Gathered

GATHERED

Grayson

" D id you know that Flynn's boyfriend wears women's underwear?"

Rob's question was punctuated with an uncomfortable grunt as I cinched a knot between his shoulder blades that might have pulled his arms a little too tightly.

"I didn't know he was bisexual," I murmured, working the rope around his chest and knotting it from my place behind him. "Or that they were into that."

"That's not how I meant it."

After tucking the ends of the rope into the bottom of the harness I'd just finished tying him into, I walked around to face him, my erection on full display.

"He wears the things he likes," I said, hooking my finger through the knot in the center of Rob's chest. "Just like you."

He smoothed his fingers over my handiwork, giving his shoulders a roll to test how tight I'd tied the knot at the top of his back.

"More restrictive than usual," he said softly.

"Tastes change."

"Mine don't." Rob arched an eyebrow at me. "Get on your knees, Grayson."

A year into our relationship, kneeling came a lot easier than it had the first few times, but just as Rob had settled into being bound, I found the same kind of tolerance at his feet. Kneeling in front of him, my traitorous—and clearly submissive—cock thickened readily.

"Suck me before we get dressed," he demanded.

He didn't give me an option, taking his cock in hand and dragging his precum-slick tip across my lips. I parted them hungrily, letting him feed his length into my mouth. Rob would tell any of his friends that he let me tie him up because it made me happy, like he was indulging one of my dominant little whims, but the state of his erection in my mouth would have proved that to be a lie. I barely had to suck him at all before he fisted my hair and shot his load down my throat. I swallowed him down and rocked back onto my heels, grinning up at him like I'd won a prize.

It took Rob a moment to catch his breath and regain his composure, but after he was steady on his feet again, he held out his hand and helped me up. My cock was still hard and aching, precum on my tip giving away just how much I'd learned to love the shift in our dynamic.

"Get dressed," Rob said, tugging at his ropes. "We're going to be late."

"Not so fast, old man." I fisted the knot between his nipples and shoved him back against the wall so hard his breath exhaled into my face with a large whoosh.

"Excuse you?"

"I'm hard too, Sir ," I reminded him, my dick stabbing him in the thigh. "And I want to come before we go anywhere."

"What if I wanted you to wait until the end of the night?"

I gave his chest another push. "Then I'll be positively insufferable to all your friends."

"My friends," he grumbled, knowing full well I considered his ragtag group of Trophy Doms as much my friends now as his.

"Make me come, Robert," I whispered, twisting my hand and pulling him down so I could kiss him.

He hummed, spearing his tongue into my mouth and giving us a quick spin. My back landed against the wall where his had been and his hand moved between my legs, bringing me the much deserved orgasm I'd asked so very nicely for.

Dalton

"Every time, I think I couldn't love you any more..." I dug my fingers into Ivey's hips, pumping one last time before burying myself as deep as my cock could reach. Cum poured out of me, almost immediately leaking out of his well-fucked hole.

I pulled out and slapped his ass—hard.

He grunted, arching off the bed, his own cock shooting a stream of cum so violently it reached his erect, pink nipples. I spanked his ass again, then scooped my cum up off the back of his thighs and pushed it back into him.

"You were supposed to take that with you," I reminded my husband, patting his pucker before climbing off the bed to get dressed.

He was on his back, legs bent at the knee and his ankles held tight in his hands near his ears. His thighs quaked, his cock jerking against his stomach. My own legs barely managed to hold me up, but we had plans to meet Rob, Grayson, and the rest of our friends at Rapture, and we were already running late. I'd been dressed and good to go, but Ivey came home from a run all sweaty and exhausted, looking like he needed to be fucked.

I was nothing if not his willing servant.

"Are you sure we can't stay home?" He slowly dropped his legs to the bed, stretching out his legs and his arms.

I stepped into my underwear and pants, pulling them up but leaving them unbuttoned so I could bend over the bed and smear his cum up his chest.

"I'm sure," I told him, tweaking a nipple.

Ivey grimaced, but sat up with a wince, blinking slowly.

I went into the closet and grabbed him some clean clothes—and a butt plug. I hadn't gone to the trouble of rough-fucking him and making us late just for him to spend the car ride to the club sitting in his own spend.

"Edge of the bed," I said, crooking my finger.

