Warning: This chapter contains a very brief scene of spanking/discipline.
CHAPTER FIVE
Chance and Eddie struggled frantically to get the house in order. They were terribly behind schedule and they were still chasing after Kenya to get her ready for her ballet lessons. Chance heard the doorbell ring and jumped at the opportunity to take a break from all the chaos.
He was honestly surprised to see Wade on his doorstep.
"Would you like to come in?" Chance offered politely. He stepped aside to let Wade inside, but Eddie and Kenya were making a lot of commotion in the background.
"Nah, I'm good," Wade assured. "This is just a quick swing by to say thanks. I have to be getting back to Noah anyhow."
"Oh. So… it happened?" Chance cleared his throat. "You actually went through with it?"
Wade smiled halfheartedly and nodded. "That was the point of that dissertation you wrote me, right?"
Chance looked away slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, well, perhaps I did go a little overboard. I'm just used to commenting on what I read. I have a lot of years behind me grading papers after all. You want to, um… tell me how it went?
Wade tried to think of the right words. "It was hard, man," he admitted tightly. "It was very hard. But now that I know Noah won't hate me afterwards, it's gonna make the next time that much easier."
That statement piqued Chance's curiosity and his eyebrows rose. "Sooo, there will be a next time?"
Wade just shrugged. He didn't look so sure himself.
Suddenly, Chance's phone rang and he excused himself to answer it.
"Should I expect you to meddle every time I slack off?"
Chance smiled at the sound of Noah's voice. "Is this your way of admitting that you were slacking off?" he teased back.
"I will never admit to that," Noah laughed. Then he added genuinely, "I just… thanks. Thank you for your help. You managed to accomplish something I was incapable of. Even more than that, you saw something that I somehow overlooked. Something that I evidently needed."
Chance chewed his inner cheek as he debated how much credit he should take over the situation. "I will neither confirm nor deny any part you think I had in whatever it is you are referring to."
"Chance," Noah breathed. "I saw your notes in the margins when I sat down to write the script."
"Oh." Chance bit his lip. "In that case, how you feeling?"
"Pretty sore actually. Maybe even a little embarrassed."
"I bet it's going to be uncomfortable to sit for a while, huh? I hope you learned a lesson here."
Wade's ears finally picked up on the conversation. He stepped inside the house and over towards Chance.
"Oh, that had better not be Noah," Wade interrupted and tried unsuccessfully to steal away the phone.
Chance simply batted away his grabby hands. "Wade sends his love," he grinned into the phone. He was surprised to hear Noah squeak and then instantly hang up. He looked towards Wade for answers.
"He won't ever learn," Wade clarified and then he shook his head and grumbled. Chance couldn't help but smirk at the scene. Noah was certainly going to be quite the task for Wade.
Suddenly, there was a crash upstairs and Eddie could be heard stomping and complaining loudly.
"I shouldn't have to be the one to dress her!" Eddie shouted crossly. "My job is important! I should have been out of this house by now!"
Chance looked back at Wade and shrugged an apology. "He insisted on signing Kenya up for every activity he could think of assuming that all the responsibility would naturally fall on me."
"How about the next time your man starts acting up, you take your own advice?" Wade offered abruptly.
Chance resisted the urge to blush. Instead, he cleared his throat. "I would be lying if I said the thought never crossed my mind," he admitted.
Wade nodded and smiled. Then he stuck his hand out. "Anyways... thanks for your help… and for always thinking of Noah." He shook Chance's hand firmly for several moments and then headed back home to his husband.
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Wade carried an armful of groceries bags into the house. He frowned when he saw the empty chair in front of the computer. However, on his way to the kitchen, he managed to locate Noah and he smiled approvingly. Noah had moved from the chair to the sofa, where he lay on his stomach and typed on the laptop.
Wade went to work setting the bags on the counter. Shortly, Noah followed after him and he placed his laptop down besides the groceries. He soon started to play with the edges of the brown paper bags.
"Did you get some green tea?" he asked curiously as he curled back a corner of the bag to peek inside.
"Yeah, I got your damn tea," Wade murmured and started to put some items away in the cabinets.
"What else?" Noah started digging through the bag. "Where's the stevia?"
"It's in there," Wade promised.
Noah was shoulder-deep in groceries as he dug inside the brown bag to see precisely what Wade had brought back. He had just found an item of interest when he was abruptly yanked aside. Wade had a firm hold on his upper arm and he was soon swatting his backside with a wooden spoon. Noah squealed and danced in place as more heat was applied to his already-too-sore bottom.
