By His Rules (22 page)

been trying to get Aiden’s attention for some time.

Aiden reluctantly sat up, refusing to look at Keaton.

He let Keaton lift him out of the chair and guide him into

the living room, onto the couch. Aiden stared resolutely

at the floor. Keaton didn’t speak, just continued stroking

Aiden’s back.

“I haven’t been doing the writing assignments,”

Aiden said hoarsely. “I could never think of anything to

write, so I didn’t do them.” He swallowed. “Now my

applications are due in a few weeks, and I still don’t

have a personal statement. I have to audition, but my

monologues are terrible—” His voice broke. “I can’t. I

can’t fucking do this. I’m not good enough; I don’t know

what I’m doing. I can’t even get the
applications
done… ”

“Shh,” Keaton said, pulling him close. Aiden

resisted for a moment, then let his head fall on Keaton’s

shoulder. “These are the kinds of things I want you to

tell me,” Keaton said. “You don’t ever have to let

yourself get this stressed.”

“There’s nothing you can do! You can’t make me a

better actor. You can’t write my statement for me. So

what fucking good would it do?”

“I’ll help you. I won’t let you go through this

alone.”

“It’s not your business whether I fuck up my life or

not,” Aiden snapped.

“I believe we’ve agreed it is my business.”

Aiden closed his eyes.
Shit
. “You can’t help me,” he

repeated.

“You don’t know that until you let me try.”

I am so dead
. Keaton was right, and Aiden was

positive he was in hot water. Suddenly nothing about a

discipline relationship seemed silly at all.
Run, Cole.

While you still can.

“Okay,” Aiden said, voice as steady as he could

make it. “I’ll do better. I’ll tell you next time.”

“Good,” Keaton said.

He didn’t say anything further, so Aiden took a

deep breath and asked, “Am I in trouble?”

Keaton squeezed his shoulder. “We’re going to

deal with the two broken rules, yes.”

“Two?” Aiden asked in a small voice.

“Do you know which ones?”

Aiden’s face burned. “Um—I was a shit to you. So

number one. Being respectful and mature?”

“You weren’t a shit. But you were disrespectful,

yes. And?”

“Number five? Not talking to you when I get

overwhelmed.”

“Good.”

Aiden warmed at the praise—pathetic, considering

his answers had just condemned him to his first real

punishment. He turned his face so that he could inhale

the scent of Keaton’s shirt and of the warm, strong body

beneath. “And I lied to you about the writing

assignments. So number one again.”

Aiden waited for Keaton to push him away and

start punishing him, but Keaton kept rubbing his back.

“That about covers it,” Keaton said.

Aiden removed his face from Keaton’s shoulder,

though he still couldn’t meet the other man’s gaze. He

concentrated on his hands, folded in his lap. He would

have given about anything to be allowed to bite off a nail

or two. “So… what’s my punishment?”

“I think a spanking would clear the slate nicely.

Don’t you?”

No
? “Um… I guess.”

This was too weird. Keaton was being way too nice.

And yet for some reason Aiden suddenly felt more

terrified than he’d ever been when Scott prepared to

whip him.

“Now?” he asked.

“If you’re ready.”

Aiden nodded, heart thudding. This was it. Keaton

was actually going to spank him—not as a game, and not

just a couple of swats to settle him down.

And not to harm him, Aiden reminded himself. At

least, Keaton had said he’d never do anything that left

marks. But that was before Aiden tried to kick him.

Keaton squeezed his shoulder. “Stand up.”

Keaton’s voice was as calm as ever, but there was a

new quality in his voice. It wasn’t sharp or hard or angry.

But it was authoritative, certain—and strangely

reassuring. Aiden suddenly understood how Keaton—

laid-back, friendly Keaton—could command respect.

He stood, trying not to let Keaton see him shake.

How could he possibly be this nervous about a

spanking? He’d been spanked dozens of times before. It

was a huge turn-on for him. Yet his dick was completely

soft, and his throat was dry, and he wanted to grab his

heart and shake it and order it to be still. He waited,

unsure what to do next. Keaton reached out and took his

wrist, guiding him closer to his lap.

“Keaton, wait!” He didn’t mean for the words to

escape, and he certainly didn’t expect Keaton to heed

them. But to his surprise, Keaton waited. Aiden

struggled to get his thoughts together, his breathing

under control. “This is—different,” Aiden stammered,

“than I thought.”

“There’s no rush,” Keaton said. “Talk to me.”

Aiden dropped his gaze. “Shit. I’m so sorry. I know

I deserve this. I’m just—I don’t know what’s wrong with

me.”

“Deep breath,” Keaton said. “It’s going to be all

right. I’m going to punish you. But I won’t harm you. I

know it’s frightening, but we’re doing this together.”

“I’m not scared of a spanking!”

“No. You’re scared of letting go, of surrendering, of

letting me see how you truly feel.”

“Fuck,” Aiden said softly. Keaton was right.

“But you’re safe here. You can react however you

want to. You can struggle, you can yell, you can cry—

anything. I won’t think any less of you.”

Aiden remembered how Scott had been turned on

when he fought. Was there a reason Keaton had

mentioned struggling? He should have known Keaton

had some weird kink. “Do you want me to struggle?” he

asked dully.

“What’s that?” Keaton asked.

“Do you want me to fight you? When you’re

spanking me? Is that—good, for you?”

Keaton sighed and pulled Aiden back down to the

couch. He lifted Aiden’s chin, forcing him to meet his

eyes. “Aiden. Remember, this isn’t something I do for

pleasure. This is to help you. If you need to struggle,

do.”

