I was dressed very simply tonight compared to before. I wasn’t even wearing my glasses or my favorite hat. Even Ben had looked startled when he’d realized it was me. I’d done my best to blend in tonight so I didn’t accidentally attract anyone’s attention, but that hadn’t gone as planned thanks to the pushy Dom who hadn’t wanted to take no for an answer.

  Niall talked to the gentleman behind the bar, giving me a chance to take in the room and people-watch. There were just so many different types of couples and lifestyles on display that it was like taking a walk through all the various types of kinks.

  Littles sat on the floor playing in one corner and I had to smile as one snatched a toy while another wasn’t looking. As their Daddies intervened, my gaze shifted to a pup sitting beautifully displayed at his Master’s feet.

  There were Doms and subs of all flavors and looks, and I couldn’t help but wish I had my sketchbook, even though I knew Ben wouldn’t let me take anyone’s likeness. Privacy and all. But it didn’t mean I couldn’t wish for the ability to capture all the tender and curious moments.

  Shifting my attention back to Niall, I was surprised to see the studious-looking man focusing quietly on me. He smiled, squeezing my hand for a moment. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  Maybe.

  Hopefully.

  I wanted to talk through everything I was thinking, but I didn’t know Niall well enough to guess how he would respond. Julian would’ve listened and let me work it out, but most other people would’ve thought I was just a bit nuts and ignored it politely.

  Niall took me at my word, smiling as he led me through the club and in a different direction from last night. When he finally ended up in a long hallway, he pointed toward various rooms. “Most aren’t in use right now, but that one’s a playroom for littles. There’s a doctor’s office, and even a dungeon-style room with a St. Andrew’s cross and some fun toys.”

  I wasn’t sure anything could compete with my toys at home, but I also wasn’t sure about Niall’s opinions on creatively designed dildos, so I kept that to myself.

  He opened the door that led to the dungeon room and I couldn’t help but look at the restraints hanging down from the ceiling. Niall chuckled as I shivered, leaning closer to kiss my neck, finally showing some of the interest I could see in his eyes. “I think you’d like to be restrained.”

  “Yes, but I promised my mother I wouldn’t let anyone tie me up the first time we met.” And then there was Julian.

  No, as much as I wanted to be tied up and made to fly under the control of my Dom, I had to wait until I figured out a few things. Like what I was going to do about the two very different Doms who were so fascinating.

  Niall pressed another kiss to my neck as he stepped behind me, wrapping me loosely in his arms as we looked at the room. “I’m patient.”

  Turning in his embrace, I stared into his eyes. “But I’m not, that’s the problem.”

  Leaning in, I gave him the barest of kisses, trying to take in everything I could about him. As my lips brushed his, a little zing of pleasure ran through me and I couldn’t help but moan. Pulling away, I could see the domination in his eyes, but it was so tightly controlled it sent a shiver through me.

  “Will you finish showing me around the club?” Inching closer, I tried not to promise anything I wasn’t willing to follow through on, but I couldn’t help wanting to feel his arms even tighter around me.

  I got a smirk like he knew I was trying to keep us from getting tempted. “Yes, I think that’s a very good idea.”

  He might look tame, but there was so much more going on below the surface that I wasn’t sure I could walk away…and I couldn’t wait to paint him.

  ****

  “Julian.” As soon as he came around the corner, I threw myself into his arms. “You’re still going to pose for me this weekend, right?”

  Having dinner with him again was going to be fun, but having him pose for me would be incredible.

  “Yes, scamp. I have nothing else planned this weekend.” As he wrapped his arms around me, he pinned me tightly against him and took my mouth in a slow, heated kiss that went right through me.

  When he finally released my lips, I smiled. “You’re mine all weekend?”

  He chuckled, letting his hands snake lower down my back. “I think the right way to say that is you’re going to be mine all weekend.”

