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Chapter Four
Even after years of being a member, Jethro still loved the feel of walking into Hive. Loved the familiar sights and smells and sounds, but more so the sense of possibility.
He probably wouldn’t be playing tonight but his dick hadn’t gotten the message and perked up a bit. Okay, maybe. Maybe he would play if one of his favorite partners were here or if there was some lost little who looked like she could use a good beating or some daddying for an hour or so and was up for playing with a stranger. Any of the club owners would vouch for him and so would the members he knew, which was most of them.
He loved too being able to be himself. To not have to fight so hard against the urges he had or censor the jokes he made because his audience wouldn’t understand or would be horrified. Being a kinky fuck could be hard in the vanilla world, although he’d had a lot of practice.
He’d scrubbed up at home, put on fresh underthings and left his suit outside on the porch to air out a bit. Plus said hello to Marigold and Rhodie, let them outside, gave the lazy bums some belly rubs and treats and then headed back out.
Jethro buzzed at the door to Hive and was quickly let in. Ryker was manning the desk, or rather ogre-ing the desk. He liked the guy but Jethro didn’t think he’d ever seen the man smile.
Ryker was probably the most intense and sadistic Dominant Jethro knew and the subs who weren’t into his vibe were terrified by him. Hell, probably the ones whowereinto that were terrified and that was part of the fun. Jet black hair, steel grey eyes and pale skin, guy looked like he could be a vampire. Come to think of it, Jethro never had seen him in sunlight…
“Who put you in charge of the door? You’re going to scare all the poor littles away with your glower.”
“Couldn’t be helped,” Ryker responded in a clipped tone to his ribbing. Right, no jokes with this guy. “Ian’s waiting for you in the big room.”
“Got it, thanks.”
Jethro headed back, waving and nodding to people he recognized as he went but not stopping to chat. The club was decked out in garlands and lights and holiday decorations. A lot of the members were dressed up. It was kind of hilarious to see some of the tops in ugly Christmas sweaters which would no doubt come off once they started working up a sweat, and of course the littles and middles all looked adorable in their Christmas dresses and onesies.
A corner of the big central play area had been cleared of the large wood frames that were usually there so rope players could do suspensions and other work. Instead there was a Christmas tree which looked normal from afar but once he got closer he could see the ornaments were all small models of kink toys like red sparkly floggers and shiny green butt plugs, not to mention the reindeers in bondage, the snowman sporting a ball gag, and the angel wrapped in some tiny shibari functioning as the tree topper.
People could say what they liked, but most of the kinksters he knew had a really good sense of humor. Except Ryker—he was every vanilla’s stereotype of a Dominant made flesh. Ah well.
There was a padded bench right next to the tree where he imagined he’d be sitting and handing out gifts to the littles. That would be fun. He loved to see their faces light up with pure joy, and he loved to give them a chance to be themselves and revel in their little personas. Being at Hive was the only chance a lot of them got to shrug off their adult selves and let go of all their grown-up responsibilities. He’d make sure they all had a good time.
Jethro looked around for Ian but didn’t see him, and he was hard to miss with his height and flaming red hair. Then he saw the door that was mostly hidden behind the tree and marked Staff Only was slightly ajar with a light shining through. Ian was probably in there getting last minute details set, so Jethro ducked behind the tree and let himself in.
It wasn’t Ian who was in the room, though. No, it was one of the other club owners, Hudson, his low voice rumbling and Jethro could just see someone sitting in front of the mountain of a man.
Jethro was about to mumble an apology and excuse himself—what the fuck, he should know better than to just let himself into any room at Hive even if it was usually used as a classroom and storage space—when Hudson turned around and gave him a big grin.
“Hey, Jethro. Ian said you’d be coming. Thanks so much for helping us out.”
Jethro could’ve sworn he heard a squeak from whoever was in front of Hudson but it must’ve just been a noise from outside in the club.
“Yeah, sure. You know I’d do anything for you guys.”
Hudson’s grin spread even further across his face as he pointed a hairbrush in Jethro’s direction. “That’s what I like to hear. And hey, you sure you’re not a little bit switchy? You know I’d top you if you wanted to try.”
Jethro laughed. “Pretty sure not, but I appreciate the offer. Besides, wouldn’t want to take your talents away from anyone who was sure they wanted to be topped.”
Hudson nodded and turned back around but was still clearly speaking to Jethro. “Give me a minute to finish up here and you can meet Twinkle, she’s going to be your elf for the night.”
Ah, so they had found someone.
He waited patiently, saw Hudson brush out the woman’s dark hair, and then watched his surprisingly deft fingers twist her long dark hair into first one braid and then do the other side before tying a black lace mask onto the woman’s face, and settling a dark green elf hat on her head. It looked familiar but didn’t most elf hats look the same?
Hudson leaned down to say something in her ear, his big meaty hands enveloping her shoulders. They talked for a minute and Jethro felt like he should’ve left. The quiet, intimate way they spoke made him think they had a relationship of some sort—maybe Hudson had a new sub he hadn’t met? Wouldn’t be surprising. It had been a while and Hudson was a good top.
He was about to excuse himself when Hudson planted a kiss on the woman’s cheek and straightened up to offer her a hand which she took and finally rose and turned around. When she did, the air got sucked out of his lungs.
The outfit was definitely familiar because he’d seen it less than two hours ago, as was the dark brown hair in long plaits. Even if she’d been wearing something else entirely and shaved her head, those huge golden hazel eyes would have given her away.
Hudson might’ve called her Twinkle, but that was definitely Sable Hollingsford standing in front of him. Holy shit.
