This would be my second Christmas away from home and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Last year I’d spent the day with Rose, but this year I knew they were flying back to Paris to celebrate with their extended family, and Lilly and her Mummy would be at Crimson House for some big holiday thing that the owners did every year.
I was not looking forward to spending Christmas alone, but it was still better than Christmas spent with my family. At least I wouldn’t be sent to my room when the dinner guests arrived, or have the presents my grandparents gave me thrown out for being too frivolous or childish. I would make time during theweek to find a cute little tree for the flat, and throw some tinsel and decorations around the place.
For the next hour the shop was quiet. Then we had a group of people come in wanting to buy supplies for a weekend hen’s party. Their exuberance and mildly tipsy behaviour was both amusing and a little frustrating. By the time they left, I was exhausted. Lilly had finished her shift, and it was just me for the next two hours till closing. I didn’t mind too much. If it stayed quiet so I could get started on my newest design. When Lilly and I had become friends and spoke about our shared Little-hood she had mused about the lack of fun play clothes for when she was in Little space, pointing out that while onesies and the like were great for getting her into the headspace, sometimes she wanted to wear something different, almost like adult dress up clothes, but comfortable and built to withstand the rigours an adventurous little would put them through. I’d always loved designing clothes and sewing, a skill my grandmother had lovingly taught me, and sewing helped me remember there had once been a family member that loved me unconditionally.
I dragged out my sketch pad from under the counter and started to work on the design I had in mind for Lilly. It was going to be a birthday surprise. I just hoped I could have it finished in time.
I lost track of time as I worked on the sketch of Lilly’s giraffe onesie. When the buzzer on the shop door went, I glanced up as two distractingly handsome men came into view. I nodded to them but didn’t approach them, letting them look about the store. If they needed help I was sure they would ask. I went back to my sketch, mindful I was now no longer alone in the store. I could hear them talking in low voices. At least they weren’t drunk-yelling like the hens’ party customers. My brain could only deal with so much noise before it got overwhelmed, andloud voices always put me on edge regardless of the speaker’s intent.
I rubbed my neck, feeling the knots in my muscles. I still had an hour to go before I could finally shut the shop for the night. I glanced over to where the two men were browsing throughout our selection of lube. They really were all kinds of hot. The taller of the two had blond hair that was pulled back in a neat ponytail and a thick curly beard that my fingers itched to touch. Beards had always been a bit of a thing for me. I could never grow my own. It always ended up looking like a half shaved orange cat’s arse. I’d used that description once around Lilly and she’d spat her chocolate milk out across the counter. It had been kind of gross, but totally hilarious. Mr Blonde had a lot of ink peeking out from under his rolled up shirt sleeves, and when he turned to say something to the dark haired shorter man I saw that the ink travelled up his throat. I touched my own throat, remembering when I got my ink. I’d been working at the shop for a month and had just celebrated my nineteenth birthday. Miss Rose had taken me for a day trip to Tewsbury and we’d stopped by to see her favourite tattooist, Callum. It was there that I first caught sight of a Daddy Dom and his boy in the wild.
As Miss Rose and Callum talked, I saw the other tattooist sitting with a young man close to my age. I didn’t mean to listen in, but then I heard the young guy call the other one ‘Daddy’ softly. I watched as the large tattooist slid a colouring book and pencils to the young man before he gave him a kiss that was scorching hot. I blushed and turned to see both Miss Rose and Callum smiling at me. Callum called the young man over and introduced him to me as Rhys, and he and I ended up sitting and talking while Callum gave Miss Rose new ink. Rhys and I shared similar family problems, though mine was nowhere near as horrific as his, and he was open about Simon being his Daddy. I was both fascinated and a little envious. By the time Miss Rosehad finished, I had also met Simon and had booked in to get my grandmother’s favourite flowers tattooed on my throat. I’d been back to Viking Ink since, and counted Rhys as one of my tiny circle of friends.
Looking up, I saw that the two guys seemed to be interested in Lilly’s great wall of wangs—or the dildo display, as normal people would call it. While they were occupied, I reached under the counter and grabbed a handful of M&M’s. The hit of crunchy chocolate heaven was just what I needed to make it through the last hour of my shift. I bent down and grabbed another handful shoving them into my mouth, but when I sat up both men were standing in front of the counter. To my horror I let out a squawk and inhaled the M&M’s, which caused me to choke. Trying to regain my composure only seemed to make it worse as I struggled to catch my breath.
Next minute the dark haired man was around the counter, patting me on the back gently and asking if I had water close to hand. I pointed to the back room behind me, still coughing and wheezing.
A glass of water was pressed into my hand and he resumed patting my back gently.
“I’m so sorry. I feel we are responsible for your current situation,” the dark-haired man said. He had a nice voice, slightly husky like he’d smoked a cigar.
I waved my hand, trying to signal it was my own fault. Finally, after another sip of drink, I was able to speak.
“It was totally my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to sneak more M&Ms in. That will teach me not to try and fit a whole handful in my mouth at once.” I laughed wetly, trying to inject some humour.
“Nonsense. Marco, can you fill this up?” The guy passed my empty glass to the blonde guy—Marco, I guessed.
“Just let Roman fuss over you. It’s what he does,” Marco said. His voice was deeper and slightly accented. When I looked up he gave me a friendly smile, his glacial blue eyes dancing in gentle humour.
“I’m fine, seriously.” I protested but he just shook his head and moved off to get more water.
“Does your throat hurt?” Roman moved around from rubbing my back to standing alongside me.
“I really am fine.” There was something sweet about his concern.
“Your face did go quite red.” He was still patting my back softly and I wasn’t sure whether it was to comfort me or him.
“Hehe, um, bright red face is kind of something I do. My blush is on a hair trigger and if I cough too hard I’m as red as a strawberry. It’s kind of embarrassing, especially when it goes with all this.” I pointed to my auburn curls.
Roman smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners. It somehow made him even more handsome, if that was possible.
“Roe, give the poor man some space.” Marco came back holding out a full glass.
I drank it down then set the glass on the counter top. “Now my impending demise by sweets has been averted, how can I help?
“Ah.” Roman smiled. “Lilly called and asked if we could drop in a membership form and some information, as she was bringing a friend along to our open night on Saturday night.”
That sneaky sneak. “Did she tell you she’d be working this afternoon?”
“Actually she did, and the fact I cannot see her pink pigtails anywhere leads me to believe that she is, in fact, not here.” Roman answered.
“No, the little sneak left a couple of hours ago. Um, just so you know I’m the friend that she and Liz are bringing alongSaturday. I’m Sebastian.” Both Roman and Marco looked at me, and for a moment I wondered if they were trying to find a polite way to say I shouldn’t come.
“Oh well, thatisinteresting, and it’s a pleasure to meet you Sebastian.” Was it weird that I liked how Roman said my name? I wasn’t sure if it was just the tone, or the hint of a smile when he said it, but I couldn’t help but smile shyly back.
“Have you ever been to a club like ours before, Sebastian?” Marco leaned his hip against the counter, fixing me with an assessing gaze.
I shook my head “No, Sir, but I’ve heard only amazing things from Lilly. I know that it’s a BDSM club, and that you have a brilliant reputation in the scene, and you are one of the few clubs around here that have catered for the Ageplay community.”
