Taming A Jerk - Ch. 7 (Box Shaped Heart Side Story, Patreon Exclusive) (Patreon)

Chapter Seven - The Unknown Pleasure

Alex could feel cold sweat already pooling at the small of his back. Maybe this was a mistake, after all. But at the end of all this, he could get Simon. Probably.

“I won’t be the only one trying to reach the other. To reach you,” Simon’s words resonated in his mind like a broken record. “If you want me this time, if you really really want me, then you’ll have to meet me in the middle.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he had asked, unsure and almost trembling.

“I don’t want to be the one who never asks for anything. It’s my turn,” Simon’s words had come out petulantly, as if spoken by a kid.

But Alex knew Simon was serious this time around. There was no more childish play between them.

And the truth was: he wanted Simon. The guy had asked him to meet at this BDSM club, and had told him that first there was going to be someone there, waiting for him.

The owner. The guy was supposed to show him the ropes ... Give him some test. And Simon had simply promised that he was going to wait at the end of that line.

Alex wanted that. To reach that finish line already. So, if he had to meet some BDSM club owner and subject himself to some perverted play, he wasn’t going to mind it.

He frowned when he stopped in front of the club, and almost felt the need to duck under the wheel as he was trying to spot a place to park. He knew that place. He had been there before. Aron had told him about it, and somehow he had a vague memory of being there, a memory that he felt rather ... unfamiliar.

But now he knew who he was supposed to meet. He knew the man. That alone should have taken away some of the unease he was feeling. But, instead, his hands were clammy on the wheel, and even with the car parked for five minutes straight, he could not convince himself to just climb out of his car and walk into the den of the beast.

“Simon,” he said to himself.

He had to show determination if he wanted the guy back. And he did. Not only because Aron had divorced him and left him without one look back. Not only because seeing his ex-husband so happy with Carter had felt like a knife through his chest. It wasn’t like he loved Aron. The man had been a means to feel safe in the world. But Alex knew he hadn’t given anything back and not even someone as kind as Aron could have put up with that kind of deal indefinitely.

It was the sudden understanding of what that meant. Aron’s and Carter’s wedding had been a low-key affair, but the few pictures that had appeared in only a couple of publications had been enough to tell him what he had yearned to learn about it all.

The two men loved each other. If asked, he would not have been capable of telling what that clearly meant. He had had Aron’s love for a while. But love wasn’t complete without two people involved. One-sided feelings were nothing but a source of anxiety and angst.

Which he pretty much felt right now. For as long as he had fooled around with Simon, he had thought it nothing but child play. The guy had been so happy to walk right into Alex’s trap.

It had been easy, but Alex was pretty certain he had entangled himself into his own web of deceit. When had it become so important for him to have someone like Simon?

No, not like Simon. Simon. The guy was easy. And Alex liked it easy. Only now he could no longer say the same thing.

Things were about to get difficult. And he needed to prove himself. If there was one slim chance that he could have what Aron and Carter had, it had to be with Simon. Or else it would have not explained the relief he had felt when he had realized that the man still wanted him. 

Even after being rejected, discarded like a toy that no longer seemed exciting. Even after being put down and insulted on purpose. All Alex had the worst to give, he had given Simon. And the guy had just taken everything like a champ.

He wasn’t stupid. Someone like that was hard to find.

“Damn,” he whispered.

Trying to rationalize his feelings was so hard. It was, after all, a burn, right in the middle of his chest, sister to what he had felt the first time Simon had been the first to reject him. He hadn’t expected it.

What he had expected was to waltz back into Simon’s life after his divorce from Aron and for things to be like before. And it hadn’t happened. Quite the opposite. And despite the sudden pain, Alex knew he had also felt something akin to ... An exhilarating feeling.

There was something finally worth fighting for.

That realization was enough to make him put one hand on the car door. It was now or never. He wanted this more than anything else in his life.

