Page 17 of Pretty ’n Peak

Jamie looked so comfortable, somehow both gorgeous and dirty with his ruby-painted lips and cropped t-shirt that revealed more than it hid.

He wasn’t the only one in a dress, either. A beautiful sub with glistening dark skin and in immaculate white dress was listening attentively. Their hair—a wig, presumably—fell in straight locks of cotton candy pink, and their trim beard didn’t detract at all from their effortless femininity. Their posture conveyed elegance, their slender bone structure lending itself to a gracefully androgynous presence.

While Jamie was naughty and fun, the other sub was poised and seductive.

Nothing like Mateo’s blocky build and fumbling movements.

Mateo had worn tonight what he would wear to a club: dark jeans, a blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and his broken-in leather boots.

He’d thought upstairs that he looked pretty good in the mirror. With the darker patterns, his gut didn’t stick out too much, and his sister had told him that the blue made his dark eyes shine. He’d trimmed up the beard that he’d recently decided to grow out. He would never be anything but plain and heavyset, but he figured he didn’t clean up too bad.

But looking at the array of nearly naked subs, he’d clearly gotten it all wrong. He’d almost turned back when he arrived, intent to go upstairs and change into… well, he didn’t know what. He had nothing like what everyone else was wearing. Just more jeans, another button-down and some t-shirts.

He might have just left anyway if Jamie hadn’t waved him over to Austin’s side.

And now he was here.

“Anybody ever done an egg race?” Jamie asked, to more whoops from the audience. “So for this one, each sub will get on their knees and carry a spoonful of water to this mark right here. And to really show us what you’ve got…” Jamie brandished a metal spoon with… was that a dick on the end?

It was. A chocolate penis, complete with balls.

“You’ll hold this end in your mouth.” Jamie swept his pink tongue up the candy, eyes rolling up into his head in exaggerated pleasure. “Come and get ’em!”

There was a surge as the dozen or so subs went up to the front.

Mateo stood frozen. He’d expected something silly and kink-themed but… on his knees? Crawling across the floor?

Of course, he’d imagined kneeling for a man one day, but… he’d thought it would be more private. More… well, as close as he could come to sexy. Not a mad scramble, with everyone looking at him in his flannel and jeans with chocolate smeared all over his face. Not lumbering and grunting across the rug while the pretty little twinks bounced and undulated ahead of him.

Some of them were already toying with their lolli-cocks, looking flirtatious and dirty.

Butterflies danced in Mateo’s belly, definitely more nauseous now than aroused.

“Are you going to do it?”

Mateo jumped, startled. Austin was returning the question he’d asked just minutes ago, but he didn’t know how to answer. “Ummm… do I have to?” All the Doms had participated in the first game. Maybe it was required.

Austin stepped in front of him, blocking the view. The Dom’s hands closed around his, capturing them again in that luxurious warmth. “You never have to. That’s the cornerstone of kink. Everything is about consent. If you don’t like something, you safeword. No questions asked, no explanation needed.”

Austin’s brow wrinkled in thought. “Well, now that I say that, a good Dom will always ask you why you safeworded because they’ll want to take care of you and make sure to avoid the problem again. But the thing is, you always have a right to say no to anything, big or small, and have it be respected. So, you can choose whether you want to play.”

That helped his heart slow down. Well, the speech and the way that Austin was holding his hands so tenderly again. He’d read all about consent and safewords, but Austin spoke about it with a passion.

“I don’t think I want to do it.”

“Good.” Austin beamed. “I’m proud of you.”

Hearing that shouldn’t have felt so good. “Why?”

“Because you identified a limit and you said something. A Dom can’t work with you unless they trust you to be honest about your limits and use your safewords when you need them. You’re already doing well.”

Mateo felt his cheeks warm. He knew it wasn’t much of an accomplishment, but when this experienced Dom told him he was doing a good job, it turned the whole thing upside down.

Not just a Dom, but Austin. It was a heady feeling.

“Do you want to talk about why you’re not interested in it? You don’t have to, but it might help you to articulate it.”

Mateo drew in a deep breath. He wanted Austin to be proud of him again.