"Sir thinks we should work," he said, smiling at Phan. "I think he's right. He says order Chinese."
"You got it, babydoll," Phan said, wiggling his butt and dancing naked through his room to his stack of clothes. "It'll be ready when you are. I'll even save you an eggroll."
"You better," Noah laughed softly. "I better run, but thank you." He winked and ducked out again, stripping in the safe room as instructed and knelt on display to wait for Tobias.
Tobias went up the stairs dressed only in jeans. He didn't think that Noah was going to need a lot of help, just a reminder and some grounding, and getting fully changed from work would take too much time. He went into the playroom and shut the door, smiling at Noah's kneeling form.
"I want to try something with you that I've done with Phan," he said, going straight to the trunks and lifting out a heavy wooden paddle.
"What is it, sir?" Noah asked curiously.
"Litany. You just answer the questions, pet." Tobias studied the wooden paddle and swung it through the air. It was smooth as silk, but had a series of holes through it so the air whistled. He knew for a fact that it packed a punch. "Over the spanking bench, please."
"Yes, sir." Noah moved to the bench and settled himself over it, taking hold of the handles and letting his head fall naturally. He took a deep breath and let the bench take his weight.
Tobias nodded and stood behind him, waiting until Noah's breath was nice and even before spanking him hard. "Who are you?" he asked, before the smack had even stopped vibrating up his arm.
"Noah Dolan, sir."
Tobias spanked him again, a little harder. "What are you?"
Noah played with his grip on the handles. "I'm your sub, sir."
"Who are you?" Tobias demanded again, upping the rhythm and the weight of the blows.
Noah hissed. "Noah, sir!" he said more loudly, the heavier blows registering in his voice.
"Who loves you?"
"You do. And Phan, sir." He was breathing evenly but more shallow.
Tobias struck him again and then again, watching Noah's breathing, the color of his skin and the way he was beginning to move into the blows, riding the pain. "What are you?"
Noah lifted his head this time to answer. "I'm yours, sir. Your sub. Ah..." he gasped softly.
"Good boy," Tobias said quietly. He lifted the paddle high and brought it down fast and hard. "What do you need?"
"To be still, sir." Noah's answer was very much like what he'd said the first time they met at the club. "To be grounded." He moaned at the blows and dropped his head again. "Focus."
Tobias spanked him steadily, spreading the blows over Noah's ass in a constant rhythm. He watched the color and went down to Noah's thighs, wanting Noah to be able to recover quickly. This wasn't punishment, it was just weight, something to focus on. "Mine," he said occasionally. "Trust. Let go."
"Yours," Noah repeated now and then as the words reached him consciously. Noah steadily relaxed over the bench, his body going very still. He was making almost constant sound, moans and soft begging, rough whispers of "thank you, sir," and "your boy."
Tobias smiled to himself as Noah settled. "Who are you?" he whispered, slowing the blows, starting to back off a little.
Noah was well enough settled in his space to answer a direct question. "I'm Noah, sir. Your boy."
"And who loves you?" Tobias kept the slower rhythm, but started to lighten the weight behind the spanking.
"You do, sir. You are my Master, you love me." He sighed and grunted lightly with each blow.
"That's right, boy," Tobias confirmed. "I will take care of you and help you move forward. You are my boy and I love you. Phantom and I are your support." He slowed the blows further, working into a light spanking that kept the contact, but had very little actual pain behind it.
Noah took an unsteady breath and nodded. He seemed emotional when he spoke. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
"We will always listen, pet. We will always support you. We will help you in any way we can," Tobias said firmly, bringing the spanking to an ending. "You have nothing to fear, sweetheart. No matter what you decide to do, we'll back you up."
Noah nodded, again. His catharsis was palpable, he had tears of relief falling from his cheeks and making tiny puddles on the floor. He was completely relaxed, the tension and frustration and worry that comes with letting the familiar go and turning to something new drawn from him by the paddle and Tobias' firm reassurances. "Thank you, sir. I love you."
"I love you, Noah," Tobias said softly. He set the paddle down and carefully gathered Noah into his arms. "Always." He kissed Noah's cheek and brushed a few tears away. "Breathe for a bit, and we'll get cleaned up, sweetheart. Take your time."
Noah leaned into him heavily. But despite his physical weight, he sighed and said, "I feel very light, sir."
Tobias nodded and kissed him again. "Endorphins are wonderful, wonderful things, pet. As is catharsis. Listen to me now -- I meant what I said. We don't have to talk about this until morning, if you don't want to. A night not to worry, yes? Whatever you want, at your pace."
Noah smiled. "Phan rented another scary movie."
"Oh, lovely," Tobias deadpanned. "I promise to stay in plain sight if you promise to save tackling me until we go to bed."
