Quintus’s eyes widened at the question. “Where are you getting your facts from? Stop listening to the town gossip.” He didn’t want to think about the moment he’d agreed to let Scott spank him. He tried to blame that on the other man’s intoxicating scent.
“Dude, there’s no way you could be dating Donald and not be into it.”
“Seriously, man. Donald and I are not dating, and I’m not into BDSM,” Quintus affirmed.
Grayson tilted his head and stared at him. “Okay, the not dating Donald part I believe. But the BDSM part? Not gonna buy that. Submissive recognizes submissive, it’s the same with Dominants...they know each other. Once I figured out what I liked, I was able to see things and people a different way. Damn. How the hell am I just realizing this now, when we’ve been friends for so long?”
“For crying out loud, Gray,” Quintus said. “I’m not into the lifestyle.” He was about to say he wasn’t interested in knowing more, but he couldn’t form the words. Since the other day, he had been thinking of what the draw was to the BDSM lifestyle.
“He’s changed,” Grayson said.
“Who?”
“Donald,” Grayson answered. “Since he’s been here, I’ve noticed something changed in him. It made me realize that Donald played at being a dominant and I guess I stayed because he was good in bed.”
“Who was good in bed?” The both turned when they heard Chance’s voice.
“No one, Daddy,” Grayson answered, his voice low and subservient.
Daddy?
“Don’t lie to me, boy,” Chance said, his voice deep and commanding, but he also didn’t seem angry. “Tell me who you are talking about.”
“I was telling Quin that Donald was good in bed,” Grayson confessed.
Chance turned and so did Quintus as they looked across the room to Donald who was talking to Rosemary. “He is handsome and charming, but not mine and no longer your type. So I’m not worried. But later, let’s put your statement to the test. Be prepared to stay up all night, boy.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Grayson said. Quintus heard a slight tremor in his voice that didn’t sound like fear but anticipation for the night to come.
Quintus turned to look at his friend who seemed more in love and lust with his mate and wondered if he could have the same thing one day. Would his mate lust after him the same way Grayson and Chance do for each other?
He felt eyes boring into him and was afraid to look, because he knew exactly who those eyes belonged to. It was as if the man was looking into his very soul. He turned slightly, and his gaze connected with Scott. Instead of lust, he saw something else. He saw the same uncertainty he felt, and he doubted the man was his mate.
Maybe I want him to be my mate, which is why my cheetah yearned to be close to the man.
Quintus sighed and turned away, and then another thought hit him.
If Scott is really my mate, would he want me to call him “Daddy” too?
* * *
“You’re smiling. Why?”
Scott looked at his friend, wondering what the hell he was talking about. “I’m not smiling.” His brows creased together in confusion. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“It’s not a crime to smile, you know,” Chance said to him. “Plus, you were practically giddy as fuck during the meeting.”
“Okay first, don’t ever talk like that, I think Grayson is rubbing off on you. Second, you make it sound like I was hyper kid unable to sit still.”
Truthfully, Scott couldn’t remember what the hell was discussed during the meeting, his mind and eyes had been focused on the cheetah sitting three people down and across from him.
He’d watched Quintus talk with Grayson, but he had been more focused on how caring he was with Daniel. Scott loved Trenton, his godson, as well as his nieces and nephews. But he had a hard time connecting with children. He wasn’t sure why, when he wanted kids someday and hoped whatever barrier that was holding him back would be broken by then.
“Gods, I forget how proper you can be sometimes.”
“Blame it on my upbringing.”
“No thanks. Every time I’m near one of your family members, I tense up because of how powerful they are. And that was when I was human.”
