The next five or so days weren't fun. Aiden got a little better every day, and he got a lot more frustrated too. The withdrawals were soon over, but the habit remained. Even he would have admitted that he could be a very petulant little junkie boy if anyone had asked him, but they didn't. Nobody cared what he thought, what he wanted, what he said. Demands didn't work. Threats didn't work. Trying to leave just got him tossed into his room and left there for hours at a time as he raged, helpless as an animal in a cage.

For the most part though, they just ignored his bad behavior, his constant requests to go out, his stomping and even his shouting at times.

Aiden knew he was playing a bit of a dangerous game. He hadn't forgotten how Steve had whacked his ass, but Rob seemed to have Steve on a leash now, much to his pleasure and Aiden was pretty sure his butt was now off limits. It was one of the very few fun things he could do, taunting the great big muscled bodyguard only to have him snarl and snap but do nothing at all.

On the seventh day, Aiden showed them both what he was really made of. As usual, the argument started over him being able to leave the apartment or not. They said not. Actually, Rob said not. Steve was resting up a bit while Rob took his turn to play jailer.

“I'm going out.”

“No, you're not,” Rob said, barely bothering to look up from his newspaper. It wasn't fair at all. They got to go out. They both went out once a day. Only Aiden never got to leave, and that was really beginning to grate on his last nerve. The apartment wasn't that large and cabin fever was starting to set in bad. If he didn't get out soon, he was pretty sure he was going to go legit crazy.

“I'm not your fucking prisoner!”

Rob ignored him entirely.

Furious, Aiden started looking for some way to force his freedom. Fuck these guys. They had no right to do this. None at all. He was a free man, and this was kidnapping. If they weren't going to let him out of this place, then he was gong to fucking destroy this place.

He happened to have just finished his cereal. The bowl was right there, still with a bit of milk and a few stray flakes at the bottom. He grabbed it and threw it as hard as he could, smashing it against the kitchen wall with a satisfying shatter of ceramic and milk arcs.

Rob sat there, looking unimpressed as Steve came bolting in, gun drawn.

“What the hell is going on here?” He demanded at the top of his voice.

“Aiden's throwing a temper tantrum,” Rob said coldly.

Aiden smirked at them both. “I'm going to do a lot more too, if you don't let me do what I want to do.”

Steve looked at Rob. “Now? Please?” He sounded like a pitbull whining at the end of a chain.

Rob gave a little shrug. “Go ahead.”

Aiden's sense of triumph faded fast as Steve put the gun down and advanced on him with a very unpleasant smile on his face.

“No! Get your fucking hands off me!”

It was too late. Steve had him and was dragging him across to the couch. He pushed him over the back of it and Aiden heard his belt coming out of its loops. What the fuck was happening? Steve's big paw wrenched down the oversized jeans, leaving Aiden butt naked. And then the belt came down, a hard lash sweeping through the air before making harsh contact with the dead center of Aiden's cheeks.

“Spoiled little boy,” Steve growled. “This is what happens when you throw a fit.”

It hurt like fucking hell. More than the pain, was the pure shock. He was being held down and beaten. His ass was taking stroke after stroke of a leather belt that bit his soft skin and blasted sensation right through his body. There wasn't a single part of him that wasn't feeling Steve's discipline as the bodyguard lashed the belt through the air over and over, finding every soft sensitive un-thrashed part of Aiden's rear and marking it with searing hurt.

“Don't you dare break a single thing in this house,” Steve lectured, sounding like a disappointed father. “We're working to keep you safe. You follow our rules, you act with respect, and you absolutely do not dare destroy our possessions. Understand?”

Aiden would have replied in the affirmative, but he had started to cry almost immediately, an expression of helplessness and pain. The shock of being punished was too much for him and within a minute or two he was bawling like a baby, big tears running down his cheeks as that belt came down mercilessly at least a dozen more times.

When Steve was finally done he let Aiden go. Aiden slid down and collapsed snivelling onto the floor, one hand going back to cover his poor beaten ass. He expected cruel gloating and more lecturing, but was shocked when Steve scooped him up and carried him around to sit on the couch, his sore burning ass settled in the hard man's lap as muscled arms wrapped around him, holding him gently.

“It's over,” Steve murmured, his voice softer than before.

“It hurts,” Aiden whimpered.

“I know it does my boy,” Steve said softly, his big palm sliding down to rub Aiden's bare cheeks. His touch was caring and intimate, everything the belt hadn't been. Aiden didn't know what to do with himself as the tears threatened to overwhelm him again. He buried his face in Steve's neck, hiding from the world, and even from the man who was holding him.

Steve didn't seem to mind at all. He kept holding him, rubbing his sore butt, actually, for once, being nice. The sting started to settle after a while and though it and the ache didn't go away entirely, his butt didn't feel quite so bad. He started to become aware of other things, like how good Steve smelled, and how there was a ridge pressing against the outside of his thigh that wasn't from Steve’s pants.

Fuck. Was he turned on? Did Steve get off on beating him? It felt like it. Aiden felt his body responding, maybe not to the pain, but definitely to the physical proximity with a powerful, dominant man who was clearly primed to control. This was so unique to Aiden, he didn't know if he'd ever get used to it. Being with men was well within his range of experience, but usually other men submitted to him. Usually his confidence, wealth and determination to get what he wanted made him the top. But he had no chance against Steve. Not at all.

“You're going to go clean that mess up, aren't you,” Steve murmured, his full lips close to Aiden's ear.

“I guess.”

There was a tug at his hair, pulling his head back as he looked into Steve's eyes. “You guess?” Steve asked the question dangerously softly. Aiden felt his cock harden. Fuck. He was going to give it away. Steve was going to work out that he liked this and then... well he didn't know what then, but he didn't think it would be good for him.

“I mean, uhm... yes sir.”

“Good boy.”

Steve let him go, and Aiden hustled off to clean up after himself, his ass still burning beneath the denim.