Mike's Saga 1

Mike’s Saga 1

“Austin?” Milton went down on one knee and stroked the huddled figure on the floor. Austin didn’t lift his head. He curled into a tighter ball and half choked back a sob. “What happened, kid?” Milton pulled Austin into his arms, settling the tear soaked face against his chest. “What happened?”

Austin clung to Milton’s back, his fingers digging into Milton’s skin through the light pajamas. “I’m OK. Stupid.”

“If you weren’t so upset, I’d take you to task for lying to me. Finding you on the floor, crying in the middle of the night is obviously not OK.” Milton stroked his fingers down Austin’s back and traced the tail of the winged horse. The tattoo had been a good choice for the boy. Shirtless, it added mystery and a touch of wildness to Austin’s sweet beauty.

“What’s the matter?” Sheldon looked sleepy, his green eyes heavy lidded and his red hair askew.

“Austin’s having a bad night,” Milton said, tightening his arms around his distraught cub.

“He was with Mike when I came up,” Sheldon said, propping himself up on one elbow and scanning the boy in Milton’s arms. “Do you want me to go?”

“No, boy, I expect my bedwarmer to stay right where he belongs.” Milton scooped Austin up into his arms and carried him the few feet to the bed. Thank goodness Austin wasn’t a big man. He’d never be able to carry him, and this boy needed carried. “Austin, we’ve got you. Lie back. Deep breath.” Milton stroked Austin’s hair. “Come on, boy, nice deep breath. Do this for me.” 

Austin took a long, choking breath and blinked up at Milton as if surprised to see him. “Sorry.” Austin scrubbed his hand over his face.

“Breathe. Don’t talk,” Milton ordered. “I’m going to get a wet cloth and wipe your face; you’re then going to turn onto your side and go to sleep. All I expect tonight is for you to follow my orders. No arguing. No waffling.”

Milton kissed the damp cheek and left for the bathroom. Out of sight, he rolled his shoulders and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t need to be psychic to know what had happened. Milton knew that Mike and Austin often ended up together. They both liked sex, lots of it. Austin never topped; he wouldn’t even top when Sheldon had invited him with beautiful pleas. Mike had been running the show, and he’d obviously blindly run over several stop signs. 

“Damn!” Milton turned the tap off savagely. Austin didn’t need this. He was a sweet and gentle submissive who gave trust easily and completely into the dominant’s hands. Trust was easy to break and difficult to resurrect.

“I’m here.” Milton knelt on the bed and wiped the sticky residue of tears from Austin’s flushed face. “Sleep, kid.” Milton spooned against Austin, pulling the comforter over all of them. “Sleep. That’s an order.”

****

“Hey, beautiful.” Sheldon kissed the slowly opening eyes. “You sleep OK?”

Austin blinked, a range of emotions flowing across his face: disorientation, surprise, embarrassment. “I woke you two last night. Oh, shit!”

“Stop, Austin.” Sheldon laid his hand against Austin’s thigh. Sheldon wouldn’t smack, but Austin would respond to the pretend threat; he always did. “If you’re upset enough to be crying on the floor, you need to be waking us, not waiting for Milton to stumble over you on the way to the bathroom. Cub, you belong to him. He takes his responsibilities seriously. Sometimes too seriously for my ass, but you have to take the good with the bad.” Sheldon grinned and kissed Austin’s sleep mussed hair. “Not that sometimes the bad can’t be good in its own way.”

“I’m such a stupid baby.” Austin bit his lip and ducked his head against his chest.

“Let Milton catch you degrading yourself like that and you’re going to be a baby with a hot ass. What happened?”

“I was with Mike last night,” Austin whispered, still nibbling on his lip.

“We knew that. You and Mike together isn’t a secret, and it isn’t wrong. Mike’s closer to your own age, and he’s definitely inventive and tireless on the sexual side. You’re allowed to have fun.”

“I let Mike top sometimes.”

“You’re always a bottom in bed.”

“No, not like that. I mean--” Austin broke off and looked away. 

“What do you let Mike do?” Sheldon already knew from the body language, but Austin needed to form the words and practice with the sentences. Milton didn’t tolerate the look away and swallowed words.

“Spank me a little. Tie me up sometimes,” Austin said with a gulp. 

