“Nope,” he said as he walked into the bathroom, leaving the rest unsaid.
Eve listened to the sound of running water and went back to running her fingers through Paul’s hair more to soothe herself than him.
“He’s moody,” Paul said, wrapping his arms around Eve, holding her tightly to him as he placed a kiss in the curve of her neck. “A real pain in the ass.”
“We’re hurting him,” Eve breathed quietly, keeping her voice low so only Paul heard her. “I don’t want to hurt him.”
“I don’t either,” he whispered against her neck. “But if he needs space we should give it to him.”
“No more fucking,” Danny said as he came out of the bathroom and stood at the foot of the bed, tying his pants closed. His eyes ran over Paul’s back, a look of disgust showing on his face. “I’m serious. You can take a shower if you’re careful with his back, but no fucking around of any kind. I want you both to go to bed. It’s been a very long night.”
“Fine,” Paul said in agreement.
“Evie,” Danny said warningly. “You’re not allowed to mess with him.”
“I’m not going to molest your toy,” Eve said bitterly, still feeling angry that he was walking away from them after what they had all just shared. “We’ll go to sleep— lonely.”
“I doubt that,” Danny said as he bent down and started picking up Eve’s and Paul’s leather pants and then leaned over and grabbed the corset off the bed, making methodical work of straightening it and then draping it over his arm. “Sleep well.”
Eve opened her mouth to protest, but Paul’s large hand suddenly fell over her mouth, silencing the argument she was about to start.
“Let him go,” Paul said softly. “He needs space tonight. We’ll argue with him tomorrow when he’s had a chance to unwind. He’s in Master mode, arguing with him is pointless.”
Eve just arched an eyebrow up at Paul, but Danny was already long gone and she finally relaxed beneath him in defeat. Paul removed his hand and then leaned down to give her a chaste kiss.
“I do need a shower,” she said against his lips, needing to change the subject before she started crying. “Wash my back?”
“Sure,” Paul said with an adoring smile. “Love to.”
“Did you know when we were together?”
Paul considered that, sitting across from Eve on the shower floor. Eve’s arms were wrapped around her legs that were pulled up close to her body and she looked at him with wide green eyes as her chin rested on her knees. Paul’s legs were stretched out and he rubbed his bare feet against her thighs as he stared at her through the mist from shower spray falling between them.
“Yeah, I knew,” he said with a shrug, looking away from her and staring at the bottle of shampoo on the shower floor in the corner. “You don’t just wake up one day and think, ‘Hey, I’m gonna start getting off on pain.’ It always felt good to me. I used to live to get tackled in football. Just really, you know, slammed to the ground with my face in the grass and about four linebackers crushing the air out of me. That was awesome. Breaking my knee was awesome except for the doctors telling my parents they suspected I was a masochist.”
“How’d the doctors know?”
“I wanted to stay awake for the surgery,” Paul said, shaking his head sadly as he thought about it. “I’m still pissed about that. The ultimate edge game and I missed it. Why do they give a shit if I’m awake or not? I could have done it. I wouldn’t have moved. I hate doctors.”
“That is pretty telling. Not very many people want to stay awake for surgery,” Eve said with a wince. “What did your parents say?”
“Nothing really, my father just said his sons were Marines,” Paul said and then sighed sadly. “Except that didn’t work out. I’m a pansy lawyer instead. I should have been able to stay awake for the surgery. That was the least they could have done for me.”
“I would have helped you,” she whispered softly. “If you had told me, I would have done things for you. I would have stayed here. I could have learned how. I could have been Danny for you.”
“You really think you can be like Danny?” Paul asked, raising his eyebrows at her. “Well, no,” Eve said, shaking her head sadly. “He has a special
gift
.”
“It’s a nice gift,” Paul said firmly, feeling his heart ache at the thought of living the rest of his life without Danny. “People outside the scene don’t understand. They just think one person is abusing another. But it’s deeper than that. It’s not abusing, it’s catering to them. Most of the time, we’re stuck in this world that doesn’t understand us and then you go to a BDSM club or a party and find someone who won’t judge you and has no problem giving you exactly what you need no matter how fucked up it seems.
Good Masters like Danny are awesome, they ask you what you like and they provide it. I’d never want to be a Master, it’s too much work. It’s the only fun part of my life, why would I want it to feel like a job. I got enough responsibility. I let Danny be responsible and he loves it.”