"Wade!" Noah shrieked in horror.
Wade snapped the spoon against Noah's flinching backside several more times.
"Have a good chat with Chance?" he asked and paused momentarily to hear his husband's reply.
Noah swallowed visibly and then dropped his eyes.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Wade spanked Noah one last time with the wooden spoon. He then set the utensil back on the counter, but kept his grip tight around Noah's arm as the smaller man tried to squirm away.
"Don't you think you should be typing?" Wade asked with incredible sternness.
"Yesss…" Noah grumbled. He rubbed his backside as soon as Wade released the grip on his arm. He instantly regretted not taking the opportunity to put his jeans back on.
"Do you have those twenty pages for me?" Wade asked as he leaned over to examine Noah's laptop. "Noah…" he blinked at the screen several times. "Don't tell me you actually finished an entire act while I was gone?"
"Yep, and I'm almost done with act two," Noah said with a triumphant smile, which eventually turned into a pout as he remembered to rub his stinging bottom.
"Damn. You accomplished all this because of one simple spanking?"
"No!" Noah huffed at the words simple and spanking being used together. There was nothing simple about the ordeal he went through. "I had the script mostly written already," he clarified. "I just needed to go back and add believability to it. Luckily, the emotions are fresh in my mind. And other places," he added quietly as he held his burning cheeks. "The script is finally starting to feel authentic. I think Brandy will truly be impressed by the time I'm done."
"I'm proud of you, baby." Wade leaned in and drew Noah into his arms. Noah pressed his cheek against his husband's and tightly clung to his neck. It always made him warm inside to know he made his husband proud.
"I printed it out for you if you wanted to read it over," Noah offered.
Wade immediately set him down. "I can't wait."
Noah smiled and disappeared into the living room. When he came back, he had a pile of pages in his hands.
"I wrote my notes in blue pen, so you can write yours in pencil," he said as he handed the work-in-process to Wade.
"This is your script, baby, you don't need any notes from me."
Noah blushed, but managed to flash him the most endearing smile. "I still value your input either way. Nothing is more important to me."
Wade grinned back at him. He tilted his head down and rewarded his husband with a very loving kiss. A tremor went through Noah knowing that he always has Wade's support. Plus, the soreness in his backside wasn't nearly as noticeable when his lips were locked with Wade's. Their embrace didn't end until Noah finally pushed him away.
"I'm eager to hear what you have to say," Noah explained. "You go into the bedroom and read this. I'll find a place for everything in the kitchen. Sound good?"
"Sounds wonderful, babe." Wade admired his husband once more before he made that short journey into the next room.
Noah trapped his bottom lip between his teeth and gleefully looked around the kitchen. The groceries were a mess on the counter, but it was so hard to focus when he felt this happy.
Noah knew he would be easily distracted for the rest of the day, so he put away each item one by one. Going back and forth between the counter and the cabinets allowed him the time to mull over the events of the day. It was embarrassing to admit, even just in his head, that he had been spanked – by his husband no less. It was even harder to admit to the feelings that followed, most of which were surrounded by a sense of complete trust and total surrender.
Noah placed the tea in the turnaround cabinet, but he did not turn back to put away the rest of the items. The smile on his face was slowly diminishing. He knew he was not the same man that he was when he first met Wade. Their lives had gone through so many monumental changes and each great step was associated with surrender and trust.
Noah never even knew he had the desire in him to feel completely absorbed in someone's trust. But upon meeting Wade, that desire was suddenly there. It shuddered through his depths until the first time they made love. He felt intensely connected to Wade while Wade unknowingly proved that he could love a man and never stop loving him.
Noah shut his eyes briefly as he remembered how close he came to breaking apart after his attack. Wade was at his side before he could completely crumble. He cared for him and protected him and managed to make one single night perfect again. It was a feeling that he never thought he'd be able to reclaim.
But the consequences of that night still disturbed him.
Wade was wounded in that car crash, but there were so many blameless victims that paid the price for their selfishness. It suddenly occurred to Noah that the deepest terrors of their relationship were diminished through acts of intimacy driven by desperation and fear. The lovemaking that followed each tragedy always left them feeling unusually satisfied, unexplainably safe, and forever in love.
The same could be said after his spanking. He felt a lingering sense of wellbeing. Just like all his memories, whether joyful or tragic, there was an overwhelming feeling of comfort.
Noah opened his eyes again and a few tears slipped out. His mind was so preoccupied that Wade was able to finish reading the script before Noah was even halfway done with the groceries. Wade strolled inside the kitchen with an unbelievably white smile. His grin immediately dimmed when he saw that Noah was unraveling.
