When I started organizing the pantry for the second time, I forced myself to walk away. Once I started alphabetizing canned goods, it was time to find something else to do. The place was fine. He’d already said he wanted to move in and had even paid the first month’s rent.
I wasn’t exactly sure what was so stressful, that I’d wanted my new roommate or that I hadn’t scared him off even by being insanely honest. I should have scared him off. Any halfway normal person would have bolted, right? One young guy, who I’d thought was a barista by the way he was dressed, had taken one look at me and simply turned around. Walking away, he’d shaken his head and mumbled something about a wrong number.
I hadn’t even bothered to chase him down. If just by opening the door I’d freaked him out enough that he hadn’t realized we weren’t on the phone, I wasn’t going to bother with the whole speech. He wouldn’t have even lasted through the first load of laundry.
Or the first time I invited a guy back to the condo and bent him over for a sound spanking before we fucked. Nope, he’d have run at the first cry or strangled moan, no matter how consensual it was. I was hoping Reece would have more staying power.
And that sounded dirty.
I wasn’t going to think of him that way. Just because he had those big brown eyes that made me want to see him naked and kneeling at my feet didn’t mean I was going to let my brain go down that path. I had more self-control than that.
Usually.
Most of the time.
Nearly always.
I wasn’t going to let anything get out of hand, not my behavior around him nor my fantasies. It didn’t matter how perfectly he fit my ideal man. That was just looks. Once he moved in, it would be clear that he wasn’t submissive and wasn’t an option. He’d invite a woman over or would say something about how odd kinks were if one came up in a sitcom or documentary. There was no way he’d continue to be that perfect.
Forcing myself to walk out of the kitchen, I headed back to my bedroom. I was going to do something relaxing, even if it killed me. Stripping out of my clothes, I carefully put everything away and went to the dresser. A messy bedroom made it almost impossible for me to sleep, so everything was neat and the surfaces mainly clutter-free.
Sorting through the drawers, I picked out a pair of blue satin briefs that were sexy and comfortable and grabbed a pair of red silk pajama pants. Once Reece moved in, I’d add a shirt, but that was my only concession to living with someone. It wasn’t like I was walking around in a nightgown. They were drafty and just hadn’t felt right. But soft, silky pants were perfect for hanging around the house and relaxing.
And that was what I was going to do.
The combination of satin and silk made it almost impossible for my cock to behave. And the way the pants clung to my body outlined my half-hard cock perfectly. So maybe I’d have to be a little more careful with Reece than I had been with some of my other roommates.
He was hot enough that it might cause a problem.
Heading back toward the kitchen, I only stayed long enough to nuke some leftover Chinese food and then went out to the couch. Grabbing the remote, I flicked through the channels until I found a history documentary that looked interesting. Maybe it wasn’t the most exciting night, but I wasn’t working or cleaning the house, so it counted.
When my phone started ringing halfway through the show, I almost ignored it. But thinking it could’ve been work, I got up and followed the noise. I wasn’t much for stalking my cell in my downtime since I was on it most of the day, and I wasn’t surprised to hear it coming from the office.
It was almost going to voicemail by the time I grabbed it, so I didn’t even have time to figure out who was calling before I swiped my finger across the screen. “Hello?”
“Um, hi, it’s Reece. I just wanted to talk to you about Friday.” Reece’s smooth voice came over the phone, and every nerve sat up and took notice.
“Did you have a chance to call the shipping company?” I wasn’t sure if he could really get things organized that quickly, so when he made an affirmative noise, I was surprised.
Reece immediately answered, “Yes, they’ve been easy to work with so far, and it should be there around ten Friday morning.”
“Will someone need to sign for it, or—”
I must have been gruffer than I’d realized because he broke in, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll be there to meet them, so there isn’t anything you’ll need to do.”
Wanting to make sure he’d planned everything out, I continued my questions. “Do you have anyone to help you unload?”
“Yes.” I could almost see his confident nod, and the perverse part of me who wanted him to be a sub mentally added a “Sir” to his answer. “I have a few people from work who’ve said they’re going to help me. My boss even made sure it was easy for everyone to have the time off. They’ve been great.”
“That’s good.” And surprising. Quite a few of my previous roommates had ended up doing most of the work themselves, because they hadn’t wanted me to help, but couldn’t find anyone else. Looking back, that should have been a sign. If they were too crazy to find friends, then I probably shouldn’t have let them move in.
“They’re, um, all a bit loud, but they mean well, and I’ll try to keep out of your way. I don’t want to interrupt your schedule or work. I understand it’s your office as well as your home, so I’ll do my best to respect that.” I was reading too much into his statement, but something about the way he’d said it made me picture a sweet sub on his knees waiting for his master.
Eager to please.
Wanting to show Master how good he could be.
Desperate for the spanking he knew would be coming.
And I needed to get my imagination under control, or every time I saw him I was going to end up with a hard-on. Clearing my voice, trying not to sound like I was erect and ready to bend him over, I tried to put him at ease. “Don’t worry about it. I realize that moving is difficult, and I’ve made sure I don’t have anything pressing that day. You have enough to worry about without me telling you to behave because I’m on the phone.”
