15. Felix

15

Felix

After sex, I fell asleep in Garret's arms as he whispered soothingly to me and stroked my hair. His voice was so pacifying, and his gentle touch was extremely satisfying and lulling to my senses.

Garret infected me with his charm and intoxicated me with his appeal. It was only a matter of time before I involuntarily succumbed to a deep and tranquil sleep. Before long, my eyelids became heavy and drooped shut with fatigue.

After a while, I woke up. The morning sun came in through the blinds, splashing light into the room. I felt refreshed and rejuvenated in a way that I never had before. I realized then that maybe I had been a control freak all this time and had been fighting against the intuition of my urges. It was as if I had finally come full circle to be aware of what I was, and how to work on it for the future. It was almost like a soul-cleansing moment for me.

I finally felt connected to the person who I was inside, who I should be, organically, not forced. I was not a Dom. I was a sub, and it was easier to admit than I had initially realized. Once I stopped fighting my gut reflexes, I knew I could be happier in my own body.

My natural tendencies were to submit, and I was happy doing so because it felt right, especially with Garret as my Dom.

I heard Garret shuffling around in the kitchen, so I tossed the sheets off, got dressed, and wandered down the hallway to meet him there.

"Good morning," I said brightly.

To my surprise, Garret gave me an optimistic smile. His eyes flashed with tempting lust. He was spreading butter on toast, then moved over to a frying pan where he was scrambling some eggs.

"Good morning," he said and placed his arms around me, hugging me. He planted a soft kiss on my lips that made me tingle from head to toe. His body was warm and inviting.

"Do you need any help in here?" I asked.

"Nope." Garret shook his head. "I've got it all under control. You just sit down and relax."

"Thanks." I sat down at the table, watching Garret fix our plates.

"Coffee?" he asked and held up an empty mug, shaking it slightly.

"Absolutely." I grinned.

"Coming right up." Garret tossed me a wink as he poured the piping hot liquid into a mug designated just for me.

I could get used to being catered to like this. I didn't know where Garret's peppy mood was stemming from this morning, but I could certainly get on board with it becoming more permanent.

"I have a good feeling about today," Garret said with a contented sigh as he plopped down beside me, placing a plate full of delicious eggs, toast, and bacon in front of me.

My mouth began to salivate, and my stomach grumbled in hunger. "Me too." I picked up my fork and gleefully began chowing down on breakfast.

"Does everything taste good?" Garret asked hopefully.

"Yes." I smiled at Garret. He had a gleam of wonderment in his eyes. "Amazing," I mumbled between hefty bites.

"What has your spirits all excited bright and early?" he asked.

I cut into my eggs and popped a savory morsel into my mouth. "I realized when I woke up, that I'm a natural sub, and I am thrilled to have you as my Dom." I cut right to the chase. There was no hiding it anymore.

"Really?" Garret looked practically giddy. His grin was enormous and infectious.

"It suddenly dawned on me as soon as I woke up," I said with a shrug. "I felt like I had finally come… home. I felt like I didn't need to hide who I really was anymore. It's a relief, honestly. I feel like I can be happier now that the burden has lifted and I'm not struggling to be someone I'm not."

"That's fantastic." Garret reached over and cupped his hand over mine, giving it an affectionately tender squeeze that made my heart pound with desire.

"I feel liberated, honestly," I said.

"You are practically glowing," Garret chuckled. "I think you're making the right choice, and it will be healthy for you mentally too. I must say, being a sub is becoming for you. It suits you."

"Exactly." I nodded in agreement and took a sip of my coffee, grateful that it had cooled down somewhat. "Thank you. Hearing you say that nullifies any doubts I had still lingering in the back of my mind."

Garret wiped his mouth with his napkin and leaned back in his chair. "Well, in changing the subject briefly, I for one am still bound and determined to confront Mayor Charles Beech about everything going on with the club."

"I can still come with you," I suggested, then added, "if you want."

Garret gave me a heartfelt smile. I could feel his affectionate energy just by simply gazing into his gorgeous eyes.

"I would love to have you there standing beside me." His eyes sparkled with earnest enthusiasm.

