Title: Learning Curve
By: blacknight
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: NC-17
WARNING: Breath play, erotic asphyxiation, knife play and similar activities are dangerous, don't try without fully educating yourself.
Summary: Post 'Countrycide'. Ianto needs forgiveness and a lesson after 'Lisa' and the relationship continues.

***

Jack gave the security monitors one final check, and locked down the hub. He transferred the alarm warnings to the computer in his quarters and dimmed the lights.

He headed down, into his quarters. The lights were already on, and he glanced into the corner seeing the naked kneeling figure of Ianto.

Not pausing in his steps, he crossed over to the kitchen area and poured a glass of water, giving himself time to think.

He had made no mention to the younger man that this was what was expected of him this evening. The mere fact that he was here at his own behest indicated that he needed and knew he deserved whatever Jack would choose to meet out.

Jack set the glass down on the table, and walked over to the corner of the room.

"Stand Ianto"

The other man stood slowly. He'd been there for some time and his knees were stiff and cold. Head bowed he stood.

Jack pulled a chair over and sat. Legs straight out, crossed at the ankles.

"I am going to talk, and you're not going to say a word" Ianto gave a small nod.

"None of this should ever have happened. You've clearly been hiding things from everyone. From the others, that I could forgive but to hide things from me, that was never part of our arrangement. "

Jack paused; there had been no reaction from the other man so far. That was what he expected, but not always what he got.

"When we started this it because my responsibility to take care of you. In return I expect you to tell me everything, to ask me for everything. So from now on, things are going to change, for a while at least."

He unfolded his legs and stood, walking over to the other man. He put his hands flat on the wall, either side of Ianto's head.

"From now on, you will ask my permission for everything, to take a piss; to make the coffee. Until I believe I can trust you again."

Tears finally bubbled out of the corners of Inato's eyes. Jack put his finger out and wiped at them. His eyes, cold as ice, looked at the younger man.

"There are many more of those to come yet" he said coldly.

"Turn around" he said, as he walked away. "You know what to do. Hands against the wall"

Not that he had expected anything else, at that point Ianto knew that this would be, hopefully, the harshest punishment he'd ever had.

Jack knelt down and pulled a large metal container from under his bed. Unlocking the coded padlock he thought back to the last time he had done something like this.

Longer ago than he cared to remember, when he was simply Captain Jack Harkness, RAF fly-boy. He signed softly.

He found what he was looking for. A long black handled whip. The five tails made of soft leather. He stroked the tails lovingly. He'd hoped that the first time he would use this on Ianto would have been to give pleasure rather than hand out punishment. Ianto had brought this on himself; although Jack did have the horrible feeling that he had missed something and should have been more observant.

He made a promise to himself to be more observant, particularly where Ianto was concerned. This, whatever it was, gave him something to focus on over and above the usual day-to-day business at Torchwood.

Ianto hadn't moved. Head bowed, his hands flat on the wall. Jack walked up behind him.

"No noise" He whispered in his ear. "And no more Lisa incidents, you will tell me everything from now on." The younger man, didn't make a sound. All Jack could hear was a hitch in his breathing.

Jack stood back; whip in hand, the weight of it welcoming. He looked at the younger man, smooth pale skin, shadow and light playing off it. Jack raised the whip and aimed it at Ianto's ass. A series of read stripes appeared almost immediately.

Jack started off lightly, and soon got into a rhythm, slowly increasing the pressure of the impact, over and over again. He worked his way up Inato's back, over the shoulders and down again, over this thighs, and calves.

The suddenly he changed, hitting much harder, skipping from one area to another, so that the other man would be unable to anticipate where the pain was going to come from next.

He might be immortal, but his arms could still ache, he glanced at the clock without missing a beat. It felt like they'd been going for much longer. He needed Ianto to let go, to realise the implications of what he'd done. To understand what they could be to each other.

He watched the other man intently. He could be brutal, and vicious, but this wasn't about that. Much as it pained him to think about, he did care for Ianto, and he wanted to take care of him. Over the years he had leaped from partner to partner, from man, to woman, to, yeah, others. With Ianto though, he'd found someone he wanted to stay with; if only for a while.

He saw a slight movement and heard a hitch in the other mans breath. He threw the whip over the chair and gathered the other man up in his arms. Tears were streaming down his face. His back felt scorching hot to Jacks touch.

Carefully Jack led him over to the bed, lady him down on his front, stroking his hair.

"Never again" he whispered in the young mans ear.

Ianto looked up at him through the tears and nodded.

Jack smiled at him,

"Here drink this, you'll feel better, then you can sleep"

And tomorrow will be a new day, Jack thought. You won't remember and the others won't remember.

***

Ianto appeared silently in the doorway as the large door rolled shut behind Tosh. He looked up at Jack, eyes wide and uncertain, with a touch of resentment behind them.

Jack looked at him, eyes quickly taking in how battered the other man looked, he needed to take care of him, now, and remind the other man that that was what he was there for.

He walked over to him,

"Go downstairs, have a shower, get yourself clean, and wait for me" he said softly.

