Chapter 1

1

T obias leaned in the doorway, one shoulder against the jamb and his arms folded over his chest, watching silently. He was wearing riding clothes, intending to go for a ride on his horse, but he hadn't yet made it down the stairs to the lower level of the farmhouse.

Instead, while dressing, he'd heard the clink of free weights coming from the newly created workout room, and, a little too like Pavlov's dog for comfort, he'd gone there instead.

Tobias had a weakness for watching Noah exercise. Noah had kept himself in insanely good shape after leaving the police force, maybe even better than he had done while working for the law. He tended to do a lot of work without his shirt on since his change of employment, and while he wasn't ripped and cut, he was certainly firm and tight. Tobias rarely missed a chance to look his fill.

"You're in here early," Tobias said, watching Noah's arms curl so his biceps flexed.

Noah glanced up at Tobias briefly, then back at his biceps. "Nine, ten," he counted out loud. "Good morning. Thirteen..." He grunted his way through fourteen and fifteen, his teeth clenched and his brow furrowed.

Tobias found he had more than a passing appreciation for Noah's intensity, and he smiled to himself as he felt desire lick up his spine. It never failed -- Noah and weights, that was all it took. Well, Noah and just about anything, but the weights were a sure thing.

"I can't sleep alone," Noah explained, still panting. "In that great big bed." He gave Tobias a suggestive wink as he set the dumbbells back in their rack. "Plus, I'm heading into town today." He patted his face with a towel and smiled mischievously.

"I know." Tobias tried not to sigh. Usually, he had no issue at all with Noah having a day off from his duties as Tobias' submissive. Usually, Noah wasn't all sweaty and glossy from working out on his day off. "Do you and Phan have plans?"

Phantom, Tobias could hear, was in the kitchen making breakfast. It was his day off as well, but Phan didn't seem to think that Tobias was capable of making his own breakfast. Though why toast needed the noisy rattle of a frying pan on a gas range, Tobias didn't know.

"We do." Noah approached Tobias slowly. "Breakfast," he said, just as something clattered in the kitchen, "which you've no doubt noticed, and then shopping and a downtown, greasy dinner. This would be why I need the extra workout." He leaned close and kissed Tobias lightly on the lips. "Are you going to miss us?"

"I always miss you. Well, usually. There are times I'd happily send Phan to town just so he'd stop pinging around the house and making it hard for me to get paperwork done." Tobias slipped his arms around Noah and kissed him again. "But I suppose he does have a valid point that I'm supposed to do that sort of thing in my office and not here."

"Well, you did insist that Bradford give you that swanky office at the club and a very sturdy desk to keep all that paperwork organized. I have to admit I don't think of the farm as work, either. I tend to leave that mentality at the club. But I'm just a sub; who am I to tell my Master where to do his work, right?"

Tobias snorted. "You do it all the time."

Noah grinned. "But I pay the price."

"One of these days, I'll stop letting you get whatever you want." Tobias barely kept himself from laughing. Noah teased, but he was never actually bad; if there was something to discuss, they handled things far better that way than with mental tug of war. They both liked the teasing, however, and Tobias would have been bored with compliant and malleable submissives.

Even if having two of them was a bit of a handful at times.

Noah grinned again and stepped backward, throwing the towel over his shoulder and reaching for his bottle of water. He gestured at Tobias. "You have a date with your mare? Or are you just working the handsome urban cowboy vibe?"

"I'm going for a ride, yes." Tobias nodded and glanced around the room. "Will you be back tonight or in the morning?"

"Depends on where you want us tomorrow. If we're at the club tomorrow, we'll crash at the townhouse. No point in taking the hour drive out here just to turn around in the morning, you know?"

"Of course." Tobias stepped back out of the doorway and looked down the stairs. "Phantom?"

"Sir?" The clatter grew, followed by muttering, before Phan could be heard jogging down the hall to the bottom of the staircase. "Good morning, sir." He was dressed in jeans. That was it, just jeans, and his hair was a riot of directional choices.

Tobias smiled and shook his head. "Good morning, Phan. Do you remember off the top of your head if I have an early appointment at the club tomorrow?"

"Not until ten," Phan said promptly. He tried to flatten his hair with one hand but failed miserably. "Is Noah dressed yet?"

"Sadly, yes." Tobias looked back at Noah in time to see his smirk. "All right, boys. Stay at the townhouse tonight, and meet me at work. If you run into trouble, just call."

