The Photoshoot
Part Five
Val's eyes had gone wide with shock and he retreated a step,
petrified.
"Luke no! Please- you can't!"
"I can." Luke said mildly, "And I'm going to. What did you think this
was worth, Kitten? Same price as a few brat attacks with a bunch of
bananas and a toy monkey? Did you hear any of what we were talking
about?"
"Luke pleeeease-"
"Here, now." Luke interrupted. "And it doesn't stop with a paddling,
kiddo. You're in for a tough couple of days to clear this slate. I
told you. If you want to stick with me, that's your choice, but I'm
not going to be half as nice to you as Orion is."
Silence. Val looked at him, eyes already full of tears. This had gone
far enough. Luke pointed at the stone flags in front of him.
"Val. Now."
The tone moved Val before he was aware of it. He found himself in
Luke's reach, grasped and turned firmly over Luke's lap.
"Luuukkeee!" Val screeched, now totally beyond all conscious thought
of the future, only the paddle and his now vulnerable bottom in
perfect position for it in his mind. He kicked and squirmed for a few
minutes, getting nowhere fast.
Luke just held onto him, knowing exactly how frightened Val was. He
didn't say anything, just kept his vise like grip around him until he
had settled down, mostly from exhaustion. When Val was mostly still,
he yanked down the sweatpants and hung on again as Val renewed his
struggle.
"Luuuukkeeee! Nooooooo! Please, no! Val twisted, trying to see Luke's
face, trying to put his hand back to cover his bottom and not
succeeding at either task.
Luke took Val's arm and settled it into the small of his back and
steeled his nerves. He lifted the paddle up and brought it down
smartly across the tightly clenched bottom of his new young lover.
The sound was almost deafening in the early morning stillness. It was
followed almost instantly by a seriously shocked wail of pain from
Val. The paddle fell again, instantly coloring the milky white skin a
bright pink on the untouched parts, and darkening the pink where the
first swat of the paddle had landed.
Val could only jerk forward on the second hit, he was still trying to
gather breath in his lungs from the first swat. He had thought Luke's
hand was torture, but this was excruciating! The third swat of the
paddle brought another wail of pain from Val.
Luke took his time, moving firmly and with mathematical precision
down swat by swat until every inch of skin was one uniform colour and
Val was twisting frantically, voice rising in pitch. Luke paused
briefly at the end of his circuit, settled Val more securely in his
lap and began again, moving steadily inch by inch on the second
round. Each swat fell hard and accurately, snapping on bare skin with
a retort echoed in Val's cries and wails. He was long past sobbing
now, and beyond seriously struggling: between shock and pain he was
doing no more than the reflex kicking and wriggling he couldn't help,
none of the movement bringing him any relief from that horrible,
biting paddle. The third round was the worst. Val's usually milky
skin was scarlet by the time Luke rested his aching wrist,
laid the paddle down beside him on the bench and gently pulled Val up
to his feet.
The boy was crying hard, gingerly putting his hands behind him to try
to assuage the blaze. His eyes were still stunned: this was an
entirely new experience to Val and it was making a serious
impression. Luke pointed him at the kitchen.
"Inside. Find a corner, I'll talk to you in a minute."
Val hadn't the breath to talk but his look was nothing short of
imploring. Luke didn't soften.
"I told you, Quentin. We're only just getting started here. Kitchen."
Val gathered up his sweatpants from around his ankles and gingerly
walked into the kitchen. He could barely see through the tears in his
eyes, searching for an empty corner. He found one and settled
uncomfortably into in. He rested his head against the cool wood of
the wall, and cried hard for about 10 minutes, feeling absolute
sorrow for himself and the predicament he was in. His backside was
blazing, more so than he ever thought possible. He again tried to rub
it, but found it still too sore to touch.
Luke got up from the bench and walked again to the magnolia. He
imagined Val as that magnolia. A budding youngster, full of promise
and hope. Needing nurturing as the flower needed sun and rain.
Needing discipline as the flower needed stakes to guide it upwards.
Needing love, to open the petals wide, and allow the bloom to
prosper. He stood there enjoying the flower until he heard Val settle
down into hiccups of breath, the crying for now over. He headed into
the kitchen.
