Summary: Damon and Grant meet Severus Snape for the first time and all kinds of sparks fly.
Warnings: BDSM, Violence, Language, Rough sex, sexual situations, drug use.
AN: This is set in 1993, which would be Harry Potter’s second year in the summer time. This is an extremely long fic and will have to be posted in a couple of entries. I will connect them all together, but here is the first bit.
Free Bird Part 3
Grant wound a lock around one finger and thought for a moment before he spoke. "What exactly would you like to know?” He asked as he eyed the tall man on the sofa and wriggled around a little more on his cushion until he was sitting cross legged. He was not used to being around another Dom without Damon present and whether the younger man was aware of it or not, he was a powerful Dom.
Severus leaned forward. "I basically know nothing about it. Start wherever."
“Well you have the Dominant or Top and the submissive or bottom in each relationship. The Dominant can be either male or female, sex doesn't matter, the same for the submissive. The whole thing is based on trust." Grant stopped for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck. He'd never really explained his lifestyle choice to anyone that hadn't heard of it. Maybe he'd be better off to ask what Severus did know. "What do you know? I mean, what have you heard of or seen in movies and the like? Whips, chains, bondage, and all that?"
A light flared in Severus' dark eyes. He licked his lips. "I knew about the top and bottoms, but the rest of it. I didn't realize that was part of it." He leaned back. "It's played up a bit in the theatre, but the basic element of trust I understand."
Grant nodded, "Pain can be part of how couples play. It isn't for everyone and there are many that never make it part of their lifestyle at all. You also have those that are sadists and masochists and they use a set of rules they design to suit themselves and their situation to bring themselves to the greatest heights of satisfaction that they can. If pain or other types of play is used, the couples will normally have a safe word agreed on beforehand for the submissive to use if things get too intense." He paused and sipped at his tea and poured Severus another drink. "Other couples use servitude as a way to show submission to the Dominant, ummm... I’m afraid I'm really not explaining this well."
Severus eyed the drink and then went ahead and sipped the scotch. "No you are doing just fine I think. Please continue."
Grant lowered his eyes unconciously and looked at his hands. "I do better if someone asks me questions I can answer Mr. Snape."
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why do you keep calling me Mr. Snape when I asked you to refer to me as Severus?"
Grant swallowed and wondered at the best way to answer the question without leaving him exposed. "I've always addressed a Dominant that I am not overly familiar with by Mister or Ma'am. It is simply a way I show respect, I do not mean to offend you and to be honest, I've done so for so many years now it's old hat." He gave the younger man a half smile and continued. "And yes, I do better if I am answering questions." Severus stared at him. "You consider me a Dominant?" He asked quietly. He had been the Deatheaters bottom boy for so long and then Albus' virtual spy slave that it had never occurred to him that he had Dominant tendencies. He shrugged. "Nothing will ever come of it so don't prostrate yourself before a fallen man."
"You reek of dominance, it crawls over my skin like electricity." Grant said with a shrug. "Does it bother you? Am I offending you?" He watched the younger man curiously and wondered what he was thinking.
Snape knocked back the scotch. "No. In fact it is an intriguing prospect." He looked at the scotch and then back at Grant. "I am sorry about that didn't realize it was there."
Grant leaned forward and poured him another drink and then sat back. "I don't understand what you are apologizing for."
Severus chuckled. "Are you trying to get me intoxicated, Mr. Wolffe? One would have to wonder since you are plying me with very fine scotch." He sipped the liquor. "What kind of Doctor are you anyway?"
"I'm a physc doctor, people pay me obscene amounts of money to listen to why their parents are the root of all their problems." he said with a chuckle as he straightened his legs back out and stood up to go get another glass of tea. "And if you are going to get shit-faced Mr. Snape, do it on the good stuff." he laughed as he headed into the kitchen.
Severus spat out the scotch. "Bloody Hell!" He coughed as the liquor burned his nose and tears sprang to his eyes.
Grant immediately spun around with a dish towel and was on his knees wiping at Severus' face and hands as he took the glass and set it on the coffee table. "Are you alright Mr. Snape? Can I get anything for you?" he asked worriedly as he began to pat the man's shirt and shorts dry. He wondered if he'd said something or if he'd just had something go down the wrong pipe.
Severus began to fight off the other man's attentions. "I am fine. Stop touching me."
"My apologies Mr. Snape, I was only trying to help." Grant said as he rose to his feet gracefully and went back into the kitchen to get his tea. Once in the kitchen, he tossed the soiled towel in the laundry room and took a deep breath before he went back into the darkened living room. Settling back into his seat, he gave the man a glance as he set he glass down. "May I get anything for you?"
"No, Thank you." Severus eyed Grant again. "I am sorry once again." He deliberately screwed the top back on the Glenlivet and pushed the glass out of reach.
"Did I say or do something wrong Mr. Snape?" Grant asked as he watched him push his glass away. "Did my profession give you a start, perhaps?"
Severus sneered. "No one takes a stroll through my mind, Mr. Wolffe."
“I wasn't taking a stroll through your mind Mr. Snape." Grant said affronted by the idea that he would abuse his profession in that manner.
"I never said you had. However I recognize the slow manipulation of myself. An offer of friendship, plying me with good food and liquor, flattery..." Severus waved his hand around indicating he could go on. Then pinned Grant with a look. "Sex. I have seen it all before and I am a little wiser this time and can resist the temptation."
Grant looked at him open mouthed. "What in the hell are you babbling about? Why would I want to manipulate you? Haven't you ever heard of simple hospitality?" His voice rose in angry indignation as he got angrier thinking about what the other man was insinuating. "You think I was offering my ass to you? Offering it to you in order to find out why you pissed your pants today?" he nearly screeched as he stood over the sitting man, not caring how loud he was getting.
Severus stood and towered over the smaller man. His anger got the best of him. "If the shoes fits, Mr. Wolffe." He leaned down and got in the man's face. "I have already been warned off your tight arse by your Master and if you think I am stupid enough to trigger his anger again then you are less intelligent than I first thought."
