Chapter 4: Leo
“I’m fine,” Jed replied, his forehead sweaty from the exertion but his eyes curiously much calmer than they had been all evening. “You don’t need to worry about me, sir. I can take everything you can throw at me.”
“How does it feel being over my knee?” Leo asked. Jed made a face.
“Stupid, ridiculous and juvenile,” he muttered, and then, in a voice so low that Leo nearly didn’t hear it: “But I like your hand there.”
Leo gave a satisfied smile. “Pass me the paddle, Josiah,” he ordered. Jed glanced up and shot him a look – he hated being made to give Leo the implements that would soon make hard contact with his upturned ass. Leo understood that only too well; it made Jed complicit in his own punishment, but then again Jed was complicit and nothing happened here without not only his consent but his tacit approval and request, so Leo saw no reason why they should soft pedal around that fact. “Now please,” Leo said, giving Jed’s now glowing backside a firm swat.
Jed reached out for the paddle and handed it over his shoulder to Leo who thanked him for it and then rested the cool surface of the leather-bound item on his lover’s warm backside. He held it there for a moment, giving Jed time to adjust to what would be a harder tempo and more stinging swat, and then raised it and brought it back down sharply on Jed’s bottom.
“Oh hell,” Jed yelped, jumping slightly. Leo pressed his hand more firmly on the small of Jed’s back, where Jed had said he liked it, partly in order to hold his lover in position and partly to reassure him. He swung the paddle down expertly for the next few minutes, and was aware of Jed counting each swat after receiving it. This was always the danger with someone as articulate and addicted to being in control as Jed Bartlet. Instead of letting go, he was focussing on the number of swats he’d been promised, counting them off, trying to find a rational way of dealing with the tally, rather than just allowing the sensation to take over. Leo sighed – he had hoped to stop after using the paddle but now it was clear he’d have to use another implement as well. With that in mind he eased off the severity of the swats although kept up the tempo so he doubted that Jed would realise what he was doing.
“31…32…” Jed counted, his voice growing higher in triumph at his own feat of endurance. “33…34!” Leo stopped, and laid the paddle on one side and then gently brushed his hand over his lover’s now reddened backside. They were both silent for a moment, and he could see Jed thinking that it was now over, that he’d faced it out, hadn’t given in to it and had thus, in some small way, triumphed over the situation. Unfortunately, Leo knew from experience that if he left Jed like this there was always a corresponding low to match the current high. No, he had to finish this job and finish it well.
“Pass me the strap please, Josiah,” he said, breaking into his lover’s mood.
“What?” Jed looked up in surprise.
“We haven’t finished yet,” Leo said implacably.
“But you said 34! 30 for the disobedience and 4 for calling you Leo,” Jed objected. That decided Leo – his lover was still way too coherent – to say nothing of argumentative – for the spanking to be over.
“That was over and above the spanking I was going to give you anyway,” Leo told him firmly but calmly. “Hand me the strap, Josiah, or I’ll happily give you a few more swats with the paddle while I’m waiting.”
“No! That won’t…be necessary, sir,” Jed sighed, reaching for the strap. He handed it to Leo, and then straightened out his shoulders and rested his head on the pillow once more, a slight hitch in his breath – which Leo thought was a good sign.
Leo wielded that strap like the expert he was. He barely give his sub a chance to draw breath as he peppered his ass with stroke after stinging stroke. And finally, slowly, reluctantly, Jed gave in. It happened so gradually that it would have been easy to miss the first few signs but Leo was very practised at this and knew them well. First, Jed’s legs splayed out and his upper shoulders relaxed as he abandoned himself to his fate and stopped trying to control it or minimise it. Then he began to growl but harder this time, and harder still, until he was yelling out loud, screaming out what sounded like rage and acceptance both at the same time. Leo was never entirely sure what all the noise was about but it seemed to be a necessary part of Jed giving up control and in some way he felt honoured that his friend felt safe enough with him to shout out so uninhibitedly and unashamedly. He had an inkling that when his father had given Jed a more formal kind of punishment, rather than just clouting his son around the head when he annoyed him, that Jed had stayed quiet as his way of hanging on to some last vestige of self respect and not giving his father the opportunity to know that he’d gotten to him. With Leo, there was no need for Jed to hang on to anything – Leo always respected Jed, whether in the Oval Office or in the Blue Bedroom. With Leo he could just be himself, without having to guard against being known or harmed in an emotional way that hurt far more than anything that could be done to his body. Finally, Jed’s entire body seemed to become a jellified mass as he gave in totally and irrevocably to what was happening, and to Leo’s will. Leo continued for a good few seconds more and then, slowly, took the pace down, slowing until he stopped completely a minute or so later.
