Stefan grabbed Damon by the shoulder and jerked him around. "What do you mean, no?"

Before Katherine, Stefan would never had had dared do such a thing. He might have fought against a no from Damon but a few minutes under his big brother's palm or strap would have Stefan tear stricken and newly obedient. The idea of raising his hand to Damon, even if it was just in protest, would never had occurred to him.

In the weeks since Damon had taken his brother in hand, Stefan had reverted back to that, if only in behavior and mannerisms. It hadn't been exactly what Damon was going for, but he found that he quite enjoyed Stefan's new attitude. Now his green eyes were narrowed and his lips were in a tight line. He was tense and angry and defiant and made Damon's palm itch.

Damon saw no reason to ignore that urge.

"Drop your hand," Damon made his voice low and was pleased when Stefan flinched and squirmed. He didn't let go, so Damon's annoyed look turned into a glare. "Now."

Stefan dropped his hand.

Damon grabbed his arm and began to drag him down the room and over to Stefan's leather couch. "You need a good spanking."

Stefan didn't physically resist but he started to complain, "I didn't break one of your rules, Damon! You can't."

"I figured I didn't have to spell out that I require you to obey me," Damon said as he sat down on the couch. He pushed Stefan onto his knees so that he was kneeling in front of where Damon was sitting. "But let's made it rule number five. I tell you to do something, you do it, I tell you no, it's a no. And we'll put a large asterisk next to that. If what I'm telling you pertains to your safety, you get an automatic whipping when you try and argue with me."

"But Damon - "

"We'll talk more when you're over my knee," Damon said and Stefan swallowed. And then he watched with wary eyes as Damon set his hands on his shoulders and leaned forward. "But first, I need you to look me in the eyes."

Stefan clenched his teeth and glared up at him, his tone was more than a little mocking as he said, "Are you going to try and compel me?"

"I'm going to spank the sass out of you," Damon said, "then my strap will be having a long conversation with your ass about defiance." Stefan didn't look thrilled, but he also didn't look like a scared kid about to be tanned black and blue. Damon needed to take care of that. He moved his hands up Stefan's neck and set them on the sides of his face. "I'm going to take a page from Lexi's book."

Fear began to cloud Stefan's eyes. He licked his lips. "I need to be starved, chained down, and in a lot pain for you to get inside my head like that."

Damon rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to torture you, little brother. But when I spank you like the little boy you're acting like, I want you to feel it." He remembered Sage's lessons as he crawled inside Stefan's head and said, "You're going to be sore for days when I light you up with my hand and sitting down will make you want to cry for weeks when I thrash you with leather or wood." Stefan was eerily still as his body absorbed Damon's commands. The ripper would fight, but Stefan was his normal self and conditioned to accept commands when a vampire was inside his head thanks to Lexi's special brand of detox. "If I ever have to take a switch to you, you'll feel the welts until I decide you've learned your lesson."

Damon pulled away from Stefan's mind and looked down at his little brother. His eyes were wide and terrified and he inched away from Damon. He didn't look like a scared teenager about to get a richly deserved spanking, but a vampire under the mercy of another who was much stronger than him. Close enough for Damon.

"Do you think you can run?" Damon asked as he hooked a finger in one of Stefan's belt loops to keep him from backing away. He jerked Stefan forward and undid his fly. Stefan's hand flew behind his back and he lowered his head. "How about that?" Damon bared where he was going to punish and bent Stefan over his lap, "Looks like you're already learning."

"I'm sorry," Stefan sounded contrite and sincere, but he wasn't earnest enough for Damon's taste. Damon pinned Stefan's wrists to to the small of his back and rose his hand. "Please - Damon."

Damon smacked him. "Hush," Damon told him and smacked him again. "You need a few rounds of this first." He smacked up Stefan's left cheek and then down the right, covering every inch of his buttocks and thighs. Unfortunately, Stefan's skin didn't pinken under Damon's guiding hand, so Damon had no way of knowing if Stefan was sore enough to really hear a much needed lecture. He wasn't able to measure it by Stefan's cries, because he was remaining stubbornly silent. "Holding back your tears is only going to make me spank you more, Stef."

"It doesn't hurt enough for that," Stefan said.

Damon paused. Stefan tone wasn't lippy and he didn't sound particularly masochistic or guilt ridden. Amused, he said, "Are you asking me to spank you harder?"

"I'd, ah," Stefan took deep a breath at a sharp swat to the under curve of his ass, "like not to be here all day."

"That's just too bad for you. I'm the one call the shots here." Damon lowered both the speed and force of the spanking. The pain would add up, eventually. Until then, Stefan could stew as he was smacked. "Let your brooding be productive for once and think about why I need to adjust your attitude before the main event."