“Warned off my tight arse? What in the hell are you talking about you paranoid freak?" Grant yelped as he poked his finger into the taller man's chest. It had happened, his temper had gotten the best of him and he was past caring about the consequences, it dawned on him that Severus had called him stupid, so he drew back his hand and slapped him across the face with a look of absolute vindictive glee on his tanned face. "Try respecting your elders, you little whelp!"
Severus grabbed the man's hand after it connected with his cheek. His dark eyes went dead and he stared down at Grant. "Mr. Wolffe, you have just made a grave error in judgement."
Grant sucked his breath in and looked up at the taller man and tried to pull his hand away, whimpering as he felt the other man's hand tightening more. "Please..." he whispered.
Severus' eyes sparked as the sound of pain escaped Grant. He reached out and captured the other hand. He raised the man off the floor. "Please what Mr. Wolffe?"
"You're hurting me." Grant said trying to stay calm, but another whimper escaped his throat as his feet left the floor. He was afraid. This was what he'd been edgy about.
Snape smiled a malevolent smile. "But did I hear you say not just a few hours ago that you like it to hurt? Let me see if I can't remember it correctly. 'Make me cry Sir, make it hurt.' " He sneered at the man and adjusted his hold on him. He cocked his head and blinked. "Are you frightened now, Mr. Wolffe. Is this creepy enough for you?" Severus ' voice had gone low and dangerous, sensuous with desire and reeking of pain promised and pleasure denied.
Grant struggled futilely in the younger man's grasp, his eyes wide, wild and rolling, he had to get away. "Let me go please..." he begged as he found himself caught like a fish on a trotline. He kicked out with one bare foot and caught the other man low on his thigh, hoping he'd drop him so he could run for the bedroom. "Please..." he sobbed as Severus slammed him into the wall for the little stunt.
Severus felt the kick and it barely registered. He was gone. To a place he hadn't been to in a long while. A place he had promised himself he would never ever visit again. He could almost feel the white mask slide over his face and his wand hand thrummed and itched to take up the ebony wood. He clicked his tongue. "Now is that any way to play with another." He head cocked the other way and he looked at Grant. "Please? You beg so prettily and your cries are like a balm to my aching soul." He licked up Grant's face tasting the tears.
Gasping for breath, his eyes wide in terror, Grant did the only thing he could think of. He opened his mouth and screamed. "MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Severus leaned his head back and laughed. "Scream, scream all you want." His voice was nearly hysterical as if he were fighting for control and he laughed again as tears began to course down his cheeks. "Your Master can't save what there is nothing left."
"Why are you doing this?" Grant sobbed as he looked frantically at the doorway, praying for his husband to show up soon. "What do you want from me?"
Severus laughed again. "This is what I am Mr. Wolffe. You wanted to know why I am the way I am so here it is." The tears continued to roll down his cheeks. "Orion Snape, Sirius Black, James Potter, T... tom R...riddle, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape." He took a deep breath. "They all had a hand in making the monster you see before you. I am just fulfilling a destiny that I was manipulated into."
Damon woke to Grant's frightened scream. He jumped from the bed and raced to the living room. The sight that greeted him curled his toes and made his gut clinch. Power rolled off the other man; he was slammed with the force of it. "Snape." He called. "SNAPE!" He bellowed at the other man.
"Your husband wished an answer to his question Mr. Wolffe, I am providing it." Severus said as he shook himself and dropped the smaller man to the floor. He turned to looked at the man in the doorway, forgetting about Grant. "My apologies for waking you."
Grant lay on the floor dazed and looking at his husband as he listened to Snape speak. Merlin, the man was borderline psychotic. "Damon, I'm....I'm alright." he said as he got to his feet and made his way warily around Snape who was still standing as if he'd done nothing more but spill tea at a garden party.
Damon held out his hand to Grant and looked at Snape. He pulled the smaller man behind him. "What happened?"
Severus swayed and groaned then crashed to the floor in a heap.
Grant looked wide eyed at the man on the floor and then at his husband and then threw his arms around Damon, clinging to him tightly. "I was so afraid, he just flipped out."
Damon wrapped his arms round the trembling man. "I felt it. But how and why? What set him off this time?" He had seen things like this from war veterans but this boy was young; almost too young to have been in anything like Vietnam. The recent scrimmages in The Persian Gulf came to mind but if Snape had anything to do with that he wouldn't have been able to come to America. "What the hell is going on Grant?"
"He mentioned someone with his own last name and earlier he mentioned his father, Damon..." Grant said as he looked down at the man. He was getting an idea of what set him off. "Oh Sir...I think I know....oh no..."
Damon looked at him. "What, man? Don't just stand there gawking at him." Damon looked down at Snape. "I am ready to call the law and have him hauled off our farm."
“He asked me what kind of doctor I am and when I told him, I made the joke I usually do about people paying me money about telling me about how their parents are the cause of all their troubles. That's when it started, and I got angry and stood up to him and slapped his face." Grant said softly. "Oh Damon, I did this." he said sadly. "Don't call the sheriff, okay?"
Damon blinked. "Grant, the man had you twisting in the wind and you want him..." He shook his head. "How is that your fault? Why don't you want me to call the sheriff?" He looked back at Snape. "I should be calling the fucking National Guard." He muttered.
"You were right today. He needs something or someone, Damon. I know I should be getting you your service revolver and loading it for you." Grant snorted as he shook his head. "but he's so damned lost. He could've broke my neck, but he didn't, he could've raped me, but he didn't. I think he wants help, but he doesn't know how to ask for it." Grant said as he pulled away from his husband and squatted down next to the younger man and gently stroked his face. "He reminds me of you when you came home from Korea."
Damon stared at his husband. "You are insane, Grant. If he's that bad we need to put him down." He started for their bedroom.
"Damon! What are you doing?" Grant cried as he hopped up and went after him.