He put the strap on one side, and resumed stroking his lover’s body. Jed lay there, still too boneless to react to the end of the spanking. Leo smiled down on him, and slid a little bit further down the bed, taking Jed with him. Then he pulled Jed a little bit closer so that his lover’s head was resting on his chest. Jed opened his eyes and gazed, lazily at Leo.
“Thank you,” he whispered, his entire body totally relaxed.
“That’s okay.” Leo leaned down and deposited a kiss on his lover’s head and then stretched out as much as he could on the bed with Jed’s weight on him, and stroked his lover’s hair for a long time. Jed never stopped watching him the entire time, his eyes dreamy, completely blissed out.
“I love you Leo McGarry,” he murmured.
“I love you too, Josiah Bartlet,” Leo said softly, still stroking.
They lay there for a long time, both of them just enjoying the post spanking closeness, and then Leo decided it was time to get his now zoned out, compliant sub to give him some personal services.
“Josiah, undress me. I want a massage,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Jed said dreamily. They disentangled themselves slowly, and Jed knelt beside Leo, his eyes bright with enjoyment. It took a lot to get to Jed to this state of tranquillity and acceptance but Leo knew that it left his lover feeling utterly at peace with himself and this world that he had so much responsibility for.
Jed reached out and unbuttoned Leo’s shirt, and Leo remained where he was lying, enjoying his sub’s adoring attention. Jed went slowly, pausing to drop frequent kisses on Leo’s face and chest. Leo continued to just lie there, accepting it all. Jed could be a difficult, mouthy and opinionated sub but, as in everything he did, once he committed to the role he gave it his total attention and performed it expertly. He finished undoing Leo’s shirt and then smoothed it away from his lover’s shoulders. Leo sat up a bit to facilitate complete removal and then allowed Jed to crouch over him and undo his pants. Jed spent quite some time undoing and removing Leo’s shoes, which gave Leo a great view of his lover’s reddened ass, and then Jed finally removed his pants and underwear, leaving him totally naked. He wasn’t as comfortable with his own nudity as Jed was, and it had taken him awhile to be happy with the two of them being naked with the lights on, but time had changed that and he was happier with it now than he used to be, although still a little shy – a fact he hoped Jed hadn’t picked up on.
“There’s lotion on the nightstand,” Leo instructed, sweeping all the implements from the bed and onto the floor before rolling onto his front, and resting his face on his hands on top of the pillow. A few seconds later he felt the mattress give as Jed straddled his back, and then two warm, capable hands descended on his back. He almost gave a shout of pure pleasure – god this felt good! The first time he had ordered his sub to give him a massage, Jed had looked at him blankly although he’d gone about his task with a good deal of enthusiasm if very little skill. That had been the first time. Since then, Leo knew that Jed had either invited someone in to give him classes or found a very good book on the subject, because, in typical Jed-like fashion, he had become a total expert at giving a good massage. His strong hands seemed to know exactly where to rub for best effect and he effortlessly rooted out all the little knots and tight areas in Leo’s muscles and released the tension. His attention was not entirely of the professional variety though – he frequently trailed a line of tender kisses along Leo’s spine as he worked, or licked his earlobe. It was utterly relaxing and made Leo feel very cherished – which meant so much when coming from this man who he loved with every single atom of his being.
Jed moved lower, concentrating on Leo’s buttocks, and then his legs, before finally coming to a finish.
“Would you like me to do anything else for you, sir?” He whispered in a low voice, kneeling beside Leo. It was all Leo could do to rouse himself from the splendid torpor of the massage but they were a long way from done yet – and the best part was yet to come.
