Chapter Fifteen

Aftercare and All That

“Mmm,” he said as he held me, kissing the side of my face with the utmost care and tenderness. “You taste good.”

“You still have your clothes on, Sir.” My voice sounded far away and wiped out.

“True.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” I said.

“Toby, nothing in this room is supposed to be ‘fair’.”

He had a point.

“Also, you didn’t come,” I said, with a pout.

“That’s entirely true, although it was close at a couple of points.”

“So,” I said, taking a rejuvenating breath, “do you want me to suck you off while you call me nasty names? That’s a Victorian kink thing, isn’t it?”

He leaned back against the vanity, contemplating me, his eyes sparking interest.

“It’s not necessary,” he said. “We can stop now, or I can take care of myself.”

I narrowed my eyes. Sure, I was tired and sore, and completely fucking sated. But I also wanted his dick down my throat.

I slid off the velvet stool, whimpering due to my smarting behind, and kneeled at his feet. In only the corset and kimono, I must have made a pretty picture as I gazed at him with my mouth open.

I gave a cheeky grin and summoned my best Oliver Twist impression.

“Please, Sir. Can I have some more?”

Alastair cursed and took a breath. His fingers went to his belt then his fly, working with tortuously measured movements. Finally, he offered his cock to me, leaning back against the vanity with a curve of his luscious lips.

“Come and get it,” he breathed.

I braced my hands on his thick thighs, the denim of his faded jeans soft under my palms, and leaned forward. I stared at his cock, recalling all of our encounters, but realizing that we’d only ever breached the surface of what we could be together. Here, in this room of fantasies, Alastair had taken me somewhere I’d never been. I felt renewed and invigorated, even though I’d been treated with such strictness, and Alastair’s implacable will as a Dominant was everything I’d hoped for.

As I used my extensive skills to show my appreciation, Alastair cupped my face and watched with half-lidded eyes, until he couldn’t hold back anymore and came with a swallowed groan. He lost his precarious perch on the vanity and sank to the floor, taking me with him. I laughed and tried to keep his dick in my mouth, chasing all the remnants of his release with my tongue and lips as he sighed and muttered endearments.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Toby. I think I could die right now.”

“Don’t you dare. I need to rent that room from you.”

He gazed at me and smiled. “You’re moving in this week.”

“For better or for worse,” I said, then realized how that sounded. “Oh fuck, that’s not what I meant. That sounds like—”

But he laughed, thank God.

“Fuck, I need a cigarette,” I muttered.

“You need to quit for good,” Alastair said. “You’re going to get cancer.”

I sighed. “I know.”

“Come on,” Alastair said. He tucked himself away and led me to the platform bed. “Here, lie down. I need to make sure you’re okay.”

I lay down with my head in his lap, pulling the kimono around me, even though the room was comfortably warm for a half-dressed, thoroughly debauched, femme-boy. Alastair stroked the sweat-damp hair from my forehead.

“Did you have fun?”

“Duh.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Well, the spanking was painful, but that was the point, right?”

“How so?”

“It hurt like fuck, as I’m sure you could tell…”

“Yes,” he said, in a dreamy way that pissed me off but also made me happy.

“But at the same time, you doing that…the way you did…? I don’t know. I felt…cared for? It was weird, but I guess I loved it…even though I kind of hated it at the same time.” I glanced up at him. “Does that make any sense?”

“Sure. In the land of kink and discipline it does.”

“The Land of Kink and Discipline. Is that where we are?” Somehow, Alastair had dimmed the lights. The rest of the room became shadows and vague outlines as I drifted in a state of pure relaxation and…contentment?

“Maybe Jacob should change the name of the club.”

I laughed. “It doesn’t have the same ring to it as Maverick Molly’s. What time is it, anyway?”

Alastair looked at his watch. “Nine-thirty. We have the room until ten.”

“Then I turn back into a pumpkin?”

“Your ass already looks like one.”

“It better not be orange, Alastair. Jesus.”

He laughed again, the sound of it adding to my happiness. He reached under the robe and placed his palm against the tender skin of my bottom, making me gasp as pain radiated out.

“Your skin is hot to the touch.”

“Goddammit. How long is it going to feel like this?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. A few days?”

I turned my head and gazed at him. “A few days? What the fuck, Alastair? You know I have work! And classes I have to sit through.”