***

The door closing behind him after he set foot in David’s office almost startled him. For a few seconds, he stood there, saying nothing, not even greeting his host. The man was eyeing him, his scrutinizing look making him want to shift from one foot to another like a 12-year old late for class and kept by the teacher at the door.

“So?” he said questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

“Simon told me you might not come.”

“Simon is ...” Alex bit back the nasty words he was so used to. “I guess he was right. I did have doubts on the way here.”

“Do you have any doubts now?” David asked, continuing to look at him and without inviting him to take a seat.

He drew a deep breath.

“Let’s just get this over with. Simon told me it would be some kind of test,” he babbled.

He felt intimidated by this man with scrutinizing eyes. It was like David was trying to reach somewhere deep inside him with that gaze. And that was where Alex never left anyone in. He was vulnerable there.

If it hadn’t been the promise Simon had given him, he would have bolted out the door. He had a vague idea about what Simon wanted from him.

A sacrifice, most certainly. And that meant he had to subject himself to some pain and humiliation if he truly wanted to get what he most wished for now. 

Simon. The discarded toy. A part of him wanted to laugh it off and just leave. He was Alex Miller, he was damn attractive, and he didn’t need to fold himself at some Dom’s feet, to prove his worth.

Simon should have known better. But Simon had grown a bit. He was no longer the toy Alex had thought him to be for so long. And Alex wanted it. That new fierceness apparent in this new face of his lover. The determination. The resolution not to give in only because Alex was touching him, or flirting with him, or trying to kiss him.

The boy was on the path to become a man, Alex mused.

“Such a storm of thoughts underneath that smooth forehead,” David’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “I need your signature on the form of consent.”

“My signature?” Alex withdrew almost physically. “So I just agree to you beating me within an inch of my life or something?”

“You are overly dramatic, Alex. Nothing that will happen here will cause any permanent damage or put your life in danger. I would never dream of giving anyone more than what he can bear. So? What do you say?”

The man was holding a golden pen and he was looking at him intently.

He pursed his lips and walked forward. He grabbed the pen, but not without throwing David a pointed look.

David smiled, and there seemed to be something calculated in how the man was watching him now. It gave him little shivers.

His hand hesitated over the paper. He had no reason to be afraid, right? If David as much as overstepped by moving a hair on his head he didn’t agree to, the guy was going to pay for it. With all his wealth, preferably.

With that comforting thought, he gathered all the courage he could and scribbled down his name on the consent form.

“All right,” David said softly. “We shall proceed soon. Safe word?”

“Sorry, what?” Alex murmured, feeling a bit out of place.

“Your safe word,” David repeated, without showing for one second that he was losing his patience.

“My ... I haven’t really thought about it,” Alex said with a nervous gulp.

It was like in the comfortable, silent room, any sign of his anxiety in regards to what was to come was multiplied tenfold.

“Please, pick one. I can wait.”

“Um, okay.”

“In the meantime, let’s step into the room designated for your test,” David stood up.

Alex took in the man. He was tall, almost as tall as Aron, but that was not what almost made him want to take a step back. The man had an air about him; he was majestic in the way he held himself.

Yes, he was intimidated.

“My safe word is ... actually a name. Simon,” he managed.

“Your boyfriend’s name. That’s cute,” David said with a small smile. “Will you cry for him to come and help you, then?”

Alex could feel his hackles rising at those words.

David patted his shoulder lightly.

“You will be a lot of fun,” the man said enigmatically, with a small, all knowing smile. “Now follow me,” he added.

The first thing Alex noticed the moment he walked into the room was the wooden horse, taking up the center of the room. Nothing like a kid’s toy, with padded shackles, strategically placed to give away how they were going to restraint the occupant so that he could not move and run.

“Undress,” came the short order and he almost jumped.

“Are you going to make me straddle that thing?” he pointed at the wooden chair with a frightened expression that he didn’t even struggle to hide.

“Yes, that’s the idea,” David chuckled. “You are not a prisoner here, Alex. Consent form or not, you may walk through that door. The precautions I take are for my own safety, not yours, regardless how they might look to you.”

