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“It’s cool that camera phones are finally a high enough resolution we can use them for that kind of thing now. Also, I’m glad I didn’t know that’s what you were doing today. I’d have worried.” She glanced at me and back to Master. “If he didn’t know who you were at first, does he know the rest of us?”

“Answer her, Davy.”

“I read some of the gossip websites, so if they’re right then I guess I know a little about you, but I suspect some of them are bullshit. There’s a video clip of you saying you don’t care what pronouns people use, so I assume that’s right?”

She nodded, and she was definitely giving off girl vibes today. “Right. I mean, I might pause a few seconds if someone calls me a ‘he’ when I’m wearing a mini skirt and heels with girl makeup on, but if that’s the way they see me, then okay. I don’t need other people to define me. I know who I am.When I’m out, I use the bathroom I’m dressed for, and our business manager puts it into my contract that I can use any backstage bathroom I please.”

“Are you seeing someone? The gossip sites seem frustrated that they can’t catch a picture of you with a significant other.”

“Not right now.”

She clearly didn’t want to say more, so I changed the subject. “You played the cello in middle school and high school? When did you start playing the guitar?”

“Yes, we had an orchestra instead of a band. Our director put together an after-school jazz band, or that’s what they called it, but we played more pop stuff than jazz. I mostly taught myself the guitar, but he helped me get better.”

“Hailey’s hobby is learning new instruments,” Master said. “She’s pretty much mastered the violin, and Mitch is negotiating for the rights so we can do a remake of Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Silver looked alarmed, and Master said, “He’s trustworthy.”

“I know he has to be, for you to share that kind of thing with him.” She looked to me. “And that tells me Will intends for you to be around a long fucking time. So, welcome to the family.”

“I told you he’s…”

Master trailed off, and Silver rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you did, but I guess I didn’t take you seriously enough.” She stood. “I’m going to take my wine to the top-level hot tub, if ya’ll aren’t going to use it.”

“Hadn’t planned to,” Master said, “but now that you mention it, a hot tub might be the perfect ending to our little vacation. We’ll use the one on my balcony if we decide to, though. Have at it.”

What had he told Silver about me? Did I dare ask?

“I’m not sure if it’s okay to ask or not, Master, but I’d like to know what you told Silver, please.

“Kneel facing me.”

While I moved into position, he said, “There are some things a slave shouldn’t ask, but I think most of those items are only relevant in a scene. When we’re like this, most things are okay to respectfully ask.”

He paused, looking me over, and I straightened my spine a little more. Master leaned forward and cupped my cheek in the warmth of his palm. “I told her I’m pretty sure you’re the one I’ve been looking for, the first part of my poly group.” Before I had a chance to respond, he added, “Grab two more beers for both of us and bring them to the bedroom.”

His wording made it clear he wanted me to get his brand and my brand, and I got them and then climbed the steps to Master’s turret bedroom — and then stopped in my tracks when I saw a fucking station mounted in his room.

Master’s bedroom is circular and huge. Like, five or six times bigger than my whole house. There’d been a cross with plenty of room to use any kind of whip on the person bound to it, and it was still there, but now the fucking station was right in front of one of the windows, so I’d look out at the wonderful view while being fucked. And, I suppose Master would see the view, too.

Master turned some music on through the television — it’s a ninety-inch monstrosity with speakers all around us, so it’s total surround sound, and the music filled the circular room.

But his bedroom only has windows on about half of the circle. Because the room takes up the entire turret, Master’s bathroom and closet are in the house part of the structure. There’s a large sitting room one floor up, with three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views since it’s above the other rooflines.

“You told me I’m not allowed to go on the balcony, Master.”

“That rule hasn’t changed, because a telephoto lens can get shots too easily from outside the walls. The hot tub is behind some plants and other visual shielding, but they can see us walk from the door to the tub. I spend time outside because I live here and I don’t care if they get pictures of me, but since you don’t want to be seen with me…” He shrugged. “There’s a way to get you to the hot tub, though.”

It turns out, Master just held a giant umbrella up to shield me for the ten steps it took to get to the hot tub. He already had the lid off, and once I was in the water, I could see that there’d be no way for someone to get pics from outside the property.

“Security installed some stuff to make it hard to fly a drone over the property,” Master told me. “Kind of an aerial obstacle course. Technically, there’s this ban against flying them here, so the software keeps people off the property, but it isn’t terribly hard to hack them so you can fly them wherever you want. There are also special drone sensors, so we know if there’s a drone close by, and these air jet things that’ll usually crash the smaller ones if the operator isn’t really good. It’s illegal to shoot a drone down, but it’s apparently legal to create air turbulence so long as you say it’s for insect control and not to shoot drones down.”

“It’s kind of a pain, isn’t it, Sir? Having to do so much to protect your privacy?”

“Comes with the job, and Ilovemy job. My life is a dream come true, and you have to take the good with the bad. What was your favorite part of the weekend?”

That was easy. “Spending so much time with you, Master. Just being with you, learning more about you, having fun with you. I mean, I love our time in the playroom, but it feels more like a relationship, now, and I’m figuring out I never really had that before. I was a slave and not a boyfriend, but it feels like I’m going to be a little bit boyfriend and a whole lot slave.”