Page 32 of All Tied Up

“Well, I happen to like tying up sexy subs.”

Neil nodded eagerly. That sounded amazing.

“I like giving my boys lots of rules, so they know exactly what their place is and how to please me.”

Neil nodded a bit more hesitantly. He liked the idea of rules and pleasing a Daddy, but it didn’t quite come together right when he heard it. Maybe it would make more sense later or fit better when it actually happened.

“And I’m looking for a long-term contract after a trial this weekend.”

OK, so Neil knew what a contract was because he’d done his research, not to mention that Levi overshared about his work all the time. But a contract sounded very… formal. More Dom and less Daddy. He spent all day with legally binding documents and he wasn’t sure he wanted to base a relationship on one.

“I don’t know,” he finally answered. “Can I think about it?”

Mario traced a single finger down his arm, leaving a trail of lightning in its path. “Or maybe you’d like to try it out? Feel my ropes on your body and my hand spanking your ass? I bet you’d be gorgeous, boy.”

“I…” Whoa, that was a lot. Mario was hot, but Neil didn’t know him at all. Shouldn’t there be, like, getting coffee or dinner together first?

A gentle voice interrupted from the other side. “Neil, did you want some cider?”

“Yes, Sir. Thank you,” he breathed in relief.

He realized the moment after he’d said it that something was wrong. He’d been calling Sebastian Sir because it just seemed right. But he hadn’t used any title at all for Mario, who seemed much more focused on the formal side of things. That was probably not so good for his chances with the man.

And what had he been thinking anyway? It wasn’t like Sebastian was his… anything. Nothing at all.

He looked back at Mario, who just gave him one more smoldering gaze. “Well, you think about what you want. And let me know.” Then he walked off to talk with a couple of the other subs.

“Here’s your cider.” Sebastian passed it to him with a little wrinkle in his brow.

Was that scowl worry or frustration? Or just deep thought? Neil didn’t know him well enough to tell.

“How are you holding up?” Sebastian asked. “You looked a bit overwhelmed.”

“Yeah, I guess I was.” Neil made a point of not calling him Sir. He still felt a rush of attraction, but even more, it was a relief to talk to someone who he already knew. Well, sort of knew. Someone who’d already made him feel cared for and safe and maybe even a bit sexy.

Neil tried to explain what was going through his mind. “People are just… very direct about things. I knew dating could be like that with an app, but I thought that with two days here it would be a bit more relaxed, you know?”

“I would have thought that, too,” Sebastian agreed. “This is our third time doing this, and each weekend has had a very different feel. Well, the first weekend was lesbians, which was a great place to start because they gave us a bunch of feedback. A few of them hooked up fast, but they spent a lot of time together as a group. The second weekend, Jamie tested out the games, and they went well, but people didn’t really get together until the outdoor events and the kink demonstration the next day. This one feels like it’s moving quickly, like there’s maybe more of a competition? I bet Jamie would have more insights on that. He’s better with people and he leads group things all the time.”

It was nice to step back and have a different view of things. And also talk for a moment like they were just two people without all of these highly-charged roles or some expectation to perform. It was like taking a little timeout. “I’m sure Jamie’s great at that. I mean, he did a really good job tonight.”

“You still felt overwhelmed though.” Sebastian said it as an observation, with care rather than censure.

“Yeah. I just… this is all really new to me. I mean, even getting dressed like this was kind of a lot, so crawling around on the floor… and… that Dom, Mario,” he waved at the man who was now chatting up someone else and dropped his voice to a whisper, “just offered me a trial run for a contract. I feel like I got thrown into the deep end of the kink pool and I’m barely treading water.”

“Would you like to talk about it?”

Neil didn’t know Sebastian much better than he knew Mario, but Sebastian made him feel safe. Like he could talk about anything and get some good advice. Like he could be insecure and vulnerable without being judged. “God, yes. Please. I mean, if I’m not taking you away from anything.”

“Nope. We’re gonna leave the space open for the next hour for people to schmooze, but the only thing I really need to do for the rest of the night is put away any leftovers and maybe sweep the floor. Or I might be lazy and leave the floor for tomorrow. It’s been a long day.”

“Do you want to get to sleep then?”

“Not that kind of long day. Just doing a lot of bookkeeping and some financial planning stuff that was kind of stressful. But I’d rather talk about your evening. Errr… if there wasn’t anyone else you wanted to talk to.”

“No. I mean, I’d talk to anyone who came up to me. But I don’t think I could approach anyone.”

“No one caught your eye?”