“I’m sorry you don’t feel like I’m worth staying in shape for,” Verity chided, finally selecting a shirt from the closet.
“It’s all your fault.”
“How do you figure?”
“If you liked me for how I look, not who I am, I wouldn’t be as inclined to let myself go.” Landon raised his eyebrows and poked his belly.
“You act as if we’re compatible. Don’t blame your gluttony on me.”
Verity loosened the tie on their purple silk robe and let it fall to the ground. Landon watched them dress, as he often had over the years, silently appreciating the pale lines and delicate angles of Verity’s body. Their skin was like a still pool of milk and always looked as if it would feel like porcelain when touched. Verity had dermal piercings in their hips and the tiny rhinestones caught the light as they turned and stretched, pulling their shirt on.
Verity had a point, though. While they’d spent years at each other’s side, they’d never been sexually intimate with each other. It was a fine line the two of them had navigated with caution in the early years of their relationship, finding ways to entertain the other’s kinks without ever breaching that boundary. Now their relationship was built around the comfort and familiarity that came with knowing someone’s heart and soul for a third of your life.
Landon loved Verity more than anyone, and the affection was mutual, but both of them knew a day would come when the rules of their relationship would shift. Well into their thirties now, Landon wanted to find someone to be truly intimate with. He was confident his relationship with Verity would be fine, and Verity had been completely supportive when Landon had started actively dating after they’d settled in Pasadena.
The night Landon had downloaded a handful of dating apps onto his phone, he’d encouraged Verity to do the same, but they’d shrugged him off with a smile and flip of the wrist.
“I’m not going to find Mr. Right on a hookup app,”Verity had told him with a carefree laugh. And Landon believed it. Not that anyone would necessarily be content living a solitary life, just that Verity was so content being Verity, they wouldn’t want to change that for anyone.
Much to his dismay though, his own search had not proved fruitful. Landon could find issue with everyone he met, and he wasn’t about to offer up control to someone he didn’t trust implicitly.
“Are you even listening to me?” Verity’s voice brought Landon back into the present.
He shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, no.”
“Leather?” they asked, waving their leather pants in front of his face.
“If you want. Not jeans, though? Is there a thing tonight?” Landon scrunched his face up and tried to mentally picture the big whiteboard calendar that hung in his office at Rapture.
“I know you built this club from an abandoned church but you may be the worst business owner of all time.” Verity forced one leg into the slim cut leather pants. “Are you sure you have an MBA from Columbia?”
Landon scoffed. “Tell me how that comparative literature degree is working out for you.”
“It’s a minor, smartass, and yes, there’s that collaring ceremony tonight.” Verity shoved their other leg into the pants and zipped up. “Are you feeling feisty, Landon? Did you need me to put you in line before work?”
Landon’s cock pulsed briefly at the idea and he licked his lips. Verity raised an eyebrow, and Landon lowered himself to his knees, palms up on his thighs and a smirk across his mouth.
Verity grabbed a pair of heeled boots from the closet and walked over to the bed, sitting down beside Landon.
“Put these on me.” They kicked the boots over to Landon.
He picked one up and slipped Verity’s foot inside, pulling the buckles and laces tight then adjusting the tongue and repeating the routine with the other boot. When he was done, he returned his hands to his thighs and he closed his eyes. Landon counted his breaths, waiting for Verity to do something…anything.
Landon reached sixty-one before Verity spoke.
“Go shower and get dressed; we’re going to be late.”
Landon rocked back onto his heels and stood, sliding his palm over his semi-erect cock to tuck it against his leg.
“And take care of that thing in your pants or you’ll scare away the customers.” Verity flopped back onto the mattress with a laugh. Ed launched himself up with a quiet woof and Verity scratched between his ears.
Landon made his way to his own bedroom down the hall and turned the shower on in his en suite. It warmed quickly and he stripped out of his clothes and stepped inside. As soon as the curtain closed, it was torn back open and Verity popped their head inside.
“I changed my mind,” they said with a smirk, “don’t do anything about it. You’re so much fun to be around when you want to hump everyone you see.”
Landon groaned and yanked the curtain closed, pushing Verity out of the way. Their relationship was complicated to outsiders, but simple to them. Landon wasn’t collared, and Verity wasn’t his Dom. Landon willingly submitted to Verity, who was a switch, and they happily assumed the controlling role when the time was right.
Verity had a knack for being able to identify when Landon was on the cusp of thinking himself into an anxiety attack, and would assume the role Landon needed them to and maintain it until everything had calmed down.
