Jane looked thoughtful. “About… six months ago. When I started that.”
“Well, apparently, you got it right.”
She chuckled. “You ought to see the skein of yarn I mangled before I started on that. Glad you like it, sweetie.”
Well, that didn’t end up very helpful for a gift idea for him after all. I couldn’t exactly knit him a sweater. I didn’t know how to knit, and I definitely couldn’t learn
and
make him one in the short time I had left. I had just over a week. I’d think of something.
I spent the next hour lost in my gift while Jeff opened more and everyone else chatted. I’d never have thought I’d be engrossed in a cookbook, but I ended up reading the entire Basic Directions section and paging through most of the other recipes. I had no idea if my little kitchen was equipped for doing half of this stuff, but I doubted it. I saw myself raiding the kitchen store before too long.
Finally, it was time to go. I think I got hugged at least twice by everyone, and a good three or four times by Jane. She pushed a bottle of her homemade eggnog into my hands, insisting she had too much for just them. I’d
seen
the inside of her fridge and knew she didn’t. I guessed I’d made too much of a pig of myself over the stuff.
I was quiet on the way to my loft. I didn’t want to go back to it. After two nights with Master, sleeping with his warmth, the thought of going to my cold bed was depressing.
“What’s in that gorgeous head of yours, baby?”
I sighed. “Family. Yours is… amazing.”
He smiled. “Yeah, they pretty much are. They have their issues. But what family doesn’t?”
“For some families, that’s all they have,” I said quietly.
“Yeah, I know. They’re… that’s not family, Kyle.”
“I know that. But they’re all I’ve got.” I hadn’t meant to say that last part, and I bit my lip before I thought about it.
“First, that’s one.”
I sighed, nodding.
“And second… my family would happily take over that.”
I looked over at him. “I’m sorry, Master. About the lip.”
“Of course you are. You’ll still get the swats.”
“I know. Uh… do you think so?”
“That they’d want to be your family?”
“Yeah.” I frowned. “They don’t know me. How… how can they want me?”
“They know enough. They’ve seen you all day. Mom’s an excellent judge of character. If she still gave you the cookbook after spending the day with you, then that’s all you need to know.”
I blinked at him. “But… it was wrapped already.”
“Yeah, but she didn’t have to actually give it to you, did she? You had no idea it was under the tree, right?”
That was true. I conceded the point. “I’m not sure I’d know what to do with a family like that.”
He laughed. “
I’m
not sure what to do with them sometimes, and I grew up with them.”
I grinned at that. “That’s comforting.”
He snickered. “You’ll get used to them.”
He pulled into the spot in front of my loft and climbed out of the car. My feet felt like lead as we gathered my bag, the eggnog, and my gift and went into the building. We stepped into the elevator, and I leaned into him, wanting as much closeness as I could get before he left. When a hand shot through the opening, I quickly stood up again.
To my dismay, the one man I really did
not
want to see stepped into the elevator. He gave me his oily smile, nodded at Mal, and hit the button for his floor. “Kyle.”
“Lewis. Good evening. How are you?” I could be cordial. I’d grown up with the King and Queen of Cordial. I’d learned the fine art of small talk—which I could normally carry on with anyone, except, it seemed, for Mal and his parents—at my mother’s knee.
“Great, I’m great. Well, Dane’s been throwing parties again, but….” He shrugged in fake nonchalance.
Dane, the only other tenant on Lewis’s floor, threw legendary parties. Everyone from the building—except Lewis—was usually invited. Which was why Lewis hated them. I didn’t blame Dane, though. Lewis didn’t just
look
like a rat—he was one. I’d never in my life hated anyone, but Lewis sure made it difficult to keep that.
He’d thrown more than a few not-so-subtle hints that he wanted my loft. The neighboring loft on my floor had been empty for about a month, but apparently it wasn’t good enough for him. He wanted mine—with the view. If I had even the slightest interest in having him as a neighbor, I’d have seriously considered buying the other loft and selling mine to him.
But he was nosy enough in the few minutes we met on the elevator. I had
no
wish to let him see more. Especially because Lewis knew my parents.