He obliged, as always, and I squatted between his legs. His thighs gave one valiant shake before finally stilling.

"You good now?"

"Yes, Sir," he rasped.

I swirled the plug around his hole before pushing it right inside. He lifted off the bed with a moan, catching his clothes when I dropped then onto his lap.

"Get dressed, Ivey. We need to hit the road."

We moved around each other to finish getting ready like we'd been doing it our whole lives, both of us knowing we should have. Making up for lost time had been worthwhile, though, even if that lost time sometimes surfaced in our life in the form of Ivey's annoying friends from New York.

"Did you see the email from Ford?" I asked when we were both in the bathroom, me brushing my teeth and Ivey styling his hair.

"I did."

"Do you want to go?"

Ivey had four close friends back in New York: Kale, Brooks, Ford, and Alex. Admittedly, I wasn't a fan of them, especially Kale, but time had worn me down and I found it easier to tolerate their antics. All in all, I figured my friends were just as bad. Ford and his boyfriend, Boston, owned a farm in upstate New York that had turned into their little group vacation home. The first time we went for a visit had been dramatic beyond all hell, and I hoped the second would be smoother.

"I hear it's pretty upstate in the fall," Ivey said, which was a yes.

"I'll email him in the morning." I rinsed my mouth and pressed a kiss against the side of Ivey's head.

Barclay

"I can't believe we're the first ones here," Val said, climbing the stairs to the play loft at Rapture.

"Don't act so surprised," I said, giving his hand a squeeze. "And besides, you know we have a reason."

"Not wanting everyone to know we're trying to sleep with the bartender is a good reason to keep secrets," he agreed. "But Chaz is too attractive for his own good. I'm surprised this was our first opportunity to get him in bed."

"His relationship hasn't always been open," I reminded Val.

Chaz had been bartending at Rapture on and off for years. His sibling was one of the owners and his partner, Rafe, another Dom I'd seen around here and there. The two of them had been together for years, but only recently had they explored the possibility of opening their relationship beyond the bounds of exhibitionism. Word about my relationship with Val wasn't a secret, and Rafe considered us to be a safe trial run since there weren't any real concerns about feelings coming into the mix.

"I know," Val agreed, sliding his arm around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder.

He smelled like my shampoo, which for months had been our shampoo, but the novelty of the shift in our relationship was still new and exciting to me. To say I was a lucky bastard would have been an understatement. I loved Val so much and I'd come so treacherously close to losing him. Immediately after pulling my head out of my ass, I rectified that situation by moving him in and putting a ring on his finger.

He was happy.

And so was I.

"Mmmn. My favorite polyamorous couple," Rafe said when we reached the bar in the corner. He leaned against the bar top, a bottle of water in his hand, his long and dark hair tied back at the base of his neck.

"Good to see you again," I said, shaking his hand.

Chaz was behind the bar, cheeks flushed even in the dark glow of the private loft. We exchanged casual pleasantries, quick enough to confirm the plan for the end of the night. After Chaz was off work, he and Rafe would come to our house and we'd see where the evening took us. Of course, all of us hoped it would end in the bedroom, but I appreciated the tentative concern that came with the shift into opening up a relationship.

"I'm excited for later," Val said, licking his lips. My husband was perpetually horny, practically chomping at the bit for another cock to play with.

"What's later?" A familiar voice behind us asked, and we both turned, Val looking far more nervous than I did.

"We get to say goodnight to you," I said to Archie, rolling my eyes and counting down the minutes.

Archie

"I should be offended?"

It wasn't really a question and I definitely wasn't offended, but I cocked my head to the side and pretended I was. Beside me, Owen rolled his eyes and groaned, but his noise had nothing to do with the bad joke and everything to do with the fact I hadn't let him come in three days.

"It's safe to assume you're always offending someone," Barclay said with a half-smile, but the hug he followed with made his attitude all worth it.

"Good to see you too," I teased, pushing him off me. "I didn't expect anyone to be here yet."

In fact, I'd been counting on it, but since our arrival to Rapture was not in advance of our friends, it meant Owen was going to have to wait a little bit longer for the release he was in desperate need of.

"Can I get you a drink?" Barclay asked, unfettered by Owen's visible misery and my questionable sense of humor.

"Always. Whiskey." I gave Owen's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Did you want anything?"