Damon turned and looked at Grant. He cupped his mate’s face. "Grant, the only thing that saved me was you and I nearly lost you because I brought a stranger into our home." He looked into the other man's eyes. "It's unforgivable and it has to be taken care of." He kissed Grant softly. "Call the cops while I get my gun."
Grant looked at him horrified. "Why am I calling the cops, Sir?" he asked in a small voice as he watched his husband.
"Because there is a rogue wizard in this town and we need all the help we can get." He reached into the closet and pulled down a small metal box. He rubbed his finger across the magical lock and it snapped open at his touch; instantly reading his signature. He pulled the service pistol from the container and grabbed the box of bullets sitting on the shelf. He loaded the gun and then chambered a round.
"You're going to kill him, aren't you?"
"No, just make sure he won't hurt you again."
“I don't think he will Damon. Please, give me a chance, okay?" Grant plead softly, he didn't want to see the young man in their living room reduced to human meat.
"Dammit Grant. Think with your head and not your heart for once." Damon grabbed Grant's shoulders and shook him. "He had you strung up and it didn't even look like he had put out any effort for it. Think of it like an animal because that's what he is. What do you do to a rabid dog, Grant? A lame horse?" He searched the other man's face. "A cow infected with Anthrax?"
"There's a very scared little boy in there Damon." Grant said quietly as he squared his shoulders and turned and went back into the living room where he found Severus stirring.
Severus groaned and looked up as Grant came back into the room. He scrambled to his hands and knees and backed away from the advancing men.
Damon followed behind his sub and he saw Snape back pedalling away from Grant. He raised the revolver. "Don't move, Snape."
Grant turned and glared at Damon before he gave his attention back to Severus. "Are you okay Sev? Did you hurt yourself when you fell?" he asked gently as he moved forward slowly and squatted down a few feet in front of the man. "I'm not going to hurt you, no one in here is going to hurt you." He turned and looked at Damon once more and shooed him away before turning back to Severus.
"Grant, get away from him." Damon's voice gave no room for argument. He cocked the hammer back.
Severus looked from the gun to Grant and back at Damon. The man's earlier words ran through his mind. This was it; the death he had been longing for and handed to him so easily. He swallowed and looked at Grant again.
The temper Grant was famous for reared up in the smaller man, he turned and looked at Damon. "If you fire that piece, you will have to fire through me. Sir." He turned back to Severus and held his hand out to him.
"Come on, let's go and I'll take a look at the cut over your eye. I don't think it needs stitches, but it does need seeing to." he inched forward with his hand held out and a look of calm compassion on his face. "No one is going to hurt you, Severus." Damon crumbled and dropped his arm. He turned his back on his husband.
Severus slapped Grant's hand. "Why did you stop him?" he cried out. "Do it Wolffe. Shoot me. I deserve it. If it wasn't one wolf's hand that I die by then it should be another."
Damon whirled at the sound of smacking flesh. He automatically raised the gun again.
Grant threw himself in front of Severus. "NO! It was only my hand Damon, only my hand, I'm okay." he cried as he watched Damon's finger tighten on the trigger.
He pushed Severus to the ground and covered him with his own body. "Snape, no one deserves to be shot like a dog, so stop provoking him dammit." he muttered as he raised up after a moment. He shook his head tiredly, reached behind him and found his discarded glass of scotch and drained it. He was getting too old for this shit.
Damon gawked at Grant and lowered his arm. He stared at his lover. "Why?" He whispered softly.
Severus slumped and began to shake. He curled in on himself. Silent sobs racked his body.
Grant looked up at his husband and reached a hand up to him. "He needs us Damon, he needs us." He pulled his husband down to sit on the coffee table and laid his head on his thigh. "I'm sorry I defied you, but I knew I was safe."
Grant reached one hand out and stroked it through the greasy black hair of Severus Snape and patted his shoulder gently.
Damon stared at his husband and the crumpled form on the floor. "Grant, I don't know about this." He stroked his hand through the Indian's long hair and as it always had it calmed him to do so. "I have seen veterans in worse shellshock but this is highly irregular. Have you ever dealt with an extreme case of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome?" He eyed Snape again. "Cause that's what this looks like to me as well as severe abuse by someone." He met Grant's eyes. "I don't remember being this bad."
"In some ways you were worse Damon. Severus didn't really hurt me, he just scared me." Grant murmured and left the rest unsaid. When Damon had come home from Korea after being a prisoner of war for several months, he hadn't been right. The trials the two had gone through had been long and hard and there had been a few times the younger man had thought about walking away. "I've treated some of the boys that have come home from Iraq Damon, and some of the Vietnam Vets." He turned and pressed another kiss to the inside of the man's knee. Leaning towards Snape once more, he pulled him closer to his lap and resumed stroking his hair while he gathered strength from his quiet Dom. There was just something about this stranger.
Snape gasped and struggled against Grant's hold on him. Damon's voice stopped his thrashing.
Damon sighed. His husband was right even if he wouldn't admit it aloud. He bent to kiss Grant's head and placed his hand over his sub's. "Calm down, son. Let him help you."
"Severus, you are safe, no one is going to hurt you." Grant said soothingly as he stroked the younger man's hair. "Did you hurt yourself when you fell, other than that cut? I want you to look up at me so I can see it." he instructed quietly but firmly. He nudged Damon with his elbow. "Would you get the first aid kit, honey? He's got a nasty cut." Grant continued to move his hands slowly over Severus' shoulders, noticing with a sinking feeling, the ridges of scar tissue he was feeling under the thin cotton shirt. "Come on boy, turn over for me." He urged gently.
Damon slowly stood and left the room with quiet steps as if he were trying not to spook a wild animal.
"Stop touching me and I will let you treat my face." Severus told him softly. He sat up and looked wearily at Grant. His entire body froze when Damon re-entered the room.
Grant pulled his hands away and looked at the younger man warily. "Thank you Damon." he said as he took the kit from his husband and heard the older man sit back down behind him. "Lean forward so I can see better Severus, I'm old and my eyes aren't as good as yours." he said with a smile as he opened the kit and removed a few pads of gauze and began to carefully wipe away the dripping blood so he could see the wound.
