“Are you fucking kidding me?” I buried my hands in my face. I couldn’t have been more off the mark if I tried. I wasn’t sure why, but I had always imagined whoever owned that place, walking around in leather pants with a round, fuzzy belly and a harness over his burly chest. The place wasn’t seedy, but I’d pictured the owner as borderline sleazy, given the fact he ran a sex club.
But Jack? Fuck me, now I wanted to know if the suit was his casual attire because the leather pants didn’t breathe. I licked my lips as I imagined pulling them down his legs, burying my face in his groin. The only thing that would possibly smell any better than Jack, was Jack’s arousal combined with leather.
I squirmed in my seat, my dick tenting the front of my pants.
“I know you probably think it’s all sex, all the time, but it’s really not,” Jack said, interrupting my fantasies of dropping to my knees for him at work. “Part of why we’re as successful as we are is we’ve worked to become a safe haven for the kink community in the area. We are firm believers in keeping things safe and sane, which is why we have monthly education events.”
I held up my hands to stop him. His voice grew loud and almost argumentative. Well, this was one thing he didn’t have to fight with me on.
“Is that why you’ve stayed single for so long?” I stood, tired of craning my neck so I could look at him. “I’d think that you'd have boys falling all over you. You must have quite the following if I've never even been to The Lodge, and even I know it's the place to be.”
“While it’s reassuring to know you’ve heard good things about the club, that's exactly the problem,” Jack explained as he led me back to the living room. He sat down on the couch, one leg hanging off and the other stretched across the cushions. He pulled me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist. I settled with my back against his chest and my head on his shoulder. “There are plenty of perfectly suitable boys out there, but it's hard to distinguish those who have a genuine interest in me from those who want to sleep with the owner of The Lodge because they think it’ll make them more intriguing. There’s no shortage of shallow, self-serving people in this world, and I’d prefer not to get mixed up with them.”
“Instead, you decided to pursue someone you didn't know it all?” I traced patterns in the hair on Jack's forearms. He gave a little shiver and I smiled. “Don't get me wrong; I'm glad you did. But what was it about me that made you think, ‘Hey, if I'm not having any luck with guys at the club, maybe I’ll hit on the train wreck at my brother’s place’? You should probably know the only reason Jordan was even able to convince me to go to the party was because there was free food and booze. When you're as broke as I am, you never turn down those offers.”
“You say that, but I think there's more to it.” Jack pressed his lips against my hair. Now it was my turn to feel a chill rush through my body. I had never allowed myself to feel this intimate connection with anyone, and now I wondered why I had deprived myself for so long.
“So, tell me, oh wise one, if I didn't go for the food and alcohol, then what lured me away from home when I hate being around people I don’t know?”
“You put on this front like you don't need anyone or anything,” Jack explained. “But, secretly, I think that's a way to shield yourself from getting hurt. The way you opened up to me so quickly is proof that you're desperate to feel connected to somebody, even if the very thought scares you. You've kept yourself at a distance because you figure it’s safer that way, but you're not happy.”
Fuck, this man really had my number. If this was how he read potential members at The Lodge, it was no wonder they were known for being overly cautious and weeding out the troublemakers before they were allowed entrance. “Am I wrong about any of what I just said?”
“No, Daddy. You're not wrong.” I realized too late that I had slipped and called him Daddy. I waited for it to turn awkward, but it didn't. It also didn't feel creepy to think of him that way, even when we weren't in the bedroom. After all, the first thing he had done for me wasn't sexual at all.
And, damn, I wanted to make Jack proud as his boy. I would start by doing everything I could to have as much faith in myself as Jack already had in me.