"Plenty," he muttered before clearing his throat and asking for a whiskey as well.

Barclay headed for the bar where Val was hunched in conversation with the bartender I was supposed to pretend I didn't know he was trying to fuck, but he was an obvious man and I was a nosy one. I let it go, settling down beside Owen with a grin and grabbing his thigh.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I think you know."

"I'll make it worth your while later on," I assured him.

"That's what you said last night." Owen licked his lips slowly, jaw twitching. "And the night before that, and I think the night before that too."

I chuckled as Barclay returned with our drinks. "I did, didn't I?"

"Did what?" Barclay asked, sitting down across from us.

Val was still at the bar, failing at being discreet when it came to his interest in the bartender and his boyfriend. I was ready to open my mouth and tease Barclay about his husband and the state of their marriage when another familiar couple reached the top of the stairs.

Rob and Grayson held hands, both of them surveying the loft space, like it had changed at all since the last weekend when we'd all met up to play. Once satisfied, Grayson's mouth quirked up in the corner and he said something to Rob that had his better half smiling like it was Christmas.

"I bet Rob lets Grayson come," Owen complained in my ear.

I turned toward him, unable to stop myself from also smiling with the same brightness as my closest friend.

"I imagine he insists on it," I agreed.

Flynn

We were running late to the club, but that wasn't new. Ever since Rose had moved in, I found myself preferring nights at home over nights at Rob's or nights at Rapture. Rose worked the evening shift a lot of the time and going out without him held little appeal. We had plans to meet my friends for some drinks at Rapture, but Rose had gotten tied up at work and arrived home forty-five minutes late, which was fifteen minutes after we were supposed to leave.

He took the quickest shower known to man, but found himself waylaid in the closet because I walked by as he had just tucked his thick cock behind a swell of soft yellow lace and I absolutely had to get his cock in my ass before we went out. He fucked me right there on the floor, then we both got dressed and headed to Pasadena.

When we arrived at Rapture, everyone was already there and at least one round into the night. Coming in late gave me the opportunity to step back a beat and take in the state of my friend group, really appreciating how wonderful all of them made my life.

Grayson and Rob were unintentional endless entertainment, with their constant back and forth battle for dominance in their relationship. Archie and Owen were a lesson in patience that I'd never truly learn, even though there had been a time when Rose had tried to make me wait. Barclay and Val, as always, proved that love could come in many shapes and sizes, neither of which was better than another. And Dalton and his husband Royce—or Ivey—showed that when you were meant for someone, there was no getting around fate.

Not that either of them had wanted to.

None of us did.

How wild that less than two years ago, we'd been five bachelors and now…

The times had definitely changed, but one thing remained steadfast. These men were my very best friends and they always would be.

"There you are!" Archie shouted over the noise in the loft. He called us over, everyone scooting and scooching around to make room. There was enough for one, which was plenty for me. I took the seat and hauled Rose onto my lap, burying my nose in his still damp hair.

"I'm so glad you're here," Grayson said, rolling his eyes at Rob. "Rose, would you mind explaining to Robert here that you don't in fact wear women's underwear?"

I choked, spit catching in the back of my throat.

On my lap, Rose shifted his hips to the side, which was intentional and just for me, before he replied, "Don't worry. All my panties are very much mine."

Grayson laughed and so did Archie. Rob's brow knit together like he wasn't sure he got the joke, but didn't want to ask for clarification.

"Maybe I'll get you a pair so you can fuck around," Grayson teased.

Rob arched a brow. "Maybe I'll take you over my knee so you can find out."

Grayson's cheeks flushed, and Owen leaned into Archie, whispering something into his ear that had Archie hot and bothered like he wanted to bend Owen over the back of the couch and fuck him right there for the rest of us to see.

"I don't know what just happened," Barclay said, slapping both of his hands, but who wants another round?"

We all agreed and we let him pay, raising our glasses over the table upon his return and clinking the edges.

"To the Trophy Doms Social Club," Grayson said, calling back to the insufferable nickname he'd bestowed upon us the first night he slept over at Rob's house.

"To the Trophy Doms Social Club."

Humbled is #1 in The Trophy Doms Social Club, a five-book series about five rich and kinky friends in Los Angeles. If you've already met the Trophy Doms Social Club, then it's time to head to New York with All In: Trophy Doms New York #1 .