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CHAPTER 1

Reese

Spring had hit Los Angeles in a tsunami of sun and warm air, a reprieve from the clouds that had lingered over the city for most of March. It meant Morgan stopped complaining about how small the parking lot for the bar was and instead enjoyed the four-block walk from her car to the front door. She’d been perched on a bar stool down at the far end of the bar, waiting for Cory to arrive even though I’d told her that wasn’t part of the plan. He knew I worked Friday night. He knew I’d be off work at two-thirty. He knew even though he had a hotel, a nicer one than the one by the airport, I’d made my bed for him… this time.

The scope of our relationship had changed since March, though I wouldn’t go so far as to call whatever was happening between us a relationship . We texted more, spoke on the phone sometimes, though it was mostly for sexual reasons, and this month he’d checked in before booking his trip to make sure I would have availability to see him. Neither of us had been with anyone else since our first tryst in January, but his post-shower comment in March hung heavy over my head during his absence.

“I’m asking you to dominate another man. And I’m asking you to let me watch.”

I’d never thought when he made the request that he meant he wanted things to go all the way to penetration, but the idea of being with another man, even as foreplay…It was a curious feeling, to be sure. Monogamy wasn’t something I’d actively chased before meeting Cory, not that I would call us open…we weren’t anything. But something about the idea…

“Are you taking him to Rapture after you’re off work?” Morgan asked when I stopped by to check on the status of her beer.

“I don’t know.”

I’d told her the whole story, not just about last month but everything that had led up to that point. She knew I spanked him and she knew he’d taken me over his knee. I told her all the ways we’d flipped, but I hadn’t quite found the stomach to tell her the way I really liked when he called me a good boy. Nonetheless, Morgan called Cory my boyfriend, which…

Fuck.

“That’s what he wants, isn’t it?” she asked. “To go out and watch you in action.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s asking for.”

“From what you’ve told me, it sounds like he knows exactly what he’s asking for.” She lifted her glass and pretended to cheers me, then took a drink. Foam coated her upper lip, and I reached over the bar to swipe her mouth clean with the edge of my thumb. She snapped her teeth at me, attention drifting over my shoulder toward the door. She smiled, tracing her tongue over her sharp canine tooth, looking smug as if she’d won a prize.

Then softly she said, “ Oh , I see.”

I didn’t need to look over my shoulder to know Cory was there. That he’d come to the bar after all. The competence and the dominance rolled off of him in waves, and with my thumb still hovering in the air between me and Morgan, the soft lap of Cory’s presence crashed into my back like an incoming tide.

“The Rolex is a whole thing, isn’t it?” she murmured.

If I’d had any doubt it was him, her comment confirmed it.

I finally turned away from Morgan because I wasn’t sure whether it was worse to be seen by the woman who knew me better than anyone else or the man. Cory’s stare was already intensely focused on me when I searched him out, a small smile flickering across his face when he saw me. He was still dressed for work, and I imagined him getting out of a meeting downtown, hopping into the back of a cab and rolling up his sleeves on the way to Silverlake.

He was half-professional, in those slim-cut slacks of his and another tailored white button-up. That ridiculous watch on display, cufflinks nowhere to be found. His dark hair was still styled away from his face, a few strands falling loose over his forehead. He was undeniably gorgeous, and the pleased little groan Morgan made from behind me only served as a reminder that I wasn’t the only person who thought so.

Thankfully, the only open seat at the bar was far away from her, and Cory climbed up onto it looking just as comfortable in the little dive bar as I imagined he did in a board room. I wiped my hands on a white bar towel, then headed toward him. He didn’t take his eyes off me, stare like a fucking laser beam drawing me in until I was right in front of him, close enough to touch.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said in greeting.

Something that didn’t feel anything like lust flared low and hot in the middle of my chest. I rubbed absently at my sternum to settle it back down.

He’d gotten into town on a red-eye and gone directly to work, then came straight to me. No break. No rest.

“I didn’t expect you until later,” I murmured. “Long day?”

“Very. But nothing midrange whiskey masquerading as top shelf can’t fix.”

He offered me a fully-formed smile, so devastating and casual I had to clear my throat to make sure I hadn’t stopped breathing.

“I think I can help you there.”

I poured him a drink and slid it across the bar toward him. He took it before I could pull back, fingertips grazing over mine, warm and soft and sure.

“It’s good to see you,” he said.

“You too,” I admitted.

“I know you’re working and that we have plans to see each other later so I won’t stay long. I just…”

Couldn’t wait to see you.

I swallowed hard, my cheeks burning from his attention.

“It’s fine,” I promised. “I’m glad you’re here.”