Caden's Dilemma (Indiscreet #6) (3 page)

“What do you prefer? To eat from my hand or have your own meal? Since this is the first time I’ve visited the club and procured a sub for the evening, I don’t know the proper protocol. It was different at the wedding— we just did what everyone else was doing. Feeding you is more meaningful now.”

Johnny was impressed. Here was a man who was unafraid to admit ignorance and willing to work with him to facilitate their joint satisfaction. “I’d like it, Sir, if you treated me like the others.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Johnny watched as Caden prepared bite-sized morsels for him from the array of dishes on top of the table.

“Masato, what brought you to Indiscreet?” Caden popped a garlic shrimp into Johnny’s mouth. Johnny took the time to think of an appropriate answer while he chewed.

“I want to serve but I also long for a sense of safety. I feel that all of my life I’ve had to make all of the hard decisions for myself and by myself. I’d like someone to make decisions for me. To take care of me, not financially—there I can take care of myself—but emotionally and spiritually. In return I’d give him all that I am and have.” Johnny shook his head. He hadn’t meant to give that much away.

Caden looked down at Johnny. “I need someone to care about, someone who needs me to take away his burdens and who, in return will let me be the Master in my own home.” He fed Johnny some more shrimp. “I want someone who is content with me making the decisions and running our lives as I see fit. I need the assurance that my sub will accept my decisions as final once I decide that the discussion is over. I require complete control. In the Army, I felt I had little control over anything and I’ve found that is something I now require.” Caden stopped speaking for a moment as if deep in thought. “I’ve always been a Dom, but after the Army, control has become a necessity in my life. I need a sub that is comfortable, who won’t balk at my being completely in charge of our lives.” Caden reiterated as he slipped a stuffed mushroom into Johnny’s waiting mouth.

Johnny licked his fingers. Johnny thought,
It’s almost as if he is trying to warn me how it would be.

“I can empathize with the way you feel about control. All of my life I’ve had to be the sensible one, the one in charge, I want someone else to carry that burden. If you found the right person, what would you offer in return for control of his life?” Johnny leaned in to better hear Caden’s answer over the other conversations at and under the table

“Everything I am, along with everything I have. I won’t be able to provide for my boy as well as Cisco, Bear or Gary; but with this new job I’ll make a respectable living. We would live well but not ostentatiously. He would live in my home and be subject to my direction. Although I’m not into giving out a great deal of pain, I would want to do occasional scenes and there would be daily discipline to keep him grounded.”

“How do you feel about protocol?” Johnny asked, knowing he couldn’t spend his whole day bowing and scraping. He rubbed his face on Caden’s palm when he was fed a piece of loaded potato skin.

“At the club, I would expect protocol to be observed to the same extent that the others in my party commanded from their submissives unless, of course, my sub was in silence as punishment. At home, protocol would be relaxed. I want a submissive for intelligent conversation and companionship as well as service.” Caden fed Johnny some tenderloin. “Meeting his needs as a submissive would become my first priority. I expect to love my sub. Although most Doms will enter into a relationship with no intense feelings on either side and hope they develop later, I’m of a mind that the feelings, or at least the beginnings of such feelings, should exist before the contract is signed.”

Bear was speaking to the other Doms, and Caden stopped talking to Johnny in order to listen to what Bear had to say, so Johnny turned his ear toward the subs.

“So how did you convince Caden to give up his idea of becoming a police officer?” Jamie and Bull just joined the party. Jamie was the most curious of the group.

“I pointed out to Caden that he wouldn’t like being a rookie cop who took orders from idiots. He had enough of that in the Army.” Danny stopped to take a sip of iced tea from Gary. “I also told him that if he thought Indiscreet was a good place to work when he found me the job here, then he should have no objections to working here himself.”

“Good point.” Brian gave Danny a thumbs up. He attempted to surreptitiously look at Johnny. “Will Caden be looking for a full time sub? Now that his financial situation is stable?”