“Let’s do this,” Alex pursed his lips.

He closed his eyes while he began to undress. It was a tad odd how uncomfortable he felt shedding off his clothes with a stranger’s eyes on him.

So he was surprised to notice, upon opening his eyes, that David was busy selecting what frighteningly looked like a whip from a table on which various tools for punishment were arranged.

“Please, Alex,” David looked at him and gestured for the wooden horse.

The man didn’t even spare a cursory glance to his naked body. It was like, in a way, he was at the doctor’s office, not about to mount a sex toy where he was going to receive his just desserts.

“Are you going to fuck me?” Alex let the words escape.

David looked at him, a tad surprised.

“This isn’t about sex, Alex,” he spoke. “Of course, at the end of our little session, if everything goes well, you might come to crave to be touched and held, and, why not, fucked. But it will all be your choice. See, things are not as bad as you think,” the man pointed again at the wooden horse, unhurriedly, and with the same affable smile as if he was in the middle of a business meeting.

With some reluctance, he climbed over the wooden horse. The contraption was strangely comfortable. It was true. He had expected much worse. 

“If it’s not about sex, what is it about, then?” he asked, looking ahead, and allowing his wrists and then his ankles to be secured with the padded shackles.

“Can’t you tell?” David said. “It’s right in front of your eyes. It is about pain, Alex.”

“Pain?” he dropped his voice to a whisper.

No matter how dysfunctional his relationship with his mother, the woman had never hit him as a child. She hadn’t embraced him too much, either, especially after he had grown out of what could be considered his childhood years.

“Yes. Pain makes people honest,” David spoke. “We can go around, pretending all we want. We can fake any human emotion. Sadness. Joy. Love.”

Alex could feel that last word was a jab at him.

“But pain is different. When someone experiences pain, he can no longer pretend.”

“So it’s like torture,” Alex said matter-of-factly.

“You’re looking at this from the wrong perspective. Yes, pain has been used in perverted ways like the one you mentioned for centuries. But any truth you’ll experience here, in this room, will come to you because you want it to, not because I force it out of you.”

“Okay,” Alex mumbled, unsure of what the man was trying to tell him.

“Don’t worry. You will know,” David came close to him and placed a blindfold over his eyes.

Alex tried to move his head away.

“What is this for?” he asked.

“Most people find it easier to focus on themselves instead of the outside world during such a session if their vision is blocked against any disturbance. You’ll see.”

Alex could feel his heart beating, the pounding of his blood loud in his ears. He could hear the man moving around, a shuffling of fabric, and then, there was nothing but the sound of the whip slicing through the air and landing on his buttocks.

He released a loud cry, most from the shock, rather than actual pain.

“Motherfucker!” he let out, without thinking.

“Language, Alex. I intend to be patient with you for Simon’s sake since he’s a good friend, but I don’t plan on tolerating you spouting insults as you please.”

“That wasn’t directed at you,” Alex said sullenly.

“Good to know,” David replied.

The second time, he tensed so hard that both his arms and legs struggled against the restraints, making small metallic sounds as their chains rattled. He could feel a burn. David was, apparently, merciful. He hadn’t landed the second hit on his buttocks but on the back of his thighs.

There was some truth in what the man had told him. Blindfolded, he could focus on his pain. He could forget that he was practically making a fool of himself, letting a stranger whip him into submission.

He supposed that was all about.

His breath hitched in his chest as the whip connected with his flesh once more. Being hit on the same spot now brought a new sensation, one that wasn’t expected.

As if ... he wanted, somehow, to laugh. 

The next hit landed strategically lower. Damn, the burn was real. Now he could feel it, blossoming on the surface, still skin-deep, but growing. He moved helplessly against his shackles. 

Wait, wasn’t this supposed to involve a certain number of hits? Was someone counting? He hadn’t heard the man talking.

“How many should I endure through?” he asked.

“That is completely up to me,” David replied. “You focus on yourself. I know my trade. You’ll get the treatment you deserve, nothing more, nothing less.”

