When You Break Your Curfew, You Deserve A Punishment
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“Almost every critical structure in Three Hills is embarrassingly easy to break into,” Ozzy told Daniel, as they walked back to the inn after very easily breaking into several critical structures in Three Hills. “They should have the best security in the country but honestly.”
“Yeah,” Daniel agreed. “Too many windows and doors. And they think walls mean nobody can get in.”
“The only buildings in this city that I’ve ever had to think twice about breaking into are the banks,” Ozzy sighed. “Which tells you everything you need to know about society.”
“Security costs money?” Daniel guessed.
“I was thinking something a little deeper than that,” Ozzy muttered, bumping Daniel’s shoulder. “Anyway, tomorrow night, okay?”
“Okay,” Daniel said, taking a breath. The third target Daniel had been given was the one Ozzy wanted him to go after first. “The night after might be better. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow night,” Ozzy repeated, in a tone he didn’t normally use.
Daniel nodded, thinking quietly about that tone as they turned a corner. He took a breath. “It’s weird. That they gave this job to me, right? I know you’re here, but it’s weird that my name is on the order. I’m new.”
“Mm,” Ozzy said, looking up. “The Dark Side knows what it’s doing.”
But the rest of them didn’t know what the guild’s secretive leadership was doing, including Ozzy. Daniel bit the inside of his cheek, still thinking. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I have a job and I’m going to do it.”
The sigh Ozzy let out was barely perceptible. “Of course you are. No Mooner has ever not done that.”
“Mm-hm,” said Daniel reading that subtext easily enough. “We don’t actually call ourselves Mooners, right?”
“I think we could get it to catch on!” Ozzy grinned. He looked around for a second, spotting some guys trying to move a carriage through the street. “Come on, let’s do it.”
“No.”
“Too late you already agreed,” Ozzy said, and he pulled Daniel up beside the carriage. He turned around and undid his pants with a speed that Daniel had never been able to match, and he was showing his bare ass to the driver before Daniel could even tell him to stop.
Well, it wasn’t like Daniel could leave him hanging, so of course he pulled his pants down too and stuck his ass out into the street. “I’m never sure why you think this is fun,” he admitted to Ozzy.
“That’s because you have no joy in your heart,” Ozzy explained.
The driver of the carriage started yelling at them, so Ozzy and Daniel pulled up their pants and ran away and, okay, it was a bit fun. It was always fun doing stupid shit with Ozzy. Even if Ozzy had started it to distract Daniel from important shit.
But they both had things they couldn’t talk about and that was just how their relationship worked.
When they got back to the inn, it was mostly empty. “Theodore’s probably asleep,” Ozzy said, voice teasing but quiet. “Marcus will have waited up for me. You should sleep with us tonight.”
“Why would I do that?” Daniel whispered, as they crept up the stairs. He and Marcus had talked a lot and things were easier now. But he still felt weird just going and sleeping with him. “When I can wake Theodore up?”
Ozzy rolled his eyes. “You know, you don’t have to go out of your way to make him mad all the time.”
“Sure I do,” said Daniel. “It’s the only way to remind him that he’s not in charge. Looks like Marcus went to sleep.”
There was no light on under Ozzy’s door, and he scowled at it. “He didn’t. He promised he wouldn’t.”
There was a light on under Daniel and Theodore’s door at the end of the hall, but Daniel waited while Ozzy opened his door, then stepped back out. “He’s not in there.”
Daniel pointed down the hall, and the two of them crept down together. He was glad he wasn’t the only one who wanted to listen at the door. Theodore’s voice was even quieter than usual, but there was also no ambient noise, so it wasn’t too hard to pick up. “And by diversifying where you’ve invested, even if one industry has a bad season you can ensure that you won’t face financial difficulty as a result.”
“So like, if I don’t just own a fishing boat but also a farm,” said Marcus.
“Exactly. It would be unlikely for both of those to fail in the same year unless a natural disaster struck, which is also why geographic range is important.”
The door wasn’t latched properly and Daniel wasn’t sure if it was him or Ozzy who leaned too hard against it, but it moved ajar just a little, and Theodore stopped talking. “Told you they’d eavesdrop,” Marcus said.
Well, now Daniel felt dumb. He pushed open the door, looking warily at Theodore and Marcus, who were sitting on some of the room’s low couches with a bunch of papers. “Why are you two still awake? It’s the middle of the night.”
“We were waiting for you, of course,” Theodore said, waving them inside. Ozzy shut the door behind Daniel, making sure it was shut. “You were out rather late.”
“I told you I’d be out late,” Daniel muttered, feeling weirdly bad about that. There was a bottle of wine on the table, mostly empty.
“No, you told me you were going out,” Theodore corrected. “I had to learn from Marcus that you weren’t planning to be back for half the night.”
It was barely even that late. “Whatever,” Daniel said, crossing his arms. “You know I work at night.”
“And you know I worry about you,” Theodore shot back.
Was he being fucking serious? But before Daniel could open his mouth, Ozzy said, “Sorry,” beside him. “I didn’t think we’d be out this late.”
Daniel looked at him incredulously, not sure how Ozzy could have betrayed him like that.
