He was totally out of his element, and it couldn’t have been any more adorable.
Vikka closed the door, locking out the noise of the city. “What can I help you with today?” she asked.
“I’d like another reading,” I said with conviction, feeling more sure of myself than I had in a while. “A short one, if you can.”
“Certainly,” she said, taking her place at the round table.
She gestured to the pair of chairs across from her. “Sit.”
We followed her instructions and she began shuffling her cards.
Adam was sitting next to me patiently. Mentally, I praised him for it, so proud that I could take him to places like this. He was stern, he was commanding, but he was also open-minded. That was just one of the things I loved about him so much.
“First of all,” Vikka said with her thick Russian accent, handing me the cards to shuffle, “the fear following you around is much smaller.”
I couldn’t contain my smile, happy that I was getting this weird spiritual validation. “Thank you; I’ve been working on it.”
Vikka grinned at me, her bright green eyes sparkling. “You are glowing.”
I felt happiness course through me as I shuffled the cards, and I could practically feel Adam internally rolling his eyes.
His body betrayed nothing; only a stoic politeness.
“You said short reading, so sort cards into five piles,” she said.
I did as she asked, the backs of the card stacks displaying an interlocking Celtic-looking design. Because of the fashion collection I’d created, all of the Major and Minor Arcana and their meanings were fresh in my mind.
I was ready.
“Now pick one pile,” she instructed.
I reached forward and tapped the one second from the right.
Her face split into a knowing grin as she picked up the pile.
“Hm. I knew he would come back,” Vikka said, her green eyes on the card in front of her.
She plucked it from her hand and laid it on the table.
This card had haunted my dreams over the past few months, lurking on the edges of my fears. The card depicted a prince-looking dude riding a horse into battle.
“Knight of Swords,” she said with a knowing smile. “You’ve altered him. You’ve beaten him. You’ve forgiven him.”
Relief flooded through me. I didn’t realize how much that had been weighing on me.
Forgiveness was a funny thing — it was difficult to know how to do it, and even harder to understand when you were done forgiving someone.
“So, he won’t come back?” I asked, thinking of all of my fears that I’d told Dr. Brinkman.
Vikka shook her head. “He will not. You know how I know?”
She placed the next card from the deck on the table, face-up. It depicted a ship fighting its way through tumultuous waters.
“All that bad stuff, that’s behind you now,” she said with a knowing grin. “You’ve shed a layer. You’ve forgiven. And...”
She pulled the next card and laid it down next.
“The World,” I said softly, as if the name was an incantation. My mind was swimming with my showstopper dress at the end of my show.
“Yes, The World,” Vikka uttered. “You’ve done it. You’ve reached the end of a journey. Health, wealth, and happiness await you.”
There was a sensation of pure joy fluttering through me, and I squeezed Adam’s hand under the table.
I could tell he was interested in the reading but was trying hard to pretend he wasn’t.
“But this is also the beginning of another journey,” Vikka said earnestly. Her eyes flicked to Adam, and then back to me. “Many surprises await you. There’s still so much more to learn… and you will learn together.”
I squeezed Adam’s hand under the table again, knowing that somehow she meant our journey exploring the world of kink.
I couldn’t wait to see what this world of pleasure and power had in store for us.
I was waiting to surprise Adam with a steak dinner when he got home later that night. I’d cooked the thing to perfection, the sizzling spices wafting into my nostrils.
Then I thought to pair it with some of the wine I’d picked up earlier. My original plan was to save it for the dinner party we were having this weekend with Lily, Victoria, Claire, and her boyfriend, but I could always pick up another one.
I wandered into the bedroom where I’d set the paper grocery bag down and reached inside with one of my thin arms, closing my fingers around the dark bottle.
When I turned to go back into the kitchen, my eyes slid over the new canvas print that hung above our bed.
It was one of the photographs Lily had taken of Adam and me on that day he’d given me my training collar. The print was big — a four-foot by four-foot square of a black and white photo. The lighting was perfect, illuminating us like we were models in a photo shoot, but there was something still so beautifully intimate about it.
In the photo, I had my head bowed, facing Adam as he reached around my neck to clasp the collar. He was leaning forward slightly, in the middle of whispering something in my ear.
