Jethro nuzzled at Tony’s throat, loving the way the younger man rested completely on him, back to his chest, utterly trusting. They were sprawled out on the sofa, nominally watching television, but really, Tony was dozing and Jethro was just enjoying his slave. He was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, but Tony was naked in his arms. Made him glad that he had a cloth sofa instead of leather, or Tony would be sticking to it, instead of him.

Grinning a bit at the thought, Jethro’s thumb brushed back and forth over the extra sensitive skin of Tony’s hipbone.

Tony shivered lightly and moved a bit, restless.

“I’ve been thinking.”

Tony chuckled softly and replied, “Uh oh.”

Slapping him lightly on the thigh, Jethro stated, “You’re getting a little too forward there, my own.”

“Me? Never,” Tony claimed, mildly sarcastic.

But when Tony turned in his arms, sliding a leg between Jethro’s, there was only devotion and humor in his changeable hazel eyes. Now having access to the bare ass, Jethro slapped him sharply there, thrilling to the gasp and dilation of those incredible eyes, as well as the hardening of Tony’s cock, now nestled against Jethro’s crotch.

Jethro growled softly and sucked on the enticing curve of Tony’s throat while delivering several, painful swats that echoed loudly in the otherwise quiet room. Tony squirmed against him delightfully, but didn’t really try to get away or escape the blows. He took a moment to kick off the sweats, then maneuvered them so that he was on top. Jethro started humping Tony, rubbing their shafts together until both were hard.

Moaning, Tony begged, “Please, Master, please!”

“Please what, slave?” Jethro asked gutturally.

Tony’s head dropped back against the pillow as he gasped, “Fuck me, please Master, take me hard!”

“Mmm, I don’t think so,” Jethro taunted. “I think I like you just like this, my own. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I want you to come, not even when I do.”

Tony’s eyes opened at that and the groan this time was of frustration as he obviously sensed Jethro’s playful mood. It descended as capriciously as did his sense of humor and the smacks to the back of Tony’s head.

Smirking, leering really, Jethro closed his eyes and concentrated on the feel of Tony’s body beneath him. How they fit perfectly together. The sweet friction of cock against cock, slicked by pre-come and sweat, the longer it went on. It didn’t take too much longer before he came, spilling onto Tony’s abs and chest. Panting, Jethro took a few moments to collect himself, laying flat on top of Tony, feeling his slave’s hot, heavy shaft pinned by his chest and grinning wickedly.

Raising up on his elbows, Jethro cleaned his come from Tony with his tongue, reveling in the tiny tremors that spoke of Tony’s self-control to deny himself release. Working his way down, Jethro came to the shaft that waited impatiently, dribbling pre-come against the chiseled abs. “I love your body, Tony. Love how you feel, how you taste, how you smell. It’s all so good. I want it all the time, but have to deny myself this pleasure far too often, due to circumstance. Not for too much longer, though. Another week and we’re on our way to Rome. Then you’re all mine whenever I want, DiNozzo.”

Tony moaned, thrashing beneath him as Jethro sucked on his cock, tongue swirling around the shaft and then down to his balls. He bit at the tender flesh of the inner thigh, causing Tony to cry out in pained pleasure, then returned to tormenting the even more sensitive skin of Tony’s cock. He sucked on it hard, going all the way down and working it with his throat. Not that he needed an excuse to punish Tony, but making him come without permission was always fun. It didn’t happen often, but it did happen.

Deciding abruptly that he was going to punish Tony just for the hell of it, Jethro pulled off and leaned up, over his slave. Biting sharply at an earlobe, he whispered, “Come.”

Tony jackknifed against him, wet heat coating them both before he collapsed into a panting wreck. Sated but restless in a different way, Jethro lay on Tony and sucked and bit at his throat, marking him in a dark purple bruise. Tony moaned as if in pain, but his head turned, exposing his throat further. Jethro moved a little and repeated the action on the other side. Pulling back, straddling Tony, he surveyed his slave with something akin to dissatisfaction.

Frowning, picking up on his mood in this as well, Tony asked, “Master? What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been thinking,” Jethro said, repeating his earlier words.

“About?”

Jethro’s knuckles brushed over that sensitive spot on Tony’s hip, eliciting a shiver. “I want to mark you, permanently. I’m just not sure what to do.”

Curious, Tony questioned, “What were you thinking? Tattoo, piercing, branding?”

Grinning wickedly, Jethro replied, “They all sound good to me. What do you want?”

