“No, you said you were going to knot my mouth, hurt my nipples, and play with my hole. You never said you were going to tie me up.”
Carver furrowed his brow. “I’m sorry. Are you upset?”
“Yes,” Peter said, biting his lip. “No? I don’t know. It wasn’t what we discussed. And you didn’t say you were going to leave the hood on for hours and hours. I feel all funny.”
Then, to Tex’s horror, Peter started to cry. Carver, rather than be surprised, just went with it, gathering Peter in his arms and sitting down on the couch and pulling him onto his lap.
“You tied him up without talking to him about it?” Tex asked, just to be sure. It wouldn’t be like Carver at all to do something like that without permission.
“I thought we’d talked about it,” Carver said, stroking Peter’s hair. Peter stopped crying, pressing his face into Carver’s neck and breathing deeply.
“Obviously not,” Tex commented.
“I’m sorry,” Carver said, rubbing Peter’s back.
“It’s okay,” Peter finally mumbled, face still pressed into Carver’s neck. “I had fun; it was just a little scary.”
“Good boy,” Carver said, kissing the top of his head.
Tex frowned, not at all happy with how Peter and Carver were glossing over what was clearly a massive violation of Peter’s limits.
Then he wondered if he was a hypocrite. Tex had been all for bulldozing past Peter’s limits when it came to physical touch and initiating sex when they first got him, and now he was struggling to see how this was any different.
Maybe he was just an asshole, Tex mused. He hadn’t cared about Peter’s limits when he was a stranger, but now that he liked and cared about him, he suddenly gave a shit.
Except, back then, Tex had been driven by a deep fear that Carver’s ruts were going to kill him. Bulldozing past Peter’s limits had all been in service of Carver’s well-being—not just his own sexual gratification.
Tex might have been an asshole, but not as much of an asshole as Carver had been tonight.
It was surprising. Usually, Carver was the one with the functioning moral compass.
They sat like that for a few minutes, only for Peter to open his mouth in a massive yawn.
“We should go to bed,” Tex said, standing up. He reached down and took Peter from Carver’s lap, holding him against his chest only for Peter to whimper at the contact.
“His nipples are probably sore,” Carver said, not an ounce of regret in his voice.
Tex shifted his grip, putting Peter into a bridal carry and taking him to the bathroom. He set him down in front of the sink and handed him his toothbrush, standing behind him as they both lethargically brushed their teeth.
Peter watched Tex in the mirror, eyes tracking his every move, and Tex wondered what he was thinking.
“Are you mad at Carver?” Peter asked, spitting and rinsing his mouth.
“A little,” Tex said, leaning over Peter and spitting, cupping his hands under the faucet and rinsing his mouth. “He can’t just do whatever he wants. It’s not healthy for either of you.”
“Do you think I should be mad?” Peter asked, taking off his shirt. The sight of his nipples sent chills down Tex’s back, and not the good kind. He looked like he’d been mauled.
“I don’t think it’s my job to tell you how to feel,” Tex said, even though the answer was yes.
“I liked it,” Peter said, like a confession. Tex rubbed his shoulders.
“That’s good,” he said, uncomfortable. Looking at Peter’s nipples, he was at a loss. He didn’t understand how there could be pleasure in something so viciously brutal.
“Oh, look at you,” Carver said, coming into the bathroom. He stripped off his dress shirt, tossing it in the laundry bin and coming up to stand next to Tex, behind Peter. He reached down and flicked Peter’s tenderized nipple, drawing a hiss from the younger man. “I worked you good.”
Peter blushed, and Tex could smell the arousal coming off him.
“I’m going to bed,” Tex declared, upset and feeling left out. He left the bathroom without waiting for a reply, climbing under the covers and resting his head on his pillow. A minute later, Peter climbed into the bed next to him, burrowing in under his chin and pushing his thigh between Tex’s legs.