Alex sighed. Hmm, his butt was starting to hurt a little. Maybe he was going to get some bruises. Well, he had plenty of vacation days left and he could just lock himself in his house until he was fully healed.

David seemed to stop and move around. It was unnerving not to be able to see what was going on. He could sense the man stopping in front of him.

“Not the face,” he found himself talking.

The man moved away, without a word. Should he be frightened with the lack of a reply? The man had told him he wasn’t going to cause any permanent damage, but somehow, Alex felt like maybe he deserved more than to be caressed with the whip like that.

“You have a delicious tolerance to pain, Alex,” the man finally spoke. “I am impressed. And I’m not an easy man to impress. It looks like I need to put a little more strength behind this correction session.”

Alex had the mind to protest and say that it was enough, but, in the darkness of the blindfold, he had to admit, in all honesty, that somehow, he craved more. So he said nothing and welcomed the next hit, which proved more vicious, harder this time.

His entire body arched, but it was not only the pain triggering that reaction. It was ... an unknown sort of pleasure. Like he could surrender. Like he could breathe. To the rhythm of the hits landing on his back, ass and thighs, he began to inhale and exhale, careful to follow that first hair-thin trail of excitement.

He could feel goosebumps everywhere. He threw his head back and started crying out his own confusion. Everywhere the whip had touched his skin, he felt like he was on fire. And, in his mind, he could only think of pleasure, somewhat disconnected from what was happening to his own body. 

Yet, in that engulfing sensation, one single idea began to nag him. Like snippets of his own life were coming back to haunt him. And what they were leading to was the sudden realization that he was alone, and, after going through this experience, he was just going to beg a stranger to hold him, which would have been nothing but a lie. Doing so would just taint what he had just lived through.

Despite himself, heavy tears began streaming down his cheeks.

“Simon,” he whispered.

The hits ceased immediately. He could sense the man move in front of him again. He moved his head away, like he could avoid the other like this. It was futile.

“Why are you crying, Alex?” David’s voice was calm and gentle this time. “It can’t be because of the pain.”

“I just ... want Simon. Not you,” he spoke the words with difficulty.

The man moved again. And soon, there was someone all over him, what felt like rough fabric touching his heated abused skin. He struggled, but then he sensed a familiar scent.

Simon’s cologne. Just like Aron, the man was conservative in his tastes. But he wasn’t going to think of his ex-husband now. All he wanted was for his lover to hold him. Simon was shushing him gently, taking out his blindfold and covering him almost entirely.

Through the tears, he looked at his lover and then a sob reaped through his chest. Simon’s lips were soft on his as the guy was making his head turn slowly. He allowed the kiss. No, he was yearning for it. So hard that he almost bit Simon’s lips.

He could feel Simon moving against him, triggering slightly the burning sensation on his skin. He wanted more. Even to hurt. It didn’t matter if he was held like this. The sound of a buckle falling to the floor made him shiver in excitement.

He moaned and pushed his ass back into Simon’s body. There was a cool sensation between his buttocks, and Simon’s familiar fingers working on him slowly.

“Now, please, I want you,” he whispered.

“I am in charge now,” Simon whispered against the damp strands of hair falling on one ear.

He gasped as Simon patiently added another finger. For the first time in his life, he wanted to be spread open, to be even abused. Simon’s lubed fingers coiled inside him, making him release a small strangled cry. Impatiently, he tried to move his ass. As well restrained as he was, there wasn’t much he could do. Simon’s deft hand moved to pull his cock from underneath him, making it rest, hard and pulsing against the polished wood, facing down.

“I’m going to fuck you now,” Simon cooed into his ear.

He rejoiced loudly. When Simon entered him swiftly, due to the extensive preparation, his cries were almost desperate.

For so long, sex had been for him mostly a weapon, instead of natural pleasure. And now, it was all coming back to him, and he felt like he was going slightly crazy, caught between the need to cry his heart out and buck his hips into Simon’s body, hungered and thirsty, desperate to be touched, made loved to and held by another, someone who loved him and cared for him.