“Whatever will please you most,” Tony replied after thinking for a moment. “I want you to look at me with pleasure.”

“I do,” Jethro promised.

Tony smiled and said, “I know, but you want more.”

“Yeah.”

“So do it. I want whatever you want, Master. Anything.”

At that, Jethro stood and hauled Tony upright. Surprised, and still sluggish from his orgasm, it took a few seconds for Tony’s feet to get moving as Jethro hustled him into the bedroom.

“Master?”

“Grab the ring.”

Tony shuddered in anticipation, but obeyed. He stretched to grab the iron ring that hung from the ceiling and waited, muscles flexing as Jethro just stood there, watching. Tony knew better than to look anywhere but directly in front by now, but Jethro liked to see if he could get the better of that insatiable curiosity and sometimes damning impatience. It didn’t look like tonight was going to be one of those nights, though, so he grinned a bit and turned to choose tonight’s toy.

It had been a while since they’d done any serious playing and Jethro didn’t really trust other people’s equipment so they weren’t likely to do anything like this on vacation. He picked up the whip, hefting the lighter piece in his hand, then set it back in the chest. The flogger was next, its solid weight comforting in his hand as he looked shrewdly at Tony. His skin was utterly pure, aside from the scars he still bore from his time in the Pens. There was no sign that he belonged to Jethro, other than his Chain, and that was unacceptable.

“We’ve gotten out of this habit,” Jethro mused, walking closer. “I think I’ve been entirely too lenient with you lately and it shows in those smart remarks to Kate and ribbing McGee, when he’s a freeman and you’re just my slave. I think that you deserve a good, long session tonight, to remind you exactly who you belong to, don’t you?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Tony gasped, “Yes, Master!”

The fact that Tony was so eager for it confirmed to Jethro how badly he’d misjudged the other man’s state of mind over the last few weeks. The furor from his father’s gruesome execution had died down, but there were still the occasional reporters popping out of the woodwork. It had taken a toll on the younger man, even though he’d never once complained. Shortly after the fiasco with the psychologist, Jethro had given Tony a long session from which it had taken him an entire day to recover, but after, the slave had been dreamily content.

Raising the flogger, he brushed it lightly over Tony’s back. Goosebumps erupted and Jethro continued the smooth movements over the scarred back. Almost five months later, they were just pink lines slowly fading into the past. Jethro hadn’t been thinking, when he’d allowed his own marks to fade, letting one of the physical, visible reassurances to Tony die out so that only the view of his cruel imprisonment remained.

Jethro silently vowed to change that and brought the flogger down in a hard blow. Tony cried out instantly and continuously as Jethro kept up the beating, but there were pleadings for more mixed in with the painful shouts. Once Tony’s ass was a dark, angry red, Jethro stopped and went back to the chest. He vacillated between whip and crop for a few minutes, deciding on whip at last. He could get Tony’s back and front with the bullwhip and Tony wouldn’t have to crane his neck to see the marks only on his backside.

This required just as much precision as the flogger, but a lighter touch in order to bring up a welt, but not split the skin. Jethro had been doing it much of his adult life, though, and now knew Tony’s limits as well as his own. It turned out to be a shorter session than he expected, but the wracking sobs that finally burst free, along with a tortured, “Stop, please stop!” instantly stayed his hand.

Tossing aside the whip, Jethro hurried to Tony, wrapping an arm around his slave’s waist and whispering, “Let go, my own, let it all go.”

Literally as well as figuratively, so that Tony released the ring and collapsed into Jethro’s arms. Bracing himself, Jethro scooped Tony into his arms and walked the short distance to the bed, thankful that it wasn’t any further away. As there were whip marks on his chest and back, as well as the welts from the flogger on his ass, Tony settled on his side, crying into the pillow until Jethro lay down beside him and gathered him close.

“I should have done that sooner,” Jethro murmured, combing his fingers through Tony’s think hair.

Breathing almost normally, with only the occasional hitch, Tony kissed his collarbone several times before replying, “Thank you for doing it now, Master.”

Never any criticism, he thought with a mental sigh. Not that they didn’t have their share of disagreements, and they sure as hell traded barbs back and forth, but in any matter of real import, Tony never complained and always put his own needs last. Thinking about it a moment longer, he said softly, “I want you to promise to do something for me, Tony.”

Wiping one-handed at his wet eyes in an endearing little-boy-lost image that went straight to Jethro’s heart, Tony asked, “What is it?”

