Exposed Exposed (Dom Nation #1) - E. Davies Page 0,40

nights.”

I whistled under my breath, my respect for the doorman growing. He might be scrawny and full of attitude at inconvenient moments, but he never took shit from the real assholes.

“There’s no such thing as competition for you. When you want someone, you get them. I’ve never seen you stumble like this.” Seb poked my shoulder. “Close the shop, bring him to DN, and act like a normal human being,” he said with a grin. The asshole sounded like he was enjoying this. “You’re allowed to have a crush, you know.”

Oh, God. Spare me, I thought and flipped him off.

“Think about it.” Seb just laughed, then waved as he sauntered for the door.

He sure left me with a lot to think about, like it or not, as I waited for the display cabinet to dwindle away to empty.

It was true that I felt an irresistible attraction to Slate and the desire to Daddy him. To take care of him and put the pieces back together, lift him back to his feet when he was down.

But I also knew I couldn’t be the tender and kind man Slate had seen so far—the version of me that he deserved. I was no better than Isaac, fooling him into thinking that was who I was.

The bitter, cruel streak that made me so dangerous to be around—I couldn’t risk Slate finding that piece of me. And it seemed like he was trying hard to draw it from me.

My patience had run out. I sighed with relief when we were down to the last cupcake. Once nobody was looking, I hid it under the counter.

God. What was I doing? This was a far cry from the version of me that Seb had first met, four years ago.

That Rex—or Master X, really—would have taken Slate’s offers. He would have drawn every ounce of agonized pleasure he could from Slate’s cries, satisfied himself, left Slate boneless and wrung dry, and fucked off to his own life again.

In a small way, I wished I could be that guy. It would be easier than facing the fact that Seb was right: I had feelings for Slate.

And that made me vulnerable, which was the thing I hated most in life.

I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. “We’re closing in a few minutes, guys,” I announced. Without waiting for a reply from my customers at the tables, I hightailed it outside.

Slate was resting the near-empty silver tray on his shoulder and laughing with another guy.

It was Derrick. Good. My chest eased with relief, because I’d only ever known Derrick as a sub.

God, I need to get a grip, I told myself. He’s allowed to flirt with other Doms. If he wants that. There was no telling my gut how to feel about it, though.

“Oh, hey, Master X,” Derrick greeted me with a warm smile, his gaze flicking from my leather apron up to my eyes. He was flirting, without a doubt. And he was cute enough, with blond hair and a button nose.

We’d played together before, but I wasn’t interested tonight. I almost felt bad about overlooking him, but it was impossible to spare any attention when Slate stood right there, attracting me like a deep earth magnet.

“Hi,” I greeted them both. “Slate, we’re all done. Come inside.”

“Yes, Master X,” Slate answered, but his tone was playful. He offered Derrick the last piece of cupcake from his tray and winked. “Nice meeting you.”

“You too.” Derrick smirked to himself as he looked between us. Good—he wasn’t taking rejection hard. “See you around.”

I nodded and stepped closer to Slate, placing my hand on the expanse of bare skin between his shoulder blades, my fingertips just grazing the back strap of his harness. I steered him toward my shop, and we stepped aside to let the last few customers leave.

“That was fun,” Slate commented, leaning on the counter as he watched me turn the lock and start cleaning up so I could close up. He was a tall, insufferably gorgeous drink that I couldn’t have, and it was maddening.

“Oh?” I grunted and moved to the register to count up the cash.

“You should hire me more often. I work for cheap.”

Here he goes again with his flirting. I tried not to smile. He thought he was a lot sneakier than he really was. “Do you, now?”

Sensing his opportunity, Slate leaned in eagerly, betraying the casual attitude with which he’d tried to lean there and tempt me closer. “Oh, yes,” he breathed out. “I’m sure we