* * * *“How many more guests are we waiting on?” Gideon asked, looking out the huge windows to the mountainside. The scene was perfectly romantic. Some of the guests were happily tromping through the snow carrying skis or sleds. They seemed carefree. It was not a feeling he could relate to.
“Just one more,” Reid said, walking up behind him.
Reid’s hand slipped up his sweater, tracing the strong line of his back. He suppressed the sigh of pure pleasure that came from being connected to Reid. His best friend and lover let his chin rest on Gideon’s shoulder. It was a familiar gesture, but it had been an awfully long time since he’d felt it.
For months and months there had been nothing but ice between them. He’d lost so fucking much that one day. He’d lost his family, his career, his place in the only society he knew.
But worse, he’d lost Jessica and Reid.
He deserved to lose Jessica. Hell, he’d never really had her. If she’d known about his secret life, she would have turned away. But Reid…he might not deserve Reid, but after twelve years with him, not sharing their lives openly was slowly killing him.
Gideon stayed perfectly still, not wanting to break the connection. The Dom in him wanted to simply order Reid to touch him.
Yeah, that didn’t work anymore. Trust was the key. And he’d broken Reid’s trust into a thousand pieces. How long would it take to get his life back?
“Dom or sub?” Gideon asked. Stick to the conference. It had only been a couple of months since they had started talking about anything outside of work. Gideon had been grateful for the day when Reid started using words with more than four letters and foul hand gestures to communicate.
“A pretty little sub.” Reid’s sexy whisper made Gideon wonder.
What did this sub look like? It had been a long time since he and Reid had a gorgeous female sub between them. After he’d agreed to marry Anna, they hadn’t played. Despite the fact that Gideon had never actually touched Anna and they had a discreetly open relationship, it had seemed wrong to him to bring a woman in.
Maybe the way to get back into Reid’s heart was to remind him of how much fun they’d once had. “Good. I wasn’t in the mood to give a stern lecture to a late Dom. I’d love to spank a sub though. It will be a good way to start the seminar right.”
Reid let his arm drift around Gideon’s waist. “Will you? You haven’t seemed terribly interested in disciplining anyone for a long time.”
“Can you blame me? I’ve spent all my time trying to get you to talk to me again.”
There was a long sigh, but to Gideon’s complete relief, he didn’t pull away. “I miss you. I’m tired of being apart. Are you finally willing to understand that Anna was a horrible mistake?”
“I know Anna was a mistake,” Gideon replied woodenly. He was back to being morose, though not for the reasons he suspected Reid thought. He could forgive himself for Anna. It wasn’t Anna’s blonde beauty that haunted Gideon. It was a petite, curvy thing with big blue eyes and chestnut hair that made his heart clench every time he thought about her. He shrugged out of Reid’s embrace. Maybe he wasn’t ready for this. “Is there anything to do before tonight’s mixer? The caterers have everything ready?”
Reid sighed. “Yes. Everything’s ready. I planned the menu myself. It will go smoothly, just like everything else. You’re running on fumes, you know.”
He turned and looked at his long-time best friend. They’d shared everything since they were nineteen. Well, everything except Anna, and that had been the trouble. Gideon had tried the vanilla route in public, and it had been a disaster. He’d tried to please his family and ended up hurting everyone he truly loved. He could still hear his father turning him out. His mother had cried prettily, but she wouldn’t take his phone calls even six months later. His brother had been well pleased. When Gideon had left the mansion he’d grown up in, his ex-fiancée had been at his brother’s side, her well-manicured fingers clutching his arm. Gideon still wondered how long his brother had been having an affair with Anna. The thought that his baby brother had outed him left him weary on the inside. It should have enraged him, but he’d simply felt hollow.
He’d buried himself in their legal business for the past six months. It had been damn good for the bottom line, even if it didn’t help him out emotionally. He kept up his obligations in the D/s community. Gideon couldn’t see what Reid was complaining about. If he wanted to brood, shouldn’t that be up to him? “What do you mean? You’re going to have to give me a list of grievances. I’m sure it’s long. Mind how you talk to me, though. I’m in a bit of a sadistic mood.”