The two friends raced through the night on their way to the party in Miami. It was the older one's birthday and it was to be celebrated the next day with his whole enormous family in attendance. After the brief visit, Rob and Jian-Michael were going to drive to New York to see the autumn leaves and spend some time getting to know each other better. They had some personal problems of late and were intent on getting their relationship back on track. Whether or not they stayed together as lovers seemed to be the focus of attention for their families and friends.
When they arrived well past midnight at Rob's parents home, they were greeted by his father, a tall white-haired version of Jian-Michael's better half. The elder man, know to all as 'Papa', was usually very happy to see the younger man his son lived with. Not so on that night. He was polite enough, but Jian-Michael noticed his coolness immediately and escaped to the guest room at the first opportunity.
The friends stayed in Rob's old room that was furnished with the same twin beds that he had slept in as a teenager. Then, he had shared the room with his older brother Ric. Unfortunately, during their recent troubles, Rob had confided in Ric and it seemed that somehow Papa had been informed of the difficulties the lovers were having. Obviously, Ric had been indiscreet and Jian-Michael fretted about how much of their personal life his lover's father knew. After tossing fitfully for a few hours, the young man crept out the back door to the family pool which was set like a jewel in the carefully tended lushly overgrown garden. Whenever he was distressed, he felt a physical need to be in water. It was the only way to calm him.
The pool light was turned off. When at the family compound, the lovers always followed the house rules. They slept in the same room but never touched each other out of respect for the parents wishes. When the pool light was out, it meant no swimming. Jian-Michael slipped off his Calvins and slid under the dark water, unable to be obedient that night. He swam silently back and forth, hardly seen except for taking rhythmic breaths like a small seal. Suddenly, a shadow blocked the only sliver of light coming from the moon. Papa stood at the deep end holding the underwear. The boy reluctantly emerged from the steps at the shallow end, prepared to bolt for the safety of the large hacienda style home.
"I want to talk to you.", Papa spoke commandingly after years of practice as a trial lawyer. He turned and walked to his potting shed hidden behind a large stand of palms at the edge of his property. There was no choice for the young man who followed naked and dripping, covering himself as best he could. The older man flicked on some eerie blue lights, shut the door behind the boy and deliberately set the briefs out of reach. He knew how to keep an advantage. Jian-Michael was uncomfortable to be kept like that, exposed, shaking with fear and embarrassment.
Papa scowled at him. "I've been told that you were unfaithful to Rob when you were away this summer. That means you've exposed him to disease. Is that true?" He continued, not giving the boy a chance to reply, but hitting him with all his points at once in a barrage of accusations. "I've also been told that you are pulling my son into an underworld of perversion, sado-masochism, bondage and God only knows what else!" His hand, large and callused from years of puttering in his garden, flew out and hit Jian-Michael's cheek hard enough to knock him against the wall.
The litany continued, partly in Spanish as the man got angrier and angrier. The young man stayed against the wall, nervously waiting for an opportunity to explain what was true and what was half-truth. After several minutes of the tirade, Papa demanded, "What do you have to say? Hurry up, I'm waiting for an explanation! How can you show your face at my door looking angelic and innocent when I know what kind of scum you are!!" Off he went again until the boy finally went to him and buried his face against the older man's chest. He was crying and speaking so brokenly that Papa had to be silent to hear what was being said.
Jian-Michael was sobbing, so hurt that the man who had treated him like a son would turn on him so viciously. "Poppy, you know all that can't be true! Would Rob want me at all if it was? You know your son! Ric has told you half-truths and a lot of speculation. Please listen to what really happened." The man did not push him away and as he listened to the truth, gradually his arms went around the boy.
When the young man was finished with the whole story, Papa shook his head in amazement at how different the two versions of their lives together were. He wondered at Rob's awakening interest in dressing his boy in chains and leather as well as his new habit of using a belt to control and discipline his partner. "So you like to be spanked?", he asked softly. "Do you understand that from what you've told me, Rob could be charged with assault?" Jian-Michael assured him that it would never get that far. They had talked about limits and each understood the importance of keeping to them. The older man seemed satisfied and the boy turned to leave the shed, emotionally exhausted and ready for bed.
"Not so fast.", Papa's voice boomed in the confined space. "There's still the matter of using the pool without permission. You don't follow rules very well, do you? I just better re-enforce your understanding that I am the boss here." He sat on the high stool next to the bench covered in clay pots of various sizes and motioned for the young man to come closer. Jian-Michael regretted his admission immediately as he was drawn across Papa's lap and secured with a strong arm around his waist. Oh _s_h_i_t_, the guy may be old but he was as strong as an ox, he thought as the first of several blows bounced off his still wet ass.
Later that day when the raucous birthday party started to die down, Jian-Michael went to Papa and politely extricated him from the group he was speaking to. The young man asked for his help in getting ready for bed. There was no one else he could ask, he explained to the puzzled man.
Once inside the bedroom, the boy stripped down to his briefs and produced a roll of ¼" red ribbon and a pair of scissors from his bag. Then he took out the stud earrings he wore and replaced them with tiny hoops. Papa sat on one bed watching him unravel four lengths of ribbon, two about four feet and two a little over six feet. The older man was completely baffled until he saw Jian-Michael thread the ends of one short and one long strand through the hoops in his right ear and tie them to the top ring with a neat bow. Then he did the same with two more strands, tying them to the rings in his left ear. Papa started to laugh as the image was becoming clearer to him.
"OK, I'll take it from here.", he chuckled. He took all four strands and threaded them through the ring in the boy's navel, then tied each of the shorter pieces of ribbon to each of his wrists. Jian-Michael was starting to look like a puppet. He then told Papa that he could handle the rest of the job himself, but he was blushing so much that his 'father-in-law' would not be put off until he saw the entire effect. The young man had very few secrets left anyway, so he turned his back and removed his briefs. His bottom still had a pink glow. He didn't turn around immediately but was doing something with the two long lengths of ribbon. Papa waited curiously. When Jian-Michael turned to face him, the older man was startled to see that the ribbon had been threaded through another small golden ring strategically placed through the 'monkey's collar'.
Papa was speechless until he could blurt out, "Did Rob make you get that done?" Jian-Michael assured him that he hadn't been pressured, but it had been on his son's wish list. It was a birthday gift, but it had only been done two days before and although it was a surprise, it was too tender to be touched. What better place to show it off than in the safety of the parental home. "So this is bondage, eh? Not exactly the image I had in mind." Papa leered as he tied the ends of the ribbon carefully around each of the young man's ankles. "This tantalizing of my son right under the protection of my roof, should not go unpunished young man.", Papa intoned like he was petitioning a judge. He was starting to enjoy their games and really getting into it. Jian-Michael smirked back, obviously flirting with him as he went to stand obediently beside the bed.
"Poppy, please don't spank me too hard, I'm still a little sore.", the boy was grinning in anticipation, knowing that his lover, who couldn't touch him, would approve of his father punishing his boy for being a tease. The elder man, smiling eagerly, sat on the bed and again drew the young man across his knees for a thorough spanking, staining his round little buns as red as the ribbons. (t. b.c.)