  I didn’t make any attempt to hide how wonderfully wicked that sounded. As a shiver raced through me, I let out a low moan and rocked against him. We were on the quieter side of the building so I took advantage of the privacy and wiggled temptingly.

  “Yes, I want to be yours.” At least until Sunday night when I was supposed to meet Niall for dinner, but that was something I had to talk to Julian about.

  My excitement seemed to be contagious because he smiled wide again. “I’m going to hold you to that, scamp.”

  “What are you going to do to me?” He’d hinted at a spanking, but he hadn’t made any promises besides posing for me.

  “We’ll see.” His enigmatic smile pulled at me and I couldn’t help imagining him as the face of a wicked trickster, sexy and powerful but teasing and naughty. “Come on. We’re going to miss our reservations if we’re late.”

  “We can’t have that.” Grabbing his hand, I tugged him along. “Come on. The booths are supposed to be very private.”

  One of the other artists I knew said he’d had sex in one of the back booths, but I wasn’t sure about that. I was willing to do some research to see if it might be possible, though.

  Julian laughed, and I felt his hand smack my ass. It didn’t help me want to behave, but the flash of pain was enough to make another shiver race through me. Glancing over my shoulder, I grinned. “I’m going to be very good for you, Sir.”

  Oops.

  Somehow I’d missed the older couple walking out of the building, but while the husband didn’t find me funny, his wife was giggling enough that I didn’t worry about it. “Hello.”

  Julian was just shaking his head and trying not to smile as they walked away. “Naughty boy.”

  Oh yes.

  But I behaved as we walked in and were seated, and I was even a perfect gentleman as we ordered drinks and our food. My ability to behave started to fade, however, as the waiter walked away, leaving us in the dark privacy of the restaurant.

  “This is just as private as I heard.” Glancing around, I looked back at the booth we were in and tried to study the structure. “But I just don’t see how he could’ve had sex in this booth without anyone seeing.”

  Julian coughed several times before he laughed. “Scamp, is that why you were so eager to eat here?”

  I tried to look very innocent. “No, Sir. You were excited to show me your favorite restaurant. I was just telling you about facts I heard.”

  Shaking his head, Julian reached out under the table and stroked high on my thigh. “Very good answer.”

  As I giggled, he leaned over and kissed my forehead. “But there is no way anyone had penetrative sex in here without getting arrested. Now I can see a lot of other interesting things working out, but I think that depends on his definition of sex.”

  “Oh, good point.” I’d have to ask about that. “What fun things?”

  Julian laughed again. “I think my boy is just a little turned on.”

  We’d already sailed well past just turned on.

  “I was a good boy for you, Sir.” Scooting closer, I wiggled so his hand moved higher. “You asked me not to come until we had our date, and I’ve been so good.”

  So good I was going to combust.

  Julian made a low, sexy sound and his hand finally inched up closer to my dick as he stroked my thigh. “You have been very good, scamp.”

  As his fingers stretched and he subtly stroked the head of my dick, he got a heated look on his face that was pure Dom. “Were you this good or even better when you went back to the club on Sunday?”

  Was he jealous?

  My brain didn’t seem to have enough brain cells to figure that out, but I answered as best I could. Quietly moaning, I nodded. “Yes, I followed all the rules, and I didn’t even jerk off later when I was thinking about you.”

  I’d been so good…but that was partly due to the fact that I’d stayed up all night sketching the two fascinating men.

  Julian looked pleased, but I wasn’t sure why…and unfortunately, I had to confess something that I was hoping wouldn’t dim his happiness too much.

  He must have seen something on my face because his hand moved lower and he kissed my cheek. “Tell me, scamp. I can see your brain whirling.”

  Nibbling on my lower lip as I thought, I sat straighter and did my best to look him in the eyes. I didn’t want to appear fishy or questioning in any way, or he’d assume he wasn’t important.

  Or at least that’s what my mother had said earlier.