“If you ever feel like you’re losing yourself, or neglected, or just need the release of a session like that, I want you to come in here and kneel directly under the ring. You don’t have to tell me anything. Just do that and I’ll know,” Jethro replied softly. “Can you do that?”

Tony sniffled and nodded, sighing deeply. “Yeah sure, I can do that.”

Seeing that Tony was already fading fast, Jethro kissed him tenderly and whispered, “Sleep now, my own, and know that I love you and that you belong only to me.”

There was another soft sigh before Tony did just that, but Jethro was up hours after.

*  *  *  *

“Come on, DiNozzo, get a move on!”

Tony yelped in pained surprise when his Master spanked him heavily on the ass, the area still really tender, despite it having been two days since he’d been beaten. Grabbing his coat as a shield against further swats, Tony hurriedly fell into step with Gibbs. Intensely curious as to where they were going, Tony wheedled, “Are you sure you won’t tell me where we’re going, Boss? I could drive with you in the car and all, ‘cause you know how you get in rush hour traffic and ow! No, wait, ow! Master!”

Five more hard slaps to his ass and Tony firmly bit his lip, not wanting to make the trip any more uncomfortable than it was already going to be. Already he was in firm denial about the 15-hour flight to Rome and how his ass would come out the worse for wear by the end of it. Gibbs had been especially heavy handed the last couple of days, prone to spanking Tony at the least provocation. He’d even gone so far as to bend Tony over his lap and give him ten sound blows right in the bullpen when he’d sassed Kate the day before.

Tony had never felt more secure or loved in his life.

The car ride was just as uncomfortable as he thought it would be, and he nearly bounced in excitement when Gibbs pulled into the parking lot beside a tattoo/piercing parlor in Dupont. Grinning broadly, he exclaimed, “I’m getting marked?”

Gibbs gave him an indulgent smile and nodded. “Today’s the last day we’ll have time free before the trip so I thought we’d get it done.”

“Thank you, Master!” Tony whooped, hopping out of the car and waiting impatiently for his Master to catch up.

He fell into step the prescribed two steps behind Gibbs, practically bouncing as they walked to the small shop. Inside was even smaller with just the one room and a curtained area behind the counter. The walls were plastered with tattoo markings and designs, the counter was a glass case that boasted many shelves of sparkling jewelry. Tony hovered right beside Gibbs, not sure what would happen next, and suddenly a little uncomfortable that someone besides his Master was going to touch him.

Gibbs soothed him automatically, rubbing a hand between his shoulder blades, and greeted the lone occupant, a small, overly-tattooed woman with flaming red hair. “Hey Jenny, how are you?”

She smiled as vibrantly as her hair and replied, “Great, Jethro, just great! Is this him? Oh, he’s lovely!”

Flushing a little at the scrutiny, Tony ducked his head and hid partially behind his Master.

Gibbs didn’t let him stay there, however, instead ordering, “Off with the coat, Tony. Show Mistress Jenny what I own.”

Groaning to himself, Tony nonetheless took off the coat to show himself off, his least favorite part of being Gibbs’ slave. The other man seemed to take perverse delight in baring him in front of people, showing him off to people he liked. And though Tony knew it was just a soldier’s way, showing off all his strengths, it still embarrassed him. Tugging off his shirt, he folded it neatly and set it with the coat over a nearby chair.

“Oh very nice,” Jenny approved. “Beautiful canvas. What am I doing for you?”

“I want nipple rings and a belly ring, to start.”

Startled, Tony’s eyes flickered to his Master’s to find a wicked gleam in the pale gaze. He swallowed nervously, wondering what else the other man wanted to pierce, but knowing that he would never gainsay the choice, no matter what it might be.

“Perfect. Gold?”

“Yes, but I want a sapphire in the belly ring, do you have something like that?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve got the perfect thing. Tony? Come on this way, lovely.”

Tony followed her behind the counter to a chair behind the curtained area that reminded him of one of those exam chairs found in a dentist’s office. Fortunately, Gibbs was right behind him, a warm hand on his hip, guiding him into the chair, giving him courage as Jenny did whatever she needed to do. She finally pulled up a chair beside his, along with a tray that held a piercing gun and a row of hoops.

“Here, take my hand,” Gibbs told him softly.

Taking it gratefully, Tony hissed in surprise at the cold swab of alcohol over his left nipple.

Jenny grinned and said, “Won’t be long. Hold on now, lovely.”