"Don't worry about Damon, he isn't going to harm you, but he isn't going to leave either. Now tip your head back a little so I can wash this out." he instructed as he got to his knees and leaned over the taller man and tipped the small bottle of sterile water over the cut, daubing it dry as it ran close to his eyes and hairline.
Damon tried not to glare at the other man but couldn't help it. In his mind's eye he kept seeing Grant held up against the wall with Snape's hands on him. He swallowed and watched Grant give aid to the other man. He placed his hand on Grant's shoulder.
Severus bent his head like Grant asked and tried not to flinch away from the gentle fingers. His eyes however never left the former Marine's face.
The Lakhota sighed to himself, this was worse than two tom cats in a box. The younger man acted as though no one had ever showed him a kindness without there being a blow behind it and Damon was acting like he was waiting for a reason to rip the boy's head off of his body. He let his hands press gently over the younger man's face and skull as he checked for other damages, since he already had him still.
"Do you hurt anywhere else, Severus?" he asked quietly as he moved his hands from the other man's head and simply picked up one of his hands and began to look for a scraped palm or elbow, the same as one would with a small child. He didn't even realize he was doing it himself, he normally wouldn't do this with anyone else, but there was something...
Severus resisted the urge to jerk his arm away from the other man for fear of setting the older of the two off. "No. Sir."
Damon grunted. He moved his hand to stroke over Grant's hair and smirked at Snape.
Grant closed his eyes and pursed his lips before blowing his breath out slowly and counting to ten. Opening his eyes, he got to his feet and pulled Snape up after him. "Come on to the kitchen with me. I'll make us something to drink and we can talk a bit since someone won't make coffee for us." He took Severus' hand and began to lead him from the living room, noticing for the first time that angry purple and black bruises were rising on his wrists. He sighed inwardly, hating that he was going to have to wear long sleeved shirts to work until they healed.
"I'm alright Damon, don't have a fit. He isn't going to hurt me." he said softly as he stopped for a moment and spoke softly to his husband before leading Severus to the kitchen table and sitting him in one of the chairs.
Would you like milk, coffee, tea, iced tea, or what Severus?" he asked as he pulled a ceramic cookie jar to him, opening it and taking out a good number of homemade cookies to put on a plate. He heard his husband shuffle to the doorway and hoped that the man would stop glaring daggers at the younger man. He understood why Damon was doing what he was doing, but it wasn't helping anything. Snape already knew he was a dead man if he sneezed wrong. "Why haven't you called the Au.." Severus stopped and cleared his throat. "Tea please. Black if you have it."
Damon eyed the other man. "Snape, my husband is a lot of things and I have learned to listen to him. It is by his grace alone that I have not toted you off to the local authorities." He stood up to make the kettle for his husband. "Grant, what can I make for you?" He turned his back on the two men at the table.
"I'll have a glass of milk please, Damon" Grant said as he brought take the cookies to the table. He eyed the two men warily and wondered if he would have to step between them again, he really hoped that their male posturing was over tonight. He sat down at his customary chair and pushed the plates towards Severus. "Here have one. You are thin as a rail, I intend to see some weight on you before you go back to Scotland."
Grant listened to his husband in the kitchen, and smiled at the comforting sounds. "Severus... what happened?"
"I think I have already told you that my wicked ways are not up for discussion." Severus held up a hand to forestall the protest he knew was coming. "I cannot tell you what is wrong with me for it is not something that can be told in the general public."
Damon's voice was muffled through the refrigerator door. "Well you had better come up with something boy, the man asked you a question."
The Lakota looked at Severus and sighed, the boy didn't understand. "We aren't here to judge you, Severus. Does the fact I'm a psychiatrist bother you?" he asked quietly. He thought to himself that was a big part of the problem, the young man was afraid of people getting to know him. "I don't think you're a bad person Severus. You may have made bad choices and you've may have done bad things, but I don't think you're inherently bad. Whoever has told you that you are bad or wicked is wrong." Grant said gently as he reached over and patted the young man's hand. "There is a good soul in there."
Severus scowled. "You wouldn't say that if I could tell you the things I have done." He jerked his hand away from the other man. "I asked you not to touch me."
Grant looked up at Damon and smiled and he looked back to Severus. "I've heard many many horrible things from people, things they've done and things done to them. And I have yet to find someone who did not have a good soul." He took the cup of tea from Damon and set it in front of Severus. "What do you take in your tea?" He asked one breath and with the next. "How did you get the scars on your shoulder? Did you receive them as a child?"
Damon set Grant's milk on the table and watched as Snape pulled the tea closer. He blew the steam off the top of the cup and sipped the hot liquid delicately. He grinned, ferally. "How is it, Severus? Fixed to your liking?"
Damon patted Grant's shoulder. "Give him a few minutes, Grant. Don't bombard the man with questions after an episode like that."
Grant looked at him curiously and sat back in his chair with a sigh, "I'm sorry Severus, I shouldn't have pestered you like that." He sipped at his milk and nibbled on a cookie and gave their houseguest time to collect his thoughts. "Sit down Damon, and bring me some more me milk please?"
Damon patted his shoulder again and set the bottle of milk in front of him. "Here, Pet." He looked over at Snape then at his wristwatch. "How you doing over there, Severus?"
Severus blinked. The world appeared to slow in front of him as if it was underwater. He lifted the tea to his nose and sniffed. He hadn't noticed the garlicky odour before but now it was strong to his overly sensitive smeller. "You drugged me." He slurred.
"That's right." Damon said. "Thiopental Sodium. You being a Chemistry Professor should know what that is. But since you might be a bit hazy let me explain it to you in another way. Sodium Pentothal is commonly used as a supposed truth serum but all it really does is lower your inhibitions and makes you more talkative."
Grant was stunned as he looked at his husband. "Sir...how could you do that?"
