Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
I cleared my throat and tried to explain myself as briefly yet as accurately as possible. “What makes me non-monogamous isn’t my desire to have several partners so much as it’s about being flexible. I have a nonsexual arrangement with a brat whose Daddy Dom can’t provide the pain he needs. I also have a Sloan.”
“A Sloan,” Archie stated.
I chuckled and nodded with a dip of my chin, and I didn’t fucking know how to elaborate on that whole mess. “He’s my best friend. I’m currently trying to convince him to move in with me—he and his four kids.”
He lifted his brows, surprised.
“My point is,” I went on, “I’ve reached an age where, even though I despise being on my own, I have certain things I won’t give up for someone else. I need my relationships flexible because I’m not flexible.” I touched his cheek. “If you one day became mine, Archie, you’d never doubt your place with me. But you’d share the space with others who are very special to me, even though I’m not romantically involved with them. It can be family, it can be friends, it can be kink events where I host demos or participate in scenes.” I paused, and I figured… Screw it, he might as well know. “For the most part, it’s Sloan’s children. I love those little shits with all my heart, and they’re a big part of my life.”
In my world, that’d been a deal-breaker more than once. I happened to know Archie loved kids, but not all did. I’d seen relationships fall apart over it.
He tilted his head at me and eyed me with a puzzled expression. “You don’t sound particularly poly… Maybe more…open?”
I shrugged. “I don’t refer to myself as poly either. I say non-monogamous because chemistry decides the definition and what works. I’ve always liked the idea of a poly household, but if I can barely hold on to one partner, picture me trying to shoot for two or three.”
That seemed to confuse him. “A few of you founding members have literal fan groups online. There’s one dedicated to Master Greer—are you telling me you don’t have a line of subs fawning over you?”
I snorted a laugh. “They wanna bend over for my whip.”
“And something else too, I bet.” He shifted closer and kissed my cheek.
I hummed.
“What about you?” I asked quietly. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“I will definitely bend over for your something else.”
I chuckled. Not my whip, then. “I meant the poly part.”
“I know.” He sighed and rested our foreheads together. “So here’s the thing about me. I want to do what you tell me to do. Whether you order me to kneel by your bed while you play with someone else or you tell me to service one of your friends. I want my Dom to decide everything. I got a taste of TPE two years ago when I was a slave for two husbands, and I didn’t sleep with either of them. It was very little sexual-oriented play, but they owned me completely. I stayed with them every weekend, I cooked for them, I took care of things around the house, I washed them in the shower… And they knew I wanted some play for myself too, so they arranged that for me a few times.”
If I didn’t tell Archie to leave so I could process my world turning upside down tonight, I might chain him to my bed upstairs and never let him leave. He was an actual TPE slave.
“I have no interest in having other partners,” he admitted. “But I like being shared. I like being useful to my Master, in and out of the bedroom, to him and to others. On his command.”
On my command.
My chest expanded with possessiveness, and it became impossible to keep from envisioning the future now.
Damn him.
That was the ownership I craved with every fiber of my being. Total control.
“You want to be owned.” I cupped his cheek and brushed my thumb over his skin. “That’s nothing to take lightly.”
He shook his head. “I don’t. And it can’t be just anyone. It has to be you.”
“Christ, boy.” I exhaled and kissed him chastely. “It’s been a lot tonight.”
“Too much.” He nodded.
Yes and no. “Maybe, but…I’m still glad I know what I know—even if I’m gonna go to bed with a bottle of painkillers.” Overwhelmed didn’t begin to describe it. At the same time, most of the emotions I had to process were ultimately wonderful ones. Archie was back in my life, and it looked like we were about to get a second chance. “Can I take you out to dinner next week? I think we both could use a couple days to let things settle.”
He gave me a beautiful smile that reached his eyes. “I can be flexible. How’s Monday?”