COMPLETED | Take Me Down The Rabbit Hole (BDSM | 18+)

XXXIII

Aspen held up the shirt that Thea had given him. "Do I have to wear this?" he asked incredulously, and Thea laughed.
"Yes, you do," she said firmly. "You're delivering my cake, so you're representing my business."
The cake was a massive, three-tiered beast of batter covered in fondant, topped with one of those commercial-looking wedding cake toppers of a couple. And the fact that the whole cake looked like it had been made by a machine was more than telling of Thea's level of skill in her profession. She'd even made the cake-topper herself, and Aspen had found himself smiling at the bridal couple depicted: two quite butch-looking women dressed in white suits.
Aspen inhaled sharply, swallowed down his own internalized toxic masculinity and the comment about the color of the shirt - magenta that veered into pink - and nodded. "Your wish is my command, Ma'am."
"Of course," Thea retorted. "Good boy."
She got on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek before she gave him a bright smile and settled back into the couch. "Well, then, go on. Let me see how it suits you."
Aspen put the shirt on without protest. It was just a little tight on him, and he contemplated if telling Thea about that would make her change her mind.
But Thea let out a sound akin to a cackle and said, "Perfect."
So much about that.

It took Thea and him 15 minutes to get the cake packed into Thea's rather big car, and then she stood there, a hand in her hip, car keys dangling from the fingers of the other, and looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "What's gonna happen when the delivery is late?" she questioned him, and Aspen let out a sigh, his fingers playing with the buckle of his collar - that he had just stuffed into the pocket of his jeans so Thea's customers wouldn't see it.
"I'm getting a spanking."
Thea hummed in response. "And if your driving style messes with the integrity of my cake?"
Aspen wasn't religious in the slightest sense, but at that moment, he sent a quick prayer to whatever guardian angels were up there to watch him.
"My punishment will be postponed until Leo comes to visit and he'll get a go at my ass with a cane," he mumbled in response. Please let it not come to that.
"And I'm doing this because-?"
"This business is your livelihood and you can't afford to lose the money."
If - and only if - any of Aspen's actions in the foreseeable future were to lead to the ruin of this cake, Aspen could pay the rest out of pocket. He knew that he had the money to afford several of such mishaps, but this wasn't a question of money or means.
This was a question of obedience.
If this cake was a representation of Thea's skills as a baker, his ability to get the cake to this couple's wedding would - no doubt - be a representation of his skills as a submissive.
And Aspen knew that if he was anyone else, Thea would not have threatened him with her brother's skills with the belt.
But alas, he was himself after all.
"I promise," he started, watching as Thea reached for his hand and placed the car keys in his palm, "that I will drive and deliver this cake safely." And if it's the last damn thing I do.
Thea smiled at him cheekily. "I know," she said, and it sounded like she trusted Aspen - when in reality, Aspen wouldn't even trust himself. Inhaling sharply, he got into the car and put the address the cake was supposed to be delivered to into the navigation system.

Leo occupied his thoughts while he drove. From what Aspen knew about Leo, he was Thea's secret intimidation tactic.
But if he could believe any of Alan's words, Leo wasn't as bad as the threat of the cane might make him sound. And obviously, Thea's ulterior motive was money.
And even if money was not on the table, Aspen could barely imagine what it might feel like when you are spending many hours and costly resources on something that is for other people, just to have some idiot driving a hot wheel ruin it for you.
Obviously, Aspen didn't want to be that person, so he banished Leo and Thea's threats of punishment from his thoughts and pulled into the apartment complex that was his destination.
He helped the customers get the cake situated and then took pictures of it upon arrival as Thea had instructed him to.
I guess it's as much my insurance as it is hers, he mused to himself, and then returned to Thea's apartment.

"Now that that is out of the way," Thea said, letting out a soft sigh. "Did you speak to Alan?"
Aspen stopped mid-way while stripping out of the stupid shirt. "Yeah," he said, evasively, and then pulled the fabric over his head. "I found out Alan had a cover-up girlfriend so he wouldn't be outed, but he said he would have rejected me anyway if I had asked him out."
Thea gave him an apologetic smile. "Cake pop?" she offered, holding out a tray. "This Rudolph came out a little crooked."
Indeed, the little red-nosed reindeer face on the cake pop - complete with pretzel antlers - looked like it had undergone crooked beautification surgery. Aspen gingerly picked the baked good up and stuffed it in his mouth.
"Hm, spice cake!" he exclaimed, his mouth full of cake and frosting. "Delicious!"
Thea reached out and bumped his chin. "I'm proud of you," she told him seriously, "for doing something you were scared of." She turned, setting the tray down on the kitchen counter. "Now, I brought home a new toy yesterday- What do you say, shall we give it a whirl?"
Aspen flushed. "Yeah," he breathed. "We shall."