Chapter Twenty-Three

Gideon wanted to buy Vihaal a gift.

"That whole thing with Dominic and Vihaal's dad. It was a long time coming, but poor V. It's not fun to realize you've misplaced your trust in someone. In two people, actually."

"I think a gift is a great idea. You want to go to St. Laurent?"

"Nah. Let's go to Rideau. If we don't find anything there, we can check out some of those cute stores in the Market."

"Sure," I said. "I'll drive."

The Rideau Centre wasn't crowded, seeing that it was a Tuesday evening. We went into several shops, looking for just the right gift for the man who had everything.

"We could get him a gag gift," Gideon suggested.

"A sex toy?" I suggested.

"Hmm. But he has us. "

I laughed. "True. Something to wear?"

"I don't know. Vihaal likes to pick out his own clothes."

"Tech?"

Gideon frowned. "Now hold on, I was thinking our budget would be a couple of hundred. I can't afford to buy him a laptop or a phone. Besides, he always gets himself the best stuff, and there's no way I can afford that."

We walked past a Laura Secord shop and Gideon put a hand on my arm.

"Wait, maybe an ice cream would help me think!" he said.

I got out my wallet. "You want me to get you an ice cream, little boy?"

"Jesus, Angel. Fuck. You just gave me a hard-on. In the Rideau Centre."

"Oh, what a shame. I'm so sorry," I said with mock concern. "You want one or not?"

"Please buy me an ice cream, Daddy!"

"Fine. What kind?"

"Vanilla, baby. That's my flavor."

"Wow, you are just full of surprises."

"I know!"

We sat on a bench and ate ice cream cones, watching people go by.

"This was a good idea," I admitted.

"Yep. So good."

"Okay, so a gift for V," I reminded him.

He shrugged. "Honestly, maybe this is a stupid idea. He's got the two of us. What else does he need?"

I laughed and shrugged.

Gideon sat up straight. "Wait, wait. That's it!"

"Huh?"

He stood and looked around for something. "Do they still have those cheesy portrait booths in malls these days?"

Oh! "Maybe?"

We finished our ice cream and went looking. And we found one.

"I don't fucking believe it. I would have thought these would have gone the way of phone booths," Gideon said.

"I guess they still make money."

"Oh shit. You got any coins?" he asked.

Turned out, the photo booth took credit. We went under the curtain, giggling like kids.

"Okay, okay. What do we want to do here?" I asked him.

"Let's do a sweet one, and two dirty ones, and a silly one."

"Fine."

"Okay."

By the time we left the booth, I thought I was going to piss my pants, we were laughing so hard. The photos were perfect. We looked like a couple of horny idiots in most, but the sweet one had turned out better than expected.

"Oh my God. He's going to cry!" Gideon said, with a hand to his heart.

"Vihaal?" I asked, doubtfully.

"You know he's a real softy underneath all of that restraint and bluster."

"Yes, but…has he ever cried?"

"You'd be surprised," Gideon remarked.

We argued about cards at the pharmacy but finally chose one, then used a pen at the bank to sign it, and sealed it into an envelope.

"All right," Gideon said, checking his phone. "I just got a text from Vihaal."

He frowned, reading it.

"Huh. Weird."

"What?"

Gideon looked up, a confused expression on his face. "He wants us to meet him at the Chateau Laurier."

"Right now?"

Gideon gazed at his phone again.

"Oh!" He chuckled, then gave me a mischievous look. "Yes. Right now. Come on."

"The Chateau Laurier? Are we having afternoon tea?" I remembered the tiny sandwiches and the first time Vihaal had kissed me.

Gideon shrugged and lifted his eyebrows. "Maybe?"

We left the Rideau Centre and crossed Sussex, then headed up the hill to the Chateau, passing tourists and business people who were headed West on Wellington Street.

"I've never even been to the Chateau Laurier. Not inside it, anyway," I admitted.

"Oh yeah? We come to see the Christmas trees over the holidays. And we've eaten at Wilfred's," Gideon confessed. "The architecture of the building is so beautiful. Vihaal's even supplied some of the furniture."

"That's so cool," I said.

The Chateau Laurier Hotel was a fixture in Ottawa. It was where all the official dignitaries stayed on their visits to the city, since it was directly beside the Parliament Buildings and a renowned destination in and of itself.

Walking into the expansive lobby through the revolving doors, I craned my head to look up to the second-floor balcony that edged the large space and wondered which famous people had stood in just this spot. I almost bumped into a woman coming from the elevator bay.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized, looking up and into the eyes of Rebecca, my red-haired hook-up from the bar, what seemed a lifetime ago.