“Yes you can, Josiah,” he said, his voice sounding low and gruff and strange to his own ears. “You can come here.” He turned onto his side, held out his arms, and Jed came willingly into them. “I think that I want to spend a good long time kissing my sub and then I’m going to make love to him. Do you think that sounds like a good idea, Josiah?” He asked. Jed smiled hazily.
“I think that sounds like a very good idea, sir,” he replied.
Leo grinned and lowered his head for a kiss. He loved the moment their lips first touched, and how Jed invariably opened up immediately, wanting Leo to kiss him thoroughly, sweetly, until neither of them had any breath left and they had to back off to get a second wind before beginning again. Leo was true to his word and kissed Jed for a very long time. He enjoyed kissing more than just about any other activity, and he could never resist tangling his hand in Jed’s thick hair while he plundered his lover’s mouth, his other arm wrapped around Jed’s body, keeping him close. This was how he best liked to demonstrate his mastery on Friday evenings – everything else, to Leo, was just preamble. Now that the initial rebellion was over, he had Jed still, calm, loving and at peace with himself, utterly surrendering himself to Leo’s embraces. This was when he truly enjoyed the feeling of dominance that Jed gave him on Friday nights. He loved taking charge of these long, deep kisses, keeping Jed still with the hand wrapped in his hair, pressing his lips firmly on those of his sub, demanding an entrance that was never denied. He rolled on top of Jed, keeping him down, and continued kissing him, often his lips, but now also straying to other parts of his body, tracing a tongue along his lover’s collarbone, or nibbling at his neck in a way that always drove Jed insane, at the same time as keeping him pinned down with the weight of his body and the force of his will. Jed’s eyes were now dark and heavy-lidded with arousal and total abandonment. Leo loved this sight best of all – he knew that Jed was lost in the moment and in the pleasure of being so thoroughly made love to, and he also knew how much Jed enjoyed being in this state. They had made love without the top and sub dynamics occasionally, usually when they were tired or in a hurry, had experienced sex just as two lovers enjoying each other’s bodies and it was always good – but Jed was much more jerky, much less lost in the moment, still too switched on to his political life to really lose himself in his personal life. Only when Leo took the role of dominant to Jed’s submissive did Jed ever truly relax and just enjoy himself.
They probably spent an hour just kissing and caressing – Jed never objected and Leo enjoyed it too much to want to bring it to an end. They were both old enough to be able to hold their climax for a good long time – Leo thought that as he had gotten older he enjoyed the foreplay at least as much as the actual culmination of making love. He spent a long time becoming reacquainted with his lover’s body, deeply regretting the fact that it had been two weeks since he had last been able to enjoy it. Very occasionally he wished they could extend their Friday night activities to other times but he had to concede that at least with their once a week arrangement he had all the joy of delayed gratification and anticipation – and it made their Friday night union all the more intense and beautiful because of that.
Leo kept Jed pinned down while he went lower, making love to every single part of Jed’s body. This was when he was able to truly unleash the sexual, sensual side of his personality and really revel in it. He knew that Jed had been surprised by how passionate he was in the bedroom – certainly he suspected that none of the people who knew him in his professional life had any inkling of how uninhibited and forceful he was in the bedroom. This was the apex of his enjoyment of being a top and when he truly came into his own in the role. After the first time they had made love, Jed had lain on the bed looking at him exhaustedly with something akin to amazement in his eyes.
“Well, Leo, I never suspected that,” he had commented, for once rendered almost speechless. “I guess I should have expected you to be as single minded and attentive to detail in the bedroom as you are in the office though,” he’d said with a grin.
Leo smiled to himself as he remembered that conversation. One of the reasons his marriage had lasted as long as it had was that his wife had always enjoyed their sex life so much. Even when the emotional side of their marriage had been breaking down irrevocably, they had still made love as passionately as ever. Leo wasn’t someone who could do things in half measures; if he was going to make love it was always passionate. Leo had a true enjoyment of his lover’s body. He loved the feel of skin on skin, loved the slightly salty taste of Jed’s flesh, enjoyed moving his lover this way and that, exploring every inch of him, while Jed turned willingly under his fingers and tongue, offering himself up to be conquered and explored, like a foreign country welcoming an unstoppable and secretly admired invader.