And that hadn’t come out right.
Roommates weren’t told to behave, subs were.
Fuck.
He gave a quick cough but didn’t say anything about my slip. Had he not realized what I’d said? Was he just chalking it up to me being odd? Finally, Reece spoke again. “Thanks. I appreciate how easy you're making this. Finding someone who you get along with and can relate to is difficult. I think we’re going to end up having a lot in common.”
To my ears, the words sounded too careful to be just a random comment. But I knew I was just reading between the lines again. With the kind of mood I was in, I could make anything sound dirty. “I think so too.”
Probably not, but I wasn’t going to say it and end up sounding like an ass.
“Well, I’ll be over there Friday morning. Um, was there anything else I needed to do or sign?” He sounded hesitant, and I wanted to say just a little bit eager.
“I think we got everything done yesterday. Just let me know if you need help with the move or if you’re not going to be able to meet the delivery guys for some reason.” And I had to get off the phone before I said anything else ridiculous.
Telling him to behave…what was I going to do next, call him a naughty boy?
Reece made a low hum of agreement. “Sure, and thanks again. I’ll see you Friday.” He quickly disconnected the call, and I tossed my phone back onto the desk.
“You’re screwed.” He was going to make me crazy.
I gave up on the idea of finishing the documentary and headed for my room. There was only one way I wanted to relax at that moment, and it wasn’t watching TV. Walking in, I pushed the door so it almost caught on the frame and went over to stretch out on the bed.
I didn’t even bother to get naked. I just cupped my aching cock through the pants and gave it a long stroke. It wasn’t going to take
long, and I wasn’t in any mood to drag it out. Edging a sub was perfection, but when it was just me getting off, I was more of a straight-to-the-point kind of guy.
The hard length of my dick strained against the panties, and I finally gave in. Shoving down the soft pajama bottoms and panties with one hand, I leaned over to the nightstand and squirted the lotion into my other.
Taking my cock in a tight grip, I closed my eyes and pictured a sub stretched across my bed. Tied down at all four corners, he’d be humping the bed, trying to get enough friction on his cock to orgasm, but it would be no use. The tight cock ring wrapped around his erection would keep him from coming.
Moving my hand faster, I imagined flogging my sub, watching his ass grow pink while he writhed and moaned. I was getting closer and closer to the edge—the fantasy was too perfect. And if I finally orgasmed to the mental picture of a brown-eyed sub begging his master to let him come, I was going to ignore it.
Reaching over for the tissues on the table next to the bed, I cleaned up my chest where streaks of cum had hit. Shoving my clothes the rest of the way off my legs, I got up and headed for the bathroom. I was going to shower and then pretend I hadn’t jerked off to the image of my straight, more than likely very vanilla roommate.
Shaking my head at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I felt ridiculous. “You are so fucked.”
Chapter 4
Reece
Hanging up the phone, I couldn’t resist berating myself. Could I have sounded any more like a needy sub? It didn’t matter that I was a needy sub in desperate need of a spanking and thorough fucking. Houston didn’t need to know that.
He also didn’t need to know that I was quickly becoming obsessed with what he was wearing under his clothes, and what other kinds of sexy things I might see in his laundry. Working around half-naked men all day and scrolling through page after page of sexy photos on the site wasn’t helping, either. I could picture Houston in everything from sweet and simple to erotic and wicked, and everything in between.
“You’re an idiot.”
“Why are you an idiot?” Eli’s head came around the doorframe, grinning and clearly looking for something to do, if the teasing gleam in his eyes was any indication. “Did you do something fabulously naughty?”
Laughing, I shook my head. Not yet, at least. “No, I just realized how stupid I sounded on the phone.”
Eli didn’t bother to hide his curiosity. He just sauntered right in wearing tiny little briefs and not much else, unless you counted the bright pink nail polish that hadn’t been there earlier. “Who were you calling?”
“My new roommate.” I shrugged and leaned back in my chair, stretching my neck out. “I was just letting him know when the truck was going to drop off the storage container. You’re still okay with helping? I really appreciate it, but I know it’s a lot—”
“No.” Eli held up a hand and leaned one half-naked butt cheek on my desk. “None of us mind helping. We’re a family here. A weird, fucked-up, maybe slightly incestuous bunch, but still a family.”
I knew his little speech was supposed to make me feel better, but I was left feeling confused and curious instead. Hell, that had probably been the point to begin with. Ignoring the weird parts, I just focused on the fact that I was clearly family too. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Eli grinned. “So why did you sound like an idiot?”
It had been too much to hope he’d forget about that part. “Nothing specific, I just didn’t come across very professional.”
Eli wasn’t going to be thrown off the trail. “If you weren’t professional, I’m thinking he’s distracting…or hot?”
“Eli.” I rolled my eyes and tried not to let him guess how right he was, but it was no use.
“Oh, he’s that hot? Tell me all about the sexy mystery man. We know he’s gay. You said something about him being in finance and working from home. Didn’t you say he was kind of off and just charged in…charging in…taking charge…taking control…” Eli smirked and did a little happy dance. “Hmm, I think we have something interesting here.”