From the way Stefan's shoulders tensed, Damon could tell that's exactly what he was doing. As he continued to spank, Stefan's skin grew warmer under his hand. It wasn't the red hot heat Damon has dished out to Stefan when he was a child, but it was warmth none the less. Better than nothing.

"Damon," Stefan's voice was scratchy, like he was close to tears, "I shouldn't have grabbed you." At the next crisp smack, Stefan took a deep breath. "And I shouldn't have tried to get away when you decided to spank me." Stefan started to squirm a little under the repeated attention from Damon's hand. "Brother," Damon smiled a little as Stefan began to learn his lesson, "please. I'm sorry."

"What are you going to do next time I tell you something you don't want to hear?"

Like a well-spanked child ready to get off a parental lap, Stefan said, "I'll do whatever you want. Please, Damon, it won't happen again."

"And when I decide you need a spanking?"

"I'll get a spanking," Stefan said as his legs twitched from Damon's steady hand falling on his behind.

Damon kept the slow and moderate smacks coming a he said, "Will you try and get away?"

"No, sir," Stefan said.

"I'm glad you remembered your manners." Damon finished spanking up his left cheek with a bit more speed than he'd been using. He let go of Stefan's wrists and was pleased to note Stefan kept his arms where Damon had put them. "Next time you want to argue a decision I've made, I expect you to mind them."

Stefan's voice was quiet but rung clearly in Damon's ear, "Yes, sir."

Damon tapped Stefan's hip. "Are you ready for a strapping?"

"About that, sir," Stefan said, "I won't fight the spanking," Damon gave him a sharp swat in the middle of his backside just to be sure, "but do you think we can talk about it first?"

"What do you need to say?" Damon said.

"Can I get off your lap first?" Stefan asked.

"No," Damon said.

Stefan swallowed and nodded. "Why don't you want me to help kill that vampire?" He twisted around so that he could look at Damon. "He's targeting Elena. You can't just expect me to sit around and do nothing when she's in danger."

"A few drops of human blood isn't going to make you strong enough to be of any real help," Damon said. Irritated, he swatted Stefan's upper thighs and was glad that made his brother yelp in surprised pain. "If you'd just waited and listened to me, you could have spent the day keeping an eye on Elena in her house where you'd both be as safe as possible, while Ric and I took care of the idiot stupid enough to come into my town right this very minute. Instead, I have to spend the morning spanking you."

"You should have locked me in the basement and killed him before punishing me!" Stefan said.

"I thought we just went over your attitude," Damon said. Stefan had the good sense to tense up at that. He deserved a few more minutes under Damon's hand at the very least, but Damon couldn't find it in him to punish him. He found himself running his fingers through Stefan's hair, drowning in way too much gel. He knew it was Stefan's love for Elena behind his attitude. It needed to be corrected, but he couldn't bring himself smack him for that. "Ric is keeping an eye on Elena, Stefan. And the vampire isn't a day walker. She'll be fine and the vampire will be dead before you know it."

"Alaric - "

"That's Mr. Saltzman to you," Damon said, sing-song, "he's your teacher and I think we've talked about how you're supposed to act like a real teenager."

Damon figured Stefan would bring up that he was only required to do in public. But, surprisingly, Stefan acceded with, "Mr. Saltzman is just a regular human."

"With a magic ring that brings him back to life," Damon pointed out. He twirled some of the dirty blond hair between his fingers. "And, unlike yours, his life is one I'm willing to risk." Stefan was looking at him with wide eyes. It made him look soft and young. "You and Elena," Damon said with a fierceness that surprised even him, "You two are the only ones that matter. And I'm willing to thrash you every day until I get it through your thick head."

Elena could probably use some quality time over Damon's knee, too. She was all too happy to risk her life, left and right, for any little thing. However, that was a topic for Damon to explore at a later date. His little brother's spanking was far from over.

"Okay, brother," Stefan said as he turned back around and faced the floor.

"Up," Damon said with a gentle swat to his left under curve. Stefan hissed slightly but didn't complain. Damon kept him from pulling up his pants and underwear by firmly grabbing his wrist and shaking his head. "You aren't going to need those for awhile, little boy." Stefan was going to want to rest on his front sans pants when Damon finished thrashing him. "I've got a strap I bought specifically for you on my closet door. Go get it."

Stefan was blushing as he nodded. As he walked out of his bedroom, Damon couldn't help but feel amused. He'd seen Stefan naked multiple times, and not just in context of a spanking. He picked up Stefan's clothes, folded them, and put the back into his dresser, sighing fondly at the haphazardly folded clothes.

