Page 10 of His for Hanukkah

Would Tate push him into awkwardly revealing all of the needy, dramatic impulses he’d been hiding? And could he handle it if he did?

Was Tate planning his punishment?

The final thought filled him with both eagerness and dread. What types of punishments would Tate enact? And would he be lucky enough to receive them? Tate had said later. Right? Right. Later meant it would happen. Or at least he hoped.

Tate’s strong hand gripped the back of his neck and literally shook him out of his spiraling anxiety. “Settle, boy. You’re coming back to my house and I’m going to take care of you. That’s all you need to worry about right now.”

Adam knew he should relax. It was what a good sub should do. But he couldn’t.

He tried doing the finger tapping-breathing thing, but he couldn’t focus. It would be so much easier if he could touch that little bumpy part of the dashboard. Well, no it wouldn’t. But his mind would think it was for a second.

Finally, the words burst out from behind his teeth. “How?”

Tate took advantage of a stop light to look over at him. “How what?”

“How are you going to take care of me?” Adam drew in a breath and reminded himself to be a grown up and communicate. “I really need to know.”

Tate’s expression went from worried to relieved. Fond, even. “You need to know what’s happening next in order to relax?”

Adam nodded miserably. It was just one more anxiety in the spiky ball of jitters that lived inside his chest.

But Tate seemed to be pleased. His voice was low and even. “You did a very good job of telling me, boy. I’m proud of you. When we get to my apartment, I’m going to give you a bath. I’ll stay with you while you soak, then wash you up.”

That sounded amazing to Adam, and he felt his tension start to melt away. It had barely been ten minutes since they left Escape and Tate already had a plan. A plan that Adam didn’t have to think about at all.

Tate calmly continued as he drove through the city. “I’m going to dress you in some comfy pajamas and then we’re going to eat some dinner that I order. You can decide whether you want to choose your own food or have me choose for you.”

Adam didn’t even need to decide. “You.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Tate sounded pleased and Adam grinned, knowing that he had made Da– made Tate happy. “We’re going to talk during dinner, and then we’re going to have some time to cuddle together on the couch. I’d suggest a movie, but I recall that you prefer to read.”

Adam nodded eagerly, his heart filling. It wasn’t just that he preferred reading to watching TV, but more that Tate had noticed and remembered that about him.

“After that, we’ll both sleep in my bed. Only sleep,” he emphasized, to Adam’s disappointment. “But I want you next to me.”

And that brought Adam’s spirits right back up. Sex and domination he could get at Escape, at least sometimes, but being bathed by Tate, sleeping in the same bed… that sounded intimate. That sounded like Daddy taking care of him.

Would this be what it was like having Tate as his Daddy all the time? Did he dare to wish for that? He settled into a haze of imagining that life. Coming home each night to have Daddy give him a bath and cuddle him on the couch while they read together. Daddy ordering his food and controlling his punishments.

He jerked up suddenly. “What about my punishment?” Then he covered his mouth. He hadn’t meant for that to come out at all.

Daddy, no, still Tate, laughed. “You thought I forgot your punishment?” Somehow, his voice conveyed both generous warmth and a delicious threat. How did he do that?

“No…” Adam drew out the word playfully and tried his best to look cute. Did Tate think he looked cute? And more importantly, would it get him out of his punishment?

Adam marveled for a moment that he equally wanted the certainty of his impending punishment and wanted to use everything in his arsenal to avoid it. What a strange and somewhat wonderful feeling.

Everyone else he’d ever been with had only “punished” him as part of a scene, but this seemed like something different. Like an actual punishment in response to his real-life horrible behavior, but also something exciting and special where Tate would take care of him. He craved it.

“I promise I won’t do it again. I don’t think you need to punish me.” Where the fuck were all these words coming from? Like, had his mouth completely disconnected from his brain? In his head, he had just talked himself into the punishment.

Tate chuckled again, with that delicious mix of humor and threat that sent shivers down his spine. “Boy, I absolutely do need to punish you. But you’re right that I left it out of the plan for tonight. I was going to see how you were doing and then decide whether to punish you tonight or tomorrow. I see now that it will be easier for you if we have a plan.”

“Yes, please.” Adam couldn’t hide his eagerness. Or the sense of comfort it gave him when Tate took all his weird questions in a stride and answered them in that soothing voice.

When Adam was feeling submissive, he tended to blurt things out. Jacob had gotten annoyed with him, but Tate seemed to be encouraging him. Like he actually appreciated knowing what was going on in Adam’s head.

It was slightly mystifying, but even when Adam acted out, it seemed to bring joy to Tate’s eyes.