by Marie, Carly
His head went up and down in agreement and he squeezed my hand tightly. It felt like he thought he'd float away if I didn't ground him.
"You can check your coats before you go in," Alice instructed. "We've got the room quite warm back there tonight."
We handed our coats over and headed through the door and into the club space. As soon as the door was opened, I felt Grayson tense, and the noise I heard wasn't what I'd expected. Usually when we arrived, the sounds of skin being marked and moans of pleasure greeted us; tonight it was laughter and squeals, and I was pretty sure I heard a bark as well. I looked behind me, wondering if we'd come to the wrong place.
I'd handed Alice our membership cards, I knew this hallway, but I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then we came around the corner and I found the entire scene area had been rearranged. The crosses, spanking benches, and tables that Doms usually spread their subs out on had all been pushed to the side, leaving the center of the largest area in the club wide open. Well, it would have been barren had the space not been filled with toys, and not of the sexy variety. Blocks and balls and play rugs were spaced out across the floor. In the corner, a table filled with coloring books and crayons had three men sitting around it. Stuffed animals littered the floor, and a play gym with toys clipped to it was occupied by a guy lying on his back while batting at a toy… and was he wearing a diaper?
I looked over at Grayson to find his eyes wide, but he didn't seem to be as shocked as I was. If anything, excitement danced across his face.
And what did I make of that?
Along the wall were comfortable couches with men sitting on them. A few of them were holding their subs in their laps while they talked with friends, and suddenly the pieces started falling into place. This was a littles night. I'd seen these advertised a few times, but had never thought to ask Grayson about it. Had Grayson known, and if he did, what did that mean?
Judging by the look on his face, he was a little overwhelmed with what was going on around us, so I took him to one of the couches and sat down. To my surprise, he automatically sank to the floor beside me, but instead of kneeling like he often did here, he sat on his butt and rested his head on my lap as he studied the boys playing.
I watched him watching the activity in front of us and wondered what he was thinking about. He hadn't made a move to join them, but he was interested. I'd gotten so caught up in my own thoughts about the situation, I'd missed a guy taking a seat beside me.
"I wouldn't normally say anything, but you look so much like a guy I know through work it's uncanny." The deep voice cut through my thoughts and caused me to startle. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Trent," he said, sticking out his hand.
I took it automatically. "Spencer."
Trent looked close to my age, and his gaze flicked from me to the play floor a number of times. "Curious, no. Leave Caleb alone." He scolded a man dressed in an aqua puppy hood with a tail that matched playing a few feet away with two other guys. One of the men was playing happily with blocks and the other looked exasperated as the puppy—Curious—tried to climb into his lap while he was reading a book. I could see Curious's scowl through his hood, but he sat down with a huff beside the guy I now knew as Caleb.
Wait, Caleb. My eyes had been wide since we'd walked in and now they felt like they would fall out of my head. I knew Caleb. I knew him as Dexter's best friend—a shy physical therapist who was always well dressed and very much in love with his boyfriend, Travis. I'd spent countless hours with Caleb and Travis, and now Caleb was here, playing with a puppy.
I watched closely as Caleb reached out and petted Curious as he began to read the picture book to him. I couldn't deny the two were sweet together, but it was still pretty surreal to be in this spot. My hand reached out and I automatically began to card my fingers through Grayson's hair. I felt more than heard him hum as he relaxed more fully against me.
I looked over at Trent, who was studying me closely. "Spencer?” His quiet laughter took me by surprise. “As in James’s Spencer?”
I blinked dumbly, which was all the confirmation he’d needed. “I work with your brother, James. I’m the sheriff out in Cheatham County.”
Somehow I managed to become even more surprised and it showed on my face. Trent laughed again, but it was warm and oddly calming, and his grin was infectious. "I knew you looked like someone I knew. You look exactly like your brother."
The statement made me grin. It still made me ridiculously happy to have James back in my life and I loved every moment of it. That didn't explain who the guy talking to me was, though.
