“Discipline should be handled the same day of the incident, if not immediately after it. You made a mistake and realized it. We addressed the issue, and you fixed it. Nothing else is needed.”
Jasper didn’t bother to hide his suspicion. “Then why did you tell me to think of something?”
“I wanted to know how seriously you would consider your actions and the potential consequences. There’s no sense in setting expectations or boundaries if you don’t care about breaking them.” Adam had thoroughly taught him that lesson.
“I hope you understand that discipline and punishments aren’t there as traps for an excuse to hurt you,” Vincent added after a moment, and the way Jasper flinched and stared at his plate let him know he’d finally found the problem. He sighed softly, but he wasn’t sure what he could say to set Jasper at ease.
He picked up his coffee and drained the rest of it, then drummed his fingers against the side of the cup. “How about this,” he finally said into the silence. “If you want to add punishments, we can do that, and we’ll leave discipline off to revisit in six months.” Jasper nodded while staring at his place, and Vincent eyed him, wondering what he’d missed. “Jas, if something’s wrong, you need to tell me.”
“I’m sorry,” Jasper said in a rush, pushing his plate away and finally lifting his head. For some reason he looked guilty. “I said I trusted you, and I do, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t add—”
“Stop,” Vincent ordered, shoving down the sudden burst of annoyance and anger to figure them out later. Neither of those emotions were helpful or needed right then. “The contract has nothing to do with trust. It’s a guide, nothing more.”
Jasper didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t argue. Whatever was fueling this new misunderstanding, they’d need to get to the bottom of it soon, but studying for finals needed to take priority right now.
“I’ll finish up the contract while you study. When you need a break, why don’t we go get our tests taken care of?” When Jasper nodded,Vincent stood and tipped Jasper’s chin up, then leaned down for a quick kiss. “Still not angry, pet,” he said, relieved when the tension eased out of Jasper’s shoulders. He mentally added the phrase to his list and could only hope it wouldn’t always be needed.
He refilled his coffee and settled on the sofa, leaving the dining table to Jasper and his mess of textbooks. He pulled up the contract on his laptop to put in the last few changes. While the previous contract remained, with Jasper’s updated limits, the additions specifically included testing and that they be exclusive. His own request was for Jasper to be readily available outside of life responsibilities and previous obligations, and he’d provide the same in return. If they were going to move into a more explicit relationship, he’d likely start making more demands on Jasper’s time.
Ideally, he’d prefer Jasper to move in with him. Which brought him back to birthday gifts. He didn’t know Jasper’s tastes well enough to choose, so he pulled up some travel packages online for overseas and some domestic locations he’d enjoyed or wanted to visit. He printed them all out with the contract and then turned to work.
For the next few hours, Jasper studied at the table, and Vincent set up a couple job openings for a general manager, another floor manager, and another chef for the club. He’d already had to shuffle some schedules around when he realized he really wasn’t willing to give up all his weekends with Jasper, but he’d promised it wouldn’t be a permanent change. The club was steadily growing, and he needed more staff anyway if he wanted to start scheduling events.
And if he was going to give Jasper the attention and support he needed, he couldn’t sink eighty hours a week into the club anymore, even if he did enjoy the work.
He completely missed when Jasper brought him a fresh coffee an hour after they settled in. Between one absent sip and the next, it went from hot to lukewarm.
Jasper hadn’t said anything, and he’d been quiet enough Vincent hadn’t even noticed he’d moved from the table. Any doubts he had that Jasper might get overwhelmed with the lifestyle, or with adding service to his contract, faded almost completely. Sure there would be rough spots, but Jasper had proven several times now that he was a natural.
When Jasper finally joined him on the couch near noon, he curled into Vincent’s side and nuzzled into his neck. “You should take me out to lunch.”
“Should I?” Vincent replied, most of his attention on checking over the financial sheets his assistant had sent him.
“Definitely.” Jasper pulled back when Vincent didn’t respond immediately, glancing at the computer before settling next to him.
Vincent rewarded him with a hand on his thigh, squeezing lightly as he finished and sent back his approval. Then he closed his laptop and turned his attention to Jasper. “Break, then?” he asked, stealing a quick kiss when Jasper nodded.
It didn’t take them long to dress, and he snagged the contract from his office and set it on the kitchen island for when they returned.
The trip to the clinic was quick and uneventful, and they were back in the car less than an hour after arriving. Somewhere between arriving and leaving, though, Jasper had gone quiet.
Once they were on the road again, Jasper cleared his throat, a flush creeping up his neck. “So when the results come back, you want to stop using condoms?”
“I would like to, if that’s something you’re comfortable with.” When Jasper didn’t say anything further, Vincent glanced at him. “Do you want to keep using them no matter what?”
Jasper didn’t respond immediately, chewing on his bottom lip as he stared out the window.
The annoyance he’d felt earlier stirred, but he still hadn’t worked out what exactly was bothering him. Obviously Jasper needed better communication skills, but he was receptive and responsive enough when the right questions were asked.
“Jasper,” he said, keeping his tone neutral. He hadn’t wanted to broach the topic of Jasper’s father, but he needed to know exactly what he was dealing with, and he suspected Jasper’s need to please him stemmed from his home life. “Have you been punished for disagreeing with someone?” He watched Jasper from the corner of his eye. Saw how Jasper went rigid and his knuckles whitened as he gripped his jeans.
It was all the answer he really needed.
Anger spiked in his chest, and he forced out a slow breath, turning his attention back to the road. “I’m not going to be angry if you say no.Not using condoms can be a limit, same as anything else.” He paused and glanced at Jasper again, but he was still stiff and staring out the window.
“I appreciate that you want to please me, but not if it comes at the price of self-sacrifice.” After walking that path himself, even if it’d been for completely different reasons, he wasn’t about to let Jasper start down it.
It took until Vincent parked at the sushi restaurant Jasper wanted to eat at for Jasper to respond. “Isn’t all of this about self-sacrifice?” he asked softly.
