Chapter Six

"Hey, do you think I should gel my hair?" I asked Gideon.

Gideon's mouth dropped open. "Uh, yeah. Do you have some good putty or something?"

"Yeah. Do guys like that, too?"

"Honey, we like it when you make yourself pretty. Of course!"

I laughed. "I'm not pretty."

"Angel, you're a shiny penny in a dull world. You're lovely."

My heart just about fainted away.

"Thank you. I don't see it. But, thank you."

I walked to the half bath—I kept some gel down here, so I could do last minute touch ups when I went out. I was still reeling from Gideon's sweet words. My hair had grown since I'd had it trimmed in the fall and I liked the way it looked. The wax made the reddish locks fall haphazardly around my freckled face, so that they softened the sharp lines of my features. I thought the black turtleneck made my skin look too pale. Gingers were having a bit of a moment, and Sebastian had assured me that gay and bisexual men loved guys with pale skin and red hair, so maybe I was okay with it.

When I went downstairs, Gideon's eyes just about popped out of his head.

"Oh, holy shit! You look so hot . Wait until V sees you!" he clapped his hands like a kid.

He'd put on his boots and coat, and was standing in the front hall. He peered out of the window and gave Vihaal a thumbs-up.

He turned back to me and his eyes widened. "No, wait!"

"What?" I asked, checking to make sure my fly was done up.

Gideon fumbled around in the pocket of his coat. He pulled out what looked like a pencil.

He gazed at me with a sort of yearning. "Would you let me do your eyes? Pretty please?"

"My eyes? Wait. Whoa."

He lifted the pencil. "Just a bit of eyeliner. You'll barely notice it."

I hesitated. Was I ready for eye-liner?

"Look," he said, drawing the tip across the back of his hand. "It's a soft brown. It'll make your eyes pop but nobody will know it's there."

"But I'll know," I said, not sure about it.

Gideon gazed at me with delightful candor. "You're thinking about getting kinky with two perverts but you're scared of brown eyeliner?"

At the word ‘perverts', my dick sprang to attention. And I realized he'd made a good point. And also, it was Maverick Molly's. If there was anywhere to try out a little makeup, it was that place.

"Okay. Sure."

Gideon smiled so wide, I was glad I'd said yes.

He stepped close and put a finger on my chin to tilt my head back, then lifted the pencil. Instinctively, I closed my eyes.

"No. Open them," he said, his voice breathy. I smelled peppermint.

I fluttered my lids and stared forward as Gideon traced the outline of one eyelid and then the other. It tickled and I had to blink, but he simply continued once my eyes were open again. It was a strange, but not unpleasant experience.

"There," he said, putting the cap on the eyebrow pencil and pocketing it. "Look."

He gestured at the mirror over the console. I gazed at myself, not quite prepared for how androgynous and freaking hot I looked.

"Oh, holy fuck," I whispered, turning my face to see every angle. It made a big difference, but instead of feeling self-conscious, I felt a hundred times more confident.

"Yeah, you are. So hot. I told you."

If the men at Maverick Molly's hadn't noticed me before tonight, they definitely would now. The thought gave me a weird feeling of satisfaction.

"Come on. We'd better get going or V is gonna lose his shit."

"Well, I don't want that to happen," I said, getting my jacket and boots on.

"No, you don't. Trust me."

Vihaal sat in the driver's seat of a black Audi sedan, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as Gideon opened the back door for me to slip in.

"Hello, Angel," Vihaal said in that deep bass voice. It affected me the same every time. I melted and got hard all at once.

"Hi."

Vihaal regarded me in the rearview mirror.

"Did Deo sort you out?"

"I think so. Yes."

"I like the eye-liner," Vihaal said. "Makes you look like such a pretty thing."

My heart beat faster and I felt my dick twitch. I would be a pretty thing for Vihaal any day.

"It was Gideon's idea," I said. "He told me no-one would notice."

"That was a tiny lie," Gideon admitted. "But you look so good!"

Vihaal backed the car down the drive. "I called Sebastian and delayed our reservation by an hour. Luckily nobody had booked the other slot, and we've been members of the club for so long that we do get some perks."