Noah nodded. "Join us tonight if you want to." Noah, unlike Phan, wasn't given to formality on his days off; he rarely used "sir" or "Master" when he was on his own time. That was left over from an arrangement Tobias and Noah had made long ago, when they'd realized what had developed between them was complicated and more than the black and white Dom/sub relationship they thought that they'd been looking for.

Noah stepped around Tobias and leaned over the railing. "Do you need rescue, gorgeous, or can I go shower?"

Tobias snorted as he watched Phan preen at the compliment.

"I think I managed to beat the eggs into shape," Phan said, looking back toward the kitchen. "But hurry, okay? I'll have it on the table in a few minutes."

"For you, I'll hurry." Noah looked back at Tobias and lowered his voice. "Speaking of pinging, is it me or does he seem a little off to you this morning? You think you should check on what our little Julia Child is up to down there? He's usually pretty competent in the kitchen, you know?" Noah kissed Tobias again. "See you tonight, I hope."

Tobias frowned slightly and caught Noah gently by the wrist before he could escape. "Hang on, sweetheart." He waited until it was clear that Phan was back at work in the kitchen, the sound of running water mingling with the clatter of dishes. "Has he said anything to you? I can put off my ride if you think I should talk to him. You know how he gets."

Phan's desire to please Tobias had led him to downplay issues more than once. There had been several occasions that had made Tobias glad that his submissives loved each other and could talk openly and freely together. Tobias knew that Phan had an outlet, and Noah was very good at figuring out which issues should be brought to Tobias' attention and which could be dealt with on their own.

Noah looked thoughtful and shook his head. "He hasn't said anything, but I've been getting that ungrounded, scattered thing from him all morning. Like something is on his mind. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Phan without a shirt, but he's way too proud of his hair to forget to comb it. And that's Mrs. M's kitchen; he knows his way around it better than any of us." Noah sighed. "If you have time to talk, I can find something to do with myself for a while. If you don't get anywhere, I can see what I can get out of him today."

Tobias thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No. I think I'll leave it for now. It's his day off, and he might need to be away from here for a while to get his thoughts in order. Will you do me a favor, though, and make sure he gets a bit of exercise today and something vaguely healthy to eat?"

Noah grinned. "A nice salad with chicken for lunch and I'll run him ragged, I promise. And if anything comes up, I'll make sure you know about it, okay? I'm sorry I worried you. You should enjoy your day off, too." Noah gave Tobias' hand a squeeze. "Now, go eat your breakfast."

"Hey, who's the boss here?" Tobias pulled Noah to him and kissed him once more, deeply this time. "Be good today. I'll probably see you tonight, late."

Noah tossed his head in one of the best Phan imitations that Tobias had ever seen. "Good is so overrated," Noah said, and disappeared into the bedroom.

"I can't really disagree with that," Tobias said softly. He smiled as he went down the stairs, mostly content with his lot in life. He wasn't going to get to enjoy Noah in the afterglow of his workout, it was true, but he would see both Noah and Phantom that night, after they spent the day relaxing and talking and maybe even plotting.

Sometimes Tobias wondered if perhaps they should spend more of their days off apart, but as it was their time to do with as they wished, he never really pushed for it. If they were both happy, then Tobias was happy.

Phantom, however, didn't seem very happy. By the look of the kitchen, Tobias estimated that Phan had been unhappy for at least a few crucial moments that involved batter, a wooden spoon, and what appeared to be the waffle iron. It was hard to tell with all the batter smeared around it.

"Phan?" Tobias leaned on the counter and watched as Phan kept wiping the mess up, not lifting his face.

"Yes, sir." His voice was low.

"Are you all right?" Tobias kept his own voice down as well and tried not to sound anything more than concerned. "Are you upset with me?"

Phantom's head came up so fast that Tobias almost heard the snap. "No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make this mess. I was pouring batter and the edge of the bowl slipped and it fell and--"

"It's okay." Tobias reached for him even as he interrupted the flow of words. "It is. I promise. It's okay."

Phan sighed and went to him when Tobias tugged, until he was nestled into Tobias' arms, his head in the crook of Tobias' shoulder. "I'm okay," he said softly. "I am. A little scattered."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tobias rubbed his hand down Phan's bare back. At least he wasn't losing weight. Phan was slender, but his bones weren't sticking out anymore, not like they had before Phan had come back to live with them.

"Not right now, sir." Phan turned his face up and kissed Tobias quickly. "Maybe later. Sit. Your breakfast will get cold."

Tobias rolled his eyes. Really, he had to get his boys to stop ordering him around, day off or not. Maybe he'd mention it when it wasn't a Tuesday.