"Deal." Noah seemed more himself. A little clingy maybe, but that was to be expected.
"You can even sit in the middle," Tobias offered. "And get in your Phan power cuddle. Ready to take a quick bath?" He grinned suddenly. "I bet we can actually have the Chinese in the safe room and then just hose everyone off."
Noah chuckled. "Sir!" He pushed back from Tobias, but kept hold of his hand as he got to his feet. "A bath anyway."
Tobias gave Noah's fingers a squeeze. "It's a fabulous start," he agreed with a smile. There was really very little wrong with hot baths with his boys. Even if they were followed by scary movies and long, life changing talks in the morning.
For now a bath would do quite well.
Tobias looked at his watch and checked the clock on his desk to make sure the last hour had really happened. "Sorry, boy," he said quietly, dropping a hand to brush over Phan's hair. "I didn't mean to neglect you."
Phan leaned into his touch, appearing to be perfectly content. "It's all right, sir," he said. "Is it time?"
Tobias nodded. "Just about." He smiled and looked around his office at the club. "I like having you here with me," he said as he stood up. "It's... comfortable."
Phan smiled, his eyes down. "It's nice."
"Boring for you," Tobias teased.
Phan snorted. "Oh, yes, I'm so bored being a... guinea pig. And sitting at your feet while you interview Tops. And being at your beck and call. And getting paid for it!"
"You're hardly a guinea pig," Tobias protested, putting on his suit jacket. "You're... you need an official title, to go with the paycheck. What does one call a man who gets flogged about twice a day and then tells me if the Dom is good enough for our club?"
"Yours," Phan suggested, grinning.
"I like it." Tobias did up his coat and checked his watch again. "All right then, dear. Time to go to work. Let me look at you."
Phan stood up and put his forearms behind his back. He was dressed in low-slung jeans and a plain white T-shirt, his hair as spiky and out of control as ever.
"Lovely," Tobias approved. "Do you think we can convince Noah to let his hair grow a little longer now that he's left the force?"
Phan tilted his head. "Just tell him to, sir. Or ask."
"I suppose." Tobias sighed. "I just don't want to look like I'm thrilled his life is currently upside down. I'm the support, remember; ask too much and... " He shook his head. "No, right now it's time for me to take care of his other needs, not tell him I want something to hold onto when I fuck his mouth."
Phan swallowed. Hard. "Yes, sir."
"You are so easy," Tobias said with a smile.
"Yes, sir," Phan agreed. "I know." It didn't sound like that bothered him in the least. "Have you talked to him about working here?"
Tobias nodded and went to the small cabinet next to the door. "I mentioned it," he said, taking out a flogger. "Deerhide all right with you?"
"Of course. What did he say?"
"He'd think about it. I think today he was going to go to the Y to see what he could set up there. Honestly though, we could use him here; security alone needs the help, and I wouldn't mind having him help out on this end, either. Still... it's up to him."
Phan nodded. "It's only been a few days," he said quietly. "Noah will figure out what he wants to do."
Tobias smiled. "He will indeed. And we'll back him up. But right now, boy, it's time to go screen a Dom. Ready?"
Phan nodded and squared his shoulders. "Ready, sir."
"Good boy," Tobias said softly. He walked to Phan and kissed him deeply, one hand tangled in Phan's hair. "You're mine," he whispered as he stepped back. "Don't forget that. Ever."
"No, sir," Phan said just as quietly. "Yours."
Tobias led Phantom up the stairs to the first room just off the landing, reserved for Tobias' use. It wasn't a theme room; in fact it held the bare essentials only, partly because of its smaller size. "He should be here, boy, so mind your manners."
Phan didn't say anything, but the air behind Tobias was thick with an air of injury.
"Sorry," Tobias said, rolling his eyes. "You always mind your manners. I forgot."
Phan snickered.
Tobias shook his head and pushed the door open, striding in with Phan at his heel. "Good afternoon, Tom," he said to the man waiting for them. "Thank you for coming."
"No trouble at all, Tobias," Tom said, taking a step forward to shake Tobias' hand.
Tobias had spoken to the man on the phone the week before and read his application thoroughly. He wasn't in the least disappointed in what he was seeing. Tom was only twenty-three, but he'd been playing in some of the better crowds and had a lean, self-confident look which went with the voice on the phone. He didn't appear nervous; in fact he seemed in his element, standing at ease in the middle of the room and not fidgeting at all.
Tom looked at Phan, standing in position behind Tobias, but said nothing until Tobias turned and gestured Phan forward. "This is Phantom. As you can see, he's collared, so there are rules from his Master."