"I rang your father last night." Luke stepped over Val's prone body
and took the deep armchair beside the open fireplace. The cottage had
no central heating at night: besides which Val liked the smell and
sound of real logs burning in the hearth. He had been lying on his
stomach, full length on the hearthrug, not at all inclined to try
sitting. It was their second night at the farmhouse and while he was
calmer than on the previous night, he was not much more physically
comfortable. Val glanced up with apprehension, stretching to take the
mug Luke passed him.
"Why?"
"You and he need to talk."
"I think he said everything he wanted to say." Val said into his
coffee. Luke shook his head.
"Let me rephrase that. You owe him an explanation and an apology. And
then we both owe it to him to tell him about our relationship."
That part went over Val's head. Nerves already strung taut as piano
wires, the word 'apology' already had him on his feet, eyes blazing.
"I am NOT going to apologise to him for anything!"
Luke leaned over and put his mug down out of harm's way with a
decisive click. Val was too wound up to catch the implications.
"If you seriously think after what he said, I'm going to stand there
and tell him-"
"Val, he dropped everything and flew four hours out to that resort
for you, thinking you'd been raped."
"SO?" Val shoved dark hair out of his face. "You heard what he said
to me!"
Luke stood up quickly taking Val by surprise. He glared hard at Val.
"You WILL sit down NOW." He said firmly, pointing at the couch.
"HOW CAN -"
"One." Luke said, crossing his arms.
"Luuukkkeee, it-"
"Two."
Val grumbled mightily under his breath, but went over to the couch.
Instead of sitting down, he flopped face first onto the cushions.
Luke promptly took a vise like grip on Val's arm bringing him to his
feet and setting him back down on the couch.
"OW!" Val said, rubbing his arm, while wincing with pain as his still
sore bottom made contact with the seat cushion.
"I am sick and tired of you fighting me every time I tell you to do
something you don't want to do. It's going to stop, and right now. By
my count you've had three of your five spankings. I won't hesitate to
add any more if you keep up with this attitude. Is that clear young
man?"
Val looked miserably at the floor, knowing he was beat yet again.
"Yes, sir." He managed to say, without sounding too bratty.
"This weekend we are putting our relationship on the right track. And
that INCLUDES your father. QUIET!" Luke saw that Val was about to
speak again.
"Tomorrow after we take care of the morning business, we are driving
into London to meet with your father. You WILL offer a proper and
heartfelt apology for your behavior. You will then make it clear to
him that you are taking responsibility for your actions. Then we
shall tell him of us. YES, kitten, I'll not have our relationship
hidden from your father. And when we are finished, we'll be driving
directly back here."
"Aw Luuuuuuuuke, can't we see a movie or something while in London?
Shop? Please?"
"No, you're being punished. And if you put one foot wrong, give me or
anyone else one moment of trouble, I'll take those pants down and
wear you out no matter who is present, IS THAT CLEAR?"
Val folded his arms up in defiance, feeling like that was the only
thing he could do without getting punished. "Yeah-" Val heard rather
than saw Luke moving towards him and changed his answer. "Yes, sir."
"I think you have some lines to write before bed."
"It's still early!" Val said, his voice rising.
Luke grabbed Val's arm, jerked him upright and landed two quick swats
across Val's tender bottom.
"OW! Okay, okay, I'm going! I'm going." Val rubbed his bruised
backside and walked over to the desk where his paper and pen were
laying from the evening before. He pulled out the desk chair and very
gingerly sat down on the pillow he had left there. He picked up the
pen and thought very seriously of writing "fuck you Luke" on the
paper, but decided he'd better just go ahead with the task at hand.
He had a list of rules that were covered yesterday, and Luke was
making him rewrite the list 100 times each night before bed.
Luke shook his head at Quentin's back, wondering how in the world he
was going to rein in and tame the unbelievable amount of spunk from
that boy without killing him in the process. He returned to his
chair, lost in thought as his eyes were staring, unseeing at the
dancing flames of the fireplace.
The rules created on the sheet Val was transcribing were the result
of hours of talking, negotiating, Val arguing, Luke insisting. A few
of them had caused outright battles and coming yesterday on top of an
already emotional and tense day, it had not been easy. But Luke had
stuck to his guns and seen it through to the end, insisting they
talked it through until they reached clear agreement on each rule.
