Surprise

Surprise!

Blade shook the box. It was tiny, more the size of a jewelry box. He heard a faint rattle. Please no cufflinks. He had a pair for the Green Mountain Boys, and he always had to ask Ryan or Milton to do his cuffs. It could be nipple clamps; they’d fit in a box that size, but they just sounded painful, not fun. Ryan insisted they could be great fun, but Blade was still skeptical of his dom’s judgment on such an intimate part of his body. 

Blade tore the paper off and opened the box. “I’m not pierced,” Blade said as he stared into the box. Fucking nipple rings with bells and candy canes. “Cute, but you need to give these to Mike or Mace.” Blade fought to sound nonchalant as his stomach flip flopped and threatened to come up his throat.       

                                                 

“No, bro, they’re for you. You’ll be needing them shortly.” Sheldon smirked, grabbed the box from Blade’s hand, and held the tiny bells up to Blade’s chest. You’ll look cute jangling your way through the holidays. Naked, whipped, and pierced.”

“I’m not pierced,” Blade repeated, “and it’s not funny.”

“Oh, but you soon will be. You saw Devon at lunch, rings and tats everywhere. He’s a professional piercer and Ryan’s friend. You’ll soon have more holes than you can shake a stick at. You’re Ryan’s boy; you do what he says.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Blade launched himself at Sheldon. They hit the floor with a thud, the other guys scrambling away as Blade took a frantic swing at his brother. 

“Get up now!”

They’d only been on the floor for a second and surrounding them was a sea of tops. Ryan grabbed both their shirt collars and held them at arm’s length.

“Quit! What on earth?”

Ryan was mad. Blade flinched at the sharpness of his words and the telltale twitch of Ryan’s jaw when he was fighting to control his temper.

“Is there any legitimate reason you were rolling around on the floor like bullies in a schoolyard?”

Blade licked his lips and swallowed hard. Why did his mouth always get impossibly dry? It was only a question. It wasn’t as if Ryan would torture Blade for the answer, at least not really. Standing in the shadow of Ryan’s massive chest with his blues eyes glaring down might be torture enough, but it surely failed the United Nations definition of inhumane treatment.

“Blade? Sheldon?”

Blade just shook his head. Sheldon opened his mouth at first with no sound, then a strained whisper broke the silence. “It was my fault; I was teasing my brother.” Sheldon flushed a dark red, and gave Ryan a pleading look with a hint of a smile. “I knew it was wrong, but you know me.”

“Yes, I know you,” Ryan said, not giving an inch, “and you tease your brother. You both do, but this was mean. Your brother is truly afraid of needles, and this is something special. I’m disappointed in your behavior. I’ll let Milton sort you out. It’s his place, and right now I’m too angry to be fair.” Ryan glared down at Sheldon, shaking him by his collar. “Sheldon.” Ryan’s voice softened. “Do you want this?”

Sheldon gave the faintest of nods and an apologetic smile.

“Ask Milton.”

“He’ll say no.”

“Ask him anyway.” Ryan kissed Sheldon’s forehead. “You’re an impossible brat. Go.” He gave Sheldon a shove toward Milton who had been standing against the wall, his arms crossed, looking dark and formidable. 

“It’s OK. It was only a bad joke,” Blade found himself babbling. “I might have done the same myself.”

“Hush,” Ryan said and ran his fingers through Blade’s hair. “Sheldon deserves trouble. He was asking for it. He’s capable of asking for what he wants.”

“It’s Christmas.”

“Does that change anything?” 

Blade chewed on his lower lip and shrugged. “I guess not. Ryan?” Blade paused and leaned toward Ryan. “Do you want me pierced? I’m afraid.”

“Shh. I know.” Ryan tucked Blade under his chin, his voice right in Blade’s ear. “I want you pierced. You’ll be even more beautiful. I want it to be special for you; I won’t force it.”

“Devon does piercing.”

“Hmm,” Ryan rumbled in his throat.

“You asked him up here to do me?”

Ryan rubbed his hands over Blade’s shoulders. “You’d look hot with my rings. Mine--always.”

“Where?” Blade whispered.

“Nipples, ears.”

“Will it hurt?”

“Yes,” Ryan said flatly, “but it’ll be a good hurt. It will be for me.”

“I don’t like needles. Will you hold me?”

“Of course. I’ll be right there for you.”

Blade looked up into Ryan’s blue eyes; he could lose himself in their depth. They were eyes that always knew Blade’s heart and soul. Blade nodded. “Can we do it now?”

“I won’t make you.”

“I want to.”

******

Blade lightly touched his chest. It still hurt, not the blinding pain of the needle, but a dull ache and a sharp twinge as his shirt grazed his tender nipples. They looked good, Blade had to admit, and wrapped tightly in Ryan’s arms it had been bearable. Who was he kidding? He’d screamed his head off.

“Don’t touch those, boy.”

“Devon, you’re not a top.”

“I take pride in my work, and if those get infected, Ryan will take his whip to my back. I don’t do whips.” Devon shuddered before a grin broke out across his broad face. “For your man I might make an exception about those whips. He’s hot when he’s being fierce.”

“He’s mine.”

“That’s obvious, honey. You’re a lucky boy.”

“I know,” Blade said softly.

Devon kissed Blade’s cheek. “Don’t get all maudlin on me. You make me cry, and I won’t look scary.”

“You’re not scary,” Blade said with a grin.

“You’ll have to tell that to the mothers who cross the street with their children.”

Blade looked up and down Devon. He was a big man with obvious muscles under his tight shirt. A snake tattoo, yellow and green, wound its way down his beefy neck and disappeared under his shirt. Gold rings hung from his ears, and Blade had caught sight of a tongue stud when Devon talked. Blade could imagine more rings in far more intimate places. Yes, mothers would run across the street with nightmares dancing in their heads instead of sugar plums.

“I see the concern,” Blade said with a laugh. “They’re imaging all that stuff on their children.” Blade waved his arms to encompass all the rings and tattoos.

“And you’re so innocent,” Devon teased.

“Just more discreet.”

Devon laughed, loud and deep. “Discreet and you, not in the same room, sweetie. Not with your brother either.”

“Did you do him?”

“Professional secret. Now get to dinner before Gordon gets all hot and bothered. Being late for Christmas dinner would never do.”

“You’re not dressed.”

“I had the good sense not to bring a tie. A nice quiet dinner in my room will be perfect.”

“Not so fast, boy.” Gordon stood in the door blazer and tie in his hand. “I won’t have my guests missing the Christmas pudding. Now change.”

Devon took the proffered jacket and tie, looking at the offending articles as if they might come alive and bite him.

“You pierced two Zaths; I’m sure you can manage a tie for sixty minutes. It is Christmas.” Gordon spun on heel and exited the room.

“And a Merry Christmas to you too,” Devon muttered. “Ryan owes me for this.”

“Consider it payback.” Blade grinned. “And Merry Christmas to you also.”