CHAPTER FOUR
Toby's eyes fluttered opened. He was overcome by a sudden sense of dizziness. Once his vision started to clear, he realized that he was in his own bed. He jerked back at the immediate change of scenery. This was not the last place he remembered being…
Toby swallowed hard as he realized that he had no recollection of how he came to be here. When he looked around the room, he saw Adam standing in the doorway with his arms folded unhappily across his chest. The displeasure in his eyes made the situation that much more distressing.
"How did I get here?" Toby dared to ask as he searched the room for any clues. He looked for a napkin, a book of matches, that little card with numbers — anything that would prove that he had been to the Lair. It was as if he had woken up from a bad dream and he wasn't sure which parts of his memories were real.
"Some goon dropped you off," Adam answered flatly. "You're lucky, Toby. Damn lucky."
Toby blinked against Adam's cold stare. "I d-don't understand…"
"This was just a warning, you know. A warning to you and a favor for me. What the hell were you thinking going back there?"
Toby groaned and tried to cradle his head. He was not yet ready to admit that this was actually happening. As he lowered his chin, he suddenly noticed his bare chest. He gripped the blankets tightly and hesitated to look underneath.
"I'm naked…" Toby observed breathlessly. "Oh. My. God. I'm naked…!"
Adam sighed sourly. "That was me."
"You took my clothes?"
"I was checking for marks, Toby."
Toby's hands immediately flung to his neck. His fingertips frantically searched for any fresh wounds that mirrored Adam's scars. "Shit! You're kidding me?!"
"You're good, Toby," Adam promised, but his firm tone was far from reassuring. "You're good, but you really had me worried there."
Toby struggled for words. His fists gripped and un-gripped the blankets at his sides. "Is this what they did to you?" he managed to ask even though his concern made his voice tremble. "They hurt you? Just what the fuck did they do to you?!"
"Toby…" Adam scolded very softly. "They can't hurt me anymore. It's you I'm worried about."
"Adam," the other man scoffed. "I've been in worse situations—"
"I don't want you to be in worse situations!" Adam finally shouted. The desperation in his eyes made the other man shrink back. "Do you know how fucked up it is to have your boyfriend's lifeless body dragged back home by some stranger in the middle of the day?!"
Toby soon felt his own anger rising. "Actually, I do," he clarified. "It was just six months ago when you stumbled back to the Dante bruised and practically OD'ing. I felt my own life crashing down at the thought of losing you. I dedicated my entire life to keeping you safe and keeping you grounded, yet every time you slipped from view you managed to fuck up. I felt like shit knowing you could die if I even blinked!"
Adam hesitated at Toby's words. His testimony was obviously meant to shame, but Adam wasn't about to give his boyfriend the satisfaction. He stood boldly before Toby and said, "You're right. You're absolutely right. Now that we've swapped places, how does it feel to be the fuck up?"
Momentarily confused, Toby shook his head. "What…?"
"You fucked up," Adam reiterated. "Now I'm the responsible one, always watching your back. I'm now the one who feels like shit because I have to worry about you lying, sneaking around, and getting yourself killed. I know you to be more responsible than this! For fuck sake, Toby, it was your maturity that drew me to you in the first place!" Adam took a breath in an effort to calm himself. "So, I ask you again: how does it feel to be the fuck up?"
Toby tried to dismiss him with a grunt. "Cut it out, Adam," he ordered. "You're not making your point."
"You fucked up!" Adam emphasized. "What would you have done if it were me?"
Toby winced.
That was all the reaction that Adam needed. After pinning Toby with a firm glare, he quietly left the room to leave his boyfriend alone to contemplate his choices from the past couple of days.
Toby remained sitting stiffly in his bed. The question was enough to stun him into silence. His face was frozen with that shameful expression.
He knew exactly what he would have done if it were Adam. Had his boyfriend lied or put himself in danger, he would have received a very long lecture about actions and the consequences of them. The discussion would only conclude after an even longer and more thorough spanking. Toby would have made sure Adam was a very sorry boy before he ever thought about returning to the Lair.
Knowing that Adam believed he earned such a punishment made Toby's cheeks burn.
Toby groaned and threw himself back against the pillows. He covered his warm face with his hands.
