Casual play didn’t encourage that kind of intimacy. He glanced over at Mason, who was working as a dungeon monitor tonight, and considered how the man had passed some time caring for the very sub servicing Ford. From what he’d heard, Mason had taken on the task because his heart had been broken.
Perhaps Raif could take on a sub to train because his heart was already taken.
“Coach—I mean, Sir?”
A familiar voice, the voice of a man-child with a face many compared to an angel—Raif smirked at that, fallen angel, maybe—brought his attention back to Ford’s scene. Tyler Vanek knelt at the very edge of the scene, his cheeks red, his head bowed. He still wore the jeans and T-shirt he’d left the locker room in. The hard set to his jaw was anything but submissive.
“ Vanek, go away.” Callahan didn’t even look at the boy. He made an irritated gesture in Tyler’s general direction before handing a short whip to Cort. “We’ve practiced this. You know how it feels. You’ve got good aim. Go for it.”
“Please, Sir.” Tyler slammed his fist into his thigh when Callahan continued to ignore him. “Coach, I need your help!”
“What the fuck, Vanek? I’m not your coach here.” Callahan moved away from Cort and wrapped his hand around Tyler’s arm, yanking him up to his feet. “I’m training someone. You know better than to interrupt.”
Tyler stared at the floor. “I know, but I really fucked up.”
“You’re fucking up now.”
“Just punish me. Please?” Tyler finally lifted his head. His shoulders dropped. “She won’t take me back until someone punishes me, and if it’s you—”
“What the hell are you taking about ?” Callahan pulled Tyler out of the sceneing area. Lowered his voice, but Raif still heard him because he’d stood and moved toward them without even realizing he was doing so. “You just got here. What did you do?”
The look Tyler gave Callahan was pitiful. He jabbed his teeth into his bottom lip. “See, you know I must have done something . Chicklet’s mad at me, and I know why, and I’ve got to make this right.”
“Whatever you did, boy, your Domme needs to punish you.” Callahan laughed, but, surpris ingly, it wasn’t a cruel laugh—more indulgent than anything. He patted Tyler’s arm. “You don’t want me to do it.”
“Yeah, I do. Because that’s my punishment. She told me to find someone since I think I need to be punished.”
Callahan blinked. “That don’t make no fucking sense.”
“Just do it! I’m begging you!” Tyler tried to drop to his knees again, but Callahan stopped him with a hand under his arm. And Tyler’s eyes went cold. “You owe me.”
“Do I?” Callahan’s tone sharpened. “How do you figure?”
“I let her go. I didn’t have to.” He shoved Callahan, which wasn’t very effective because the bigger man hardly moved. “I have to watch you hurt her here all the time. You like it and it makes me sick. Why don’t you hurt me? Because I’m not a woman and you can’t make me cry?”
Shit. Raif stepped forward, but didn’t reach them in time to stop Callahan from latching on to the front of Tyler’s shirt and lifting him right off his feet.
“You think I can’t make you cry?”
“Sloan!” Mason strode up to Callahan and grabbed his wrist. “Let him go.”
Callahan laughed as he released Tyler. “ We’re negotiating, Dominik. Don’t worry.”
“Negotiating what? Chicklet would have told me if he was sceneing with someone else.” Mason put his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, pulling him back closer to where Raif stood. “You’re angry, Sloan. Walk it off or get the fuck out.”
“He was asked to find someone to punish him. By his Mistress.” Callahan bared his teeth. “And I’m fucking tempted to do it.”
And Raif could tell by the way Tyler smirked at their coach that he’d keep pushing until he was taken in hand or shown the door himself. He caught Tyler with an arm around his throat before
Learning to Kill: Stories