Simon was riding him hard, too, and by his short grunts, he was as engulfed in the craziness of the moment as much as him. Alex moved upwards, as much as he could, his cock brushing against the hard surface, making thrills of excitement course through his entire body. 

The pressure, the stimulation, everything was too much. When he came, his cry of release must have made the window panes rattle, yet, it was soon engulfed by Simon’s triumphant groans of pleasure.

The man was filling him with his own cum, and that was making him whole, like nothing else in his life. 

He had no idea how long he just stood there, with Simon caressing him and murmuring gentle words. He barely registered how Simon moved, unshackled him and helped him to get up. 

A sense of relief flooded him when he noticed they were all alone in the room. 

Simon was helping him into his clothes, and he obeyed, almost like a child. 

“So, did you learn your lesson?” Simon smiled at him, and kissed him.

Blood rushed to his cheeks, along with a strong feeling of humiliation. Despite the love he felt for Simon right now, he felt ashamed. Why was this needed? Did he have to crawl and beg for affection now? Was that all about, in the end?

He wiped his tears with the back of the hand. 

“I don’t think so,” he said rigidly.

He was confused. He could not make sense of anything. So he needed to run away. He should have listened to that first instinct. He should have never walked inside that club. 

He wasn’t ready. Pushing Simon away, he headed for the door.

“Alex, wait!” Simon shouted after him.

He slammed the door shut behind him.

***

In the end, he decided to take a week off from work. He needed to allow his body to heal, but that wasn’t all. What he needed much more than that was to stay away from Simon. Seeing the guy right now was going to make him come apart. And he could not stop that feeling. 

What he had experienced while being tied to that wooden contraption at the club, while being hit with the whip, and then held and made love to by Simon, was just too much. He could not, would not comprehend it. It was just … too much.

Days were going by slowly. Rejecting Simon’s calls and ignoring the guy’s messages brought more pain. So, in the end, he just turned off his phone. 

But the confusion he felt wasn’t going away. He needed answers, regardless of whether he was going to like them or not. 

And he knew who to ask. All he needed was a bit of courage.

***

“I must say that I am a little surprised. Back so soon for another session?” David smiled while pointing a chair for him to sit down.

“I need some answers,” he said with some difficulty.

“Fire away,” David encouraged him. 

“What did Simon tell you? About me?” he blurted out.

David shook his head slowly.

“That’s not what you’re here for. This is not what you want to ask me.”

“Really?” Alex pursed his lips.

“You feel ashamed. And you shouldn’t,” David continued. 

“I got whipped like … like I’m some …” he gasped for air, incapable of finding the right words.

“You’re confused, and it’s natural,” David said kindly. “Now, Alex, say it, in your own words, what are you really afraid of?”

“Is this how my life’s going to be?” he asked with bitterness in his voice. “Getting beaten into submission, humiliated? Is this the only way for me to feel happy? What’s wrong with me?” he almost shouted the last question.

David put one hand up to stop the flow of words pouring from his mouth.

“Assuming the submissive role has nothing to do with shame. When you got whipped, you felt liberated, right?”

Alex shifted in his place.

“Do you know why?” David insisted.

“Because I deserve it,” Alex murmured, after a short moment of hesitation.

“Hmm,” David agreed. “But that’s not all. You know, isn’t it?”

Alex looked the man in the eye and gulped. From that first moment, when Simon had taken him out of the wooden chair, he had suspected it. But now he had the confirmation. He frowned, and blinked hard, to chase away the tears.

“Why didn’t he say it? That he had been the one to hit me?” Alex crossed his arms. “Did you two enjoy the charade you put on? Did you two laugh at my expense?”

David shook his head and chuckled.

“Your rebellious nature would make you the perfect sub, Alex. No, we didn’t laugh. It wasn’t a charade. And I was glad to assist Simon, who is a friend. It took him a lot of courage to give voice and action to the anger he held inside. But no, before you say something, he didn’t hit you to satisfy himself. He did it for you. Because you need it and because he cares about you.”