Leo reclaimed all those areas of territory that he had missed for the past two weeks, stamping his own mark on them, finding them again and enjoying the familiar scents and tastes. He found the nape of Jed’s neck, just where the hairline met the skin and nuzzled appreciatively. He loved Jed’s hair, and frequently paused just to bury his face in it and inhale the scent of it. He traced the hairline with his mouth, then dropped lower and found the slightly bumpy ridges of his lover’s spine. He traced his tongue down each ridge, massaging gently with his tongue, and then returned up again, pausing to suck on Jed’s neck and then lick behind his ear. Jed arched up into him, muttering something incoherent. Leo grinned to himself – it was always a matter of great pride to him that he could reduce Jed Bartlet to a state of complete inarticulacy – no mean feat of and by itself. Jed’s skin was a light golden tan colour, darker than his own pale flesh and he loved the colours it turned when he sucked or nibbled or, occasionally, bit. Jed liked being bitten and Leo liked biting him – not too hard, just enough so that his lover could feel Leo’s teeth and they could both enjoy the sense of Leo’s domination.
Leo snaked back down to Jed’s buttocks and lapped at the still tender flesh with his tongue. He often wondered what it felt like to have the glowing, sensitised flesh touched and licked in this way, but his curiosity did not extend to allowing Jed to top him. He had his reasons; firstly, the role of submissive did not hold any appeal to him. He thought he could endure it easily enough but doubted he’d actively enjoy it. Not because he didn’t think he could handle giving up control, but because his enjoyment of love making was predicated so much on being the active, initiating partner and on those occasions in his life where he had been more passive it had frustrated him and spoiled his enjoyment of the act to a certain degree. He would have taken the role if he had felt that Jed would have gotten something from it, but after giving the matter a good deal of thought he had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t a good idea for Jed to see him in that role; Jed needed Leo to be his certainty, his rock, and to know that Leo could always take him down when he needed it. Leo worried that certainty might falter if Jed topped him. He had realised that Jed’s curiosity on that subject wasn’t going to go away though – and when he had seen an expression in Josh’s eyes that he was all too familiar with seeing in Jed’s eyes, he had considered whether this might not be the solution to this particular problem. He thought Jed would make a very good top in the same way that he made a good president and a good father, and he was looking forward to seeing his lover in action with Josh in a week’s time. However, he also knew that Jed needed to sub as well – needed it on a fundamental level that went to the root of his entire being, and he was more than happy to fill this role for this man who he loved so completely.
Leo sank his teeth very gently into Jed’s buttocks and was rewarded by a low moan. He parted the flesh and explored within, taking his time, loving this as much as he loved all the aspects of being in charge of this particular body. He loved the noises Jed made as he drove his tongue inside, exploring gently but thoroughly and he worked for some time before moving on, down Jed’s legs, down to his feet, before working his way just as slowly back up again, right back to the nape of his neck where he had started.
Leo wrapped his hand in Jed’s hair again, and pulled his lover up, his other hand wrapped around Jed’s waist. Jed came willingly into a kneeling position, his every sense seemingly tuned to doing whatever Leo wanted and getting into whatever position Leo wanted him to be in. Leo covered Jed’s body with his own, moving as ceaselessly as ever, and reached underneath to touch his lover’s belly and chest, his tongue still claiming Jed’s neck. He enjoyed the sensation of covering his lover from behind – although they were both aroused he had no intention of entering Jed yet, but he knew that it excited his lover knowing he was so close and could bring their union to a climax whenever he chose. Instead he turned Jed onto his back, and worked on the front of his body, going in for another long kiss, sucking on Jed’s lower lip, then down to his collar bone and on to his nipples. He ignored his lover’s cock for most of the time, enjoying the sense of power that Jed’s moans and incoherent cries gave him. He returned over and over again to Jed’s lips for more kisses in between exploring his lover’s body and then finally, without warning, enveloped Jed’s needy cock with his mouth. His lover gave a startled shout and bucked up against him but, like the maestro he was, Leo took his time, pausing and starting in again and then pausing once more – over and over again until Jed was on the brink of total abandonment, begging for release, pleading with Leo to let him come. Leo loved driving his lover this wild with need and was utterly ruthless in keeping Jed balanced on the brink of ecstasy. This was another way he liked to exert his control and Jed always responded so well to it. He backed off again, chuckling at Jed’s cry of frustration, and reached for the condoms and lube on the nightstand. He leaned over his lover, and ran his free hand through Jed’s hair, smoothing it away from his face and looked into those much-loved eyes. Jed was ready – he had probably been ready for the past hour but Leo saw no need to rush. He kissed his lover again, firmly and authoritatively, and felt a tremor of total arousal and need course through Jed’s body.