Marcus smiled, holding out a hand. “It’s okay, babe. Come here.” His cheeks were a bit ruddy.
Ozzy went and happily sat in Marcus’s lap, getting a hug. Daniel rolled his eyes.
“You could do to apologize as well, Daniel,” Theodore said, smiling hornily. How much had he drunk?
“Yeah, I’m super sorry,” Daniel promised. “Going to go to bed.”
Theodore took him by the wrist. “I don’t think so. If you’re going to be insincere, I shall have to punish you. Come here.”
“Let me go,” said Daniel, not resisting as Theodore pulled him onto the couch. Over his lap. “Really?”
Theodore undid Daniel’s pants with Ozzy speed and pushed them down to his ankles. “A short spanking shall serve to remind you which of us is the master here.”
“Hey, wait,” Ozzy protested, in a soft voice. “It wasn’t Daniel’s fault we were late.”
“I assure you, Ozzy, Daniel is—at the moment—a big boy and is fully capable of bearing responsibility for his own behaviour.”
Marcus kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, babe.”
“I’m worried. It was my fault, you should punish me instead.”
Marcus smirked, and didn’t Ozzy realize that was what he’d wanted? “How about we punish both of you, then? To be fair.”
Without waiting for Ozzy’s answer, Marcus put Ozzy over his own lap, stripping him of his pants too. Ozzy and Daniel were face to face and Ozzy was pouting as if he hadn’t fucking done this to himself.
“Since Ozzy has elected to bear some of your punishment, I shall only strike you fifteen times,” Theodore said. “You will keep count.”
And he spanked Daniel. “Ow,” Daniel said, out of sheer surprise.
“What was that?”
“I said ow, that hurts,” Daniel grumbled. Ozzy had counted to one.
“Let’s try again.” Theodore spanked him again. Ozzy counted to two. “One,” Daniel muttered, to get it over with. “Two,” he said, when the second one came.
“That is far better,” Theodore said, pausing as Marcus kept going on Ozzy. Then he started again, harder.
“Three,” Daniel said, watching Ozzy. He was still pouting, already at seven. “Four. Five.”
Theodore stroked Daniel’s asscheek for a second, his free hand touching Daniel’s hair. “You’re so very pretty, Daniel,” he said quietly.
“Just keep going.”
“If you insist.” He hit Daniel again. And again.
“Six. Seven. E-eight,” Daniel said, faltering at that one. “One. I mean nine. Ten.”
“Do you require a break?” Theodore asked. Marcus was already helping Ozzy back up into his lap, hand stroking Ozzy’s rock-hard dick now.
“No. Keep going,” Daniel repeated. “It’s fine.” It was fine. He could do this. He deserved it.
That thought made him gasp when the next hit came. “Eleven,” he said, shuddering. Where had that come from? “Twelve.” This was just Theodore playing a stupid, drunk game. Daniel wasn’t even into it.
He was really hard against Theodore’s leg. “Thirteen. Fourteen.”
Theodore paused again. This time he didn’t say anything, just watched Daniel shake. His heart pounded as he waited, waited, for what felt like such a long time, why was Theodore taking so long?
When it came, Daniel nearly shouted. “Fifteen!”
“There you are,” Theodore said, stroking Daniel’s back. He stood Daniel up, touched his face, his hair. “Doesn’t that feel better?”
Daniel looked away. Theodore’s hand felt nice. “My ass stings now,” he said quietly, the words not sounding right as he said them.
“I know. I don’t like having to hurt you. I’d prefer if I didn’t have to do it again.”
“Then don’t.” Daniel sighed. “I’m sorry I worried you.”
“I know you are.” His hand was still on Daniel’s face. “All is forgiven.”
And with his free hand, Theodore reached into his pocket and pulled out Daniel’s collar, which he held up. When Daniel nodded, he fastened it around Daniel’s neck. “Now, to bed with you.”
Daniel blinked. “You don’t…want to have sex?”
“Of course I do. But it’s late and you’ve expressed a desire to go to bed. So you’d best do that.”
“I…I’m not tired.” Did he sound like Ozzy? Daniel was pretty sure he sounded a bit like how Ozzy had sounded earlier. Ozzy himself had cum on his shirt and was panting against Marcus, letting Marcus kiss his neck.
Theodore sighed, running his thumb over Daniel’s lips. “What am I to do with you?” he asked. “Very well. If you’d like, you may kneel here and suck on me whilst Marcus and I conclude our discussion.”
That wasn’t what Daniel…it actually sounded kind of nice, to be honest. Just kneeling there being…good. Ozzy was already sliding out of Marcus’s lap and undoing his pants. Daniel could do that. He could be like that. Just for tonight.
So he got down on his knees, found Theodore already totally hard, of course. And he freed Theodore from his pants, hesitating for just one second to look up at him. Theodore smiled at him. Daniel smiled back and put Theodore in his mouth, sucking him down. “Now,” Theodore said to Marcus, as if nothing had happened. “Different types of venture require different types of investments…”
Theodore kept his hand on Daniel’s cheek until bedtime, and in that time, Daniel couldn’t think of anything in the world he wanted more.
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How Best to Use a Sword 