A Strong Hand

to mark me?" Nick asked, tilting his head and smiling provocatively.
    Damian was stunned; his boy was teasing him? "Let's not forget who's boss here, pet," he threatened.
    "I was just thinking, you could mark me a different way,"
    Nick said. "Give me a hickey."
    Damian stared at him and started to laugh. "Why you little
    ... I will give you one, just to teach you. You'll regret stealing my thunder, you scamp."
    Nick started to giggle. "Scamp? Is that a time-honored title for a sub?"
    "No, but you are one," Damian said. He pulled Nick closer and unbuttoned his shirt, opening it and turning his boy to face the mirror, pressing Nick back against his chest. "You're my scamp and I don't mean to let you forget it."
    Nick watched Damian's hands roaming possessively over his body, cupping his groin and coming up to tug meaningfully on the collar exposed now that his shirt was open.
    "Mine," Damian growled. He thumbed Nick's nipples as he bent to bite the tender throat right above the collar. He sucked furiously, making a mark that would last for several days. When he was finished, he raised his head to inspect the wet red bite mark in the mirror, taking in Nick's dazed eyes and parted lips as he panted softly.
    Damian spun the boy in his arms and bit his chest, just above his right nipple, leaving another sign. "Now you're marked as mine. And everyone out there will know it. Return to the table after you button up."
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    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford
    With that he grabbed the boy's hair, pulling him closer, and kissed Nick bruisingly hard, not giving him a kiss so much as demanding possession of his mouth. And then he was gone.
    Nick looked after Damian in a trance, wondering what had just happened between them. For sure, it had been interesting. And he felt infinitely relieved that he'd been able to stop Damian, merely by using his safe word.
    He buttoned up, noticing that the mark Damian had sucked on his neck peeked over the collar of his shirt. He drew a finger over his swollen lips in wonder that he could arouse that passion of possessiveness.
    Damian returned to the table wearing a feral grin that put Ashley on alert. He was having so much fun watching Dominant Damian come out to play that he hadn't even quarreled once with Derek during the time they'd been left alone at the table.
    Damian watched with pride as certain persons in the room recognized the mark of ownership he'd set upon Nick's neck, watching him weave his way through the tables. There was acknowledgment of his claim and the one Dom who'd challenged Damian discreetly lifted his glass in capitulation.
    Ashley noticed the slightly bewildered look and reddened lips, and watched to see whether Nick winced as he dropped to his chair. As he didn't, Ashley concluded that something different than he anticipated had happened in the restroom.
    He was dying to ask, but he knew that Damian would never tell him.
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    A Strong Hand
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    Derek's eyes flicked between the other three men. He recognized the look of a successful hunter on Damian's face, the confused lust on Nick's, but what surprised him most was the expression of longing in Ashley's eyes when the older man looked at him. He smiled tentatively and wondered if perhaps he'd been too hasty in refusing a spanking from the handsome man.

    * * * *
    Nervously Nick followed Damian upstairs to the studio when Ashley had dropped them off after dinner, driving away with a rather silent Derek beside him. Nick and Damian were quiet as well, the tension between them simmering just below the surface.
    Baulked of his intention to mark Nick in the restroom at the restaurant, Damian was determined to possess him tonight. It was all very well to leave a hickey and growl mine, but he wished to take what no other man before him had enjoyed. It annoyed him that he was unable to control his own impulses, but he pushed the thought away.
    "Go to the makeup room. Wait for me," Damian commanded tersely.
    Nick was beginning to realize that he was not going to get off with a mere hickey. Tonight Damian was determined to mark him is some more visible way. He felt a thrill of fear, not knowing exactly what Damian had planned for him, but knowing that he was going to be feeling something different on his arse tonight. He started when Damian reappeared in the doorway.
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    A Strong Hand
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    "Follow me."
    Nick walked meekly behind Damian into the office, realizing that all of their scenes had so far taken place