Damon looked down at his husband. "Grant, I read your thesis. After all it was about me." He cleared his throat. "I quote 'Psychiatrists as a part of narcotherapy also use Sodium Pentothal. This drug produces the state of full relaxation and makes patients more susceptible to suggestion, allowing the psychiatrists to uncover the repressed feelings or memories. ' " Damon looked over at Severus. "You said he needed help Grant."
"Dammit Damon, that is with the patient's consent." He snapped at his husband. He looked worriedly at the man sitting across from him at the table. "Severus, are you alright? Do you feel ill? Tell me if you need to vomit and I'll fetch Damon's boots for you to puke in." he said wryly as he took the offending cup of tea from the young man's hands. "Get him some water Damon."
"No. Question him or give him a suggestion. I didn't overdose him. Remember I took a tumble with him. I know exactly how much he weighs and gave it to him accordingly." Damon leaned forward. "Isn't that right there, Severus?" He got closer to the man and whispered in his ear. "You know I could have given you something worse but this won't make you go into any of those fits. Now will it, Professor?"
Severus trembled as the voice of Damon Wolffe whispered into his ear. "Ask." he whispered.
Grant sighed and leaned forward. "What gave you the scars I felt on your shoulders, Severus?
Severus fought off the urge to open his mouth and spill his guts. He had been trained against Veritaserum and this was similar but he didn't feel compelled to tell the truth just to talk. He could control his tongue somewhat so he gave a literal answer. "A man's leather belt, a Whomping willow switch, a straight razor strap." He looked at Damon. "A bullwhip."
Grant digested the information for a moment before he spoke again. "Your father did this to you?"
"No, Orion Snape did. He was only the semen donor." Severus slapped his hand over his mouth and glared at Damon.
Grant glared at Damon as well as he reached forward and gently took Severus' hand away from his mouth. "Are you afraid of me?"
"Not really." Severus' eyes flicked to Damon. "Not you either. Although the urge to beat the shite out of you is there."
Damon nodded. "Bring it on Limey Boy, when you think you are man enough. As long as you leave my husband alone we will get along just fine."
Grant whirled around and glared at Damon. "Knock it off Damon, just stop it. You said to help, yet you want to act like a bigger ass." He turned back in his chair and looked at Severus. "Were you going to hurt me earlier or just scare me?" he rubbed his forehead, the scotch he'd drank was giving him a horrible headache.
Damon narrowed his eyes at Grant. "He started it." It sounded just as childish as it was meant. Damon turned and grabbed the Tylenol off the shelf and slammed it on the table in front of Grant. "Serves you right for imbibing when you know you can't handle it."
"I wanted to hurt you. I would have if he hadn't came along, I think. You made interesting sounds." Severus said softly. "I want to do that alot. Hurt someone." He hung his head. "It's exciting and wrong at the same time but I want it."
"Who cares who started it, I'm ending it old man." Grant snapped as he opened the bottle and shook four of the tablets out and swallowed them with a swallow of milk.
He listened to what Severus had said and shivered. He had to ask a question, but he didn't want to, he was afraid of the answer he would get. "Do we need to worry about you trying to hurt one of us again?"
He looked at his husband and took his hand, this answer would decide what they would do with the young man. He would not defy Damon again.
Severus hung his head. "I don't know." He looked up at them again. "I can't always control the flashbacks."
"Do you know what seems to trigger them?" he asked as he placed his hand back over the long fingered one on the table.
Severus pulled his hand away. "Different things." He looked away from the pair.
Grant glanced up at his husband and at his nod continued. "Different things like what Severus?"
Severus mumbled and a wild look came into his eyes. "I'm not supposed to talk about things like this." He gripped the table hard with his hands, knuckles white with tension.
Grant watched his reaction and backed off. "Okay Severus, that's not a problem. What colour are you thinking about painting your Harley when you're done? Will you have much opportunity to ride it once you are back in Scotland?" He watched the younger man carefully and put a reassuring hand over his husband's and glanced up at the older man. He was ready to jump out of the way if Severus became unruly.
Damon tensed as Severus shook the table. "Snape!"
Severus' head shot up and stared at Damon. His eyes were clear and his face pulled into a snarl. "You are a bastard, you know that?" He looked at Grant. "And you are too good a soul to hear the things I have to say anymore."
Grant stood up and took his husband by the arm, leading him out of the kitchen. Once in the living room he turned to him and said. "I cannot get anywhere with him if you insist on antagonizing him every step of the way. I know why you are acting like you are, I know the you are worried he's going to hurt me. I don't think he will, but he isn't going to talk to me as long as you are standing over me glowering at him."
Grant raised his hand and pressed his over his husband's mouth as he started to protest. "Husband please, trust me. I've seen worse. I've lived with worse and you know that." The smaller man wrapped his arms wrapped his husband and pressed against him, sighing softly. "I need you to stay in here please. If he sounds like he's getting out of control then come the rescue me and I won't say a word about calling the law." He looked up into his husband's blue eyes and gave a gentle smile. "I'll be okay." He left Damon sitting on the sofa and went back into the kitchen.
"Okay Severus, it's only you and I and we are going to talk." He said as he poured the younger man a glass of cold water and set it down in front of him before setting back down at the table himself. "Damon might be a bastard but he does care about me enough not to let you hurt me. You are going to answer my questions Severus."
Severus crossed his arms in front of him. "Why?"
Damon stood and moved to the kitchen door and glared at the man from the crack in the door. Grant was going to get it once he calmed down. "Because he said so, you asshole."
Grant pointed his finger at the door. "Go!" And promptly ignored his husband. He looked at Severus and sighed. "Because for some reason there is something about you that is keeping me from shooting you myself and I want to know what it is." He picked up his glass of milk and tipped up to his lips. "Why are you being such a common fuck? I really don't think it's who you are."
"I never claimed to be anything and I really don't give a bloody fuck what you think you know." Severus smirked at him. "So go ahead and shoot me if you think you have the bollocks for it."
He turned to the kitchen door. "Come and make me, you bloody Yank."
