Page 3 of Eddie (Romance & Revolutions #7)

Shelby

The big, frowning alpha was confused but I wasn’t sure why.

Did the stalking thing confuse him?

Did he know what Not-Henry did for fun…and possibly for a living?

“You were pushy, but you make a lot of terrible decisions, so it wasn’t a surprise.” Not-Henry mumbled something about thinking he had more time, but I was slightly distracted by the frowning giant who might be trying to protect me.

Maybe?

He also seemed to be trying to find an excuse to throttle Not-Henry, so I inched closer to my hacker and put myself between them. I was hoping the biker-looking alpha wouldn’t want to hit an omega.

Hmm.

“I’m a sub and an omega, so you can’t hit me unless I give you permission. Red. No hitting. And it’s bad karma at the very least.” I was doing great because I hadn’t gotten upset and the scary-looking alpha took a step back from Not-Henry. “Thank you for making good decisions.”

I kept the giant in sight as I turned my head toward Not-Henry. “Does he get a reward for that?”

“No.” Not-Henry shrugged. “Not from me. I’m not stalking him or dating him.”

That was good to know.

Not-Henry was still feeling helpful because he looked over at the giggling receptionist. “Tell Austin that Silas is behaving himself.”

Austin?

Why did I know that name?

Austin.

Silas.

Oh.

“Were you going to tell me you know famous people?” I wasn’t ready for famous. I hadn’t dressed up enough for that. “I wore the jeans that you think I look nice in. I didn’t wear fancy clothes.”

I’d been hoping they’d come off too fast for me to need my fancy stuff.

Not-Henry chuckled. “He’s damned near naked at the moment and was glad he was wearing panties so he could meet you. We’re not going to be worried about what you’re wearing, but yeah, those are my favorite.”

Hey, that was another thing.

“I knew he liked these pants. He told me to wear them on the last date he sent me on.” I should’ve connected the dots on how much he’d been watching me a lot sooner. “I know a lot about Not-Henry. His name isn’t really important because those are hard anyway.”

What if his name was so long he wanted me to call him Bob too?

“You’ve been telling him to date other people?” Silas wasn’t getting any happier even if he’d moved back another step. “For fuck’s sake, that’s insane.”

Really?

“Um, Not-Henry? Are the rumors I’ve heard about them true?” Not-Henry’s snort and the other omega’s giggle said they were. “Then isn’t he more insane than we are?”

“Oh yeah.” Stepping closer, Not-Henry actually put his hand on my back, sending shivers through me that made him laugh again. “Now, tell Silas that you’re not worried about meeting me and remind him again that you know the safewords we’ll be using tonight.”

Yay.

“We’re finally going in?” Wait. I had instructions to follow.

“Stop light colors. Green is go. Red means stop, but I already used that one. Yellow is pause. I’m not worried about meeting you, but I was kind of worried you might be a computer AI gone rogue or a hallucination, so I’m glad you’re real. ”

That was really nice and it was another step closer toward me finally getting tied up again.

“I’m going to get restrained so I can have a good orgasm again, and I’m going to meet people who won’t think I’m strange.” It was exhausting having to pretend to be boring all the time. It was like being the beta of the sex world and it was hard to keep constantly doing it.

“Is… he going to restrain you?” Silas stumbled over his words and waved his hand at Not-Henry. “Do you understand what limits are?”

Why did he have to ask such hard questions?

Leaning closer to Not-Henry again, I dropped my voice a little lower. “Do you think I’m cute enough to tie up and help me orgasm?”

“Yes.” Not-Henry’s answer made Silas roll his eyes. “Do you think I’m sexy enough to tie you up? I’m not cute.”

“Do you want to be cute?” We could work on figuring out what made someone cute versus sexy if he wanted to. “No one has ever considered me sexy, so it didn’t occur to me to pick that option.”

Silas sounded like he was being strangled by a ghost, so I just focused on Not-Henry. “I think you’re sexy too, though. You’ve got that broody thing going for you and you don’t look…”

I managed not to look at Silas but it was hard. “You don’t look scary.”

He was my Not-Henry…he could never be scary.

Our audience just kept giggling and sighing but Not-Henry smirked. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Could we go back to tying me up? “Did I do a good enough job to get restrained now?”

Should I apologize for the coffee thing?

