A/N: some solid daddy-kink references here but nothing crazy kinky going on

Dex looked down at his boy, laying on his front, face burrowed in the pillow, one leg bent high to his side, accentuating the perfect peach of his ass.

He wanted to leave him there, peaceful and adorable, making sweet snuffling sounds, his thick black hair wild and unformed.

But it was not to be. Dex lifted the cup - filled to the brim with ice cold water - with a pre-emptive wince, before flinging it across the back of his lover. The response was exactly as he expected, already stepping back to the doorway and out of the line of fire.

"What the fuck! You bastard!" Dae screeched, jumping up.

"Stop!" Dex instructed, letting the full force of his Dom voice through so Dae would know it wasn't the time to push.

The boy stuttered, still poised to attack, but now still, as if he'd been hit with a pause button.

"Daddy?" he whimpered, eyes wide and wet.

"Ssh, baby, it's okay. Remember what we agreed?"

Dae thought for a moment before throwing his head back with a groan.

"Seriously? I didn't think you'd do it."

"Come on now. I promised. Doesn't Daddy always keep his promises?"

"Yes," Dae muttered, but he didn't look pleased about it.

"Baby, you're going to watch your tone. Unless you want me to take you over my knee – and not in the fun way."

"Sorry Daddy." Dae was genuinely contrite, as he always was when he knew he was taking his brattiness too far, though Dex didn't expect it to last long.

Dex moved forward now that the danger had passed, pulling Dae to him for a soothing hug. After a moment, though, he stepped back, all business.

"Get your running shorts on."

Dae hissed but went to the drawer and pulled out a pair of red shorts.

"Not those ones."

Of course, that made him grin evilly, even as he turned with innocent eyes. "Why not, Daddy?"

"You know why. Don't push it."

That pair were ones he wore regularly to the club; they were barely there and revealed the lower curve of his butt. There was no way Dex was letting him wear them for a run in the park.

Dae sighed, but pulled out the black running shorts that they'd bought especially for this new regime. The regime that Dex had known Dae would try to get out of the moment it began, but he wasn't backing down. Not yet, anyway.

As far as he was concerned, Dae was perfect. He'd gained a little weight since they'd met, but it only made him look healthier now that he was able to eat regularly. And Dex adored the soft lines of his stomach and ass just as much as he'd liked the earlier sharp collarbones. But Dae was always comparing himself with the other subs and finding himself wanting. In the bedroom, in scenes and out of them, he allowed himself to become absorbed in Dex's adoration, but in the club or just when they were hanging out, he always seemed to have a little furrow of consternation every time he glanced at the solid, toned bodies of several of the other subs, like Ellis, Nikki, and even Owen these days. Dex hated seeing his boy upset, so, when Dae had brought it up, by trying to avoid eating breakfast, he'd suggested an exercise routine instead. Dae had jumped on the idea with excitement, but Dex wasn't surprised that the actual arrival of the first day had brought sulkiness instead.

But he was smart enough to know that Dae's current mindset wouldn't allow for Dex to be the reason it stopped. He was too sensitive about the issue and would read more into it than there was. He'd need to either decide for himself, or - Dex allowed for the possibility - realize he didn't hate exercise as much as he thought and get into it.

"Are you ready?" Dae asked with zero enthusiasm.

"Sure am. We should stretch out first."

"Oof, do we have to?"

"Yes, baby, if you don't want sore muscles later."

"Why would it matter?" Dae asked – borderline belligerent.

Dex ignored it, an idea coming to him. "Well, what if I said I have special plans for you? And you'll need to be very flexible."

"Really?"

At least that put a smile on his face, and when Dex helped him stretch his quads by pressing him down into a lunge, and then his shoulders by pulling his arms firmly behind him, there was a very real risk that both of them would give up on the exercise right then, in favor of something much more fun.

But Dex managed to avoid temptation, barely, even as that temptation looked up at him with kitten eyes that rival Bagheera's, and a wobbly bottom lip.

