5. Kyle

CHAPTER 5

Kyle

" A nd I once again urge caution when it comes to your dog tags," Epsilon reminded his staff. Kyle fingered his absently where they rested on a thin chain around his neck, tracing the shape of the magical symbols etched into the metal. "For the love of every star in the fucking sky, please check the runes are activated before proceeding with a session. I do not wish any of you to go through what happened at House Tau."

"Worried we might get pregnant, Master Epsilon?" Adam asked with a laugh, patting his belly and making two of the other men immediately offer to put their loads in him to find out. A delighted flush surged across Adam's face. "If you promise to babysit while I'm with clients, Master, I'll name bub after you."

"You'll have to figure out his name first," Misha cackled from where he was seated on top of one of the tables, seductively pulling on white lace lingerie and stockings. It was taking him five times as long as it should, and Kyle knew that was deliberate. Mish thrived under attention, and nearly everyone's eyes had been locked on him throughout the meeting.

Deacon perked up from where he was hovering awkwardly next to Misha. The larger, dreadlocked man looked like a bundle of nerves held together in one sexy as fuck sheer outfit, but that tracked, considering Deacon had only been at the House for three days. The first month of employment was dedicated to training, which meant the lucky man got the boss all to himself.

"What is your real name?" Deacon asked Master Epsilon.

Kyle winced. "Oh, no. You've done it now."

The man blinked, alarmed. "What?"

"Old Rumpelstiltskin here is rather particular about sharing his name," Kyle said with a snicker, earning himself a hard smack from Epsilon around the back of his head.

"I'm only six years older than you, sweetheart ," he heard growled into his ear. Kyle preened at the attention, feeling the skin warm where the Master had hit him. Not from friction or pain, but just an acute awareness of how their bodies had touched, however briefly.

"He'll tell you his age, clearly," said Kyle in a stage whisper to Deacon across the room, "but if you ever learn his real name, he'd have to kill you."

The trainee submissive made an adorable choking noise, while Epsilon fixed Kyle with an icy look that told him to behave.

"It is not as dramatic as all that," Epsilon said before turning back to Deacon. "I just prefer not to disclose details of my personal life within my working one."

"Personal details like your…name?"

"Yes." The word was short and clipped.

Deacon would get used to his eccentricities soon enough. Master Epsilon was an intensely private individual, and while Kyle considered himself more of an expert on his habits than most people – he knew he liked the colour red, for example, and that his guilty pleasure was brandy, and that he could turn into a mean prick when playing with submissives – he still knew next to nothing about the man he worked for. It was frustrating, especially for someone as curious as Kyle, but he'd drawn the line at following Epsilon home from work in a desperate attempt to learn more.

It was good, Kyle mused, to realise he did indeed have lines he wouldn't cross. Some people, and he wasn't naming any names…mostly because he didn't know the fucking thing, had once accused him of ‘shamelessly nosy behaviour without any notion of boundaries, Kyle,' so he was pleased to prove those certain someones wrong.

"As for the slut begging to be bred," Epsilon said loudly to Adam – who was indeed whisper-begging one of the Doms for such a thing, although Epsilon's words only made them both shudder in delight – "once his prick stops doing his thinking for him, he may recall that your dog tags prevent sexually transmitted diseases as well as pregnancy in women. If you want to catch something horrific that shrivels your balls and stops you working for a month, be my guest. But don't expect me to pay you for it."

That made all the men hastily glance down at their dog tags to check the protection runes were still glowing.

"As I said," Epsilon sniped testily. "Caution."

Their boss was kind of an asshole, but it was only because he didn't know how to deal with his employees' camaraderie. Whether from his own experience at a House – Kyle knew he'd been a whore himself before earning his Mastery as Epsilon – or his innate lack of emotional intelligence, Kyle wasn't sure, but the intimidating son of a bitch did have a softer side.

It just...needed to be coaxed to the surface every now and then.

Epsilon waved an elegant hand at the board behind him without turning to look at it. "And finally, we have three new clients tonight, one booked in with Sanjay and two with Kyle, so be sure to maintain appropriate professionalism while in the corridors...and Misha ," he finished with a sigh, realising no one was paying him any attention. Except Kyle of course, because what else would he be doing? "You're distracting the room."

Mish grinned. "I'm just getting dressed, Master." He ran his fingers up his leg, affectionately caressing the soft lace like a lover – or a whore skilled at pretending – and up between his thighs, before parting his legs to display how his cock was barely contained within the lacy panties.

Knowing what reaction his friend was after, Kyle offered a long wolf-whistle that sparked a round of echoing catcalls and laughter from the others. Even Epsilon cracked a small smile.

Misha winked at them and ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

"You look good enough to eat, Mish," Sanjay commented from the floor where he was polishing his boots. He had to do it several times a night as a result of all the clients slobbering over them, which seemed like far too much work to Kyle. Boot worship just wasn't his kink.

Misha stretched, showing off the slip of white fabric draped across his chest that hid absolutely nothing. "I should bloody well think so. I'm freshly waxed and ready for my favourite client to spend an hour with his face buried in my ass."

"We don't have favourites," Kyle loudly admonished before Epsilon could. "Stop setting a bad example for our trainee."

It was bullshit, of course. Everyone had their favourite client: the one who was the least amount of work, or tipped well, or whose sexual preferences best aligned with yours, but the point that Kyle had grasped from Master Epsilon's frequent lectures on the subject was that you didn't admit it . Apparently that concept had been too subtle for Mish.