Grant slammed his hand down on the table in front of him, he'd had enough of the mouthy brat, he reached out and grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him across the table towards him. "If you were my son, I'd have done busted your ass for sassing like you have been, didn't anyone take the time to teach you anything?" he spat, disappointment clearly written on his face. He turned loose of the younger man and stood to sling his glass into the kitchen sink, not caring when the glass shattered and milk splattered the cabinets. "Maybe it's what you need now." he muttered as he stood and stared down at Severus.
Damon slammed the door open and stared at the two men.
"And you are going to box my ears now? I am just chuffed to bits to hear this." Severus snapped.
Grant looked at his husband and put his hand in his. "Take me to the barn please Sir." he said as he tugged the man's hand and pulled him to the kitchen door. "I need to go to the barn." They had set up a cross and other items out there in an unused stall for summertime play and Grant was asking Damon to take him out an punish him for defying him earlier. He knew he needed it, in fact he wanted it. He was angry with himself for disrespecting his Master in front of this ungrateful whelp that sat in their kitchen at the moment. "He can go in the morning, but take me to the barn now Sir." He didn't look at Severus again, the young man saddened, angered, and sickened him all at once.
Severus looked at the couple and snarled. "Going out to sabotage my property?"
Damon nodded to Grant. "I'll try my best, Boy." He squeezed Grant's hand. He turned to Severus. "This has nothing to do with you."
Damon pulled Grant to him and then forced him to his knees. "Tell me, Boy. Why is this necessary?"
Grant lowered his eyes and began to speak. "I defied your wishes Sir, not once, but several times in matters in which you know best. I've lost my temper and acted in a manner that was disrespectful to you and myself. I wish to atone for what I've done Sir, please." he stayed on his knees and focused on his Dom's feet as he waited. Even saying the words made him feel freer.
Damon took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "As you wish Boy. Stand up and strip. We'll begin now. Your word?"
Damon ignored Severus who shuffled himself at the table.
Grant stood and pulled his clothing off unselfconsciously, not caring that Snape was watching him in the least. His only thought was of his Master. "My word is red Sir, but it is punishment, therefore, my word is not in effect." he said as he folded his clothes and set them on the kitchen chair, waiting for his next instruction. He knew Damon would not take it too far, they had long since given up safe words when he was being punished. What was the use of punishment when he could cry that it was enough.
"Just making sure you know this. Are you going to continue to be mouthy, Boy? You asked for this, keep that in mind." Damon reached out and grabbed Grant's hair and jerked the man to him by it.
Damon had completely forgotten about the other man in the kitchen all that matter to him was the boy in his arms. "How bad do you want to hurt?"
Grant was pliant in Damon's arms as he was yanked up, he kept his eyes lowered as he answered his Master. "No Sir, this boy will respect your wishes and not speak out against them again. Please Sir, remind me of my place as your boy. Do as you wish and I shall receive it with an open heart Master." he said softly as he stood there with his palms up and waiting for his next command.
Severus sat there in silence as he watched the scene unfold, he opened his mouth to speak, but shut it quickly, curious to see what would happen.
Damon pulled his head back and kissed Grant roughly. He ran his hands down Grant's body as he took possession of the other man's mouth. "As you wish, Boy." He exhaled raggedly. "Walk."
Keeping his head down, Grant walked out the kitchen door and crossed the moonlit backyard in his bare feet. He opened the barn door and flicked the light switch on the wall and headed to the big stall at the end of the barn where they had set up and area for activities in warmer months. He pulled the drop sheet off of the heavy cross and knelt there in the dirt as he waited for his Master to give him his next instruction as he tried to ready himself mentally for his impending punishment. He knew how upset Damon was with him and he knew it was going to be harsh. He deserved it and he knew it.
Damon took a deep breath. It wasn't good to do this in anger yet Grant had been asking for it all day. "Stand up, boy." He growled. Without waiting for the other man, he jerked Grant up from the floor and nearly threw him into the cross. He pressed the small of Grant's back to the padded boards and attached the restraints at his feet and then raised his arms to the upper legs of the cross. He stood back and looked over his sub.
"You asked for this and I am going to give it to you." Damon reared back and smacked Grant's ass, hard. The sound of flesh meeting flesh was loud in the early dawn and the nearly silent barn. His hand print stood out red on the man's tanned flesh.
Grant sucked his breath in, but didn't make another sound as his husband landed the first blow. He clenched his hands into fists and then willed them flat again to the cross, he would not show defiance to his Master, he was accepting of his will. He bowed his head and waited for his Sir.
Severus watched as the barn door opened and the light came on and he wondered what they were doing out there. Part of him wanted to follow, but the rest of him simply wanted to crawl into bed and not care. He sat there a moment longer and sipped at his tepid water.
Damon swung wide again and landed another blow to the same spot as before. "Tell me, Boy, why I am having to be out here doing this when we should be in bed?"
He moved to the other side of Grant and slapped the other cheek, leaving a new set of prints and colour.
"Because I wouldn't let you deal with the stranger as you saw fit Sir, I had to stick my nose in where it did not belong Sir." He answered in a rush of breath as another blow landed on his butt, making him flinch when he knew he shouldn't. "For not listening to you, Sir."
Damon caught the flinch and landed another blow in the same spot. He moved back around and spanked Grant a few more times before changing angles and aimed a blow to the man's thighs. "And why were you doing this?"
"Because I thought I knew better Sir, because I forgot my place." he cried out as he winced and tried to move one leg. He lowered his head to the padded headrest. "I thought I could fix him Sir, I was wrong, you were right."
"Why are you moving?" Damon growled. He slapped Grant's other thigh and then backed away. "Do I need to get something else to make you be still?"
Grant shuddered and tried to force himself to stand still on the cross. "No Sir, I'm trying to be good Sir. You don't need anything else Sir..." he whispered as he squirmed once more.
Damon shook his head. "Wrong answer, Boy especially since you can even be still when questioned." He stalked outside to the elm tree and pulled down a branch. He broke off a long thin limb and then removed the leaves. He swung it back and forth for a moment then re-entered the barn.