Leo spread the lube on his fingers and spent several long minutes preparing his lover, gazing all the while into Jed’s heavy-lidded, totally aroused, and completely surrendered eyes. Jed’s submission always made his heart pound – although he had usually been the more active partner in sexual relationships prior to Jed, he’d never formally taken on the role of top, and it never ceased to surprise him how much he adored seeing his lover so naked, abandoned and submissive. He loved the way Jed responded to his touch and gave himself up so eagerly to his every caress. Finally, having prepared his lover thoroughly, Leo sank himself into Jed’s waiting body. Jed gave a heartfelt sigh, and Leo settled himself on top of his lover, taking a position where he could see into Jed’s eyes, and kiss him hard as the mood took him. He thrust gently, taking his time, just enjoying the closeness. Jed’s cock lay between them and he stimulated it with his own body with every forward stroke, occasionally stopping to fondle it, and suck on Jed’s nipples or go in again for another long, deep drink from Jed’s lips. Finally, when Leo judged that Jed couldn’t hold out for much longer and when he himself was on the brink, he brought them both expertly to climax, Jed first and himself a few seconds later. They lay there for a long time afterwards, Leo resting on Jed’s chest, and Jed breathing the long, deep breaths of a man totally relaxed and at peace with himself.
Finally Leo pulled himself together enough to withdraw and take Jed in his arms, spooning up with him and drawing a blanket over both of them to keep warm in the post-coital haze.
“So, you missed me last week then, huh?” Jed murmured a few minutes later. Leo chuckled.
“Nah. I was sunning myself in Florida like you said,” he replied. Jed gave a bark of laughter and turned in Leo’s arms so that he was facing him. Leo loved these moments, when they were closer than at any other time. He lived for these moments. “C’mere,” he said, drawing Jed even closer and kissing him again. “Yes, I missed you; you might be the most impossible, infuriating, disobedient and downright difficult sub in the entire world but I missed you like crazy, as you know all too well.”
Jed laughed out loud. “Well you do like a challenge, Leo,” he commented cheerfully. Then, a few seconds later: “I’m not too difficult am I?” There was a shade of anxiety in his voice; Leo knew that sometimes after the event Jed was embarrassed by his behaviour at the beginning of these sessions and he squeezed Jed’s butt affectionately.
“Oh, I can handle you, Jed Bartlet,” he commented. “I can handle you without any problem at all.”
“That over the knee thing,” Jed commented. “Were you planning on doing that again?”
“I expect so,” Leo replied with a slightly malicious grin. “I enjoyed it far too much not to.”
“I thought you’d say that,” Jed grunted.
“How much did you hate it?” Leo questioned thoughtfully.
“If I tell you that then you might do it even more often,” Jed replied. Leo squeezed his butt again, a little more firmly this time and Jed sighed. “Oh okay – I did find it hard, Leo, but you knew I would. It felt ridiculous…but I liked being that close to you and I liked you holding me in place – that’s nicer than being tied and makes it easier than when you just ask me to hold position.”
“Thank you. I thought that was the case.” Leo nodded, deciding that whether Jed liked it or not the over the knee spanking was definitely going to happen a lot more from now on. It had taken him a long time to convince Jed that spanking was a shared activity born out of and executed in an atmosphere of affection and love. At first Jed had just wanted punishment, and some sense of atonement for what he perceived as his sins. His only experience of that kind of absolution had been at his father’s none too tender hands and he didn’t have any other frame of reference by which to judge it. Leo hoped he’d provided a good alternative because he sure as hell could never give Jed the kind of treatment he’d received from his father. He could never be cold, clinical or angry in these sessions. He could be matter of fact and he could be every bit as strong and in command as Jed needed him to be but never without a good deal of affection underneath that.