Damon didn't have to wait long. Only a few minutes passed before Stefan came back to his room carrying the spanking strap Damon has thoughtfully purchased a couple of days after he decided to start disciplining him again. The leather of the strap was strong and thick. It was about two feel long with a sturdy wooden handle. Damon could put a lot of power behind his blows without having to worry about it breaking. Stefan's eyes were a little watery when he handed it to Damon.

Setting a hand on Stefan's shoulder and meeting his wet green eyes, Damon said, "From now on, we'll be keeping it in your closet to remind you every day what I will do to you if you try and defy me when I'm trying to keep you safe."

"Yes, sir," Stefan said.

Damon took hold of the strap. He moved his hand from Stefan's shoulder and set it on the back of his neck to urge him forward. He bent Stefan over the bed. Stefan buried his face in the covers. Determined to make sure Stefan would remember this for a long time, Damon pinned Stefan's legs beneath his, trapping him so he would have no choice but submit to Damon's lash.

"Fold your arms in front of you," Damon said as he wrapped an arm around Stefan's waist. "Keep them there."

He thrashed Stefan brutally. He allowed Stefan a moment or two to feel the burn of the leather in between his blows, but that was it. Stefan needed a hard and fast whipping and Damon was going to give it to him. This time, Stefan was not quiet; he cried out at each blow. Damon ignored him and focused on beating him. To Stefan's credit, he didn't beg Damon to stop. He didn't reach back to cover his buttocks or legs. He just stayed bent over while he was soundly thrashed. His eventual tears didn't move Damon. He just put his vampiric strength into each lick.

Damon wished he could see the welts he was doling out for more than a few seconds. He knew Stefan didn't feel himself healing between the blows, but it would be satisfying to see that his work was paying off. A well punished bottom decorated with welts and bruises would have eased Damon's anger at his baby brother's reckless stupidity. He'd just have to settle watching Stefan struggle to sit down for the next week or two.

It didn't take too long before Stefan cries became more urgent. He started to thrash under Damon's hold as the strap licked the curves of his ass and thighs. Damon responded by thrashing his upturned bottom even harder. Every single time Damon laid a lash on Stefan's well presented buttocks, he was reminded about why he had to spank his baby brother. It made him angrier, which made him stronger. It was easy to keep Stefan pinned and easier, still, to add more strength to his swing after each blow.

Damon took a certain amount of pleasure in smacking Stefan for his lip or if he got trouble in school. Spanking Stefan as part of his long-term plans to nix the ripper in the bud made him feel like was making some progress, as slow and frustrating as it could be. But there was nothing to enjoy about whipping Stefan within an inch of his life in order to keep him from making a mistake that could cost him his life.

Eventually, Stefan's tears stopped flowing and he fell still. And if Damon thought a single thrashing would rid him of all inclinations to put his life on the line needlessly, he would have stopped. But he knew his brother. It would take a lot of time and a lot of pain before he learned this lesson. So he continued to hit his brother until he started to feel strain on his arm. The last few minutes he concentrated on Stefan's lower bottom and upper thighs. He wanted those sensitive bits of skin to hurt the most and for the longest.

Although he was exhausted, Stefan whimpered softly at Damon's ruling.

Work done for the moment, Damon found the hook he'd drilled in the front of Stefan's large closet when he was at school the day before and attached the strap to it. Said strap and Stefan's backside were going to have a long and fruitful relationship together and Damon wanted Stefan to get to know his new best friend. There was no better way to do that than for Stefan to see it every morning while he got dressed.

Damon helped Stefan get up and carefully set him down on his stomach.

"Can I rub when I can move again?" Stefan asked. He'd turned his head to Damon. His eyes were unfocused and his voice was a little slurred.

Damon ran his fingers through Stefan's sweat soaked hair as he sat down next to him. "Sure thing, little brother."

Stefan's sweet smile made Damon's heart skip a beat or three. "Looking out for me, right?"

"For all of eternity," Damon promised.

Stefan blinked a few times. It seemed to take him a few minutes to get his mouth working again. His voice was soft and afraid when he asked, "No more misery?"

Damon did not like feeling guilt. He shoved it away. "I think we're both past that."

"Are you going to leave me again?"

Well. He tried to push away his guilt anyway. He forced a smile. "How can I spank your naughty little butt if I'm gone?"

Stefan didn't respond right away. "Your crows can tell you when I'm bad and then you can spank me and go away again." He pushed himself up and tried to grab at Damon's shirt. He ended up falling head first into Damon's lap instead. "I'll do anything if you stay."

Damon set a protective hand on the side of Stefan's face and helped him settle into a more comfortable position. "You're all I got, Stef. I'm not going anywhere."

"Wish you'd keep me on your knee," Stefan said before falling asleep.

It wasn't until the sun had started to set that Damon was able to find the strength to untangle himself from Stefan.