Page 72 of Love By Design

“Sometimes I’ll have a preference about it, sometimes I won’t. But I’ll always make sure you know what I want.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“No orgasms unless I ask them of you,” I said next. “Don’t even touch yourself unless I’ve told you to.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I want you to go get tested on your lunch break tomorrow.”

He swallowed, chest going hollow with his breath.

“And I’ll do the same. Once we’re both in the clear, I’m going to take you bare. Is that a problem?”

“No, Sir.”

“I might use condoms during role play. And if and when I decide to share you, anyone else who even looks at you will be wrapped.”

Silas managed half a laugh on his next breath. “Thank you, Sir.”

“You will eat three meals a day, and you will stay hydrated.” I traced the backside of my teeth with my tongue. “If I find out you are not taking care of yourself, you will not like the punishment I come up with. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Do you still like the blindfold?” I asked.

“Yes, Sir. Very much.”

“Okay.” I dropped the knot on my towel and pulled his body toward mine. “Then let’s continue.”

CHAPTER 23

SILAS

The bruises from my first night with Marshall were finally starting to fade and the intensity of their pain lessened. No matter how hard I shifted my weight in my office chair, I wasn’t met with any more than the occasional bite of remembrance. It hadn’t been long but felt like an eternity since our first scene at his house and a lifetime since our most important negotiation, but we were still working to find a routine that worked with both of our schedules. I’d gotten tested, as he required, and we were both now in receipt of my negative test results. We just hadn’t had an opportunity to get together.

He saw his brothers often, but every Friday night was spoken for, which didn’t bother me at all because that meant I could promise Friday dinners to Lincoln, which he loved. He was nervous about the development of my relationship with Marshall, mostly because of not wanting things to change between us. When I told him they didn’t have to, the relief was palpable and he’d jumped onto my lap and kissed me on the mouth.

It was nice to still have that with Lincoln.

Nice for Marshall to understand the difference between romantic love and platonic love and to not be threatened by it.

I’d spent a Tuesday and Wednesday with Marshall but had finally caved and told him I didn’t want to overdo it. I wanted to dive headfirst into things with him, but I also didn’t want to appear too young or too eager. Like, I didn’t ask to come over; I waited for him to invite me. Honestly, that was probably part self-preservation and part submission. There was meant to be a natural order about things between us and throttling my desire to be with him twenty-four hours a day seemed to align with the latter.

A knock on the conference room door had me looking up from the blank screen on my laptop and into my dad’s tired eyes. He had on brown slacks and a white button-up, which I’d always thought was overkill considering he was so rarely client-facing, but it was practically his uniform. I remembered him wearing a tie when I was younger but hadn’t seen one around his neck in years.

“Silas,” he said, mouth pulled into a tight line.

“Hey, Dad. What’s up?” I closed the lid on my laptop and leaned back in the old chair, hoping the creaks meant it was strong enough to hold my weight and not on its way to collapsing.

“I wanted to see when you’d have that updated bid for me.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “I haven’t started it.”

His eyes went wide, his expression morphing into a mask of horror. He tried to school his reaction, but it was such a big feeling he couldn’t get it all under control.

“Why not? It’s due this week.”

“We both know you weren’t going to use my draft.” I rolled my eyes at him, annoyed that he’d given me busy work for no good reason like I was a ten-year-old trailing behind him into the office again on spring break or summer vacation.