“It got a little out of hand last night?” Sheldon asked gently. “Did you safeword?” God, help both of them if they were playing without safewords. Milton would kill Mike and then swallow Austin for dessert. 

Austin shook his head, his eyes wide and misted with fresh tears. “Wasn’t that bad.”

“My foot,” Sheldon muttered in exasperation. “You got the crap scared out of you, and it wasn’t by a dom doing it intentionally. Master can make me damn near lose my lunch, but he’s doing it on purpose with a plan, and he cleans up his mess afterwards. You were on our floor crying.”

“Mike wasn’t trying to…”

Not trying to scare Austin. Not pretending to be a dominant with no training. Fucking idiot! He was always such a self-centered, distant bastard, and Milton would kill Sheldon for that thought. Sheldon and Mike didn’t have the most perfect history. They got on each other’s nerves, and they were both explosive enough that the results were often properly classified as not pretty. 

“It was a little much?” Sheldon asked, trying to keep his voice neutral. His behavior reflected on his master’s training. Hard, very hard not to say what burned in his throat.

“I was cuffed to the bed.”

“Do you play that way with Milton?” Sheldon had never seen Milton do more than tell Austin not to move his hands. Austin could get a little flipped if it got too intense, and Milton watched out for him.

Austin shook his head, his teeth gnawing into his lip. “He won’t let me.”

“He’s careful with you. You’re his precious cub.”

“He thinks I’m too young, that I’m not ready.”

Sheldon sighed and ran a finger over Austin’s ear and down the vulnerable neck. “It’s not a failing to be not ready. You may never be ready.”

“You--you give him so much more.”

 Austin’s eyes were longing and desperate, and Sheldon wanted nothing more than to kiss that beautiful mouth, but he needed to be the mature one here. This was their cub to be cherished and protected and loved. “Austin, I’m Milton’s slave. I have to ask him if I want four quarters to buy a soda. I’m given away as property in his will. I must trust Milton absolutely. It’s no longer some abstract concept or some easy glib words. He owns me, and I trust him, but that sometimes doesn’t mean I don’t hate him also. Sometimes he does things to my body and mind that terrify me, that make bile rise in my throat and make every nerve fire an urgent message of run, hide, fight. I have to trust that he’ll make it good for me or at least that he’ll be careful if it’s something I must endure and not do it often.”

“You hate him for Tilden.”

“Austin, that is done. We don’t speak of it.”

“I couldn’t do that. I’m young; it’s just a great adventure for me, but for you--”

“And you’ve been eavesdropping,” Sheldon interrupted. 

“Well, it’s my family too. It’s not like I’m a little kid.”

“No, but there’s history in this family. I may have wanted to will away the mutual attraction between Milton and Tilden, but I knew it was there. I love Tilden. He’s funny, sweet, and incredibly generous. It’s not a perfect arrangement, but, shit, there wasn’t one. Milton needs to be dominant; he loves a man who’s not a submissive--a shitty recipe for monogamy.”

“It’s not just a threesome.”

“Yeah, I know, and you, my precious cub, have no worries. We adore you.” Sheldon kissed Austin on the lips, letting his tongue tease for a moment before withdrawing. “You’re such a good boy.” Sheldon weaved his fingers into Austin’s hair. “It’s stupid to ponder over has-beens. We’re six, not three, and Tilden is a lousy dominant for me. In a threesome, we couldn’t have escaped our incompatibility. I need uncompromising and sometimes harsh. I love Tilden, but he’s a consensus builder.”

“Sleeping beauties, up.” Milton was in the bathroom doorway, dressed only in a towel wrapped around his waist. His thick, charcoal chest hair narrowed into a thin path, just peaking out above the towel. He was as handsome and enticing as he’d been when he’d first towered over Sheldon, demanding an explanation for a plagiarized paper. This was and would always be Master.

“Yes, Master,” Sheldon rolled out of bed, shivering as the cold air caught his naked skin. Milton let him have clothes during the day, but in bed he was to be naked. 

“Anything important today?” Milton asked.

“The meeting with the guy from California.”

“You don’t like him?”

Sheldon shook his head. He hated the guy, all slickness and bluster.

“Hands on the bureau, legs spread.”

Milton wasn’t playing today. He spanked hard in all the areas Sheldon didn’t much like. “What did I do?” Sheldon muttered as a spank tattooed his thigh.