“Yes, and you’ll remember what happened in this room.”

I sighed. “You’ve ruined me.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.”

“It’s not the pain. I kind of like how it feels, to be honest,” I said.

“Good.”

“You’ve ruined me for vanilla sex.”

“Oh, I hope that’s not true, Toby. Vanilla sex with you is…it’s wonderful. I don’t want to give it up.”

“Fine,” I said. “We don’t have to. But I want to come here again.”

“I want to bring you.”

Oh, thank God. Now that I’d had a little intro to the pleasures of this kinky world and Alastair as a Dom, I didn’t want to leave it.

We lounged together on the bed, Alastair tracing the skin of my backside with a fingertip and saying soft things to me as my cock tried to get hard again and I almost fell asleep.

“Come on,” he said, finally. “Up. We need to go home.”

Home. Alastair’s house was already starting to feel like home, which was equal parts weird, scary and wonderful. And I hadn’t even fully moved in.

We tidied up and put the clothes I’d worn into the laundry bin. I was sad to get rid of the kimono and clutched it in my arms for a moment before adding it to the rest of the laundry.

Maybe I could swing a deal with Jacob and buy it.

Taking the key back to Sebastian was interesting. Alastair told me to do it, and I was still in submissive mode, I guess, because I didn’t argue. I was sure my recent debasement was written all over my face, and Sebastian gave me a smug sort of look, but he was a professional, as always.

“Thank you, Mr. Dunn.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

“Do you think you can get someone to cover my shift on Tuesday?”

“Probably. I know Patrick’s looking for more hours.”

I nodded. “I’m…moving.”

He smiled, his eyes going wide. “Finally getting out, huh?”

“Yep,” I said.

The entire club knew I’d been desperate to move out of my mom’s house.

“Toby’s going to stay with me.”

Alastair had come up behind me in that stealthy way he had. He put his arm over my shoulder and across my chest, pulling me snuggly against him in a way that felt both proprietary and comforting.

“I have an extra room, and we’ve been getting along, so…” Alastair shrugged.

“He can’t keep his hands off me,” I said.

“Clearly,” Sebastian said, grinning. “I’m glad you’ve figured something out.”

Alastair spun me around and took my hand, leading me out through the dwindling crowd in the parlor.

As we passed Robin, he mouthed the word ‘slut’. I gave him a big grin and a thumbs-up. Then he rubbed his bottom and made an expression of pain, and I changed my thumbs-up to a middle finger salute.

His cackle was all I heard as we made our exit.

 

* * * *

 

Our Uber driver was remarkably talkative for the late hour. Alastair took pity on me and made small talk so I could stare out of the window as snow drifted down from the cloud-filled sky. When we got home, Alastair sat on the sofa and cuddled with me as I came down from the high. The heat of my ass and the throb of pain there kept me grounded in reality, and a sense of being in good hands pervaded me.

“That was,” I said, glancing at his profile, “not exactly what I’d been expecting.”

He glanced my way with a smile. “Me neither. I had bigger, more adventurous plans for you.”

“What? Really?”

He nodded. “Yes. But once I got you decked out, all I wanted to do was put you over my knee.”

“Huh. What were you going to do to me?”

“Well, I had plans for the spanking bench.”

“Jesus. Is that worse than an over-the-knee spanking?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I think over-the-knee is more humiliating and debasing personally, but some subs really get off on the bench and the whole objectification thing.”

“I want to try the bench next time, if I have any say about it.”

“Of course, you have a say about it,” he said. “I want to make you happy, Toby. And expand your horizons.”

“Good. Great.”

“The nice thing about what we did tonight, though, is that”—he threw me a devilish look—“we don’t actually need the Bordello for stuff like that, although the ambience is very sexy and cool. I can just as easily pull you across my knee at home.”

I blinked at him. “Oh.”

It was entirely possible that Alastair had an ulterior motive for asking me to move in with him, but I can’t say I objected to it.

 

* * * *

 

Alastair dropped me off at Molly’s for my shift on Monday, then went back to his place to clear some things out of the guest room, which would be my own space while we lived together. It still seemed kind of surreal, but I couldn’t wait to get my things in there and clear the stuff I gave a fuck about out of my mom’s place.

