Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Diving In

We arrived at Maverick Molly's a little before our booking time.

When we went into the gaming parlor, I was distracted by the bloomered bottom of a molly boy who had bent over to gather some glasses from a table. When he straightened and turned into my nephew, I was taken aback.

"Fletcher!" Patrick said with a friendly smile. He balanced his tray against his hip and came over to us. He looked fucking adorable in his molly boy gear.

"Hey! How are you?"

"Great."

He looked at Aiden then back at me with a wowed expression. I realized this was the first time he'd seen him.

"Patrick, this is Aiden. Aiden, this is my nephew, Patrick."

"Patrick," Aiden said, extending his hand. "Pleased to meet you. I think I have you to thank for all those times I've taken Fletcher out."

"I don't mind hanging out with Lucy." He turned back to me. "I guess she's with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend?"

I glanced at Aiden, who smiled.

"Yep."

"You probably don't want to waste your time talking to me. Can I get you something?"

"Actually, we need the key to the…" I cleared my throat, only because it occurred to me that Patrick would know that we were getting kinky at his workplace. I hadn't really thought about how bizarre that was.

"The Bordello," Aiden specified. He didn't seem to find it strange. Then again, Patrick wasn't his nephew.

I turned to Aiden. "He could have figured that out."

Aiden shrugged with a nonchalant smile.

"I'll get you the key," Patrick said.

"Thank you," Aiden said.

Patrick glanced at me and gave me a look that said, ‘Holy shit, that guy is hot.' I gave him a smug little nod and he went off to speak to Jacob, who was manning the bar.

I looked around for Robin, who had seemed such an integral part of Maverick Molly's it was hard to believe he didn't work all the time. There were two other molly boys flitting about whom I didn't recognize but could absolutely appreciate in their bloomers and corsets. Jacob and Sebastian definitely knew what they were doing, getting these young men to act as pretty scenery and amusing entertainment for their customers.

Patrick came back after a moment.

"Jacob said that Sebastian's just doing a check to make sure the previous clients cleaned up properly, and that it'll be ready at ten."

I checked my watch. "Oh shit. We're early."

"Happens all the time," Patrick commented with a cheeky smile.

One of the other molly boys came up to us. He looked familiar, and I realized he was the young man I'd seen in the changing room when I'd had to use the facilities.

"Oh hey, I know you," the server said with a flirtatious smile, batting his pretty eyelashes at me.

"Honestly, Toby. You flirt with anything that moves," Patrick murmured.

Toby, right.

Toby gave Patrick a disdainful glance. "So?" He looked Aiden up and down. "My, my, my, so handsome."

A well-dressed, tall man with dark curly hair approached Toby and wrapped an arm around him from behind, then offered me his outstretched hand.

"Hi. I'm Toby's boyfriend, Alastair. Welcome to Maverick Molly's."

Toby gave the man a kiss on the cheek, then said in a loud whisper, "Alastair, you're ruining my vibe. Go away."

Alastair rolled his eyes. "What vibe is that? Cheeky young man who likes to flirt with everyone, even though he's entirely taken and living with his hot boyfriend?"

"Yeah. That one." Toby's sweet-as-fuck smile was incendiary.

Aiden grinned at Alastair and shook his offered hand.

"Hi. I'm Aiden." He gestured to me. "This is my hot boyfriend, so you have nothing to worry about."

Alastair gave me a skeptical look. "I always worry. Look at him." He gestured to Toby, who was indeed a sexy little minx.

"Ah. True."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Toby scoffed. "I'd never actually do anything. But I can't help being admired, can I?"

"Yes, that seems to be the general consensus around here," Alastair murmured.

Toby gently moved the other man's arm from around his middle. He gave his boyfriend a tolerant look. "Sweetheart, the clients aren't supposed to touch us. You're just going to confuse everyone." He let Alastair's arm drop to his side and gave the man a lecherous once-over. "But when we get home, you can touch me anywhere you want."

He blew a kiss to his boyfriend and walked away.

"Here," Patrick said, passing me the special key. I hadn't even noticed he'd gone back to Jacob.

"Thanks," I said. "Aiden."

I waved the key at him when he finally drew his gaze from Toby's cute little behind.

"Finally," he said. "This place is like a fucking aphrodisiac."

I laughed and followed him with a wave to Patrick.

Patrick had the most adorably happy expression on his face, which I took to mean he was glad to see me enjoying myself above and beyond being Lucy's dad. I appreciated his goodwill. But now I needed to stop thinking about Lucy or Patrick or anyone but Aiden.

We keyed our way into the Bordello and locked the door behind us. The place smelled of lemon disinfectant, which was comforting and reassured me that everything was kept free of germs and contaminants.

"Do you think they use one of those blue light detectors to see what needs to be cleaned in here?" I said.

