As he reached us, Stan stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you. Wilder’s pretty tightlipped, but he’s had good things to say about you.”
The stiff way Stan held himself, it was clear he wasn’t quite sure what to make of me, but he was trying. “Thanks, and it’s nice to meet you. You’ve got a wonderful business.”
Stan nodded and glanced around like a king looking over his castle. “Thank you. We’re doing pretty well.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, but Wilder quickly filled the silence by introducing Eli and pointing out things around the room. The waiting area held comfortable chairs and a coffee table with what looked like photo albums of more tattoos and designs.
Behind the long counter where the cash register and some forms were sitting, there were several work areas that looked like they could be curtained off for privacy. Wilder pointed out different machines and things, but most of it went over my head.
I was too distracted watching his excited smile and feeling the relief flooding through me at Stan’s acceptance. Wilder had been sure it’d be fine, but considering Stan had thought Wilder was straight until very recently, the fact that I’d shown up in a skirt and heels couldn’t have been easy for him.
Eli gave us a few minutes before he started getting antsy. “All right, as interesting as this is, we gotta get going or we’ll be late.”
Wilder nodded at Eli and turned back to Stan. “All right, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Giving Eli and me a long look, Stan seemed to decide he didn’t want to know what we were going to be doing. It was probably a good thing, because I wasn’t sure what Eli would say. As we started walking toward the door, Wilder grabbed a box from under the counter and grinned when I gave him a questioning look.
Stan distracted me, however, when he started grumbling about getting back to work. I gave him a wave and called out goodbye. He returned the gesture, but then gave me a long look as he stood in the doorway. “You talk some sense into him. As good as he is, there’s no reason for him to still be an employee.”
I didn’t make any promises, but I gave Stan a smile. At the very least, I was curious to talk to Wilder about it. Leaving the building, we headed down the street to where we’d parked the car. Deciding not to wait, I reached for Wilder’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Is the paperwork really the only reason you don’t want to go into business with him?”
There were a lot of reasons that he might not want to do it, but I hadn’t really heard any others. Wilder shrugged. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but I have a lot on my plate already. I don’t think he understands how many hours a day the illustrating takes up. There isn’t enough time in the day for it all.”
Taking a deep breath, I turned my gaze back down the street. “You know, if that’s the only problem, I could help out. It’s probably stuff I’ve already done with my own business and the rest of it won’t take that long to learn.”
I felt awkward extending the offer, but it was genuine. There were a variety of systems I could set up to make the paperwork and accounting more efficient. If a person saw it as something that was frustrating and painful then they wouldn’t be looking for ways that made it easier. They just avoided doing it.
Wilder squeezed my hand. “You would? I avoided it so much I honestly don’t even know what’s involved with it. I just know it takes him hours every time he sits down to do it. But if you could help me get it under control, I’d consider it.”
He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, not worrying about how many people were around. I glanced up at him, smiling. “Okay, we’ll talk about it. And maybe we’ll sit down with Stan another day and actually see what it all entails.”
Wilder nodded. “That’s probably a good idea. He needs to know I’m not promising anything, though.” Wilder was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “He’s usually not that pushy about the idea, but I think getting sick made it more important to him. I hope he didn’t make you feel uncomfortable.”
I’d take being uncomfortable about business decisions over everything else that could’ve gone wrong any day. “No, I think it’s cute he thought I have so much sway with you.”
I was pretty positive that Stan wouldn’t have said that unless he understood how important I was to Wilder. Wilder had a tender look on his face, but before he could say anything, Eli poked his head between our shoulders. “No more PDAs and making lovey faces at one another. I want to know what’s in the box.”
I just laughed. “Don’t be nosy.”
Eli scoffed. “You know you’re just as curious as I am.”
Maybe.
Wilder gave a teasing shrug and waved the box in front of Eli temptingly. “This one?”
We slowed as we reached the car and Eli pretended to try to grab it from his hands. Wilder chuckled and shook his head. “Nope, this is for Lane to open.”
“Me?” I looked down at the package in his hands. It looked like one of the shirt boxes people would get from department stores around the holidays.
Wilder nodded and moved closer to me. “Open it.”
Leaning into him, I took it from his hands and started slowly opening the present. It was heavier than I’d expected, and I felt something shift inside it. “What is it? I don’t want to accidentally break it.”
“Just don’t drop it, and it will be fine.” Wilder didn’t offer any more than that.
The sides were taped down and it took me a moment to run my finger under it and open the box. Peeling off the top, I looked down and my heart leapt up into my throat.
“Oh, Wilder.” It was my picture.
He’d stopped by and sat through so many photo shoots recently, the rest of the guys were starting to tease him that they were either going to put him to work or charge him rent. At the end of the last shoot, he’d tucked the picture away and had refused to show anyone the finished product. He’d just grinned and said that he wanted to tinker with a few things first.
The now-framed sketch had layers of detail. We were all there, hidden in different parts of the picture. As I stared, though, I saw some of the words that he’d put in there too.