"James is a new guy since you guys met up again. But that’s not why we’re here, sorry, it’s just good to meet you finally.” He shook his head slightly, like he could clear the surprise meeting away so easily.
“Anyway, like I said, I'm Trent. The guy in the aqua puppy gear is my boyfriend Logan, and the guy playing with blocks is our boyfriend Aiden. They're playing with Caleb, Travis's boy. But from the look on your face, I'm guessing you already figured that out."
I nodded. "Caleb is Dexter's best friend. He's at our house frequently."
Trent gave me a blinding smile. "Doesn't surprise me. I think James said he's got your kids tonight."
"And the dogs," I said automatically.
Trent laughed heartily. "That's going to drive him insane." He gestured to an older guy who came over. "Trav, I think you know Spencer."
Travis's eyes widened comically. "Fancy meeting you here. Not to sound rude or anything, but I had no idea Grayson was little."
I glanced down to find my husband had slipped away and was now happily playing with Caleb, Aiden, and Logan… or was that Curious? "Truthfully? I didn't know it either."
Travis's eyebrow cocked high on his forehead in confusion, and I felt myself shake my head. "We dabble in a lot of BDSM, but this is honestly the first time this has ever come up." I watched as Aiden pushed a pile of blocks over to my husband and Gray took them with a giant smile on his face. "He brought up coming here since he knew I'm not on call this weekend." And I was beginning to think I'd been set up.
Travis and Trent both looked over to where the guys were playing on the floor while I continued to try to work through my own thoughts. "He certainly seems content."
And that I couldn't deny. But how did I feel about it?
Chapter Two
Grayson
I'd been nervous about bringing Spencer to DASH. We'd played around with various forms of domination and submission over the years, and I'd enjoyed everything we'd tried. Part of it was because Spencer was so attentive to me, my wants, and my needs. He never pushed me past what I could handle, and he always seemed to be able to read me like a book.
Well, he'd always known what I was looking for without me ever having to say anything. At least until a few months earlier. Not that it was all his fault. I should probably shoulder most of the blame on that one. How could he know if I'd never even given him a hint as to what was going on in my mind?
It had all started after a fairly intense flogging he'd given me. I'd been on edge for weeks because of a deadline that was approaching too quickly and I felt behind. He'd known I needed to let go. We'd gone to DASH for a flogging and it had left me with cum in my jock, aches all over my ass, thighs, and back, and a head that felt like it was ready to float away at any second. I'd been absolutely spent and on cloud nine as he led me to the aftercare room.
That was when I'd caught a glimpse of the littles' room. Even sore and coming down from an intense orgasm, my mind became fixated on that room. It looked warm and welcoming and part of me wanted to tug at Spencer's hand and ask him to simply hold me on that big recliner while I came down, but my brain and mouth didn't work together at the time. Then once I'd come back from subspace, I hadn't been able to find the courage to tell Spencer what I'd thought.
"Hey, honey, you know that brightly colored room where the boys and their Daddies play at the club? Yeah, do you think we could try that out n
ext time we go?" was much easier thought than voiced. Sort of easier thought.
We'd never even danced around a Daddy-boy relationship. I was naturally submissive; Spencer was naturally dominant. We were both enough of an exhibitionist to enjoy going to play at the club. I actually liked knowing that people were watching us and getting turned on. When we'd found DASH, we’d fit in easily. The other members were always friendly and respectful, and we both enjoyed the times we got to spend there.
I still did, but my interests had changed slightly over the last few months. Playing with toys and having a story read to me was a lot different than having my ass flogged or spanked, or having Spencer drip wax all over me.
But that room had stayed with me, something there that was calling to me. Telling Spencer that I wanted to see what that room was all about had me more nervous than I cared to admit. Not that I thought he'd react poorly. Spencer had always taken everything in stride, but I didn't know if he'd want more explanations than I could give. I didn't know why I couldn't get the idea of letting go in that way out of my mind or why it sounded so appealing to me. I just knew that it did.