I shook the thought off and tried to return Lewis’s smile. I managed to give polite nonanswers about Mal—my friend—my job, and a few other things, finally breathing a sigh of relief when Lewis got off the elevator. I would have sworn he managed to slow the damned thing down somehow.
“I wonder, was his mother actually a weasel?” Mal asked.
I burst out laughing. “If you saw her, you wouldn’t have to wonder. Her face is even pointier than Lewis’s.”
He snorted. “I didn’t think that was possible.”
“Oh, it is.”
We got off the elevator, and I managed to unlock my door.
As soon as I shut it, Master looked at me—and I knew it was Master, just by the look—and said one word. “Strip.”
My cock stood at attention before I ever removed a single article of clothing. As soon as I was naked, he bent me over the bar, running his hand over my ass. It was still a bit warm and sore from my spanking that morning—and the one the day before.
“How many, boy?”
“Five, Master. For biting my lip.”
“Very good, boy.”
He used his hand, but as sore as my ass was already, they hurt. I stuttered on three, whimpered hard on four, and cried out on five. Five swats with his hand and my ass throbbed again. He pulled me in as he always did, and I burrowed into his arms.
I wanted, a little desperately, to ask him to stay. But I knew he hadn’t brought clothes, and he wouldn’t have time to go home in the morning. And the last thing I wanted him to think was that I was some kind of clingy, wimpy thing.
We stood there for a while without speaking, and then he pulled back. “I know I won’t be able to wait a week to see you again. How about dinner Tuesday?”
I smiled. I wouldn’t have him in bed with me, but it was something. “I’d like that.”
“Maybe you drive this time, hmm? And, uh, toss an overnight bag in the trunk.”
I beamed, throwing my arms around him. “I’d like that a lot,” I whispered.
He hugged me. “Good, then I won’t feel so bad for denying you the next two days.”
I swallowed. “Yes, Master. And will you—”
“Tease? Oh yes, boy. As much as I can. Good boys….”
“Should always be horny,” I replied, grinning.
He grinned back at me. “I can’t wait until Tuesday.”
“Me either, Master.”
Mal
I WAS
bypassing ridiculous and going straight for “absurd.” Two days. Yet again it had only been two days since we last saw each other, and already I was missing him like crazy. And that was despite the text messages, dick pics, and e-mails we’d been exchanging.
My favorite out of the pictures was the one with the green ribbon he was wearing that morning around his cock and balls. I knew he wore that one most often because it was my favorite color, and I enjoyed showing him the results of just how much I liked it.
I flipped back through his pictures as I waited for the knock on the door. Traffic had been a nightmare for me, so I had no doubt it was for him too. I could be
that
patient, at least. I knew I was acting like a lovesick teenager, but I really couldn’t care. I
was
in love.
And if I nearly ran to the door when the knock sounded, there was no one to see me but me.
I opened the door to see him grinning at me. “Hello, Master.” I yanked him into my arms and crushed our mouths together. He didn’t even hesitate to open to me, our tongues tangling. I couldn’t seem to get enough of his taste or the feel of him in my arms and decided I didn’t want to.
When we broke apart, he was panting.
“Hello yourself,” I said, grin wide.
He laughed. “I like those kinds of greetings.” His cheeks reddened adorably at that and I kissed each of them.
“So, would you like to drive your car, or would you like to take the Z?” I asked, taking the suit bag from him and hanging it on the hook on the wall next to the door.
He licked his lips and hesitated briefly. “I’d love to take the Z, if you don’t mind.”
I beamed at him, thrilled he gave me his opinion. “The Z it is, then. Is there anything else in the car?”
He shook his head. “No. That has everything I need. I still have some underwear here.”
“You do. I washed it yesterday.”
Kyle stepped back and I grabbed my keys and locked the door. As we approached the Z, I grinned at him. “Want to drive?”
His eyes widened. “You’d… really? You’d let me drive your Z?”
I didn’t laugh at his expression, but it was a near thing. “Sure.”
“Um… yes, please!” He nodded eagerly and I tossed the keys to him.
He opened my door first, earning himself a kiss. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for letting me drive,” Kyle murmured, then went around to his side.