"and leave those clothes on the floor, they'll be thrown away"

Ianto nodded, and left.

Jack looked at the clock; he'd give him half an hour. He suspected the other man would spend quite some time in the shower; just as long as he didn't fall asleep in there. He sat back down at his desk, and started to plan out what he would do with Ianto tonight. It would be all for pleasure; the boy had suffered enough pain over the last 24 hours. But still there needed to be a hint of something else or he knew that Ianto would not let go properly.

He laughed, of course, why hadn't he though of this before; probably because he'd never thought about using it for this. He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and put his hand right to the back of it, he pulled out a large black leather knife sheath. The knife had a thick engraved metal hilt, he'd forgotten how beautiful it was. The wide double-edged blade was unadorned, but it gleamed as he held it up to the light. He put his finger on the tip and immediately drew blood, this metal wasn't found on Earth, the blade was sharper than anything else he'd seen. He'd never used it before, but he'd seen it being used by its previous owner and knew the damage that it could cause in the wrong hands. He replaced it in its sheath, picked it up and made his way downstairs to his rooms.

There was no noise, so Ianto must be out of the shower at least. Jack smiled as he saw him kneeling, head bowed in the middle of the room. He didn't say anything as he made his way round and got some items out of the cupboard. He placed them on the floor by the bed and went over to the young man.

He put a hand on the bruised shoulder,

"Stand up Ianto"

He put out his hand to help him stand, led him over to the bed and gently pushed him to lie down.

"Look at me" he said firmly.

"You need to let go, forget the pain you're in. You did well, so I think you deserve a treat" the stroked a finger down the battered face in front of him. He bent down and kissed him, firmly taking control. He ran his tongue over Ianto's lips; the other man opened his mouth, offering himself up to whatever Jack wished to do. His tongue mapped out the inside of his subs mouth; he could already feel Ianto starting to let go.

He pulled back; reaching down beside the bed he picked a slim black leather collar. He stroked it over the other mans' lips, and smiled as his head moved to follow it's movement.

"Do you want this on"

"Please sir; yes"

Jack kissed him and fastened the collar round his neck

"You look even more beautiful now" he said, long fingers stroking down the young mans neck.

He reached down again and picked up two sets of cuffs, for wrists and ankles. He'd had them made specifically for Ianto, thick black leather with steel D rings set in them, and lined in blue silk. Ianto's wrists and ankles were quickly and gently secured to the head and foot of the bed. One final thing was in his hand, the whole purpose of this was to not give Ianto a choice, and this was the one thing that Jack had hesitated over this evening.

"I'm going to blindfold you now beautiful"

Ianto whimpered, Jack pushed his fingers into the thick wavy hair.

"Do you trust me" he got a small nod in reply.

He fastened the black silk over Ianto's eyes. Standing up he looked down at the other man, the pale skin, covered in bruises from where he'd been beaten by the cannibals, cock, already erect and leaking. Jacks grabbed hold of it firmly and leaned over.

Gently biting his earlobe,

"remember this is mine, so no coming until I say so."

A wave of possessiveness flooded over Jack, other people had marked what belong to him, so now he would replace the marks on Ianto's body with his own.

He pulled the knife out, and knelt astride the young mans thighs and licked the pre-cum off his cock and roughly drawing his fingernail down it.

He placed the tip of the knife at the hollow of Ianto's throat, he felt a small movement, but the only sound was a faint moan. He smiled, he had hoped that he was right and that this would hit a kink that he'd suspected the young man of having for a while, but regardless of his experience with this he'd still been slightly uncertain.

The cold gleaming metal contrasted exquisitely with the pale skin. He drew it gently down, carefully keeping the blade of the knife flat. It was so sharp that even the smallest wrong movement could result in a cut. He watched the other man, waiting for those small indications that he had slipped into sub-space, knowing he was right on the edge. Over and over he drew intricate patterns on the young man's body, without breaking the skin. Ianto was at that point where he would be flying, the restraint of not coming, the sensuous feeling of the blade moving over his skin, combining to take him totally out of himself.

Jack slowly twisted the knife, carefully, gently marking what was his. A faint trails of blood drops appeared, as he moved the knife over the skin, allowing his sub-conscious to guide the movement of his hand. He was so hard, every fractional movement made his leaking cock grate, his senses were so heightened he was sure he could hear every beat of Ianto's heart.

He was finished; he carefully replaced the knife, and sat back and looked at his handiwork. Inato's place skin gleamed with sweat and blood. Jack leaned over resting on his hands, careful not to touch Ianto's body. Very slowly starting from the bottom, around the erect cock, he worked his way up, licking all the tiny drops of blood off.

All he could hear were faint moans coming from the young man. He licked; then sucked the hollow of the throat. Gently kissing Ianto's lips

"Come for me" he said.

Without even touching the young man's cock, he exploded over his stomach, a hoarse yell emitting from his throat.

Jack undid the blindfold, tears were falling from the corners of his eyes and he kissed them away.

"Better?" he asked quietly.

Ianto nodded.

