The boy was so eager to save everyone he forgot himself on the way. And he forgot Vars, who loved him, and who would never get another chance like this again, deserted in his immortality.
“Remember this collar?” Vars pulled on the metal. “I own you, boy, and it’s what you’ve wanted, so now I will punish you for disobedience. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Jake whispered, but this time his eyes stayed on Vars, and he wouldn’t even blink.
For several moments, Vars stared back at him, watching the rosy skin Jake had been ready to sacrifice for his chosen family, the earnest eyes, the submissive set to his shoulders. When Vars spoke, his tone was softer even as he reached out to unbuckle Jake’s belt. “Jake, I think you know how I feel about you. Is that less important?”
Jake looked at their feet and his breath hitched. “No. I understand, it’s just that—”
Vars put his hand against Jake’s lips. “No ‘buts’. It’s all meaningless if you’re gone. I need you here. With me,” he whispered, calming down somewhat now that Jake was back in his arms, once again pliant and sweet like strawberries with cream.
Vars kissed Jake, taking his time until both of them rested their weight against the wall, safe in the long empty corridor where the loud music was only an echo. Slowly, Vars made Jake turn to face away from him.
“Pull down your pants.”
It was quiet enough for Vars to hear Jake swallow, and when his boy followed the order, the sight of Vars’s handiwork on the beautiful ass made a little groan escape his lips. Red, yellow, and purple. Dark bruises, crimson spots, and a few welts adorned the canvas of Jake’s skin like a work of abstract art. And Jake presented it so pliantly too, already bracing himself against the wall. He wore a white jockstrap, which he’d really taken to since Vars first mentioned it, and the thin cotton was the perfect frame for abused skin.
Vars took his time studying the effects of last night’s beating, but then put his hand on Jake’s nape and pressed down, until the boy’s body was bent into a right angle, with his cheek against the wall and ass facing the hallway.
The sound of Jake’s shallow breaths filled Vars with excitement, but he still forced himself to remember what this was about. That this wasn’t a game. If Jake understood where his place was, where he belonged, and who he took orders from, he wouldn’t put himself in unnecessary danger.
“Should I count, sir?” Jake asked in a whisper.
Vars exhaled, moved by this display of dedication from Jake. It had been a while since he’d been with someone so honest, so eager to please rather than submit only for the sake of their own fantasies. Jake wanted that too, of course, but there was a genuine desire in him to make Vars happy.
“Good boy. I like the way you think,” Vars said and ran the back of his hand up and down the violated skin. Even now, twenty-four hours after the spanking, the flesh was so hot Vars could melt marshmallows over it. As much as he’d have liked to cover the existing welts with the slim marks of a belt, he believed it to be too much for Jake at this point, and instead flattened his hand against one of the buttocks, squeezing it hard.
Even that caused Jake to whine, and Vars bit his lip when a grin emerged from the depths of his desire. The dynamics between them had changed yet again, and now the security in his role gave Vars relief after the stress of the conversation with the other patches. When he was like this with Jake, there was no hesitation, no arguing, no uncertainty. Jake would follow orders, and in turn, Vars would make sure no actual harm came to the boy.
Jake groaned when Vars slapped his ass—not too hard, but not too gently either. This wasn’t a game. The slaps were there to drive home a point.
“One.”
“Does it hurt? Describe it to me,” whispered Vars, leaning over the two perfectly red globes that bounced every time he delivered a strike.
“It’s a throbbing pain, sir. But I can take it. It goes right through to the muscle first, then back to the skin like a sting.” Jake bit back a yelp when Vars landed a harder blow. “Five.”
The next made Jake’s ass dance, so powerful it hurt even Vars’s palm. “How much more do you think you can stand?”
Jake took his time, shifting his weight from one foot to another before he answered. “Many, sir. I can take pain. Do I have to?”
The honest question made Vars laugh, and he pinched Jake’s ass so rapidly this time the boy didn’t hold in a scream. “That depends. Do you understand that I don’t allow you to recklessly endanger yourself? Do you understand that our lives are now tied together, so your choices don’t just affect you?”