Bound and Determined (26 page)

hand.” A crisp snap of his fingers brought Sterling to his feet, and for the first

time since Owen had joined him, he met his cool gray eyes directly. Owen was

staring at him dispassionately, much as he had the night they'd met at the

club, but there had been a barrier between them then and now there wasn't.

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“Playtime's over,” Owen said softly, the threat not in the words or his tone,

but that unwavering stare.

“Thank you,” Sterling said and meant it. Even an annoyed Owen was a

relief after Talia, who for some reason made his skin crawl. He wished fervently

for Owen's quiet bedroom and a few hours alone, and found himself pressing

closer to Owen, looking for comfort.

“I wonder if you'll say that when I've finished with you?” Owen didn't wait

for an answer but turned and walked toward the door, leaving Sterling nothing

to do but follow him, careful to keep a step or two behind as he'd seen other

subs do. If he'd been told to, he'd have crawled out of there, head down, just to

show anyone watching—and it felt like everyone
was
—how much he wanted to

belong to Owen.

He didn't say anything the whole way to the car, knowing that Owen

wouldn't want to hear it until he'd asked for an explanation. It wasn't easy,

though—he wanted so badly to explain that none of that had been his fault,

that he hadn't initiated any of it or even the conversations themselves.

Inside the car, with the doors shut, Owen put the key in the ignition and

his hands on the wheel, then asked abruptly, “Do you still think you're ready

for public play?”

“No,” Sterling said immediately. “God, no. I'm so sorry—I had no idea

people were going to—well, come on to me like that. I didn't start either of those

conversations, I swear, and I thought it would be rude to ignore them, and that

they wouldn't be talking to me if that was, you know, breaking any rules. But I

didn't want that.”

To his surprise, Owen shrugged. “I know. I could see how uncomfortable

you were—and despite what Talia thought, I was watching you all the time. I

always do. You'll learn how to tell them no in a way that reflects well on you

and me when you've had more practice at it. And Talia was right about one

thing; I should have kept you close, no matter how annoyed I was. I'm sorry for

not taking better care of you tonight.”

To hear Owen admit that made Sterling feel deeply miserable in a way no

spanking ever had. “You
do
take care of me!” he protested. “Way better than

Kirk does with Alex.”

“Don't judge another relationship,” Owen said. “It might be exactly the way

Alex likes it. Although Kirk…he's not all that experienced, and he's been known

to take things a little too far. I'm not saying he'd ignore a safe word, but he

pushes the limits hard.”

This was more like a conversation than Sterling had expected, especially

considering their earlier visits to the club, all of which had ended with him in

complete silence the whole drive back to Owen's before Owen had spanked him

or once even just tied him up and left him untouched for almost two hours,

much to Sterling's initial frustration but eventual pleasure.

Bound and Determined

109

“I kind of got that impression,” Sterling admitted. “He gave me his

number.”

“I thought so,” Owen said. “Get rid of it, please. No point in assisting

temptation.”

“I wouldn't be tempted.” Sterling sighed. “I meant it; you do take care of

me. You haven't let me talk you into stuff you think I shouldn't do, right?”

“True,” Owen agreed. “Neither would Kirk, incidentally, but he might try

and talk you into…stuff that you didn't want to do or weren't ready for. I won't

do that. If I ever propose something that you're not sure about, I expect you to

be your delightfully vocal self and speak up at once.”

“
Delightfully vocal
” was said with a snap, and Sterling felt his world regain

focus because Owen might be showing his softer side about some of what'd

happened, but not all of it.

Owen started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. “You're curious

about what punishment you'll receive for speaking out of turn.” It wasn't a

question; Owen knew him well enough to know that Sterling was thinking

about just that, a tight knot in his stomach, half trepidation, half excitement.

Owen generally made sure that there was an element to a genuine punishment

that Sterling wouldn't like, but there was no getting away from the unspoken

but undeniable fact that Sterling
liked
being disciplined and Owen loved

imposing it.

“Yes, Owen.” Curious didn't begin to describe it.

“Well, don't worry. You'll find out soon enough.”

Of course that was enough to
make
him worry for the rest of the drive, but

at least it was late enough that there wasn't much traffic on the roads and they

made good time back to Owen's house. The driveway and front porch were

littered with the results of their day's work; Sterling thought, guiltily, that he

should have done a neater job of stacking things. The house was definitely

lacking what the home channel shows called curb appeal—not that Owen had

any plans to sell the house.

“Inside,” Owen said. “You know what to do.”

He did. After stripping down, Sterling knelt beside Owen's favorite chair

and waited to be told what his punishment would be.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me about what happened at the

club?” Owen asked as he sat down.

“No,” Sterling said uncertainly. “You know everything, and I've said I'm

sorry. I don't mean that you shouldn't, uh, deal with the talking thing, because

I know you have to, but I want you to know that I
am
sorry, and—”

“Stop talking,” Owen said and Sterling closed his mouth on his next word.

“Good. You're forbidden to speak again until we wake up tomorrow. Not a

single word. Your safe word for the duration of this punishment will be

replaced by a gesture; if for any reason, you want a time-out or to go home, you

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can tell me by kneeling and clasping your hands behind your neck. Do that

now, please, to show me that you understand.”

