Chapter 8
It wasn’t just strange but disconcerting to wake up in an unfamiliar bed. He woke with the window on the wrong side of the room and an arm draped over his chest. He turned his head as slowly as possibly so he could stare into the sleeping face of the man next to him. Jack’s arm was stuck under Rebel’s neck and was mostly asleep but he didn’t care, the closeness to another man again was worth any discomfort or lack of knowing what to do. He threaded his other hand through the beautiful man’s soft hair and smiled at the way it cascaded off of his fingers. He moved the sheets just a bit and looked down at the sleeping body, so relaxed. He then saw Rebel’s cock twitch and looked back up into the sleepy eyes that were heavily lidded but open.
“Good morning Jack.”
Instead of saying it he kissed the side of Rebel’s mouth and caressed his hand through his hair again. This time though instead of only feeling his silky locks he felt a raised bump on his scalp. “What is that? A scar?”
Rebel’s eyes closed for a moment then he said, “That subject is off the table.”
Jack studied his face and said, “Maybe it’s something that shouldn’t be off of the table. It could be something that I as your Dom should know so we can maybe work through it.”
Rebel threw the sheet off and jumped out of bed. He pulled the drawer open across the room and got out a pair of sweats as Jack sat up surprised. As soon as the sweats were on he said, “You’re not my fucking Dom or whatever the fuck you call it, you’re not my boyfriend and I ain’t your fucking dead husband.” He picked Jack’s pants up off of the floor and threw them at him. “Get out.”
Jack was too stunned to move for a moment as he watched Rebel leave the room but jumped and came out of his trance when the door slammed. After he got up he gathered his clothes and dressed slowly trying to figure out what went wrong. Okay shit he wasn’t really the man’s Dom yet so maybe he shouldn’t have pushed him but with the scar being such a sore spot there was no way they would be together without talking about it could they? Maybe he should have left it alone but his instincts as a cop as well as a Dom told him that he did nothing wrong. He had just stumbled on the biggest clue about the things inside of Rebel that made him strike out at the world.
He left the house without looking for Rebel knowing in his gut Rebel was stashed away in one of the other rooms not wanting to see him. Down the road he finally let out the last breath he’d been holding and he shook his head. As much as the scene had been so good for Rebel he was pushing Jack away already. Rebel didn’t think he could be helped. He and Martin had talked to a few others in the leather scene and things like that were exactly what a sub needed to work through to get to the heart of what made him or her tick.
There was one woman, a tiny thing only 5’2” and 90 pounds soaking wet, who he needed to talk to. She would be able to tell him where he went wrong and if there was even a way to fix it and if so how. He gave her a call from his cell after he parked in front of his house and then went in to change and start his day. After leaving the office a few hours later he headed to St. Martin and once there found the townhome on the edge of town where Lynn and her husband, Mike, lived. Well husband and sub. It was probably the strangest combination of Domme/sub that he could even imagine. Whereas Lynn was a little thing, pretty and blonde and like a doll so delicate looking Mike was 6’5” of pure furred muscle. If he was gay he’d be a bear lover’s very wet dream but he was in total submission to Lynn. They lived the lifestyle and were probably the happiest couple Jack had ever met.
She met him at the door with a hug and a glass of iced tea. “Jack Colton you gorgeous man come on let’s sit on the deck around back. Mike is in the middle of shampooing the carpet.” She led him around the side of the house to the big deck that looked out on the rolling prairie behind it. Being from the mountains he couldn’t understand why anyone would love the flats but she had Mike build this deck so she could watch the sunrise every morning with her coffee.
“Lynn you keep getting prettier.” Jack sat in at the table with her and set his glass down before folding his hands on the glass top.
There was nothing about Lynn that suggested that she could control a big man like Mike until she spoke. There was a strength and a commanding air in her voice that had Jack himself want to stand in slave position. “So you look better. You must have a new man in your life.”
Jack smiled sheepishly and nodded. “I’ve been told it shows. I am completely captivated by him.”
“That’s obvious,” She said before she sipped her tea. Just then Mike came out and smiled wide when he saw Jack.
“Sir! How good it is to see you!” He rounded the table and put out his arms as Jack stood then looked down at Lynn who gave a little nod allowing the hug. Jack was no small man, 6’1” and not too thin but he felt dwarfed by the man hugging him.
