A Strong Hand

have been. He heard the noise and flinched, before he realized that he hadn't felt anything.
    Damian dropped the cane and bent over his boy, his tears falling onto Nick's shirt. "I can't do this, Nicky. This isn't what I'm about." He placed his hand gently on the small of Nick's back. "I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you."
    Nick went limp at the comforting touch and he started to tremble, but there were no tears in his eyes as he painfully pushed himself up. "I'm sorry, Damian. I shouldn't have made you do that."
    Damian pulled him into a tight embrace. "I was so afraid of what was going on in your head. I've never let a sub push me like that. I promise if you ever try that again, I'll spank you 256

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    until you won't sit down for a week, you'll be so sore. But no canes."
    "I won't, I won't," Nick whimpered. "I don't know what got into me...."
    Damian rubbed the abused bottom soothingly. "Let's get some gel on this. I should have forced you to talk to me. I should know what's going on in my sub's head." With a sudden flash of intuition, he said, "You were afraid that you'd like it."
    "Not just that, the humiliation, the way Crispin pushed him around...."
    Damian was shaking his head. "Not for me. I don't go for public or private humiliation. I'm a Top. I want a sub, not a slave."
    "What's the difference?"
    "Come home with me so I can take care of you, Nicky,"
    Damian murmured, holding his boy tight. "I'll try to explain it."
    "Okay," Nick said on a sigh. It felt so good to be in Damian's arms again.

    * * * *
    Nick lay on his side. He squeaked as Damian's hand smoothed more gel onto his sore bottom.
    "Serves you right," Damian said with a grin. "I didn't even hit you as hard as I could. That was only half speed."
    "And Crispin ran at Eddy," Nick groaned. "How could he take it?"
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    "Nick, this is not a competitive sport, with medals for the one who takes the most pain. Eddy is not you, and you don't have to withstand the same kind of treatment he can take. He has demons that seem as if they can only be silenced by the punishment that Crispin metes out to him."
    "You'd think he'd just go to therapy."
    "He does," Damian said, and grinned at the look of astonishment on the boy's face. "There are therapists who understand the lifestyle and Crispin sends him to one. But it seems like the pain from the caning releases the emotions that build up inside him. You probably should have come to dinner with us."
    "Did Crispin tell you all this?" Nick demanded.
    "No, Ashley did. Later. But Eddy was perfectly well-behaved afterwards. He's actually a pretty likable guy."
    "How did Derek take the whole thing?"
    "Wide-eyed and taking it all in," Damian laughed. "I happen to know that Ashley has promised him that he's not looking for a slave either."
    "Good." Nick sighed in relief. "I'm not sure I'd want to think about that."
    "Actually," Damian said, leaning over to brush a kiss on Nick's forehead, "I think it's terribly bad-mannered to visualize other people's sex lives, so no more of that. I think you need a nap anyway, pet."
    "Yes, sir," Nick said and yawned. He smiled sleepily. "I guess I should have talked to you."
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    "Yes, you should. Now go to sleep, baby. We'll talk more later." Damian ran his fingers through Nick's curls, knowing how the sensation put him to sleep.
    He sat and watched the younger man sleep, wondering if what had just happened between them would inevitably spell the end of everything.
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Chapter Fourteen
    Nick rolled onto his back and groaned. His arse was on fire and he suddenly remembered why.
    Damian came into the room and pulled back the curtains, letting the golden afternoon sun pour in. Nick squinted at him and asked, "Why does every muscle in my body hurt?"
    "You were bracing on that table as if a tsunami was going to hit you," Damian said cheerfully, turning him onto his stomach and tracing the single line that colored his butt. "This one is going to bruise. I'm sorry, baby. I should never have done it."
    Nick felt terribly guilty. "It was my fault, Damian. You would never have done it if I hadn't been acting so—"
    "Stupid?"
    "Well, yeah," Nick said reluctantly.
    Damian grabbed the tube of gel and started applying it.
    Nick sighed with relief.
    "Listen, Nick. I'm a Top, a Dom. I like to play with a sub, play being the operative word," Damian