clear…” Kelly crossed one knee over the other and folded his hands on top of it. “Will, you’re not comfortable giving Aaron that much pain, but you’re comfortable watching me give it to him?”
I nodded. “I don’t have a problem seeing him in that much pain because I know he likes it. I know he needs it. But actually being the one to give it to him?” I shook my head. “I’ve tried. I can inflict pain on him, but not that much. It’s… Well, this might be an imperfect analogy, but I have a friend back in Chicago who’s asexual. She’s married to a guy who’s allosexual, and even though she doesn’t have a particular desire for sex, he does. She’s not sex-repulsed. In fact, she enjoys having sex. She’s just not…drawn to it. She could go her whole life without it and not miss it.”
Kelly was nodding as I spoke. “I have some ace friends. I get how that works.”
“Okay, so, since her husband does want sex, they have it together, and she enjoys it just fine, especially since it makes him happy. But she has her limits.” I gestured at Aaron. “That’s kind of how we are with sado-masochism. I could be perfectly happy without it, but since it’s what my submissive wants, I’m happy to give it to him. And I enjoy giving it to him.”
“To a point,” Aaron said.
“To a point,” I acknowledged. “It would be a little like if one of us were ace and one were allo, and the one who was allo wanted more sex than the ace was willing to have. Like I said, it’s an imperfect analogy, but for us, the compromise that makes us both happiest is to bring in someone else who’s game.”
“Oh,” Kelly said. “And in this case, you’d be watching, too.”
I grinned. “Well, like I said—I don’t have a problem seeing him getting what he needs. Kind of like how you’re game to watch us have anal even if you don’t want it for yourself.”
Nodding, Kelly said, “Okay, I get that. So it’s fine for you to watch as long as you don’t have to be directly involved.”
“Basically. In fact, it’s hot as hell. And giving the orders? I can do that. I just really don’t enjoy being the one to physically make him hurt.”
“This arrangement is honestly the best-case scenario.” Aaron slid a hand over mine as he looked at Kelly. “Will is still playing the Dom, and I’m still submitting to him, but someone else is doing the part that makes him uncomfortable.”
Kelly nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense. It’s unusual, but if it works for you guys, then that’s what counts, right?”
“But are you comfortable with it?” I asked.
He didn’t answer right away, which I liked. He really seemed to be thinking about it, and I preferred that over a knee-jerk insistence that he was fine with it. After a moment, he said, “I think I am, yeah. I mean, I won’t know for sure until we do it, but just talking about it?” He nodded again. “I’m game.”
My heart fluttered, especially when Aaron smiled. Maybe we really had found our match.
“So with that out of the way,” I said. “You said you like whips. What other kinds of pain play you’re into? Or not into?”
Kelly didn’t miss a beat: “I’m all about predicament bondage. Doing it to other people, I mean. Oh, and I love playing with hot wax.”
Dear Lord, even if I hadn’t had my hand on his leg, I’d have felt the shiver go through Aaron.
“Yeah?” he breathed.
“Uh-huh. I had a Dom in LA teach me how to do it a few years ago, and I love it.”
Aaron’s muscles tightened under my hand, and when he looked at me, the “no, really, can we keep him?” was written all over his pleading eyes. I grinned. Aaron loved hot wax play. We’d done it plenty of times over the years, and it was well within my limits, but it would be fun with someone else. It would also be a good way to build up trust before Kelly started ratcheting up the pain toward the levels Aaron had been craving.
I licked my lips. “So, whips, predicament bondage, and hot wax. I think we can work with that. What about you? Do you have questions for us?”
He glanced back and forth between us. “What about humiliation?”
Aaron and I shook our heads.
“No,” Aaron said. “That’s a hard limit for me.”
“I’m not into