"He is not with a..." Bryce began.
"And Tyler"s mother says that he"s been beaten," Rose continued briskly.
"Beaten?" Bryce repeated, his jaw dropping. "He told you that?"
"He told his mother that. When I told you to discipline him, I didn"t mean to beat the c.r.a.p out of him, Commander."
"I a.s.sure you, Mr. Rose," Bryce began, "I did not..."
Jack Rose cut him off. "Our family has a reputation to uphold. I thought I made this clear."
"So, you actually wanted me to keep him in that room and...?"
Bryce"s temper was just about ready to explode.
"I thought that maybe if he was kept away from the vices for awhile, he"d..."
Bryce sighed deeply. "Mr. Rose, with all due respect," he began.
Rose shook his greying head. "Release him. I"m sure he"s learned his lesson. Release his vehicle as well, and don"t make me regret bringing you here, Commander."
Bryce bit his tongue. He never asked to come here in the first place.
"Also, I still expect you to keep an eye on him. If he misbehaves again, then bring him to the room."
And beat him? "And keep him there how long?" he said, instead.
"I will leave that to your discretion, Commander," he replied. "Oh and I guess I should warn you, my daughter-in-law is on her way to get Tyler, and she"s hopping mad."
"Joy," Bryce mouthed.
Jack Rose"s face disappeared.
Infuriated, Bryce barrelled down the hall toward his office.
When the door flew open, Tyler looked up from his chair, a curious little smile on his face. "Things not going as expected, Commander?" he mused.
"You told your mother I beat you?" he growled.
"I never told her such a thing," Tyler protested, but he wanted to laugh. He was enraged and d.a.m.n, he was even s.e.xier if that was possible.
"Well, you told her something because she"s on her way here and she"s on the warpath."
"Her bark is far worst than her bite," Tyler shook his head, giving the Commander a soft smile. "Besides, a big strong boy like you shouldn"t have to be afraid of a tiny little woman. She"s half your size."
That was met with a cold stare.
Tyler got up and handed him the clothes. "I guess I won"t be needing these. It"s a shame because I might have started a new fashion trend."
Bryce ignored the clothes and went to sit behind his desk. "You know, you think you"ve won, but you haven"t."
"I wasn"t aware that we were in compet.i.tion." He met his gaze.
The Commander folded his arms across his chest and regarded him with a look of pure contempt.
"Should I wait outside?" Tyler winced. He couldn"t help but enjoy himself a little bit.
"You wait right here. Mommy is coming," he sneered. "As you wish," Tyler shrugged, sitting down in the chair across from him.
The Commander didn"t say a word as they waited.
Tyler looked down at his hands.
When his phone rang, Bryce picked it up and said, "Yes, yes, alright, send her in."
He closed the connection and stood up as the door burst open.
The woman who stood there was no taller than five foot five. She was a very delicate little thing with dark curly hair like her son and large brown eyes. But for a woman that size, she had a big voice.
She walked immediately over to Tyler and grabbed him to her, checking him for bruises. Then she turned to Bryce who stood waiting for the a.s.sault to begin.
"Commander Donavan, I believe," she accused.
"Yes, Madame, I am Commander Donavan." He held out his hand.
She ignored it, clutching Tyler to her who laid his head on her shoulder, trying to hide the fact that he wanted to laugh. "Don"t you ever touch my boy again or I will make sure that you are demoted to Private Donavan. Is that clear?"
"Crystal," he said between clenched teeth. "But, Madame, I a.s.sure you that I did not lay a hand on your..."
he paused, "little boy."
Tyler raised his head at the word boy and gave Donovan a dirty look.
"My son doesn"t lie," she a.s.serted, turning on her heel. "Come on, Tyler, let"s get out of here," she said, pulling on his arm.
Tyler looked at Bryce and shrugged. He laid the clothes on the chair, and then followed his mother to the door. As an afterthought, he turned his head and blew him a little kiss, which caused Bryce Donavan to literally bristle with infuriation.
Tyler burst into laughter as soon as he was in the elevator.
His mother glanced over at him. "What is it, dear?"
"I"m just," he laughed again, "relieved to be out of there, Mother," he said.
