The Cuffs
I thought having Taylor as my slave would be great. And it was great — the day had been fun, and there’d even be moments I straight up forgot he was only there because I forced him to be. But on the bus ride back, I couldn’t sit still, my skin feeling hot where our elbows touched. I couldn’t even bear to glance at his profile. In fact, my stomach turned when I thought about what was going to happen.
This is about power, I reminded myself. Power and base lust. It had nothing to do with emotions or affection. I repeated it in my mind, over and over, so when the clock hit midnight and he recoiled away from me, I wouldn’t feel upset or hurt. I mean, not that I’d get hurt. I didn’t care.I didn’t care.
When we returned to Valentina Hall, the lobby and hallways were totally empty, probably because everyone was out, partying. Our footsteps seemed to echo as we made our way down the hallway, and when we entered room 407, the door shut behind us with a loudthud.
“I should shower,” Taylor said.
“Me too. You go first,” I added hastily. If I went second, I wouldn’t feel rushed, and I needed the extra time to…prepare.
While Taylor showered, I tidied up my room and smoothed down the bed covers. I took the lube and condoms out of their drawer and placed them on my bedside table, but that felt tooweird, so I shoved them back in the drawer. I set down the paper bag from the adult store casually on the desk.
“I’m done,” Taylor said, appearing in my doorway, making me jump. His hair was wet, and he’d tied a white towel low on his hips.
“Oh. Cool.” I gestured for him to come in. “You gonna get changed, or…?”
He sat on the edge of my bed like he owned it. “Is there any point?”
My cheeks went warm. What the hell? I was the one who was supposed to be in charge. “Uh. No. Guess not.” I grabbed a towel and hurried to the bathroom. “Won’t be long.”
In the shower I washed and prepped, but I also rested my hands against the tiles and stared at the water gurgling down the drain. My heart was beating faster. What was going on?
Get it together, Archie.
When I returned to my bedroom, Taylor was in exactly the same place I’d left him, except he’d flopped back, so he was looking up at the ceiling, back flat against the bed. It made his towel indecently short. I stared at the hair dusting his legs, the definition of his quads…
Gym goals. That’s what I wanted to look like. That’s why I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
No.
I couldn’t lie to myself. I wasn’t looking at him, wanting to be him. I just wanted him.
I walked forward, and the sound of my footsteps seemed to tear Taylor out of whatever daydream he was in. He propped himself up on his elbows, thighs still obscenely on display.
“Hey.” His eyes flittered once down my torso, then back up to meet my gaze. “I’ve been thinking.”
My stomach dropped. He was going to safeword, wasn’t he? Well, I couldn’t stop him. Not that I’d want to, if he didn’t wantto do this. But it would be depressing. And it’d mean I’d have to get off alone, using my hands, and my dildo, which was perfectly adequate, but —
“What is it?” I asked, trying for neutral.
He didn’t respond for a second, then gestured at the bed. “Why don’t you come sit down?”
He was going to let me down easy. That was even worse thanchanged my mind, I don’t want to fuck you, I especially don’t want to be your slave while doing it because I’ve got pride and dignity and an actual backbone.
I sat down beside him.
“So.” Taylor’s voice was calm and even like when he’d presented his valedictorian speech at graduation, and I’d been standing off to the side, seething. “We agreed that this thing ends tonight but maybe we can do this on the regular.”
“What?” I asked. “Hanging out?”
“I guess that too,” Taylor said, and I managed not to burst out laughing as he strained to be polite.
“I only made us do all that to torture you,” I explained.
