Work Text:
This was not how Austin had wanted to spend his Saturday. He was incredibly grateful for Hank letting him work at the Ranch on the weekends while he got his college degree. Hank had gone so far as to create a job role just for him so he could work with the teens at the Ranch on the weekends. Balancing working on the ranch and attending college was a challenge and already Austin had several assignments he needed to do that he might have been putting off just a little. He knew all he needed to do was to tell Hank that he had assignments he needed to work on and Hank would all but order him to go study, but despite the rather arduous task of fixing the long line of fencing the boys had torn down, he’d rather do that than work his way through the set of statistics problems he’d been set. As frustrating as it was having to replace the fencing along one side of their main mare and foal pasture, at least there was some satisfaction in knowing all then of the idiots were still feeling sore, especially Colt, Dustin, and Logan – the three sixteen year olds really should have known better, Hank had come down hard on them.
Max though could probably stand to feel more sore, little shit didn’t seem at all repentant and Austin would put down cold hard cash on it all being his fault in the first place. He’d received the same spanking and three licks of the strap as the other three fourteen year old boys who’d been involved, but was showing none of the remorse they were. Max was a right little shit though, every weekend when Austin came back from college, he heard the stories of what Max had done and which of the other teens he’d dragged along with him. It was far from the first time Noah, Harry, and Sam had blindly followed Max into trouble, and it wasn’t even the first time Max had pulled some of the older teens into his troublemaking – Charlie and Liam had gotten swept up once before. Max had also pulled Harley into his shit more than once, although the fourteen-year-old girl was wising up to Max quicker than the boys were, helped by the fact Steph, Scarlett, Ava, and Lucy had all collectively taken Harley under their wings. This was the first time Max had managed to pull so many others into trouble alongside him. Although Austin was sure this would be the first and last time Colt, Dustin, and Logan let him pull them into anything.
At least everyone else was properly remorseful, they were all quick to respond ‘yes, sir,’ and do what they were told, all appeared properly chastened and were working hard at replacing and repairing the fence. The mare and foal pasture was fortunately no longer needed, their foals were all weanlings now and those that weren’t being kept had gone to their new homes, but the pasture did get used when they needed to rest some of the other pastures, so it couldn’t be left with the fence down the way it was. Losing their free time and having to spend it repairing and replacing what they’d broken was just part of the consequences, doing it while still feeling the effects of the strapping they’d all gotten the evening before was just how things went on the Ranch. Even Drew and Zac were walking a little stiffly for not keeping a close enough eye on the teens during their free time. Colt, Dustin, and Logan had approval for unsupervised free time, but Callum, Liam, Charlie and their new boys did not. Colt, Dustin, and Logan had definitely lost the approval for unsupervised free time now.
Repairing and replacing the fence was not a challenging job, it was a regular part of maintaining the ranch; fixing, replacing, and upgrading the fences around the various pastures. Austin must have worked on every single fence on this ranch at some point over the course of his time here. It was physically taxing, repetitive, boring, and slow, but if everyone just put their heads down and got on with it, they could do the job properly in a decent amount of time. Unfortunately Austin didn’t think Max had ever heard of putting his damn head down and getting on with it. The little shit was doing his best to wind up everyone, but doing it in such a way that he was just managing to avoid getting in enough trouble to earn himself more than a reprimand. It was getting on Austin’s last nerve, but he focused on guiding Sam through what he needed to do, trying to tune out Max running his mouth.
“Max, I swear, if you don’t shut up I’m going to knock your teeth out,” Liam snapped.
“Liam! Go take a lap,” Thatcher ordered sharply.
“Thatch!” Liam protested. “Why am I–”
Thatcher crossed over to Liam and scruffed the teen, pulling him to his feet and landing a dozen hard swats to the seat of his jeans. “You either start running or drop ‘em and go over my knee then run three laps,” he announced. He released his hold on Liam and raised an eyebrow, looking down at him questioningly.
Liam bit back a curse and took off along the fence line. “He was the one running his damn mouth,” he muttered.
“Two laps,” Thatcher ordered.
Max sniggered watching Liam get into trouble.
Thatched watched Liam just long enough to make sure he was doing as he was told before he scruffed Max and yanked him up to his feet. He delivered a dozen hard swats to Max’s jean clad backside just as he had Liam, but instead of making Max run, he marched him over to Austin and Sam. “Sam, go join Colt and Callum,” he ordered. “Austin, you good to keep this one from getting in more trouble?”
“Yes, sir,” Sam murmured. He couldn’t completely keep the disappointment from his tone, he’d been enjoying working with Austin, having him explain everything they were doing and guide him patiently and kindly. Austin was his favorite staff member, even though he was only here on the weekends. He dusted his hands off then got up and headed down the fence line to where Colt and Callum were working.
“Yes, sir,” Austin agreed. He blushed, forgetting that he didn’t need to call Thatcher ‘sir’ anymore, it was just a force of habit, especially when Thatcher had that stern expression on his face. “I mean, yes, Thatch, that’s fine,” he agreed. He would rather not be working one on one with Max, kid could test the patience of a saint, but that was his job now, an extra hand, helping out where needed, and yes, working one on one with the teens when they needed a little extra help.
Thatcher had to work not to give an amused smirk at Austin’s slip, kid was only a few months into his new role as a junior member of staff, the slips were to be expected. “Thank you, Austin,” he acknowledged, pointedly, reminding Austin they were more equal now. He landed another swat to Max’s ass before releasing the teen. “You, behave yourself. Austin, make sure he does.”
Max had been pouting as he was marched over to Austin, but a grin spread across his face when Austin called Thatcher ‘sir’ and got all embarrassed about it. He yelped at the smack, his hands going back to rub his ass. It was hardly his fault Liam couldn’t take a little joking and teasing. When Thatcher walked away, Max rolled his eyes and got down on the ground next to Austin, grinning cheekily he nudged his elbow into Austin. “Thatch has such a stick up his ass, doesn’t he?”
Austin gave Max a sharp look. “Max–” he started. They didn’t demand formal titles of respect all the time, only when the teens were in trouble, and they did adopt a more friendly relationship with the teens, but there was a level of respect expected.
Max rolled his eyes again. “Yeah, yeah we’re supposed to speak respectfully to members of staff, but I’m not talking to staff, I’m talking to you,” he interrupted.
“Hey! I am a member of staff–” Austin began. He couldn’t help bristling at Max putting them on the same level, even Bradley, Deck, Josh, Theo, and Ruby accepted he was a member of staff now and due some respect.
Max scoffed, “Yeah, ‘course you are, sir.”
Austin shot Max a glare. “Watch it. You will stop interrupting me and speak to me with respect, Max.” He tried to inject enough authority into his voice that Max would listen, biting back his rising frustration.
Max’s smirk grew. “Why don’t you make me? Sir,” he taunted.
“Right. Get up and drop ‘em, you’re going over my knee,” Austin ordered. He rose to his own feet, glaring down hard at Max, his jaw tight. He reminded himself of everything Hank had taught him to try and keep his temper.
Max leaned back on his arms and looked up at Austin with a big, shit eating grin. “Make. Me,” he sang. He wagged his tongue at Austin, tauntingly.
“You little shit! Get your ass up–” Austin snapped.
“Ah, ah, aaahhh. That’s bad language. Not allowed to swear. You swear at a staff member, and they’ll wash your mouth out,” Max goaded. He shook his head in mock disappointment.
“Max! Get up! Now!” Austin barked.
Max cocked his head to one side, like he was thinking about it. “Naaaaah, don’t feel like it. Comfy down here.” He crossed his ankles and just continued smirking at Austin.
Austin reached down and grabbed the front of Max’s shirt, using it to haul the little shit to his feet, getting into his face. “Listen to me you absolute fucking shit–”
“Oh I’m so scared of you,” Max jeered.
“Shut your fucking mouth for once in your fucking life!” Austin yelled. He gave the teen in his grip a shake.
Max shoved against Austin. “Fucking make me!”
Hank grabbed hold of Austin’s arm and broke his hold on Max’s shirt, pulling him back from the teen. “Go for a run! Now!” He ordered.
Austin bristled at being barked at like he was still one of the rebellious teens they took in here at the Ranch and not instead working here. “Hank–” he started.
