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Dmitri chuckled, lowering his beer to the table. “She’s skittish, but there’s potential.” At Aidan’s long look, Dmitri’s lips parted to elaborate that he didn’t mind a bundle of nerves, when in front of him, Kyler interjected, “’Bout damn time you got yourself a new sub.” His messily styled light brown hair dangled over his forehead, and his blue-green eyes stared Dmitri down in a measured way. “Allow yourself this. Train her. Don’t ask one of us to do it.”
If anyone else had given him such a sharp order, Dmitri would spit out a few choice words, but Kyler was a close friend of eight years. They’d met at the club Chains, when Dmitri was twenty-five, first entering the BDSM scene. Their friendship stuck, possibly because Kyler was so straight with him. “This is your business because . . . ?”
Kyler gave his don’t fuck with me cop look, which he’d mastered after twelve years on the force. “Just making sure your head is screwed on straight.” He grinned. “But if
you’re stupid and pass on her, give her to me. The shy ones are always fun.”
Dmitri shook his head at Kyler’s knowing smirk. That look always meant he was up to no good, and Dmitri didn’t need the reminder that he hadn’t taken on another submissive since his last sub, Katherine, four years ago.
Although he was well aware, he enjoyed the freedom of not being tied down and hadn’t met a woman he wanted to claim. He’d met many he wanted to command and fuck, and that was exactly what he did with them. A relationship hadn’t been his top priority. Partly because deep down he craved monogamy, and he hadn’t met a woman who gave him enough satisfaction as a Master to fully commit to her.
Even Katherine, to whom he’d been committed for three years, couldn’t find fulfillment in both the dungeon and an emotional relationship. She had craved to be a twenty-four/seven slave, which Dmitri didn’t want. He liked to dominate in the bedroom and dungeon, not out of it. Meshing the two worlds had proved impossible.
Besides, he wouldn’t open the doorway for Kyler to voice an opinion he didn’t want. Turning to Aidan, he asked, “Cora and Presley seem really close, don’t they?”
“They live together,” Aidan stated.
Dmitri sat back on his stool, folding his arms over his black T-shirt in surprise. “I didn’t think Cora had a roommate.”
Aidan bit into his chicken wing, then shrugged. “From what I heard, it’s new and unexpected.”
Now, that interested Dmitri. “Presley told me she moved here from Apple Valley, but she never mentioned living with Cora.” Could there be more to that than he knew? She had talked about an ex-boyfriend, even if she didn’t seem interested in discussing it with him. “Wonder why she never told me about that.”
“Got nothing for you.” Aidan took another bite of his wing. “Cora knows better than to talk to me about someone else’s personal life.”
Dmitri didn’t know what to make of why Presley had left off that detail, but he made a mental note to revisit the thought later. He examined Aidan. These two men were his closest friends, but just as Dmitri had been single these past four years, Aidan had been unattached for five. “How are things with Cora?”
Aidan smiled. “She’s behaving, as always.”
“She’s good for you.” Kyler took a long sip of his beer before he lowered the bottle to the table. “Not so good for me.”
“I trained her.” Aidan’s brows drew together with a frown as his eyes narrowed on Kyler. “She’s used to my rules.”
Kyler snorted, picking up the burger off his plate. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Aidan lowered the chicken wing and glared. “Voicing your opinion when no one wants to hear it is getting old.”
Kyler grinned. “Only bothers you because I’m right.”
Dmitri couldn’t argue that point, and clearly, neither could Aidan, since he stayed quiet. Where most would be modest and say nothing, Kyler always stated the obvious truth aloud. Dmitri didn’t mind. He appreciated the solid nature of Kyler, who had the habit of smacking the truth in his face.
With the continuing silence and Aidan’s glare deepening, Dmitri interjected gently, “Cora does seem to do best with you.”
Aidan froze midway from taking another bite, and his eyes narrowed on Dmitri. “Like I said, I trained her.”
Dmitri saw through the bullshit, as did Kyler, since he snorted again before he dug in to his burger. Aidan’s interest in Cora had been why Dmitri never played with her himself. Aidan cared for Cora, even if he didn’t want to admit it, and that meant she was off-limits. Of course, Kyler always said if Aidan was too stupid to man up, he wasn’t going to deny himself a sexy sub.
The crowd in the pub erupted into loud cheers following a touchdown, and Dmitri raised his beer to his mouth. The crisp, cool liquid rushed down his throat. He understood Aidan’s choices, but he leaned toward the same thoughts as Kyler. Aidan missed out because it was all too clear that Cora responded to him best because she wanted to. She offered her submission to him in ways she didn’t to anyone else.
He wouldn’t point out to Aidan why he avoided the truth. Although he suspected it had something to do with Aidan’s past, and his last submissive, who died in a car accident. “You’re good with how things are?” At Aidan’s silence and raised brows, Dmitri laughed. “You don’t plan on answering me?”
“Nope.” Aidan finished off his chicken wing, and his gaze became challenging. “You want to talk about what’s going on with Presley?”
Dmitri frowned. “Nothing’s going on.”
“I’m surrounded by fucking dipshits,” Kyler mumbled before he took another bite of his burger.
Aidan smirked. “Not fun, is it?”
