“Yeah… Just this once.”
Oh, goddamn. He was serious. Max folded and unfolded his arms. Raked a hand through his hair. “Fuck, Sean… I dunno… Kai might find that shit intrusive. It isn’t what we agreed on when we—”
“What about the observation room?” Sean’s eyes all but pleaded.
Shit, shit, shit. That was a perfectly sound solution, but Max still wanted no fucking part of it. It was bad enough that they were even at his house to begin with, engaging in God only knew what under Max’s roof. But to watch them engaging? Max didn’t think that he could. Like literally didn’t think he was capable.
“Sean.” He shook his head, groaned and scrubbed his face. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
“Please, Max. Just this once. Then I’ll be good to go. Out of your life forever.”
Another twist of that blade. Max cursed and turned away. He wanted to watch them like he wanted a hole in his head. “Fine,” he rasped. He was going to regret this. “I promise to keep tabs from the observation room.”
“Thanks,” Sean murmured.
Max nodded and looked down. No point trying to talk Sean out of this. He was determined to go through with it, no matter what. Not that Max could complain. They were in this predicament because of him. His chest squeezed. Dread filled him. Then his hands went all clammy again. “Alright,” he muttered, turning back around. “Let’s go get you comfortable with your new Dom.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Sean was going to be sick. He could feel it. He was.
Either that, or have a full-fledged fucking panic attack.
He shifted on his knees atop the demonstration room’s floor, trying not to lose it as Kai bound him. Bound him, as in with ropes that he was clearly very skilled with, as Sean waited in nothing but his black bikini briefs. A super-sexy pair he bought specifically to piss Max off. Or rub him wrong, or stress him out, or anything. After all, the only reason Sean was there at all was to find out how Max bottom-line felt about him.
Yeah, he knew Max cared on some level, even despite his asshole stunt last Monday. The kiss Sean had stolen in his office two weeks prior had definitely proven that much. But then, so did the intimate fuck that ensued after. The way Max behaved at the club also bore testimony. So did Scott and Tad’s recent claims. But those weren’t enough. Not to Sean. Because those changed nothing in the long run. Max still wanted Sean gone, and Sean was still in a state of limbo, not knowing if he just needed to try harder.
After all, he hadn’t forgotten that Max was deeply jaded and that that ruled his behavior to some degree. Not that that excused Max’s little stunt. That shit had been beyond first-class dickish. But when Tad disclosed to Sean on Friday that there’d been a tragedy in Max’s past, it’d revived Sean’s long-standing belief; that there was more going on than met the eye. That Max was once again just barricading himself in thorns.
So now, what Sean needed to figure out was if Max cared enough to make his efforts to keep fighting even worth it. And not some colossally desperate waste of time. Because while he may be heartbroken, he wasn’t desperate. Had the self-respect to walk away if he needed to.
Now to find out if he needed to, because tonight’s session was going to reveal all. If Max could sit back and watch Kai have his way with Sean, then it’d be brutally clear that he didn’t truly love him. But if Max wasn’t able to stomach it and somehow stopped it all from happening, then Sean would finally know for sure that he did. That Max did love him and that Sean needed to hang in there. To weather Max’s storm until the end.
He wouldn’t lie; remembering the way Max acted at the club was his biggest source of hope. How he’d gone all angry-possessive male when that guy groped Sean’s ass. That was the kind of reaction Sean was looking for tonight. God knew, Kai would be doing more than groping.
Heart pounding anxiously, Sean waited in silence as Kai tied his arms together behind his back. First around Sean’s biceps, pulling them close, forcing his shoulder blades to bunch tight. Kai bound his elbows together next, then moved things down to his wrists. Within minutes, Sean’s arms were fully restrained, and Kai was on to weaving his black ropes around Sean’s torso.
It was kind of fascinating to watch the guy work. So focused on his craft, on his art. And Sean couldn’t help noticing how different it felt, being trussed up in smooth nylon instead of cuffs. Being completely immobilized in a kind of sensual webbing instead of the raw, mediaeval erotica of iron and chains. In truth, Sean didn’t mind it. Actually found it pretty hot.