“You two are like a very twisted version of the odd couple,” Eve said with a soft smile. “It’s sweet.”
“Sweet’s not sexy,” Paul said with a roll of his eyes.
“It’s sexy to me,” Eve whispered in a low, sensual voice. “You’re beautiful together.
I want to watch you two forever.”
“I want to let you,” he said, feeling his heart clench and his eyes sting. “I wish I could let you watch us forever. Destiny has been very cruel to us, Evie Girl. It feels like more than I can take.”
“Don’t marry her,” Eve said imploringly. “Stay with Danny. Stay with me. I don’t want to lose you twice. That’s not fair.”
“So, what?” Paul asked with a pained laugh as he looked away from her and stared unseeing at the shower floor. “I’ll just tell my father that I’m living as a slave to Danny, but don’t worry, ’cause Eve gets hot watching? I’m still getting pussy, I’m not a total faggot. That’s his favorite insult, faggot. To him it’s the absolute lowest thing he can think of. My family would rather me be dead than queer. I’m serious, they would literally take out a hit on me if they found out about my problem.”
“I don’t like any of those words you just said,” Eve growled at him as her eyes narrowed. “I want you to say sorry.”
“Sorry,” he said instantly, feeling lust shimmer through him as he stared at Eve, with her long hair flowing like red waterfalls over her shoulders and clinging to her legs that were still pulled up tight against her chest. He knew his eyes had to seem glazed in adoration as he whispered, “You’re hot, Evie Girl. I’ll say sorry to you forever.”
“No, you won’t. You’re leaving me,” she said, her voice choked as tears rolled down her cheeks, mingling with the shower spray that was misting around her. “And it’s not a problem. Having two people who love you more than air is not a problem.”
“It is a problem. I was getting better. I was breaking my Danny addiction. But then you came along and I felt like I’d die if you stole him from me just like I died when I had to give you up. It was like dying twice,” Paul said, looking away from her because the sight of her tears was literally killing him. “Two men aren’t supposed to need each other like Danny and I do, that’s against nature and God and everything. And now you’re back and I feel like my heart can’t even beat without both of you. This is fucked-up shit. Three people don’t fall in love in the real world.”
“Yes, they do,” Eve said in a quivering voice. “It’s not fucked up, it’s beautiful. Why can’t you see that? Why can’t you see that you are going to kill us when you leave us?”
Paul shrugged. “I dunno, ‘cause I’m worthless?”
“Say sorry,” Eve growled at him. “Say sorry for hurting me by saying the man I love is worthless.”
“That’s not hot,” Paul whispered defiantly.
“We’re not playing the hot game right now. That game is over for tonight,” Eve snapped at him. “Now we’re playing the make Evie happy game and I don’t give a shit if it’s hot to you or not.”
Paul sucked in a sharp breath, because her anger caused a spike of lust to shoot through him and he turned back to her. “Fine,” he said softly. “I’m sorry.”
“I want you to say that there is nothing wrong with being a lawyer instead of a Marine,” Eve said in a low, demanding voice.
“I’m not saying that,” Paul said as he tried to push down the rocket fire of lust that had him wanting to submit to her. “Marines are heroes. Ask anyone if they like lawyers and they will all tell you that lawyers are worthless bastards. Nobody likes lawyers, everyone likes Marines.”
“Danny’s right, Paul Guy,” Eve said, her voice cracking with pain. “You have let your fetish rule your entire life. You spent years getting a fucking law degree so everyone could hate you. That’s some seriously demented shit.”
“I am demented,” Paul said as he looked at Eve pointedly. “Did you miss what happened tonight?”
“Getting off on pain is not demented. Being big and strong enough to do that is sexy,” Eve said, raising her eyebrows as her voice became husky. “Really sexy. I like seeing how much you can take. It turns me on. It makes me want to keep you forever.”
“Really?” Paul whispered, staring at Eve as the slow, warm feeling of being enthralled rolled over him. “I can take a lot more, you know? Danny’s a pussy about punishing me.”
“I don’t like when you say pussy like it’s a bad thing,” Eve said sharply, her eyes narrowed in disappointment. “I have a pussy. Is there anything about me that strikes you as weak or spineless?”
Paul sucked in a sharp breath, feeling that incredible pulse that came from being turned-on mingled with the haze that always came after enough pain. It was an adrenaline rush that made him feel completely euphoric. Why would he take drugs when he had this amazing high instead? He wished every day had an edge game at the end of it. Paul stared at Eve through the misty rainbows in the shower and felt as if he had fallen into heaven because she was that beautiful to him.