I’d texted her that I was just having fun and I’d be back soon, only to placate her. All lies. I didn’t actually know why she cared so much. From all the things she’d said about me being a hassle and a mooch, you’d have thought she’d be happy I was gone. But I don’t think my mom actually knew how to be happy.

I hated to think of the state the place would be in when we got there on Tuesday, since I was the only one who ever did any cleaning. Huh, maybe that was why she was mad. She’d lost her live-in maid service and errand runner.

I hadn’t had a cigarette since Alastair had spanked my ass over his lap in the Bordello. I had thrown the rest of the pack in the trash bin outside the club. I was done with that, and now that I wasn’t living in a home filled with someone else’s second-hand smoke, I had an actual chance of kicking the habit. I was trying to be a good boy. For once I had an older person in my corner who actually cared about me, and I wanted to please him. And I actually didn’t want to die of lung cancer like my mom probably would, unless she OD’d first.

It wasn’t easy, and I found my nerves on their last edge a lot of the time. Alastair assured me that my body would settle down after a while, and in the meantime, he’d distract me enough that I’d be able to stick to my decision. He’d told me to text him if the urge to smoke got too strong to manage by myself, and we’d figure it out together.

Robin and Patrick were in the staff room at Molly’s. They stood and applauded when I came in and dropped my bag by my locker.

“Oh, fuck off,” I said.

“Oh no, Toby. We are not going to do that. You need to tell us what that gorgeous hunk of a man did to you in the Bordello,” Robin stated.

“Uh, that’s confidential intel, don’t you know,” I said, getting my stuff out and dumping it on the bench.

Robin put a hand to his chest. “Confidential intel! Have we not been servers together for over a year?”

“So?”

“So, Toby, I think that I deserve at least a soupçon of information about your tryst with Alastair Kenney.”

“Why?”

“So I can live vicariously through you, of course.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, and Patrick laughed. By now, Patrick was used to the irreverent atmosphere at Molly’s and also to Robin’s antics, and he was much more relaxed.

“That’s very mature,” Robin said. “Fine. Have it your way. I don’t care what the fuck you did up there.”

“Yeah, you do.”

His face fell, and he folded his hands together in a begging gesture. “Oh fuck, Toby, please? Just tell me one thing! You’re living the fucking dream, you know!”

“Oh, as if. I’m sure you’ve been to the Bordello, and probably with one of the regulars. Or all of them, maybe?” I said, thinking of all the times Robin had hinted that he’d done exactly that.

He played his fingers along the edge of the settee. “Actually, I haven’t.”

I stared at him, while Patrick’s gaze went back and forth between us. “But…you’ve told me—”

“I have a big mouth—and an even bigger imagination.”

“Huh. I always thought those stories were true,” I said, regarding him from a new perspective.

He shrugged. “Well, I had to say something. You all think I’m a huge slut. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone.”

“Robin,” I said, “trust me. Nothing about you is disappointing.”

He nodded and didn’t say anything. But he almost smiled.

“I wouldn’t mind hearing what you guys did back there,” Patrick said in a hopeful voice.

I sighed, because although Robin could be disingenuous and annoying, he was also kind of hilarious and I loved him in a weird way, and Patrick was unbelievably sweet. The two of them seemed to be forming a bond, and Patrick might be a calming influence on the flamboyant server.

“It was nothing. He dressed me up and spanked me, then sucked me off. Then I sucked him off. No big deal.”

“But you could have done all that at home,” Patrick said, sounding disappointed.

“Well…” I smiled, remembering the details.

“Never mind, Patrick. He’s not going to tell us,” Robin stated, ushering Patrick out of the room.

It really did sound like nothing.

But it had been everything.

 

* * * *

 

Alastair’s phone alarm woke us at eight-thirty on Tuesday morning, which was later than Alastair got up on a workday. He’d booked the day off, so he was cheerful when he got out of bed. I wished I felt the same.

“It’s fine. I don’t need any of that stuff. Let’s forget it,” I mumbled, turning over and closing my eyes.

The mattress dipped.

“Toby.”

“Shhh.”

“Get up.”

“Nope.”

The bedclothes flew off of me, and a hand cracked against my backside.

“Fuck! Ow!” I said, my hand shooting back there to protect my skin.

“Get up. I didn’t book a day off work to sit here and argue with you.”