“Nothing interesting.” At least, probably not. “He was just a bit rough around the edges.”
“Rough around the edges like a Dom that’s passionately into his new mysterious roommate?” Eli was clearly getting into the fantasy. “I bet you didn’t tell him about yourself at all, and he’s pining for you.”
In my dreams. “You’re an idiot.” And so was I.
“I’m fabulous and right. We’ll see when I go on Friday. I have great radar for Doms.” He shrugged. “They always turn out to be assholes, but I can spot them a mile away.”
Considering his weird almost-relationship with Roman, I wasn’t going to count on his radar. He couldn’t even see—Nope, I wasn’t going to get involved. Not my business. “I’d rather you not point out that he’s an asshole, but thanks. I need a place to live, and I’m not getting kicked out for coming on to him. Besides, nothing about him said Dom, and no one at the bar said anything about him being a Dom, did they?”
Vague hinting didn’t count.
Eli shrugged. “That’s not the point. I didn’t ask. I just made sure he wasn’t insane when you found the notice.”
Such a big help.
“Well, he’s not crazy, and that’s all I’m worried about.” With a big room and great kitchen, he could be as crazy as he wanted, as long as the rent didn’t go up. He could even walk around in the same sexy outfits that Eli and the rest of the guys did, and I wouldn’t say a word. Nope, not one word.
Moans didn’t count.
Pushing away from my desk, I groaned as I stood up. I’d been sitting for too many hours. “Okay, I’m done.”
Eli glanced at the clock and cocked one eyebrow. “You should have been gone ages ago.”
I shrugged, not concerned about the time. “I knew when I took the job that the hours might be weird. And with the time off I’m getting on Friday, I don’t feel bad. Preston said not to worry about using PTO for it, so I want to make sure I’m not leaving you guys in the lurch.”
“We’ll be fine. And I even promised not to update the blog while you’re getting moved in, didn’t I?” He gave me a look like I should be very proud of him.
“Yes, thank you for agreeing not to crash the site again while I can’t be here.” If it came out slightly sarcastically, I wasn’t going to feel bad.
Neither did Eli, evidently, because he smiled and straightened. “I’m happy to help.”
“Thanks.” I was surrounded by crazy people; no wonder my own sanity wasn’t able to keep up with all the wild fantasies running through my mind.
Closing everything down for the night, I started heading out of the office. “You coming?”
He smirked. “Not yet, but give me a bit and I could be tempted.”
“Eli.” Rolling my eyes, I just started walking away.
Eli laughed and bounced out of the room after me. “What are we doing for dinner? You’re clearly bored.”
I had to laugh. I was bored? “I don’t want to be out late. I have to pack tonight.”
I glanced back to see Eli waving his hand like I was being ridiculous. “You’ve been living out of a suitcase. You have like fifteen minutes of packing, tops.”
Unfortunately, he was right. But in my defense, it was two suitcases and a couple of boxes in my car. As we headed up the stairs at the end of the hall, I gave him a firm look. “I’m still not going out late. No dragging me to weird bars.”
“Hey, at that weird bar you found a roommate. So I think you owe me.” Eli perked up and almost danced up the stairs.
There was no ignoring his state of dress anymore. “Why are you naked?”
“I’m not naked.” He stopped in front of me and wiggled his ass so the panties flashed in my face.
“Fine, why are you dancing around here in just panties?” I knew better than to ask, but there was just something about working there that had my common sense leaking out my ears.
I was stupid. “What kind of bet?”
Beaming, he stopped and posed on the stairs. “I have to work in just panties or lingerie for the next two days. Then I win.”
My inner idiot couldn’t be held back. “Why and what?”
Eli must have understood what I was asking because he grinned and kept walking. “One of the people who regularly comments on the blog wanted to find a way to drive Roman crazy and came up with the bet. If I win, then he’s going to donate two thousand dollars to the LGBT youth center downtown, and he gets to claim that his idea made Roman nuts.”
“He doesn’t know what you look like or anything, does he?” The guys had been lucky when it came to not attracting crazies, but after seeing some of the comments on his blog, I wanted them all to be careful.
Eli just waved his hand and started down the hall on the top floor, obviously heading for my room. “Of course not. He’s agreed to let Preston be the one who says that I completed the terms of the bet, and I’ve said that I’m going to post lots of selfies to the blog.”
“To the blog?” Was that what he’d said?
Shit.
“Oh, that’s what I forgot to tell you.” That didn’t seem to bother him. He just shrugged and waved his hands around dramatically. “It will be fine. I was going to mention it, but I got distracted. You were moaning about your new roommate and got me right off track.”
“Of course, it’s my fault.” My sarcasm was clear as I unlocked the door.
“See.” I was rewarded with a huge smile as he gave me a look like I was a child who’d just said something smart.
Unlocking my door, I just shook my head. “Eli.”
“It will be fine. No site crashing, just posting a few selfies to show I’m playing along with the bet.” He was as earnest and sweet as he could be when he was nearly naked. Lord, I was going to have to deal with a panty-clad Eli for days?
Houston Page 3