  “I want to start this off by saying that I would like to keep seeing you. You make me feel…well, so many things, and I can’t see walking away from you.” He’d been the first man in years to make me feel special while still being completely sane.

  And that combination seemed to be harder to find than most people realized.

  Julian nodded and took my hand. “I’ll remember that as long as you remember that I will not walk away easily.”

  Good.

  Hopefully he meant that.

  “I told you that the Dom I met on Sunday made sure someone got Ben when that other Dom didn’t want to take no for an answer.” It wasn’t really a question, but Julian nodded as his face tightened.

  He hadn’t taken that incident well at all.

  I was pretty sure that was the last time I was going to get to go to the club on my own. He’d been just a bit upset.

  “I also told you that I had a nice evening talking to the other Dom.” Julian hadn’t asked many questions about him, but that might have been both because he was very focused on when we’d go out on our next date as well as the fact that I’d distracted him by talking to him about all the sexy things I wanted to paint him doing.

  “Yes, I was glad someone stepped in and made your evening less stressful.” Julian’s fingers started stroking over my hand, making thinking difficult. He must’ve realized that because he smiled again and took over the conversation. “Are you trying to tell me that you’d like to keep seeing this other Dom?”

  He was so smart.

  “Yes, Sir.” Trying not to lose track of what I was supposed to say, I shook my head to clear the fog he was creating and tried to answer more thoroughly. “But I want to see you and Niall both, so please help me figure out what rules you would like to put in place so I can make sure you don’t worry?”

  I thought I’d done fairly well at getting that out, but Julian blinked at me like he wasn’t sure what I’d said. Trying to hit the highlights, I tried again. “His name is Niall. He’s kind of straitlaced, but he was nice.”

  And sexy.

  But saying that didn’t seem like the best idea when Julian was still blinking at me.

  Maybe I should’ve described him first?

  Chapter 5

  Julian

  That fucker.

  It had to be him.

  Forcing myself to think before I reacted and fucked everything up, I took a breath in and out and focused on what Keegan had said. He was right. Niall was straitlaced and nice, and probably fascinating to Keegan.

  Adding in the fact that Niall had come to his rescue, it was easy to see why he was drawn to the frustrating Dom. If it’d been anyone else with the same mix of characteristics, I would’ve done my best to make sure Keegan got the time to figure out what he wanted, but this was Niall.

  “I know Niall.” Forcing myself to smile and look more relaxed, I stroked his knee and did my best to figure out what to say next. “We’ve been friends for a while and I can see why you were drawn to him.”

  That didn’t mean I had to be happy about it.

  I thought I was doing good at hiding how conflicted I was feeling, but Keegan’s head cocked to the side and his eyes lost focus as he studied me. “He’s not just your friend.”

  Sometimes he didn’t see enough and sometimes he saw too much.

  I wasn’t going to lie, but the answer wasn’t easy either. “It feels like a million years ago sometimes, but yes, we tried to date at one point. We just weren’t compatible in a lot of ways.”

  And now every time I looked at him, I just wanted to throw something at him.

  I was hoping that would be enough, but my scamp just waited patiently like he knew there was a lot more to the story. Letting out a deep breath, I smiled as his hand moved down to lace his fingers with mine as he quietly gave me time.

  Stubborn brat.

  “He’s a good Dom. Don’t get me wrong. But he’s never really understood being a switch, and he refuses to…let’s just say he’s not flexible in ways that are important to me.” No matter how I felt about him, I couldn’t submit and exclusively bottom forever and still end up being happy in the long run.

  There were a lot of ways to make a relationship between two Doms work, but Niall saw things so narrowly I knew I’d end up resenting him in the long run. So I’d forced myself to walk away before it’d gotten too serious.

  He hadn’t agreed with my decision, but he’d respected it.

  To a degree.

  Which was why he was one of the most frustrating people I’d ever met.

  “Did you need him to submit to be happy or just to bottom?” There was no censure in Keegan’s voice which made it easier to answer him honestly.

