A Strong Hand

felt sure his face was equally red.
    "There is much you need to learn about submission,"
    Damian said. He took his hand away and said, "Stay right where I put you, pet."
    Nick remained in position and relaxed.
    "You like that, don't you? When I give you an order?"
    Damian asked. He picked up a tube of cooling gel and squeezed some onto his hand. Nick jumped at the chill when Damian smoothed it over his arse.
    "Yes, sir," Nick admitted humbly.
    "Do you know why?"
    "Because you're so hot?" came the naïve answer.
    It startled Damian into laughter. "Well, that isn't quite what I was thinking of, but thank you. You may stand up now."
    Nick stood and his hands went to his pants, but he looked at Damian questioningly.
    "Go ahead, get dressed," Damian encouraged him. "So was it what you hoped for?"
    "I didn't like the spanking while it was happening; it hurt,"
    Nick said. "But I liked how it felt afterwards. And I like when you tell me what to do."
    "Have a seat, if you like. Not that one," Damian said, hastily moving the straight chair. "Preferably something more cushioned."
    Nick sat on the couch and bounced up again. "I think I'll stand."
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    "We need to talk, Nicholas," Damian said. "If you got all you wanted and satisfied your curiosity, say so, and we'll never speak of this again." He waited but Nick slowly shook his head, while a satisfied smile spread over his face.
    "I don't think so," Nick said. "I want more."
    "Then we need to have some rules. We'll set them up together as we go along, and see how they work for us, okay?" Damian sat behind his desk. "I like to play. All those toys of Ashley's out there, I've worn every one of them, used every one of them, had them used on me. I'll want to take you deeper into this, and I hope you'll start to want more when I show you different things.
    "Right now, some of those implements scare you. We'll be trying them all, and if you truly don't enjoy something, we won't do it again. Just because other people like something doesn't mean you will. Understand?"
    Nick nodded. "Yes, sir."
    "You can stop calling me sir. I only require that when we're in a scene. Do you want to continue working for me?"
    "Well, yeah, sir, Damian, I mean," Nick answered in honest bewilderment. "I still have to work my way through school."
    "Very well. I won't embarrass you in front of clients or the other models, but I'm probably going to surprise you; that's a part of this. And I may require your submission in places and at times that you're not expecting. If I push you too hard, your safe word is...."
    "London," Nick said promptly.
    "Good. I think we'll get along just fine," Damian said, privately wondering where this was going to lead. "Now you'd 72

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    better get off home. We have a full day of shooting tomorrow, and I have work to do yet."
    "Yes, sir," Nick said submissively. "And thank you."
    "You're very welcome," Damian said kindly. He waited until he heard the outer door close and went to lock it. He turned off the light in his office so Nick wouldn't see him if he looked up, and then he waited.
    The younger man did look up, and Damian took a quick step backward, not wanting to be seen. Nick turned and started to jog to the tube station. Suddenly he gave an exuberant leap, jumping up to tap a hanging sign in triumph.
    Then his hands went to his rump, giving himself a comforting rub.
    Damian laughed softly. Ashley's little trick that afternoon had alerted him to the fact that he was going to have to be very careful. His own fierce possessiveness when the blond model had grabbed Nick and pulled him close told him that some part of him had already laid claim to Nick, probably right at the moment of that first swat he'd aimed at the boy to keep him still. Something had sparked a fire deep inside, when for so long Damian had remained resistant to arousal, and now he wanted to keep the young man by him always.
    He sighed. It was unlikely that Nick could ever love an old fart like him, even though he was only in his early thirties; Nick was young, he had his whole life ahead of him. He was curious and wanted to experiment. Damian reminded himself to keep his heart under wraps; this could be a very nice liaison for a while, and then when Nick had learned all he 73

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    needed to know about himself, he would move on and Damian would no doubt be in for another dry spell.
    Driving home, Damian found himself wondering