Florentine
Page 22
Mahiro feels himself flush. “Can’t help it. It’s like looking at a painting sometimes. I keep studying you, and I always see something new.”
Alex wraps his towel around his waist and walks over to the tub to peck Mahiro on the lips. “I’m helpless when you say sweet things like that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Mahiro pulls on some track pants and then ushers Alex back out into the playroom to pick up his clothes. Alex still hasn’t taken off his collar, but Mahiro is going to leave it to him to decide when he wants to. Alex steps into his underwear and jeans and then looks at Mahiro uncertainly, shifting uncomfortably as he retrieves his shirt from the floor and pats his pockets to check for his phone and wallet. He pauses a moment before staring at Mahiro again, obviously wanting to say something but not quite daring.
Mahiro takes a moment to get it, but he does.
“Stay,” he says, a hand on Alex’s arm. “Stay with me tonight. Come upstairs and we’ll get Indian food and sit on the sofa and hassle Adam when he comes home. This is part of our life together too. Stay. Be with me tonight.”
Alex grins and tucks his shirt under his arm before pulling Mahiro to him for a sweet kiss. “Yes. For as long as you’ll have me,” he says.
Mahiro looks around the playroom, illuminated in the flickering candlelight, and sees the shards of wax all over the black sheet, the black leather cuffs dropped on the floor, the roses that glow with the warmth of love. The aftermath of their play is scattered across the room, but he’ll deal with it tomorrow. Tonight, he has Alex. He walks around the room and blows the candles out one by one and then takes Alex by the hand and leads him out of the playroom and into the rest of their lives.
MAZARIN STONE has been a voracious reader since the age of four, but didn’t start writing until her 30s. She’s spent most of her life split between the sunny beaches of Florida and the cornfields of Indiana, until she finally got married and settled into life in Indianapolis. When she’s not battling her dog over nose-tweeting on her laptop’s touchscreen or shuttling her son to three different sports at a time, she’s an environmental scientist, amateur historian, Sherlock Holmes aficionado, baseball fan, and desperately obsessed with Victorian Era fashion and architecture. This is her first novel, and she’s excited to share her life's second act with readers. You can find her on Twitter, @Mazarin_Stone.
By Mazarin Stone
Florentine
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Florentine
© 2020 Mazarin Stone
Cover Art
© 2020 Kanaxa
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64405-659-2
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-658-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019950088
Digital published January 2020
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America