A Strong Hand (19 page)

177

A Strong Hand

by Catt Ford

"No, I'm fine," Nick quavered.

"Up you get then, lad," Ashley said, "Go and dry your pretty eyes. You don't want Damian to know you were crying on my shoulder."

Nick rose seamlessly and Ashley marveled at his grace; truly a natural sub.

"I wasn't anywhere near your shoulder," Nick said, looking up at Ashley from under his lashes. "Sir."

Damn, the boy was dangerous and he hadn't the least idea of his own provocative allure. "Get off with you, boy. And you might locate Derek for me. He should have been back an hour ago."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Nick ducked into the bathroom, wiping at the tear that threatened to spill from his left eye.

That one always teared up first.

In fact, Derek had returned, and he'd witnessed only the two men's positions. He couldn't overhear what had been said, but he was feeling oddly jealous to find Nick on his knees in front of Ashley.

And he had not been the only witness. Ashley wandered out into the studio, to find Damian had sent all of the models off for a change and was slamming sandbags around at the back, behind some unused flats. He chuckled to himself; he'd hoped that Damian would see him command Nick to his knees. Jealousy was an emotion he could work with.

"Damian, I was just thinking—" Ashley began, his voice innocent and unconcerned, as if he hadn't been caught.

Damian turned and swept Ashley up against the wall, trying to brace his forearm across Ashley's throat, but the 178

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larger man was prepared. He allowed Damian to commit his weight and followed the sweep of his momentum, turning them so that Damian ended up with his back against the wall with Ashley pressing his weight against him to keep him motionless.

"Get off me," Damian demanded, struggling against the larger man.

In spite of himself, Ashley felt his cock stir when he felt the fine body pinned under his, writhing fruitlessly. "What's the matter, Damian? Since when can't you throw me off?" Ashley taunted.

Damian's face darkened and he doubled his efforts but Ashley kept him pinned. No matter what tricks he tried, it seemed Ashley was one step ahead of him and all Damian managed to do was wear himself out.

"What're you trying to pull, Ashley? I thought you were supposed to be my friend!" Damian hissed.

"I'm doing this because I
am
your friend," Ashley grinned, his teeth white and gleaming. Damian was almost afraid.

Almost.

"You're acting like a complete git. I asked if you were claiming Nick and you said you were. You put your mark on him in a public place and then you abandoned him. How do you think he's feeling right now?"

Damian struggled weakly and subsided, Ashley's words echoing in his brain. "He'll be all right. He's better off."

"How do you know? Did you ask him what he wanted? Or did you just decide that it would be dangerous to let this go any further?"

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"I didn't—I didn't ask," Damian admitted.

Ashley shook him. "You're a complete twat. How long have you been playing?"

"Twelve years."

"And you still haven't learned that the bottom is the one with all the power?" Ashley shook him again. "What are you thinking?"

"Thinking with my dick, I guess," Damian laughed.

"Believe me, your dick doesn't even come into it. If your dick had been doing any thinking whatsoever, Nick wouldn't be moping around here as if his pet dog died and you would have had me on my back on the floor, instead of sucking air with my knee in your gut," Ashley claimed, disgusted. He let Damian go and cuffed him lightly on the back of the head.

"You're suffering from Top Drop."

"I am
not!
I've never—"

"Yes you are. You're questioning your own instincts. Trust yourself."

"What if I hurt him?"

"You're an experienced and attentive Top. Are you trying to make me believe that you would ignore Nick's reactions and cause him an injury?"

Impotently, Damian clenched his fists, glaring at Ashley.

"You don't understand."

"I understand perfectly," Ashley said. "You're afraid that
you're
the one who's going to get hurt. And there's no evidence for that. The boy adores you."

"He's too young," Damian muttered.

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"No, he's not." Ashley paused, studying the other man. "I think you've found the one you've been looking for all your life and it scares you to death."

"You're right about that last part at least," Damian said, trying to pin Ashley to the wall in his turn. "So your advice is for me to claim him?"

