“Well, yeah.” He smiled warmly, his expression full of understanding. “None of us fell out of the sky knowing what we’re doing.”
“Okay. True.”
“And this one?” Will nodded toward the landscape. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of here. In fact, it’s giving me a little nostalgia.”
“For the paintings you use as examples of what not to do?”
He laughed as he pulled me close to him again. “No. For the videos that got me started painting.”
I looked up at him.
He smiled, leaned in, and kissed me softly. “I was home sick from school in second grade, and caught a Bob Ross episode on TV. I begged my parents to get me a set of paints, and on my next birthday, they did.”
“So you…” I swallowed. “You got started with those too?”
Will nodded. “Yeah. I did.”
My shoulders relaxed under his arm, and I released a breath. My classmates and siblings had always laughed at me for using those videos, but Will…
“You okay?” Aaron asked.
Was I?
I looked at my paintings. Then at Aaron. Then at Will.
And I smiled. “Yeah. I’m good.” To Will, I said, “Thanks. I didn’t even realize how badly I needed to hear all of that.”
He kissed my temple. “Someone should’ve told you all of it a long time ago.”
That was probably true about a lot of things, but we really didn’t need to get into all the ways I had—right or wrong—disappointed everyone whose opinion had mattered so much to me growing up.
Drawing back a little, Will looked in my eyes. “So, didn’t you say something about wanting to christen this place?”
All the breath rushed out of my lungs. “I, um… Yeah. Yeah, I did.”
He grinned. Beside him, so did Aaron.
But then Will sobered. “I think we should keep it on the vanilla side this time.” He stroked my cheek. “As much as I’d love to watch you raise a few welts on Aaron’s ass, I think you might be a little raw tonight. So it’s probably best for everyone if we don’t push it.”
I wanted to tell him I was fine. I could handle it. But the Dom had spoken. And anyway, he had to protect both of his subs. I wouldn’t want a Dom in a not-so-great state of mind dominating me. It made perfect sense he wouldn’t want someone in my state of mind inflicting pain on his other submissive.
“Okay.” I nodded. “Just… Just vanilla tonight.”
“Don’t worry—we’ll do something kinky soon enough. In fact…” Will slid his hand up my chest to my throat, and he ran his thumb up and down the side of my neck as he looked right in my eyes. “The next time we play, you’re setting up the scene. Whatever you want to do to torture him.”
I gulped, my Adam’s apple pushing against his palm. “But… But you’re the Dom.”
“Uh-huh.” He drew me in a little, a wicked grin on those full lips. “And if you please me, then there will be a reward for you.”
My knees shook. “A reward?”
“Mmhmm.” He glanced at Aaron. Then at me. “In the meantime, why don’t you show us which room you want ‘christen’ first?”
Twenty-One
Will
Is Aaron ticklish?
The text from Kelly made me snort. From anyone else, it might be a benign question. From a sadist to a Dom? I doubted there was anything benign about it.
Very, I wrote back. Especially his ribs and feet.
Ooh, good to know.
I chuckled and tried to concentrate on work, which had been a challenge even before Kelly had texted me. I didn’t know what he had up his sleeve, but I suspected it was going to be fun as all hell. The other night, I’d promised him he would set the scene the next time we played while I sat back and watched him torture Aaron, and he was gleefully taking me at my word. He’d been in better spirits the last couple of days—hell, he had been after he and Aaron had blown me, then each other, in his living room that night. Tonight, he wanted to get back to kink, and we did too, so Kelly had been texting me off and on with ideas.
The fact that he was bringing tickling into it was a surprise. Of course plenty of sadists enjoyed that, but we’d brought him in because Aaron needed more pain. I could handle tickle torture.
I liked the idea of Kelly thinking outside the box, though. Hardcore pain was his primary reason for being here, but bringing in other forms of sensory torment