“I think so. He said that was his eventual goal. He wants to find a place of his own first. Right now he’s living in that house on Bear’s property that you lived in, Greg, but I’m sure he’ll move as soon as he can get his finances in order, and with the new job that will be sooner rather than later.” Danny gave Johnny a pointed look.

It was obvious to Johnny that the sub club wanted him as their next member. He wasn’t averse to becoming one. They were all highly intelligent and educated men and he enjoyed their company, but he had to find out if Caden was the right Dom for him, one who would accept him despite his money, not because of it.

He planned to give lots of it away in the coming years to worthy charities such as St. Mary’s and shelters for homeless LGBT youth, LGBT community centers, AIDS research and various veterans charities. His Master would need to accept that he had the money and be willing to take control of it and help Johnny manage the huge responsibility that came with that kind of wealth. Johnny thought that Caden had, or could learn the skills, necessary to help shoulder the burden of both the charitable work and management of the money. What he questioned was whether the man could put aside his pride and use the funds Johnny earned for their mutual benefit.

§ § §

Dinner broke up and it was time to introduce Caden as the new Director of Security, the six new service subs and the five new members.

Reed got up and went to the small stage set up near the bar. Danny described the procedure to Caden just after they arrived this evening. “The subs will kneel next to a table and the interested Doms will visit each sub in turn. Some will get contracts right away, but I think that’s foolish unless you know the Dom prior to this night. You’ll be introduced last. Every one of us waited for the right man to come along. Masato is still waiting, but I think it’s important to know the man who will have ultimate control over your life for the period specified in the contract.”

Danny took another sip of iced tea from Gary. “I waited six months for Gary to offer for me and had a few close calls. The first night he offered a contract to Greg. I was lucky Greg was determined to contract with Cisco. My worst night was when Gary bid for Jamie after coming to see me three times a week for three months. I thought I had surely lost him then.”

“Masato, you’re awful quiet. What is your take on this subject?” Brian’s eyes were laser focused on Johnny. He would have to be careful here. He thought he could trust the other subs, but he wasn’t sure.

“I think that it is wise to wait for the right Dom and it was worth it for Danny to persevere as it was for Jamie and Greg. Brian was lucky in that he and Master Bear knew right away they were perfect for each other, and the stories that I heard about Jim and Reed only reinforce my belief that you don’t sign a contract until both parties are sure that they want one.”

Jim groaned. “You’re right, of course. Reed wouldn’t have taken me for granted if I had held out for more of a commitment.” Johnny sat up straighter and Caden pulled him back against his legs.

“If I waited until my Sir admitted he loved me, I would have waited a long time. It took me almost getting choked to death for Sir to come around.” Greg said. Cisco leaned down and gave his sub a kiss.

“I am nothing if not hard headed,” Cisco interjected with a laugh. “But I’m happy I jumped into the pool, even though I’m still not sure I can swim.”

“So you think it’s okay to sign a contract hoping for more than was originally promised?” Johnny asked the assembled subs.

“As long as the contract is for a short term, three to six months, if you can’t turn them around by then, it’s best to cut your losses and look elsewhere.” All of the subs agreed with Greg’s statement. “I believe Reed is about to introduce Caden.” The subs, with their Masters’ permission, moved their pillows out from under the table to assemble in front of the banquette to watch.

CHAPTER THREE

Friday, late evening

Reed introduced the new subs and Doms and said, “Before you go to interview our new submissives, I would like to introduce our new Director of Security, Caden Donovan. Caden will be in charge of background checks, the bouncers, and any security breaches that occur outside of the Dungeons.”

Caden walked up to the platform to a light round of applause. He waited for the applause to stop and then went to the microphone. “I will try and make sure that there are no major changes that affect the membership. However, as the club grows, our staff needs to grow in order to guarantee the same level of security and service you’ve come to expect at Indiscreet. I hope to be able to eventually meet all of you and if you have a security concern, please do not hesitate to come to me. My office door will always be open.”

A man in the back raised his hand. “Some of us are here under an alias. Will you have the records giving you access to our true identities?”

Johnny lifted his head to hear the answer to the question that also troubled him, but for a different reason.

