13. Ryan

13

RYAN

I didn’t consider myself a prude, but Ciel’s generous gesture left me all but speechless. He watched me as I struggled to find my voice again, waiting, anticipating my reaction.

“Does…does it vibrate?” I asked, sliding my fingers over the velvety black surface of the toy.

“What kind of monster would I be if I bought you a toy that we couldn’t both enjoy?” he responded, holding his phone up in one hand. “It most certainly does vibrate, and I am the only one with control over where, when, and how intensely you get to experience it.”

I wanted to be annoyed with him. I really did. He should never have sprung this kind of surprise on me so early into our relationship, and certainly not when we were less than an hour out from sitting down together for dinner in someone else’s house . But I couldn’t muster even the slightest bit of resentment toward him. All I could think about was how careful we were going to have to be and how incredible the sex was going to be when we finally got home in a few blessed hours.

It was hard not to give away my thoughts on the matter, and as Ciel glanced down at my pants and back up at me, he already knew the answer to his next question: “What do you think?”

“Oh, I’m in,” I said. “But shouldn’t we have dealt with this back at my place? We can’t just run off to the bathroom the second we arrive.”

“The two of us together cannot, no,” Ciel mused. “It would look too suspicious. But I’m sure a man like you can manage on your own. You do know where it goes, don’t you?”

I gave him a withering glance, narrowing my eyes just long enough to tell him I was not as inexperienced as he seemed to think. “Of course I do.” Then I remembered the one time one of my exes wanted to do some anal play and I backed out at the last second after realizing I was way in over my head. “But will it be difficult to, well, you know?”

Ciel raised an eyebrow. “No, I don’t know. Difficult to insert? Is that what you’re asking?”

I nodded silently.

“No. I made sure to purchase a small size for you. I want you to suffer, my dear, but I do not wish to inflict any kind of pain that you don’t enjoy. Come along now, or we’re going to be late.”

I closed the box back up and shoved it in my coat pocket, taking a moment to adjust myself through my jeans. I had no idea how I was going to play off my horniness once we got to the hosts’ house. My only hope was that we could sit down right away and the table would provide adequate coverage for me.

Even if I made it that far, once I got that butt plug in, it would be over. I already knew that Ciel would harbor no mercy for me, and I expected nothing less from him.

We reached our destination, the strangers’-to-me- house, right on time. Although, calling it a house did it quite a disservice. It was more of a manor, and a well-kept one at that.

“You know these people?” I asked, staring up slack-jawed at the behemoth of a home in front of me.

“I do,” Ciel said casually. “Both men are dear friends of mine, though I think you’ll be surprised by how I got to know each of them.”

We walked through the open front gate and stepped along the stone walkway to the porch, which spanned the entire front of the house and might have even wrapped around the sides, but it was too dark for me to tell.

“I did not meet them as a couple,” he continued, “but rather through my job — my previous job — at separate times.”

“How strange,” I said.

“It is.” Ciel reached for the hideous iron door knocker in the shape of a snake, but I grabbed his arm.

“Wait,” I hissed.

He rolled his eyes. “Yes?”

“The plug — the butt plug — is it going to be quiet enough?”

“Of course. I may be a glutton for punishment, but I am no fool, Ryan. It is perfectly suitable for use anywhere we please.”

He shook my hand off and used the knocker to rap on the door once, twice, and a third time before letting it fall back into place. We waited in the cold silence for someone inside to answer it.

We didn’t have to wait long, and a moment later, a man dressed in a gray wool sweater and black slacks opened it. He had short black hair and a kind smile, but something about him seemed off.

“Come in, come in,” he said, smile widening as he ushered us inside. “Draven and I have been waiting for you. I trust that the journey wasn’t too terrible?”

“Not at all,” Ciel replied, taking the man’s hand in a hearty shake. “I’ve come to delight in these sorts of early spring walks.” He turned to me. “Teddy, I would like you to meet my friend, Ryan Adler. Ryan, this is Theodore Chapman.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Theodore.” I extended a hand and the man took it, his palm softer than I expected.

“It’s lovely to meet you too, Ryan, but please, call me Teddy.”

I smiled. “Teddy it is, then. How long have you known Ciel?”

They exchanged glances, an odd expression on Teddy’s face that I couldn’t quite place. “Years, technically,” Teddy said carefully, “although I only met him in person a few months ago.”

“Oh.” I furrowed my brow. “You mean, you knew Ciel when he was in Heaven? You’re not undead, are you?”

Teddy laughed. “No, my boy. I’m a former priest. A while back, when I began questioning my faith, Ciel was the only one who kept me from abandoning it entirely.”

“But you left the priesthood.”

“Yes, that’s correct. I left it for, well, see for yourself.”

A sly little incubus slipped out from behind the door to the kitchen, holding a platter of some sort of meat balanced precariously in one hand. He set it on the dining table and turned around to face me and Ciel, a devilish grin spreading across his face.

He was handsome, I could give him that much, although not my type at all. Still, I understood that Teddy saw something in him, and I immediately knew it was reciprocated when the demon looked back at his partner and his harsh, deep red eyes softened, sparkling a little, even.

“Draven, our guests are here,” Teddy said, gesturing toward Ciel and me. “You remember Ciel, of course, and this is his friend, Ryan.”

“Such a delight to meet you,” Draven said, taking both my hands in his and planting a kiss on top of one of them.

His voice dripped with seduction and I had to admit, I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would. He looked back and forth between the two of us, eyes twinkling brighter the longer he looked.

“Lovers?”

I bit down hard on my tongue, willing myself not to open my big, dumb mouth. Ciel could handle this one. As it turned out, he didn’t have to.

“Draven, you know that’s an inappropriate question to ask,” Teddy admonished him.

Draven let my hands go and turned around, tail swinging unbothered behind him. “I do apologize,” he said, but I could tell he didn’t mean it.

“Well,” Teddy clasped his hands together, “shall we sit down? Dinner is almost ready — just as soon as I remove the bread from the oven.”

Ciel shot a glance in my direction and I nodded, almost imperceptibly, before turning my attention back toward Teddy.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to use the bathroom first.”

“Of course. Draven will show you where it is.”

I followed Draven out of the dining room and down a long, wide hallway. As soon as he pointed out the door to the bathroom for me, he hurried back into the dining room to join the others, who were now just waiting for me.

I shut the door behind me, locking it for good measure, took a deep breath, and pulled the box out of my pocket. “Well, this is it,” I murmured, setting the box on the counter and unzipping my jeans. “I just hope Ciel gives me a minute or two to get used to it when I get back.”

Who was I kidding? Ciel would do what he wanted, and I would be lucky if I made it out alive of this house. Between the three of these strange men, I had a feeling I was in for quite a ride, and it wasn’t the kind I wanted to be taking tonight.