“Seriously, though. You have to give this a real shot. Promise?”
A tiny prickle of disquiet washed over Ian, but honestly? If Huds told him to jump off a bridge he’d probably have a good reason for it.
“Promise.”
Hudson took a deep breath, leveled him with a glare that said he was being weighed and measured, and then sat down on the edge of his twin bed and crooked a finger at Ian. “Then come here.”
* * *
Was this what it was like to feel hypnotized? There was something about the tone of Hudson’s voice and the way he held himself that didn’t leave any room for argument but also wasn’t menacing. Maybe it had something to do, too, with the way Ian so desperately wanted his roommate to be able to solve this problem. If Huds thought sticking his finger in an electrical socket would help, he’d do it. He’d do anything to not feel this way so often.
Ian let his feet close the gap between him and Hudson, only stopping when their knees almost touched. The proximity made something inside him quiver, an undercurrent of anticipation. Yeah, they’d wrestled and horsed around a million times but this felt different. Like they were standing on the precipice of…something.
All of a sudden Ian felt as though he had too many limbs, like he’d turned into an octopus and he didn’t know what to do with all of them. Why were arms so fucking awkward? He’d had arms his whole life and they’d always felt familiar but now they felt like things designed to make him ungainly. It was tempting to slouch and lean or hide but he had nothing to bolster himself against. Nothing except the guy in front of him who was gazing at him steadily.
“You made a promise, Ian, and I expect you to keep it.”
“Yeah,” he volunteered despite Huds not having asked him a question. Besides, he was good at keeping promises, whether it was wise or not. But Huds wouldn’t ask him for something that would get him in trouble, that would make him sorry. Just wasn’t in the big guy’s nature.
“I’m making a promise to you too. You can yell and fight all you want, and I promise I won’t stop.”
The shiver turned into a shudder that raced through Ian’s nervous system, quickening his breath, tightening his belly, making his hands clench by his sides.
“If you really need me to, you’ll say ‘mercy.’ Just like in grade school. Got it?”
“Got it. But I—”
The world suddenly turned upside down. Literally. He didn’t think of Huds as being fast. Strong like an ox, yeah, but oxen weren’t quick. When his friend had developed snakelike reflexes, he didn’t know and now his brain was too helter-skelter to care.
Hudson had somehow upended him over one of his boulder-like knees, trapped his legs between his tree-trunk thighs, and pinned his wrists at the small of his back. He’d been caught and nearly immobilized and what the hell was with that? Huds had said he could yell and fight—how was he supposed to fight like this?
Goddamn right he tried, kicking his feet and twisting his shoulders, arching his back and bucking his hips.
“Fuck,” he spat out, realizing he wasn’t going anywhere, not without Hud’s say so and what the hell? “What the fuck are you doing? You can’t—”
Whatever he thought Hudson couldn’t—or maybe wouldn’t—do was shattered by Hudson’s meaty palm connecting with his wriggling ass in a short, sharp slap. What the actual fuck?
* * *
Spanking Ian was a whole different ballgame than spanking girls.
First, Hudson didn’t usually spank girls over jeans. He usually started over underwear and then moved onto palm against bared flesh. Second, while a few of the girls had struggled—in fun—none of them had ever bucked like the bronco he currently had pinned over his knee. Christ, Ian was strong. Which he’d known but it was different to watch someone move furniture or lift in the gym than it was to have to try to contain that power. Hudson felt sweat gathering at his hairline, on the back of his neck, at the base of his spine, under his arms.
But for all the scrapping and hollering Ian was doing, he hadn’t asked for mercy. Not even when he’d been swearing up a blue streak, not when Hudson had reminded him it was an option. It was a good feeling, Ian keeping his promise, even though his roommate seemed rattled. And not a little angry.
Hudson didn’t think Ian was mad athim, though. For however much Ian was cursing and snarling, he hadn’t lashed out at him, Hudson, since he’d first asked what the fuck he was doing. Which was fair. Hudson still wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing, but it seemed to be doingsomething.
He paused, took the opportunity to swipe some sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt but didn’t let Ian up. Nah, they weren’t done yet. Unless of course Ian called mercy and then he’d listen. That’s the only way these things worked.
“Are you going to bolt if I let you up?”
Ian shook his head, his chest heaving against Hudson’s thigh.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
He wouldn’t take any chances though. Sure Ian could stand up but Hudson kept Ian’s legs pinned between his thighs and a grip on the waistband of Ian’s jeans.