"You can always count on me." It was my turn to reach across the table and give his hand a fond squeeze.

I was excited for all the possibilities of how our relationship could move forward in a positive way, and I was so grateful that Garret had woken up in a seemingly buoyant mood too.

"If anything, I can be a mediator between the two of you so that things don't escalate and get too out of hand."

Garret released a playful scoff. "You're telling me. That's a fantastic idea." I caught a naughty gleam in his eye. "Now come on. Let's go take a hot shower together. We both need a boost of energy and endurance, and I know exactly the trick to get us ahead of the game."

I grinned and took his hand as he led me to the bathroom. My cock throbbed with anticipation. He wouldn't have to tell me twice to climb into the shower with him. When it involved Garret, I was ready for anything.

____________________________

A couple of hours later, Garret and I sat in the waiting room of the Mayor Beech's office.

Garret nervously bounced his leg up and down, continuously glancing at his watch. He intermittently exhaled with irritation and tossed a glance at the receptionist who did nothing more than eye him skeptically from above the top of her computer screen.

"Calm down," I whispered to him, gently placing my hand on his knee to prevent him from twitching it any further. "You are visibly anxious. You don't want to give Mayor Beech the satisfaction of seeing you flustered, do you? You need to keep your cool. Take a deep breath, in and out."

Garret nodded, closed his eyes, and willingly performed the breathing exercises in order to level out his toxic, festering energy.

When he opened his eyes again, he glanced at his watch and scowled. His calm state didn't last long, but at least I had tried and managed to subdue him for a moment or two.

"He's been making us wait forever and I know he's doing it on purpose," Garret hissed.

"Well, we should have expected that much," I mentioned quietly. "If he's really an asshole, then he'll be in his office just psyching us up and relishing making us squirm. That's why you have to beat him at his own game."

Garret nodded and squared his shoulders. His posture switched to more confidence, and his gorgeous jawline was sculpted and tight. His eyes flared with dominance.

"I'm going to crush him in there," he declared.

"Yes, you are." I was his very own personal cheerleader and I embraced my role dutifully, not just because I wanted to, but because I knew that Garret would fall apart if I didn't.

He needed me, and that made me feel important enough to stick by his side through thick and thin.

After what seemed like an eternity, the receptionist stood up, ironed out the pleats in her skirt with her palms and gave us a strained nod.

"Mayor Beech is ready for you now."

Mayor Beech opened the door and gave us each scrutinizing glances, obviously sizing us up. He cleared his throat unnecessarily loudly.

"Please, come in." He didn't even bother apologizing for the wait he'd made us endure, showing off his blatant rudeness.

He pointed to a pair of pine green chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat," he directed as he maneuvered around his desk and plopped down with a heavy sigh. He adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and gave us each a sullen look. "What can I do for you today?"

Garret balled his fists at his sides. "You know damn well why we're here."

I impulsively stiffened at Garret's reaction to the start of the conversation.

"Remember to stay calm," I mouthed to him out of the corner of my mouth.

Garret's eyes flickered with defiance. "I know that you have been taking bribes to get my club shut down."

"Bribes?" Mayor Beech's expression was infuriatingly smug. "I don't know anything about any bribes ."

"Stop denying it," Garret said, raising his voice threateningly as he shot an accusatory glower at Beech. He clenched his teeth.

"I don't have anything to deny," the mayor shrugged indifferently and with feigned innocence that even a monkey would be able to see through.

"Are you saying that you didn't get paid by a certain someone to have city officials come to my club at odd hours of the night and shut it down over trivial matters?" Garret asked in a sharp tone.

"I haven't done anything of the sort." Mayor Beech looked offended, but he wasn't diligently trying to hide his guilt either. In fact, he seemed downright proud of it, and in no way ashamed at the accusations. "I've received a few anonymous tips that I've had to perform due diligence to investigate. That's part of my job as mayor, you know."

The mayor chuckled as if that much should be obvious and that we were somehow beneath his intelligence level. Of course, we knew better, but we let the cocky asshole think he was ahead for now. We still had more tricks up our sleeves to get him to crack eventually.

