“Thank you,” Michelle whispered to me before focusing her attention on Corvus. I took the last seat at the table. “It’s good to see you, bub. I missed you.”
He played with the tablecloth.
“I, uh, it’s good to see you, too,” he said quietly.
Patience. Maybe by the end of the night, we could loosen him up. And the best way to do that would be to get a nice glass of wine in front of him.
“Do you drink?” I asked as our waiter stepped up to our table. When Corvus nodded, I looked at the older gentleman. “Three glasses of your best red wine,” I ordered. “Thank you.”
The man bowed and stepped away. I smiled at Corvus. “Wine is on the way,chibi. Just breathe.”
His shoulders slumped.
“Easier said than done,” he muttered.
I didn’t think I was meant to hear, but I did all the same, and my heart clenched. My eyes met Michelle’s for a moment.
This would take alotof patience—patience that was surely going to fucking kill both of us.
Chapter Seven
Michelle
Corvus was nervous, and I didn’t entirely understand why. He seemed so confident when I met him just the other day. He’d even cracked a little joke. And sure, once we’d gotten to the office, he’d seemed a bit out of his element, but he’d talked. Yet sitting at that table with us, he was a nervous wreck, fidgeting with his fingers, the tablecloth, even lightly touching his silverware.
It made me sad. I wanted back the lively boy I’d met. Where had he gone? Was it the restaurant? Did it make him uncomfortable? Kip had simply wanted to treat Corvus, to show him how good things could be for him, but maybe this was too much. Maybe Corvus didn’t want expensive restaurants that served wine older than we were.
“Is this too much for you, bub?” I blurted before I could stop myself. Corvus startled, his eyes snapping up to mine. Kip gently squeezed my thigh beneath the table, but I ignored him, my focus remaining on our boy. “We can go somewhere else. We don’t mind.”
He immediately shook his head, his inky dark hair swishing across his forehead.
“No, this is great,” Corvus rushed to say. “I just…” He blew out a harsh breath and shoved his fingers through his black hair, ruining the style he’d managed to put it into. But hell, it looked even better all disheveled like that. “I’m sorry. I’m out of my element. Usually, when I go on dates, I know what to do. What to expect. How to act. My end goal is sex, but Kip made it clear that’s not happening tonight.”
Christ, he really didn’t know what to do when his routine got messed up. He’d clearly never formed real attachments with anyone. And it made me wonder who’d hurt him so badly this almost seemed to frighten him. Real feelings and real bonds made him a wreck.
“We want to have sex with you,” Kip assured him. Corvus swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he looked at my husband. Kip soothed his thumb over my thigh—a silent thank you for breaking the ice. “Believe me when I say that. But we wantmorethan that with you,chibi. We want to know you. Date you. Take care of you. We want to be everything you may need.”
Corvus’s eyes widened, and his lips parted for a moment before he licked them, making need punch through my gut. “I don’t understand.”
I wanted to wrap him up in my arms and never fucking let him go. Whothe fuckhurt him so goddamn badly?
I looked at Kip, only to find him already looking at me. Should we tell him—tell himexactlywhat we were? That we were Doms? That we wanted him to be our boy? I was afraid it would frighten him off for good, but I also couldn’t help but wonder if it would intrigue him enough to get him to want to stay. Maybe, it would even help him loosen up to know wetrulydid want him.
I nodded once, and Kip looked back at Corvus.
“We…” Kip sighed. “We are Doms,chibi. Specifically, Mommy and Daddy Doms.”
Corvus’s eyes grew wide once more, just when they’d begun to settle back to their usual shape.
“We’ve been searching for someone who fit both of us for a while,” Kip continued. “And while we’ve taken playmates and have even dated some seriously for a little while, no one trulyfitus both. Not until you. You’reperfect,chibi.”
Corvus’s cheeks pinkened adorably, and I smiled at him, my heart clenching in my chest. He was so cute.
“As your Mommy and Daddy, we would take care of you however that fits the three of us. There’s no one way to this lifestyle.” I paused when the waiter showed up with our appetizers. He asked us a couple of questions then slipped away once more. Corvus immediately dug into his food, and I was happy to see he had an appetite. I was a tad bit worried this conversation would ruin his dinner.
“I would have to call you Mommy and Daddy, wouldn’t I?” Corvus questioned.
I shrugged. “Not all the time. And you can call us any variation of the terms you choose. Again, when you use those terms is entirely up to you and something the three of us would discuss when or if you agree to give this a go with us. Some of our previous playmates only wanted to call us that in the bedroom, and others wanted to use call us that all the time.”