“Mike you look great, Princess Lynn is treating you well.”
Mike smiled and let go of Jack then took the seat to Lynn’s right. “Of course she is. She’s perfect.” He stared at Jack then and said, “Wow you look different. You still have the bags and dark circles but these look like you are losing sleep from something other than being depressed.”
“Mike!” Lynn snapped at him and Mike bowed his head.
“Sorry Princess.”
After giving her sub a scathing look she turned back to Jack. “My sub may be rude and asking for a lashing but he’s also right. This problem you wanted my help with is a man and by the looks of you quite a man.”
“Yes.”
“Well what’s it been now three or four years? I think you’ve mourned long enough if that is what is bothering you, but somehow I don’t think you would seek my council if that was the case,” She said evenly and Jack just looked off to the side.
“We…I think he’s a sub and I want to take him on but he’s maybe got more issues than I can deal with.”
Mike sniggered and Lynn put a squeezing hand on his shoulder to quiet him before she said to Jack, “I highly doubt that. You were one of the most natural Dom’s I’ve ever seen. So you took him on…what does that mean? I don’t need exact details but just the basics.”
Jack gave her a quick and censored account of the ‘how and when’ and she and Mike listened, Mike with his head still lowered but obviously reacting to certain parts of it. When he was finished Mike’s head shot up and he said, “You let him order you out?”
“Mike!”
Another “Sorry Princess,” and Mike’s head was lowered once more.
“I hate to say it in front of the boy who is about to get the whipping of his life when you leave but my sub is right. You should never have let him toss you out.”
Jack rolled his eyes and sat forward whispering when he wanted to yell, “It was his house. I am still a cop you know, and besides what was I going to do, cuff him and force him to tell me where he got the scar? Beat it out of him?”
Lynn smiled and said, “Cuff yes, beating no. Sounds like beatings were the beginning of the problem and you know it. He needs discipline for sure but you have to tread carefully with how and when you administer it because of his past. You know this though, I see that you do. You’ve just been gone from the lifestyle for a long time and need your confidence back. I could let you do a scene with Mike if you’d like.”
Jack smiled as he saw Mike squirm. “No, that’s okay.” He lost his smile and looked down at his clasped hands. “I did let him throw me out so what now? I can’t exactly show back up and start over.”
Shaking her head she said, “No of course not. You need to get him on your own territory. You need the home field advantage and besides if I remember correctly you have a great playroom.”
He sat back hard and let out a long breath. “I haven’t used it for years. A couple before Martin died when he first got sick.” He looked at Lynn and felt like he was whining when he said, “I’m new at this. I mean I’m not but it started so differently with Martin. Martin and I started off as boyfriends, moved in together were…normal! The lifestyle didn’t come until much later and we worked our way up. We did it slowly. I’ve never even thought about just jumping into it. I’ve never thought about getting another sub and living it all of the time.”
“Until now,” she said with her eyes twinkling.
“Princess?”
Her eyes fell on her sub, her frown obvious. “What?”
“May I speak?”
Exasperated she said, “Go ahead but watch your tongue. You are in enough trouble.”
He looked up at Jack and said, “He’s a sub and you know this because Dom’s know a sub when they see one. He may resist at first, but that will be a plea for help. I didn’t know I was a sub when I met my Princess. I was messed up and she saw that. She brought me peace and happiness and as much as I didn’t think I wanted it at first now I couldn’t live without it.”
More than anything Lynn had said and anything he’d thought himself Mike’s words struck home. “So you are saying I should try again.”
Lynn nodded but said, “He needs you but he should come to you. Let him come to you.”
Jack let his head fall back as he laughed a dry, sardonic chuckle. “He won’t come to me. You don’t know how pissed he was.”
Lynn just smiled. “He’ll come to you.”
All the way home Jack wondered how Lynn could be so sure that Rebel would even want to speak to him again but when he pulled in to his yard and saw the motorcycle there he chuckled. Lynn was not only a great Domme, but she was a very smart lady. He opened the door of his car and got out, scanning over the yard but he didn’t see Rebel anywhere. Walking around didn’t give him any idea of where he was either. Figuring he must have broken down and called for a ride…from whom Jack couldn’t imagine…he went to the house and walked in. He put his keys on the hook by the kitchen door and strolled into the living room and once there he stopped dead in his tracks. Rebel was on his sofa asleep.