“Isn’t it easy to say that?” Alex squirmed in his seat. “I am the one humiliated, beaten into submission, or whatever!”

“Alex, a true Dom would never do something to a submissive without having had experienced the same thing himself before. Simon knew not to hit you harder than what you needed, and since he’s new to this, he asked me for my guidance.”

Alex swallowed hard.

“Do you mean … Simon got whipped, too?” he whispered.

“Harder than you if I may say,” David looked at him with a bit of reproach. “And he didn’t have the same advantage as you to be held by someone who cared for him deeply. Not that I wouldn’t have wanted to offer him the comfort. He just said ‘no’. And do you know what else he said?”

“What?” Alex could feel his throat dry like sandpaper. 

“He said this: ‘I need to show this to Alex. To make him feel it. If he goes through this for me, it means we still have a chance.’”

Alex hid his face into his hands. 

“I agreed with him. We had long talks, Simon and I. He’s not a submissive, although that was what he thought when he walked through my door for the first time. I knew, even before I showed him what that meant, that he had the makeup of a Dom.”

“Simon, a Dom?” Alex sniffled, without taking his hands away.

“Do you know what a Dom has to be, above all else?” David asked.

“How should I know?” Alex mumbled, hiding his face.

“He has to be kind. Without kindness, he could never be a good Dom. He needs to understand what his sub needs. He needs to know how to provide for those needs. And Simon has these qualities. He thought he wanted to be your sub. But I had to open his eyes. The collar shouldn’t go around his neck. Do you understand what I’m saying, Alex?”

He took the tissue offered by David. 

“I think I do.”

“Good. It makes me glad.”

“What if …” he trailed off. “What if I’m not a good sub?”

David laughed wholeheartedly. 

“I believe Simon can teach you all the ropes. You can have faith in him. Because he cares about you more than anything.”

“Thank you,” Alex stood up, still patting his eyes with the tissue. “It feels like I must pay you for your troubles.”

“No need to,” David waved. “But it would be nice to have you and Simon as regular patrons to my establishment. If I hear you went to some other club, that’ll hurt me deeply,” the man placed a hand over his chest. 

Alex snickered. It was funny how it felt okay to laugh.

“I would not dream of doing such a thing.”

***

Simon was waiting for him in front of the house, leaning against his car. He looked amazing in his tailored suit, but his eyes seemed sad and tired.

“I got your message,” he said.

Alex walked over to him. He drew a deep breath, and then he started talking. 

“Simon, I’m messed up, okay? I mean, I think you somehow know that. And I, well I know just one thing. That I don’t want to let you go. Heaven knows I’ve done plenty of stupid shit …”

“Alex, you never use cuss words,” Simon chuckled.

Alex smiled and placed both hands on Simon’s shoulders. 

“Maybe I should. Maybe I keep too much bottled up inside.”

“Well, maybe you have to,” Simon moved a bit, but didn’t shake him off.

“I guess,” Alex exhaled. “But that’s not important. What’s important is that I want you to ask you something.”

“Go ahead,” Simon encouraged him.

His eyes no longer seemed so sad.

“I want you to be my boyfriend. For life. I won’t marry ever again because that was a damn stupid thing of me to do, but I want you to be always by my side.”

“Hmm. What if I don’t want that?” Simon asked.

Alex looked the guy in the eyes. He had a strange feeling Simon was teasing him.

“Then I suppose I might turn into a stalker. I don’t think I’d let anyone else have you. You know why? Mostly because you saw me at my worst. Broken. And all that jazz. And you didn’t run away. So, you see? I can’t let you run away now. You’re mine.”

Simon began laughing.

“That’s quite the confession,” he said, his eyes lit with amusement. “What are you trying to say, Alex?”

“I love you,” Alex said without an ounce of hesitation. “There’s nothing I can do to make it go away, it seems. So, will you be my boyfriend for life?”

“Well, as I said, I don’t want that.”