She loaded the gun with the first hoop, swabbed him with more alcohol, and brought it up to his chest. Tony closed his eyes and yelped in pain when the metal pierced his nipple. Fire burned through and the flesh throbbed unpleasantly. Before he could do more than that, the other nipple was swabbed with alcohol, the gun reloaded efficiently, and his right nipple suffered the same fate. Tears leaked from his eyes and he blinked over at Gibbs, who gently wiped them clear and kissed him thoroughly. By the time the needle again pierced him, this time putting a hole in his navel, Tony was fuzzy with pain and adrenaline and absolute adoration for the man who continued to kiss him.

“All done, you can stop distracting him now,” Jenny said, voice rich with amusement.

Tony whimpered in protest when Gibbs pulled away, reaching for him, then hissing when the movement jostled his new adornments. Looking down, he found classic, glittering hoops of gold threaded through his nipples. Further down was a slightly larger hoop with a sapphire stone close to Gibbs’ eye color set in the center of it. Pride mingled with the other heady feelings and he beamed up at his Master.

Gibbs swallowed hard and demanded hoarsely, “Jenny?”

“Back room’s over there.”

Tony found himself hauled out of the chair and pushed towards a door in the side wall. He had just enough coordination to push the door open and heard it slam shut behind them. Gibbs grabbed him around the waist and pushed him backwards against a counter. His mouth was seized in a hard, brutal kiss and Tony moaned, opening to the onslaught even as he whimpered when Gibbs’ body pressed into his, pushing against the piercings.

Pulling back, eyes glittering, Gibbs ordered, “Strip.”

“Y-yes, Master,” Tony whispered, hands fumbling with the drawstring on his loose pants as Gibbs unzipped his own dress slacks.

Gibbs moved between his legs, pulling one up and hooking it over his hip, cock rubbing beneath Tony’s balls, hard and hot. Knowing what his Master wanted, Tony leaned back on the counter, putting most of his weight on it, and wrapped both legs around the other man. Only a second later, that thick shaft pierced him as surely as the metal gun had before. Tony cried out in pain as he was Claimed, then and there, a brutal pace set while Gibbs took his body.

It bordered on violation, the Gunny forcing his cock into Tony’s hole over and over again, grunting and panting while he did. He fucked Tony without mercy and it lasted just long enough for Tony to find pleasure in it again, his own cock hardening sluggishly, thanks to a body too demoralized by the piercings to know how to take the added sensation. Gibbs humped deep as he came, filling Tony with his seed and pinning his slave in place as he spurted several times inside him.

Exhausted, in pain, wired, and nowhere near close enough to coming to cancel out the unpleasant sensations, Tony just maintained his precarious balance on the counter as Gibbs recovered. Finally catching his breath, Gibbs nuzzled at his chest, his tongue licking over Tony’s nipple to send a shock of pleasure through it. Gently taking a ring in his teeth, Gibbs tugged on it and Tony cried out, pain mixing with the pleasure to an extreme degree, and that was when he came, completely unexpectedly, spilling over both of them.

Moaning, Tony sagged into his Master’s arms, not even caring that he’d come without permission. Gibbs caught him, as he always did, and they fell in a controlled heap to the floor which was, fortunately, carpeted. Slumped over the other man, whose cock was still lodged in his ass, Tony couldn’t remember the last time he felt this wrecked.

Gentle fingers combed through his hair and Gibbs kissed his temple before murmuring, “Love you, my own, love you so much. You take everything I have to give without complaint. You’re so good, I’m so proud of you, Tony.”

A warmth that had nothing to do with the orgasm that had just been ripped from him flushed through Tony and he sighed in deep contentment. “Love you too, Master.”

There was a cheerful knock on the door and Jenny called out, “Don’t forget I still have to give you instructions before you leave.”

Gibbs chuckled and swatted him lightly on the ass, ordering, “Off, my own, let’s get you settled at home while I finish up the packing. In two days, we’ll be on vacation where I can try out these beauties for real.”

Carefully pulling off the still mostly-hard cock, Tony winced in pain as he slowly climbed to his feet. He easily let Gibbs push him over the counter, face forward this time, and perform some minor first aid on him, telling him there was some blood mixed with the come. Fortunately, Jenny’s shop was stocked for just about anything, so after an enema and a lecture on the care and cleaning of his piercings, they were on their way.

Drifting in a hazy, dreamy contentedness, Tony smiled when Gibbs laced their fingers together and closed his eyes to sleep the rest of the ride home.