"How long have you been members?" I asked.

"Oh, it's been, what…" Vihaal glanced at Gideon. "Has it been a year? Seems like we've been going for a while."

Gideon turned to me. "We used to beg and borrow playrooms from amongst our kinky friends, but it got kind of awkward. So we were happy when Maverick Molly's opened up. There are probably lots of places to rent in Toronto, and a few places where straight kinksters can rent in Ottawa, but as far as we know, Molly's is the only one fully reservable and customized for queer kinksters." He looked at Vihaal. "It can't have been only a year. We pretty much got in when they opened, right? Because you already knew Sebastian."

"It seems like it's been longer," Vihaal said.

"It all starts to blur together after a while," Gideon said, grinning. "At least for me. I'm usually in a different headspace when I'm in that room, aren't I, V?"

Vihaal chuckled softly. "If everything is going to plan, then yes."

"When have things not gone to plan? Except for that one time that I had food poisoning?"

"Oh, God, don't remind me," Vihaal muttered. "A tragedy in three parts."

"And then it hit you on the ride home."

"Yes. That was awful. I haven't had octopus since."

"Same. Have you ever eaten octopus, Angel?"

"No. Never tried it."

"Vihaal makes the most delicious fish curry. V, you should make it for Angel."

"Certainly."

"I'd love that."

I sat back and watched the city go by as Vihaal drove us to Maverick Molly's. His driving style was steady and controlled, and he handled the car with practiced ease. When we arrived, he found a spot a block away, deftly parallel parked, and shut off the engine.

We emerged into the frosty evening.

Vihaal wore a long black coat, with a black and gray striped scarf wrapped casually around his neck. Gideon's royal blue thigh-length wrap coat, with his bright orange beret tipped at a jaunty angle, stood out against the darkness and he reminded me of a tropical bird or a sunrise. I would never have thought to put those two colors together but it worked. Then again, he could have worn anything and it would look good.

Gideon reached out and took my hand, his gloved fingers tugging me along. "Come on! Bet you've never been here to have fun, right? Only for business!"

"Only for business," I echoed, gazing up at the familiar club, and wondering why it seemed a magical place today, when I'd been through those doors many times before.

But Gideon was right. I'd only been here to discuss the accounting with Jacob and Sebastian. I may have caught a glimpse of activities in the gaming parlor on my way to the back office, but that was as far as I'd gone.

"Full house tonight," Vihaal murmured as we went through the doors and started hanging our coats. A loud hum of voices from the gaming parlor flooded the space, with laughter and the sounds of jazz mixed in.

"Here, let me take that," Vihaal said, reaching out for my jacket.

At least I had a decent leather coat to wear, so I wasn't embarrassed to hand it to him.

Vihaal was dressed in tapered, wine-colored pants, paired with a gray button-up shirt with a banded collar that was tucked in at his trim waist. He looked effortlessly sexy in a distinguished way.

I had expected to feel out of place, but I didn't, even as a dozen eyes turned to look at us as we walked in.

"There's a new bartender," Gideon whispered to Vihaal as we stepped into the gaming parlor.

A stunning person with long curly black hair, olive skin and strong features in a movie-star-attractive face, worked behind the bar. They were wearing a pin-striped white blouse with a high collar and a chain watch attached at the neck. They saw us and smiled, gesturing to a table by the window that was free.

Vihaal raised a hand in thanks and we went over to it.

"Ah, perfect," Vihaal said, sitting where he could see the whole room. Gideon took a seat beside Vihaal and I grabbed the one that was left.

One of the molly boy servers, in corset and bloomers, with a velvet band circling his throat, came over.

"Good evening, gentlemen," he said. "Do we need a drinks menu? Or do you know what you'd like?"

Vihaal smiled, looking the attractive server over. "Gideon and I are due in the Bordello in an hour or so, and we'd like to keep things non-alcoholic. So, two ginger ales, please. And what would you like, Angel?"

"Oh…a Coke will be fine."

"Perfect. Back in a moment," the young man said, and twirled away.

"No drinks before kinks? What would you have if you weren't going to the Bordello?" I asked, my cheeks heating with the thought of what Gideon and Vihaal might be doing in that back room a bit later.