He glanced down at Jed who had closed his eyes and was resting his chin on Leo’s shoulder. He could still vividly remember the first time they had done this. It had been after the State of the Union well over a year ago. Jed had been ill with the flu, and Leo had pressed Abbey about the President’s health, knowing that something else was going on. He had been deeply hurt to find out about Jed’s MS. He had thought they were close; Jed had been the first person he had turned to when he had realised he was losing his battle with alcoholism years ago. Now, it turned out that his best and oldest friend had a disease that he had kept secret from him for years. Leo had very nearly gone home and drowned his sorrows in drink, but only the look in Jed’s eyes as they spoke in his bedroom, Jed still recovering from the flu, had stopped him. Jed was abject with guilt; the last thing he had wanted to do was to hurt Leo, but he had been in denial about his MS for the longest time – almost as if, if he told anyone he had it, even Leo, it would become true, and he desperately hadn’t wanted it to be true. He had finally come to accept it, but by then he was on his way to being President, and he had feared that Leo would withdraw his support if he knew about the illness. Leo had no idea whether or not he would have – but he did understand his friend’s fear. A few days after the State of the Union speech, when Jed was fully recovered from the flu, he had asked Leo to come up to the Residence for a private dinner, just the two of them. Leo had understood right from the beginning that Jed wanted to make his amends, but he had been taken totally by surprise by what the President had suggested.
To ensure their privacy, the President had set up their dinner in the Blue Bedroom. Leo had been surprised by that too although the choice of room started to make sense later on. They had eaten, talking at length about Jed’s health, and Leo’s sense of betrayal, until the emotions of both men were running high. Jed barely touched his dinner and afterwards pushed his plate away, leaned over the table and spoke to his oldest and best friend in a low, intense tone of voice.
“Leo, I feel bad about this. I don’t like seeing that hurt look in your eyes and knowing I caused it. I only ever want you to look at me with trust and affection. I don’t want you to doubt me again. I want you to be proud of me.” It had taken him a lot to say that and Leo had valued every single word, but he wasn’t sure his emotions could be switched on and off that easily and had said so. Jed had nodded, almost impatiently, as if he accepted that.
“I’m not talking about me telling you to get over it and you doing so just like that,” he said, waving his hand in the air. “That wouldn’t be fair on you and it would hardly excuse the enormity of what I did to you. I’ve thought about this for some time, Leo and you can refuse if you want, but I think it would help us both if you’d punish me.”
“Punish you? I don’t understand.” Leo gazed at the other man, trying to figure out what he meant.
“I think you do, Leo. I want you to punish me. I deserve it and I’d feel a hell of a lot better if you did. My father had a cane – I doubt we’ve got one of those lying around here but my belt would do just as well.”
Leo had found himself speechless, and yet, curiously, although he knew the request to be completely extraordinary, it hadn’t felt unexpected. He remembered several occasions when he’d seen a similar look in his friend’s eyes and had felt some inkling of what Jed had wanted from him even then, although he’d never have been able to put it into words. Leo had considered Jed’s request, taking his time, needing to make the right decision. Jed had remained silent throughout, his eyes never leaving Leo’s as he pondered the possible consequences of what Jed was requesting. Leo wasn’t sure that his own hurt feelings could be relieved by whipping the President’s ass, but there was no doubt that the offer had been genuinely meant and that if it would help mend the rift between them, Jed Bartlet, President of the United States, would allow his Chief of Staff and best friend to whip him with his own belt.
Leo had agreed in the end not because he thought it would help him but because he recognised the real distress Jed was in and he thought it would help his friend more. That first occasion had been a revelation to Leo. Jed had clearly expected the cold, formal kind of punishment that his father had handed out to him as a kid, but when it came to it, Leo had been utterly unable to deliver that kind of punishment. While he had no problem with meting out the kind of thorough whipping Jed clearly needed, he wasn’t about to do it any way but his own. So, he had taken his time and followed his instincts. Jed had never experienced a warm up before a spanking, and equally had never been given any wind down time afterwards and both these things took him by surprise when Leo insisted upon them, even in the face of Jed’s objections. When Jed had braced himself over the armchair Leo had found himself curiously affected by the fact that his friend was prepared to let him do this to make amends. Suddenly he realised that he had been wrong, and that his hurt feelings were appeased, at least in part, by Jed’s willingness to submit to such an indignity to mend the wrong that he had done him. Instead of wanting to hurt his friend though, Leo had wanted instead, as usual, to be of some service to him. Yes, Jed deserved his whipping, but he also deserved Leo’s affection and admiration for submitting to it in the first place. Leo had taken his time, and although Jed had rebelled against the lightness of his touch at first, thinking maybe that Leo wasn’t going to be able to see this through, his old friend soon realised that this wasn’t going to be an easy whipping.
