Page 27 of Pretty ’n Peak

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want me to choose?”

“Yes, Austin.”

It seemed that Mateo was submissive beyond just some curiosity around impact play, or at least he was exploring the idea. How deep the boy wanted to go into giving up control would probably be something he figured out over months or years.

Either way, it was up to Austin to determine exactly what he needed. Which, honestly, had always been his job. He’d just wanted to see if there was a particular fantasy that Mateo wanted to fulfill before he started planning.

“Um, I’m going to use the bathroom now,” Mateo announced.

Austin held back a smile. That was too cute.

“Brush your teeth, too. I wasn’t kidding that you’re likely to fall asleep afterward.” Cam often had, and those were, strangely, some of the sweetest memories Austin had of him.

God, fucking Cam again.

He had no place here.

“Yes, Austin.”

Mateo brushed past him, into the bathroom, which left Austin free to explore.

He’d been told that each room had a theme, and he wondered what Mateo’s was. Austin’s room apparently had bears in the decor, and he’d found a small carving of a baby grizzly clinging to a tree trunk on his bedside table. Mateo presumably had something similar.

But that wasn’t why Austin was here.

He walked the room, getting the layout with his hands more than his eyes. Like his own room, there was a bed, a desk with a chair, a side table, a sofa, and a little nook with a refrigerator and microwave.

The blanket on the bed was still perfectly flat because Mateo hadn’t slept in it yet. It had an uneven texture that told Austin it was probably a quilt, likely handmade. He had one in his bedroom too.

He rubbed the cotton stitching between his fingers. Was that what Mateo needed? Something soft and sensual while he got lost in the maze of pleasure that a spanking could bring? The bed would give Austin a good chance to get his hands all over Mateo’s luscious…

No, not that. The bed would give Mateo the chance to feel what it was like to have someone touch him slowly and seductively, the way he deserved.

Austin wheeled from the bed.

The desk was smooth, dark wood. Probably an antique from the fancy scroll work along the drawer. He lifted the front legs off the ground experimentally. It was heavy. Unlikely to break with a hefty man stretched over it helplessly, jerking and clinging to the top.

Definitely a good option.

There were two pale objects on the back of the desk and Austin ran his hands along until he encountered them. A telephone on one side, and a heavy vase on the other.

The vase held pussy willows, identifiably immediately by their fuzzy buds, as soft as the kitten fur they were named after. The tall stalks stretched up above where he could reach easily.

That brought a rush of ideas to his head. What would it be like dragging a few stems down Mateo’s naked body? How sharply would they bite if he used one as a cane?

Austin found himself grinning. When was the last time he’d felt this creative? Not that it was much, just a passing idea. But almost anything could become a kinky implement in the right hands.

Still, that wasn’t what Mateo had asked for.

Austin pulled out the desk chair. The carved wooden legs felt spindly, made more for decoration than rough use. The seat cushion was fabric, too, which was less than ideal. He wasn’t going to stop spanking until Mateo came.

Well, that answered one question. As hot as it would be to pull the boy over his lap, leaving him unbalanced and awkwardly exposed once he pulled his pants down and captured his arms behind his back… that wouldn’t be the plan for tonight.

He put the chair back, ignoring the small pulse of disappointment that Mateo would experience that with someone else first.

Austin checked the sofa, though it was more of a loveseat, really. He didn’t even need to measure to know that Mateo’s long body would hardly fit across it, stretched over his lap. And the back was far too thin and ornate to bend him over it.