Damon reared back once more and laid the switch right across the pinked thighs.
A wordless shriek filled the barn as Grant's back bowed from the sudden pain and his hands were clenching and unclenching as Damon cut loose on him again and again as he tried to climb the cross to get away from the searing pain. Tears coursed down his cheeks as he fought to stay quiet and not disgrace himself, losing the battle as more shrieks were torn from him as the switch laid him open. He felt Damon lift his hair up and hold as he lashed his unprotected back and shoulders and he sobbed his sins to his Master.
Damon dropped the switch and stared at the marks he had made on Grant's flesh. He walked around the cross and looked at the other man. Tears coursed down his love's beautiful face. Damon was rock hard and wanted nothing more than to thrust up into the tight heat of his husband as he was bound to the cross. "Grant." He whispered and reached out to caress his cheek.
Grant opened his dark eyes and blinked back the tears and started to speak when a horrible cramp gripped his upper thigh and caused him to jerk and yell out without warning. He thrashed in his restraints trying to ease the pain to no avail, the cramp so tight he was unable to even focus enough to form words to tell his husband what was happening to him.
Severus had made his way into the barn and was watching the couple and was painfully disturbed and aroused by the sight of the slight man being beaten willingly. He wanted to be able to do that with a willing partner. Now Grant's reaction to Damon was unexpected.
Damon backed away from Grant his face falling as his sub cried out louder and began to thrash around. "Dammit Grant that's enough!" He reached back towards the wall for a leather belt. "What the fuck has gotten into you today?" He snapped the belt in his hands and then really looked at his man. Something was wrong. Grant was in severe pain and he had nearly missed it. "Shit." Damon cursed and dropped the belt. He reached up and began undoing the restraints. "Hold on, Grant I am getting you down."
Severus ran forward and lifted the smaller man up as Damon undid the cuffs, keeping him from falling to the dirt. He cradled the thrashing man in his arms as the older man knelt and undid the ankle cuffs quickly. "It's his thigh." he said as he nodded down at the leg that was jerking out of control. He kept tight hold on Grant as he moved over to where a low bench sat against the wall and sat down with him. "You need to work it out, it looks like a deep one." the tall man said as he looked over the smaller man in his arms and then at his husband who was standing in front of him.
Damon ran to the sink and grabbed the Orange Goo that was there. It would do in a pinch. He bent and grasped Grant's leg. He rubbed the slick cleanser hard into the tense muscle. His fingers slid along the taut leg as he tried to massage the cramp away. He raised Grant's leg and then bent it at the knee forcing the muscles to contract as if he were walking it out. Damon looked up into his mate's face. "Come on baby. Tell me if I am helping any?"
Grant just groaned and nodded a little as Severus lent a hand and began to dig his own long fingers into the stiff muscles, forcing them to unbunch as Damon moved his leg. "There you go, just breath, you're alright now, you're alright." Severus murmured as he felt the big muscles start to give way under their assault. He didn't look either man in the eye, just kept one arm around Grant while he was on his lap and his other hand digging into the muscles. Grant struggled to sit up a little and Severus supported him. "Merlin, that frigging hurt Damon." he moaned as he added his hands to the ones on his leg.
Damon nodded and kept working the muscle. He laid his hand over Grant's and rubbed the smaller fingers as he did the leg. "Better now, Pet? You want to try and stand on it to walk it out?" He held his hand out to the other man.
Grant shook his head. "No Sir, I don't think that's going to work. I'll sit here for awhile. If you don't mind, I'll wrap the drop cloth around me and come back to the house when I can." he said as he started to move off of Severus' lap. He'd just now realized the other man was there and he was indeed not dressed. "Damon, please hand me the cloth." he asked as he tried to cover himself with his hands. "I could carry you back in Mr. Wolffe." Severus said, still holding the smaller man on his lap.
Damon nodded. He stripped off his shirt. "Arms up." He slid the cotton shirt over Grant's head and grasped the man's chin. "Can Severus carry you back into the house? I don't think I could make it that far with you." He looked into Severus' eyes, willing him to understand that he was placing Grant's safety in the young man's hands.
Grant looked up into his husband's face as he slipped the large shirt on and then looked back into the face of the man that had pushed all of his buttons earlier that night. "Alright Damon. Thank you Severus." he said as he put an arm around the younger man's neck and pulled the hem of his borrowed shirt down with the other.
Severus looked at Damon and simply nodded before he stood carefully and adjusted the smaller man's weight in his arms. "Shall I follow you?" he asked as he walked out of the stall and then the barn, keeping Grant tucked close to his chest the entire time. He followed the man's husband up the back steps and into the kitchen. "Where would you like me to set him down at?"
"Take him into our room, please. I'll put him in the tub; a hot bath should help work out the remaining kinks." Damon looked back at his husband in Severus' arms. "No more bitching out of you. You are going into the tub with Lemon Balm and eucalyptus oil." He led Severus through the kitchen and the rest of the house until they came to the bedroom.
Severus looked down at the semi nude man in his arms and smirked. "You imagine a bath is going to keep him quiet, Mr. Wolffe? I should think a good bit of packing tape might be in order for that to be effective." he said as he gently sat Grant down on the edge of the bed and stood back up again. "If you should happen to have camomile tea or comfrey, you might add that to his bath water as well to relax his muscles, the use of the lemon may cause his skin undo irritation after your ministrations to him earlier." He added as he went to stand in the doorway to the master bath and watched Damon drawing the tub.
Grant sat on the edge of the bed fuming, he had been put in his place by his Sir and he was fine with that, but to have this whelp talk about him as if he were not even there.
Damon grunted and nodded. "The lemon balm will act as a moisturizer and it has a numbing agent in it for the skin. I have used it before." He poured the oils in the tub and tested the temperature. He then stood and looked at Severus. "Thank you for your help out there. As to whether or not he will be quiet that is for me to handle and I think I just did that." He pushed past Severus and pulled the shirt from Grant's body.
