Chapter 18 #3
“That’s okay,” Pope said. “I’ll explain.
Thank you for your honesty. I expect you to always tell me when you need me to clarify something.
In this case, it goes back to what we were discussing last night, about defining our roles in the relationship and what our expectations are.
As a caretaker, I get the same kind of pleasure out of seeing to your needs as you got out of the violet wand scene.
Pleasure isn’t always about release or sex; it’s what you feel in here. ”
He briefly took his hands off the husky to tap his chest.
“Even little things, like being able to fix supper for you or watching you learn something new, bring me joy and make me feel like I’m being a positive, nurturing influence in your lives.
What I expect is that you will come to me with your problems and concerns when you have them, so we can discuss them and work out solutions together.
I don’t expect you to hide things from me, especially if you’ve gotten hurt or in any sort of trouble.
I have rules that we will sit down and go over. ”
Ocean nodded, glad Pope would be giving them guidelines of what he expected of them.
“I don’t have many, but the ones I do have aren’t meant to be broken, or there will be consequences, which is also something we’ll talk about more when we go over them.
The bottom line here is that communication is essential.
I have no intention of curtailing your freedom or taking over your lives, but I do expect to know where you are and when you’ll be back so I’m not searching for you like Mark was, because I will be out there looking and putting more streaks of gray into my hair, which has enough as it is.
I expect you to answer texts promptly, tell the truth when I ask questions, and not keep secrets, even if you think I won’t like what I’ll hear.
The punishment will be far worse if you lie or hide things from me. ”
“Punishment, like spankings?” Roan asked, shrinking in on himself.
“If they are agreed upon,” Pope said. “I will never do anything to you that you don’t consent to, which is why we will break down the rules and the punishments that will be assigned if you break one.
Spankings do not have to be a part of that if you don’t want them to be.
Truth be told, I’ve never felt that they were the proper way of correcting behavior. I prefer more creative avenues.”
“Like what?” Ocean asked.
“Well, take Danger for example,” Pope said.
“He gets off on having his ass beat, so I prefer to keep spankings as something pleasurable. When he breaks rules, and trust me, it will happen from time to time; it’s inevitable.
We will talk about it first because there are exceptions to everything.
One night, I saw Danger’s bike somewhere he was expressly forbidden to be, for several reasons.
Now, I was pissed as hell when I went in there, but when I laid eyes on my pup coaxing one of our club brothers out of a shitty situation, everything changed.
He hadn’t gone in there to be defiant. His one mistake was that he didn’t reach out to me to let me know what was going on.
That’s the only part he was punished for. ”
“How did you punish him?” Roan asked.
Pope chuckled at that, and Ocean could tell that Roan was confused because punishments were supposed to be a bad thing.
“Went down to the market and bought a dozen fresh perch,” Pope explained.
“Sat him down at the table outside and made him clean all of them for me before I cooked them. He hates cleaning fish; he absolutely despises it, despite how much of it he can pack away. Bet you one thing, the next time something came up where he had to go against one of the rules I’d set, he let me know about it beforehand instead of waiting for me to catch him in the middle of it.
Punishments are meant to make you think twice before something bad happens to you. ”
Roan grimaced. “Fish guts are disgusting; I wouldn’t want to clean one either, let alone a dozen.”
Snickering, Ocean nudged his arm. “You shouldn’t have told him that.”
“Too late,” Pope replied. “Not that things remain a secret for long in households; they have a way of coming out, either in casual conversations or moments by the side of the river when you’re setting up a hibachi only to notice your partner with his nose scrunched, debating whether or not to stick his fingers in the cavity to rip the guts out.
My hair might have a few streaks of silver here and there, but there’s nothing wrong with my eyesight.
Now come on, let’s get these pups to a warmer spot. ”
As they left the bathroom, dogs happily trotting by their sides, Ocean couldn’t wait to hear what the rules were, though the punishments, regardless of what they turned out to be, were things he was going to do his best to avoid.
Not out of fear, because Pope’s words had immediately put him at ease, but out of a desire to please the men he hoped would someday come to love him.