The Master gave a terse nod in acknowledgement of Kyle's correction. "Dismissed."

The staff began to disperse, only to freeze in place when Epsilon added, "oh, and Kyle? You were late to work today."

Kyle blinked slowly and in mock horror. " Was I? "

"By nine and a half minutes."

Kyle grinned. "Prove it."

As he'd hoped, that made Epsilon scowl. Steely brown eyes bore into him, exasperated and unimpressed, and he carefully set the whiteboard marker back into its tray before speaking. All of the staff, conflict-loving brats that they were, watched on silently with wide smiles and knowing expressions.

The Master rolled his shoulders. "You want to know the best thing about being your employer, Kyle?"

He was guessing it wasn't the pleasure of his company each day.

Epsilon was suddenly in front of him, so close that delicious, intimidating sex god was all he could see.

"I don't have to prove anything," Epsilon said icily. "I can just tell you that you're spending nine and a half minutes of your lunch break changing all the rooms' bed sheets, Kyle, and you'll do it ."

He would. He'd do anything this man asked.

"Yes, Master," Kyle said deferentially, dipping his chin. Not in submission, but respect. Only one of them had ever submitted to the other, and it certainly hadn't been Kyle on his knees.

Epsilon turned away without another word.

"Master Epsilon!" Casey chirped immediately. "Kyle just pulled a face behind your back!"

"Oh, you fucking rat," Mish declared with disgust. "What is this, school?"

"You can join Kyle with his chores at lunch, Casey," Epsilon told him without bothering to look at either of them.

"But I was just…I was telling you that…!"

Then Casey sighed and threw Kyle a glare. "Yes, Master."

It was pointless arguing with Epsilon, and every man here knew it. He wasn't just the boss of their House: he was a motherfucking force of nature that you didn't cross if you wanted to remain breathing. Kyle flirted with danger once in a while by provoking him, but even he knew better than to truly piss the man off.

Blowing a kiss in Casey's direction, Kyle wandered over to where Mish was talking to Deacon. The trainee's eyes were wide in awe and more than a touch of trepidation as his gaze followed Epsilon's departure from the room.

"Is he always like that?"

"Let's put it this way," Misha drawled. "Epsilon says jump, you don't just ask how high. It's also where, when, and may you pretty please permit me to land again, Sir?" He glanced at Kyle and snorted. "Although if you're Kyle fucking Randall, you ask how many backflips he'd like from you while you're at it."

"Hey," Kyle protested good-naturedly. He wasn't that much of a brat. He just did what any good employee did, and kept his employer on his toes from time to time.

"Come," Misha said to Deacon, hopping down from the table. "You've got a stint with me on the cameras before I get to enjoy the client whom I love equally as much as the rest ." Kyle gave him the finger. "I'll show you how to monitor the rooms and what safety protocols we have in place."

"And tomorrow night, you're with me and Master Epsilon," Kyle reminded Deacon, his heart missing a beat with the anticipation of getting to share a scene with Epsilon, even if he knew both of their attention would be on the trainee and he wouldn't even get to touch him. "Ground floor training room."

He flashed Deacon a comforting grin in the hope of easing any nerves that may have provoked, yet his efforts were undermined by Mish letting out a long, low whistle.

"That means you're in for it," he declared ominously. "You won't be able to recall your own name, let alone walk straight after those two are done with you."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Stop scaring him."

"Because that will be your job tomorrow?" prompted Misha with a smirk.

When Deacon chuckled, showing none of the trepidation he'd feared, Kyle allowed a little sadist Dom to shine through.

"Indeed. We'll have you whimpering and mewling for us, little sub."

"I look forward to it, Sir."

"Welcome to the jungle," confirmed Kyle. When both men just looked confused, he said it again, only this time he helped them out and sang it.

Deacon faltered. "Oh," he said. "Is that a song?"

"A song?" Kyle repeated in disbelief. "A fucking song ? Deacon, that is only one of Guns N' Roses most iconic and controversial hits!"

He looked around wildly for assistance, yet unsurprisingly found none.

"You learn to live with Kyle's humour," drawled Mish. "And his obscure love of 1980s music. Just make sure not to insult it too often or you might find yourself regretting it once you get under his whip."

Kyle pouted. "I'm a sweetheart."

"You are," his friend assured him with a wicked grin, and slapped him on the shoulder. "A sweetheart who can make little subbies cry at his feet in less than a minute."

Kyle just laughed at that. "And the not so little."

He looked pointedly at Deacon, whose solid build was similar to Kyle's own. The trainee shivered delightedly before catching himself.

"I did want to ask…when I applied here, I didn't realise the Master himself would be involved in my training. Is it always like that?"

"At this House, yes," Misha said. "Epsilon likes to make sure everyone is both comfortable and confident in the job before he lets you take clients."

He shared a glance with Kyle. "But not all the Houses are the same. Some just throw you into it to see if you'll sink or swim, and don't care which. We're pretty lucky to have Epsilon."

"He's very..." Deacon cleared his throat. "I mean he's quite..." He blushed and looked down at his feet.

Mish laughed and slung his arm around the other man's waist, too short to reach his shoulders. "Don't worry. We all had a crush on Master Epsilon at some time or another."

Only if you're me, Kyle thought as they traipsed out of the staff room, you never stopped.