Hank spun Austin around, so they were face to face and yanked him in close. “Unless you want me to bend you over the nearest fence and whip you right here, right now, in front of everyone, then I suggest you get moving, boy.” He spoke quietly in a low growl right in Austin’s ear, giving the boy some measure of privacy now he was a junior member of staff and not instead one of the teens staying at the Ranch.
Austin wanted to insist that Hank wouldn’t do that, but he’d never known the man to make a threat he wasn’t fully prepared to go through with. Gritting his teeth hard he glared at Hank, fighting back the blush that threatened to color his cheeks. “Fine,” he hissed.
“Do not test me, Austin,” Hank warned. He released his junior staff member and watched him take off on his run for a lap around the field.
A few paces away from the man who Austin could admit had saved him from the self-destructive path he’d been on as a teen, Austin stopped fighting the blush. He was eighteen years old, in college, working here as a damn favor to Hank; working here had nothing to do with how much he felt he owed the man or wanted to learn from him, to do for others what Hank had done for him. He was fine, sure he shouldn’t have yelled at the little shit, shouldn’t have gotten in his face but damn the kid knew how to press every button he had – even the ones he wasn’t aware that he had. He hadn’t been out of control or anything, and he hadn’t been about to discipline the little shit – just- just… shit. Austin groaned as he forced himself to admit that he’d lost his temper. No, he hadn’t been about to hit Max in anger, but he had lost his temper and they weren’t supposed to do that, he knew that. He sighed and ran around the fence line; his ass was toast.
Once he was sure Austin was going to obey, Hank turned to Max. “Come,” he commanded. He turned, expecting to be obeyed, and moved over to a repaired stretch of fence, sticking his foot up on the bottom rail. “Drop ‘em and over you go, boy.”
Max was more than happy to poke and prod at Austin, taunt and tease him, and disobey him, but Hank, and frankly all the other members of staff, were different. He huffed and dragged his feet as he followed Hank to the fence. “What? Why?! I didn’t even do anything!” He protested.
“You directly defied and were disrespectful towards Austin, boy. Now I won’t tell you again, drop ‘em and over you go,” Hank ordered. He nodded meaningfully towards his thigh.
“Yeah, so?! Austin–” Max started.
Hank shook his head, kid had fair warning. He reached out and took hold of Max’s elbow, pulling him to him and tossing him over his knee, cutting off whatever the teen was about to say about Austin. “Austin is a member of staff when he is here. Which means, boy, you will treat him with the respect his position is due. He tells you to do something, you hop to it and do it. You do not give him lip, you do not goad him, and you definitely do not defy him,” he scolded. As he lectured he brought his hand down hard and fast over Max’s backside, holding the teen securely over his knee without trouble, even as the boy flailed. As soon as he was done talking he pulled the teen up and off his knee and deposited him back on his feet, keeping hold of him so he couldn’t run off though. “Last chance to do it yourself before I do it for you. Fair warning, boy, if I have to do it for you then we will spend the next week practicing following orders at bedtime,” he warned.
Max let out a startled cry as he was suddenly pulled forward and dumped over Hank’s knee. He flailed as he tried to keep his own balance, although with Hank’s arm around his waist he knew logically he wasn’t going anywhere. He could barely concentrate on Hank’s words as the man brought his hand down across his jean covered ass. Max really did think his jeans should offer far more protection than they seemed to. It made no sense at all that, although getting his bare ass smacked stung a hell of a lot more and it thudded more over jeans, the overall hurt seemed the same. He gasped and furiously tried to rub the heat out when he was set back up right. He knew what ‘practicing following orders at bedtime’ meant and had no desire to get a week of bedtime spankings. “What’s the point? Hurts anyway,” he huffed.
Hank set his foot down and dropped his grip on Max to his waistband, deftly unbuckling the teenager’s belt and loosening it before unbuttoning his jeans.
“Wait! Hank! No! I’ll do it!” Max protested. He tried to gently push Hank’s hands away, not quite brave enough to really push them or smack them away.
Hank smacked Max’s hands away firmly. “Hands on your head, boy. And you know how to address me right now. Can just as easily add a week of practicing that along with your week of practicing following instructions at bedtime,” he reprimanded. Part of guiding these teens involved meeting them where they were at. Allowing familiarity and a more relaxed relationship when the teens were behaving and doing what they were supposed to helped to foster trust between the teens and staff, but when they needed the boundaries enforced they lost the privilege of the familiarity.
Max snapped his jaw shut and very reluctantly put his hands on his head, making sure to give Hank a look so the man knew he was unhappy.
Hank ignored the stink eye the teen was giving him and made quick work of getting Max’s jeans and underpants down. Then, rather than putting the boy back over his knee, he simply bent him over his hip, keeping a firm grip around his waist, and started bringing his hand down hard over his backside. There were no signs of yesterday’s strapping, as Hank had intended, although he was sure the boy was still feeling tender. Even if there had been signs though, that would not have spared the teen what he had earned; if these teens earned a spanking they were going to get it.
Max let out a yelp of surprise when Hank tucked him under his arm and bent him over his hip rather than putting him over his knee. He couldn’t help squirming and wiggling his hips as Hank’s hand came down across his bare ass. He did not understand how the man’s hand hurt so much! He could swear Hank’s hand hurt as bad as the paddle, especially when he was still sore from yesterday! He hopped and bounced, shifting from one foot to the other as he tried to keep in his cries of pain. He knew, because he would be watching if it was someone else getting it, that everyone would be watching him and he didn’t want to lose his composure over a hand spanking – even one from Hank.
Hank moved his focus to Max’s sit spots, right where he’d landed the second lick of the strap, ignoring the cry of pain coming from the teen. He felt a firm grip on the boy and just let his hand do the talking, going back and forth between both tender sit spots and painting them a good deep red before dropping his hand down to the backs of Max’s thighs.
“Aaaaaah! Hank! Pleeeeeease! Not there!” Max begged. His hands flailed as he fought the urge to throw them back in an attempt to block, since he knew he couldn’t in this position anyway and it would only go worse for him if he did.
“That is not how you address me, boy,” Hank corrected. He brought his hand down a fraction harder and faster, painting the tops of the backs of Max’s thighs with rapid fire smacks.
“Ow! Ah! Sorry! Sorry! Sir! Sir, please!” Max pleaded. He couldn’t hold back the tears welling up in his eyes as they spilled out and ran down his cheeks.
With Max now crying, Hank moved back to his backside and worked on deepening the color and making sure the message that disrespecting Austin and disobeying him was not an option was fully and completely delivered. Thoroughly covering Max’s ass with blisteringly hard and fast swats that would keep his backside heated for at least a couple hours, and hopefully help him keep his mouth in check for at least that time too.
Max couldn’t hold back his crying any further as Hank lit an absolute fire in his ass, his crying shifting to sobbing as Hank just kept spanking him. His feet practically danced as he switched his weight from one to the other, trying to kick, but it was impossible in this position.
Once Max was sobbing Hank returned to his sit spots, only briefly though, since they were already the same color as Max’s cheeks. He deepened the color just a shade, then returned to his thighs, color matching them to Max’s cheeks. By the time he was satisfied with the color, the boy was sobbing too hard to talk and Hank knew he’d had enough. He landed a final flurry of swats to Max’s sit spots to finish the spanking and rested his hand on the boy’s back, rubbing it in small circles. “You’re alright, Max. Took that well,” he soothed.
All Max could do was sob as his whole read end felt like Hank had taken a blow torch to it. Although in the past couple months since he’d arrived at the ranch he’d gotten bent over just about every surface on the ranch and spanked, he always seemed to forget just how much it hurt until he was getting it.
After rubbing Max’s back for just a bit, Hank gently helped the teen to his feet, turned slightly to give him a moment to redress himself before pulling the boy into his arms and his chest. He cupped the back of the boy’s head and rubbed his back as he sobbed into his chest. “That’s it, you’re a good boy. Clean slate,” he assured the boy.
Max quickly pulled his underpants and jeans back up, letting out a half strangled cry as even the soft material of his underpants chafed against his well spanked ass. He didn’t bother doing his fly up or re-buckling his belt yet, giving himself as long as possible before fully trapping the heat radiating from his ass in the unforgiving denim. Before he could even begin to work up the courage to do that, he was in Hank’s arms. He immediately clung to Hank and sobbed into the man’s chest, the gruff words of assurance and comfort easing something in him.