Gideon laughed. "Oh, I like to try all sorts of different cocktails. As long as it's sweet and has an interesting name, I'm in."

"I'm a martini man, myself," Vihaal confessed. "I often make one myself in the evenings at home. I'm picky about the gin."

Gideon rolled his eyes. "Very picky. What's the brand of gin you like, V? Remind me, please."

Vihaal frowned. "You know exactly what kind of gin I like, Deo."

"Why, yes, I do," Gideon said, giving me a cheeky smile. "It's Hendricks. Do you know why I remember it, Angel?"

I shook my head, looking back and forth between them. Vihaal seemed annoyed, Gideon smug and entertained. I got the impression that he got a kick out of annoying his older husband.

"Well, you see, I bought the wrong kind once."

"Oh, dear," I said. "Did he make you go back to the store?"

Vihaal's face went from annoyance to amusement in a second and he snorted a very inelegant laugh, while Gideon gaped at me like I'd just said the most ridiculous thing in the whole world. But then he gave me a slow smile and a wink.

"If only!"

Gideon shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, sitting back in the chair and regarding me thoughtfully. He'd worn a soft-looking orange sweater with pale blue jeans and black leather boots with a bit of a heel. He looked fierce and sexy and I felt like I was being watched by a jungle cat.

Vihaal also had a predatory look on his face as he gazed at me. "I have a very interesting idea."

"Oh no," Gideon muttered, pink hitting the tops of his cheeks.

"You'll like this one," Vihaal murmured.

"Will I?"

"I think so. But the real question is, will Angel?"

I gazed back and forth between them, waiting for Vihaal to continue.

"Well, you're going to have to tell me what it is," I said.

The molly boy chose that moment to return with our drinks. When he'd left us, Vihaal leaned forward. "I just thought, that the next step after watching two men fucking in a video might be watching two men fucking in real life."

Gideon gave a little shriek. " Yes. Yes, yes, yes."

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"I mean," Vihaal said, "that if you'd like to see what two very kinky, and very gay, men do when they go in the Bordello, you can have that opportunity. Tonight."

Wait, what?

"Hold on a second," I said, lifting my hand to give myself a moment to understand what Vihaal was proposing.

"I simply mean," Vihaal said, speaking in a deep voice that warmed me as much as the fire burning in the hearth. "That if you'd like to join us, you can."

"To watch," I stated.

"Yes," Vihaal said, inclining his head. "To watch."

"Oh, but Angel will have to sign up, won't he?" Gideon said.

"I'll cover it," Vihaal smiled, as if he were offering me a prime seat at a prestigious banquet. Actually…

Gideon's eyes were wide and his cheeks flushed. "Oh, I like this idea."

"Gideon is a bit of an exhibitionist," Vihaal explained.

"Actually, I'm a lot of an exhibitionist. Basically, I like to show off," Gideon said, laughing. "And Angel. I would love to show off for you ."

Gideon held my gaze and I knew I was fucking done for.

"And Vihaal likes to show off, too. Obviously," Gideon said, with a wave of his hand and an eye roll.

"Why obviously?" Vihaal asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Gideon rolled his eyes. "Because you think you're the best at everything."

"Well, I am most definitely the best at dealing with you," Vihaal said, turning and winking at me. "What do you say? Shall we sign you up?"

A flash of memory—of an itemized list I'd had to go over for the accounts—

Silicon lube - jug

Leather paddle

Wood paddle X 3 (different sizes)

Flogger - Leather, red

Nitrile gloves - black

Nitrile gloves - blue

"All right," I said.

Vihaal nodded, not looking surprised at all.

But Gideon looked like he'd just won the biggest stuffed animal at the fair.

"This is going to be so, fucking, hot ," he said, the words feeling like firm strokes to my cock.

"Yeah," I breathed, and Gideon's eyes danced.

Vihaal stood. "Come with me, Angel. Gideon, stay here and save our seats."

"Yes, V. Whatever you say," Gideon said, sitting up straighter, his eyes bright with excitement.

And that made two of us. I glanced at Vihaal who beckoned me to follow.

Actually, three.