“You’re giving me a bedroom in your house?” Micca asked when I walked her to the guest bedroom.
“I plan to be here six to nine months. I signed a six-month lease with the option to rent month-to-month after. I’m looking at buying land to have a house built, but I need to see where things go with Matty because I figure we’ll need a mother-in-law apartment, so you have your own space but aren’t too far away.”
“You sent Matty to the store so we could talk?”
“Yeah. I’m going to have him over here a lot, and I guess I need to know how you’ll be with hearing us play. I’ll work on soundproofing when I build a house, but if you’re here then you can’t come running in to save him.”
“Assuming he wants to be here?”
“Of course. Are you saying he won’t?”
She sighed. “No. He’ll want to be here. He’s head over heels for you.” Another sigh. “Most of the men he dates see me as the competition. You don’t.”
“You’re part of his support system. As much as I want to become his everything, you’re too much a part of his life. Besides, you love him. The more people in his life who love him, the better.”
“Why don’t you let me know which nights will work best for me to spend the night. I don’t want to listen to you hurt him bad.” She walked into the room, leaned against a wall, crossed her arms, and met my gaze. “I like you. I mean, I have some concerns about whatever illicit activities you’re involved in, but otherwise, I think you’re good for him.”
I crossed my arms and held her gaze. “I haven’t given you or Matty a reason to think I do anything illegal.”
“Laundromats?” She shrugged. “Cash, right? An easy way to launder illegal income.”
It occurred to me I probably should’ve had Brain run Micca, too. “What are you majoring in?”
“Criminal justice with a minor in biology. I want to work crime scenes, analyze the data.”
I nodded, but wished I hadn’t told her about the option of moving her in with us. She couldn’t move into the RTMC’s neighborhood if she was in law enforcement of any kind. I’d heard about the biology classes but not the forensic ones.
I went through what she could easily find on her own, if she researched. “We have the gun store, totally legal and above board. We’ve been teaching some defense classes in the store, but we’re putting in a gym across the street where I’ll teach Krav Maga, and some other instructors will teach other flavors of self-defense. We have the restaurant and bar, plus the bike shop, and of course the laundromats. That’s it. Nothing illegal. I’m part owner and employee. My income reflects both.” And a whorehouse, but who’s counting.
“Okay. Not gonna argue with you. We’ll figure it out.”
“I can probably get you an interview with Drake Security once you have your diploma, if you’re interested in the private sector.” Because wouldn’t that solve everything. Well, except for the part where she’d have to know about the supernatural world to work for Aaron Drake. Time to change the subject, though. “Look, I get that we’re kind of sharing custody of him, and I’m trying to work with you. If I need to tear into him on a particular night, I’ll let you know. Otherwise, we’ll try to work around the nights it’s convenient for you to stay with us.”
She chuckled. “This is the part where I admit I’ve wished I could spank his ass a few times when he pulls something truly boneheaded.”
“But you realize spanking is a reward for him, right? Punishment involves—”
“No. Hush!” She put her hands over her ears. “I don’t need to know. Really!”
I laughed and walked back to the kitchen. “Fair enough. He and I will renegotiate a longer-term contract this weekend. None of your original limits will be included unless he specifically asks for them.”
“Yeah. Okay. You’ve been careful with him and I believe you care about him. I’d be lying if I said I’m okay with it, but…” She checked the bread in the oven and pulled it out. “You seem responsible. It’ll have to be good enough, I guess.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, and she rolled her eyes. “I like you, I just get nervous knowing you’ll be choking him, sticking needles in him, maybe even using a knife on him. Okay?”
“I get it. You know what RACK means?”
She nodded. “It means you’re both aware of the risks and you’re doing it anyway.”
“Right.”
Matty came flying in the front door with the butter and sour cream. Or, I assumed he’d returned with what I sent him to get. It looked like a lot more.
“What else did you get?”
“A coffee mug!” He blushed and squeezed the bag closed. He was suddenly afraid to show me what he’d bought. Interesting.
“Show me.”
“Later. We should eat first. The steaks smell great!”
I crossed my arms and leveled my gaze at him. “Show me.”
He looked down. “I love the coffee mug and I mean it, but maybe now’s not the time, Sir?”
I lifted the platter and went to the back porch to check on the steaks. They were done, and I made my way back inside with them.
Matty was settling the salads on the table, Micca pulled the salad dressing out of the refrigerator, and we all took our seats — Matty with his steamed veggies, and Micca and I with a huge baked potato to go with our steaks. I needed to know Matty better before I started dictating his food intake.
“I need to talk out loud,” Matty told me. “Micca’s used to it. It sounds like I’m asking for advice, and I guess I’m asking for input, but mostly I just need to work through the decision.”
I nodded “Talk it out, then.”
“I met Dana at a club a long time ago. She’s part of a poly group — submissive to her Master, but she Tops another man who belongs to…” He shook his head. “The details aren’t important. She’s a switch and she plays hard. They take it past edge play.”