Tom nodded. "Hello, Phantom," he said politely.
Tobias smiled, pleased. Occasionally a Dom wouldn't even acknowledge the sub until they were about to begin.
"Hello, sir," Phan replied with a smile of his own.
Tom looked at Tobias again. "I'm not surprised his Master has rules -- he's very pretty."
Tobias grinned. "He is." He handed Tom the flogger and said, "We're here to see how you play. Phan can take a lot, but the point isn't to break him -- you won't. What I want to see is you reacting to him, getting from him the reactions you want. You can't make him come and you can't get off yourself. Officially, the club stays out of sex between consenting partners, but as this is an audition of sorts and I'll be watching, it's something else altogether. Also, his Master said so."
Tom nodded. "Accepted."
"Wonderful," Tobias said with a brief smile. "I'll be out of the way, just ignore me. You can start whenever you're ready." He turned on his heel and walked to the far corner of the room and leaned on the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
Tom looked at Phan and ran his hand over the flogger. "What are your safe words, Phantom?" he asked quietly.
"Drake and gander, sir," Phan said.
Tom nodded and took a step back. "Please remove your clothing, and stand against the wall, arms braced."
Phan nodded and undressed, folding his clothes neatly; he made no effort to disguise the fact that he was getting hard, and Tobias smiled to himself.
"Drake and gander," Tom repeated as Phan braced himself, his arms and legs spread for balance. "Do I have to remind you that you can't come?" He had a teasing note in his voice and Tobias decided that he liked the man. He only hoped Tom's arm was as good as his demeanor.
"I remember, sir," Phan said, wiggling his butt. "Master said so."
"He did indeed." Tom lifted the flogger. "Let's play."
***
Tobias was still chuckling to himself as he rubbed cream over Phan's ass half an hour later, back in his office.
"Not funny, sir," Phan protested.
"It was so, and hush up."
Phan sighed and arched his back as Tobias slid fingers over his reddened skin. "He's in, isn't he?" he asked.
"He's
so
in. I might adopt him."
"Oh, no, you have enough subs as it is." Noah snorted, coming into Tobias' office without knocking. "Unless you're talking about children, in which case I'm moving out. Oh, should I have knocked, sir?" He nudged the door closed behind him and went right to Tobias and kissed him, then gave Phan a quick smooch as well. He was grinning ear to ear and seemed to be in an excellent mood.
"Yes, you should have, and he's not a sub, he's a Top with an excellent sense of humor," Tobias said with a grin.
Phan grumbled.
"Hush, dear," Tobias said, finishing with the cream and closing the jar. "All done." He left Phan lounging on the couch. "Hello, sweetheart," he said to Noah, taking another kiss. "You look pleased with yourself. What's up?"
"Had a good chat at the Y. They've offered me a part-time staff position. It's strictly volunteer for a while, but it's some counseling, some mentor kind of stuff, just working with the kids in general. I'll still have my two nights a week, but also two afternoons and the occasional outing or special event. I think it's going to be great." Noah leaned on Tobias' desk and grinned. "Phan, honey, did you get your ego bruised or just your ass?"
Phan gave him an acid look. "Do I look like a puppy to you?"
Tobias rolled his eyes. "Yes, actually. Though the newspaper might have been... no, the newspaper was funny, too."
Phan sniffed and looked away.
"That's wonderful," Tobias said to Noah, pulling him closer. "Well done."
"Thank you, sir," Noah leaned into Tobias. He was still smiling, and his mood was far lighter than it had been for days. "He hit Phan with a newspaper?" He laughed. "I guess everyone's got their kinks."
Tobias snickered. "No, he just kind of... handed it to him and patted his head. Told him to be a good pup and take his master the paper."
Phan made a noise from the couch. "He did not! Sir. He tapped my nose with it!"
Tobias shook, trying not to laugh. "It was cute."
Noah wasn't as polite. "I can see why Phan is so fond of the guy," he said with a laugh. "So, sir, I've got the afternoon free. Actually I'm going to have quite a bit of free time... so what are you going to do with me?"
"Oh, now that's an open invitation," Tobias said with a smile. He gave Noah's ass a squeeze. "I'm open to suggestions. We can have something to eat. Bother Bradford. Wander around and annoy everyone. Watch Phan's butt heal... In the larger scheme of things, you
are
going to have a lot of free time. What would you like to do?"
Noah snorted. "Well, long-term I think I'll talk to Bradford about filling up my schedule. Security maybe, or maintenance. I don't know. But short-term? Short-term," Noah dropped his jacket over a chair and tugged his shirt off over his head, "I think I'd like to celebrate. Just the three of us." He pushed Tobias's fingers into his groin. "Right here," his boy teased rubbing his erection in Tobias' palm. "Or upstairs, in a room of your choosing."
