Bringing Home Danny (45 page)

Danny slammed the door on his way out. He decided once and for all that he was moving in with Ethan. There was no way in hell he was going to wait another month and a half before he did
.

Part 3
 

Five in a Bed
 

Chapter One

Rising Tensions
 

“
Has anybody seen Danny? I've been trying to call him all...” TJ stopped himself when he saw Antonio talking quietly with their newest partner. “What's wrong with Ricky?” he asked.
 

“
Have a seat, TJ. We need to talk,” Mitch answered, from across the room.
 

“
What is it?”
 

“
Brendan is back in New York. Apparently he has been for several weeks now. He's been in contact with Ricky and Danny.” Mitch gave TJ a poignant stare before continuing. “You are
not
to go anywhere near him. If you see him, you are to call Antonio or me immediately.”
 

TJ ran over to Ricky in alarm. It had taken him weeks to be able to leave the house on his own after breaking up with Brendan. He hated the man for hurting Ricky.

“
Don't worry, Ricky, we'll take care of you," he promised, not willing to see his sweet, sensitive, partner being so timid again. "If Brendan comes anywhere near you, we'll kill him.”
 

“
Thank you, TJ. But it's Danny I'm worried about, not me.”
 

“
I don't understand. What does Brendan have to do with Danny?”
 

“
It seems the boy's going places he shouldn't be, and as a consequence, he's putting himself at risk,” Mitch informed him.
 

“
What do you mean?”
 

“
Brendan made some threats in regards to Danny. It appears he's been following him around,” Antonio clarified.
 

TJ didn't want to believe what he was hearing. “Why didn't Danny say anything?”

“
That's what we need to find out,” Mitch replied.
 

“
We're afraid Danny might not know who Brendan is if he sees him,” Antonio added.
 

“
What are we waiting for? Let's go find Brendan, and smash his head in!”
 

“
You are going to stay put and calm down,” Mitch said, with a strain in his voice.
 

“
Calm down!? How can you say that? We don't know where Danny is. That asshole could be with him right now!”
 

“
TJ, settle down. Danny should be home shortly. We'll speak to him when he gets in,” Mitch reiterated, with a slightly harsher tone.
 

“
That means, what? We're going to do nothing?!” TJ emphasized his dissatisfaction by kicking a wastebasket across the room.
 

“
Thomas James! Pull yourself together! And, clean up that mess before I take my belt to you!”
 

“
Sorry,” TJ mumbled. He was ashamed of his outburst, but his emotions were already frayed in regards to Danny, and he needed a target to vent his frustrations on.
 

“
Do you have any idea where Danny is?” Antonio was trying to refocus the conversation to be more productive.
 

“
No, I told you. I've been calling him all day, but he's not answering his phone,”
TJ answered sharply, while picking up the trash from his outburst.
 

“
Call, Ethan, he may know where Danny is,” Antonio suggested.
 

TJ ran upstairs to see if he could find Ethan's number. He quickly located the phone Danny left on his bed.

“
Danny's gone!” TJ yelled. He ran back down the stairs in a panic. “He took some of his things, but left his phone."
 

Mitch took Danny's phone from TJ, and hit the speed dial for Ethan.

“
Ethan, it's Mitch. Is Danny with you?”
 

There was a pause before Ethan answered. “He just left.”

“
Give me your address. I'll wait for him there.”
 

“
Hold on,” Ethan said, followed by another pause.
 

“
Hello.”
 

“
What's going on, Danny?”
 

“
I...”
 

“
I need you to come home.”
 

“
I'm not coming home. I'm staying with Ethan,” Danny said, with as much confidence as he could muster.
 

“
Not tonight. We have things we need to discuss.”
 

“
No, Mitch.” Danny couldn't stop the quiver in his voice. “I'm not coming back. I'm moving in with Ethan.”
 

There was a long silence. “When did you make that decision?” Mitch finally asked.

“
Today.”
 

“
Don't you think you should have discussed this with us first?”
 

“
Why? So you could tell me no?”
 

“
Danny, we don't have time for this...”
 

“
Danny, honey,” Antonio said, taking the phone from Mitch, “we have something serious to talk about. Please be a good boy, and come home like we asked.”
 

“
I'm sorry, Antonio, but I'm moving in with Ethan. If you want to tell me something, you can tell me over the phone.”
 

“
Danny...”
 

“
I mean it, Antonio, I'm staying here. You can't make me come home.”
 

“
Sweetheart, you have less than two months before you turn eighteen. Certainly things are not so bad you can't wait until then.”
 

 
“
I'm not changing my mind.” Danny felt like a heel, but there was no going back.
 

Mitch took the phone back from Antonio. He sat down to explain the situation with Brendan, and to question Danny about him. It didn't take Danny long to figure out whom Brendan was. He hesitated briefly before telling Mitch where he had seen him. Mitch made Danny promise to stay away from Brendan, and to call the minute he sees him. With a deep groan and a pinch to his nose, Mitch ended the call.

“
What? That's it? You're not going to go get him?” TJ was appalled at Mitch's reaction, or more accurately, his lack of one.
 

“
It's not that easy. Danny is almost eighteen. If he doesn't want to come home, there's not much I can do about it.”
 

“
What do you mean there's not much you can do? He's just a little twerp. Drag him home and spank his ass! What's hard about that?!”
 