Spencer's ever-present erection while he flogged me, or spanked me, or did whatever else we'd decided for the night, told me that he liked being my Dom. But that was a lot different than my Daddy. Would he even find pleasure in that? And what if I didn't like it? What then? I'd have put myself out there only to hate it. Worse yet, what if I liked it and he hated it? The thoughts were driving me insane.
So I'd jumped on the open play night when I'd seen the flyer. It was a night that I could pretend I had no clue about what was going on. I could try it out, see what Spencer thought. See if it fit us. I planned to just watch, anyway. If Spencer seemed interested, then maybe talking to him would be easier.
Was it underhanded to plan this without telling him? Probably. Had I been nervous as fuck as we'd walked in? Absolutely. Had I been too unsure of myself to join in with the play? Yup. And that feeling I got when I noticed a guy who looked very familiar playing only a few feet away? Totally terrified.
Then Spencer's hand started carding through my hair and I felt some of my nerves begin to melt away. I'd closed my eyes and allowed myself to focus on the feeling of his hand on my head and the sound of his voice as he talked to someone. When I looked around again, big brown eyes were looking at me. "Grayson?" the guy asked quietly.
I knew then that I'd been right. The guy had looked familiar because he was. He was Dexter's best friend, and he was dressed in play clothes that showed off a very puffy diaper. And he was smiling at me. "Wanna play with us?" He pointed toward the puppy and another guy who was busy stacking the blocks he'd been playing with when we'd arrived.
Spencer's hand had fallen away while I'd been lost in thought, and I noticed that he was talking to someone who looked familiar. He definitely wasn't Caleb's boyfriend because Travis was sitting on the other side of Spencer, watching us closely.
Caleb and his friends looked like they'd been having fun, even if the puppy's Master had scolded him not long before. With another glance between his friends and then back to Spencer, I sat up and nodded my head. This was why I was here anyway. I needed to know if real life measured up to the fantasies… Hell, I needed to know if playing with toys was half as fun as it looked. So maybe I'd only planned to watch, but I could have some firsthand experience while also giving Spencer some space to talk with Daddies and maybe figure out his feelings.
Caleb waited patiently for me to follow him over to his friends. He didn't hesitate to plop back down on the floor next to them when we got there. "This is Grayson. Grayson, that's Curious and Aiden," he introduced us, pointing to the puppy and the other guy in turn. "He wants to play too."
Curious let out a bark and pushed two blocks toward me. Aiden giggled. "He's my puppy. And that's Daddy." He pointed to the guy talking to Spencer.
Caleb filled in the blanks. "Trent, Aiden, and Logan—Curious for the time being—are all together."
Oh, that made sense. I'd heard Dexter talk about a triad he knew. Aiden pushed a few more blocks over to me and we built a tower before Curious came over and batted it down.
"Puppy, no!" Aiden scolded, but hugged his boyfriend. "He gets grumpy when I don't pay attention to him.
A disappointed whimper came from beneath the hood and it did something to me. It wasn't that it had turned me on like Spencer's warning growls or praise sometimes did. It was that it felt right. Like there was something there that I'd never thought of. Was it the interaction between Curious and Aiden? Was it Curious himself? Ugh, I didn't know.
Aiden pushed a stack of blocks over to me. "We're building a castle. Wanna help?"
I glanced over at my husband, who was now chatting with Travis and Trent. They looked like they were deep in conversation, and while their eyes rarely drifted from the four of us, it didn't appear as though they were actually looking at us.
I looked over at the blocks and thought about it for a brief moment. A castle sounded like fun, and it appeared as though the three had commandeered nearly every block in the place to build their castle. "Okay. What do you need help with?"
Caleb clapped and wiggled around. "We need tall towers to protect the prince!"
Aiden looked more serious than I thought the situation warranted, but as he spoke, I knew this was important to him. "There's a giant puppy after the prince. The guards are going to lock him up in the tallest tower in the kingdom to protect him until his knight in shining armor can rescue him."