Hank held Max until his sobs trailed off and the boy was down to just hiccups and sniffles and his grip on him relaxed just a bit. He gently pulled the boy off him and held him by his shoulders. “You show every member of staff here the proper respect, boy. They give you an order, and you follow it. Austin included. Austin is a member of staff here and you will show him the correct respect he is due. I catch you being disrespectful like you were again and you will feel my belt. Is that clear?”
Max dropped his head at the scolding. “Yes, Hank,” he gave in.
Hank reached around and handed a hard swat to the back of Max’s leg. “That is not how you address me or any staff this week, boy. For this week, you’re going to be practicing proper respect to all members of staff, just like you’re going to be practicing doing what you are told at bedtime,” he declared.
Max opened his mouth to protest, that wasn’t fair!
“Boy, you better think real carefully about what you are about to say, because I don’t have any issue bending you back over and going another round,” Hank warned sharply.
Max snapped his mouth closed. His ass hurt, he couldn’t take anymore, but he didn’t think it was fair he had to call everyone sir or ma’am.
Hank took hold of Max’s chin to look the teen in the eyes. “You were warned, boy,” he reminded Max firmly. “You fail to address any member of staff with the proper form of respect, and you will be punished. Is that understood?” It wouldn’t be more than a dozen swats to the seat of his pants, a reminder more than anything, unless he outright refused to do as he was told. His bedtime spankings would also be handled similarly, so long as Max did as he was told and followed instructions they’d quick, easy, and over before the boy knew it; just enough to have him stinging and sniffly. If Max chose not to do as he was told, then it would go worse for him.
“Yes, sir,” Max muttered.
“One week, Max,” Hank reminded. He gave the boy’s shoulders a squeeze, before looking up and catching Thatch’s eyes, getting his nod. “You’re going to go and work directly with Thatcher,” he instructed. He turned the teen around and sent him over to Thatcher with a hard swat.
Max yelped at the swat and stumbled a step forward, his hands dropping to his fly to finally do up his jeans and re-buckle his belt. He rubbed his aching ass as he walked over to Thatcher, head down.
Thatcher cupped the back of Max’s head and ruffled his hair. “Come on, kid. Let’s get to work,” he urged.
Hank watched the teens carefully while he waited for Austin to return, assisting when they clearly needed help, holding rails in place to be nailed in when needed. Austin wasn’t one of the kids anymore, he deserved to receive his dues without an audience, but the teens also deserved to know the staff weren’t allowed to mistreat them. When his junior staff member returned, slightly out of breath but looking calmer at least, Hank nodded approvingly. “With me,” he ordered shortly. He turned and started walking in the direction Austin had come from.
Jogging around the field in working boots was not easy, but Austin had done his best to calm down as he was supposed to, using the jog to think about what he’d done and what he should have done instead. The shame Austin felt at losing his cool with Max started curling in his stomach pretty quickly. He knew Max had been trying to wind him up and annoy him, the kid had wanted him to lose his cool and his temper and he had. He’d let Hank down, he’d let himself down, he’d let all the teens down, but most of all, he’d let Max down. The teens needed to know they were safe here, safe and that the worst thing that would happen to them was a sore ass, and he’d damaged that safety for all the teens, but especially Max.
By the time Austin finished his lap of the pasture, he was more than ready to return to the main house and accept his punishment from Hank. When Hank ordered him to go with him, he didn’t complain, just fell in step behind the man, trying to ignore the embarrassment he felt knowing all the teens would know he was in trouble. They did deserve to know he would be facing consequences for his actions. Knowing that didn’t make it any easier to accept though.
Hank didn’t go far, and didn’t take Austin back to the house, which he was sure Austin was expecting. He turned along the fence line and stopped once there was a copse of trees blocking the view.
Austin had just been following, not paying too much attention to where they were going, but he frowned when Hank stopped, wondering why he’d stopped here.
Hank motioned to the fence. “You know the drill, boy. Drop 'em and over you go,” he ordered. He unbuckled his belt and started pulling it through the loops.
Austin blanched, “Here? Hank, come on.”
Hank pulled his belt out and grasped hold of the buckle end, doubling it up so he had a good length to work with. “That is not how you address me right now, is it?”
Austin grimaced, “No, sir, but- but- here? Please, sir? They’ll hear. Can’t we go inside?”
Hank shook his head, unsympathetically. “Maybe, if you hadn’t gotten into a shouting match with one of the teens like you were still a teen here yourself. I expect that kind of behavior from our teens, not my members of staff. You want me to hire you full time once you finish college, then you better start remembering what role you are supposed to be playing here. Now, don’t make me tell you again, boy. You do not want me putting you over that fence.”
Austin groaned but obediently walked over to the fence, four years as a teen directly under Hank’s care had him unable to disobey the man when given a direct order like that. He also knew just how easily Hank could indeed put him over that fence if he didn’t obey. He would do it too. Hank gave one chance and one chance only, and if he wasn’t obeyed, there were consequences. Austin unbuckled his own belt and unsnapped his jeans, shoving them and his boxer-briefs down to his ankles before bending himself over the fence. He grasped onto the bottom rail shifting his stance to keep himself steady.
Hank stepped up behind Austin, “I don’t like having to do this to you still, boy, but make no mistake of it, if you earn it, you’ll get it. I’m disappointed in your behavior, Austin. You know better than to let these teens get under your skin like that. Next time you act like one of them around them, I’ll punish you just like them in front of them, and if I hear you swearing at them again, you will be tasting soap.” With that he brought the belt down hard across his young protégés ass.
Austin hissed in pain as the belt landed across his ass. He’d lost count of how many times he’d gotten his ass belted over the past four and a bit years, but somehow it never got easier to take and that first lick of the belt was always so shocking. There was just no getting used to how the leather bit at his ass. He gripped onto the rail harder, his knuckles turning white as he pressed his lips together as hard as he could. He needed to be as quiet as possible; they were not nearly far enough away that he wouldn’t be heard yelling and hollering if he couldn’t keep quiet. Even though Austin knew all the teens knew he was being punished, and last year Callum, Liam, Charlie, Colt, Dustin, and Logan had all seen him being spanked, it was different now. He was a member of staff now, in college, not one of the teens anymore, even if he was only a year older than Bradley, Decker, Theo, Jacob, and Ruby.
Hank followed the first lick with a second, then a third, not going easy on the boy. Austin knew better than to lose his temper with any of their teens. Hank had taught him how to control and keep his temper. That his young protégé had completely disregarded everything Hank had taught him was not something Hank was prepared to let Austin slide on in the slightest. He used the belt slowly and methodically, working from the top of Austin’s ass down, overlapping the licks by just a quarter. With any of the teens on the Ranch, they’d all get a number of licks, but Austin was staff now, in a position Hank had created specifically for the young man, so when he earned a punishment, it would be more severe.
Austin tried hard to take the whipping stoically. It was far, far from the first time he’d found himself in this position with Hank and he couldn’t deny it was fully deserved. He couldn’t help squirming as the belt just continued coming down and Hank’s arm was somehow even stronger than it had been when he’d been a teen here. He desperately did not want to cry out, knowing it would be heard, he was half convinced the belt was landing so hard that the crack of leather against bare ass could surely be heard too, but he was crossing everything he had that it wasn’t. He managed to hold on, to keep his lips locked tightly together, until the belt landed across his sit spots and he let out a strangled cry. “Han-Sir! I’m sorry!” He cried out. He just couldn’t help himself, he would not beg, or plead though, he had earned this, he deserved this.
Hank brought the belt down again, across the very tops of the backs of Austin’s thighs. “You should be sorry, boy. I have taught you better than that! You know how important the sense of trust and safety is to these teens. We cannot operate if they do not trust us. I put my trust and faith in you, allowing you to have this role as a trusted junior handler for these teens. Not minding your temper is not an option,” he scolded. He worked slowly down Austin’s thighs, each lick half an inch below the previous, making sure the licks would be felt.
Austin could not hold back his yell as the belt landed across the tops of his thighs, his knee buckling slightly as he fought the urge to kick. He gripped even tighter onto the bottom rail of the fence as the tears he’d been holding back by sheer force of will spilled down his cheeks. He could no longer keep quiet as the belt travelled lower and lower down his thighs, leaving lines of fire in its wake.
Hank worked all the way down to mid-thigh, then started slowly working back up, going over the previous licks.
The belt landing on already belted skin had Austin howling and fighting to stay bent over. He’d taken more beltings than he cared to count, but not normally over already belted skin!