"Oh, look, Phan. Noah's making a pass at us," Tobias grinned. "And the thought of having you both around here makes my change of career all the more appealing." He gave Noah's cock a rub and a squeeze, listening as Phan tumbled off the couch and crawled toward them.
"Don't know if there are any free rooms," Phan said, moving in to nuzzle at Noah's erection, earning himself a pat along the way. "But we can check."
Tobias stepped back and leaned on his desk, watching them for a moment. "I think I'd rather like to christen my office," he said as Phan started to mouth Noah through his pants. "What do you think, pet?"
Noah moaned softly and pet Phan's hair. "I think I'm going to have great difficulty with the stairs at this point anyway, sir," he answered, looking down at Phan and smiling.
"Stairs are a bitch," Phan agreed, nodding and rubbing his cheek on Noah. "I almost didn't make it down."
Tobias laughed. "Poor baby. The newspaper thing made him hard."
Phan had the decency to look at least mildly ashamed of himself. "Well, it's not the newspaper this time, sir," he said with a grin. "Can I play with Noah now? Please?"
"Since you asked so nicely," Tobias agreed. He crossed to the door and made sure it was locked, then pulled his office chair around his desk and sat down. "Nice view," he observed as Phan tugged Noah's zipper down.
It was, in point of fact, a
very
nice view, with Phan's ass a nice red and Noah's cock pushing out of his jeans. Tobias leaned back in his chair, his legs spread slightly to avoid his own discomfort.
Noah made no move to help Phan with his zipper. Instead, he merely kept his eyes on Phan and ran his fingers across his own chest to give his nipple ring a tug, making him bite his lip and moan. "I think this career change of yours is going to make us all... ah, God--" Noah gasped as Phan took the head of his cock into his mouth. "Make us all very happy, sir."
"It certainly has its perks," Tobias said, watching Phan's mouth slide down Noah's prick. "Phan, get his jeans off, dear. I want his legs spread wide. You can take him with your fingers, boy -- open him for me."
Phan moaned and immediately took Noah deep, his hands grabbing for Noah's jeans and yanking them down.
"Jesus!" Noah reached back and grabbed the edge of the desk to keep from losing his balance. He lifted one foot and then the other so Phan could remove his boots and jeans, and then he was nicely naked, hips arched into Phan's mouth and letting the desk take most of his weight. He grunted and his voice went dark. "Ah. Phan."
"Nice?" Tobias asked, reaching to one of his nearby shelves. He had a candy dish filled with samples of lube and, grabbing one, he waited until Phan had Noah's balls in the palm of his hand before tossing it to the floor in front of them. "Open him, dear."
He undid his own trousers and leaned back, tucking his shirt out of the way. He rather liked being fully clothed when his boys were naked.
"Nice," Noah panted at him. "More than nice. God, he's being evil with that tongue."
"Fingers, Phan," Tobias ordered, pulling his own cock free from his boxers. He nodded approvingly as Phan spread Noah's legs, Noah having to lean even more on the desk for support, and then plunged two slick fingers into Noah's ass. "Lots of lube, boy. I want him wet."
Phan moaned and nodded, his head bobbing over Noah's groin, his own prick standing away from his body and twitching madly.
"Oh, fuck, yes," Noah groaned and his face twisted into a lovely grimace as Phan pushed his fingers into him. "Good, Phan. Feels good." His eyes were half-lidded, his legs wide and he had one arm braced well behind him on the desk to support the strong arch of his body. "Jesus, yes." His other arm stretched out toward Tobias, fingers open. "Sir," he begged. "Kiss me? Touch me, sir, please? Want you."
"Not yet, pet," Tobias purred. He ran a hand over his erection, watching as Phan added a twist of his wrist. "I want to watch you come in Phan's mouth. And then, sweetheart, you're going to ride me where I am."
Phan whimpered, his free hand fluttering to his prick but moving away again before he could touch himself.
"Oh, don't worry, dear," Tobias soothed. "I'll take care of you, too."
"Yes sir!" Noah grunted loudly. "Getting close, anyway." He dropped his outstretched arm to Phan's head. "Wanna fuck your mouth, Phan. Sir, can I?" he asked, both politely and with some difficulty, already tangling his fingers in Phan's hair. "Oh, God. Yes! Wanna come."
"Go ahead," Tobias invited, holding himself a little more firmly. His gaze flicked from Phan's mouth to Noah's face and back again. The room was filling with the smell of sex as both he and Phan started to leak, all three of them sweating lightly. He heard Phan groan and Noah grunt, all of them breathing faster. He stroked himself, his cock full and heavy, and watched.