She nodded. "He looks like a real big brute," she told him.
Again Tyler smiled. Umm, he thought, just the way I like them.
When Captain Smart came into the office a few minutes later, he could literally see the steam coming out of the Commander"s ears. "Sir?"
He sighed. "What?" he barked.
He flinched. "Did you want me to finish an intake on Tyler Rose?"
He stood up. "Don"t mention that name to me again," he snapped. "Forget the intake. And I want it on record if that a.s.s gets into trouble; I am to be notified immediately. No one is to touch him, except me. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir," he nodded. "Guess he really got under your skin," he murmured.
"Yes, and for some reason," he paused, "I have the feeling it has happened before."
"What do you mean?"
"Like...I don"t know. It"s strange. Never mind," he waved him out of the office.
After he had left, he leaned back in his chair. It was odd but he had the strangest sense of deja vu when he was in the office today. He was looking at him and this feeling of frustration felt so familiar. It was probably nothing.
He took a breath, than after a few seconds, he actually smiled. Tyler Rose thought that he had won. He was really enjoying himself at his expense today. But what he didn"t know was that Grandpa had given him permission to take him to that private room, and keep him there for as long as he wanted. Bryce Donavan started to laugh. Well, if that"s what the old man wanted, that"s what the old man would get, in spades!
AT YOUR MERCY
Ryan and Pete sat on either side of Tyler as he looked through the virtual reality catalogue at the s.e.xual Catering Industry. "That"s a great c.o.c.k," Ryan pointed to the screen as Tyler was prepared to pa.s.s it by.
"Too thin," Tyler shook his head.
"The one before it was thick," Pete chimed in.
"Too short," Tyler remarked absently.
The s.e.xual Catering Industry allowed you to handpick your s.e.xual partner, who would then materialize on the screen. By voicing a number of commands in a private booth, you could do anything you wanted to the imaginary lover. Unfortunately what they could do to you was limited.
For some reason, Tyler hadn"t told Ryan and Pete about Commander Donavan. He didn"t want to share him right now. And halfway through the process of choosing body parts, he realised that he was actually trying to recreate him. He was having some problems.
"What"s with you tonight?" Pete inquired. "Usually, you"re in and out by now. I"d rather go rent some wh.o.r.e boys at the Stimulation Club."
Tyler nodded. "Alright, let"s go. This is getting me nowhere." He looked at the woman sitting at the desk. "I might come back later," he said.
She nodded at him.
They walked down the main street of Ruby City. All three of them were dressed for cruising. Tyler wore a beige tank top with cut outs around the nipples. He had put on pants that exposed the cheeks of his b.u.t.tocks.
Evan Ryan had roughed his nipples.
Everywhere were large neon signs. Some of them were talking signs. One said, "h.e.l.lo Tyler, would you like to smell like a dream? Buy "What"s Happening Cologne" for men and leave them wanting more."
He laughed and pointed up at the face of the billboard which suddenly changed to reflect his own. He had tons of that stuff at home.
They turned onto Decadent Avenue where there were clubs for all tastes. There was one in particular which always caused him to stop and stare. It was called, "At Your Mercy." It was a club for people who liked to play submissive or dominant roles. He never had the guts to go in there but he had thought about it often.
He stood there for a little longer tonight. Ryan looked at him and laughed. "Not that place again!"
"Let"s try it, Ryan," Tyler appealed, looking over at Pete. "What about you?"
"I want to rent a wh.o.r.e boy," he said. "It"s rough in there."
"Ryan?" Tyler looked at him.
He shook his head. "I"m going with Pete. Are you really going in there, Tyler?"
Tyler nodded. "Yea, I am. I"ll meet you at Stimulation later."
Ryan and Pete watched as he crossed the street. He paused for a second, than pushed open the door.
It was well lit inside the lobby. A man sat there behind the desk, looking sleepy.
"Hi," Tyler said, not looking directly at him.
"h.e.l.lo. What you looking for?" he asked.
"Ah..." he paused. "I...I..."
"Well, spit it out," he grumbled.
"I would like to be..." he lowered his voice softly, "I would like to be dominated...I guess."