Fathers, Dogs, and Other Strange Breeds

Title: Fathers, Dogs, and other Strange Breeds

Characters: Ken/Jess

Implement: none

Warnings: none

As he pulled the truck into the driveway, Jess looked at the little grey dog with the pink bow on her head. "I'm going to have to find you a new home."

The dog looked at him with her head cocked to one side as if she understood every word he was saying. But didn't believe him. Jess sighed and he looked away. Instantly tensing as he saw Ken waiting for him on the porch.

All week Jess had avoided talking to the one person who he knew would be his strength. And there he was standing on the porch.  Jess wondered if he could maintain the charade he’d been playing all week. Did he have the strength to continue hiding?

Knowing he couldn’t hide in his truck forever, he lifted the dog in one hand, and climbed out of the truck. He could feel the dog's tremors of excitement at meeting a new person. He also felt the hard stare of his partner.

"You got a dog?" Ken asked as he followed Jess into the house.

"This is Tippy. My dad's dog. I need to find her a home. I put dad in a nursing home." Avoiding Ken's eyes, Jess continued, "You want to order a pizza? I didn't get a chance to make dinner." He flinched as he thought to himself what a stupid thing to say. Obviously he hadn't made dinner; he just walked in the door.

"What?" Ken looked dumbfounded, as he looked back and forth between Tippy and Jess. Jess could see the confusion in Ken's face as he tried to process all that he'd heard.  Jess hunched his shoulders knowing that he'd been the one to put that look on Ken's face.

Setting the dog down, Jess braced himself, hoping he looked casual. Even as he felt guilty, he continued to talk as if nothing of importance had happened. "I had to put my dad in a home, so I need to find a new home for the dog. Do you want to make sandwiches or just order a pizza?" He called over his shoulder as he walked toward the kitchen. Tippy stopped sniffing the floor to follow Jess.

"Stop." Jess refused to flinch at the tone in Ken's voice, but both he and Tippy froze in their tracks.

Wanting to straighten his shoulders, and face Ken head on, Jess couldn’t seem to find the strength.  He’d always been able to put up a show of strength, make people back away from asking difficult questions just by the way he held himself.  When had Ken become so important to him that he could no longer hide behind his façade? Turning to Ken, his shoulders stayed hunched, but he did lift his face to meet Ken’s eyes.

"Let me get this straight. Every night this week you've pushed me...and yourself. Monday you asked for a spanking, Tuesday you demanded the biggest plug we own, last night you wanted the belt. 'I like the feel of leather', you said. And now you're telling me you've had to put your dad in a home," Ken grated out incredulously.

"I do like the feel of leather!"

"You were hiding! From yourself, your own pain. From me. That's not what we're about," Ken said.

"I wanted to submit; submit to you," Jess tried to explain.

"You wanted to submit to me?" Ken asked. Laughing harshly he didn't give Jess a chance to answer. "No. Submission requires dominance. And there was no dominance-just you playing me. Now, I'll dominate, and you will submit."

Jess stood still as Ken walked toward him. The look in Ken's eyes made Jess want to run, but he'd never back down. Whatever Ken decided he deserved, he'd take it. He had to prove to Ken how much he loved him, but more importantly how much he trusted Ken.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ken didn't know what his first intentions were when he started toward Jess; although strangling Jess could have been on his mind. Until he saw the exhaustion in Jess's eyes, the stress and tension.

As soon as he was close enough Ken gripped Jess's neck, and steered him down the hall and into the bathroom. Once they were inside, Ken let go of him. Even with the wariness in Jess's eyes, Ken didn't relax his stance. Jess had been playing him all week, and he knew it. Ken wouldn't back down.

"Stand there. Don't move," Ken said, not unkindly. Turning his back to Jess, he turned the water on in the bathtub as hot as could be barely tolerated. Not quite comfortable, but not hot enough to burn. Taking a bottle of shampoo, he squirted the liquid under the faucet, creating a pitiful imitation of a bubble bath. As the bath water rose, Ken turned to Jess and started to undress him.

"I'll do it," Jess said, stepping back.

"Stop. Let me." Ken's words were harsher than his hands as he pulled Jess back to him.

Once Jess was completely naked, Ken quickly stripped himself. Taking hold of Jess's shoulders, he guided Jess into the tub and stepped in himself. "Sit."

Hearing Jess hiss at the warmth of the water, Ken steeled himself for the heat. Sitting down behind Jess, Ken wrapped his arms around him. The two big men just sat in silence. As the water inched closer to the edge of the tub, Ken used his foot to turn off the water. Once they'd become accustomed to the heat of the water, Ken took a wash cloth and started to gently wash Jess.

As if he couldn't stand the gentleness, Jess lurched forward, rasping out, "Don't."

Pulling him back against his chest, Ken's voice brooked no disobedience. "This goes my way, Jess. All week you've manipulated me. You've used our play, our desires to hide from me. Now, I'm taking that control back. You will do as I say."

He felt Jess slump against him in defeat, signaling that he knew exactly what Ken was saying.

Ken took control back as he gently, lovingly washed the stench of stress and tension away. He could feel Jess shake, as if the tenderness hurt him. Still Ken didn't stop.

Once the smell that had lingered on Jess all week was completely washed away, Ken again used his foot, and released the drain on the tub. Pulling Jess up as he stood, Ken grabbed a towel, and dried him as gently as he’d washed him.