Aiden smiled. "Hmm. I don't know. I'll have to ask."

"But not right now."

"No, not right now. Right now, I have other things on my mind." Aiden looked at me with an expression of unadulterated lust that became contemplation as he put his finger to his chin. "Hold on."

"Do you want me to…take my clothes off?"

"Yes, yes. Do that," Aiden said, giving me a cheery look.

I laughed, feeling giddy with expectation. I didn't pay attention to what Aiden was doing, but by the time I'd taken off my clothes, he was back and holding out a pretty red silk kimono with what looked like a giant purple koi fish embroidered on the back. "Here."

I smiled in response to the unexpected gesture. Aiden helped me get my arms into it then pulled it closed and tied the sash with a different kind of knot.

"It's quick release," he said with a wink.

"Ah. Goody."

"Fletcher, how do you address me in this room?"

"I'm sorry, Sir."

"I'm going to blindfold you."

"Yes, Sir."

He approached me with the black cloth and covered my eyes, then tied it behind my head.

"Give me your hands."

I crossed my hands at my lower back, and Aiden wrapped them with soft rope and bound them. I found myself drifting, even now, into that space of submission and acquiescence that seemed so much a part of me—a space where I could forget everything else and concentrate on simply being alive and serving someone in this particular way.

"Remember your safeword?"

"Yes, Sir."

"What is it?"

"Lamp."

"Good. That's for later. I want to gag you. Do you consent?"

"Yes, Sir," I said. "But how do I…?"

"If you need to safe-out, turn your head from side to side in a ‘no' motion. Fast, so I can distinguish it from head rolling."

"Yes, Sir."

I heard him moving around, then something hard pressed against my lips.

"Open."

I parted them and Aiden placed something cylindrical between my teeth. It was made of leather—solid on the inside but soft on the surface. He fastened the straps behind my head. There was a tug on the rope that bound my hands together.

I walked carefully backward until he stopped me, securing my bound hands to something wooden.

"I'm tying you to the pillory. It's bolted to the floor, so you won't be able to move."

I tried to say ‘Yes, Sir,' but the words were garbled, due to the gag.

"Don't talk. I just want you to relax and exist in your body."

I nodded my head, then tested the rope to see how secure it was. I definitely couldn't break free unless Aiden undid it.

Perfect.

"There are safety scissors hanging in several spots in this room and a first-aid kit by the door, just in case."

It was comforting to know that Jacob and Sebastian Moriarty had safety in mind, and that Aiden did as well. I wouldn't expect any less from someone who worked in a school on the regular.

I listened as Aiden's footsteps retreated then returned.

"Try to stay still. That's all I want from you right now, Fletcher."

Okay. I can handle that.It was such a simple thing compared to the rest of my life.

Something tickled the top of my foot. I almost moved it, but forced myself to keep it planted on the wood floor. Soft leather traced over my arch and down along my big toe. It tickled, and I had to concentrate on keeping still.

Aiden chuckled. "It'll get harder."

That wasn't the only thing getting harder.

The folded leather tip of a riding crop traced over my other foot, then snaked over my ankle and up the inside of my calf—then did the same to my other calf, then along my inner thigh, then the other inner thigh. The crop lifted the edge of my robe as it searched higher.

I struggled not to move.

As Aiden stroked the tip over various parts of my body, I became increasingly aroused. My breathing was rough against the gag, and I had to concentrate on keeping still.

"Oh, babe, you're doing so good."

His praise was everything I needed. As an adult, you didn't hear very often that you were doing the right thing. Sometimes you didn't even know what the right thing was. But here, in this room, all I had to do was what Aiden told me.

It might not be easy, but its difficulty lay in another direction from the struggles I dealt with on a daily basis. And it was such a fucking relief.

Tiny movements in the air told me he was in front of me. I could feel him there, hear his breaths and smell his scent. A tug on my silk robe and it fell open, the air hitting my standing cock like a caress as I gasped and raised my chin.

"Oh, yeah," he murmured. He pressed his lips against the corner of my mouth, where spit had gathered. He swiped it away with his tongue, then did the same to the other side.

He stepped back, and there was nothing except the hum of the HVAC and the tick of the analog clock. The tip of the riding crop snaked up my inner thigh again, higher and higher.

Swap!

The bite of it came like fire on my skin. I yelped. Then it happened again, on my opposite thigh, also on the inside. I made a sound of pain.

Before I had time to recover, the it made its way to the underside of my cock and up, up, up, to drift lazily over the head. I clenched all over, in case he would strike that sensitive spot, but the leather moved on me like a tongue, teasing and smooth, until I jerked and pulled against the rope.

Aiden laughed softly. "It doesn't take much, does it? Just a bit of rope, a gag, a blindfold and a leather crop, and you're mine."

