William gave Frankie a subtle nod, but spoke to me. “Are you okay if I borrow your boy for a few minutes? I promise to return him in the same condition I found him. Maybe a little hornier, but I won’t harm him.”
More laughter, mine included, because I was certain I wouldn’t get Frankie back in exactly the same condition. Remembering how turned on he was the night I walked in and he realized I’d been watching him suck off a john, I hoped to get him back horny and begging me to find the nearest dark corner to fuck him senseless. “That’s fine.”
I watched as William took Frankie’s hand and led him to the front of the room. He ran his hands up and down Frankie’s arms, urging Frankie to look at me. I listened intently as William explained the various types of rope and how not all ties worked as well for men as they did for women due to the differences in their bodies, focusing on the steady rise and fall of Frankie’s chest. Someone behind me murmured praise for how beautiful he was. I happened to agree.
“Tonight, I’ll be working over the clothes since this is an introduction only. Which is a shame, really, because you’d look stunning trussed up before us.” Hearing William continue praising Frankie’s body didn’t cause the expected swell of jealousy. In fact, I was so hard I had to reach down and cup myself. The boy noticed and offered me a wicked grin. “Whenever you begin any scene, it’s important to make sure your sub is relaxed. Tension increases the chance that you’ll injure him. Note, I said injure not hurt, because there’s a huge difference.
“To start, I’m going to turn our volunteer so you can see what I’m doing to him.” William pulled up a chair. Once he had Frankie where he wanted him, he looked over Frankie’s shoulder to me. “If you don’t mind, I think your boy will be more comfortable if you come up here and join us.”
William had placed the chair close enough to Frankie that I could reach out to him if needed, but far enough away that he could work. On the way to my front row seat, I paused and cupped Frankie’s cheek, pressing my lips to his. “I’m so proud of you putting yourself on display like this. And youareon display. Every wannabe Dom in this room is wishing you were his boy. That you’d be going home with him tonight.” Frankie whimpered. It may have been crossing a line since this demonstration wasn’t supposed to be sexual, but I reached down to cup Frankie’s cock. “So hard for me. You like knowing they’re all going to be watching you?”
“Yes, Cal.” His words were thready and ragged, his breathing shallow.
“You’re a dirty boy. Bet you wish I could unzip your jeans and stroke you off while he ties you up, don’t you?” I sensed William’s presence behind me, but he didn’t interrupt.
“Uh-huh,” Frankie moaned.
There was a tap on my shoulder. I glanced around and could read the silent question in William’s eyes. I stepped to the side, allowing him access to my boy. William jerked his head toward the chair and I sat, eager to see what he had planned.
“You need to maintain control at all times, in everything you do,” William lectured. Although his words were meant for the entire room, I tried replaying the exchange between Frankie and me to figure out where I’d gone wrong. He pulled Frankie’s arms behind him, not hard enough to harm him, but with enough force to elicit a gasp from him. Still holding Frankie’s arms in one hand, he moved around between us. “How do you respond when asked a question?”
“Yes or no, sir.” It rankled that he could call a perfect stranger Sir but not me. I tamped down my insecurities, reminding myself he was likely being respectful, not using it as in the sense I craved.
“Good answer,” William praised before addressing the others in the room. “Even if your boy is into humiliation, it’s your job to remember they’re doing their best to please you. Praise them when it’s warranted; I promise you won’t be disappointed with the results.”
Emotions bubbled up in my chest as the demonstration continued. Pride, arousal, and something that felt too close to love for comfort. Watching Frankie get tied up by someone else shouldn’t – couldn’t – be the moment I realized I was falling in love with him. Too bad my heart hadn’t gotten that memo.
By the time Frankie was confined in what William referred to as a basic box tie, I was planning our escape. Although I’d never seen the appeal of sex in public places, it was damn tempting to return to the place where this all started. Take Frankie into that storage room and drop to my knees and give him the reward he’d earned. More would be better, but I wasn’t sure I could keep it up long enough to fuck him the way I wanted if I was worried about someone barging in on us.
William finished his presentation and untied Frankie, then ushered both of us to the main room, where he suggested we sit on one of the low couches for a few minutes. He sent the bartender over with a bottle of water for Frankie and another soda for me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get Frankie to drink as William strongly suggested; his breathing was slow and steady as it was when he fell asleep. I kept my voice low when I asked, “How do you feel?”
“Weird. Good. Horny.” His words were slurred. Frankie scooted around on my lap, rubbing his ass against my painful arousal.Brat.“Can we come back sometime?”
“Whenever you want.” Some time later, the host from the front desk joined us, explaining the membership application procedures. I took the paperwork and promised to return it before the end of the weekend. I wanted to check with Frankie when he wasn’t so out of it to make sure he wanted to go through the membership process. I hoped so, because I’d found the missing piece of the puzzle to help Frankie find tranquility.
13
Frankie
It turnedout sex was a great stress reliever. Sex-on-demand with someone I cared about was lightyears better than the way I’d been living. It wasn’t always easy for Calvin and me to find time together, but we made the most of every minute we had when Ryan wasn’t here. The day after we’d attended the introduction workshop at The Lodge had been a busy one.
Over breakfast, we’d discussed how both of us felt. Fanfuckingtastic was the first word that came to my mind. Calvin laughed at my enthusiastic response before scolding me for foul language. Until him, I didn’t realize how often profanity slipped past my lips, but I was making a conscious effort to clean up my vocabulary. In agreement that we’d like to take more of the workshops offered by The Lodge, we filled out the paperwork, and he wrote a check for the membership application.
That afternoon, he sat down at the kitchen table with his day planner and told me to get mine. Calvin shook his head when I admitted I didn’t have a planner because it’d be filled with work, work, and more work. That was quickly solved when he downloaded a calendar app on both of our phones and synced them. It was depressing to see how often he’d be out of town, but I’d known going into this relationship that I would never be his first priority.
“I’m going to be late Wednesday night,” Calvin told me as I whipped up pancake batter out of a box. That was another change; unless there was something demanding my attention at work, I left opening Marino’s to Enzo so Calvin and I could eat breakfast together. “Why don’t you see if Max wants to get together and hang out?”
“I’ll have to see if he’s working.” I’d steered clear of Club 83 since getting together with Calvin. I told myself it was because I didn’t want to run into anyone I’d taken to the back room, but I also worried it’d be easy to fall back into old habits. Theonlytime I frequented the bar was when I needed to forget everything for a little while. Unfortunately, that meant I’d only seen Max the night he covered a shift at Marino’s and when he’d come to pick up his paycheck. Calvin was doing his best to change that and seemed to have made it his mission for us to be friends.
“He’s not,” Calvin informed me. He scanned the morning news on his tablet while we chatted.
“Calvin,” I grumbled, setting the bowl on the counter with a bit more force than necessary. “I don’t need you going around behind my back setting up playdates for me. I’m not a child.”
That got his attention. He very calmly set down the tablet, pushed his chair away from the table, and stalked over toward me. I could tell by the hardened look in Calvin’s eyes that he was upset by my outburst. My breath caught when he spun me around and captured my wrists in his hands. “I understand that, but you need to build a life for yourself. Instead of a single bubble, now you have two: work and home. I know Max isn’t working on Wednesday because Eli mentioned giving a new bartender a chance to run things that night.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” He led me to the end of the counter and placed both of my hands on the ceramic tile. “I don’t know what’s got you in such a mood this week, but it ends now. I’ve been trying to give you space, but that obviously isn’t what you need so neither of us is leaving the house until you tell me what’s going on.”