Hank took care not to go over fresh belt licks with the teens, not to cover already belted skin, except under specific circumstances, like if they misbehaved just after getting a belting. However, Austin was a member of staff now, not one of the teens, and Hank had much higher expectations of his staff than he did the teens, and specifically he expected more from Austin. Austin was in a unique position, and he was putting a lot of trust in him, but Hank knew and trusted that Austin would not only meet those high expectations, but rise above them.
Austin’s cries shifted to sobs as the belt continued the just as slow and methodical journey back up his thighs. In the back of his mind he was aware his yells and cries were definitely loud enough for the teens working on the fence to hear, but he couldn’t spare the mental concentration to care about that. All he could think of was how much it hurt and how sorry he was. He had no idea what he was even saying anymore, just needed Hank to know he was sorry, so very, very sorry.
Hearing Austin’s repeated apologies was never easy, but Hank was proud of the fact that despite his repeated sorries and promises to be better, not once did Austin beg for no more. He would not have blamed the boy if he had, but he thought it showed true emotional maturity that even with as hard as he was being on the kid, Austin accepted that he had earned it.
When he finally reached the top of Austin’s ass Hank stopped and stepped up to his crying protégé, placing a hand on his back. “You’re all good now, Austin. Clean slate. You took that well, son. There’s no more. I’m proud of you. Come on, up you get and get a hug,” he soothed, still gruffly. He fixed the young man’s underpants and jeans and helped him to stand pulling him in for a warm hug. “I got you, Aus. Just let it out, son.”
Austin wrapped his own arms around his mentor, hugging into him and letting himself cry it out. His ass throbbed and burned and ached something rotten and he had cried out as his underpants and jeans were pulled back up. He knew he would be sleeping on his stomach tonight, but Hank forgave him and was proud of him again and that meant everything to him. He buried his face in the crook of Hank’s neck and just sobbed into him.
Hank rubbed Austin’s back firmly, letting him sob into him, not rushing him to calm. Although Austin was not one of the teens anymore, Hank was not about to rush his comfort any more than he would theirs. “That’s it, let it all out, son. I’m here, I’ve got you. All forgiven,” he assured him.
Austin clung to Hank, soaking up the comfort the man offered so freely. It was something every teen on the Ranch quickly learned; you were going to get your ass beat, there was no ‘sparing the rod’ here, but afterwards, there were hugs and forgiveness, and the slate was wiped clean. Occasionally if you screwed up enough there might be additional consequences, but no one held previous trouble against you. You screwed up, paid the price, were comforted and forgiven, then everyone moved on.
When Austin’s sobs trailed off to nothing more than sniffles and hiccups he released his grip on Hank and stepped back, reluctantly rebuttoning his jeans and re-buckling his belt. “I’m sorry, sir,” he hiccupped.
Hank stepped forward and reached a hand around to cup the back of Austin’s neck. “You’re forgiven, Aus,” he stated firmly. He gave the back of Austin’s neck a warm squeeze. “C’mon, that fence isn’t going to fix itself,” he prompted. He wouldn’t push Austin before he was ready, but having to face the teens after having clearly been crying would help restore the sense of safety for them, show them there were consequences for the staff if they overstepped too.
Austin took a breath but nodded. “Yes, sir,” he agreed. He scrubbed at his face, hating the itchy feeling left behind from tears, but he knew it was pointless asking for a minute to go wash his face to try and hide the evidence that he’d been crying, Hank would have told him to if he was allowed to. “I’ll stay away from Max, let you and everyone else manage him,” he promised.
Hank spun Austin to the side and landed a dozen hard smacks to his jean clad ass. “Have I taught you nothing, boy?” He demanded.
Austin was not expecting to be swatted and yowled at the swats landing on his belted ass, even through his jeans. “Han-Sir! I- I don’t–” he spluttered. “I damaged the sense of trust and safety between us, sir. He won’t trust that I’m someone safe now,” he pointed out.
“That you did, boy. You lost your temper, let Max get to you and have shown him that you are an easy target. You start avoiding him now he’ll only use that as more ammunition to make you lose your temper again. That’ll make him believe he’s won, and you’ll lose all authority with everyone else too if they see you backing down from Max every time and letting someone else handle it. Slate is wiped clean, which means we go back to normal. I told that boy that he has to show you respect and obey whatever orders you give, made it clear to him that disrespecting and disobeying you was not an option. I have no doubt he will do so while I am there, watching, but if you expect to be able to be a handler for these teens, you have to be able to manage them without me over your shoulder. It is up to you to prove that you are someone he should respect and obey, that you are safe, that he is safe with you,” Hank stated firmly.
Austin knew Hank was right, but he wasn’t sure he trusted himself after what he’d done. “But–”
“No buts, boy. You owe it to him to treat him like every other teen on his Ranch. When he tries to make you lose your temper again, and he will, now you’ve shown him which buttons he can press, you need to show him that he is safe here, that he is safe with you. You need to prove to him that he can push whatever buttons he wants, and you will not lose your temper with him. Prove to him that you are just as much of a staff member as everyone else and you don’t need me, or anyone, to step in,” Hank ordered. “I trust that you will handle him appropriately next time,” he added.
Any protest Austin could have made died on his lips when Hank said he trusted him. He still felt guilty, but more than that he wanted to be worthy of Hank’s trust in him. He nodded, he would do the right thing, next time, because Hank was right, there would be a next time. “I won’t let you down again, Hank,” he vowed.
Hank gave Austin a nod. “I know you won’t,” he agreed. He did not warn Austin of the consequences should he repeat his mistake; he’d already told Austin what those consequences would be. He just turned and started heading back to where they’d left the teens. “Come, let’s go.”
Austin fell into step behind Hank again, not bothering to hide that he was walking stiffly and with a bit of a limp. Although he hadn’t been seen, the teens had definitely heard and the proof was almost certainly on his face, there was no point trying to hide it. Hank was right, Max wouldn’t try anything with Hank right there, and none of the rest of the teens would be so daring even if Hank wasn’t there, and his fellow staff members wouldn’t say anything either. Still, once they approached the group and Austin felt the eyes land on him, he blushed hard and had to drop his head.
Hank informed Austin of Max’s week of practicing formal and respectful addressing of staff as he led over to a section of fencing no one was working on yet, talking his junior staff member through how to handle Max slipping up and not calling him sir, and when he did it deliberately. Rather than returning to overseeing, he motioned Austin with him once they got to the fence. “C’mon, son. We’re losing daylight. Don’t think anyone wants to be out here tomorrow working on all this,” he declared.
Austin felt the tension, that he hadn’t even been aware had tightened his shoulders, loosen instantly as he fell in with Hank and got to work on the fence with his mentor. It was calming and relaxing working directly with Hank and when Sam, Callum, and Colt approached, slipping back into the role of staff member was easy. Colt and Callum knew what they were doing but Sam needed a little more guidance and Austin was happy to provide it. He did catch a sympathetic look from Colt, and gave the sixteen-year-old a nod, he’d been Colt’s age when the teen had arrived at the Ranch himself, the wild little hellion had settled down a lot, like almost every teen did. He completely missed Hank stepping back, leaving him with the three teens, and returning to oversee everything.
~o~
After almost six hours, the fence was finally replaced and repaired and the pasture once again usable. Before releasing the teens to go get washed up for dinner Hank gave a sharp whistle to get everyone’s attention. “I hope you’ve all learned a valuable lesson from this. Something some of you shouldn’t have needed to learn,” he declared. He looked pointedly at the six older boys, especially the three eldest, watching them all be unable to meet his eyes. “Tomorrow, during your free time, you’ll be working with our Ranch hands to make up for them having to cover your regular chores today. I expect glowing reports of hard work and excellent behavior if you want to gain back your free time come Monday,” he warned. They all knew well enough now what the consequences for slacking off and poor behavior would be. He nodded at the jumbled mix of contrite ‘yes, sir,’ responses he got back. “Good boys. Now, back to the house and wash up for dinner,” he dismissed them.
Austin joined the teens, walking back to the house, his ass ached and sitting down for dinner was going to suck, but he was starving and Craig was a damn good cook. He ate far better here than he did at college in the cafeteria. He kept up the conversation he’d been having with the three teens, Dustin and Liam joining their group and jumping into the conversation. Austin noticed Noah edging closer, looking like he wanted to be included and gave the teen an encouraging smile. “Come on, Noah. What do you think? Reckon you’d survive a zombie apocalypse?” He urged. Watching the way the fourteen-year-old lit up at being included.