In sharp contrast to his gentleness of the bath, Ken took Jess by the upper arms and led him to the bedroom. Pointing to the bed, Ken said, “In.”

As Jess climbed slowly into the bed, Ken reached over to turn out the light. Looking back, he saw the little ball of fluff with the ridiculous pink bow, had obeyed him too. The grey little dog was lying on her back as close to Jess as she could get. Ken saw Jess’s hand buried in the fur, his fingers slowly scratching the exposed belly. Deciding not to make an issue of the dog being in bed, he climbed in and wrapped his arms around Jess. After minutes of silence, Ken felt Jess sigh.

“He was such a mean son of a bitch, ya know,” Jess said.

Not wanting to stop Jess’s thoughts, Ken murmured his agreement.

“It was strange. Monday as I was going to the new work site, I’d gotten a call. It was the hospital. They had dad. They got my number from my business card in his wallet. They figured since we had the same last name I had to be related somehow.”

Softly, Ken agreed. “Makes sense.”

“Yeah.”

Ken held his breath hoping Jess wouldn’t stop talking. He was rewarded when Jess continued.

“He was really confused. The doctors said it was Alzheimer’s. The son of a bitch had been taking medicine for it for months, but I didn’t know. He’d been found wandering the street and the police had been called. The doctor said that he can’t live on his own anymore.”

Ken tensed. He didn’t want Jess’s dad to live with them, he couldn’t allow the sick old man to continue to hurt Jess. But he couldn’t make unilateral decisions like that, not about Jess’s father. His mind stopped its frantic scramble to find a solution when Jess’s voice broke through.

“Tuesday when I went in, the doctor had a list of nursing homes that specialize in Alzheimer’s patients. Ones that accept Medicare. I spent the day looking at the homes. Oh, yeah. They don’t call them nursing homes anymore. Did you know that?”

Ken rubbed his hand along Jess’s side, “No. I didn’t. What do they call them?”

“Assistive living communities. They assist the person in continuing to live a full life,” Jess explained.

“Sounds good.”

“Yeah. Well Tuesday I spent the day going to several of the ones the doctor had recommended. I found one that I think will work. The director of the place talked to me and helped me fill out all the paperwork. Fuck, there’s so much paperwork,” Jess said.

"Do you want me to help? I don't know much about all this but I can help you figure it."

Ken felt Jess bury deeper into him and then take a deep breath, "No, we moved him in this morning. The director there helped me fill out everything. Afterward, I went to dad's house to see what all needs to be done.  I'll pack everything up and I guess I'll sell his house.  It'll need some work. I'm surprised it hasn't fallen down around him.  I couldn’t leave the dog there by herself.  And I couldn’t bring myself to take her to the pound."

"Yeah," Ken said absently, then the words burst out quietly but full of force, "why the hell didn't you tell me?"

Jess turned suddenly in his arms causing Tippy to bark, showing her displeasure.  Jess's look pleaded with Ken to understand. "I had to do this myself.  I had to try one last time to show him I’m a man; that I can take on a man's responsibilities."

Ken wanted to tell Jess that he was a man, that he didn't need to prove anything to anyone. But Ken knew that was a lie. Fathers were a strange breed and sons had a need to prove their manhood when it came to their fathers. Feeling Jess's gaze on him, Ken leaned down and tenderly kissed his hard man's mouth.

"And you did," he reassured him.

Ken held tight to Jess, feeling his muscles relax from the bath and release of all that had happened this week.

"Are you going to spa...puni...dominate me?" Jess asked him.

"Yes," Ken said simply. "My way."

Picking up the dog and setting her on the floor, Ken ordered, "Stay. You too," he said turning back to Jess.

Leaning down, Ken started at Jess's eyes, kissing his way down his face to his mouth. While his mouth gently kissed his face, Ken's hands stroked softly down Jess's body. Ken continued to dominate Jess with his gentle loving.

"No. My way," Ken growled when Jess thrust up, wanting Ken to grasp him. When Jess complied, Ken continued to kiss every inch of Jess's body. Finally taking Jess's shaft in his mouth, Ken alternated sucking strongly and licking softly.

"Please," Jess moaned.

Lifting his head, Ken looked up to Jess's face, "Yes. As I please." As Jess's body totally surrendered to Ken's tender dominance, Ken took his time exploring Jess's body all over again. Finally, bringing Jess to his completion, Ken swallowed all of his cum.

Climbing back up to his pillow, Ken gathered Jess in his arms.

"Give me a minute. Let me catch my breath. I'll take care of you," Jess whispered.

"We'll get there," Ken whispered back, and then reaffirmed, "in my time."

Ken figured the groan of acceptance from Jess was the signal Tippy needed to get back in bed. Giving an exaggerated grunt as the little dog jumped on them, demanding her share of attention, Ken said, "I think we should keep the dog."

Jess's hands looked incredibly large as he lazily petted over Tippy's back and agreed, "Yeah. She's been with dad since she was a pup. She'll be lonely."

"Not with us. She can go on some of the sites with us, or hang out in the shop," Ken said, cringing at the ribbing he was bound to get at such a prissy little dog. "So it's settled, the dog can stay. But that pink ribbon has to go."

The End