"Secondly, my husband's mouth is none of your concern. I heard enough of it earlier. Both yours and his." He scooped Grant up and made his way back to the bath. "Okay, Pet?" He kissed Grant's forehead as he lowered him into the tub.
Severus looked down at the floor and was quiet for a moment. "I...I don't know how to say I'm sorry for my actions earlier. I wish it had not ended with your husband being harmed. If you could tell me whether to turn right or left at the end of your drive, I'll not trouble you again." He nervously licked his lip before he spoke again. "It should have been myself instead of him."
Damon's head whipped around and stared at Severus. "You think I harmed him because he talked back to me?" He looked down at Grant then back up at Severus. "What do you mean you that it should have been you?"
Severus backed up to the point his back was pressed against the wall and his head was still lowered. "If I had not antagonized him, he would not have annoyed you. He seems to be one that tries to please you at all times and I but think that if I had but kept my mouth shut, then you would not have had need to discipline him." Once more he licked his lips, his hands twitching nervously at his sides. For once in a very long time, he wanted badly to be accepted as simply Severus and not as Severus the Death Eater turned spy, evil Potions Master. "If anyone deserved a thrashing for their mouth, it should've been myself."
Grant soaked in the tub, half listening to the exchange and finding at this point he didn't really care what his husband decided, he would support him regardless.
Damon sighed and looked down at Grant once again. "Where to start? Severus, as much as I would have liked to toss you up there and beat the shit out of your smart ass, what happened out in the barn is our Lifestyle. It wasn't just because I wanted to beat some sense into him." He shook his head as if he weren't explaining something right. He looked down at Grant. "Well Doc, care to help me out here."
In response Grant only sank lower into the hot, fragrant water, he'd said too much already tonight. He wasn't afraid of being in trouble, he was just not ready to get into another argument with the stubborn stranger. When Damon didn't say anything more and kept looking at him, he sighed and pushed up a bit in the water. "I needed to be reminded of my place and asked Damon to do that for me. It wasn't about hurting me. That is just something that seems to work for me."
Damon turned back to Severus. Does that help any? Grant and I have been living like this for forty years. Just because it works for us doesn't always mean it will work for someone else. There's rules and regulations and not everyone plays like we do." He eyed Severus. "Did you think I was abusing him?"
"I knew he went willingly, but then it seemed he wasn't enjoying it and then I began to wonder if it was still agreeable to him. When do you know when to stop?" He asked as he looked at Damon and then looked away again as if ashamed.
Damon sighed. "Some things have to be learned, it's part of being the Dominant in the relationship." He looked down at Grant and smiled. "Grant's special, not everyone could put up with someone like me." He looked back to Severus. "What happened outside was discipline. I decide when I think he has learned his lesson." He looked back at Grant. "He trusts me to know when to stop. Right, pet?" Damon hoped he was explaining it right. It was hard explaining to a sub how a Dom reacted and vice versa.
Grant nodded. "I know I am always safe with Sir, no matter what he chooses to do to or with me. When it isn't discipline I have a word to let Damon know if things are too much for me to handle. If I ever use the word I know he will stop immediately, no questions asked." He said as reached out for a body sponge to start scrubbing at himself in the hot water.
Damon bent and took the sponge from Grant. "It's an exchange." He lathered up the sponge and started at Gran's shoulders. "We take care of each other. He relinquishes control over his life to me and I make sure he is provided for. That he has the things necessary to be comfortable and healthy. Close your eyes, Pet." He set down the sponge and then poured a cup of water over Grant's head. He poured some shampoo out and began to massage Grant’s dark hair and his scalp.
And I make sure the little things are done to make Damon's life easier. I keep our house for him, I make sure he is fed, his clothes clean, his bed warmed at night, I work with him at the bar. In many ways it is the same as a normal marriage, but I think our roles are more defined, wouldn't you, Sir?" Grant asked as he tipped his head back and let his husband wash his long hair. He looked at Severus still standing in the doorway of their bathroom and nodded to the chair that sat in the corner they used to lay their towels on. "You may sit there if Damon doesn't mind."
Severus shifted and looked at Damon. He was curious and he did want to learn more, so far everything sounded like what he'd been missing and looking for in his adult life. "Where would I meet someone?"
"Have a seat. If Grant is alright with it I don't mind." Damon untangled his fingers and made sure there was no snarls in the long hair. "Tip your head back and close your eyes once again." He rinsed the soap from Grant's hair and then took up the conditioner. He massaged the thick cream in and began manipulating Grant's scalp once more. "There are groups, private dungeons, some places have a mentor system. You have to decide exactly what you want first."
Severus sat down on the chair and watched as Damon rinsed his husband's hair. It just struck him that he was watching a nude man being bathed by another and neither seemed bothered by the fact. He took a deep breath and spoke. "I don't know how horrible it makes me, but the idea of putting someone on the frame you have out in the barn and whipping them is really appealing to me." He picked at the hem of the shorts he was wearing and looked first at Grant and then at Damon.
Damon looked down at Grant and smiled. "It doesn't make you horrible. Maybe a sadist but not horrible." Damon finished Grant's hair and wound it up on top of his head. "You want to shower off the rest or shall I draw up new bath water?"
Grant held his hand out to Damon and stood as he waited for his man to turn their hand held shower on to rinse him off. More than once he'd been glad he'd had Damon tile their bathroom, made clean up much, much easier. He turned slightly to the wall and tried to look over his shoulder. "Did I mark well?" he asked as he attempted to catch a glimpse in the mirror. The oil slicked water glistened and shone on his tanned and toned body, he was proud of how he was built. He and Damon both exercised regularly, biking, hiking, and just walks down the lane in the evening, he might be 58, but he looked more like 35 and most days felt as good. "Sadists are a good thing as long as they know their business and someone appreciates what they do." he said with an easy smile.
Damon smiled. "My prints are all over your tight ass." He ran the sponge over the cheeks and then rinsed them. He bent and sank his teeth into one side.