Free By His Rules by J. A. Rock Page B

he whispered.
    “Stay with me awhile,” Scott suggested. “You could
    sublet your apartment while you look for a job.”
    “No. I mean, no, Sir. I can’t do that to you.”
    “What would you be doing to me? You’re training
    is going well, and if you move in, we’ll be able to take it
    to the next level.”
    “I—”
    “I was going to ask you anyway if things continued
    to go well. Instead I’ll ask you now: Will you move in
    with me?”
    There was no reason to make a hasty decision. He
    could go home, look at job classifieds, start calling
    around. He didn’t really want to give up his apartment,
    and the idea of living with Scott full-time terrified him.
    But a sudden surge of recklessness took over—why the
    fuck not? What good was he to anyone else anyway? To
    Joe’s, to Hera, to the world? He could live with Scott, be
    Scott’s fuck toy until Scott got sick of him, and then he’d
    figure something else out.
    “All right,” Aiden said.
    “Yeah?” Scott sounded a little surprised, and—was
    Aiden imagining it?—relieved.
    They agreed to move Aiden’s stuff the next
    weekend. “A week to change your mind,” Scott said.
    “I’m not going to change my mind, Sir,” Aiden said.

    * * * *
Aiden didn’t know why it had been such a struggle
    before to reach subspace when he was with Scott. Now
    he flew high every time Scott whipped or fucked him. He
    let Scott beat him until he was bruised and sobbing,
    loving the sickness of it, begging for more.
    “Relax,” Scott told Aiden one night, putting down
    the flogger and stroking Aiden’s damp hair. Aiden was
    tied to the bed and pulled against the restraints, panting.
    “No, Sir, please don’t stop, please—”
    “Relax,” Scott said again, more sharply, swatting
    Aiden’s ass with the flat of his hand.
    Aiden stilled, then burst into tears.
    “Shit,” Scott muttered. “Where are you, boy?”
    Aiden sniffed. “Fuck me then, at least, please, Sir?”
    “You’ve had enough for tonight.” Scott moved to
    undo the restraints.
    “No!” Aiden shouted. “I haven’t.”
    “Settle down. I’m warning you.”
    “I won’t settle down, you asshole, you
    motherfucker! Why won’t you fuck me? What the hell’s
    your problem?” Aiden yelled. He struggled until the
    restraints bit into his wrists and ankles.
    “Enough!” Scott said, picking up the flogger again.
    “You’re gonna remember your manners, Shithead, before
    we’re done here.”
    He lashed the leather tails with such force across
    Aiden’s backside that Aiden couldn’t even cry out with
    pain—the sound stuck in his throat, and he choked as he
    tried to breathe around it. Scott lashed him again. “You
    do not speak that way to me. Not ever .”
    Aiden resumed his struggle, driven now by fear
    and pain rather than anger. The lashes were hard enough
    to break skin and fell relentlessly and haphazardly. Scott
    didn’t stop until Aiden was whimpering broken
    apologies, lying limp on the sheets.
    Scott undid the restraints. Aiden made no move to
    get up. He felt a gentle trickle of blood down the back of
    one thigh.
    “Little shit,” Scott panted, throwing down the
    flogger. “I don’t even want to fuck you, you scrawny
    whore.”
    Aiden let out a sob as Scott left the room. Was this
    true submission? Feeling hurt, angry, confused, and
    humiliated? Alone? Aiden knew the role-plays he’d done
    with tops in the past hadn’t demanded real submission.
    They’d been fun, undemanding, and interchangeable.
    What he had with Scott was real. And yet, wasn’t a D/s
    relationship supposed to be mutually supportive?
    Wasn’t the sub supposed to get some pleasure out of the
    relationship?
    You do, Aiden reminded himself. You were in
    subspace tonight when he was whipping you. You get
    hard when he fucks you.
    But Aiden was turned on by the acts themselves,
    not by his relationship with Scott. He didn’t trust Scott.
    Sometimes he didn’t even really like him.
    But you’re stuck with