Val was not exactly thrilled with several
of them, but they were not easy ideas for him to accept- besides
which, Luke had the distinct feeling that while his immediate
response was indignation and defiance, on a deeper level there was
active relief. There were areas of Val's life out of his control and
he knew it, other areas where the security was far from unwanted.
Luke risked a glance at his young lover. Val was writing with his
brows drawn together and his lower lip stuck out, looking like a kid
doing hated homework. Luke doubted Val had done so much written work
since he left school, he certainly met it with no enthusiasm.
After the negotiating, they both knew the list by heart. And rule one
and two, the most resented and hated, were the ones Luke intended to
enforce rigidly for the next few months. No going out of sight
without permission. No going anywhere alone without permission. And
Luke had no intention of giving permission until Mr Quentin was
convinced that there were certain ways he could NOT behave in public.
Val slammed the pen down with a bang that made the desk rock. Luke
looked up sharply, prepared to get up and intervene if necessary. Val
was tired, Luke
was tired, but he was determined his job was to see this through if
it meant they battled non stop for the full four days and nights. Val
had begun to realise that yesterday afternoon when his immediate
penitence began to wear off and he realised Luke had no intention of
letting this matter go with a single paddling.
This time however Val caught his eye, stretching cramped fingers.
Luke waited. Eventually Val swore aloud, but picked up the pen and
went on writing, digging the nib deep into the paper. Luke got up and
went to stand behind him. Val's startlingly pretty handwriting
covered maybe half the paper, he was making heavy weather of this.
Luke dropped his hands gently on Val's neck, rubbing at the tension
there. Val arched against his touch but didn't look up.
"It would go easier Kitten, if you didn't write so hard."
"It would go easier if I didn't have to write it at all." Val
grumbled, still arching against the soft pressure of Luke's hands.
"Sorry love." Was all Luke had to say. He stood and rubbed for a few
minutes, then left Val alone to his writing.
Val finished up two hours later. The time stood at 9pm. He got up
slowly, stretching his legs and his back, sinewy as a cat.
"Finished kitten?"
"Finally."
"Up to bed then."
Val shot a look at Luke that could have dropped most men dead, but
Luke just
stared back silently until Val spun on his heel and headed upstairs
grumbling. Day 2 of the 4 days of hell was near to completion. Val
slid under the sheets and curled into a ball, his back to Luke should
he come to bed anytime soon. The first day WAS pure hell for Val. He
had two thorough paddlings with the rules being fought over in
between. Then he was forced to write the rules down 100 times before
an early bed. Today he ate breakfast, endured another paddling, then
had odds and ends around the house and property to do, followed by
the lines and another early bedtime. The pain wasn't as intense, but
as the reason for his punishment went further and further into the
past, he was having a harder time dealing with it. Tomorrow was going
to be another hard day. He didn't think Luke would back out of the
paddling after breakfast again, and then to follow that up
with a two hour car ride for apologies to his father seemed to be
more than he thought he could handle. As much as he didn't want to,
he couldn't help but cry himself to sleep.
Luke heard the sobs from downstairs. He closed up his book, stocked
the fireplace and closed the doors on it, and headed upstairs to
settle his young lover into peaceful dreams.
It was long past light when Luke pulled himself out of Val's arms and
shook him gently. It was bright beyond the drawn curtains, promising
another beautiful spring day. Ideal for walking in this area, but
they had other and less pleasant plans for the day. Val stirred and
reached after him, objecting to the loss of warmth. Luke pulled the
covers back.
"Get dressed. We want to be off the motorways before the rush hour
starts."
Val's eyes opened, wincing on the bright sunlight.
"What time is it?"
"Breakfast time." Luke pushed the curtains back and headed for the
ancient shower. He had to call Val down for breakfast half an hour
later, and although Val came down shaved and dressed, he was anything
but enthusiastic. Luke was half braced for another tantrum this
morning, locked doors and flat refusal, but Val seemed to be taking
refuge in silent misery which, had he realised, was a far more
effective weapon. Luke watched him pick at a piece of toast, not
without sympathy.
"Stop rearranging it and eat." he said firmly, pushing marmalade
towards Val. Val glanced automatically at the labels.
"Do you know how many calories is in that stuff?"