Caleb nodded as well. "That whole knight in shining armor thing might be hard to come by, but at least keep him safe until the townspeople can get rid of the giant puppy."
I looked over at Curious, lying on his back, his arms and legs to either side as another little petted his belly. "Maybe the puppy is misunderstood?"
Aiden gasped. "Must save the prince!"
"Okay, save the prince. Got it." With that, we started to build the tower. As we gathered blocks and created structures, the adult world slipped further and further away until the only things that mattered were the prince, the castle, and my friends. I couldn't remember the last time I'd simply been in the moment, not worried about hundreds of other things.
We'd built an impressive castle and had the tower nearly waist high when Curious came back over to sniff at the castle. He lifted a gloved hand and toppled one of the walls protecting the tower.
"Puppy, no!" Aiden gasped.
My eyes went wide and my body vibrated with the idea I had. "Castles need dragons to protect them!"
Caleb's eyes widened with excitement. "Yes! Daddy has one of my dragons in my bag."
"I can be the dragon!" My proclamation surprised even me, but before I knew it, I was rawring at Curious as Aiden and Caleb cheered. Curious barked, I rawred, and at some point, we became lost in our own game. I kept the puppy away from the blocks while Aiden and Caleb built their castle.
I was pretty sure Curious was having as much fun playing with me as I was with him. He was the only puppy there, and when I'd arrived, he'd been lying on the floor getting belly rubs. From what I knew of Logan the human, though, he never sat still. Ever. He was always on the move. I couldn't imagine Curious being any different. It wasn't surprising he'd been toppling the tower.
We chased each other around for a long time, and I was getting tired. I couldn't help it—I was a writer, not a deputy sheriff. As I slowed down, Curious jumped on me, sending me flat on my stomach while he climbed on my back. I let out what could only be described as a squawk of surprise and I felt his muzzle on the back of my ear at the same time I heard Trent's voice cut through our play. "Curious, no! Come here, pup." There was a short pause. "Actually, I think it's snack time for you and Aiden. You haven't played this hard in a long time."
"You too, Cal. I think there's some milk over here with your name on it."
I watched as the three scrambled to their Daddies. Well, Daddies and… I wondered what Curious called Trent. Nothing about t
he hyperactive pup said he was submissive. But their leaving left me sitting on the floor confused. I was thirsty too, and as the two men pulled snacks out of their bags, I realized I was kind of hungry too. I hadn't thought to pack a drink or snacks.
I'd enjoyed letting go and playing with Curious and Aiden and Caleb. The grownups seemed to be having a conversation between themselves, and Spencer eventually nodded then looked over at me. "Come on over here, Gray. You've got to be thirsty too."
His calling me Gray had to be a good sign. When I annoyed him, he called me Grayson. I slowly made my way over to my husband, only just realizing what an epically bad idea it had been to bring him to littles night without telling him. I'd thrown him into the deep end, then left to play and hadn't spoken to him about it.
I stopped before I got too close, but Spencer didn't let me stay there. "Come here, Gray," he said as he reached out and tugged me toward him. Once settled at Spencer's side, I had no idea what to expect, so I didn’t know why I was so surprised when he handed me a juice box and a bag of snacks.
Curious was between his Master's legs, drinking a bottle of water Trent was holding. I sighed when I finally put my finger on what I was feeling: happiness. Before that night, we'd only met Logan, Aiden, and Trent in passing. Definitely not enough to be considered friends, and I wasn't even certain we'd ever talked before that night. Not that growling at one another counted as talking, but for whatever reason, it felt damn close. I was pretty sure I'd gained three friends as I'd played with them, and from the quiet conversations still continuing behind me, I was willing to put money on Spencer having made some as well.
Aiden was in much the same position as me, curled into Trent's side and drinking the same kind of juice box I was. That explained where the juice had come from. On the other side of us, Caleb had curled up on his Daddy's lap and was holding a sippy cup in one hand and opening his mouth as Travis hand-fed him Goldfish crackers. And that was where my own bag of fish crackers came from.