I whimpered because he was right. But I didn't give myself to just anyone.

He shoved the tip of the crop roughly under my balls, jiggling and poking at them as I complained with grunts and whimpers. It didn't hurt but made me aware of my vulnerabilities.

He came close again and pushed the silk robe off my shoulders, so that it slipped and bunched, draping behind my legs, at the ropes that tied my wrists together.

"Oh hell. You look so good, Fletcher, like a Roman slave. A problematic comparison, but I've never claimed to be a saint."

He drew the tip of the crop over my hip and around to my backside, flicking it against my skin and poking at the top of my crack.

"I'm going to do so many things to this ass."

I loved that Aiden could be the responsible elementary school teacher in one environment and the depraved and stern Dom in another. I was so here for it.

Aiden teased me with the crop, giving me the occasional sting and slap, playing with my cock and balls and nipples, until the drool was dripping from the gag, and I gasped continuously.

"All right," he said. "I think you're ready for the next part."

Aiden went behind me and unbuckled the straps of the bit gag, removing it from my mouth. The corners of my lips were sore, and I licked the drool away and wiped my chin on my bare shoulder. Aiden took the blindfold off me, then used a cloth to dry my chin and neck.

"Okay so far?"

"Y—yes, Sir," I said. My voice shook, and my cock twitched.

"Drink of water?"

"Yes, Sir."

There was a mini-fridge beside the door that we'd examined on our previous visit. It held bottles of water and a tray of ice in the freezer section. Aiden got one of the waters, unscrewed the cap and tipped it to my lips so I could drink. Our gazes met and held.

"Not too much. No bathroom break until later," he said, taking it away. "Now, wait here."

"Yes, Sir."

Aiden bent to undo the latches on the legs of the adjustable bondage bench and drew it upward. When he had it at a height that worked for him, he locked the legs in place and came back to me. The only sounds were our breaths as he untied the rope that held my hands together. He took the silk robe away along with it and told me to stand by the bench.

I padded over in my bare feet, feeling strung out and so aroused already, my brain exploding at the prospect of what awaited me. Aiden came up behind me and fastened a leather collar, with a metal D-ring at the front, around my neck.

"Do you want a collar, Fletcher?"

"Huh?"

"A collar. So everyone will know you're mine?"

"Um, might inspire some uncomfortable questions from my folks."

Daniel laughed. "I don't mean a thick leather one with a D-ring. I mean…something that looks like a necklace. A simple gold or silver chain. Something like that?"

"Oh. Huh. Maybe? Can I think about it? You know I'm yours. Isn't that what matters?"

I remembered feeling bad about deciding against it, in the end. Instead, he'd gotten me a leather wrist bracelet that I'd worn for approximately three months before having to take it off for something and never putting it back on. He hadn't seemed to care, and after he'd passed, I'd looked for it but couldn't find it.

Aiden's hand landing softly on my hip got me out of the memory. He helped me into position.

The bench had platforms for my knees at a lower height, and my chest rested atop the padded surface. I was basically kneeling over with my wrists cuffed behind me. The D-ring of the collar he attached to a ring in the bench, to keep me centered and immobile. But I was able to lay my head on its side, so it wasn't uncomfortable.

"I'm going to bind your thighs, as well," Aiden said.

"Yes, Sir."

He circled leather cuffs around each leg just above where my knees were bent and buckled them, so they were snug. Then he attached them to rings on the bench.

"Now ankle cuffs, so you'll be secure. I don't want you coming off the bench when you're all wiggly and desperate."

I tried to control my breathing as he finished securing me.

"Okay. Wow. Well. You look like you should be in a painting."

What?

I snorted a laugh. "What kind of painting, Sir?"

He slapped my bare behind. "The kind I'd hang in my living room, just to embarrass you."

I sighed, chastened. "Yes, Sir."

"No questions. If you can't be quiet on your own, I'll get the gag."

I didn't say a word, not wanting the gag, mostly because it would add to the discomfort of the position. Right now, it was tolerable. I was supported and able to rest my head. I had no illusions about the ability of a Dom to make their sub extremely uncomfortable if they so desired.

I waited. I stared at the wall across from me, which held various implements designed to torment a naked sub. But I had a suspicion that Aiden wasn't going to use any of those. Of course, he could surprise me. I still didn't know him as a Dom that well, but I was getting there—and simply happy to be on the journey with someone who seemed to care as much as Aiden did.

Was it possible that over the course of one life, a person could be lucky enough to find two people who could take care of them, in different ways, but with the same level of attention and compassion? My skeptical side said no. My romantic and hopeful side said maybe. But Aiden and I were only at the beginning of something, and I wouldn't ruin it by getting ahead of myself.