Page 8 of Love By Design

Flicking off the light switch and plunging us both into shadows, I asked, “Should I be hurt?”

Lincoln smiled and inclined his head toward the front door.

“That’s the plan, Silas. That’s the plan.”

CHAPTER 4

MARSHALL

After too many drinks and an otherwise uneventful dinner, I said goodbye to my brothers, then locked myself in my car to catch my breath. It was a few minutes shy of ten when my cell phone vibrated against my thigh. Without opening my eyes, I fished the device out of my pocket and swiped the screen on, making a mental guess with myself about who the message was from.

“It’s an email from Stanley,” I said to no one. “He’s withdrawing his bid.”

It was not an email from Stanley, but instead a text message from my friend Justin.

Justin

Are you done with your brothers?

I chuckled.

Forever or fornow?

Either.

Yes.

Good. Come have a drink.

I closed my eyes again, brows raising, and I rubbed the bridge of my nose until it hurt.

I had wine with Smith at dinner

Come have wine with Micah at Rapture then.

He says please.

I’m sure he does. He says it quite nicely.

He’s mad at me for a punishment from earlier. Maybe if he gets to see his favorite person who doesn’t share a bed with him, he’ll be in a better mood and stop making my life so hard.

A menace, then?

He’s giving me and Keith a run for it.

Justin and Micah had been married more years than I could count, but about five years ago they’d opened their marriage for a third, a man named Keith. I hadn’t known them then, but I heard after the fact it had been quite the start of things, with Keith shaking up more than just their sheets. I didn’t envy Justin, a dominant partnered up with a submissive and a switch, but it seemed to work well for them.

What time?

We’re leaving now, so before 11.

I’m too old to be out that late.

Liar. See you soon.

Dropping my cell phone into the cup holder, I didn’t bother keying out a reply. Of course I would go meet Justin,Keith, and Micah at Rapture because they were my friends, it was a Friday night, and I had a lot of steam to burn off after my meeting earlier in the day. Heading to Rapture, having another drink or two, seeing my friends, and seeing where the night could take me sounded like just the thing I needed.

Rapture was an abandoned church-turned-BDSM club tucked against the foothills of the Pasadena mountains. It was secluded and blasphemous, and I’d spent more time there than I’d ever admit, even under oath. I enjoyed going there to dance and I enjoyed going there to fuck. Justin and his husbands were extremely close friends with the owners, Landon Miller and Verity Jones, two people I’d also become rather fond of over the past couple years. Landon’s partner, Gregory, wasn’t around much, but Verity’s partner, Aaron, followed them around like a Doberman on a short leash. Not that I could blame him. Even though I’d never had a chance to shoot my shot, it was undeniable that Verity was unequivocally kind and universally appealing.