"You already did that," Ashley said, disengaging with ease.

"Listen, you're the only Top who would play with that sub who had lost his leg. Everyone else was afraid of hurting him and wouldn't touch him. You had the patience to go slow with him and discover his limits. When you two parted, he felt like a man again."

Damian seemed startled. "You think I'm insulting Nick's manhood?"

"Just because he's a sub doesn't mean he's not a man,"

Ashley said gently. "He may enjoy submitting to you, but he's still your equal in this. It's not like you to forget that, Ian.

Now that you know he has a liability, work with it."

"Fuck me," Damian murmured.

"Oh, believe me, I would like to, but I've blown my only chance out of the goodness of my heart," Ashley mourned.

"Now that you've regained your sanity, I'll never be able to overpower you again. You're a Top's Top, and I'm merely a kinky bastard with a cane." He reached over and gave Damian's bottom a squeeze. "Mmm, I'm a fool, passing up my chances to do the lad a favor. But I'm a sucker for a boy with beautiful eyes."

"He asked you to talk to me?" Damian asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

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Ashley rolled his eyes. "Damian, I had to force a few stammered 'ums' and 'uhs' out of him. Is it likely that he came to me for confessional?"

Remembering Nick's largely inarticulate and tentative responses, Damian chuckled. "No, I guess not. How did you put him on his knees?"

"Pointed at the floor. You've trained him well," Ashley said smugly. "He's missing you badly, or I doubt very much it would have worked. And take my word for it; the AW 2001 is the spanking bench for you. It would provide ample support under his chest; no chance of his hip going out on you or an awkward position leading to an injury. I'd be happy to give you a good price on a demo. Nick would look simply delicious bent over one with his pink little arse raised at just the right height for fucking."

Damian shook his head, smiling ruefully. "And I suppose you'd like to watch."

"If only. That would be payment enough for me," Ashley said, a glazed look of lust coming over him. "And perhaps you'll bring him round to the clubs. I've never seen you in action and now that you're playing again—"

"No, no, I'm over all that," Damian said hastily. "Though perhaps we might come round one day to watch you raising cane."

Ashley laughed at the double entendre. "My competitive days are over. I only do demonstrations now, usually at conferences. But you never know."

"Things looking up with Derek?" Damian asked slyly.

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Ashley snorted with laughter. "Some things, yes. We're talking. I don't think he quite understands the call of all this kinky stuff yet, but he's trying to keep an open mind."

Damian nodded. "That's a good first step."

* * * *

Meanwhile Nick emerged from the bathroom with his eyes suspiciously red, but dry. He saw Damian and Ashley emerge from behind the flats and hoped that whatever Ashley had done hadn't ruined everything. Already he regretted having confided the little that he had, but Damian looked to be in a better humor and Ashley was waving his hands with animation as they talked. Nick sighed. He wasn't good at waiting, dammit, and he wanted some kind of sign that he was back in Damian's good graces.

He didn't notice Derek's hurt expression, nor Markie sighing regretfully as his eyes flicked between Ashley and Derek. He went into Damian's office to collect the coffee cup that the photographer had carried in there earlier and turned to find Damian standing in the doorway, regarding him with a wicked smile. He froze, mercifully not dropping the cup.

Damian closed the door, and Nick heard the click of the lock, his heart starting a slow pounding in his chest. The older man prowled toward him with a proprietary gleam in his eye.

"Put that down, pet," he drawled.

Instantly, Nick's cock responded to the husky command, rising steadily, creating a visible bulge in his jeans. He set the cup down a bit hard.

"Bend over."

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Automatically, Nick started to bend right where he was but Damian grabbed his shoulders and spun him so he was facing the desk, pressing his chest down onto the surface with a hand flat on his back. "Hands over your head. Keep them there."

Nick stretched his hands over his head and waited.