"Not quite done yet though"

Jack undid his zip. His cock was so hard he could hardly bear to touch it. He put it at Ianto's lips; the young man immediately opened his mouth.

"Greedy boy aren't we" Jack laughed quietly.

Ianto sucked cock like the expert he was, Jack hd been right on the edge and it didn't take long for him to come.

He came down slowly, as he moved at sat on the edge of the bed, he stroked a hand down Ianto's stomach. He moved and undid the ankle cuffs, he undid the right wrist cuff and went to do the same to the left.

"Leave it, please"

Jack looked up and smiled.

"Ok beautiful"

He undressed, and gently moved Ianto to one side, wrapping his arms carefully around the young man, he held him in his arms as he slept.

It was at times like this Jack thought, looking at a sleeping Ianto, the he nearly, almost felt human.

***

My office, 10mins; Ianto felt warm inside. He knew that tone of voice only too well, soon he would be on his knees.

He checked everything was locked, alarmed and tidied away before he headed for Jack's office.

The other man wasn't anywhere to be seen; he simply knelt on the floor in front of the desk.

"I've always admired your punctuality"

Ianto held back a shiver, he was already hard, this was going to be a long night.

Jack stepped in front of him but he didn't look up.

"Look at me"

Ianto couldn't help himself; lifting his eyes, a large black feather was stroked across his lips; he held back a groan

"Do you know what this is for, when I saw this I thought of you, laying against your pale skin, these soft lips" Jack drawled.

Ianto's eyes widened slightly, oh yes, he'd just realised. Jack laughed.

"Oh yes, pretty one, you do don't you. Follow me"

Ianto stood and followed Jack down to his room.

"Strip" he said demandingly. He leaned against the wall, watching.

" I want to be entertained tonight, you've been playing all day; it's pay-up time"

Ianto held back a smile; that was true, he'd wondered how far he would be able to push Jack today.

He slowly removed his clothing, carefully folding each item and placing it on the chair. Making sure Jack got the best view, whenever he bent over.

Soon, he stood naked in front of the other man. Standing there he could feel the blue eyes raking over his body.

Jack led him over to the bed, and laid him down. Ianto noticed his stopwatch was on the bedside cabinet next to the feather.

Jack took his cuffs and gently placed one around each wrist and attached them together. He wasn't going to secure them to the bed this time.

Ianto looked at him, a question in his eyes.

Jack stroked his face and neck. "Do you trust me?"

"With every ounce of my being" Ianto replied softly.

Jack smiled.

"Still, I want you to be able to move if you need to. You've still the security of being restrained but you can move. You won't though, will you." Not asking, merely stating a fact.

Ianto simply looked at him, not saying a word. Jack looked into his eyes. For a moment the rhythmic stroking movement of his hand almost. He could see in those pale blue depths, fear, and darkness and anger hidden in there, but there was also complete and total trust in him from the younger man. It was a shock. On the one hand he expected it, when they did these things there had to be trust, but to see it laid bare like that before him: it made him feel very small.

He was practiced at not showing it though; the moment he showed anger or uncertainty to Ianto, in these situations, everything would be lost.

Picking up a black silk scarf he drew it across the other mans' eyes.

"I'm gonna blindfold you, it will help you focus"

He tied the scarf across Ianto's eyes.

Still fully clothed, he sat astride Ianto's thighs, careful not to touch his erection. He picked up the feather and smiled, stroking it across Ianto's upper lip, he leaned over and switched on the stopwatch.

"Concentrate on your breathing"

He watched the feather moved with each breath from that beautiful mouth.

"Now slow down your breathing, the stopwatch is on, visualise the hands going round and round, and round." Ianto concentrated on Jack's soft drawl, he could see the hypnotic hands of the stopwatch, and those full lips moving as he heard the words.

Ianto's breathing became slowed, he could almost see the air moving in an out of his lungs. Soft warm darkness filled his mind; nothing else mattered to him. Only doing as Jack asked, achieving the calm, which came with that.

Jack smiled and waited, watching the pale chest move up and down.

"Can you see the hands ticking, moving round? Slow down." He paused, just watching.

Carefully, he moved, and placed his hands at Ianto's throat, not pressing, simply laying them on top.

"Now, hold your breath, stop breathing. For me"

Ianto stopped. His entire world was now the burning light-headedness brought on by lack of oxygen. The multiple sensations of his burning lungs and the hands around his neck inextricably intertwined.

He wanted to breathe, badly, but he could feel Jack's cool fingertips at his throat, their connection and the words ‘For me.' He knew that Jack would tell him when he was allowed to take another breath.

Jack watched as Ianto's chest stopped moving. His eyes flicked across at the stopwatch, and followed the hands movement.

He waited, watching

"Breathe; come for me" he whispered.

He felt it, as he and Ianto came together, and the young man took a gasping breath, filling his burning lungs and blacked out.

He came to lying in Jack's arms, blinking, the blindfold had been taken off but his cuffs were still secured. He looked up, smiled at Jack; closed his eyes, curling up in his arms, so safe, and calm. Everything else was insignificant, this moment was all that was important to him.

***