"Angel?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey!" I said. "We're just meeting a…friend."

"It's great to see you!" she said, glancing briefly at Gideon but focusing on me.

"Oh, yeah, thanks. It's nice to see you, too."

This is so fucking awkward. How do I make this not awkward?

She laughed and put up a hand. "Don't worry. I can take a hint, you know. I'm not going to ask you out again."

"Oh fuck," I said. "Thank God."

Then I realized how that sounded as Rebecca frowned. Gideon was trying hard not to laugh.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"Really."

"Yeah, no, it's not that you're not cool. It's only that I've started seeing someone." I turned to Gideon. "This is my boyfriend, Gideon."

She blinked. "That's amazing! Hello!" She held out her hand and Gideon shook it.

"Hi," Gideon said with a grin.

She looked at me with real affection. "I'm so sorry I texted you all those times. I just…I had a good time that night, but I guess you were looking for something else."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"No, no. It's a good memory. Really."

"Yeah, well, it turns out I wasn't as straight as I thought," I said.

Gideon grinned. "But he was exactly as straight as I thought."

Rebecca examined Gideon, then looked at me. "I'm not surprised you switched sides."

I blushed.

"You should see our other—" Gideon started to say but I grabbed his wrist and pulled him along.

"It was nice to see you, Rebecca!" I said.

"We should go for coffee!" she yelled. "Platonically, of course!"

"Sure," I said. "Bye."

"Holy. Shit." Gideon muttered.

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting that."

"Anyway," Gideon said, ushering me toward the restaurant. "V told me to get a table at Wilfred's and order some drinks. He'll pay. He always does."

I followed Gideon, wondering what on Earth Vihaal was up to. Knowing him as I was learning to, it could be any number of things. My body went into anticipation mode.

As we entered the mostly empty dining room, I spotted a familiar person sitting at the bar.

"Hey, that's—"

Gideon grabbed my elbow.

"Shh. Pretend you don't see him."

"What the fuck?" I asked, lowering my hand. "Why?"

"Hello there," The well-dressed host greeted us. "Table for two?"

"Yes, please," Gideon replied.

We followed as she led us to a spot by the window.

"Is this all right?" she asked.

"Yes. This is perfect," Gideon said, motioning me to sit, which I did.

"A server will be with you momentarily."

"Thanks," I said.

When she'd gone, I glanced at the bar. I leaned forward.

"What's going on?"

Gideon stared at me for a moment, then blushed and looked down. When he glanced back up, his eyes were full of mischief.

"V and I like to play this game," he said.

"Oh no," I said, resisting the urge to look at Vihaal again. "I'm afraid to ask."

But it was a good kind of afraid— a skin tingling, heart-beat-quickening, cock hardening kind of afraid.

"Well…just play along, and you'll find out," Gideon said, checking his phone. "Oh."

"What?" I asked, my mouth going dry.

Gideon showed me his phone.

Order drinks.

My gaze flew to Vihaal before I could help myself, but he was in the same position, staring at his iPad, not looking in our direction.

He was dressed in a fancy suit, as if he'd just come from a stockholder meeting or something equally as important. But because of the way he was seated, his dress pants revealed socks with pictures of candy on them, which made me smile.

I turned back to Gideon. "Is this like a role play kind of thing? Do I need a fake identity?"

Gideon stared at me. "Yes, it's role play. No, you don't need a fake identity. We're us , he's him , but we're going to pretend we're a couple and we've never met V before. Can you do that?"

Can I do that? "Yes," I said.

"Excellent," Gideon said, as the server came and introduced himself.

"Can I get you gentlemen a drink?"

"Yes, thank you. I'll have a rye and Coke," he said. "Angel?"

"Oh, um, a rye and ginger, please."

"Back in a moment."

"So, what do we do?" I asked, once the server had gone. "Just have some sips of our drinks? Then what?"

"Don't worry, he'll text me instructions. I'm used to this but usually I'm on my own. This is the first time I've had a lover to bring him."

Oh hell. I was so on board with this already.

Our drinks arrived, and we sat there chatting about nonsense. Gideon looked down at his phone again.

"He wants us to come over."

"To the bar?"

"Yeah. Like, pretend we saw him and we want to introduce ourselves. As a prelude to, you know, introducing ourselves ."

"Jesus. You two have this down, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's fun. And super fucking hot."

"I'm getting that vibe."

"Ready?" Gideon asked.

"Wait," I said, downing the rest of my drink. "Now I'm ready."