“Slave.” Milton spun Sheldon around, painfully bashing his back into the bureau. “Do I need a reason?” Milton growled.

“No, Master,” Sheldon dropped his eyes to the ground. He couldn’t look at the fierceness and the intensity in Milton’s deep brown eyes. “I am yours to do as you please.”

“Yes, you are, and it pleases me to spank you today because it reminds my sometimes impertinent slave of his place. Your choice of words today reflects on your Master and on your family, not just on yourself.”

Fuck! Would he ever get this? Milton was hammering Sheldon to keep him out of trouble. “Sorry, Master.”

“Back around. Now you’ve bought yourself punishment and not just a reminder.” 

Milton peppered Sheldon’s thighs with a shower of hard swats. Sheldon danced and felt the sheen of tears in his eyes as the pain increased. He heard the top drawer slide and creak. Sheldon didn’t actually know it was the top drawer, but he could guess. It made that sound, and they kept implements in that drawer.

“Stay down. This is for punishment.”

Sheldon wanted to turn around; he wanted to see what was in Milton’s hand. “Ah!” he shouted. It was the strap, well oiled leather against heated flesh. “Please. Hurts.”

“No.” Uncompromising. One word. Two more stinging swipes with the strap. Sheldon screamed and sobbed. “Sheldon, I didn’t kill you. Come here.” Milton sounded both fond and exasperated. Sheldon clung to the broad back and leaned into the powerful chest. “Sheldon, trust me to know why I’m spanking you,” Milton whispered in Sheldon’s ear. “Now go stand in the corner, so I can enjoy the pretty color.”

Sheldon hated the corner; he especially hated the corner when he wanted to be cuddled against Milton.

“Don’t fidget, slave.”

Sheldon clasped his hands behind his back and forced himself into stillness. He could hear Milton dressing behind him. He was probably laying out Sheldon’s clothes also. Milton did that often, especially if the day started with Sheldon hot, crying, and in the corner.

“Come on, cub, you need to get up. I want a look at you this morning.”

Sheldon heard the bed squeak and the sound of Austin’s light feet against the floor.

“Drop your boxers.”

There was silence, too long of silence. Sheldon peeked over his shoulder; punishment be damned. Milton was crouched behind Austin tracing a red welt across Austin’s butt.

“What did he hit you with?”

“His belt.” Austin scrunched his hands into fists. “I’m OK. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” 

“Don’t lie to me, boy.” Milton scraped his nail over the reddened skin, and Austin hissed and almost broke position. “Did you think about safewording?”

Austin shook his head.

“I thought between the two of you there might be a speck of commonsense. Boy, there’s a reason I don’t do this; I understand your limits even if you don’t. You were scared yesterday, truly scared, not the thrill you should get when playing. The dominant needs to look out for you, but you also have a responsibility for your own safety. You both failed.” Milton stood and hooked an arm around Austin’s neck. “I’m not going to punish you because the fear you felt last night was enough, but don’t do it again.”

“What are you going to do to Mike? He wasn’t trying to scare me.”

“Austin, if I thought for one moment that Mike had tried to deliberately harm you, he’d already be on the street. You both showed colossally bad judgment last night. He worse than you as he’s more experienced and was in the role of the dominant. I won’t pretend it didn’t happen. You both have to figure this out and willful blindness is foolhardy. Now into the shower. Sheldon will take you to school today and meet you for lunch. And, Sheldon, standing in the corner means facing the wall. You will do thirty minutes of corner time tonight for that transgression.”

“Yes, Master.”

Sheldon heard the shower water before he felt Milton’s lips on his neck. “You are an impossible brat, not standing in the corner at your age. What am I going to do with you?”

“Love me more.”

“Sheldon.” Milton turned Sheldon around and studied Sheldon silently. “I adore you. There isn’t an amount for how much I love you. Are you not getting enough of me?”

“I was being flippant. Stop it, Master.”

“I’m responsible for your emotional health. I take that seriously. You misread me earlier. Are you all right? I was spanking you to make your day easier, hoping to remind you to think before words tumbled out of your mouth. I wasn’t doing it to make your life miserable.”

“I wasn’t thinking.”

“And you weren’t thinking here also? What do I need to do?”

“I’m worried about Austin and Mike. What are you going to do?”

“Nothing more than I already did to Austin, my nosy one.”