Sterling paused, letting that sink in, then put both hands behind his

neck, locking his fingers together. He looked up at Owen, hoping that Owen

could see how sorry he was, and that he trusted him and would do whatever he

was told.

“Very good.” Owen ran his fingers through Sterling's hair, then turned

away. “Stay there. Don't move.”

Wondering what Owen had up his sleeve—he was still thinking too much,

which wasn't the point of this, but Sterling couldn't
help
it—Sterling waited

until Owen came back with a black rubber ball gag. Sterling had seen it before,

but Owen had never used it on him, and the thought of it made his mouth

water and his dick get even harder than it already was.

“Open,” Owen said, and Sterling did.

Biting down on the rubber ball felt strange; it forced Sterling's mouth

wide, his lips stretched. He swallowed several times, awkwardly, while Owen

fastened the strap behind his neck. He had to drop his hands to give Owen

room, so he crossed his wrists at the small of his back like usual.

“This is going to stay in place for an hour,” Owen said conversationally.

“Partly to reinforce the lesson, but mostly because I like the way it looks on

you. Your mouth's one part of you I've never bound much, but that's going to

change because really, you have no idea how you look right now, your lips

stretched open, your eyes begging me to touch you. And I will.”

He wanted to lick his dry lips, he wanted to tell Owen so many

things…and he was thirsty too, but that could wait. He knew that when the

hour was up, Owen would let him drink, holding the water bottle to his lips if

by then his hands were tied. He didn't need words to tell Owen if he needed to

take a leak, either; that was something he could always break position for

without permission, though he tried not to interrupt anything Owen was doing

if he could.

Owen shifted forward in his chair, his gaze on Sterling's face as if he

couldn't look away. “Tomorrow I'm going to want to know how this makes you

feel, but I can see for myself how much it turns you on.” Owen's bare foot

dragged over Sterling's thigh, and his toes nudged the swell of his balls. It felt

like something he should protest, shrink away from, but Sterling heard himself

moan helplessly at the touch. “Open your knees wider. Let me see how much

you like this punishment.”

There was part of him that found this embarrassing—it was one thing to

be hard when you were kissing someone, making out, having sex, but

something else to have Owen looking at him when it was just about what Owen

was making him do. As he shifted a little bit, opened his knees so Owen could

eye his erect cock, poking straight up, he had a brief flash of what his family

would think if they could see him now. How horrified they'd be, how disgusted.

It made him flush, thinking of his mom's expression.

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111

He didn't care about what his father would think.

“My pretty little pet,” Owen said, amusement lightening his voice and

making Sterling blush hotly because that made this even more shaming

somehow. “Oh, yes, I thought that might make you blush again. You've gotten

so used to all this that you don't blush as much as you used to. I've missed it.”

Owen pointed at a low footstool tucked away under one of the small tables

that cluttered the room, dark wood upholstered with a rose velvet pad. Sterling

was able to look around the house now and see exactly which rooms Owen had

finished changing to suit himself and which were still furnished mostly the way

his mother had chosen. This room was an odd mix of two styles, although it

was the room that Owen used a lot, so it would've made more sense to fix it

first. Sterling hadn't asked him about that—easy to figure out that Owen was

holding back to keep some memory of his parents alive.

“Fetch that footstool here and sit on it, facing me, please. I want to be able

to touch you without bending over.”

Sterling brought the stool as directed and sat, glad that the seat was so

comfortably padded. It did make it much easier for Owen to reach him, and

Owen took full advantage of the fact, repositioning Sterling's legs so his cock

was accessible.

“Much better.” Slowly, Owen stroked Sterling's balls with his fingertips,

smiling as they tightened further at his touch. “I do love seeing you react.

You're so beautiful when you're on display like this.”

On display. The words reminded Sterling of the root cause of his present

state, and it must have done the same for Owen because he smiled. “You really

wanted to be out there with everyone watching you, didn't you? It's going to

happen, but not yet. I said you weren't ready, but I'm not ready, either. I need

to know how you'll react to everything and anything that's asked of you, and

that certainty isn't quite there yet. Oh, don't look so forlorn; I like this phase,

where there's still so much to discover about you.”

And when you know everything, you'll start to get bored with me?
Sterling

couldn't speak, but the words got said anyway, loudly in his head, and a

strangled sound forced past the gag as he shook his head.

Owen frowned. “You're upset about something?” He waited, but when

Sterling didn't move, Owen shrugged, still looking faintly troubled. “Tell me

about it tomorrow, please. Don't forget.”

He'd rather imagine what it would be like to be half undressed, or more,

on the floor in the middle of the club. Owen would be standing over him like

he'd stood over Carol the night they'd met, and Owen would be in charge.

Sterling would let him be, let him do anything and everything, and they'd be

the center of attention, like being onstage.

“There,” Owen said. “Let's distract you with something a bit more

pleasant, shall we?” The way he said it, relaxed and confident, let Sterling

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know that there was some pain on the way, and he welcomed it. He
wanted
to

be distracted.

First, a tug on his balls—that definitely got his attention—and then a

series of pinches to sensitive areas. Inner thighs, nipples, the hollow of his hip,