"You agreed," Dex told him regretfully, waiting for a safeword. It didn't have to be sex - if his boy safeworded out of something, it stopped. Not that he did often, not once he'd realized he could trust Dex with his heart and his wellbeing. Though Dex was worried he was struggling to believe that at the moment.

"I did," Dae agreed, his face still comically sad.

* * * * *

"You did so good, baby," Dex said with a laugh, pulling Dae's sweaty body toward him.

"I did?" Now the dreaded run was over, Dae had a happy flush across his cheeks, and his eyes were sparkling. "But, you did promise I'd get a reward. What do I get?"

Dex had promised him that, before the run, and during it - several times when Dae seemed tempted to give up. It was no hardship to follow through though.

"Go shower, alone," he said, preempting his boy's request, which gained him a pout. "Meet me in our bedroom when you're done."

Dae went off, shaking his cute butt to torment Dex, who gave a happy groan at the sight. He rushed through his own shower in the other bathroom, only slipping on some tight, black, boxers, but Dae was still finished before him, waiting at the end of their bed, wearing the red running shorts and a hopeful smile.

"Optimistic, aren't you?"

"Yes," Dae grinned, cheeky as ever.

Dex schooled his features, making sure he was stern; satisfied with the whimpered exhalation it drew from Dae.

"You've been pushing, baby. Grumpy today, even though you'd agreed to it. You wanted it. Is there more?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy." He cast his eyes down, ashamed, but Dex wouldn't let him get away with it.

He stepped closer, intently and intentionally, his eyes hard and his mouth in a firm line, gently taking hold of Dae's chin so he had to look. "I need more than that, this time."

Dae's breath stuttered as Dex came close, resting a hand on his hip.

"Don't make me, Daddy."

"Take a break on that, Dae. We aren't playing yet and I'm being serious. I want to know why you've been ramping up the bratty behavior. It isn't even just today - it's been a few weeks."

Dae slumped onto the bed like his strings had been cut, his eyes filled with genuine tears, which he blinked away. Dex appreciated it meant he was taking it seriously - Dae was a crier in scenes when they called for it: Dex loved seeing him lose control and he loved feeding into that, but he barely ever did outside of them.

"I just... I know you could do better than me."

"Well, that isn't true. You're perfect."

"Ha, I think we know that's not true. I'm a mess. I'm needy and demanding. I act like a little shit and you know it. And now, I'm not even cute."

Dex pulled him up, a little rough because he needed to choose his words carefully but he couldn't keep every bit of his frustration in. "You are the cutest Dae. And I love you needy and bratty, when it's your own choice. I'm only calling you on it now because I can see that you're using it to punish me."

"I'm not! I wouldn't do that."

"Maybe you wouldn't on purpose, but you're pushing me. I realize now that it's because you're afraid that I won't want you anymore and you're forcing me to prove myself. Am I wrong?"

Dae responded to his own feet. "Maybe not," he whispered.

"Your fears are doing you wrong. I want you more every day that I have you."

Dae finally looked up to him with a hopeful gaze and wonder in his voice. "You really do?"

"I do, and I will tell you that all the time if it's what you need."

"Not all the time," Dae insisted, before giggling softly. "Maybe some of the time, though."

"Okay, it's a deal. And you have to talk to me. I love you bratty, but I want to know it's play, not insecurity." It had been a recurring theme in their relationship since the beginning, but Dex really would keep reminding Dae if that's what was needed.

"Okay, I promise I will. Can we play now? You did say."

"Sure we can, baby." Though Dex made a mental note to speak to Gray about maybe having a few therapy sessions together to make sure they were truly committed to better communication.

Dex kissed Dae sweetly, stroking his back as he felt the tension leach from his boy's body, and his own. He hadn't entirely realized how tense he'd been at Dae's ramped up brattiness and having confirmation that it wasn't anything they couldn't get through relieved him more than he thought possible. He shuffled out of his underwear and sat on the bed, lifting Dae easily to straddle him.

