In a way, Archie and I had been on the same journey since our fateful evening five years ago. He’d been preparing for the future he wanted. I’d acted out my inner desires on Sloan’s kids. I already had a swing set and a sandbox. My upstairs area… Well. It was kiddie paradise.
Children’s toys and dog toys were scattered on the lawn, as they should be.
“This is nice,” I murmured. Running on just a few hours of sleep made me a little drowsy, but it also made things even more comfortable. I had nothing else to do right now but enjoy my footstool, the nice weather, the sound of clucking hens, and the dogs resting in the sun.
Archie was struggling, which made the whole scene much more enjoyable. His arms trembled a little every now and then, and I bet his neck was straining. But he wanted to be perfect for me.
I cleared my throat, failing to hold back the bulldozer in me. “I’m only putting this in your head—I don’t expect you to make a decision tomorrow or next week, but I want you to know I’m looking forward to the day you stop working.” And if I said that, I had to state the reason too. “Something we shy away from discussing when we enter a kink relationship is the hypothetical fallout.”
“No wonder—why would I want to discuss that, Sir?” he asked quietly.
“Because it should be an insurance policy, especially with a fetish like ours,” I answered. “We’ve agreed on this already, but I’ll say it again. I’m more than comfortable taking our time with dating. I have zero worries where our compatibility and chemistry are concerned—it ain’t like we don’t get to know each other in the kink aspects of our relationship. And that aspect—I wanna dive right in, Archie. I want you here with me. I want to take care of you, control you, make sure you have absolutely no outside worries to bother with. Your focus should be on me, any partners we might connect with, and our home.” I paused to ensure I picked the right words. “You’ve already gone full throttle to serve me, and I need to restore a balance—or create one, where I’m not just the asshole using you for my pleasure.”
He didn’t say anything, though I could tell I had his attention. He was listening to me.
“This is why I want to bring up a scenario in which we break up,” I said. “Not because I believe or want it to happen, but because I want you to understand and hopefully be comforted by the fact that I would never just let you go. A Master’s responsibility goes beyond that. To put it crassly, I’m on cleanup duty if things go south between us.”
It was one of the reasons I couldn’t quite get Corey out of my head. I worried Marcus was going to drop him once they broke up—and they fucking better break up. Marcus wouldn’t stick around to repair the damage he’d caused.
Littles and slaves, I kept saying—they were extra vulnerable.
“You’d be under my care until you were ready to stand on your own again,” I clarified. “It includes everything from work and living situation to behavioral conditioning.” After withdrawing my legs from his back, I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his shoulder. “Does that make sense?”
He nodded subtly and hauled in a breath when I casually caressed his soft cock. “Yes, Master. I…I don’t think I can put into words how much I appreciate you. Maybe I’m naïve or maybe…I don’t know. But it never entered my mind that you might not be trustworthy.” His breathing turned unsteady as I slowly got him hard. Call it part of training. He was supposed to be able to multitask with me. “I don’t want to believe I’m naïve. I felt comfortable and drawn to you the moment we met five years ago. And what I mean is—Christ.”
“I don’t think he’s here.” I smiled to myself and rose from my seat to hike a leg over him again. Standing over his naked form, I bent down and stroked him unhurriedly and planted a trail of kisses along his neck and shoulders. In this position… Hell, had his ass not been filled, I would’ve railed him from behind. “You were saying?”
“Hnngh. In short, oh fuck, I never doubted you.” He gasped. “You’re not the type of man who would release a sub just like that. That’s not why I haven’t considered handing in my notice at work.” If he spoke any faster, he’d sound like that mother and daughter on that TV show who couldn’t shut up. I forgot the name, but my mother and Peyton were obsessed with some reboot of it. “I just—I think it’s too soon for me to be a financial burden.”