“I promise not to have any coffee for the rest of the night, spare change or not.” Did coffee ice cream have caffeine in it? I was going to need a treat after I got my orgasm. That was just how it worked, so it had to be okay.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to figure out that spare change issue.” Not-Henry glared at me. “I’m going to research change jars when I get home later.”

Hopefully much later.

Could change jars shock me?

Yell at me?

Shame me?

Ugh. I was going to have to do research too.

“It can’t be mean to me.” That seemed a vague enough limit I thought it would work. “And nothing scary.”

“You’ve both lost your fucking minds.” Silas seemed to have decided that he wasn’t going to pretend to be worried about me any longer.

“Fuck it. Use safewords. Talk about goddamned limits first. You can use one of the view rooms or the small stage at the back but nothing private the first time. I don’t care if that’s embarrassing, I’m fucking worried about everyone’s safety and sanity. ”

Stomping back toward the door that I assumed went deeper into the club, he grumbled about crazy people and ridiculous decisions. I was pretty sure he was talking about me and Not-Henry but I wasn’t sure why.

“Does he know who his partner is?” There was no way we were more interesting than they were. “I’m kind of confused.”

“They’re always confusing. I think it’s what makes them perfect for each other.” Not-Henry sighed. “That and they both like Austin running around naked and in high heels.”

“Do I have to wear heels?” I didn’t have that kind of balance. “They won’t match my outfit.”

“Nope. But we need to talk about how naked you want to get and what your goals are.” Not-Henry grinned when I sighed. “I filled out your limits list, don’t worry, but I can’t be the one to decide if you want to be naked or not.”

That was unfortunate.

“What would you say if you could decide?” I was pretty sure a Dom could make all kinds of decisions for their sub. So I guess we just needed to make sure I was his sub? “What kind of planning do we need to do to begin with to make sure you can decide that later?”

Short-term torture for long-term gain seemed like a good trade-off.

“I was going to say be your Dom but since I’m going to be that tonight it might not be the right answer.” Frowning and still slightly broody, Not-Henry took the issue seriously. “Dom and someone you’re dating?”

Worked for me.

“You pick out really good takeout places.” Orgasms and dinner made it a date, right? “Do you know anywhere good around here? I was just following the GPS directions, so I’m not sure where we are.”

Other than a slightly sketchy warehouse district on the other side of town.

“Yeah, you haven’t eaten Thai food lately. How about that?” Not-Henry shifted us toward the interior door to the club.

“As long as we can get a table, that sounds great.” It was nice dating someone who already knew what I liked. “But if we need to pick something else, I don’t want—”

“Pizza.” Not-Henry groaned as I gave a half nod and shrugged. “Do you know how many meals you had that this week?”

It was cheap and I hadn’t felt like cooking when I was still pouting over the job thing.

“Too much.” It would be a while before it sounded good again, but I had some incredible coupons. “I’ll be hungry later, though.”

Not-Henry snorted as he opened the door for me. “I’ve mentally prepared for that, and since I’m taking you out on a date, I’m going to pay.”

“Well, I’m getting naked for the first part of our date, so it only seems fair.” I wasn’t sure why the receptionist guy found that so funny, but he seemed to think we were hilarious. “Do you want an orgasm too? I forgot to ask.”

I’d gotten distracted with the whole finally talking to Not-Henry thing.

“I’m flexible, but either way, I’m going to go home and jerk off to the memory of tying you up.” Not-Henry shrugged when I looked confused. “Some people get weird about that, so I thought I’d give you a heads-up.”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” I was going to get a good orgasm, so I was hoping he’d enjoy it too. “You said you liked how I looked.”

He couldn’t change his mind and decide I wasn’t worth orgasming to.

“I do.” Not-Henry was sweet and gave my ass a squeeze. “I’m going to enjoy seeing you naked too.”

Good.

“So you don’t mind being hard and not getting to come yet?

” Hopefully he’d be hard. I knew for some people, finding me attractive and actually feeling sexual attraction were two different things, but they seemed tied together for Not-Henry.

“I just want to make sure you’re not going to leave frustrated with me. ”

Because that seemed to have been part of the whole dirty pictures on the internet fiasco.

“No.” Not-Henry shrugged. “You’ve made me hard for a while and I always wait until I’m away from my computer to come.”

“You’re really polite. I appreciate that.” Helpful and a gentleman…it wasn’t a combination I’d found a lot…especially when I added in the kinky sex bit. “I also appreciate you bringing me here to the club.”