Colt, Dustin, Liam, and Callum immediately accepted Noah into the conversation, treating him the same as Sam, engaging with him and listening to his take on things, laughing and teasing him, decrying some of his responses as ridiculous but without even a hint of cruelty. It was all friendly teenage banter and friendly roughhousing with light, playful shoves and nudges.
Austin gave Colt an approving squeeze of his shoulder. He knew the teen liked being seen as a role model to the younger ones, like he had been when he was Colt’s age, and knew how much the recognition of that and approval meant to Colt.
Thatcher fell into step with Hank, watching Austin with the group of teens that had flocked to him, as well as Zac and Drew with the rest of the boys. All three young men were good with the teens, but neither Zac or Drew had Austin’s familiarity and connection with them. Drew had only started a couple months ago himself; Zac had started last year so was a little more familiar, but Austin had been one of them just last year. “Who’s handling Max’s bedtime spankings?” He checked.
“I’ll do them,” Hank decided. Some teens needed just a little bit extra attention to settle down, and Max was certainly fitting that description. If Austin didn’t have college on Monday, Hank would have set him the task, after handling them himself for a couple days, it would have been good for both of them. Hank doubted it would take too long for Max to push Austin though, if not sometime this weekend then certainly by the next. Although, if Hank were a betting man, he would put good money on it happening before Austin went back to college on Sunday evening.
When they got to the wash station outside the main house, Bradley, Decker, Jacob, Theo and the girls were already there.
“Hey, troublemakers! Have fun fixing the fence?” Jacob called loudly. He snagged Max around the neck and gave him a playful noogie.
Max spluttered and immediately struggled against the older and stronger boy. “Get the fu-he-heck off me!” He snarled. They weren’t allowed to swear at staff, and weren’t really supposed to use any ‘foul language’ at all, which was stupid, but Max had tasted soap enough times that he was putting in a serious effort into not swearing at all. He was sick of hearing ‘that’s one, Max,’ when he slipped up and swore.
“Jacob!” Hank boomed.
Jacob immediately released Max and stepped back, hands raised. “Sorry, sir. Sorry, Max. Was only teasing, kid,” he quickly apologized.
Max breathed hard and glared at Jacob. “Whatever,” he huffed.
Jacob shot Hank another apologetic look. “Seriously, kid. I’m sorry. I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He checked.
“Fu-Pi-Leave off, I’m fine,” Max spat.
Jacob looked at Hank pleadingly.
Hank just gave a nod of acceptance. “Leave him be, Jacob,” he directed.
Jacob gave a subdued nod. “Yes, sir,” he murmured. He headed over to an empty wash station, giving plenty of space between himself and Max.
Max’s cheeks burned as he scrubbed his hands, annoyed at himself for the overreaction. He just hadn’t been expecting it, watching Colt and everyone just hang with Austin. Stupid fucking Austin. He wasn’t that cool or special. Nothing here was cool or special. It was all stupid and everyone here was fucking stupid.
Hank moved over to the wash station next to Jacob, noticing the boy tense as he did. “Relax, Jacob. You’re not in any trouble,” he assured him.
“I really didn’t mean to upset Max, sir,” Jacob insisted.
“Know you didn’t, son. It’s Hank. Told you, you aren’t in any trouble,” Hank repeated. “Just give Max some space for a little bit,” he advised.
Jacob glanced over, watching Decker and Ruby take up the wash stations either side of Max and relaxed. Decker was great with the younger teens, like Austin had been, Jacob knew Decker was working up the courage to ask Hank if following in Austin’s footsteps was possible for him next year. Ruby was a good calming presence too, she could bust anyone’s balls and didn’t take any crap, and Jacob knew she could kick his ass in a fight, but she seemed gentle and unassuming enough to disarm most people’s anger without even trying.
After washing up, boots were kicked off and put away in the mudroom as everyone trooped inside and headed for the dining room for dinner.
Unless someone got themselves in trouble, dinner was always relaxed and casual, no one had a set place, and staff and teens sat mixed together.
Just as Austin knew it would be, the food was really good. The warm and hearty beef stew with fresh bread rolls was just what he needed after the day of hard work. He couldn’t quite avoid squirming on the bench, even though he knew there was absolutely no possible position he could find that would be somehow less painful to sit in, unless he suddenly discovered the ability to hover. No one paid his squirming any mind, as he sat and listened to Harley chat happily about the ride she had gone on with the other girls during their free time.
Austin saw the longing look in Noah’s face as Harley enthused about getting to see the waterfall. “Maybe during the week, once you get your free time back, you could see if anyone is up for a ride out there,” he suggested. “And if not, let me know when I get back on Friday and I’ll see if I can convince Hank or Thatch to take us up there,” he offered.
“Can I come? If you go?” Harley asked eagerly.
“‘Course, kid, don’t have to ask permission, if we’re going, everyone is welcome,” Austin assured her.
“I want to wait for next weekend, go with you,” Noah declared.
Austin looked at the teens around him, all nodding in agreement and put on a dramatic sigh, fighting the grin. “Fine, fine! I’ll speak to Hank tonight, see what can be arranged. But, that means none of you can lose your free time next weekend.” The cheer that went up had him fighting a blush, touched by the fact the teens genuinely seemed to want to spend time with him.
Once Zac finished the last of his dessert, he checked which teens he needed to collect to start washing up, giving a small sigh seeing he had Max. He headed over to where Hank was sitting. “Hank, I, um, I need an extra set of hands for washing up duty, to help me out, Max is on washing up duty,” he hedged. He was hoping Hank himself might assist him, Max was more likely to behave himself when Hank was right there with both eyes on him, but Thatcher was just as capable of managing the teen.
Hank nodded in approval. “Ask Austin,” he instructed.
Zac frowned, not sure that was a good idea, not after what had happened earlier. “Are you- do you really think- I mean–” he struggled.
“Ask Austin,” Hank repeated, a hint of steel in his voice.
Zac could recognize that tone well enough, it was the tone Hank used when disobedience was not an option; mostly with the teens, but Zac had it directed at him a handful of times since he’d started working at the ranch last year. He still didn’t think it was a great idea, but he nodded, arguing with Hank was never a good idea, he would just have to handle Max and leave the rest of the teens with Austin. “Yes, sir,” he agreed. He collected up the teens first, leaving Max for last, before going to Austin and tapping him on his shoulder. “Hey, man. Hate to ask, but got Max in the washing up squad. Couldn’t lend a hand, could you?”
This was Austin’s job, he was here as float, to be an extra hand when the staff needed one and Hank had said he couldn’t just avoid Max. “Of course, man,” he agreed. He got up and walked with Zac towards the kitchen.
“If he starts giving you trouble, just let me know and I’ll handle it,” Zac assured Austin.
Austin shook his head. “No, if he gives me trouble, I need to handle it,” he stated.
Zac looked at Austin questioningly.
Austin sighed and considered explaining the whole thing to Zac, but decided against that, for now, he could explain properly later. “Hank’s orders,” he gave as an explanation.
That made Hank’s insistence that he ask Austin make sense at least, so Zac accepted that, his own ass giving a twinge of sympathy. “Well, if you need backup,” he offered.
Austin nodded, “Yeah, I’ll let you know.”
Most of the fierce burning in his ass had faded before Max sat down for dinner, but he still found himself squirming on the hard wooden bench. He wished there was a way to get out of doing dishes, but so far everything he’d tried had just gotten him spanked and he’d still had to do the dishes. That seemed to be the case with everything he tried, he always seemed to end up getting spanked, it was impossible to get away with anything here, especially with Hank and Thatcher almost always watching. He rolled his eyes when Zac reminded him that he had dish duty and sent him through to the kitchen. “Yes, sir,” he forced out. It was so annoying having to call everyone sir, or ma’am, all the time, hopefully Hank wouldn’t actually make him do it for a whole week.
“Max, you and Noah at that sink, Charlie with me,” Lucy directed.
Max rolled his eyes at Lucy giving orders, she was one of them, not staff, not even pretend staff like Austin. There wasn’t much point in arguing though, he did have to do dishes and if Zac walked in while he was arguing with Lucy he’d probably get smacked, so he headed over to the sink where Noah was already running the water. He looked over to the door when he heard Zac talking to someone else, wondering which additional staff member would be ‘helping’ them with the dishes. Technically they did always help, but Max knew really they were there to keep an eye on them, like they were little kids who couldn’t handle washing up without an adult. A grin spread over his face when he saw Zac and Austin – that was much more fun than dishes.