Ooh, he sounded pissed. I cracked an eye open. He was smiling.

“Fuck you,” I said.

He raised his eyebrows and lifted his hand.

“I’m up, I’m up. Fuck,” I said, pulling my legs around and sitting up. “You’re an asshole.”

“You knew that before you moved in here.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know how much you liked to smack my ass back then.”

“It’s my favorite thing.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Goddammit. I need a cigarette.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Alastair,” I said patiently. “If you knew what I’ve been through with my mom, you would understand. And you would go out right now and buy me a whole pack. You’d even light it for me.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“Yes, you would.”

“You can do this, Toby. And you can do it without caving in to your smoking habit.”

“But, Alastair, I really just need one or two ciggy’s today then I’ll quit. I promise.”

“Nope. Not happening.”

I stared at him. He stared at me.

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

He sighed. “Really? You usually like it when I tell you what to do.”

“That’s different. That’s…playing. And it’s fun. But…it’s my life.”

“It is your life, and I can’t tell you not to smoke. But, Toby, if you can get through today without caving, you’ll have this thing beat.”

I mean, he had a point.

“But if you threaten to put me over your lap if I smoke a cigarette, that’s just a win-win for me.”

“Hmm. Really.”

“Yes, really.”

“Well, what if I say that every day you don’t smoke a cigarette, I’ll put you over my lap?”

I laughed. “And punish me for what, exactly?”

“Oh, it won’t be a punishment.”

My mouth went dry. “Huh?”

“I gave you something close to a punishment spanking the other night in the Bordello, only because I wanted you to know what you were getting into with me. But, I, uh…can make a spanking something else entirely.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you only telling me this now?”

He smiled with a mischievous tilt to his head. We gazed at each other for a long moment.

“Get up, darling,” he said. “You can use the shower first, if you want.”

I raised my eyebrows, my heart warming to his use of the endearment.

“Darling, huh?”

He shrugged. “I call all my roommates ‘darling’, especially the ones who let me fuck and spank them.”

He gave me a look that was all self-indulgent and smug, and I couldn’t help laughing.

While I showered, I prayed to a God I didn’t even believe in to make sure my mother wasn’t there when we went. I figured we could be in and out in about thirty minutes or less, so I was really hoping we didn’t have to deal with her. She wasn’t someone I wanted to introduce to Alastair, and Esther would be even less thrilled to see her.

While we were drinking coffee and Alastair was eating his requisite piece of toast with apricot jam, Esther texted me that she and Lev were outside.

 

i hope you don’t mind.

 

they wanted to help.

 

“Esther is here,” I said to Alastair, as I got up and headed for the door. “And she brought her roommate, Lev.”

“Great! The more the merrier, right?” he said, stuffing the last bite of his toast in his mouth as he stood and brushed the crumbs off his shirt. He was in jeans and a black Henley, looking hot as usual.

“Sure,” I said, not convinced.

Now I regretted asking Alastair to help. If I’d known I could rely on Esther and Lev, the three of us could have done it on our own. If Mom found so many strangers in her house, she was going to lose it, and the woman didn’t have much left, to be honest. I only wanted out, not to be the reason for her nervous breakdown.

“Hi, guys,” I said, holding the front door open for them to come in from the porch.

“You really got the golden ticket, didn’t you?” Esther said as she stepped inside and looked around. She lasered in on Alastair. “And you must be Alastair. I’m Esther.”

“Hi, Esther,” Alastair said, shaking the offered hand. “I’m pleased to finally meet you. We’re glad you and Lev can help out today.”

She shrugged. “Nice place.” She gave Alastair an assessing look. “Toby’s my bestie. I’m always there when he needs me.”

“Okay, okay,” I said, holding up my hand. “Down, girl.”

“What? It’s true.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to have a pissing contest with my boyfriend.”

“That’s not what I—” She frowned and squinted at Alastair. “Oh, hey, maybe it is.”

“Alastair, this is Lev,” I said, introducing our friend, who was wearing leggings and black jean short-shorts, motorcycle boots and a gray tweed hip-length coat.

“Hi,” Lev said. “I’m Lev, and my pronouns are they/them.”

“Hi Lev,” Alastair said, then pointed at himself. “Alastair. He/him.”

Lev nodded, then turned to me.

“Are we doing this now?”