Gideon stood and picked up his glass. I followed him to the bar, glad there weren't many people in the restaurant, and nobody at the bar but Vihaal.

When Gideon was close enough, he said, "Excuse me," and Vihaal looked up.

I grinned to let him know I was in on the joke. But he stared at me as if I was a complete stranger. As my smile faded, my cock swelled and fireworks started going off in my belly.

"Can I help you?" he asked, checking us over with an obvious interest.

"Oh, I really hope you can," Gideon replied. "My, uh, partner and I just came for a drink at this lovely hotel, but we don't know anything about Ottawa. We were hoping you could show us around…maybe starting with a room in this hotel." Gideon asked, with that cheeky way that I loved so much.

"But…" Vihaal stated, gaze moving back and forth between us. "I don't have a room."

Gideon grinned and sipped his drink, taking my hand in a subtle gesture that only Vihaal could see. "Maybe you should get one ."

Vihaal's gaze roamed over him again, and he smiled. "The rooms here are very expensive."

"It'll be worth it. Trust me," Gideon said, stroking my fingers in a way that made it feel like he had his hand down my pants.

Vihaal regarded us carefully, as if he really was trying to judge whether paying for a room would be worth it. I leaned in and whispered in Gideon's ear, flashing a quick glance at Vihaal.

"What did your friend say?" Vihaal asked.

"He said we should tell you that we're extremely obedient. If that was something you might like."

Vihaal didn't say anything at first, but he pushed his drink away and shut his iPad case.

"As a matter of fact," Vihaal muttered, standing and looking us over even more overtly. "It's something I might like very much."

My body hummed with energy. I'd never done anything like this before, in a public place. It seemed risky and scandalous and very, very exciting.

"Wait here," Vihaal said.

"Yes, Sir," Gideon replied, and Vihaal smiled briefly then left us.

"Is he getting a room?" I asked.

"Fuck, I sure hope so," Gideon muttered. "You did great! Keep it up and we're going to have the best time!

Vihaal came back with a room key and grabbed his jacket off the stool. "All right. I have a room. Perhaps we should introduce ourselves."

"Oh, fuck, yeah, that's a good idea. I'm Gideon, and this is Angel."

"Hi, Gideon. Hello, Angel." He frowned. "How old are you?"

"Oh, I'm not a day over twenty-two," Gideon lied, "and Angel just turned twenty-one."

My eyes went wide and I managed to hold in a laugh. In no universe did I look younger than Gideon. But this was so much fun.

Vihaal smiled. "I see. Well, I'm Vihaal, and I'm not a day younger than forty-eight. That's quite the age difference." His eyes sparkled with amusement as he chose a pretend age for himself.

"Yes," Gideon agreed. "We do hope you don't mind. And I, uh, hope you've had a recent physical. No heart problems?"

I almost did laugh and Vihaal smiled.

"No worries there."

Vihaal motioned to the bartender and laid a fifty on the counter. "That's for their drinks and mine."

"Perfect. Thank you."

We followed Vihaal to the elevator.

"We're on the twelfth floor," he said.

"Oh. There should be a nice view from there," Gideon said.

"Yes, well," Vihaal said, looking him up and down. "I don't give a fuck about the view."

"I was simply making conversation. I don't give a fuck about the view either."

"Then we understand each other." Vihaal turned to me. "And you? Did you say your name was Angel? "

"Yes."

"Hmm. Do you care about the view?"

"No. Fuck the view," I said, adjusting my pants.

The elevator doors opened.

"In you go," Vihaal said, ushering us into the mirrored car.

Gideon and I moved toward the back of the elevator as Vihaal pressed the button to close the doors. Then he turned around.

"All right. Here are the rules once we get into that room. You don't speak, unless it's to say Yes, Sir, or No, Sir . The safeword for everyone is Prime Minister ."

Gideon giggled.

Vihaal almost smiled, but then managed to retain his stern demeanor.

"And you do everything I ask of you. Even if it's fucking depraved and disgusting. Because it will be."

"Yes, Sir," I panted, overcome with desire and love for these incredible men.

"Oh, yes, Sir," Gideon agreed.

"Good. Then we understand each other," Vihaal said, moving forward and pinning Gideon against the elevator wall. "You've got a smart mouth on you, don't you? I can't wait to fill it with…something."

He glanced at me.

"And you, standing there all quiet and innocent. Something tells me you can be absolutely filthy ."

And I knew in that instant that I was home.

"Yes, Sir, I can be. I like to be. I want to be," I said. "For you. And for him."