Mike's Saga 13

Chapter 13

Mike would have stumbled up the stairs if Landon's hand hadn't been on his back, offering reassurance and stability that he shouldn't need. Mike hurt, the deep muscle ache from his earlier encounter with Milton and a fiery sting from Landon with the damn clothesline. It wasn't just his body that ached, but his mind also. His mind was stumbling up the stairs more than his feet. Mike had thought he'd known himself, thought he'd known something about submission, but it now seemed wrong or topsy-turvy or maybe just surreal. Mike had admitted to Landon thoughts he didn't even admit to himself. They were secrets to be kept permanently locked away.

"Do you want to say goodnight to everybody, or would you just like me to put you to bed and make your excuses?"

"I'm not two," Mike said reflexively. 

"Don't start." Landon slapped Mike's thigh. "I can punish you to make you accept care, but I think you're ready for some gentle spoiling without making me hurt you to the point where you'll do anything to stop the pain."

"You wouldn't?" Mike said, clutching the stair railing.

"I would."

Mike believed those words. Landon was absolutely direct, and Mike couldn't suppress the shiver at the sureness that emanated from Landon. This man would hurt him. He wouldn't be conned or diverted. He'd hurt Mike until Mike was nothing but a thousand shards of glass across the floor.

"Let me be gentle, not brutal."

"Yes, sir" Mike heard the two words echo around his brain. They weren't only words, but an acknowledgment of the completeness of his submission. 

"Good boy." They crowned the last stair, and Landon wrapped Mike in a suffocating hug. "Submission is about accepting pleasure as well as pain. Let me care for you."

"Yes, sir"  

"I'll draw you a bath and you can soak in warm luxury."

"I prefer a shower."

"Did I ask?" 

Mike snarled a half articulate sound and started to stalk away. He wasn't soaking in bubble bath or getting swaddled in cotton wool. He'd stand in the shower and let the water beat the aches out of him. He wanted to lick his wounds in peace.

"Should we go downstairs again?" Landon invited. "I can be very creative." Landon smiled at Mike. It wasn't a nice smile, but predatory and feral, and it made Mike swallow hard.

"No."

"No?" Landon's voice rose in a question. He pulled Mike around, his eyes searching. "Do you need more? I like hurting pretty boys." Landon gave Mike another one of those nasty smiles.

"No. No, sir." Mike held Landon's eye. 

"Beg me to care for you and not to hurt you."

"Landon." Mike could hear the desperation in his voice. He didn't want to beg. He wasn't sure he even could, but he couldn't take another beating. His body hurt, his brain hurt, everything hurt.

"Do not try to bargain with me, boy. I have no patience for such behavior."

"Please." Mike balked at the flavor of the words. He'd begged with Josh, and he'd begged with Milton, but they were impressive dominants with a remoteness and force that was beyond question. Landon was different; Mike had seen him as a submissive. He'd seen Landon openly sympathetic with Sheldon, one of the boys. What was Landon now? He wasn't one of the boys.

"Mike," Landon ran his knuckles down Mike's cheek. "You don't want hit again; I can see it in your body language. Ask me not to hit you."

Mike balled his hands into fists and wished he was anywhere but in this narrow corridor with Landon. He wished the walls would swallow him up. This had all seemed so easy when he'd been explaining it to Gabe, but now it seemed impossible.

"Do you reject your submission?" Landon's eyes searched Mike who shivered in their all knowing gaze.

"I can't." Mike leaned against the wall, the plaster digging into his sore shoulder. Somewhere in the distance water gurgled in the pipes and voices murmured softly. Ordinary noises--ordinary people.

"Hands on the wall for me." Landon's voice bubbled directly in Mike's ear. "Lean into the wall. Spread your feet."

"Don't hit me." The words were out before Mike could think or stop them--words of desperation and exhaustion.

"I don't need to now." Landon stroked Mike's back and rubbed his neck. "Lower your head for me." 

The hands were hot on Mike's neck. Mike groaned and slumped forward. He was too tired; he wanted to collapse against Landon in a ball of fluff that could be battered by a kitten.

“Ask me to get you comfortable?”

Mike even in his addled state caught the slight shift of words. Landon had just thrown him a life ring. He didn’t have to beg. He could use innocuous phrases about help with the stairs.

“Please.” Mike licked his lips and struggled for the words. “I...I’m...Help me.”

“Good boy.” Landon kissed the back on Mike’s neck. “Let’s get you comfortable.”

Mike leaned back in the steaming water. Landon had stripped him with the efficiency of an expert valet and nurse combined. Mike hadn’t even been able to voice a protest over the fully dressed Landon remaining in the bathroom.

“Boy, I saw all your bits when I beat you, so stop with this ridiculous modesty.”

Landon was leaning over the tub; he had shampoo in his hand. Mike shut his eyes and let the sure fingers massage his scalp without protest. Mike felt Landon pour water over his head, rinsing out all the soap. 

“All shiny and clean. Out you come.”

Mike reached for a towel as he pushed himself out of the tub. Every muscle groaned as if he’d just run a marathon and started training for Olympic weightlifting. 

“I’ll dry you.” Landon pulled Mike away from the towels.

Mike wasn’t sure how he felt standing naked as Landon drew the towel around his body. The rawness of his exposure vied with his guilty delight at absolute pampering. Landon was on his knees, running the soft towel down each leg. He patted the towel gently over Mike’s ass and thighs and finished by running his fingers through Mike’s hair. 

“Bed,” Landon ordered.

“I don’t have any clothes.”

Landon gave Mike a look of disbelief and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling in an exaggerated fashion. “First, the chance of being seen walking across the hall to the bedroom is about nil. Second and more important, you are a submissive. You haven’t a choice.”

“I could safeword.”

“Now?” Landon shook his head. “I beat you naked, and I bathed you. I’ve touched all your most private parts. Does it make any sense to safeword now?”

Mike stared at his naked feet. Of course it made no sense. Landon’s hand was on his butt cheek. His other hand rested on Mike’s stomach. He was thoroughly owned, and this wasn’t even his dominant.

“Do I have any choices?”

“Only what Milton chooses to give you? You chose to come back. Now you accept his choices. It’s what you’ve always wanted, only you hid it from even yourself. There’s no hiding now.” Landon’s hand brushed down Mike’s groin as if symbolically emphasizing the point. “Bed. I have no right to go further.”

“Milton…”

“Milton would flay me alive.” Landon smiled, a sympathetic and sweet expression. “You’re his boy. I had his trust to rough you up a bit, nothing more, and I would never violate that trust. Power is about trust. I’ve stood over him with a whip, and he has prostrated himself at my feet. I’ve kissed his boots and begged shamelessly for all and everything from him. I would never violate his trust, not as a dominant, not as a submissive, not as a human being. He’ll take very good care of you if you let him. Don’t break his heart again. I will not forgive you, no matter his argument.”

Mike knew his eyes showed everything. He felt the knot of guilt in his stomach.

“Don’t.” Landon’s hand flicked across a welt just hard enough to make it sing in agony. “You have been accepted back into the family. That is all that matters--no recriminations, no guilt. Only you must learn this time, no more pretending. You are submissive; wear it with pride.” Landon chastely kissed Mike’s lips. “I submit. I am Gordon’s boy.”

“You dominate also.”

“Sometimes, but never with Gordon. With Gordon I am as much of a submissive as you or Sheldon.” Landon held Mike’s chin, forcing their gazes to meet. “I give my submission and unlike you I am also a dominant. Mike, I understand what you are being asked to give. I’m everything a submissive isn’t supposed to be. It’s a sacrifice worth making. Now get in bed before you freeze. Milton is miserly with the heat.”