Page 34 of Love Language

Marco’s heart beat fast, but he told himself to calm the fuck down. He hadn’t expected that at all. He felt totally blindsided. And the weird phrasing where it was about whether Marco was interested and that sad look on Greg’s face… What the hell was going on?

Are you feeling ready to play with someone? he asked tentatively.

Yeah. I think it would be good for me. I’m… I’m too stuck in my shell. I miss Richard all the time, but I can’t just keep living in the past. I think I need to try things again and see what happens.

OK, not quite ringing enthusiasm. But he trusted Marco. That meant something, right?

So, like a relationship? Or friends with benefits? Or another experiment?

Um… maybe? Not about you, but I just… I’m still not sure what I’m ready for.

So, not a relationship. The phrase ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ came to mind, and Marco realized that’s exactly where he was. Begging for a little piece of Greg’s life that was already filled by another man.

It was an uncomfortable place for a Dom to be.

But he also wanted Greg to be happy, God help him.

And honestly, he would take him any way he could get him. So, he made himself smile and say, so somewhere between an experiment and friends with benefits? I can do that.

Greg blushed, like he knew he would. And he did look happy.

Marco was pretty sure this was going to kill him.

Would you like to play tonight?

Greg looked away, that little wince of pain and anguish that always meant Richard. Then he squared his shoulders. Yes, please.

Marco forced himself to keep his hands easy and relaxed, when all he wanted to do was grab Greg up and drag him home.

Do you want to discuss limits and interests again?

Something lit up Greg’s face. Something that made him blush. Marco would have given quite a bit to know what it was.

But then there was that haunted look, like the idea of remembering it was too painful to contemplate.

Maybe, Marco suggested gently, we should experiment with some things that you didn’t do with Richard?

Greg looked relieved. Well, that was something at least.

For the whole drive back to Greg’s house, both were a bit on edge. He felt like they were both overthinking every movement and signal, every glance.

Greg was starting to look worried and it wasn’t an ideal time to deal with city traffic. Greg looked out the window and Marco worried that this was going to be a bad idea.

While he drove, he mentally reviewed everything that he knew about Greg’s relationship with his prior Dom.

He was sure there were some gaps, but he had a pretty good sense of it from their conversations. It just didn’t quite make sense.

As far as he could tell, Richard had been into a lot of rough sex, dubcon role play, and possibly some more typical impact play. But generally, darker stuff.

The dubcon was something that Marco could do, in the right circumstances and with the right person. But he needed to talk through and mentally rehearse it quite a bit first. So, it was just as well that they weren’t going that direction straight off.

Greg claimed to have been a brat, but Marco couldn’t really see that. Greg seemed too sweet for it. Surely, if there were an inner brat waiting to break free, he would have seen it by now, right?

But maybe Richard’s death had broken that for him. It was a sobering thought. Marco didn’t like willful subs, as a rule, but he’d like to see Greg expressing himself if that’s what he needed. So, maybe that was something they could come back to.

There was also a side of Greg’s past relationship that was either domestic discipline or service. Something with a lot of rules and keeping their home fanatically neat.

The weird part was, that didn’t seem right for Greg, either. Marco knew some subs who were really into that. All the rules and structure and service elements. When they didn’t have it, they were untethered, grasping about for something lacking in their lives.