“I have asked Reed to retain those records in his office for three months. This will give the membership time to get to know and hopefully trust me. However, since I am the one who will be doing the background checks for new members, I will be aware of who they are and I swear that their true names and situations will never leave my office.” The gentleman who asked the question seemed satisfied with the answer.

Reed took the microphone and asked, “Are there any further questions?” No one stood. “I will then consider this matter closed. Now let’s get to the original purpose of this evening,— the introduction of the new submissives and Doms.”

Johnny was glad that Caden wouldn’t have access to his information for three months. From watching the man since Danny’s collaring and wedding, and with the insight he’d gained this evening, Johnny thought that Caden might be the Dom for whom he’d waited for over the last year. He intended to find out.

Caden came back to the table and motioned to Johnny. “I would like that tour now if you will.”

Masato gave a short bow to the Masters still seated at the table and turned to Caden. “I would be delighted, Sir.”

Caden walked behind the beautiful man with the chestnut hair and the fair skin. The slant of those eyes betrayed his Asian ancestry and of course, his name gave that away, but the fair skin said there was a further unique mixture of culture and heredity. He also had a nice high, tight ass. Caden would bet he could bounce a quarter of that ass. Masato walked with a slight sway to his hips that enticed without being obvious. This was a man, not a lovable twink like his brother. Yet he seemed very reserved, almost as if he were hiding something.

Masato took Caden to the bar area and showed him where the submissives gathered when they weren’t working, or in Masato’s case, playing. Caden noticed that although several of the subs greeted the boy, they didn’t seem to know him well. For that matter neither did Danny.

§ § §

Caden had acted as best man at Danny’s wedding and throughout the dinner he was partnered with Masato because everyone else was paired off. Caden remembered their conversation.

They stood drinking champagne while the waiters passed around hors d’oeuvres on silver platters. “So you came to Indiscreet at the same time as my brother.” Caden grabbed some canapés for both of them.

“Yes Sir, Danny and I were in the same sub class along with Jamie and Greg.” Masato eyed the tray of hors d’oeuvres.

“May I feed you or would you like to feed yourself?”

Masato cocked his head. “You please, Sir if you don’t mind.”

“Why are you here alone?” Caden wondered how this beautiful boy, with his rich, thick, shoulder length hair and his creamy skin, hadn’t caught the eye of some Dom in the past year.

Masato let Caden feed him a canapé. “All the others have paired up. I’m still waiting for my Dom to find me.”

“Although you present as a submissive, you don’t strike me as passive. I think when you find the Dom you’re looking for you’ll put yourself in his way so he can’t help but notice you.” Caden passed Masato a glass of champagne.

Masato’s eyes sparkled, “You’re right. I won’t be able to help myself. Although I am a submissive, I’ve never hesitated to go after what I want, Sir.”

Caden smiled and fed Masato another canapé. “In that respect you are like Jamie.”

“As much as I respect Jamie, Sir, I can’t agree. I’m much more subtle and less inclined to overtly chase a man and set myself up for almost certain rejection. I would try to be quieter in my pursuit, let the Dom know I’m interested, but back off immediately if he didn’t reciprocate. I couldn’t make the spectacle of myself or the man I chose, like Jamie and Master Bull made while they courted.” Caden smiled at Masato.

“Yet I can tell that you’re not passive. You will find a way to let the man know that you want him without drawing attention to either of you.” Caden took a spanakopita off the tray as the waiter stopped to serve them. Caden raised his eyebrow looking at the pastry and Masato nodded his head.

“I love spanakopita, thank you, Sir.” Masato took a bite of the pastry from Caden’s hand.

“You will, of course, join me for dinner. I believe Gary had Bear set up the subs that are in Danny’s wedding party up at the front table, and put a pillow next to the chair of each Dom. May I?” Caden put his arm under Masato’s elbow and escorted him to his seat.

“Shall I get us something from the buffet?”

Masato said, “Yes please,” as he arranged himself on his pillow.

“You may kneel back.” Masato was on his knees with his ass resting on his heels. “Is there anything you don’t eat?”