Alex could feel uneasiness creeping in. So Simon didn’t want him? It was all he deserved, after all. His arms dropped from the guy’s shoulders. 

“I came here to propose,” Simon said, with a small huff of annoyance. “And seriously, fight a little more for me, Alex. It feels good for a change, you know?”

“Propose?!” Alex almost screamed. “But seriously, Simon, I don’t think I’m prepared for another marriage. Please, maybe later?”

“You’re mistaken and it’s funny,” Simon guffawed.

With one swift move, the man took out a rectangular box from the front seat of his car. Now it made sense to Alex why Simon had left the window down. 

His hands were a tiny bit unsteady when he took the box. He opened it, and peeked inside. And cursed. But not in anger or resentment.

“Are you kidding me?” he moaned, but his eyes were shining as he looked at Simon. 

Simon shrugged.

“That’s what I’m proposing. I hope you’re going to say ‘yes’.”

Alex took out the studded leather collar and admired it. 

“It’s nice,” he said with a smile. “I believe I should put it on, right?”

Simon nodded enthusiastically, but then, he caught Alex’s hands.

“Let’s not do it in front of your neighbors,” he winked.

Alex laughed.

“I’d say that’s a good idea.”

They walked into the house in silence. But Alex didn’t wait anymore, as soon as they were inside. With steady hands, he took the collar and wrapped it around his neck.

“Let me help you,” Simon spoke, and his voice was growing a tad warmer, lower.

Alex shivered as Simon’s fingers touched his neck, securing the collar in place. 

“What …” he gulped, “should we do now?”

His fingers were tracing the buttons on Simon’s shirt, and he could not look up. Simon tipped his chin gently. 

“Undress,” he whispered.

Without the slightest sound of protest, he stepped out of his clothes, pushing them away with one foot. It was strange how vulnerable, yet excited, like he was on the brink of jumping off a cliff, he felt. The collar felt firm, a bit hard, against his neck. It was also forcing him to keep his head in a somewhat rigid position.

But experiencing that kind of restriction was making his blood temperature rise. 

“Will you undress, too?” he asked.

Simon cocked his head to one side. Yes, his lover was a different man now. There were still traces in his features of his usual childish behavior, but right now he was serious. His beautiful caramel eyes were burning, making Alex feel self-conscious of his own state of undress.

“No,” came the firm answer.

Alex watched as Simon rested his hands on the buckle of his belt. There was a soft invitation there, and Alex drew closer.

“It needs to come from you,” Simon said, and Alex nodded hurriedly.

He caressed Simon’s fingers, and proceeded to unbuckle the belt. As soon as he held the leather item in his hand, he solemnly handed it to its owner. 

“There, over the sofa,” Simon pointed out with the belt.

Alex cast his eyes down and put himself on his four on the sofa, his back at Simon.

“You’ll not be modeling for lingerie anytime soon,” Simon said matter-of-factly.

“I know,” Alex admitted.

He didn’t cry out when the first hit landed. Not after the second. Or the third. 

“Please,” he whispered after the fourth.

His skin was on fire. He was trembling, but not from pain, although that was present not only on his body, but his mind, too, making everything sharp, free of doubts.

Simon caressed his back and ass slowly with the belt. 

“You should see yourself,” the man said gently. “Your skin is … no longer flawless.”

“Show me,” Alex demanded.

Simon threw the belt on the floor and helped him to his feet. Together they stepped into the bathroom and stopped in front of the sink. Simon turned him and then slowly helped him turn his head over his shoulder, too, so that he could see his own reflection.

Alex winced. The angry red welts on his back were real. But he didn’t back down. 

“Fuck me,” he whispered, his eyes still on his reflection in the mirror.

Simon had no troubles lifting him up on the edge of sink, quick to pull his cock free from his pants. Alex looked back into the mirror. The way Simon remained dressed while he was all naked increased the feeling of vulnerability. But also his excitement. 

He wrapped his legs around Simon, as the man was busy getting both of them ready.