Every time I looked at the print, my chest swelled with happiness.
I was complete.
Humming a little as I returned to the kitchen, I opened the cupboard to the crystal and filled two wine glasses with the dark red liquid.
The front door opened. “Luke?” Adam called from the base of the stairs.
“Yay, you’re home!” I cried, rushing down the stairs to greet him.
“You’re happy today,” he said with a chuckle.
I wrapped my arms around him, feeling the cold clinging to his coat.
He wrapped one of his arms around me, the other balancing a pile of letters.
“You got the mail,” I said, my eyes floating to the pile of junk mail in his hands. “Anything worth keeping?”
“A lot of it’s junk,” he said, pawing through the pile. “But there is… this.”
He pulled a thick black envelope from the middle of the stack and handed it to me.
“What’s this?”
Adam shrugged as he took his coat off.
I flipped the envelope over, my eyes lingering on the shining gold wax seal. An ornate “V” was stamped into it with vines curling around the letter.
“Ooh, how fancy!” I said. “Mind if I open it?”
“Please,” he said.
I turned and walked back up the stairs towards the savory aroma of the steaks. I tore at the letter, Adam at my heels.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I stopped as my eyes scanned what was inside.
“Adam…” I said, turning towards him. “This is an invitation.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked with a glimmer in his eye.
“To a… High Protocol BDSM Party…”
“Yeah, I thought we might get one of those,” he said.
“Did you have anything to do with this?” I asked, excitement unwinding in my belly.
“Maybe. I do know some people in the international kink community.”
My eyes scanned the invitation further, unable to wholly believe what I was reading. “It’s in a castle! In Europe!” I cried.
The grin on Adam’s face was so bright it was filling our dining room with light.
He wrapped his arms around me from behind as we both read the invitation together.
“Adam… I… I can’t believe this! Can we go?” I asked.
“Of course we can go!” he said, kissing me on the ear. “As long as it’s something you’re comfortable with. Remember, you have the power to back out at any time if something doesn’t feel quite right.”
Tears were brimming in my eyes. I couldn’t believe how incredibly lucky I was.
I turned my head and kissed him gently on the lips. “I love you so much, Adam.”
“I love you too, Luke,” he said gently.
Then his eyes went dark and hard, and in his Dom voice, he sai
d, “That steak better be cooked to perfection, boy, or else later you’re in for some punishment.”
“Yes, Sir,” I said, falling into character, feeling desire swirl in my body.
Little did he know, I’d cooked the steak thirty seconds too long on purpose.
A Note from the author
Thank you so much for reading my book! Doing this would not be possible if not for all of you wonderful, wonderful readers!
Here’s the part where I beg you to leave a review. Whether you loved it or hated it, it does not matter to me. Feedback is a gift!
Again, thank you so much for reading! I couldn’t do this without you all.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart!
- Jeremy
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Also by Jeremy Jenkins
Bossy Bottom
The prequel to Power Bottom. This book follows the romantic story of how Adam and Luke met. Luke’s a submissive with anxiety. Adam’s a small town cop, but a Dominant in the bedroom. He even has a playroom that they get to have fun in…
_________________________
Gay Ghosted
A sexy dude-bro player and an adorable nerd have a meet-cute that sets off fireworks, but then one of them ghosts the other. They keep running into each other though, and each time they do, they have mind-blowing erotic encounters…
Starboys
A lucky hairstylist gets selected to do the hair on the set of an epic Game-of-Thrones-type show. Five gay (and bi) stars from the show start courting him at the same time. This book is gay harem glory.
The Four of Us
In a pseudo post-apocalyptic America, four men travel across the country on a bougie modified bus. A gay couple pick up their stepbrother and a young guy for the ride.
Gay For You
A straight college swimmer needs money, so he signs up to model nude for an art class. He catches the eye of a gay billionaire art connoisseur, and the two soon realize that they’re in store for much more than they signed up for.
Aquarius
A small town high school straight jock gets tangled in an infamous cyber criminal case and ends up under the inquisitive eye of a brilliant gay detective. As the two get closer, lines begin to blur.
Power Bottom Page 17