“You’re not weak. I don’t think that. I’d never think that,” he said quickly, feeling like he’d die if he disappointed her. “You’re a goddess. I’m not playing the game right now. You’re really a goddess to me. You’ve always been a goddess.”
Eve took a shaking breath and looked at him sadly. “You’d hate it if I said you were a god to me, wouldn’t you?”
“I would, I’d hate that. It’d be like you were insulting the most precious thing in the world to me,” he whispered in horror, wincing at just the thought of her saying that. “I know who I am and I don’t want to be in the same category with you. You’re radiant. I just want to worship at your feet. That’s what I want, that makes me happy.”
Eve smiled at him and whispered softly, “Okay.”
“What?” Paul blinked in surprise, his eyes feeling heavy in desire and hazy exhaustion. “You’d let me?”
“Sure,” she said, her smile growing broader. “Goddesses like their servants to be happy. I want you to be happy. Anything it takes to make you happy, you tell me.”
“Danny—”
“Danny’s sleeping,” Eve whispered with a mischievous smile, showing off cute dimples in her cheeks. “When the Master’s away, the servants play. You want to play with me, Paul Guy?”
Paul nodded quickly. “Yes, I do, more than anything.”
“And what if he finds out in the morning that I broke the rules?” Eve asked, her smile becoming lazy and devious. “Would you take my punishment for me?”
“Oh, I would,” Paul rasped, his vision going hazy as lust and desire rolled over him in a hot rush of exhilaration at the idea of doing something completely selfless for Eve. “Would that make you happy?”
“A big, strong slave taking a punishment for me?” Eve repeated, her smile still bright. “That would make me ecstatic. You do that for me and I will let you worship at my feet whenever you want.”
“We should do this,” Paul said instantly. “We should break the rules. You’re a goddess. It’s okay if it’s with you. I’ll do anything for you.”
“That works,” Eve said as she stood up in the shower and then took the one small step that brought her directly in front of him. She leaned into him, placing her hands on the wall and dropping her head to look down at him with emerald eyes that sparkled in desire. “Go crazy, Paul Guy. Impress me.”
Paul groaned as he let his eyes run over Eve, her pale skin slick and wet, her long hair clinging to her body. He loved her long legs, the curve in her waist, the way her breasts looked when he leaned back against the wall and tilted his head up. Seeing her above him felt like he had the whole world in that shower stall.
It felt strange to touch her again without Danny there, but he found that once he reached out and trailed a hand up one smooth, pale thigh, being with Eve was something that couldn’t be forgotten. She moaned, her head falling back heavily as her hair tangled around her, clinging to bare shoulders and full, firm breasts. Paul was completely lost to her and he kissed her hipbone reverently, both his hands running up her thighs to grip at her hips.
“Can I taste you?” he asked hopefully.
“Sure,” Eve said seductively. “We’ll conduct an experiment to see who does it better, slaves or Masters.”
“Depends on what you like,” Paul offered as he felt a fresh onslaught of desire roll over him and he stared up at Eve longingly. “Masters do it to torment, slaves do it to please.”
Eve arched an eyebrow. “You think you can please me?”
“I know I can,” he said confidently. “If you let me, I’d sit here and please you until morning.”
“That sounds like a party,” Eve said, pushing her hips forward. “Put your mouth on me. If you do it well, I might even let you fuck me.”
Paul groaned, pulling her to him as his body tightened in desire. He let his tongue slide between her folds and then sucked on her clit softly. Eve gasped, her head falling back heavily as his tongue darted out, lapping at her softly.
“Put your leg over my shoulder,” he whispered against her and then licked teasingly once more. “I want you to be comfortable.”
“Your back,” Eve whispered in complaint.
“It’s fine,” he said, running his hand up one silky thigh encouragingly. “Do it and I’ll hold on to you. I won’t let you fall.”
“I know you won’t. I trust you,” Eve said with a smile, draping one leg over his shoulder. She put most of her weight on him, and he groaned at the feel of it, moving his hands around to her back to pull her forward. Eve took her hands off the wall, melting into him, with one hand on his shoulder and the other tangled in his wet hair. He swirled his tongue over her with intent and she gasped, “God, Paul Guy, that’s good. Make me come, baby.”