“Let’s hope this is going to hold,” Simon half-joked, as he pushed himself inside with a small grunt.

“It will or I’ll sue somebody,” Alex said back, with a half-smile.

“No, you won’t. And you got enough punishment for today,” Simon took a hold of him and kissed him deeply.

Nothing but the sounds of their coupling was filling the room. 

“Yes, yes, yes,” he whispered as a mantra while Simon fucked him hard.

The man had always treated him kindly. But this, the little bit of rough he was experiencing, was good, too. Better, even. It took him little to come messily all over his belly and chest, and Simon didn’t last long after, either.

“I think you need to retire this shirt,” he joked, pointing at the mess he had made on Simon’s clothes.

“I no longer need it anyway,” Simon chuckled.

Simon was gentle again, as he helped him down from the sink. His back was hurting, but he could deal with that, too.

***

He caressed Simon’s chest slowly, tracing the tattooed letters.

“Do you still mean it?” he asked, feeling a tad unsure.

“That I’m your property?” Simon laughed, but pulled him closer, covering both of them with the blanket.

“That you’re mine,” Alex said simply.

“Yes, I still mean it,” Simon replied.

“Should I get a matching tattoo?” he nuzzled Simon’s neck.

“You definitely should,” Simon kissed his forehead.

That meant, with certainty, that he wasn’t going to model for lingerie ever again. But it wasn’t like he had enjoyed doing that anyway. Being Simon’s boyfriend had, apparently, unexpected perks.

***

“So, are we finally ready to go?” Mark looked at his pocket watch with a small frown.

“Are you late for some tea party that I don’t know of, dear?” Angel chuckled, right into his ear.

“Would you stop that? It’s really annoying,” Mark moved away from the other overseer, but couldn’t help a small smile. 

“But you still love me,” Angel hook one arm over his shoulders.

“Of course I do. I love everyone equally,” Mark replied. 

“Still, you love me a little more,” Angel teased, ignoring completely how Mark was struggling to escape him.

“If I say ‘yes’, will we go back? We’re already late,” Mark said quickly.

“Late? Come on, let’s play hooky,” Angel insisted. “Filing reports is boring, and can also wait.”

“You must be kidding me,” Mark moaned. “Okay, what do you want to do? Shopping? I think you have three walk-in closets filled with clothes. Such a good thing that space doesn’t really matter where we exist.”

“No, not shopping,” Angel said. “But I want to stay with you a little and watch this,” he guided Mark so that they could look at the sun descending slowly toward the horizon. 

The city seemed already so far away, from that vantage point. 

“I think I can do that,” he replied with a resigned smile.

“We did a great job,” Angel said as they watched the sun go down.

“I think we did,” Mark said back. “Everyone’s happy, right?”

Angel nodded. 

“Can we go back now?” Mark insisted.

“If I kiss you,” Angel teased, looking at him from up close, “will you take care of my report, too?”

“Okay, you lazy bum,” Mark sighed. “So that was what you really wanted, after all. Hey, what are you doing?”

Angel was holding his head, and making doe eyes at him.

“Cut it out!” Mark protested. “I don’t want you to kiss me!”

“C’mon, you know kissing is the best way to travel,” Angel pressed his lips together.

Mark exhaled as soon as Angel let him breathe. 

“I don’t think I have ever heard a stupider thing in my life. And I see we’re still here.”

“Just wait. That was my chaste kiss from me to you. Now we’re getting real.”

As they soared into the air, Mark didn’t even have time to protest anymore. Angel was right. And he was the best at traveling between worlds. And a great kisser. But Mark wasn’t going to let the pompous ass know that.

THE END

Author’s note:

And that was Alex’s and Simon’s story! I hope you still enjoyed it, even if you’re not a fan of Alex. I must admit it was a real challenge to switch from writing from Carter’s POV to Alex’s POV since they are so completely different characters.

Next Thursday, I will start a new series, and I hope you’ll embark on the new ride with me. As always, thank you for all your support. You make me a better writer.

All the love,

Laura.