Unearthed (The Dungeon Black Duology 1)

Sean forced his muscles to relax. Then got busy with damage control. “Wow.” He cleared his throat. “You’re a Dom. That’s… That’s wild.”

Max took his time responding. “It’s part of who I am.”

“Well, that’s cool, because I like who you are.”

And that was the God’s honest truth. Everything aside, he thought Max was amazing. This new information hadn’t changed that. It’d just… opened his eyes a bit more, that’s all. To why Max was the person he was. Sean clung to that, kept his eyes locked on to that truth, refusing to jump to conclusions. He needed more information. And now that Max had finally opened up…

“So, that pair I saw? Coming out of your house?”

“Yeah. Part of the job.”

“Your subs are all guys?”

“Some are women also.”

Sean chewed on his lip. Women, too? “Does that mean you’re bi?”

“No, that means I dom both genders.”

Hmm. Another dodge. Subtle but effective.

“But are you bi?”

“No, Sean. I’m gay. I fuck guys. Not chicks. Anymore questions?”

“Um. No.”

“Alright then. Straighten up. Get those shoulders back.”

Sean righted his posture. “I’m gay, too.”

He wanted to get it out there. He preferred it that way. Just one less thing to worry about.

“You don’t fuckin’ say,” Max muttered flatly, but Sean could sense him smiling.

“I’m really that obvious?” Was he really that obvious?

“Seriously? You flirt like a tomcat.”

Sean couldn’t help it. He laughed that time. “It’s part of who I am.”

“Mmhmm.” More palpable smiles from behind. Then a minute later, “Have you told your family?”

Sean paused at his tone. Why’d Max suddenly sound reserved? “Uh, yeah. Of course. My friends know, too.”

“And how do they feel about it?”

Sean shrugged. “They’re fine. My sister, my parents, they’re all free spirits. Sometimes open-minded to a fault. And they have gay friends. My dad’s best friend is gay.” And has a thing for preteens. “So, yeah… They’ve all been pretty cool.”

“And your friends?” Max’s voice sounded oddly relieved.

“The ones who knew in high school accepted it okay. But here I pretty much just hang out with our kind.” He thought of Jonah, his best friend and roommate, and then he thought of Max’s.

“Is your roommate, Scott, gay?”

“One hundred percent.”

“Are the two of you… you know… a thing?”

“Me and Scott?” Max chuckled wryly. “No. That’d be like fucking my brother.”

Sean’s insides purred. At Max’s answer, yeah, but especially from his amused little rumble. He could seriously listen to that shit day and night. Twenty-four-fucking-seven.

Unfortunately, Max didn’t say much after that. Just kind of kept to himself. Which Sean supposed was for the best. It’d take some time to wrap his brain around everything, and Max was probably letting him digest.

The guy was a Dom. Liked to do weird shit. But weird wasn’t necessarily bad. After all, it was a job, and people were paying him. Paying him to do whatever it was he did. So they must really like it. Hell, they might even love it. Especially with Max at the helm. He seemed to excel at everything he did. No reason this would be any different.

Sean closed his eyes and let his imagination run free. His first vision: Max, decked out in black leather. Black vest, black pants, black boots, black hat. But then a long whip appeared in his hand. Sean’s heart sped up. The image was scary, yet at the same time, exciting as shit. Why, he didn’t know. In fact, the feelings were kind of jarring. What he did know for sure, though, was that as long as Max was in the equation, his mind stayed nice and open. Sean liked new. Liked different. Wasn’t afraid of the unknown. Which pretty much equated to one simple fact: he wasn’t quite ready to get off their joy ride just yet.

* * * * *

“Geez, Sean. About time you finally got home. C’mere. I need your help.”

Barely inside his apartment door, Sean smiled at Jonah across the room. Not because of his best friend’s comically antsy state—leaned forward on the couch, knees bouncing away as he stared at some catalog on the coffee table—but because, for at least the third time this month, he was wearing another light pink shirt. And Sean would bet his next paycheck it wasn’t on purpose. Poor Jonah didn’t merely have crappy vision, he was also severely color blind.

“Hurry up, cowpoke.” Jonah impatiently waved him over. “I need your opinion on something.”

“Alright already. Slow your roll.”

Sean hung his keys on their designated key hook, one for him, one for Jonah, in their tiny little foyer. Jonah’s idea, of course. He was kind of anal sometimes and had insisted as he installed them the first day they moved in that Sean would quickly grow to love his. Which truthfully, he had. Helped him always be on time. Sean absolutely hated being late.

He ambled over and plopped down next to Jonah. “Whatchu got, Joe Bo?”