No one said anything for several minutes while we ate, and Matty finally continued. “She’s a successful designer. I didn’t know it’d be her when I went for an interview a few months ago. She was impressed with my drawings and my work, but said she wouldn’t be able to hire me until I actually had a degree.”
I nodded.
“She called me today. They have an assistant position open and she felt it’d be good for me to come into the firm that way and work up. She’s good with me working afternoons into the evening so I can go to class in the mornings, but it’ll mean giving up my graphic arts income.”
He met Micca’s gaze. “It doesn’t pay even close to what I make there, but it could put me in position for my dream job. Do I supplement my income with Steve’s money? Or do I turn her down because I can’t live on what she’s offering?”
I kept eating. He’d asked Micca, not me.
“It’s your top pick for a job. Right?”
He nodded, and she asked, “Will they hire you for the position you want once you have your degree? Or will they offer you this position then, and still expect you to make a name for yourself and work your way up?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked to me, silently asking for my input.
“A friend in Memphis was a teacher at one of the roughest high schools in the city,” I told him. “He had offers to work in much better places, but he was certain that helping those kids was his calling. He might only make a difference to ten kids a year, but he felt as if he’d be abandoning the ones who needed him the most if he walked away. Odds are, you’ll make more money doing graphic art jobs than being a designer, but if your dream’s to be a designer?” I put my drink down. “However, don’t let them take advantage of you. If they’ve been paying someone forty dollars an hour to make things pretty on the computer and they can suddenly pay you fifteen dollars an hour to do the same job? No deal.”
He took a few more bites before saying, “Yeah. One of the things she listed was editing the designer’s work to prepare them for presentation. If she w
ants me to do that, she’s going to need to pay me more.”
“Not telling you what to do.”
“I know, and I appreciate it. You’re right, though.”
The muscles around his eyes relaxed, his shoulders dropped, and his breathing slowed. He’d made a decision, and he felt good about it.
“If I need to dig into Steve’s money a few months to supplement my income so I can get my dream job, it’s still being spent for my career, which is fine. I think I can negotiate for more money though. I know what to say.” He looked at Micca. “I’m assuming Razor sent me to the store so the two of you could talk?”
She grinned at him and cut her eyes to me.
“I set up a bedroom for her,” I told him, “and let her know she’s welcome to come on nights you sleep over.”
His eyes watered and he looked down. I hadn’t expected this to hit him so hard emotionally. I brushed his denim-clad leg with my bare foot under the table. “Look at me, Matty.”
He looked up despite the fact his tears were about to spill over his lower lashes.
At a loss, I glanced at Micca a second before looking back to Matty.
Micca rescued me by answering the question I didn’t know how to ask.
“I told you, most men see me as the competition. By acknowledging my place in his life, you’re telling him you understand him. You have his best interests at heart. You’re looking out for him, and you aren’t going to try to tear him away from his best friend.”
A tear spilled over and streamed down my boy’s cheek, and I pushed my chair back. “Come here.”
I pulled him into my lap when he neared, and cradled him to my chest. “Don’t know the kind of men you’ve been seeing, but it sounds like they’ve been assholes. Micca’s your friend. I’m not promising we’ll always get along or that there’ll never be a problem, but we’ll do our best to work through whatever comes up.”
He laughed. “Okay, I know you don’t do girls, so what am I missing?”
“Dammit, Matty,” Micca said from across the table. “You aren’t missing a damned thing. You’re important to him. He cares about you. He isn’t going to rip you away from your friends. It’s what I’ve tried to tell you for years — any Top who tries to take you away from your support system is waving red flags saying you should run!”
“Steve limited our time, and you liked him.”
“He didn’t push me out of your life, he just wanted to make sure he had time alone with you. There’s a difference. I’m older now and I know when to back off, so Razor and I shouldn’t have those issues.”
He leaned into my chest, sniffed a few times, and sat up. “Okay. I’m okay. Thanks.”
I kissed his forehead and reluctantly sent him back to his chair. Tonight wasn’t a good time to hand feed him.
The rest of dinner was casual and laid back, and we said goodnight to Micca when she went to work.
I plopped the ten-page contract on the table, a purple pen and a blue one, and told my boy to get a beer for me and some water for him. The intro paragraph said he’d move clothes to my house and live here unless he had permission to spend the night at his apartment. I’d watch his face closely while he read the whole thing, but on this part, I needed him to be excited and not anxious. I needed him to want to move in with me.
“I expect you to negotiate for what you want, and not what you think I want. If I think you’re holding back, we’ll hold off and do this at a later date. If we reach an agreement and sign it, the contract will stay open to changes for one month. If you want to make a change to the contract, you have to do it in writing — not orally.”
He looked at me a few seconds and absorbed what I was saying. “So I have to take the time to think about it. No knee-jerk reactions.”
“Exactly. We’ll go over any changes and agree or disagree to them every Sunday night. What’s written doesn’t change anything until we’ve both agreed to it.”
He shook his head. “No. I’ll agree that additions won’t take effect until we’ve both agreed, but subtractions should immediately be acknowledged until we have a chance to talk them over and come to an agreement.”