"You could do with putting some weight on. Eat."
"I can't." Val said subdued. Luke pushed the marmalade back to the
same place.
"You're going to have to. We're going to be in that car and on the
motorway on time, with you having eaten a decent breakfast, you might
as well understand that now."
There was enough authority in his voice. Val gave way and began to
spread the toast, although he sounded pitiful.
"I CAN'T talk to him, Luke. I can't."
"Yes you can, he's your father." Luke said gently. Val finished the
toast in silence, aware that Luke would not let him skip any of it.
He was beginning to long for these four days to be over, more
passionately than he'd ever wished for anything in his life. He got
slowly up to put the plate in the sink, rinsed it and turned to face
Luke, expecting it but still dreading it. Luke sound as matter of
fact as if he was asking for another mug of tea.
"Go and get it."
Val's stomach collapsed inside him. He moved, slowly, already near
tears to the drawer of the kitchen dresser, retrieved the paddle he
already loathed heart and soul, and took it back to Luke. Luke put
his own plates in the sink and got up, holding out a hand to Val. Val
trailed him into the sitting room. Tears had no effect on Luke. Val
wondered if throwing up or dropping dead would make any difference.
Luke sat on the edge of the battered sofa and pointed at the floor in
front of him.
"Remember where we're up to?"
There was no point in arguing it: they'd gone over and over this
ground. Val swallowed.
"Lying to the police. And to you."
"And to the hotel staff. And to Max. And to Orion. And to your
father." Luke completed grimly. "Not just an attempt to confuse or
mislead either. Outright lies."
Val had nothing left to say, no legs to stand on. "I'm sorry. I just
thought...." He trailed off miserably.
"No, kitten, that's the problem. You didn't think. Had you done that,
you would have realized how wrong any of that would have been. I am
so disappointed that you thought you couldn't rely on me. That you
had to lie to me. Purposely and with intent. Not a small white lie,
not a half truth, but a bold, outright lie."
Val stared holes into the floor, wanting the lecture over, but not
wanting the paddling to begin. He twisted his hands in his shirt
tail.
"I don't want you to EVER lie to me, or to anyone else for that
matter, ever again, do you understand me?"
"Yes....sir." Val said, with a large intake of breath at the end,
trying desperately to hold back the tears.
Luke realized how much of an incredibly hard time Val was having just
standing there. He was proud that there wasn't a tantrum going on. He
decided to just get it over with. "Pants down, now."
Val's stomach twisted in fear. The point of no return, reached much
quicker than he would have liked. He couldn't help it, and burst into
tears and fell to his knees, his head on Luke's lap. Sobbing the
entire time, he barely got the words out. "Luke... please...no... I've
learned...my lesson... really... it hurts too much... please...noooooo..."
Luke was having such a hard time of this as well. Without his anger
present, it was so much harder to feel good about punishing Val. He
knew Val was sorry. But he still felt the strong need to make sure
Val learned once and for all that this behavior was completely
unacceptable. He ruffled the hair on his lover's head, before
bringing the stern voice back. "Get up, and get the pants down, now."
Val continued crying into Luke's lap, not able to bring himself to
move.
Luke put the paddle down for a moment and bodily pulled Val over his
knees. He unbuttoned and then pushed the jeans and underwear down,
and tightly gripped Val's side before grabbing the paddle and
delivering spanking number four of five.
Val howled immediately as the first swat landed, kicking in vain.
Each day the sting was gone from the last one, but the aching muscle
pain was still present, and completely reawakened with the first swat.
Luke expertly worked the paddle around his moving target, trying to
ignore the cries that he was causing Val to unleash. The offense was
one of the most serious- as serious as the three previously dealt
with- and he couldn't in all conscience soften as the days went on.
Val wasn't just sobbing when Luke laid the paddle down: he was crying
so hard he was in serious danger of making himself sick. Luke picked
him up and held him, rocking, arms tight enough to control the
shuddering sobs until Val started to calm a little. Val struggled for
breath against him in turmoil, desperately wanting the comfort,
desperately wanting it from Luke more than anyone else, yet feeling
seriously hurt. And the underlying knowledge that it was no more than
he deserved, didn't help too much. Unsure of whether he wanted to
cling to Luke or bite him, he concentrated on stopping crying,
wondering just how many hours he'd spent of the seventy two so far in
tears.
