Free Bondage by Chris Owen, Jodi Payne Page B

whispered. "Thank you so much."
    Tobias squeezed him a little but didn't say anything.
    After a moment Phan said, "Noah's tired."
    "He is. He was up all night because I didn't call. I thought he'd be asleep, so I didn't call, because I thought I'd wake him."
    Phan groaned. "Okay. I'm going to go lie down in the guest room. You make him go to sleep. Do we start tomorrow?"
    "What day is tomorrow?" Noah asked, coming back from the kitchen yet again and yawning. "Oh, Thursday, is that right? I have counseling tomorrow night, so you two will be on your own. I brought enough stuff to get me through the weekend, so we can all stay here again tomorrow night."
    "Okay." Phan kissed Tobias' cheek quickly and moved away, rolling to his feet. "Thank you, Noah," he said softly, one hand sliding up Noah's arm. "Get some sleep."
    "Come here." Noah grabbed him by the front of his shirt and tugged him close. "You're welcome," he said, and then he kissed Phan soundly on the lips before letting him go. "Sleep well, hon."
    "I will," Phan said with a grin. "Try not to yell too loud." He skipped away and darted down the hall, laughing.
    "I don't think yelling is in the cards tonight," Noah said softly, stepping into Tobias' arms.
    "That's just fine by me," Tobias said. "I've missed you, pet. Come to bed and let me hold you."
    Noah surveyed the living room one more time and nodded, then let Tobias steer him down the hall toward the bedroom. "Carol made fun of me all day."
    "She did? What did she say?" Tobias asked.
    "Oh, about how tired I was, and who kept me up all night. She totally got the wrong impression." He started to strip before they were through the bedroom door.
    "Did she?" Tobias asked, bemused as Noah continued to lose his clothes on the way to the bed. "Thought it was all hot sex?"
    Noah flopped on the bed in nothing but his briefs. "I think she was hoping for a good story."
    "The poor thing," Tobias said absently. He tugged the blankets out from under Noah and urged him to get into bed properly. "You do realize that it's only six-thirty, yes? You're going to be awake damn early."
    "It's what?" Noah blinked his eyes open.
    "It's six-thirty."
    "Okay so wake me up in two hours and..." Noah yawned. "And we'll fuck."
    Tobias chuckled. "We'll see," he said, starting to undress. "Go to sleep, pet." He stripped off his clothes, leaving them in a pile on a chair and slipped into bed. He tugged Noah to him and buried his face in Noah's hair. "Love you," he whispered.
    "Love you, too, baby." Tobias could feel him already drifting off.
    With a smile he stroked a hand down Noah's back and just held him as Noah fell asleep. Tobias stared at the ceiling, listening to Noah breathe, and kept his own breathing light and even, even as his mind began to race. It was the first real chance he'd had to think all day, and he found himself wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into.
    He loved Noah. He and Noah had a balance and connection he hadn't had before; everything worked. But he couldn't -- simply couldn't -- leave Phantom to sink as he'd seemed ready to. He knew that he could help Phan, could work with him to get the boy into a better frame of mind... but he worried that by doing so he'd overwhelm himself.
    Two subs would take a great deal of energy and work. Despite their very careful speeches about Phantom not having the same status as Noah, it was what it was -- Phan was a sub, he was a Dom, and no matter what way it was cut, Tobias now had two subs, even without Phan having a contract.
    Tuesday nights off was looking better and better.
    He lay with Noah sleeping in his arms and started planning how he could best get Phan through the crisis point; once that was done, things would settle a bit and the three of them would see where everything stood. He hoped, anyway. He reminded himself that Noah had strong affection for Phan, and that Noah had initiated this -- perhaps without thinking it all through, but out of good intentions, certainly. The