"I did fuck up," Toby was finally able to admit to himself. He never remembered disappointing Adam before. He never even thought it was possible. Adam was always so easy going. It was shaming to discover there was a limit to his patience.
Deciding to do some damage control, Toby quickly found a pair of black underwear and slipped them on. Then he followed Adam into the kitchen. He was surprised to see him already reaching for the wooden spoon.
"I cook with that spoon," Toby tried to say coolly.
"Not tonight."
It was quite startling to see his boyfriend holding one of his cooking implements. He never suspected that such a simple sight could make his pulse jump so quickly. The sight of his two greatest passions now turned into an eerie vision of forbidding. The moonlight glowing from the kitchen windows wasn't enough to shadow the humility crawling up his face.
The wooden spoon swiftly became a blur as Adam seized Toby's upper arm in one hand and whacked the spoon against his backside with the other.
"Ow!" Toby yelped and shot up on his toes. He quickly forced himself to recover. He placed his hands on the counter where Adam led him. He had every intention to grate his way through it if Adam thought he deserved such a sentence. His dignity would be a small sacrifice if it would set his boyfriend's mind at ease.
However, the spoon licked his other cheek and Toby instantly tried to dance his way from Adam's grasp.
"That's enough!" Toby ordered when the sharp sting reconnected with his backside again. Adam was swatting him with a steady pace that soon lit up his bottom. He stirred in his boyfriend's grip, but Adam never released his upper arm.
"Adam, st-OP!" Toby tried again. The hard smacks were quickly overcoming him.
Adam sighed as he looked over Toby. His boyfriend was far from repentant, but he nevertheless had enough with the wooden spoon.
Adam let the wooden implement drop to the floor. He quickly kicked out a stool and jerked Toby towards him. He soon had his boyfriend pinned over one knee.
Toby blinked at the sudden motion, but in a desperate attempt to maintain control he threw a hand back.
A small, breathless gasp emerged from Toby when he felt Adam grip his wrist and pin it to his back. He had always been the levelheaded one in the relationship. This was the first time he ever had to relinquish complete control and, with a sob, he realized that he was unprepared to face that fact.
Adam's hand was not as harsh as the wooden spoon, but its speed soon ignited his bottom with the same fury. Swat after swat with his hand alone was enough to leave Toby gasping and desperate to hold back tears.
Adam proceeded to spank Toby even as he jerked and struggled across his knee. Right now, he knew that Toby was mostly conflicted about surrendering control. Fortunately, Adam knew to trust his own judgment. He would push through Toby's resistance until the other man was truly remorseful.
Soon, the battle vanished from Toby's body. As Adam continued to hold him bent across one knee, Toby knew had no choice but to accept the rest of his spanking. It was too late to talk his way out of this one. He cringed at each stinging swat, knowing that he deserved every one of them.
The cheeks beneath Toby's briefs visibly turned pink. Since Adam's hand was a considerably softer implement compared to the wooden spoon, he decided that Toby no longer needed that extra layer of protection. His fingers slipped beneath the brim of his underwear and Toby held his breath.
A grunt of pain emerged from Toby's throat the next time Adam spanked him. Toby tried to keep his mouth clamped shut, but the same sound would always follow. He bit his lip to hold onto those embarrassing pleas, but the harder Adam spanked, the harder it was for Toby to hang onto his composure. He sobbed each and every time his cheeks were burnt by the hard swats. He was no longer able to contain his cries within his clenched teeth.
"Adam, you were rrr-IGHT!" Toby relented beneath his boyfriend's unyielding sting. He twisted on top of the other's knee to look Adam in the eye. "I… I-I'm ss-ORRY! Please, Adam! I'm sorry!"
Adam heard the anguishing tremor in Toby's voice. As the next couple of spanks fell, he finally saw Toby's eyes glistening with remorse. As much as it pained him to punish his boyfriend, they needed to reach an understanding. He genuinely hoped that Toby would remember this lesson the next time it came to trusting his judgment. Adam was no longer the spoiled, trust fund brat who relied on a hit of saint to pass the time. He had grown enough to protect his boyfriend when he really needed it.
Adam's scorching hand finally stopped spanking Toby. He gently rested it on the other man's back. He softly kneaded the tense muscles of the body draped across his knee in an effort to calm those frantic tears. It took a few minutes for the deep sobs to gradually subside.