Noah elbowed Max hard seeing the smirk on his face. “No,” he hissed.
Max let out a startled yelp. “What the fu-heck was that for?” He demanded in a harsh whisper.
“Leave Austin alone,” Noah ordered.
“Oh fuck off,” Max sneered. “It’s pathetic the way you kiss his ass,” he snarled.
“Oh yeah, I’m pathetic. You’re the asshole who can’t go a day without getting your ass beat,” Noah snapped back. “Going to get a bedtime spanking every night for a week. You’ll have to tell me what it’s like having to call everyone sir and ma’am,” he goaded.
Max shoved Noah hard. “Shut the fuck up!”
Noah had a couple inches on Max and shoved him back harder. “Make me!” He mocked.
“Hey! What the hell do you two think you are doing!?” Austin barked. He grabbed the collars of both fourteen-year-olds’ shirts and yanked them apart, holding them away from each other, giving them both a good shake.
Noah instantly stilled when it was Austin pulling him off Max, dropping his head. “Sorry, sir,” he murmured, guiltily.
Max struggled against Austin’s grip on him. “I’m not fuc– I’m not apologizing! He fuc-freaking started it!”
Zac dried his hands off and came over to Austin. “Need me to take one?” He looked pointedly at Max; Noah wouldn’t give Austin any problems.
The temptation to hand Max over to Zac was strong, but Austin knew that would disappoint Hank, he had to deal with Max himself, Hank would expect that of him. It was also just the right thing to do, Max needed to know he was safe with him, that earlier today was a one-time occurrence that would never happen again. He released his hold on Noah and pushed him lightly towards Zac. “Take him, I’ve got this one,” he stated. He tried to draw up more confidence than he felt, using Hank’s belief and trust in him that he could handle this to bolster himself.
Zac raised a questioning eyebrow, silently checking that Austin was sure. He wouldn’t blame Austin for wanting to hand Max off, the teen was a handful for everyone except Hank and Thatcher. Travis, Gemma, and Garrett did have a good handle on Max now, but he still gave them more trouble than he did Hank and Thatcher.
Austin didn’t respond to the raised eyebrow, just secured his grip on the struggling teen and marched him out of the kitchen.
“Let me fuc-freaking go! You have no right to do this!” Max protested.
Austin ignored Max’s complaints and just marched him through the dining room and along to the study rooms. Privacy was normally not much of a concern when it came to delivering discipline to the teens, and Noah was going to get his right there in the kitchen, but Austin thought this would go better between him and Max if it was just the two of them. He opened the door to the first study room he got to and pushed Max inside before finally releasing his hold on the kid.
Max stumbled forward a few steps and turned to glare fiercely at Austin. “Move! Get out of my way, Austin! I’m not staying in here!” He demanded.
Austin pulled on every single lesson Hank had ever given him on controlling his temper and remaining calm. He took a slow, steadying breath and folded his arms across his chest, looking down at Max. “No,” he stated simply. “And that is not how you are supposed to be addressing me right now, is it?”
Max gave a derisive scoff. “I’m not calling you sir.”
Austin’s first instinct was to snap back that yes the kid was going to call him sir, but he shoved that instinct down, he was not going to get in a shouting match or a battle of wills with the stubborn teenager. He mentally went over what had worked with him when his temper had been up, and he’d been raging against Hank, Thatcher, and other staff members. “That’s up to you, kid. If you want to have to keep calling everyone sir indefinitely, until you’re ready to address me respectfully, then keep it up. Personally I’d rather get back to being able to drop the formalities, but that’s me,” he shrugged.
Max gaped at Austin and spluttered. “I only have to do it for a week,” he reminded him. “And not even that. Hank won’t make me do it for the whole week,” he muttered.
Austin had to chuckle at that. “Some free advice here, kid. If Hank says you’re doing something for a day, week, month, or even a year, then you are doing it for a day, week, month, or year. That man has never said anything he wasn’t going to go through with. Hank says you’re doing it for a week, then I’m afraid you’re doing it for a week. However, if you don’t learn what he’s trying to teach you with it, then it’ll be longer than the week,” he explained
Max gave another scoff to cover up his doubt. “Yeah, right. He’s going to make me call everyone sir or ma’am until I call you sir, sure,” he scoffed.
Austin gave another shrug. “Up to you whether you believe me or not, but you can ask any of the older teens if you like, they’ll confirm it.”
“Whatever! I don’t have to listen to you!” Max denied.
“No, you don’t, but things will go a whole lot easier for you if you do,” Austin countered. It was slowly becoming easier to stay calm against Max’s attempts to provoke him, he didn’t have to pause as much or concentrate on keeping his breathing steady as much. Biting back the initial responses that had been on the tip of his tongue was getting easier too, since he could see how his calmer responses were affecting Max.
Max gaped and spluttered. “What the– what the fuc-he-heck is that even supposed to mean?!”
“Means, kid, that you’ve already earned yourself a dose of my belt for that fight with Noah. You know the rules about fighting. Also means it’s in your best interest to listen to me and do what I tell you, but if you want to add to what you’ve got coming by not listening to me, well that’s up to you. You’ve been here long enough though to know how that goes,” Austin reminded him.
Max glared at Austin. “You can’t. You’re not staff!”
Austin raised an eyebrow. “So, we’re going to do this the hard way, are we?”
Max pulled a face. “What?”
Austin pushed off the door he’d been leaning against. “You’re getting the belt, kid. My belt. How that goes is up to you. Can do it the easy way, where you drop ‘em and bend over of your own free will, take the licks you’ve earned, get your cuddle, and we move on. Or you can keep this up, put up a fight, and I will bare your ass for you, put you over my knee, spank you with my hand, then you get the licks you’ve earned for that fight, plus any extra you earn for fighting me. I know which I would choose.” He dropped his hands down to his belt. “So, what’s it going to be, Max? You going to drop ‘em and bend over, or do you need help?”
Max took a step back. “Screw you, Austin! You can’t do this!” He denied.
“Help it is,” Austin sighed. He stepped forward towards Max.
Max’s eyes widened and he turned to try to run.
Austin had to fight the urge to laugh at Max’s attempt to run, he’d tried it himself with every single member of staff, some more than once, and it had never ended well for him. Max wasn’t even running for the door, since Austin was still in front of it, and he was hindered by the desk he was trying to run around. It was easy to take just a few steps and snag Max by the collar of his shirt once again. Keeping hold of the teen, he sat himself down on one of the desks in the room wincing a bit as he sat on his still sore ass. He shifted his grip to just above Max’s elbow while he worked to unbuckle Max’s belt. He ignored Max’s protests and yelling, simply smacking the teen’s hands away when he tried to stop him. He didn’t bother ordering Max to put his hands on his head, knowing he wasn’t going to listen to him and that it was a battle of wills there was no point in fighting.
Max yelped when Austin suddenly grabbed him. “Let me go! Asshole! Get off me! You can’t do this! You’re not staff! You’re pretend staff! You have no authority!” He pulled back, fighting against Austin’s hold on him. He tried to smack Austin’s hands away from his belt, only to get his hands smacked in response. “Stop! You can’t do this! Let me go! Stop hitting my hands!”
“If you don’t want your hands smacked, keep them out of the way,” Austin stated plainly. “Your jeans and underpants are coming down, and you are going over my knee. You can fight it all you want, but it’s happening.”
“No! You can’t! Stop it! Stop!” Max demanded.
Despite Max’s efforts to stop him, Austin got the teen’s belt unbuckled and his jeans unbuttoned. With a swift tug the boy’s jeans were down at his knees. When Max tried to grab his jeans to pull them back up, Austin caught both Max’s hands in one of his and held them out of the way before yanking the kid’s underpants down to join his jeans.
“You’re a fuc–” Max snarled.
“Max! You do not want to finish that sentence. You are in more than enough trouble and despite what you are claiming, I am staff, so if you swear at me, once we’re done here, we’ll be taking a trip to the bathroom and you will be getting your mouth washed out,” Austin warned.
