. Some of the pigtails-and-pajamas set approached the reader and received permission for hugs before scampering off. The partnered ones departed with hands clasped, a trusted authority figure and a ward. Not so different from the current mentoring relationship he shared with the boy.
Nestled close, his breathing even and regular, Jay slept. His comfort of primary concern, moving seemed unwise. A reluctance to shift left Henry seated as the reader approached.
“Henry, isn’t it?” She whispered in a low alto and extended her hand as she crouched. “Marissa. I haven’t seen you in our corner of the club before. Picking up a new kink?”
He raised his hand from Jay’s chest and shook Marissa’s hand. “Not as such, but my new boy greatly benefited from the calm and quiet here for aftercare. I hope we didn’t disturb your regular players.”
“Not at all.” Her smile blossomed, a field of ivory petals limned in crimson. “He seems very sweet, and you were both model guests. We’d be happy to see you back.” She nodded toward the door. “There’s a reservation in fifteen, but the room’s yours until then if you want to wake him gently.”
“I do, thank you.”
She glided off with her kit and closed the door behind her.
He turned his full attention to his submissive. The conversation hadn’t roused him. Henry laid his hand on Jay’s chest once more, fingers splayed. He nudged his ear with his nose.
“Jay.”
His whisper garnered a snuffle in reply.
“You’ve been such a good boy for me tonight. I’m quite proud of your behavior.” He nipped a tempting earlobe. “It’s time to wake, my little dreamer.”
Jay rolled right, mumbling something that might have been yes, please.
He tapped the boy’s chest and tugged harder at his earlobe.
Sleepy eyes blinked open. “D’you want me now, Henry?”
“It’s time to go, my boy.” He kept his voice brisk to avoid thinking about the answer. Or that his sub had neglected an honorific. Or that he wanted Jay asking the same question in the same sleep-slurred voice when he woke hard and aching and ready to fuck in the middle of the night. “You need to wake up.”
More blinking before Jay jolted upward. “I’m sor—”
“Hush. You’ve done nothing requiring apology. You relaxed, as I expected you to.” Hoped would have been more accurate than expected, but confidence was half the game. The rest was all sensitivity and skill. “Up on your feet, please.”
Rolling forward, Jay briefly gripped his thighs as he gained his feet. He spun in a slow circle. “I didn’t know they had this here.”
Henry collected his jacket and stood, snapping it smooth. He shrugged into the fabric and buttoned Jay’s scent inside, the sweet musk embedded in his dress shirt. “Oh?”
Rubbing sleep from his eyes with a balled fist, Jay almost belonged in the room with its nap mats and crayon artwork. If one excused the well-developed chest and abdominal muscles, and the sleek lines arrowing from his hips and disappearing beneath leather shorts. A potent mix of sexuality and innocence, and all of it trusting enough to fall asleep in his arms.
“You know, with all the kid stuff.”
Lack of boundaries, the voice of reason suggested. Jay’s trust wasn’t hard-won. To believe himself special to the boy would be the height of egotistic, narcissistic folly.
“The fetishes accommodated at the club cross a wide spectrum. You may have heard the ethos expressed as ‘your kink is not my kink, but your kink is okay.’ Consent is the common bond tying all of us together.” Not abusing young Mr. Kress’s trust in this delicate time remained a priority. “It’s one of the reasons Cal’s behavior toward you was so egregious.”
“But I”—Jay rolled his shoulders and grimaced—“I agreed. Whatever he wanted.”
The sweet submissive’s quiet shame and confusion stoked his desire to rectify the situation. To see him safe and well.
“And then you revoked your consent. He was bound to honor your determination that you’d had enough. He did not.” Browbeating Jay into belief would be an impossible task. Better to repeat the message as a given as often as possible and let it lie.
“Knowing what you want going into a negotiation will help you set more specific limits up front in the future.” He gestured to the childish décor. “Consider what you’ve learned about yourself tonight. Would you don pajamas and call your partner ‘Mommy’ or ‘Daddy’?”
“Ugh, no.” Like a dog coming in from the rain, Jay shook off. “That was weird. I don’t want to be somebody’s kid. Total boner-killer. I just want. . . .”
To be safe and loved. He held his tongue, prodding only when Jay seemed unable to go on. “Want what, my boy?”
Shifting his weight, Jay twisted his arms behind him. “I dunno.”
His gaze flicked upward, the spark of hero worship evident. Unable to separate the action he enjoyed from the person providing it as yet.
“Did you enjoy the story?”
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep, Master Henry.” He rushed his words in a rising voice. “It wasn’t boring or anything.”
Again he’d interpreted a neutral question as a criticism. Perhaps praise wasn’t merely something Ja
y enjoyed but something he’d starved for want of.
“Your slumber enchanted me. I would have been saddened to miss it.”
Ah, there. Jay lifted his head, and a smile touched the corners of his mouth. “I liked the snuggling, Master Henry. And”—shyness gave way to playfulness—“the way you touch. You could touch me more if you wanted.”
Crowding his partner, he lowered his tone. “I know, my boy. Any way I like, hmm? However and wherever I desire.”
Laying hands on Jay’s waist, he drifted along the edge of the leather shorts. He ignored the whimper in response. He’d calm any fears once he was certain the message had been received.
“Your submission belongs to me. All that holds me in check is my own concern for your welfare and my promise to respect your safeword. We’ve negotiated no limits. I could do anything I wish to you right now.” He leaned in. Brushed Jay’s ear with his mouth. “And that is the problem. The one I’m going to help you solve.”
Dropping his hands, he stepped back and surveyed his submissive.
Bright eyes greeted him. A rosy flush swept Jay’s torso. The tented shorts destroyed all notions but one.
Arousal.
Intense, rapid arousal.
He’d miscalculated. Expected Jay to fear an aggressive approach after witnessing his uncomfortable responses to the scenes tonight. His companion didn’t see him as a convincing threat, it seemed. A dominant tone attracted more than it repelled, when it came from the man he viewed as safe.
Flattering and emasculating at once. Arousing beyond measure to have the athletic youth so eager to submit to him. “Tell me, my—”
A knock sounded as the door swung open. “Excuse me—”
He shielded his vulnerable boy from view of the doorway.
“—sorry to interrupt.” A woman leaned on the frame. A man dressed as a young girl waited in silence behind her.
“No, the apology is mine. I ought to have kept better track of the time. I’m sorry to have infringed upon your reservation. Please excuse us.”
They exited with a modicum of fuss, the woman accepting his apology with grace. Jay kept at his heels all the way to the second floor, dawdling only when Henry stopped at the desk.