“Mike’s not happy.”

“I know,” Milton said and combed his fingers through his hair. “I’ll try my best for him; it’s all I can do.”

“He’s going to leave.”

“Probably. It might be for the best.”

“Tilden--”

“Tilden will feel guilty. He feels guilty if someone two continents away doesn’t have enough fresh vegetables. I can’t change that, but I’ll get Tilden through this. Enough brooding,” Milton said briskly. “Take Austin somewhere nice to lunch and bring him home this evening. I don’t want him wandering about by himself; he’s still unsettled. Fifty should do it.”

“Change and receipt. I know,” Sheldon said with a smile. “I do know how to count money.”

“You’re my slave.”

“I get why you do it. It’s a reminder of my place in the household without beating me back and blue.”

“Would you rather have me give you a monthly allowance?”

“No.” Sheldon felt a hot blush rising on his cheeks. “I like to ask; I like feeling dependent on you.”

“I like it too, boy, but this is one master who believes in having a happy slave. I’m ordering you to tell me if you change your mind. Now hurry, boy, and you’ll catch Austin in the shower. That always makes the morning worthwhile.”

******

Mike was already downstairs in the kitchen; he left the earliest of all of them for work. He jerked his head up at Milton’s arrival, and his hand tightened around the coffee cup. A flash of fear followed by anger showed in his dark eyes before an all too familiar wall slammed down on his emotions. 

“Mike, have you told Tilden?”

“No.” Mike’s eyes were firmly on his coffee.

“Two dominants live here who would have gladly helped you last night. You know at least a half dozen others who would have walked you through it over the phone.”

“Is Austin all right?”

“Shaken and he’ll be glued to Sheldon, but he’ll be all right. We cleaned up after you.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not the one who needs to be told that. Make the best of it that you can with Austin this morning and then join me in my study.”

“I have work.”

“Cancel it.”

“But--”

“No. Cancel it. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Milton had hoped Mike might stop him, might lose his fake calm, but he sat silently at the table while Milton poured himself coffee and took a cranberry muffin from the plate. Come on, boy. Don’t let this end this way. Reach out to me. Nothing. Milton left the kitchen without looking back.

Tilden was still in his bedroom. He smiled as Milton walked in. “Hey.”

Milton kissed Tilden’s lips, a small chaste peck and set his coffee and muffin on the end table. “Let me get that.” He deftly tied Tilden’s signature polka dot bow tie. “Handsome as always.”

“Same to you.”

Milton smiled, enjoying the faint flush that always rose on Tilden’s cheeks when he was praised. “Do you have an eight o’clock class?” Milton knew the answer.Tilden taught first year Russian at eight, but it was an easy way to start the conversation.

“I’ve had one all semester.” Tilden stared at Milton, his eyebrows raised in a question.

“Mike hasn’t said anything to you?’

“You know he doesn’t talk. I’ve tried; you know that.”

“We’ve all tried.” Milton ran his hand down his beard. “He roughed up Austin last night playing at being a dominant.”

Tilden audibly swallowed; his fingers stroked his perfectly ironed khakis. “Don’t hurt him.”

“Tilden,” Milton said, his voice a mixture of reproach and regret. “Do you fear me?”

“No.” There was a long pause, a silence filled only by the distant noise of other people in the house. “Your intensity.”

Milton wrapped his arms around Tilden and pulled him close. “Maybe you’re right to fear me; Sometimes I fear myself.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You were thinking it.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. I love you, Milton, with all your flaws, with all your intensity. I’m not your style of dominant. I never will be; I don’t even fully understand it. But listen closely. I understands its power and attraction, and I absolutely trust you with all that is me. If you find it best to flay the skin off Mike’s back, I’ll lend my support and I’ll be there to offer comfort--to both of you.” Tilden pulled out of Milton’s embrace and started shoving spare change and keys into his pockets. “I’ve certainly been a failure with that boy.”

“Don’t blame yourself. We’ve all done our best. Sometimes it just doesn’t work.” Milton reached forward and squeezed Tilden’s arm. “I’m not going to touch him today. I can’t read him, and I’m supposed to know how to read a submissive. I’ll try to talk to him, but I’m not optimistic.”

Tilden reached for Milton, pulling them both together. “I know you’ll do your best. I trust you, and I love you.”