  “I needed some kind of mix of the two.” As I paused to find the words, Keegan’s fingers stroked over my hand again, slowly lending me strength. “There isn’t a submissive bone in his body, and he is an exclusive top. I know it might sound like I’m an ass for not being willing to compromise, but I wasn’t willing to push away a big part of who I am.”

  I still wasn’t sure I’d made the right decision, but he’d been so unwilling to even consider anything other than my being the submissive partner, I just hadn’t seen another way. Working on keeping our friendship and letting everything else go had been the only thing I could think of.

  “I can see how that would be frustrating.” Keegan was still studying me and I could see the wheels in his head turning. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No.” Shaking my head, I leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll admit my first reaction wasn’t exactly positive.”

  Keegan chuckled, squeezing my hand as I continued. “But it was more about cursing the universe than being hurt or upset.”

  Mostly.

  “Are you going to ask me not to see him anymore?” His question radiated curiosity, not judgment, but I wasn’t sure I was reading him right.

  “No.” I’d heard something in his voice the first time he’d talked about the polite Dom who’d stepped in to rescue him, even though Keegan maintained he hadn’t needed to be saved. Keegan was drawn to him.

  I wasn’t sure if it was the same way he was drawn to me or what Niall might represent, but I wasn’t going to be a dick that said it was my way or the highway.

  “I went into this knowing that you were going to meet other Doms and I can’t bitch now because you did what you said you were going to do.” But now what? “We’ll figure it out.”

  Then something occurred to me.

  “What did Niall say when you told him about me?” Having another Dom in his life wouldn’t have been something Keegan would’ve left out. It just wasn’t how his mind worked. “I can’t believe he wouldn’t have mentioned knowing me.”

  Keegan blinked and that cute faraway look took over his face again. When he finally came back to the present, he shrugged. “I’m not sure I told him your name. I told him about a Dom I’d met recently, and I was honest about what my limits were. He agreed with those and we talked. Was he there when we met? I remember you mentioned you’d been with friends.”

  I thought back to our first meeting. “Yes, but maybe he wasn’t paying attention?”

  Keegan was clearly trying to sort through everything, but the thoughtful expression on his face made me want to pull him closer so I could do wicked things to him. “I was doing my best to look very boring last night. No hat. No coat. I was very plain because honestly, I was trying not to attract attention but that didn’t really work. Even Mother said I looked boring. Maybe that was it?”

  I could only imagine what she would’ve said.

  “You would look sexy in a paper bag, scamp. You could never blend in no matter how you were dressed.” Going back to stroking his thigh, I smiled wickedly when the heat came back into his eyes. “You sparkle, my boy, and I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”

  He was turned on, but I could see his brain still trying to thread his worries together. “But would you change…Niall, and…Julian, that’s my…”

  His quiet moan cut off the scandalized tone in his voice. He might have been shocked that I was teasing the head of his cock in the restaurant, but that didn’t seem to mean he wanted me to stop. “I wouldn’t change a thing. No qualifications, scamp.”

  Keeping his body humming with pleasure and wicked fantasies gave me a moment to think. I meant that. I couldn’t imagine being this pulled to him if he were different. But what did that mean for Niall and for us in general?

  There seemed to be just one option.

  Tightening my grip, I slowly jerked him off through his clothes until his brains were wonderfully scrambled and all he could focus on was staying quiet. When he was completely mine and there wasn’t a single worry left in his eyes, I went back to teasing just the head of his cock.

  “We are going to have a relaxing dinner and then I’m going to take you back to my place where I can spank you and make you come.” The way his body shivered said he was on board with that plan. “Tomorrow you’re going to call Niall and explain who I am and that you want to see us both. Then he and I will figure out how that’s going to look.”

  Having the decisions taken out of his hands seemed to lift a weight off him. His entire body seemed lighter and there was a spark of happiness that hadn’t been there before. “Thank you, Sir.”

 

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