“
TJ, it is not that simple...” Mitch said, biting back his natural inclination to reprimand his insolence with a smack to his backside. Spanking Ricky, and the news about Brendan and Danny, had taken an emotional toll on Mitch. He was not eager to have to discipline TJ.
 

Unfortunately, TJ was already wound tight over Danny, and he was emotionally charged by this new information. Therefore, he was incapable of appreciating Mitch's fatigue, or taking advantage of his leniency. Enraged he shouted, “Bullshit! You just don't care! If you don't go get him, I will!”

“
You
are not going anywhere,” Mitch said, through gritted teeth. Leaning forward in his chair he warned, “This is your last chance to calm down.”
 

“
No! I'm not going to calm down. Someone needs to do something. You're too scared to go after Brendan, and you don't give a shit if he hurts Danny!” he continued to rant.
 

Mitch flew from his seat. Antonio stood in front of TJ to block him. “Let me take care of this, Mitch, you're too angry.”

Mitch nodded and backed off. Antonio gripped TJ, spun him around, and smacked his backside hard. “I think you've said enough!” he admonished, as he took TJ by the hand and marched him to the office.

Mitch took a long deep breath, and held in his temper. As much as he wanted the opportunity to vent his anger and frustration as freely as TJ, he had a responsibility to his boys. Ricky had remained quiet during TJ's tirade. He did not have to say a word for Mitch to know what he was thinking. Mitch sat on the couch and pulled the tearful and shaken young man in his arms. “It's not your fault,” he told him. 

A Tension Releasing Spanking

"Sorry, Antonio, I was upset."

“
Danny's leaving is upsetting for
all
of us. That is no excuse for your behavior!”
 

“
I can't help it. I don't understand Mitch sometimes. How can he just stand there acting so cool and collected when Brendan is still out there?”
 

“
Because that's his role in this relationship. It's his job to remain cool in a crisis. It's not always easy, and your hot-headed temper isn't making it any easier.”
 

“
You're right, it's not Mitch's fault. It's Danny's. He makes me so angry!”
 

“
Stop it! This is not about Mitch or Danny. This is about you, and your difficulty in dealing with things that don't go your way. Your behavior was downright rude and selfish.”
 

TJ didn't have to be told he was wrong. He knew he was wrong the second the words escaped his mouth. His frustration with Danny had been building, and once he had an excuse to release it, there was no holding it back.

“
I'm sorry. I was wrong for what I said.”
 

“
It's a little late for apologies. Bare your bottom and bend over the chair.”
 

“
Yes, sir.”
 

Antonio offered no comfort in this spanking. TJ wasn't seeking comfort. He was venting his anger for anger's sake. Antonio was going to squelch that anger with a little venting of his own. He opened the side drawer of the desk, and took out the heavy wooden paddle.

“
You're going to count the first twenty out for me. We'll see if that doesn't help to get rid of some of your venom.”
 

TJ's sexy, tight bottom was displayed over the back of the chair in such a way that Antonio had to take a moment to clear his mind in order to deliver his punishment with severe and steady focus.

“
Raise your backside up." While placing a firm hand to his back, Antonio pressed TJ further against the chair.
 

TJ did as he was told, and grabbed a hold of the seat for support.

Whack! Antonio laid into him without warning.

“
Fuck!”
 

Whack!

“
Damn, Antonio, I wasn't ready!”
 

Whack! Whack! Whack!

The force of the swing from the paddle rocked TJ against the chair. He was left sporting dark red circles imprinted by the air holes on the paddle. Later in the day there would be faint purple markings.

“
Oh shit! I'm sorry!”
 

Antonio stabilized the chair and TJ to ask, “Are you ready to begin now?”

“
Yes!”
 

WHACK! WHACK!

“
Are you forgetting the basics already?”
 

TJ forced his voice from his throat. “No, sir. Sorry. I'm ready, sir.”

“
I'm glad to hear that. Now we can start.”
 

Whack!

“
One!” TJ shouted.
 

Whack!

“
Two,” he grunted
 

Whack!

“
Three,” TJ cried, trying to even out his voice.
 

Whack!

TJ screeched out a high pitched, “Four!”

The fifth whack lifted him on his toes. TJ breathed out heavy in response before he was able to continue his count. By the time they got to ten, his counting became higher pitched and softer.

“
I can't hear you,” Antonio said, encouraging TJ to yell out his numbers.
 

Whack!

“
SIXTEEN!” he screamed.
 

Antonio gave him a moment to catch his breath as TJ fought off his tears. They finished the count in rapid procession.

“
Seventeen! Eighteen! Nineteen!” TJ yelled out between whacks in pain and
anger.
 

WHACK!

“
Ttwwenty,” he finally cried in relief.
 

“
Still angry?”
 

“
No, sir,” TJ said meekly, hoping to sound repentant.
 

“
Then stand up and face me.”
 

TJ stood up wincing, and slowly turned around lowering his head in shame. His face was contorted with his mixed emotions. It was not a pretty sight, even for someone as gorgeous as TJ.

“
Oh, my dear boy,” Antonio cooed.
 

“
I'm scared, Antonio. I'm scared for Danny.”
 

“
And perhaps a little hurt?”
 

TJ nodded. “How can he be so thoughtless?”

“
He doesn't mean to be,” Antonio said, while wiping away his tears.
 

“
I'm so mad at him. Why can't he appreciate what we've done for him? Why doesn't he...” TJ couldn't finish.