No matter what happened with his helpful control of my life, I appreciated meeting new people and finding a place where hopefully I’d belong.

“I want you to have fun, so you just need to make sure you tell me what you’re feeling and what would make you happy.” Not-Henry shrugged when I sighed. “That’s nonnegotiable.”

“Fine.” I knew he was serious about that by the stubborn set to his jaw, so it wasn’t worth arguing over when I’d need to do that about more important things later.

“I want to orgasm. I want to meet people. I want to not have to make so many decisions. I want to relax. I want both of us to have fun. I will tell you if any of that changes or if I start feeling yucky.”

“Sounds good.” Not-Henry looked down at my bag. “Let’s go put that away and you can show me what other stuff you brought. That’ll help me decide how naked you’ll get and what we’re doing.”

Really?

“You’re going to decide? I don’t have to?” He was amazing and I found myself kissing his cheek before I realized what I’d done. “Oops. Limits. Was that okay?”

I needed to make sure I asked Not-Henry what his limits were.

“Yes.” Not-Henry looked like he was going to smile but held it back because he was the broody kind of hacker. “You can kiss me or touch me anywhere you’d like.”

That was good to know.

“I’m glad.” I had a tendency to touch people without realizing what I was doing and it made some people nuts. “I’ve been practicing keeping my hands to myself, though. So I can do it if I need to. I’m just comfortable with you, so I’m going to have to think about it.”

“You don’t have to think with me.” Not-Henry gave a half shrug and didn’t seem worried about it. “I’m comfortable with you too. Meet you in person and give you an orgasm comfortable. So I hope we can both touch without worrying about it.”

Not-Henry really was thoughtful and helpful…I should’ve thought about dating him a lot sooner.

But I hadn’t been sure he was real, so that would’ve held us back anyway.

“We can.” And I was going to get to be tied up and get an orgasm and then get fed. “You just have to remember to let me know your limits and what you need too.”

I’d admit to being a bit slow, but it’d finally occurred to me that his focus was just a bit too much on me.

“You’re important too.” When he looked like he was going to push back on that and be stubborn, I shrugged and tried to mirror his casual frown. “I can’t have my helper frustrated or upset at me. You control too much of my life. You’re just going to have to be reasonable and try to be happy too.”

It would be hard work but he could do it.

He was smart enough to do anything he put his mind to.

“Fine.” Not-Henry didn’t seem pleased but he gave in easily enough that I knew he understood I was right. “We’re both going to communicate and be happy.”

As he led me through the slightly crowded sitting area, he scrunched his face up and looked very adorable in a nerdy and processing kind of way.

“I want to tie you up. I want to watch you orgasm. I want to clean you up afterward. That kind of aftercare is important to me. And I want to order dinner for you.”

Because he liked control.

Helpers just seemed to need that.

“Those are all goals we can make happen tonight.” I’d like him ordering for me too, and after he’d made me come, I probably wouldn’t care what he did to me to get me cleaned up.

“If I’m supposed to give you limits you might not have already written down then I don’t want anyone else touching me without talking about it first and…

and…um…making sure I get to come is the only other important thing I can think about. ”

Because it’d been a long time since I had a fabulous orgasm.

“What about something like that scene in the dirty book where the omega pays that rent boy alpha to tie him up?” Not-Henry frowned at me when I sucked in a breath. “That’s not safe to do in real life. There’s no way I’m letting you pay for something like that.”

We both knew I’d pick someone terrible, so I wasn’t surprised at the rule.

“And there isn’t a change jar big enough for you to try to hide that purchase from me.” Not-Henry looked pleased when I nodded in agreement without putting up a fuss. “Good.”

Even with a job I’d never manage to afford that kind of service.

“I didn’t do it even when I had a job.” Ugh. “I’m not talking about that tonight, though.”

Not-Henry looked stubborn for a moment before it passed and his head bobbed. “Okay. Tonight is about relaxing and getting you a good orgasm again.”

His side-eye said he wanted to say something snarky about me needing it, but he had a remarkable amount of self-restraint.

“I’m going to be very good. You’ll see.” It couldn’t be that hard if Austin could do it. “Especially once I get to come.”

Then the world would stop going too fast and I could finally relax.

I wasn’t meant to go this long between good orgasms.