Scott jerked his head up. He looked toward the bar, but Joe still had his back to him. If Joe had snuck a glance in his direction, Scott had missed it.
This time, Joe’s order sunk deeper into Scott’s mind. He picked up the envelope, opened it, and took the single piece of paper from inside. Closing his eyes, Scott took one more deep breath before forcing himself to obey Joe’s command. Read.
He was used to seeing just a few words scattered across the page. Joe wasn’t one to waste syllables. He’d never used one word more than was required to get his orders across.
Come to that, during all their time together, Scott had never noticed Joe paying any particular attention to things like making sure his handwriting was legible. The writing in this message was printed very carefully, as if to make sure there could be no mistaking its contents.
The changes unsettled Scott, but he gradually made himself look at each word in turn rather than the overall picture they created on the page.
Scott,
I’m not big on words. You know that already. I’m not a huge fan of buggering about either. So, here are the facts.
I’m a good dom. Not perfect, but good. I’ll set my skills in the playroom against anyone’s.
I like being in control. You like being told what to do. We’re good together.
You’re a great sub. You don’t have much confidence, but you have damn fine instincts—and a lot more balls than you give yourself credit for. You’ve learnt a lot about kink over the last few months, too.
I want you to belong to me. I’ve wanted that for weeks. If I’d known you thought this was a casual thing for me, I’d have told you that you’re a fool a long time ago. I’d have to be anidiot to want to walk away from something as good as we could have together, and I’m no idiot.
If the idea that I wasn’t committed to this was the only reason you ran away, great. We’re sorted.
I’m not shy about putting on a show, but I’m not the kind of dom who likes to share, so you don’t need to worry about me lending you to other guys or any of that bull. And I don’t screw around behind my sub’s back either; I haven’t played with anyone else since we did our first scene.
If there’s another reason you’re not happy, if there’s something else you want, you need to tell me so I can sort it out for you. If there’s something you’re scared of, spit it out.
So, yeah. Think about it, and tell me what you need.
Yours faithfully,
Joe.
Scott set the letter carefully down on the table.
Yours “faithfully”.
It would have sounded weird and formal if Scott hadn’t been so sure that Joe meant the word the way it was used everywhere except at the bottom of a letter. Faithful—Joe was promising to be faithful to him.
Scott tried to take a deep breath, but his lungs seemed to shake within his ribcage. The idea of having no relationship with Joe, of never exchanging anything more than a casual hello with Joe, was frightening. Taking a risk and trying to get a real relationship with him was more akin to terrifying.
He ran his fingers over the letter, not re-reading any part of it; just reassuring himself that it was real. Joe had really said all those things to him. This was truly happening, whether he was ready for it or not.
“Well?
Scott jerked to his feet.
Damn, but Joe could walk quietly when he wanted to. He now stood directly opposite Scott, casually drying his hands on one of the cloths he used to wipe down the bar.
When his fingers were dry enough for his satisfaction, Joe slipped the thing through one of the belt loops on his trousers and folded his arms across his chest in that pose Scott loved so much. And Scott just stood there like an idiot.
“Are you going to run away?” Joe demanded.
Scott shook his head.
“Then sit down.”
He hadn’t been given permission to stand up. Scott’s knees buckled the moment he realised that.