Dex dropped kisses across his collarbones, murmuring sweet words. "So good for me, baby, such a sweet boy who deserves everything. I'm going to look after you so well." He held Dae's hips, helping him rut down on Dex's thick cock with little mewls of need. Dex claimed his lips again, twisting his fingers into his hair to hold him close, searching his mouth with an almost desperate level of passion until Dae was lax against him.

"Can I suck you, Daddy?" he asked when Dex finally released his mouth, his words breathy.

"Not today, baby." Dex lifted him again, smoothly switching places so Dae was laid out on the bed and Dex could look his fill of his gorgeous boy. "Today is all about you."

He slid the red shorts off, kissing across the revealed skin of Dae's hips, still narrow, regardless of Dae's body image worries. They were one of Dex's favorite places to mark up, turning the pale skin pink with nibbles, not least because it made Dae writhe delightfully. He kissed down his thighs, spreading his legs so he could reach the ultra-soft flesh of his inner thigh and make Dae whimper and plead for more, but Dex wasn't done teasing him.

He kissed and nipped over every part of Dae's exposed torso, extolling him to be a good boy and take it each time he begged to be fucked. It was tempting to flip him over and spank his pretty little ass, but the desire to keep being able to watch his lust-filled eyes warred with that, and Dae decided it could wait, maybe till round two, as he had a happy feeling the rest of his day was booked now.

Instead of giving in to that desire, he gave in to another. He slid further down the bed, one hand reaching up to take hold of Dae's at his confused whimper, until he was settled comfortably between his boy's spread legs. He spent some more time on his inner thighs where the pink marks had begun to fade, just to get them appealingly marked up again.

"So good, baby, so pretty," he murmured, taking his fingers into his mouth before rubbing the wet digits against the exterior wrinkled skin of Dae's hole. "Gonna stretch you out so good."

"Please, Daddy, want you to," Dae begged, but he yelped when, instead of the fingers he was expecting, Dex's tongue lapped roughly across the muscle.

Dex murmured in pleasure - he loved the way Dae sank into the feeling, spreading his legs wider and arching his back as he threw his hands over his head with a long groan. He'd even made Dae come with just his mouth on his ass before, but that wasn't his plan today. Instead, as he kept licking, pushing the tip of his tongue until the muscle began to loosen, he reached a hand under the bed, to the lube they kept there - this was a long way from being his first rodeo - depressing the pump until the fingers on his free hand were coated and he could bring it up and slick the wetness against Dae. A finger easily slid inside, and he worked it deep, and then a second, as Dae's hips bucked even as Dex pressed his mouth to one, to kiss and feel and soothe.

He spent a long time, twisting and pressing, the time only partly to stretch his boy out ready for him. It was also because he loved the feel of Dae against him, the noises his dexterous movement wrung out of him.

When he could feel Dae's body making desperate tenses against his fingers, being taken to the edge, he carefully pulled his hand away and slicked up his cock, already dripping in preparation, and he traveled up the bed, sliding himself inside as he moved in one peaceful movement to connect his lips to Dae's gasping mouth. He didn't slam into Dae - they both liked that, but he felt it wasn't what was needed today. Dae needed to know he was adored, and precious, so Dex ground his hips instead, rolling inside the tight space that was made for him and only him.

"My boy," he whispered into Dae's ear, taking the lobe between his lips and sucking as Dae thrust his hips up to meet the next roll.

They built a rhythm that came so easy to them now. Roll and thrust, repeat; Dae moaning deliciously beneath him, sounding needy and sweet as his body flushed, getting closer. The tightening of his muscles massaged Dex inside him, sending pulses of pleasure that exploded in his mind in fizzing sparks. Dae came first, no more pressure on his cock than the press of Dex's abs, his head pushed back, neck smooth and inviting. Dex buried his face in it, sucking a mark on the juncture of his collar, only taking a moment more to let go.

They lay together afterwards, Dex having efficiently cleaned his boy up, now with both arms holding him close.

"You're amazing baby."

"Thanks Daddy, you are too."

That inherent agreement, the understanding that he believed Dex's claim, made Dex hug him just a little tighter, a happy grin hidden against Dae's shoulder-blade.