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“Oh, hell no. I’d never inflict my parents upon the Wilder clan, especially on a holiday.”
Julie had helped introduce Les to her “fun girl” side, as well as joined the Wilder family’s efforts to bring Daralyn out of her shell. There was simply no way not to feel better about anything around Julie.
That said, until recently, the theater manager had put a brave face on being single at forty. For a woman who embraced being single, that would have been fine. But Les knew Julie’s dramatic personality came with a deeply romantic side.
She’d be the first to admit she didn’t have the patience for the maxim “Good things come to those who wait.” As such, Les had often heard her say to Des, “Where the hell have you been all this time?”
Which he usually answered with his trademark smile and crooked an arm around her neck to pull her to him. He’d kiss her pursed lips, calming her frenetic vigor with a simple stroke of his hand down her back.
Yes, the Dom vibes were there. Just like with Rory and Marcus, it was in his expression, even in how he hugged Les and shook Brick’s hand. Like a private club she hadn’t known existed.
Now she was a member of it.
As they exchanged greetings and the expected small talk, she thought of her parting chat with Thomas on Monday. As he’d given her a good-bye hug, he’d glanced toward Brick, who’d stepped away to give them privacy.
“You and Brick are going down a road together that might feel really familiar, but the elements of it are new. If you want to talk to someone about that, I hope…”
He paused, giving her a droll look. “I expect talking to me wouldn’t be too comfortable, but you can talk to Julie. She’s connected to the more formal aspects of that world. With Daralyn and Rory, it’s more private, just between the two of them, but she can be another source. It’s in her soul, a lot like it is in yours.”
Thomas squeezed her shoulder. “And yes, I’m here, if ever I’m useful for those conversations. It’s helpful to have others to talk to. For that, as well as anything else important.”
His look held hers a beat, telling her that went beyond the Dom and sub stuff.
She gripped his hand. “You know, when Brick told me, at first, I thought, no way. But that was because I wasn’t diving into my own head, thinking about how I react to Brick. What I needed and why. Then it made perfect sense, you and Marcus having that.”
It might have a different look and perspective for a gay man, but it was as Brick had said at Mick’s party. That undercurrent was recognized by all of them.
A brief mix of emotions crossed Thomas’s face, but he didn’t seem discomfited by her observation. “Marcus told me there’s no formula for it. But sometimes those who demand the most from themselves, and attach that expectation to nurturing and serving, crave submission the most.”
“You took care of us, Thomas. You always have.”
She saw a raw moment of vulnerability in his dark eyes and put her arms around him, hugging him again. Then she eased back, curious. “What kind of person craves the Dom role, do you think?”
Thomas glanced at his husband, who chose that moment to look right back. The question in Marcus’s eyes turned to lazy heat, a promise that spiked Les’s own libido, making her wish for Brick’s brand of dominance right there and then.
“I’m not sure,” Thomas told her. “But something in us sure as hell recognizes it. I’m glad Marcus recognized it in himself.” He eyed her, a more playful smile crossing his handsome face. “But tell the truth. Knowing Rory was a Dom gave you a WTF moment, didn’t it?”
She chuckled. “That’s because of what our relationship has always been. I’ve been viewing him a different way this trip. Now I can see it, clear as day.” Her expression softened as she saw Daralyn smile at something Marcus said to her. She covered her mouth, a habit she’d had difficulty losing. She did it less now, but to help her with it, as he always did, Rory grasped her hand and drew it back, so that smile could warm the world like the sun. A reminder that smiling and laughing was totally okay. Encouraged.
“I’m so glad they found one another,” she murmured.
It was the same and different, for each of them, she realized. Submission, dominance, sculpted by who they each were. Recognizing one another as trees in the same forest, but with their own root system, their own way of moving with the winds, withstanding the storms. Enduring, no matter the scars that man or nature brought against them.
Thomas put an arm around her as they gazed at their family. “Dad told me things happen in their own way and time, if we just get out of our own way. He and Mom didn’t get advice like that off a cereal box. They live it, just like we do. They make the same stumbles and mistakes.”
With that thought, Les returned to the present. “What are you guys loading?” she asked Julie. “Can we help?”
“Thanks, but we’re good. This was the last stuff from inside. We’re putting these props in storage so the set for the next performance can be built.” Julie winked at Brick. “The stage is clear, except for what you requested. We added a couple things to expand your options.”
“We won’t be back today unless you need us,” Des added.
“What?” As Les looked between the two Doms, Brick slid his arm around her, hooking his fingers in the belt loop of her jeans, a little tug to quiet her.
“I appreciate it.”
Julie captured Les’s hand. “I’ll drive up to Durham and we’ll do lunch next week, since I’ve got time before I’m ass deep in the next show. We’ll also be coming to the family’s July 4th picnic, if you can get yourself home for that. Oh, and here.”
She trotted back to Des’s truck to dig through her purse in the front seat. When she returned, she handed Les a pair of chocolate bars, decorated in purple and gold swirls. “There are two golden tickets in those, like the Willy Wonka invitations. We’re having our annual Erotica Gallery performance in June. It’s a fundraiser, so that’s about five hundred dollars you’re holding, not to mention a pretty awesome high grade chocolate. I want you and Brick to come.”