Jack’s breath caught in his throat as he just stared at the beautiful sleeping man. Of course it wasn’t like he broke in, Jack didn’t lock his door, but he felt comfortable enough to fall asleep. That was huge. He went to the edge of the couch and sat down, moving a piece of hair off of Rebel’s face. The man stirred and looked up, then scrambled, looking almost frightened.
“Shit, sorry! I didn’t mean to go to sleep. I didn’t even mean to come in it was just cold as hell and I didn’t want to go home and miss you and I-“
Jack put his hand over Rebel’s mouth to stop him from talking and Rebel whimpered behind it. The sound and the look of gratitude in his eyes were too fucking much to handle so he pushed Rebel down and moved his hand just a second before his lips crashed into Rebel’s and he gave him the hottest kiss yet. Rebel’s body tensed beneath him at first then he relaxed and allowed Jack to take over. Rebel’s hands grabbed Jack around the neck and he returned the kiss, letting his head fall to the side.
Jack couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think and he didn’t want to. He let his instincts take over and that is all that was needed. He tore himself away from Rebel and stood over him with his hand offered out to his new boy. “Come with me.”
Rebel got off of the couch, his demeanor back to being tense. “You’re not going to spank me again are you? My ass is really sore still.”
“Good and I will whenever I feel like it but for now, no. I want to show you something.”
Rebel squeezed Jack’s hand tight and allowed himself be led. He fell right into step beside Jack and that made Jack smile inwardly. He squeezed back needing as much of Rebel’s strength as Rebel needed his because he hadn’t been downstairs since before Martin had died and it would be a jolt for him to go there at all let alone with someone new.
“Take him there and live your life. You know that’s what I want my love.” Martin smiled as he and Rebel passed the laundry room and he lowered his head willing himself to be the Dom Rebel needed him to be. He opened the basement door and looked down, sucking in the air he needed to push himself to take the step down but Rebel caught his hesitation.
“Is everything alright?”
Rebel looked to him, those eyes searching his for a clue as to how to act and Jack nodded and gave him a brilliant smile. “It will be.”
The first step down was the hardest to take but the rest came easier until they were down in the unfinished basement. Mostly unfinished. Two rooms had been built there, one for storage and the other was the playroom. Jack walked over to the door and smiled at the memory of the first time he’d shown it to Martin.
oooOooo
9 years earlier…
“Jack this is crazy! We can’t afford this!” Martin’s protests would have been more believable if he wasn’t smiling ear to ear.
The room had been built by the same workmen from Denver who had bid for the new jail. While the new cells were being built Jack watched and saw the care the crew took and the professionalism of them and knew that they were the perfect choice to do what he and Martin had been talking about since almost the beginning of their exploration of BDSM. A home playroom to rival those of the two clubs they normally had to travel long distances to get to.
“We can. The men used some lumber and concrete I already had, the bars were left over from the jail so I got them at cost. The furniture is some we had and just modified or stuff that I built. Leather was a bit too expensive but not fake leather so it’s not quite as fancy as the clubs but I think it’s pretty great.” He got closer to Martin and kissed him seductively. “I can’t wait to show it to you then use it.”
Martin’s eyes lowered and he smiled shyly. “Well show me then.”
Jack led him down the stairs and to the room that hadn’t been there a week before when Martin had left for his conference. Jack had thought about blindfolding him before he showed him but he figured they would be working with blindfolds enough in the room so he skipped it and once he opened the door and waved his arm for Martin to enter Jack almost giggled.
Martin walked through and smiled bigger than Jack had ever seen before and his eyes and head turned every few seconds taking in every bit of it. “Oh God Jack! This is amazing!”
It was well lit and the walls were brick painted a muted white so the dark pleather and black coated chains would stand out better. There was a cross on one wall, a spanking bench close to it; a padded table with restraints took up the center. There were a couple of comfortable chairs along with a couple that were hard wood and looked much less comfortable but had slats on the sides and back that were perfect for bindings. The old armoire from the guest room that Martin had wanted to get rid of forever was there, repainted white with one side of the cabinet open showing Martin that their growing selection of floggers, paddles and restraints were there and the drawer open to show their sex toys inside.
The entire northern corner, however, held the most intimidating and special part. The cage. He took Martin’s hand and led him inside. “I thought we would start here.”