Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“So, is M/s your whole thing, or do you have other core kinks?” Reese asked Lucian.
Lucian had ordered the same steak, but he’d opted for the baked potato, and I was trying to keep my envy to myself.
He didn’t have water quals and a combat diving course to dread. I did.
“That’s pretty much it,” he replied. “I love sensation play too, though. Particularly temperature play and wax play.”
Reese looked interested. “I saw a wax play demo once. Beautiful as fuck—but who has the patience? Those wax melts didn’t get very hot either. I held one in my hand, and that almost did the trick.”
“Well, there are different kinds,” Lucian reasoned. “I’ll have to add that I do possess that patience.” He smirked a little. “I’ll happily start with melts that only require body temperature—and then work my way up to the candles that sting and burn when you pour the wax.”
I chewed and swallowed. “That’s how I feel about bondage. The artsy kind. Yeah, it’s stunning to see the final result, but I once wasted four hours watching a couple tie up their sub, who fucking fell asleep onstage.”
I’d seen other kinds too, of course. Most of them were an impressive workout, especially for the rope bottom.
Lucian smiled and reached for his beer. “What do you have patience for, then?”
“Torture,” River responded, almost as if he had no control of his answer. Like it just fell out. “All kinds of mental torture. Mental sadism, mindfucks, behavioral conditioning, fear play…”
The guy spoke my language.
“What River said,” I replied, cutting another piece of my steak. “I reckon what it boils down to for me is… I want my partner to be my toy. I don’t care much for playrooms filled with implements and kink furniture. With some exceptions, of course. They offer a nice extra spice every now and then.”
Lucian nodded slowly, pensive. “I suppose that’s how I separate the lifestyle from specific playtime. It’s my hope to enter a twenty-four-seven kind of dynamic one day, and it’s not as if I’m interested in using toys every hour of the day. They’d be like extra hobbies.”
My mouth was full of food, so I could only nod and point my fork at him, ’cause he was dead-on. That was how I viewed it too.
“I’m not sure we’re the lifestyle kind of guys,” Reese said thoughtfully. He was watching his brother. “Granted, our jobs don’t allow for any deeper relationships—we travel too much—but it’s mostly been one session after another, nothing that bleeds into everyday life.”
River went for another rib and sucked some glaze off his finger. “I don’t know—you wanna explore Daddykink. That’ll be a lifestyle thing, right?”
“I guess. I go back and forth with that,” Reese said. “I’m not sure there’s a Little out there I can click with. Most of the time, it just feels weird when I see ’em runnin’ around at events.”
I found them charming as fuck, at least those who were also brats and masos, but it was one of those fetishes I wanted to observe from afar. I wasn’t a Daddy whatsoever; I just loved to beat up mouthy little brats. We riled each other up with constant teasing and testing the waters. It was an addictive push and pull.
Lucian tilted his head, visibly curious. “Do you and River play together?”
“We co-top,” Reese confirmed. “Our ma used to joke that we share a brain, and…”
River snorted. “I got 80% of it.”
Oh-ho! I chuckled.
Reese didn’t miss a beat. “You’re not very self-sufficient for havin’ the biggest chunk of it, are you?”
River scowled and shut his trap.
Lucian and I exchanged a grin. I didn’t know if he had siblings, but this was like coming home. My brothers and I were always at one another.
“Either way, it sounds fascinating with the co-topping,” Lucian said. “If you ever host a demo together, I’d like a front-row seat.”
“Count me in,” I said. “One of my first ventures into kink—it was actually the first time I came to DC—I watched two cousins demonstrate interrogation with their partner, and it was heady as fuck. They had a connection that went so far beyond verbal communication.”
Lucian looked intrigued.
Reese hummed and finished another wing, and he exchanged a brief glance with River. “We’ve hosted a couple—when I convince his antisocial ass to join me. But, uh…” He cleared his throat and shrugged. “A lot of people obviously think it’s strange seein’ us together in that atmosphere.”
Understandable, I guessed, but…fuck it. “Youse’re consenting adults. Others can fuck right off.”
“Agreed.” Lucian inclined his head. “It seems, even in a culture of the unconventional—with kink, alternative lifestyles, relationship dynamics that defy social norms—we’re incredibly judgmental at times.”
Reese seemed to lose some tension in his shoulders, so I hoped that meant he knew he had nothing to worry about in our company.