Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Lights. Camera. Action. Now you’re a Dom.” He gave me a very manufactured thinking face. “I think I’ll call you lightie or bulb from now on.”
I wasn’t actually going to strangle him.
Honest.
Besides, Bates grabbed me before I actually got my hands wrapped around his throat. “Come on. That’s not how you discipline your naughty pup.”
He was taking it way too easily, too.
“This is so crazy.” Collapsing back against him, I closed my eyes and snuggled into Bates. “I’m not supposed to dominate Gareth. That’s just not how we do things.”
Gareth didn’t hold a grudge about the whole strangling thing. His lack of self-preservation instincts might get him killed one day, but for the time being, I just appreciated the weight of him as he curled around us and rested his head in my lap. “You’ve always been the Dom in our family. You just didn’t like doing it all the time and I didn’t know there was a name for someone who flipped back and forth.”
That light switch analogy was going to make me even more nuts than I already was.
“You should’ve made me do more research about the BDSM stuff if you were always my part-time Dom.” Gareth’s tone said he thought that statement was completely logical and didn’t understand why Bates tightened his hold on me. “You’re really stressed today.”
“A jury would understand why I killed him, wouldn’t they?” It was mostly a rhetorical question but it made Bates laugh.
“You can’t kill him. I’d miss both of you very much if you went to jail for murder.” Bates wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding his delight at the insanity. “Just remind yourself that Gareth doesn’t mind you being his Dom when he’s a pup.”
Okay, that might’ve made me feel less nuts.
“I’m not…he’s just…” Someone had to take care of him. “That’s not how we do things.”
Gareth made a low snort which I ignored as Bates kissed my head. Bates always saw things differently, so I wasn’t surprised when he disagreed with me. “It seems to be how you do things, honestly. You manage the household and the finances and you’re the one who handles the practical side of your family. I bet you’ve always helped with a lot of stuff. You just didn’t have a sexual relationship at that point. Sex and domination don’t always go hand in hand.”
“I know.” I did. Kind of. But it just wasn’t how I’d seen things. “That’s just...”
Nothing logical came out so I gave up, just taking a deep breath and letting them hug me tight. It seemed like the stupidest thing to be panicking over. I should’ve had my major freak-out when Gareth and I’d first kissed. Or when we’d gone on our first date with Bates. Hell, the first time I’d watched Gareth suck his cock. “This is stupid. I shouldn’t be such a dick about this.”
“Pretty sure it’s not.” Gareth’s dry response had Bates’s chest jerking in silent laughter. “It’s going to take some getting used to seeing yourself that way.”
“Don’t be logical. That’ll just piss me off.” I sounded stupid even to myself, but I felt Gareth’s head move like he was nodding.
“Alright.” His arms wrapped around me and hugged me as we sat there quietly for a few moments. “I don’t mind you being a second Dom. If that’s what you’re worried about, I mean.”
I wasn’t sure what I was actually worried about, so I shrugged.
Gareth didn’t mind. He just kept talking through everything that was in his head. “I like you being in charge and this means that doesn’t have to change. I was mostly worried that you were always doing too much, so I was glad you had Bates to help you now. But this seems like a good compromise.”
A good compromise…just hearing that part made me smile.
“And I think this means you don’t have to feel bad about wanting to do sex stuff with me anymore.” Gareth’s casually delivered words had me doing my best to remember to breathe. “If you’re feeling like a sub, we wait and do things with Bates, and if you’re feeling like a Dom, you can watch me jerk off or something like that.”
Something made him groan and let out a long sigh. “We’ll probably need to have another conversation before I get spanked. Fuck. This one is even my fault. God.”
Yep.
“Yeah, it kind of is.” Focusing on that was easier. “I hadn’t even thought about any of that yet.”
Bates was back to snickering and delighted with the insanity.
Smart people were so weird.
Chapter 25
Bates
They were adorable even in an existential crisis.
I gave up wondering how neither of them had realized that Cashel was a switch and just held him as he finally realized that killing Gareth wouldn’t solve any of his problems. Just how long that took should’ve been a clue that he wasn’t a complete sub, but he didn’t realize that either.