Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Kip
It didn’t take long for our boy to pass out between us.
He’d remained in his submissive headspace through dinner, seeming freer than Michelle and I had ever had the privilege of seeing him.
He’d fallen asleep with his head in Michelle’s lap, her fingers running through his hair, and I’d been wound around him, giving him the security I knew he needed.
He’d taken his punishment so well for it being his first time experiencing it. He’d been perfect. So fucking perfect. And I couldn’t wait to see him take Michelle’s punishment for his outbursts in the living room while Hudson and Kreed had been here before we took him apart.
“How much longer should we let him sleep?” Michelle whispered.
She’d woken not long after I did, both of our bodies on automatic clocks to wake around daybreak since we’d been doing it for years.
But our boy definitely needed some rest after everything he’d been going through and forcing himself to endure alone.
“Until he’s ready to be up,” I answered. “He needs rest. He deserves rest, and we can give that to him.” Didn’t help that I wanted to gift him the entire fucking world and couldn’t do that, but I could give him this, at the very least. It would have to be enough for me.
She nodded, her fingers moving to his hair like she couldn’t help but touch him.
I understood the feeling. I wanted to remain glued to his side.
Cut myself open and place him beneath my skin, if possible.
Just so I never had to part with him. But just as I had to with my wife, I settled for this.
Being his home. His safety. His comfort.
“I’m so glad we found him, baby,” Michelle whispered. “He’s the reason nothing ever worked with anyone else in the past. He was meant to be ours. Meant to belong to us and be our boy.”
“I know, tsuma,” I said gently. “I know it, too. I feel it.” Reaching over him, I cupped her cheek. She shut her eyes, pressing more into my touch. I stroked my thumb over her bottom lip. Fuck, she was so goddamn pretty. Just as perfect for me as he was for us. “And I think he realizes it, too.”
I lowered my arm to wrap it back around our boy.
“Do you think he feels like this is moving too fast? I don’t want to frighten him away, Kip.”
“It’s not,” our sleepy boy suddenly rasped, his voice still thick with sleep.
“Good morning, chibi,” I greeted, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. “Sleep well?”
He nodded. “Yes, Daddy.” Groaning, he rolled onto his back and gave a big stretch, his joints popping before he settled back between us. “I need to brush my teeth.”
I hummed and nuzzled his cheek. “Take your time. We’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done. Come find us.”
He nodded then sat up. I got out of bed first, and I watched as he slid off the mattress, his face twinging for a moment before he shifted a little, fighting a smile as if he liked that his ass was still smarting from his punishment the night before.
Michelle and I both watched him until he disappeared into the bathroom, his bare bottom still a little pink from my spanking.
It was truly a beautiful sight to behold.
Michelle stretched and yawned before getting out of bed, as well.
I cupped her cheek and leaned down, kissing her soft and slow.
She curved her body into mine, her hands coming up to rest on my ribcage.
When we parted, I took a moment to admire her beautiful face and her kiss-swollen lips before I stepped back, forcing us to part, no matter how much I didn’t want to.
“That’ll hold,” I rasped then turned on my heel and headed for the kitchen, so I could begin making breakfast for Michelle and Corvus.
Michelle joined me in the kitchen a couple of minutes later, wearing a pair of tight pink shorts and a black crop top, her hair tossed into a messy bun on the top of her head.
I ran my eyes over her, drinking her in, and just as I opened my mouth to tell her she looked good enough to eat, our boy waltzed into the room wearing a pair of my basketball shorts and one of my T-shirts.
The clothes were too big for him, but fuck, I loved how he looked in them.
“You two are out to kill me,” I muttered, my voice a mere rumble.
Michelle smacked my ass as she passed me to get to the fridge.
“What are we eating for breakfast?” she asked as she grabbed a bottle of orange juice.
“Egg sandwiches with bacon and cheese,” I told her. I frowned. What in the world was she doing? “You don’t drink orange juice.”
“It’s for Corvus.” I looked over my shoulder at our boy, who had taken a seat at the bar. After twisting off the lid and pouring it into a glass, she set the orange juice in front of him.
“Sit still,” she commanded then left the kitchen.
His brows furrowed. “I suddenly feel like I’m in trouble.”
“Did you do anything wrong this morning?” I asked him. When he shook his head, I dipped my chin. “Then relax, chibi. Michelle will never punish you for no reason, and she always talks about what’s bothering her. She’s very open. We both are.”
It was the only way to make a relationship with this kind of dynamic work.
I knew his feeling of always being cornered stemmed from all his trauma, but hopefully, with enough love from us and enough therapy—preferably with a trauma therapist—Corvus would heal and that part of him that was stuck in survival mode might finally rest and let him truly live.
Michelle made her way back into the kitchen just as I put the finishing touches on the breakfast sandwiches. She set a notebook and a pen in front of Corvus, and my lips twitched.
“Remember when I told you that you’d receive your punishment from me this morning?” she questioned.
He slowly nodded.
“Daddy prefers a more hands-on approach. This is my preferred method of punishment.” She tapped her index finger on the cover of the notebook. “This is yours. Once you finish your breakfast, you’ll sit here and write, ‘I will not lash out at Mommy and Daddy’ one hundred times.”
His jaw dropped, and he stared at her incredulously.
“Writing lines?” he asked like the mere idea was horrifying.
“Is that a problem, bub?” she asked, her voice gentle but firm. “I can definitely add to your punishment. Besides, I think you’ll actually like this.”
I set his breakfast beside his new notebook.
“Eat, bub,” she said. “Then, write your lines.”
He huffed, full of attitude.
“This is childish,” he muttered, pushing aside the notebook and grabbing his plate.
“It’s not,” I assured him. “Want to know a secret?”
He looked up at me expectantly. When I arched a brow at him, he flushed and said, “Yes, Daddy.”
“Kip makes me write lines when I’m acting out of sorts.
As a switch, it helps me reset my brain and calm down.
It’s a release. There’s something soothing about the rhythm of writing something over and over and over again.
It puts you into a trance-like state. So, I want you to try it for this punishment,” Michelle told him.
Corvus looked properly chastised. “Sorry, Mommy.”
She rounded the bar and cupped his cheek, leaning in to softly kiss him. “It’s okay, bub. You’re new to this, and you’re not sure what all of your limits are. But remember, you can safeword at any time, even during a punishment. Your safe words are not limited to just sex.”
“You can use them even if we’re grocery shopping to let us know you’re overwhelmed,” I told him. He blinked at me in surprise. I smiled softly. “Eat, chibi. You have lines to write.”
He eyed the notebook a bit distastefully but grunted and grabbed his sandwich. I bit into my own, still leaning against the kitchen counter as I watched him. He finished his food in record time, gulped down some orange juice, then reluctantly grabbed his notebook and pen and began to write.
And I got to watch as, just like Michelle, his shoulders relaxed and he fell into the rhythm of writing the same line over and over.