Love.
Family.
It was beautiful. Pulling him into a hug, I couldn’t take my eyes off the sketch. “It’s amazing. Thank you, Wilder.”
“You’re welcome. I thought that since you probably couldn’t get a tattoo that size, having it framed would be a reasonable alternative.”
Eli’s head jerked up from where he’d been cooing at my picture. “You’re right, his boss would say no to having a tattoo that size. Preston would have a heart attack.”
I chuckled at the image. “Roman wouldn’t be pleased, either.”
Eli snickered. “He’d have a cow. It would be almost worth it.”
I shook my head, not wanting Roman’s crazy to be turned toward me. “No thanks.”
Leaning into Wilder, I pressed a kiss to his lips. “It really is incredible.”
The picture was perfect but so was everything else. The way he got me. The way he made me stronger. He was just incredible.
Before Wilder could respond, Eli started shaking his finger at us. “Oh no, save those looks for the photo shoot. Let’s go.”
The little drama queen was in full drill sergeant mode. I had a feeling the photo shoot was going to be interesting.
****
Wilder
My worrier was even sexier than I’d imagined. The way the almost sheer fabric draped across his body in long waves hiding, then giving tantalizing glimpses of what might lie underneath was incredible. I wasn’t sure if Eli or Roman had picked out the nightgown, but it was perfect.
“It looks almost demure, but then you start to move and it’s—”
Eli interrupted, nearly purring the words out, before I could even think of how to finish the sentence. “Then you catch a glimpse of that sexy body, and it goes from being almost too virginal to a desperate desire-filled virgin on his wedding night getting ready to
be ravished by the sexy beast.”
Roman snorted and shook his head. “You’ve watched that movie too many times this week.”
Eli gave him a dirty look. “There is no such thing as watching that movie too many times.” Then he glanced at Wilder and me with a dirty gleam in his eyes. “I saw someone online talking about a wicked anime version of Beauty and the Beast. I haven’t found it yet, though. Don’t worry. I’ll tell you when I find it.”
Lane laughed but didn’t tell the naughty drama queen he wasn’t interested, so I filed that information away for later. “So I’m basically the beast and I’ve captured my beauty?”
Roman was taking the shoot seriously, so it didn’t surprise me when he responded like it was any other project. “I think that’s a good way of looking at it. The two opposing looks that shouldn’t work but do…it’s the theme of a lot of our fairytales and movies. This is just a different take on it.”
He started moving around the room getting the backdrop ready and fiddling with random things. I had a feeling some of it was just designed to give Lane more time to relax. He was a little stressed out but hadn’t pulled the plug. I had to keep reminding myself that he would tell me if it was too much, but it was hard.
He wanted it, but he wasn’t comfortable wanting it.
Eli looked like he was ready to step in and say something outrageous again just to distract Lane, but I had a better idea. And one that was less likely to get Eli in trouble with Roman. The last thing we needed was him getting a spanking.
“Come here.” Reaching out, I pulled Lane close and tucked him against my chest. The fabric swirled against me as he moved, but the leather pants I was wearing kept me from feeling it. But the sigh that whirled across my naked chest perked up nerve endings down my body.
“You like it? It looks okay?” One hand wrapped around my back, but the other moved down to caress along his side. He didn’t seem to realize how tempting it made him look, swirling the nightgown around him in a careless, romantic way that made him look even more innocent.
God, the pictures were going to be beautiful.
“You look perfect. Sweet and sexy and almost virginal like Eli was saying, but with this eroticism that’s going to come through in the pictures.” He looked more than just okay.
Lane gave a low laugh that was almost a giggle and shook his head. “So you like it?”
I chuckled, but instead of just teasing him back, I changed my grip and tugged him up roughly. I braced him against me and pulled him so he had to rise up on his toes to stand. Instead of holding my sweet lover, I was now trapping my sexy captive, and I could feel him start to respond. “Are you teasing the beast? Is that really a good idea?”
Lane’s breath whooshed out of him, and he stared up at me silently for a moment, wide eyes making him look even more perfect. He couldn’t seem to find the words. But instead of fighting, his back arched away, giving the impression that he was startled, but it also pressed his cock against me, making it clear just how intrigued he was.
I could hear Roman grumbling that I was in the wrong place, but instead of letting the mood fade, I dragged Lane across the room like he was truly my captive. As we reached the backdrop where the lights were set up, Roman stopped fussing and focused on the pictures. I wasn’t sure what he was doing as he moved around silently adjusting things, but all I focused on was Lane.
His body arched into me, trusting me to keep him steady and safe. The nightgown went almost to the floor, but I knew the way it clung to his ass, and the way his body curved against me, Roman would be pleased with the way it looked.
“Are you my captive beauty? Who do you belong to?” I didn’t know if it was the way Lane was looking at me or just the fantasy of it all, but I felt rough and possessive like the beast who was getting ready to ravish the innocent he’d managed to capture.