"You're okay," Adam soothed as he gripped Toby's arm and helped him stand from his lap.
Toby hissed as he was finally set on his feet. Before he was able to rub at the sting, Adam pulled his arms around his neck. He heard Toby whimper a halfhearted protest.
"Just put your arms around me," Adam instructed with surprising softness. He held his boyfriend in a gentle embrace.
"It's not f-fair," Toby pouted into his boyfriend's ear. "I al-always let you r-rub." Despite the slight sulkiness, he gripped Adam tighter. Toby quickly turned his gentle embrace into a fierce hug. He needed this contact to distract from the anguishing heat of his backside.
"I know," Adam acknowledged with a kiss. "But I'm a bully, remember?"
Toby held back a tearful laugh. "You asshole," he murmured into Adam's ear and managed to push his face deeper into his shoulder. "Asshole."
"You'll be alright," Adam promised as he felt the other man quiver in his arms. "I got you."
Toby's entire body seemed to tighten around Adam's touch. He had spent the past couple of days with an immovable lump of anxiety. Now that he was freed of such a weight, he could finally let himself be overcome by Adam's care.
After a few minutes of drenching himself in Adam's comfort, Toby finally stepped away. The sting in his backside was still remarkably persistent.
"Can I rub now?" Toby asked pitifully.
Adam grinned and gently caressed the other man's cheek. "Yeah… Yeah, you can, as long as you get your ass in bed. I think you can do with some rest."
Toby offered Adam a shy smile. He was admittedly tired and knew that his body was about to deal with the aftermath of saint.
With a quick blush, Toby pulled up his underwear and headed back to his room. He was stunned to see Adam follow him.
"Sss-shouldn't you be at w-work, or sss-something?" Toby was still shaky from his spanking. He watched curiously as Adam scooted beside him in bed.
"You always sat beside me whenever I came down from saint," Adam reminded gently.
"But I like sitting beside you," Toby said with a flicker of buoyancy.
Adam smiled back. "And I like sitting beside you."
Toby felt his face flush, but still indulged in Adam's soft laugh. It was nice to know that no dark history of the island could cast a shadow over their need for one another.
Adam nestled against the pillows as he pulled Toby to his chest. He savored that familiar weight on top of him. However, within seconds of embracing his boyfriend, he could feel Toby's body tremble again. He groaned playfully and smiled at his boyfriend's adorably soft cries.
"Oh, Tobyyyy," Adam admired teasingly. "You're so pathetic!" He held on tighter to the shaking body in his arms. He wanted nothing more than to comfort his boyfriend.
"Cut me some slack," Toby persisted with a sniffle. "I just had my first s-spanking and I'm still upset about your scars." While he wasn't complaining, he still glanced up at Adam and wondered about the mysteries of the Lair.
"All scars fade with time," Adam assured quietly with a kiss to his boyfriend's head. "It took you six months to notice these. As long as you don't go breaking my heart, all other wounds will heal. That I can promise you."
"I guess."
Adam casually ran a hand through Toby's hair. "I abused saint long before I ever heard of the Lair. That place only further enabled my addiction and that's all I know. I think the next person who steps foot in the Lair shouldn't be able to sit for week."
Toby winced for a moment, but soon realized that Adam was included in that threat. The Lair had depths that were waiting to be explored, but such an exploration wouldn't include either him or Adam. Toby wouldn't hesitate to put Adam over his knee to keep him from returning to the Lair and Toby now knew that Adam would do that same.
Finding comfort in that knowledge, Toby flashed Adam a warm smile. "We take care of each other," he said fondly and he rested his head back down against Adam.
Toby heard Adam moan in agreement as he nestled further into his chest. It was nice to finally be safe in his boyfriend's arms. The only downside was a very sore backside. The sting that warmed his bottom reminded him that he should place more faith in his boyfriend's ability to lead. Adam had been right from the beginning. Toby might have recognized that side of Adam had he not yielded to his own stubbornness.
So, Toby closed his eyes and waited to drift off into sleep within the security of his boyfriend's hold. He was grateful that he could place his trust in Adam's leadership, especially in those rare occasions when he himself was unable to lead them. After all the secrets and lies, it was reassuring to reach a stage of their relationship where they could equally rely on each other.
THE END.