Max’s jaw snapped shut, he was fed up with getting his mouth washed out. He warred with himself, not wanting to do what Austin told him because it was Austin, but it was getting harder and harder to deny that Austin was a staff member.
Not wanting to give Max a chance to get himself in further trouble, Austin tugged him forward over his lap. Kid was small for fourteen, but the extra weight was enough to have Austin squirming a little himself, but Max was fighting too much to notice.
“No! No! Austin! No! You can’t do this!” Max yelled.
Austin heard the note of panic in Max’s voice and took a second to rub the teen’s back. “Settle down, Max. Nothing that is about to happen is anything you haven’t already had, kid. I’m going to spank you, then you’re going to get fourteen with my belt. Then we’ll have a cuddle, the slate will be wiped clean, and we’ll move on,” he explained gently, but firmly.
“Screw you, Austin! You’re such a fuc- ow!” Max snapped. He kicked his legs, as much as he could with them tethered together by his jeans, and tried to twist and buck himself off of Austin’s lap.
Austin brought his hand down hard on Max’s ass to cut his sentence off. “Last warning, kid. I won’t control your language for you again. We can add a trip to the bathroom to scrub your mouth out if you are that eager for it, I did think you’d had enough of that, but if not, you just let me know. Personally I hated getting my mouth washed out, can’t imagine anyone wanting that.” He shifted his grip on the teen, moving him to trap his legs between his and caught his hands when the kid threw them back. He pinned his hands to the small of his back and knew delaying any further wasn’t going to do Max any good, so he started bringing his hand down over the teen’s ass.
Max spluttered and let out a wordless protest. He couldn’t kick his legs with them pinned between Austin’s, but he tried to wrestle his arms free. He cried out when Austin started spanking him properly, his ass still hurt from his earlier spanking and Austin’s hand was surprisingly hard. He wanted to be able to just stoic this out, show Austin he wasn’t bothered by the spanking, but it was already hurting. He pressed his lips tightly together, shook his head, and struggled for all he was worth, but it was no good, Austin’s hand just kept landing on his ass. “Okay! Okay! I get it! You can stop now!”
Austin shook his head, “Oh, kid, we’re just getting started.” He’d delivered a small handful of spankings since he’d transitioned from teen in Hank’s care, to junior staff member, so this wasn’t his first rodeo, even if it was his first time handling Max. Although Max was putting up more of a fight than the other teens he had spanked had done, and he hadn’t had to give a spanking sitting on a belted ass, he had more than enough experience of being on the receiving end to draw on. It had always baffled him how Hank had so easily held him over his knee no matter how much he’d fought, now, being on the other side of that, he could see it wasn’t as much of a challenge as he’d thought it was, in this position Max really had no leverage.
Max felt tears welling up in his eyes far too quickly. “Okay! Enough! You made your point!” He cried out.
“Oh yeah? What point is that then, Max?” Austin asked. He kept bringing his hand down even as he spoke.
“What?!” Max gasped. If Austin didn’t stop, soon, he was going to cry over getting a hand spanking again, but this time not even a hand spanking from Hank, just one from Austin!
“Why are you getting this spanking?” Austin pressed.
Max gave another hard struggle, trying to escape, but it was fruitless.
“I guess I’m far from done making my point if you can’t even tell me what it is,” Austin mused. He raised his knee, tilting Max further forward, and shifted his focus to the teen’s sit spots, going back and forth rapid fire between them.
“Ah! No! Because- because- I- you–” Max tried. He couldn’t think with Austin smacking his sit spots like he was.
“Yes, Max? You are getting this spanking because…” Austin prompted.
“Just stop! Just stop, then I’ll answer you!” Max whined. He lost the battle with his tears, and they spilled down his cheeks. “P-Please. S-Stop,” he begged.
It was harder than Austin had expected it to be, to keep going when Max said please and he could hear the tears in his voice. It was the first time Max had asked, rather than demanded, but he forced himself to keep going. “That’s okay, if you can’t tell me, I’ll tell you. You’re here, over my knee, getting this spanking, because you wouldn’t do as you were told. You had the chance to be good and follow instructions, yet you decided to be defiant and disrespectful, and this is where that will land you, every time,” he scolded.
“Yes! Yes! That!” Max agreed. He was willing to agree to pretty much anything right now, if only Austin would just stop before his tears turned into him actually crying.
“Hmm, and what are you going to do next time you are in trouble with me and I tell you to drop ‘em and bend over?” Austin checked. He brought his hand down lower, covering the tops of the backs of Max’s thighs in the same rapid fire blistering swats.
“Austin! No! Not there!” Max yowled.
“That’s not how you’re supposed to be addressing me, is it, Max?” Austin reminded him.
Max couldn’t hold back his cries anymore and he started crying. He wanted to fight, to argue, to protest that it wasn’t fair, but he couldn’t. “N-no, sir,” he gave in.
“Good boy. Now, what are you going to do next time I tell you to drop ‘em and bend over,” Austin asked again.
“Do it. I-I’ll do it, sir,” Max cried.
As Max still had the belt to go, Austin decided to wrap the spanking up there. He landed a final flurry of rapid fire swats up and down the tops of the backs of his thighs then stopped and rubbed Max’s back. “If you can be good and keep your hands in front of you and not kick too much, I can let you have your hands and legs free,” he offered.
“No more, please, Au-sir. No more. I won’t- I’ll do what you say,” Max pleaded. He didn’t want the belt, his ass hurt enough! He’d given in, called Austin sir, even agreed to do what he told him, wasn’t that enough?
Austin continued rubbing Max’s back. “I’m sure you will, kid, or we’ll be right back here. However, that’s not why you are about to get the belt. Now, can you be good and keep the kicking to a minimum and your hands in front of you, or do you need me to keep hold of your hands and keep your legs pinned for you?”
“I’ll be good,” Max whined. He hated having his hands and legs restrained, it made getting spanked even worse than it already was when he couldn’t properly kick and squirm.
Austin nodded and released Max’s wrists, letting the teen bring his hands back in front of him. He released the grip he had on Max’s legs, moving them so they were no longer trapped between his and Max was no longer bent over just one knee. With one hand still rubbing Max’s back, he used the other to slightly awkwardly unbuckle his belt and tug it free from his belt loops, which was only moderately hindered by Max being over his lap. Once he had the belt free he took hold of the buckle end and doubled it up, so he had a usable length to use with Max over his knee, then rested the belt against Max’s ass. “Why are you getting the belt, Max?”
Max groaned and covered his face with his hands. He hated having to admit why he was about to get his ass beat. “Because I got in a fight with Noah, but he started–” he tried.
“Don’t care who started what, Max. You are in charge of your temper, no one else. You don’t get in fights or lash out at anyone. Every time you do, this is where it will land you, bent over, waiting for the belt,” Austin lectured. He didn’t draw it out any further, Max knew the rule, this wasn’t the first time the teen had gotten in trouble for fighting, so he just raised the belt and brought it down hard across the top of Max’s ass.
Max yowled at the lick of pure fire that exploded across the top of his ass, his legs and hands flailing. He grasped onto Austin’s ankle to stop himself from reaching back, not wanting to risk putting his hands back and getting them restrained again. He just could never get used to the awful pain of the belt. He now knew the strap was a hell of a lot worse, but he still hated the belt.
Holding Max securely Austin brought the belt down again, just below the previous stroke, taking care to avoid overlapping the strokes. He worked slowly down Max’s ass, giving enough time for each lick to reach its peak of pain before bringing down the next one. He knew from experience on the receiving end how to give a very effective belting and how long it took for the pain to fully blossom.
Max had barely gotten on top of his cries in the pause between the hand spanking, all that progress was completely undone by the belt and he cried hard as lines of liquid fire just kept tearing across his ass. He wailed and kicked his legs as much as he could with his jeans and underpants tangled around his ankles. He tried to keep count of the licks, knowing the number usually matched his age, and he was fairly sure Austin had said something about fourteen strokes, but he quickly lost count.
Austin kept working down Max’s ass, each lick landing just below the previous one, until he got to Max’s sit spots. Knowing how impactful and effective it was, he landed two licks, one right on top of the other, across Max’s sit spots.
Max howled and broke into sobs when Austin landed two strokes of the belt on his sit spots. He let out garbled apologies and promises to never ever get in a fight again between his sobs.
Max’s sobs and barely comprehensible apologies and promises had Austin wishing he could end this here, but Max knew what he had coming and going easy on him would not do the teen any favors. Austin steeled himself and kept going, working down the tops of the backs of the kid’s thighs, at least they were almost done.