Lane gave a breathless moan that was almost too low to hear and nodded. “You.”
Kissing him wasn’t really in the plan for the photos, but I leaned down and barely let my lips graze his before pulling back. “I have a way for you to remember that, my beauty.”
A delicate shiver raced through him and another low moan escaped. All I wanted in that moment was a way to capture not just the expression on his face but the low, sweet sounds as well. The combination was intoxicating.
“Kneel for me then, my beauty.”
Fuck. He was…incredible.
As I lowered him to the floor, his body folded under him until he was looking up at me with the nightgown pooled around his legs…the picture of erotic innocence. Eli must have realized what I wanted, because they appeared next to my hand without me having to look up from Lane’s eyes.
The collar.
The leash.
We’d never play this way in real life, but just for a few short moments, we’d pretend. I made slow, deliberate movements to bring the collar up to his neck as Roman focused the camera, and Eli helped adjust the lights in the background.
Lane kept his focus on my face and let everything else fade away as the shoot continued. He sank into the role of my beautiful, submissive captive with ease, and I wasn’t sure how much was him and how much was just his abilities as a model.
When the collar was snug around his neck, I buckled the leash to the small ring at his throat. My sexy, innocent captive was now my beautiful slave. Pulling the leash taut, I watched transfixed as he bowed his body and looked up at me like I was the most incredible thing he’d ever seen.
I was his beast, but he didn’t want to run. No, he wanted to run his hands over every inch of me, even though his expression said he wasn’t sure what it all meant.
Fuck. The pictures would be incredible.
With every little movement that showed how aroused he was and the need that crossed his eyes, I wanted to pull him close and take him right there. He was mine, and I would show him what it meant to belong to his beast.
I could hear Eli whisper low words of encouragement as Roman continued to give almost inaudible directions to us. Eli’s words kept us grounded enough that the fantasy didn’t take over completely, but I was starting to understand why people liked role playing so much. No matter how unreal it was, the passion and adrenaline rushing through me felt like I could climb the tallest mountain. It was a complete rush.
But watching my sweet Lane look up at me so trustingly and knowing that he was sharing a part of himself with me was even more special.
He wasn’t just sharing a fantasy. He was sharing his work with me and showing his family how much I meant to him…how much he wanted me…and that right there was even more magnificent than any fantasy. I had my Lane, and he knew I would always be right there beside him.
“Oh, my sweet stalker, the things I’m going to do to you when we get home.” I let my free hand move to cup his cheek.
A tiny mischievous smile passed over his lips. “Will it be as my beast or the tender lover who gave me the most beautiful soul-baring sketch I’ve ever seen?”
“Either. Both. Whatever you need, my sweet stalker.” Looking down into his eyes, so filled with love and tenderness, I knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him.
~~~
Shaw Montgomery loves reading, traveling, and family. While not necessarily in that order, they all rank pretty close. Shaw has lived all over the United States, and even Germany, and has finally managed to move back to North Carolina. Current wish list places to travel to are Australia, Italy, and Scotland.
Shaw reads an eclectic mix of genres, everything from Mystery and Sci-Fi Space Westerns, to traditional Romance and all kinds of Erotica. Currently the stories in Shaw’s head are femdom romance and M/m BDSM, although there are some Sci-Fi/Fantasy that can’t wait to come out as well.
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Also by M.A. Innes
His Little Man, Book 1
His Little Man, Book 2
His Little Man, Book 3
His Little Man, Book 4
His Little Man, The Complete Series
Curious Beginnings
Secrets In The Dark
Too Close To Love
Too Close To Hide
Too Close To Break
Flawed Perfection
His Missing Pieces
My Perfect Fit
Our Perfect Puzzle
Their Perfect Future
Beautiful Shame: Nick & Kyle, Book 1
Beautiful Shame: Randall & Hudson, Book 2
Leashes, Ball Gags, and Daddies: A M/m Holiday Taboo Collection
Silent Strength
Quiet Strength
Unexpected
The Accidental Master
Master By Choice
Master By Fate (Coming August 2018)
Available on Audiobook
Secrets In The Dark
Flawed Perfection
Silent Strength
Quiet Strength
Also by M.A. Innes & R. Phoenix
Almost Strangers
Alpha: Tamed & Trained, Book 2
Also by Shaw Montgomery
Surrendering to His Lady
Discovering Domination
Submissive Confession (Lord Jordan’s Submissives)
Submissive Defiance (Lord Jordan’s Submissives)
Submissive Exposure (Lord Jordan’s Submissives)
Submissive Acceptance (Lord Jordan’s Submissives)
Embracing His Submission
Bound & Controlled Book 1: Garrett’s story
Bound & Controlled Book 2: Brent’s story
Bound & Controlled Book 3: Grant’s story
Bound & Controlled Book 4: Bryce’s story
Bound & Controlled: The Complete Collection
Lane Page 18