“Give me an example.”
“If I forgot to put ass-to-mouth on my hard limits, which I haven’t, but if I had? I don’t agree I have to put up with it for days until we talk about it Sunday night.”
“And what would you consider an addition?”
“Remembering you want me to kneel and ask you if I can use the bathroom — which might be okay for scenes or for a temporary training period, but I don’t agree to that all the time. Or me remembering I want you to give me a kiss when you first see me, to let me know we’re good.”
I smiled. “I always give you a kiss when I first see you, as long as we aren’t in public.”
“I know, it was just an example, because if I could think of what I’m forgetting, we wouldn’t need to keep the contract open a month.”
“Point taken. Okay then, subtractions will be taken off the contract until we can discuss them, but if we have an opportunity to talk it over before Sunday arrives, we will.”
He read through the first paragraph and I saw relief and hope. My insides sang, knowing he wanted to give this relationship his all. No matter what came up while we negotiated the rest, we’d be okay.
The first paragraph on the second page said he’d call me either Daddy or Sir. He barely had time to read it after flipping the page, and he put the contract down and went to the kitchen without saying anything. My first instinct was to reprimand him, but I sat back to see what he was up to. Besides, there was no power exchange while we negotiated the contract.
He came back with the bag and silently handed it to me.
I pulled the mug out and had to swallow my emotions. It said Best Daddy Ever.
“Boy, it’s the best gift anyone’s ever given me.” I pulled him into my lap, cradled him against me, and held his cheek so I could give him a proper kiss. His lips opened, both fierce and submissive, and I kissed him so hard I was in danger of bruising his lips but I didn’t care — and he didn’t seem to, either.
A couple minutes in and I tore myself away — my own heart beating as fast as his. Both of us breathless.
“We have to finish this, Matty.”
“I know, Daddy.”
I almost kissed him again — and this time we’d have likely ended up with my cock in his ass on the floor. God, but I needed to be inside him.
“Fuck, Matty. Sit beside me so we can finish, or we’ll never make it to the end. Want our signatures on this tonight.”
Matty
* * *
My first night with Razor as my official Daddy was magical. He played with my cock and balls while he kissed me breathless. He put me on my back, tied my ankles over my head, and worked four fingers in my ass all the way to his knuckles. His hands are huge, but he says he has time to work me up to taking his fist.
He made me come three times before he fucked me, and I thought I’d die when I came a fourth time in one night. Somehow, he got me hard again before he plugged me, and I didn’t complain about being told it was bedtime while I was hard.
I didn’t have to be at work until noon Saturday, and he woke me at seven so we could ride a few hours. We didn’t get too far from home, but there are all kinds of mountain roads to play on without leaving the Chattanooga metro area. I followed him for a while, but then he motioned me ahead and told me he’d follow me.
I’d been chomping at the bit behind him, and it was nice to have the open road in front of me. I wasn’t stupid about going too fast, but I opened it up a few times and sailed over the ribbon of road as it flew under my tires.
We went home so I could change for work, and my new Daddy insisted he take me to work so he could pick me up for a date later.
Chapter 8
Razor
* * *
I wasn’t ready to take my boy to the clubhouse, but it was time for my brothers and their ol’ladies to
meet him.
I told Duke and Brain I’d be bringing him to the bar with me, and Harmony called me a few hours later. “Cassie, Cam, Frisco, and Isaac are going to come. I called Spence to see if he and Abbott want to come hang out, but they’re out of town.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” I was touched she had, though.
“It can’t hurt to remind our guys that you and Matty aren’t the only gay couple in our social circle. I can’t wait to meet him.”
“He’s human and doesn’t know about me.”
“When are you going to tell him?”
“Ravens don’t usually tell the humans in our lives. We don’t have the long period of learning to control our animals during the onset of puberty. Not even my best friends in high school knew. I’ve never told anyone, other than the human ol’ladies in the club, and only then at the request of their spouses.”
“Brain’s wolf is such a huge part of who he is, I can’t imagine not understanding that part of him.”
I deftly changed the conversation by asking about her horses. We’d already said too much on an open phone line.
I gathered a black tee and some jeans for my boy, along with socks and his riding boots. I went into the furniture store about five minutes before his shift was over, but he was working with someone so it was another fifteen minutes before he came to me.
“Sorry, I can’t just leave customers because my shift’s up. Did you find anything when you looked around?”
“Don’t apologize for doing your job.” I handed him the duffel. “Get changed. I bought you a new helmet today — special for you when you’re riding bitch behind me.”
He mouthed Thank you Daddy, accepted the duffel, and scooted towards the back to get changed.
Dozer was working the door when we arrived, but he didn’t say anything out of place. Actually, he didn’t say anything at all. Dawg was working the bar and I’d already asked him to go light on my boy’s drinks, no matter what he ordered. I put my hand to the small of Matty’s back and directed him to the rear of the room. A server moved the red rope so we could climb the steps to the VIP section, and we took our seats between Angelica and Harmony.
Razor: Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, Book 11 Page 6