"That's it." Luke said against his ear. "That's finished, that's
over. We forget about it."
Val shook his head, not ready to talk to him yet. Luke let him slide
from his lap and smoothed his hair out of his face.
"It's alright Kitten. That's the end of that one. This time tomorrow
morning it will be over. Now wash your face, we've got to make a move
or we'll be sitting on the M25 for hours."
The man was unbelievable. Did he seriously think it was possible just
to walk away from a spanking like that? Luke read Val's outrage and
shook his head.
"Turn the Disney eyes off and move, come on. You'll live, I promise
you."
Val stared into the bathroom mirror upstairs at his own red eyes and
white face. By now he knew there was little point in looking at his
backside. It was the same every morning. Brick red. Hot. Very sore to
the touch.
"Two minutes!" Luke shouted downstairs. "Come on Quentin, move it!"
"Gorilla." Val pulled his best face into the mirror and grabbed his
jacket off the banister. The atmosphere in the car resembled the
arctic circle. Luke ignored it, pushed a cassette into the player and
turned the music up, filling the icy space Val created between them.
At this hour in the morning the traffic moved smoothly. On the
outskirts of London, Luke glanced at his watch, glanced at Val and
pulled into a service station. Val gave him a flat glance over folded
arms.
"Why are we stopping?"
"Because I want a coffee and a word with you." Luke locked his own
door, came around and held Val's open. "Come on."
"I'm not thirsty and I don't want to go in."
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Get out."
Val stamped his foot in frustration. "Wh-"
"Stop it right now, unless you want to stand the rest of the day.
Out."
Val gingerly turned in the seat and slowly stood up. His backside was
so incredibly sore, and this gorilla was going to make him sit
inside? With his still red eyes? Unbelievable!
Luke took Val's hand and walked inside, looking for a quiet booth.
Val wasn't making things easy for Luke, dragging his feet and slowing
them down as much as he could.
Luke found a table. "What would you like to drink?"
"Bloody Mary?"
"Tomato juice it is. Sit, I'll go get it."
Before Val could tell Luke he didn't really want the juice, he was
gone. "Shit." He ever so gingerly tried to sit down on the hard
plastic of the booth seat. He couldn't do it. He got back up and took
his jacket off, folding it and placing that down, then carefully
putting weight on his backside until he was finally sitting. He
looked up to find two teenage
girls and their mother staring hard at him, and giggling behind their
hands. He silently cursed his bodyguard, saying things he could never
openly voice. Val looked quickly away, averting his face.
Luke returned a moment later with the drinks and sat down. "Looks
like you have some adoring fans over there." He whispered
conspiratorially.
The first words to Val's lips were quickly made silent "Fuck you
Luke" before he allowed his voice to be heard. "So what?"
Luke was taken aback. Val always thrived when adoring fans were
present.
"Val, are you feeling alright?"
Before Val could make his smart ass reply, both of the girls were
standing at his elbow.
"Val? Valentine Quentin? We are like your biggest fans!" The girls
were all wide eyed and giggling. "Can we have your autograph?
Please?" One girl held out a napkin and a pen, her eyes silently
pleading.
Val turned towards them, intent on telling them to take a hike when
he was kicked under the table. He plastered on his smile and took the
napkin and pen. He started to sign his name when the one girl spoke
again. "We saw you had trouble sitting. You're not, you're not hurt
are you?"
Val wanted to melt under the table.
Luke was about to bust his gut in silent laughter. He was careful not
to show Val that, but he was laughing so hard inside he could barely
control himself. How was Val going to work himself out of that one?
With aplomb of course. "Ah, so you saw that." Val batted his
eyelashes and put on a slightly embarrassed look with a crooked
smile. "No, I'm not hurt, but thank you so kindly for asking. I have
been on a short vacation to the coast and I got a little more sun in
places that usually don't see it than I needed to." He then finished
his autograph and returned the napkin and the pen to the girls,
complete with his million dollar smile.
The girls ran back to their table, giggling and out of breath.
When Val's gaze returned to Luke, the smile was gone, replaced with
another patented look to kill.
"Shut up, you're a bastard and I hate you."