Damian smoothed his hand over the tight little ass, pulling the baggy jeans taut. "This will dampen the sound a bit." He brought his hand down on Nick's backside with stinging effect, but he was right, the sound was only a muffled slap. Nick hoped there was enough noise in the studio to cover it because he didn't want it to stop.

The hand continued to rain down hard blows, creating a welcome glow. Nick made a small sound, like the mewl of a kitten, and wriggled, causing Damian to pause and press his hand over the bulge in
his
pants.

"Now we'll have your trousers down and have a look,"

Damian murmured.

Nick could barely keep still; the photographer's hands at the closure of his jeans were unbearably arousing. He was achingly hard. He had wanked during the days when Damian was ignoring him, but his efforts had been useless; he'd only succeeded in making himself sore. He hoped that perhaps Damian might be willing to remedy that.

He wiggled when he felt his jeans lowered to his knees.

Damian's hands slid inside his boxers, teasingly squeezing his buttocks before he pushed those down as well.

"You're a lovely color round back," Damian observed. "Hot and pink. Peachy smooth," he said rubbing his hands all over 184

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Nick's ass. "I think I might have to keep you this color all day; it's most becoming. Say a little swat every hour or so, work permitting."

"Yes, sir," Nick agreed. The warmth in his seat was quite pleasurable.

"I hope that you've missed this, me smacking your little bottom. Have you missed me here, filling you?"

A finger followed the line between his buttocks and Nick shivered as it caressed his opening.

"Yes, sir. I want you to fill me," Nick gasped, achieving his first direct request without prompting.

Damian swallowed the lump in his throat; his boy had courage, more than he did. Nick had no clue as to what was going on between them, and yet he was still brave enough to take that step off the edge of the cliff into freefall. Damian resolved that he wouldn't betray his boy's trust.

"And you want me to fill you now, don't you, my pet?" he inquired silkily, his voice giving no clue of what was going on for him internally.

"Yes, please, sir."

"Very well." Damian grinned and pulled something from his pocket. He lubed his fingers and stroked over the tiny pink portal, watching Nick try to remain still. He heard the gasp as he pushed his finger inside, spreading the lubrication, making the way easier. The boy was so tight Damian felt his cock harden against his belly and gave silent thanks that he was in the habit of dressing up; he hated getting hard with his cock at a weird angle.

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When he had Nick gasping and squirming all over the surface of the desk, he withdrew his finger and said, "Are you ready for me, pet?"

"Yes ... please ... fill me ... sir," Nick stammered, desperately trying to keep his voice down.

He gasped and jumped when he felt something cool but hard stretching his hole, pulsing around it while he tried to figure out just what it was. He clenched around the invader and stirred, as if to look back, but Damian's hand held him flat on the desk. "What is that?"

"No peeking," Damian chastised him. He pushed another bead in, watching with pleasure as Nick's entrance pulsed with the penetration. The boy was writhing now, but Damian proceeded as if nothing unusual was happening.

Teasingly, Damian put the entire string of beads up Nick's ass, one at a time. The tiny yips that the boy made when they rubbed over his prostate were delicious, but Damian anticipated that by the time he removed them, Nick would be very hot and bothered indeed.

The beads were graduated in size and the final one stretched Nick fully. He gasped and ground his cock against the hard surface of the desk, wondering what the fuck Damian was stuffing up his arse.

Finally the hand holding him down was removed and with a final pat to the pink cheeks, Damian said, "You may stand up, pet."

Nick pushed himself up from the desk, feeling a curious full feeling, but not like when Damian had fucked him. "What are they, sir?"

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"Anal beads," Damian said with a wicked grin. "Pull up your pants."

"You mean, you're not...?" Nick reluctantly pulled his jeans up and fastened them around his hips.

"Shh, pet, let me demonstrate," Damian said, and pulled a slender plastic remote out of his pocket. He flicked the switch and Nick froze when the vibration started inside him.

"Fuck!" he cried out, unable to control the exclamation.

The effect on his prostate was startling and arousing. His cock strained upward in response and he clutched at himself, pressing on the bulge.