The mayor had an arrogant attitude that made me want to smack him, but I resisted the temptation and remained poised in my seat. It was almost as if he was bursting to give up the secret and confess to everything but had been sworn to secrecy.

"Where did you get that fancy car that's parked out front?" Garret said, gesturing toward the window. "I saw it coming in, parked right in the spot designated for you, the mayor."

"Excuse me?" For the first time since our meeting began, the mayor appeared caught off guard.

"Yeah," Garret casually continued to point out the window with a cynical frown. "That looks like a really nice, expensive black Tesla out there. I would assume that reaches far beyond the salary of the city's mayor."

Beech had a visible line of sweat beading on his brow line, but he didn't falter. "I won it."

"You won it?" Garret mocked, giving me a pretend surprised glance. "Wow, how lucky are you?"

"Lucky indeed." The mayor beamed, but we had him backed into a corner he would soon not be able to squirm his way out of.

I could feel Garret's irritated energy beginning to rise beside me. His temper was going to get the best of him if I didn't find a way to somehow defuse the situation.

"I know you're lying, and you need to come clean before I expose you for what you are," Garret shouted. He had reached his boiling point. "You are a fraud. You were paid off in skeevy dealings to have my club shut down with one bogus claim after another."

Garret was standing up now, wagging a convicting finger at Charles Beech. The vein in his neck bulged. His temperament was usually collected and disciplined. His behavior had manifested directly from the injustice posed against him, and I felt sorry for him.

Even though Garret had the upper hand, I felt compelled to step in and water down Garret's frustration.

"Is that a picture from your college days?" I asked Mayor Beech, pointing to a framed photo of a group of men standing in front of a fraternity house with the seal of their house displayed on a banner in front of them.

"It is." Mayor Beech grinned proudly.

Garret tossed me a confused glance. "What are you doing?" he mouthed.

I smiled. My distraction tactic had worked.

"That's me, with my fraternity brothers after a fundraiser during pledge week," Charles explained.

"You must have been close to your fraternity brothers," I mentioned.

Garret gave me a sideways look. He clearly wanted to know where I was going with this.

"He looks familiar," I said and pointed to a man on the far left, who was leaning in with his arm draped around Charles' shoulders. Both men were smiling widely. They looked like they had been friends for years.

"Oh, yes. That's my fraternity brother Nelson Sanderson. He and I go way back."

Garret's expression was over the moon with elation. He finally understood the trap. Charles had confessed his personal connection to Nelson with such ease that he had missed his mistake completely.

"Thank you for your time," Garret said and nodded to me with a private grin of excitement.

We both shook the mayor's hand and exited the office, intending to return to the club to set up for the day.

Once at the club, we realized that it wasn't going to take much time or effort. Since the club had been shut down prematurely the night before, there wasn't much to clean up and the employees had come in early to set up. In fact, the place was downright spotless.

Garret's grim demeanor was returning as he lamented over how he was going to pay his staff for such exemplary service with all the closures.

"Will you stop?" I asked him, stroking his cheek and rubbing his back. "You aren't thinking straight. You can't allow yourself to automatically assume the worst."

"It's easier said than done," Garret complained with a resentful frown. "You haven't had to stand up to bullies your entire life. I just can't let Nelson win, especially since he's gone through such shady means to rip the rug right out from under me."

Garret's eyes brimmed with defiance and assertiveness that I had never seen on anyone else. I knew he wanted to persevere no matter the cost, fighting tooth and nail until the very end.

It was my natural instinct to want to convince Garret to just back down and sell the damn club and move on. He could always open up another club in a different location, but since he kept bringing up the discriminations of his past that he had already conquered, I couldn't bring myself to sway him in the selling direction.

Bullies were clearly Garret's blind spot. I realized then that my sole responsibility, for now, should be to comfort him and support him, no matter what choices he made in the end.

Part of my admission to being a sub meant that sometimes, it wasn't my battle. I had to step aside and let Garret deal with this in his own way. I would be there to pick up the pieces if needed, but I was assured that between the two of us, we could get through this storm and come out shining on the other side.