"Noah…" he breathed and his fingers flexed angrily around the pages of the script. "Did I hurt you?"
Wade's fury was reflected in the sudden darkness of his eyes. He looked prepared to kill himself on command.
But Noah simply shook his head and flung himself into Wade's arms. Wade stumbled back a step, but the fury in his eyes was instantly replaced with relief when Noah attacked him with feverous adoration.
"You loved me all along," Noah whispered into Wade's chest. "Without any fear of consequence."
Wade recognized it as a statement of fact rather than a compliment, considering all the people they hurt along the way. But in the end, it was finally just him and Noah. There was no one else involved to get wounded. The only people to pay for the price for their actions were each other and luckily the affection they had for one another was without limitation. There was nothing they could do anymore that could tear them apart.
So, Wade sighed indulgently and savored the way Noah melted inside the comfort of his arms. It felt as if his shoulder was made for Noah to rest his head there. Wade moaned pleasantly as Noah's hands admired the muscled curve of his back. The embrace was perfectly safe and perfectly protective.
The phone rang behind them several times, but Wade didn't dare leave the luxury of his husband's embrace. His chin was nestled in the space between Noah's neck and shoulder. Soon, the answering machine beeped into action.
"Hey, Noah, are you there?" Ricky's voice echoed from the phone. "Hmmm, you must be busy. I guess you decided to finally sit down and finish that script. Oh, wait…" then he started to laugh. "I guess you won't be sitting down!"
Wade's jaw tightened, but it was hard to get mad when Noah was squeezing his chest tightly. He decided to let it slid and just cherished the way Noah cringed against him. The smaller man was distracted by the call, but he still would not break away from Wade's protective hold.
It was only a few moments later when the phone rang again.
"Grrrr, please!" Alex shouted into the phone. "Didn't I warn you not to mess around with that garbage? I told you those romance novels were as addicting as they are ridiculous! You best not do anything too crazy. And remind Wade he's supposed to worship that precious booty of yours. I'm coming for him if I notice any of your shoes gone missing!"
Wade's eyebrows scrunched together as he was both irritated and confused by the message. Not soon after Alex hung up did the phone ring again…
"Goddamn," Wade grumbled into Noah's hair as he lost patience with all the messages.
"I'm sorry," Noah whispered shyly into Wade's ear.
Wade held him tighter. "No, it's okay, Noah. Maybe, if you can refrain from making any more phone calls that is, you can take a break from the script later and invite them all over for a glass of wine. Discuss what you need to discuss. I'll bounce for the night."
Noah's close circle of friends was certainly dying to invade each other's personal boundaries and Noah admittedly had the urge to share and reflect with his friends. However, the prospect of losing Wade so soon made him shaky. As much as he depended on his friends, Noah needed his husband.
"Promise me you won't go anywhere tonight," Noah said softly as he peered up at Wade. "You're the one I want right now."
Wade made a low rumble of agreement and Noah nestled back into his arms. He felt the soar of delight flowing through Wade at the thought of being needed. It made the embrace that much warmer. As Noah followed the line of Wade's arms with his hands, he eventually remembered the script he was holding.
"You didn't write any notes," Noah said when he took the script and looked it over.
"I didn't have to," Wade declared. Then he pulled Noah back into his arms. He moved him so Noah's back was against his chest. "This is good, Noah," he breathed into his ear. "Final draft good. I knew you had it in you, baby."
Noah moaned pleasantly and rubbed the arms that were wrapped around his waist. "I have you to thank for it."
As Noah reflected over it, it was ironic how he felt so helpless struggling over Wade's knees, yet the spanking helped him gain some control. He planned to explore more of that feeling in act three.
"All I did was give you what you needed," Wade reminded with a smirk. "You needed your man to step in and take charge."
Noah choked out a small gasp of dismay. "Wade!" he whined. "You're not about to ruin this moment with your ego!"
"I'm sorry, baby." Wade then leaned down to kiss the head that was nuzzled beneath his chin. However, he was still chuckling ever so slightly.
Noah momentarily rolled his eyes, but he soon settled back against Wade. He gloried in the moments he could simply take deep calming breaths and relax into his husband's hold. He'd have to finish writing shortly, but for now he could appreciate the simplicity of a quiet, tender embrace. Despite how long he's been married, Noah realized that he could still discover new ways to share his body with Wade.
More importantly, he realized that in any position – it felt good to be in his husband's arms.
THE END.