The strokes landing across his thighs were the absolute worst and all Max could do was sob. Each lick was a white hot line of pure pain ripping across his thighs, feeling like the skin was being torn from his legs. He couldn’t kick anymore, or even squirm, and just collapsed, bonelessly, over Austin’s knee.
Austin brought down the last of the fourteen licks just as Max went limp over his knee. He immediately dropped his belt on the desk he was sitting on and started rubbing Max’s back. “Ssshhh. Good boy. You took that well. It’s all over now,” he soothed.
It took Max a minute to even realize the punishment was over, but once he did he made no effort to get up, just letting himself sob, lying over Austin’s knee. His ass hurt so much, he did not want his jeans anywhere near it right now.
Austin continued rubbing Max’s back, content to let him lie over his knee as long as the teen needed to. “No rush, Max, but when you’re ready, you can get up and have your cuddle,” he assured him. “We’re all done. Slate is clean. You’re forgiven.”
Max didn’t want to get up, because getting up meant pulling his underpants and jeans back up, but he did want a cuddle from Austin, even if he hated to admit it. He reluctantly tried to push himself up.
Austin pressed down slightly on Max’s back. “Wait a second, kid.” He leaned down and gently pulled Austin’s underpants up and into place. “Shhh, I know, I know,” he murmured when Max whimpered. Once the teen’s modesty was protected, Austin helped Max to his feet then pulled the teen into his arms, hugging him close. He cradled the back of the kid’s head and drew it into the crook of his neck. “I’ve got you, kid. You’re alright.”
Max hesitated for just a second before throwing his arms around Austin and clinging to him, sobbing just a little harder at being hugged by Austin. “S-S-Sorry,” he choked out.
“Sssh, I know you are, kid. I know. You’re forgiven. Clean slate,” Austin reminded him.
Max shook his head, but just clung to Austin.
Austin held Max a little tighter, rubbing his back with one hand and holding the back of his head in place in the crook of his neck with the other.
Max sobbed himself out in Austin’s arms, soaking up the murmured words of comfort and assurances along with Austin’s steady hand rubbing soothing circles over his back and the other hand cradling his head. Once he was down to hiccups and sniffles he pulled back slightly from Austin, ducking his head. “S-Sorry for-for being- for how-how I-I- for being awful,” he hiccupped.
“Hey, no, none of that now, Max. You aren’t awful. Not at all,” Austin insisted. He reached out and took hold of Max’s chin, tilting his head up to gain eye contact. “Listen to me, Max. I know you’re not happy to be here, I wasn’t either, when I first arrived, and that’s fine, you don’t have to be happy, you don’t even have to like it, but if you keep fighting everything all the time, all that’s going to happen is you’re going to end up with a really sore ass. This place, it can be good, even great, if you let it, if you give it, us, and yourself a chance; or it can be miserable, if you are determined to make it miserable. I was. I arrived here at least twice as angry as you and spoiling for a fight with everyone and everything, had the biggest chip on my shoulder, got my ass spanked every single day, often multiple times a day, but that didn’t stop me. I was determined to make Hank kick me out, so sure he was going to give up on me, but he didn’t and Max, we won’t give up on you. No matter how much you fight, argue, or how much trouble you give us, no one here is going to give up on you. You’re here now, until you get your high school diploma and are ready to go to college or get a job, and even after that, Hank will find a job for you if you want to stay.”
Max had been pretty pissed off when his mom had shipped him off to this place in the middle of nowhere, but although he wasn’t ready to admit it, even to himself, it sort of wasn’t terrible here. Waking up at the ass crack of dawn was miserable, getting his ass whupped for everything sucked, and the chores were endless and tedious, but Max really liked it when he got to work with Princess AKA The Bitch. Even with Princess’ meanness, stubbornness, and fiery as all hell attitude, she was a truly stunning mare and riding her felt like flying, she was so strong and powerful – if he could make her listen, there was a reason everyone called the feisty red mare The Bitch rather than her official barn name Princess. The theory was someone had at one point mixed up Lilith and Princess and swapped their names because the pretty grey mare was as sweet as they came and not at all deserving of the demonic name. Max could even admit that Lilith was fun to work with too, she constantly demanded pets and would gently headbutt to get neck scratches. In fact, all the animals were fun to work with, even Nigel the asshole goat who headbutted everyone when they were just trying to feed the bastard. Austin saying they wouldn’t give up on him, that he was staying, had tears welling up in Max’s eyes again and he threw himself forward, back into Austin to hide the fact he was trying not to cry.
Austin wrapped his arms around Max again. “You know, you don’t have to get your ass beat to have a cuddle if you need or even just want one. Could just ask. Same if you want to do something. Next weekend, if they haven’t lost their free time, Noah, Harley, Harry and some of the others want to go for a ride out to the waterfall. So long as you don’t lose your free time, you’d be welcome to come with,” he offered.
Max just pressed himself closer to Austin, not wanting to admit that was something he did want.
Austin rubbed Max’s back and held him just as close as the teen was holding him until Max pulled away. He gave the kid a gentle smile. “Ready to go back and pitch in with the dishes?” He checked.
Max scrubbed at his face before he bent and pulled up his jeans, hissing as the denim chafed against his throbbing ass, even through his underpants. “Yes, sir,” he sighed.
There was absolutely no hesitance or attitude that Austin could detect in Max’s tone when he said ‘sir’ this time. It seemed the kid was finally seeing him as a figure of authority and respecting his position as a member of staff. He stood, grateful to get off his own belted ass and fighting the urge to rub it before he pulled his belt back on and placed a gentle hand on the back of Max’s neck, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Dish duty sucks, best just to get through it. Hank’ll only assign it to you more if you kick up a fuss about it,” he advised. He used the hand on Max’s neck to start guiding him out of the study room and back to the kitchen
Max looked up at Austin, a small, hesitant smile on his face. “Yeah, I know,” he admitted with a slightly cheeky grin.
Austin laughed, “Already tried to wriggle out of it huh?”
Max’s cheeky grin grew when Austin didn’t get upset at him. “Only tried… everything,” he confessed.
Austin gave Max a friendly hip check. “Oh yeah?” He looked around. “Me too, did it go any better for you than it did me? I swear Hank stuck me on dish duty for a whole month straight,” he stage whispered.
Max laughed, thrilled that Austin was telling him this. “A month?! He only made me do it for three days!”
“Guess I was just a bigger pain in the ass than you,” Austin winked. Hank hadn’t made him do dish duty for a month, it had been two weeks, but he had been a much bigger shit than Max. He didn’t mind making jokes at his own expense, since that helped reinforce going back to normal after a spanking, going back to the relaxed and friendly relationship they tried to have with the teens. It was the first time he’d had the opportunity to have this kind of banter with Max.
“Is it- I mean. Did you mean it? About going for a ride with you to the waterfall, sir?” Max asked.
“Of course, kid. Any time anyone is doing anything, you are welcome to join, so long as you haven’t lost your free time. Don’t even have to ask, just say you want to do it too,” Austin promised him.
Max nodded, he wasn’t fully sure he believed that, but he’d see. “Can I ride The Bi- Princess? When we go?”
Austin had to work to keep a straight face when Max almost called Princess by her nickname, like he didn’t call her The Bitch himself, hell even Hank called the tempestuous mare The Bitch more than he did Princess. “I’ll ask Hank for you, but I can’t see why not,” he smiled. “Just make sure you don’t lose your free time for next weekend. And if Hank does say no, it will be for a reason, you can ask for that reason and he’ll be happy to explain so long as you ask politely,” he cautioned.
Max beamed. “I won’t lose my free time, sir!” Well, he would try not to, might even be worth trying to behave and not get in any additional trouble, getting to ride The Bitch out to the waterfall with Austin, even if Noah would likely also be there. He wasn’t as keen on the idea of Hank saying no, and had to bite back the protest against it, but gave a nod. “I’ll try to ask politely if he says no,” he sighed. When Austin guided him into the kitchen Max let him walk him over to the sink. It surprised him a bit to see Austin just rolling up his sleeves and getting to the dishes. He sighed and rolled his own sleeves up and joined Austin at the sink, it was easier, knowing Austin felt it sucked too, and a little because he really didn’t want to get a month straight of dish duty, three days in a row was more than enough for him.