A Strong Hand

forgot to doubt.
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    240

    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford

Chapter Thirteen
    "Come on, Nick. We're late already," Damian said, looking at his watch with impatience.
    Nick looked regretfully at the pillow he'd carried around with him all day on Sunday. "If I weren't afraid that Ashley would demand to see my arse, I'd take that lovely soft pillow with me."
    Damian chuckled. "You're right about Ashley. He'd adore any hints at all, but I'm quite sure you'll be fine without the pillow. Just choose a padded chair, and don't flop down."
    "Easy for you to say," Nick grumbled, wincing as he slid into the seat in Damian's car. "I don't think I can be in any shots today." He had stiffened up and it wasn't so much surface pain as deep muscle soreness that plagued him now.
    "No need," Damian said lightly. "I'm not shooting today.
    We need to present all the shots to Ashley and his business partner this evening. So you get to keep your clothes on."
    Nick breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't comfortable with making this public while he was still grappling with the implications for himself. At times he felt completely at ease with what was happening, while at others he would study Damian's face as if the man was a complete stranger to him rather than someone with whom he'd shared his body in ways more intimate than merely sexual.
    If he thought it would be a relaxing day without Ashley around, Nick soon found out differently. Damian directed him to set up tables along the length of the studio. Nick pulled out 241

    A Strong Hand
    by Catt Ford
    the tables and together they wrestled them into place, creating a long surface where Damian could set up printouts of the various shots.
    It was even more incongruous that the collection of toys, benches, restraints, and whips were strewn on other tables opposite, making a narrow walkway down one side of the studio, where one could turn to look at either the photos or the implements.
    Before Ashley was due to turn up, Damian found Nick and held him for a moment. "How's your butt?" he asked, rubbing that part of Nick's anatomy soothingly.
    "A little achy," Nick admitted, resting his forehead on Damian's shoulder.
    "Yeah, you've been moving around a lot. I'm sorry about that," Damian said, "Why don't you sit down and take some aspirin?"
    " Sit down?" Nick teased.
    Damian laughed. "Right. Well, suit yourself, but I warn you, if you eat dinner standing up tonight I'm sure you'll hear about it from Ashley."
    "I'll take some aspirin right now," Nick said firmly. He shuddered at the thought of Ashley snickering at him all evening and headed for the bathroom.
    Damian opened the door to a knock and found Ashley standing there with his business partner, a tall, dark man with a large, muscular build. "Crispin," Damian acknowledged the taller man, shaking his hand.
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    A Strong Hand
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    "Damian! Good to see you again," Crispin said jovially.
    "Ashley's got me all worked up, anxious to see what you've got."
    He shook Damian's hand while Derek sidled around Ashley to find Nick. "Hey, dude. How are you? Isn't he crazy wicked?
    He makes Ashley and Damian seem like pussy cats."
    Nick nodded, aware of the power emanating from the cheerful-looking man. His face was pleasant and his nose incongruously pert, giving him a friendly expression that belied his menace. "How do you know? What did he do?"
    Derek shivered. "What wouldn't he do? But you just wait
    'til his ... his boyfriend gets here. He's meeting us here later."
    "What's he like?" Nick asked, wondering if all the people he now knew were gay.
    "You'll see," Derek said, nodding smugly, feeling that at last he had one on the other boy.
    Crispin accompanied Ashley and Damian into the studio.
    He inspected the photographs laid out on the tables in silence, finally turning to shake Damian's hand.
    "You are a true artist," he said solemnly. He turned to Ashley and shook his hand as well. "And you were right; this is amazing stuff. This will set us apart from every other maker of kinky gear." He laughed suddenly. "My old dad would be spinning in his grave if he knew that the leather harness company he founded had branched out into this stuff."
    "But he'd probably enjoy the profits," Ashley interjected slyly.
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    "No doubt," Crispin agreed. "This earns far more money than the horse division."
    The three men started as the outer door swung open violently, the knob crashing into the wall.
    Nick and