He was careful, probably driving slower than he would if it had been his car, but he handled it well and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him do something he was confident in. He told me about his day as he maneuvered through traffic and I made him laugh more than once over some of the tech candidates I’d interviewed.
“Go ahead and use the valet,” I said as he pulled into the parking lot of the sushi restaurant.
When he brought the car to a stop, he hesitated briefly, then glanced over. “Stay?”
I smiled. “Okay.”
He came around to my side and opened my door before tossing the key to the valet. We waited to get the ticket, then turned to the door. I was surprised when he took my hand as we approached the building.
“Are you okay to do this?” I asked, lifting our hands.
He gave me a small smile. “My parents wouldn’t
deign
to appear at a
mall
.” He wrinkled his nose when he did and I chuckled. “The same for most of their friends. Sure, there’s always a chance for someone to see me, but here, it’s not likely.”
I nodded, opening the door for him. “I can see that. I just don’t want to get you in trouble. I can’t beat your ass for you if I can’t see you anymore.”
He laughed, which I was going for. He didn’t comment beyond that, but I didn’t push. I knew how hard things were for him. I just hoped in the not too distant future, I could make it not an issue anymore.
As we waited for the host, I leaned in. “Are you wearing the ribbon, boy?”
“Yes, Master. And no underwear.”
“And how many edges today?”
He whimpered. “Eight, Master.”
I grinned and let it turn just a little evil, knowing it was what Kyle wanted to see. “I might just have you edge a bit tonight too.”
He whimpered again, but nodded. “I can’t wait, Master.”
The host returned then and led us to our seats at a small table in the corner. Once we were settled with drinks ordered and menus in hand, I considered him over the top of mine. He seemed… nervous. “Are you okay?”
He frowned. “Yes. I… Mike said something earlier today that’s been bothering me. I wasn’t going to bring it up, but I don’t know how to answer him.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Well—”
We were interrupted when the waiter came back for our order. We decided to order a few different types of sushi to share and finally, we were left alone again. “So….”
He sighed. “It’s nothing, I don’t—”
“Boy,” I growled.
He swallowed. “Sorry, Master. Mike doesn’t understand our relationship.”
Well, that wasn’t what I expected. “How so? I thought you said he was in the lifestyle?”
Kyle nodded and frowned. “That’s what surprised me about it. But they’re not 24/7, not even close to it, like Cam and Mistress Sammy. And, I mean, I know
we
aren’t exactly…”
“But we’re close, yeah.”
“Right. But he asked me why we don’t, like, go on a date without doing anything sexual or—” He shrugged a shoulder and glanced around. “—well, without the… dynamic involved.”
I thought that through. “It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it. Maybe explain you work best with that kind of structure? That the rules and discipline help you?”
He looked thoughtful. “That might help. I think he doesn’t realize that part of it. He sees what you get out of it, but not so much what I do.” He nodded. “He’s a little stuck, too, on our pain play, but that I don’t think I can help him with. He’s
not
a masochist and Jenn isn’t a sadist. It’s really just the D/s and kept strictly in the bedroom for them.”
I pursed my lips. “Yeah, that would make it tough for him to get that aspect of it. I think if you tell him that, it’ll at least give him a better understanding. I could talk to him.”
He smiled at me. “Let me try first, but if not, maybe I’ll get him to talk to you.” He paused and licked his lips. I buried the urge to grin at him trying
so
hard to keep from biting. “As long as he remembers you belong to me.”
I
did
grin then. “Even if he wasn’t straight, he’d have no chance baby. He’s not you.”
Kyle blushed a beautiful deep red. “So, uh… how ’bout them Mets….”
SUSHI CONSUMED
and check paid, we went out into the main part of the mall. Kyle seemed to think I was nuts when I suggested we have ice cream for dessert—since it was December—but eventually, I convinced him to get a scoop. We wandered along the shops, peering in windows and dodging Christmas shoppers rushing from store to store.
I loved seeing the things he looked at, making note of what he lingered over. We passed up a number of the jewelry stores, but he paused outside Tiffany & Co. “Do you know they have a male same-sex couple in their engagement ad?”