Leo had taken Jed right into himself and out the other side. Jed never once tried to break position but Leo tested him right to the limits of his endurance on that, needing to make sure that his contrition was genuine and needing Jed to know that he had performed his penance – if Leo had given him an easy ride Jed would have known it and the whole thing would have been rendered completely pointless. Afterwards, Jed had stood up and tried, in a matter of fact, even offhand way, to bring the evening to a close. Leo wasn’t going to stand for any of that – he had no intention of allowing his friend to slink off and lick his wounds in silence after they had both shared something so profound, and instead had pulled Jed into a hug. At first Jed had stood there stiffly, but then, as if a dam had broken inside, he had slumped against Leo, sobbing silently. Leo had half-walked, half-carried Jed to the bed and laid down with him on it, holding his friend for the next hour and a half while Jed dealt with the turbulent emotions that were raging inside. They had talked for another two hours solid after that, and that was how their unconventional Friday evening activities had first begun. It had been a short step after that to making love – but one that had felt very right. Leo was still amazed that something so very good could have come out of a situation that had been so very hurtful but he was eternally grateful that it had.
“You still with me, Leo?” Jed asked, bringing him back to the present day.
“Sure.” Leo smiled. “Just remembering the first time you invited me to this room.”
“Ah.” Jed smiled too. “Seems like a long time ago.”
“Yeah. And now we’ve asked someone else to join us,” Leo commented softly. Jed stiffened slightly in his arms.
“Josh?” He asked.
“Yeah. My meeting with him went very well. He’s going to be joining us next week, and every other Friday from now on, depending on how it goes the first time of course. I want you to be clear about this though – you can top Josh but you’re still my sub.”
“What does that make Josh? The sub’s sub?” Jed wrinkled up his face, considering that.
“Yeah,” Leo chuckled. “The lowest of the low although he doesn’t seem to mind that – in fact I think that’s pretty much the way he wants it. So, in this room you’re still Josiah and you’ll still do as I say. I won’t countermand anything you say to Josh unless I think you’re wrong – and if I do, you’ll accept my decision immediately. I have a lot more experience of this than you do and the way I see it you have a lot of learning to do.”
“Yes, Leo,” Jed said in a mock-meek voice. Leo slapped his ass.
“I mean it. We don’t screw around with Josh – this has to be as good and as right for him as it is for you.”
“Yes, Leo,” Jed said again, but this time his tone was completely serious. “Hell, we both care about that kid – there’s no way I’d do anything to hurt him.”
“I know.” Leo smiled. “It’s going to be mighty interesting seeing you top him,” he chuckled.
“What – you don’t think I can do it?” Jed asked. Leo shook his head.
“Oh I think you can do anything you set your mind to, Jed Bartlet – but it’s still going to be mighty interesting watching you!”
They talked for another half an hour and then finally fell into deep, peaceful sleep, limbs still entwined, Leo’s hand resting on his lover’s hair, Jed’s cheek on Leo’s chest.
Leo woke up just after 7 the next day, slipped out of the bed, took a shower, shaved, and cleaned his teeth. He got dressed silently, and then spent a couple of minutes clearing up the room and replacing all the implements in the trunk at the foot of the bed. When he was finished, he went over to the bed and looked down on his lover who was still fast asleep, utterly lost to the world, completely relaxed and at peace. Jed had a dreamy half-smile on his features and his hair was all awry. He didn’t look like the President of the United States; he looked like the tousled haired lover and wayward but charming sub of Leo McGarry.
Leo leaned over and dropped a kiss on his lover’s forehead.
“See you next Friday, Josiah,” he murmured and then, very quietly, he left the room.
End of Part Two
Continued in
Chapter 5