“Shit. Keaton. I’m fucking this all up.”

“You’re not. You’re doing fine.”

Aiden swallowed. “Scott liked when I fought him. I

just—I don’t quite understand what the difference is

yet.”

“Would you like to see?” Keaton asked.

“Okay. Okay, let’s get it over with.” Aiden stood.

He fumbled with his fly. Keaton eased his hand away

and took over, undoing Aiden’s jeans and sliding pants

and underwear down to midthigh. Aiden winced as cool

air played over his exposed rump.

Keaton took his wrist once more and guided Aiden

over his lap so that Aiden’s upper body was supported

by the couch and his legs hung down, toes touching the

carpet. He felt ludicrously young and extremely foolish.

Keaton tipped him forward slightly so that his butt was

higher in the air.

Jesus
.
How did I ever think this was sexy?

Worse than the embarrassment was the knowledge

that he deserved this. He’d been horrible to Keaton and

had compromised himself as well. He deserved much

worse than a spanking. If Keaton had any sense, he’d

take his belt to him.

He tried to breathe, reminding himself that it

wouldn’t really hurt. It was just the vulnerability of his

position that was hard to deal with. He jumped as

Keaton rested a palm on the small of his back, then

moved it down to Aiden’s bottom. He patted softly.

“Relax.”

Not a chance
. Aiden tensed, waiting for the first slap.

When it didn’t come, he took another deep breath, trying

to relax. Keaton patted his butt again, as though in

approval, then lifted his palm and brought it down

across the center of both cheeks. Hard.

Aiden sucked in a breath.
Really hard!
The center of

Aiden’s bottom blazed, and the sting was just starting to

spread when Keaton lifted his hand and brought it down

again.

Oh God. I can’t do this
.
This fucking
hurts
!

Keaton picked up speed, alternating cheeks,

building the fire quickly and steadily. The whacks were

impossibly loud in the otherwise silent living room.

What really surprised Aiden was how much it
stung
.

He’d been whipped, flogged, paddled, even caned, but

the deep, bruising pain of those spankings was

something entirely different from the maddening sting of

this punishment.

Keaton smacked the crest of each buttock until

Aiden finally lunged forward in an effort to get Keaton to

hit somewhere else. But Keaton worked over that same

area until Aiden couldn’t control his legs’ twitching and

kicking. He stayed quiet, though, not even whimpering

as Keaton returned to the center of his butt, smacking

both cheeks at the same time, over and over. He was

shocked at how genuinely
sorry
he felt. All he wanted

was for this to be over, for Keaton to forgive him. After

that, Aiden promised himself, he’d never break another

rule.

Keaton stopped and rested his palm on Aiden’s

blazing butt. “When you have a problem—when you’re

feeling stressed or unsure or upset—you need to tell me.

If you’d told me from the beginning that you were

having trouble with your writing assignments, that you

were discouraged about your monologues, we could

have addressed those issues right away. Instead you let

your frustration build until you had to take it out on

somebody. On me.”

Tears welled in his eyes. The spanking stung, but

Keaton’s words stung much worse.

“I’m on your side, Aiden. You need to trust me.”

Keaton rubbed Aiden’s sore cheeks, soothing some of the

fire away.

“I’m sorry,” Aiden whispered.

“I know,” Keaton said. “Let’s finish this.”

Aiden shut his eyes, and Keaton began whacking

again, a sharp hail of swats that made circuits over

Aiden’s cheeks. Aiden urged himself to stay still but

couldn’t help wriggling a little, arching his back and

trying to twist away.

Keaton held him firmly and began to address the

lower curves of Aiden’s backside, right where his

buttocks met his thighs, and the tears started flowing

then. Aiden pressed his legs shut and bucked a little,

then went limp. He cried silently, afraid this might never

end, that Keaton might just keep spanking that sensitive

juncture forever.

But Keaton did stop, and Aiden lay quivering

across his lap, sucking deep breaths. Keaton tilted him

sideways, hauled him into his lap, and hugged him

close. Aiden pressed against him, wishing he could

disappear inside Keaton. Keaton held him until he was

cried out, murmuring something Aiden couldn’t make

out at first.

“I know… I know… ” Keaton was saying, and

Aiden realized he’d been saying the words “I’m sorry”

over and over.

Aiden quieted and slumped against the older man.

“Jesus,” he muttered. “That hurt.”

Keaton kissed the top of his head. “Keep that in

mind when you’re tempted to keep secrets in the future.”

“Yeah.” Aiden’s voice still shook.

“Ready for some dinner?”

“You expect me to sit at the table? After that?”

Keaton chuckled. “Three meals a day, remember?

Unless you want another spanking.”

“No,” Aiden said hastily. “I’ll eat.”

“You can sit on the chair with the cushion.”

Aiden rolled his eyes. “You’re so considerate.”

“Why thank you,” Keaton said, dropping another

quick kiss on the top of his head. “I do try.”

* * * *

the fifth time. He finished and plopped down on the

chair in the basement. This was awful. He couldn’t make

himself
feel
the character’s struggle. He just felt like a guy

in a basement saying words in a loud voice. He was

going to fuck up the Case audition for sure. At least with

the video audition, he could keep trying until he was

satisfied. With the Case audition, he had one shot to

impress them.

They’ll probably kick me off the stage three lines in.

He heard the basement door open, and Keaton

called down, “On my way to school. Don’t forget lunch.”