9781631050497EldridgesReleaseArcher (5 page)

With the top down on
his convertible and a light breeze, the night was perfect for driving. Dalton
always loved the city, the hustle and bustle, and lights illuminating the tall
buildings. He was a city guy, but loved that he could live in suburbia with
little to no neighbors near him. The large acreage he called home left him no
visible neighbors. He could work and play hard if he chose. What would Eldridge
think of his play room? He couldn’t wait to find out tonight.

Dalton pulled up in
front of the renovated warehouse that now housed offices on the bottom three
floors and apartments on the top three floors. Each floor had two apartments,
private entrances and elevators led to each floor individually, with their
respective codes and boasted a great view of the city. Eldridge’s apartment was
on the top floor.
Dalton texted El to let him know that he
needed to be buzzed into the office building and then made his way to the
elevator, code in hand.
Once he got in the elevator, and put the code
in, he would be let off on Eldridge’s floor, his side of the building.
A perk to owning your own loft apartment.
Dalton wondered if
he would want to sell it or simply rent it out. He had plans for the man and
part of those plans meant Eldridge would not be spending many more nights in
this loft, but wrapped in Dalton’s arms in his home.

The elevator door
opened, and Dalton was greeted by the sexiest man alive. He grabbed El and
lipped-locked him, devouring his lips as he walked him backwards through the
front door. Dalton consumed
El’s
lips, thrust his
tongue into his mouth and felt every recess and crevice. He wanted to eat the
sweet man up. Dalton finally released his lip lock, but only because they
needed air.

“Damn, if I knew I was
going to get a greeting like that one every time I saw you I might never let
you go.” Eldridge panted as he spoke.

“That’s the idea, Babe.
I want to make you forget you ever existed without me.” Dalton let the man go,
but not before pecking him on the lips again. “You look stunning tonight.”
Dalton scanned the lithe body up and down, dressed in gray leather pants with a
red silk shirt. All that was needed was a collar to go against that gorgeous
skin. Dalton was thinking a twisted rope, platinum chain with a very small
medallion. He already knew what he wanted to have engraved on it as well.

“You look hot yourself,”
Eldridge countered. “I don’t know if I want everyone getting a good look at all
those bulging muscles. Someone may try to take you away from me.”

Dalton lifted an
eyebrow and thought about that statement. In just a few short days, Eldridge
seemed to be getting more comfortable with him. He was glad.

“You ready to go?
Overnight bag packed?”

“Right here, and yes,
it is. Let me just set the code and I’m all yours.” Off to the club they went,
looking forward to eating a great dinner with fine company.

* * * *

“Hey
Sam.”

“Master Dalton, how
goes it tonight?” Sam, the trusted bouncer, let them in as he waved and told
them the rest of the party was in private room number one.

Dalton held
El’s
hand as they made their way through the club. Dinner
was in full swing and the demo was still a few hours away, so they could relax
and enjoy each other until then. When the demo took place, Dalton would leave
Eldridge in the owner’s private booth, so he could have a perfect view.

They entered the
private room and the laughter and talking was in full swing. Johnson and
Issy
sat side by side at the table. She was so close to him
that she might as well have been sitting in his lap. Dalton could understand
that, as he wanted Eldridge in his lap all the time. Shane and Deacon were also
there, no dates though. It was a rare occasion that all four partners were able
to get together and just enjoy each other’s company. They always met for
meetings about their stocks or the club, but for pure enjoyment, that was a
rarity. He shook hands with the men in the group and kissed
Issy
on the cheek. After introductions were made between Shane, Deacon and Eldridge,
Dalton ordered his favorite fruit drink for the two of them. None of the
partners drank much, especially if a demo was to take place. Although the club
had an extensive bar, the four men were adamant about the no drinking clause in
the membership if someone was going to play. Tony, the bartender, took that
supervision very seriously.

“So, Eldridge,” Deacon
spoke
. “I hear that you’re into acquisitions? Merging
companies?”

“Yeah, I work downtown,
same building as
Issy
. Both our companies have office
space in the building.
Issy
and I were actually
talking about going into business for ourselves. Setting up an office, right
Issy
?”

Dalton saw the gleam in
Eldridge’s eyes as he spoke of his work and of the desire to one day run his
own business. He could picture Eldridge acquiring or merging businesses and
Issy
working by his side designing the new interiors so
they could either resell or contract to their new employer. With Eldridge
working from home and
Issy
from Johnson’s, both men
could have their subs with them full time. That wouldn’t mean they didn’t have
their independence, because Dalton could not picture either one of them giving
that up; nor would he expect it, but it would be nice to be close to someone.
Dalton would give Eldridge the world if it would put a smile on his face.

Dinner went off without
a hitch with great friends and great food. Soon the party started to break up. Shane
and Deacon bid their farewells, saying they both had busy days the next day and
needed sleep. Dalton and Johnson looked at each other, wondering what that was
all about, considering none of them actually went into an office for work. Did
Shane lean into Deacon? Maybe it was his imagination. All the men were
millionaires and ran their respective businesses either from their home, or the
offices at the club. Dalton made a point to file that tidbit of information in
the back of his mind for future talks.

“You guys staying for
the demo?”

“Yeah, we’ll keep El
company
while you demo and then we’ll call it a night as
well.” Johnson led
Issy
to the private booth.

Dalton spoke quietly to
Eldridge before leading him to the booth as well. “I hope you enjoy the demonstration,
Little One.” He kissed
El’s
cheek and left the room
to go and set up for his demonstration. But, something made him pause just
outside the door.

“You really like him,
don’t you, El?”
Issy
was going to be her normal nosy
self, Dalton could tell. He really shouldn’t be listening, but he needed to
hear
El’s
response.

“
Issy
,
do you believe in love at first sight? I know I’m not the most experienced
person, but damn, Dalton makes me feel things I never knew I could feel. He’s
the entire package all rolled into one.
Ya
know?”

“Yeah, I do know. The
first time I saw Johnson I couldn’t believe how my heart skipped a beat. I
knew.”

“What about being his
sub?” Johnson chimed in. “You know that man would collar you in a heartbeat.
I’ve known Dalton for many years and buddy, you’re it. Do you think that might
be a step you’d be willing to take?”

Holy shit.
Did Johnson really ask that?
Before
Dalton had a chance to hear the answer Master James clapped him on the
shoulder. “You ready to start?” he asked.

Hiding his agitation at
the interruption Dalton nodded and forced a smile.

* * * *

Eldridge sat there and
stared into space. Would he be willing to give his submission to a man like
Dalton?
Strong, powerful, and dominant?
He was scared,
a lot. But, damn did it felt good when he was with him. No, it felt great and
wonderful. Dalton was the total package and not just on the outside, but on the
inside too. Although, the man was commanding, he was not rude or obnoxious. He
had a heart of gold and Eldridge could see himself losing his heart to him very
quickly. In fact, he thought, if truth be told, he already had.

Looking straight at
Johnson and in his steadiest voice he said. “Yeah, I’m ready to take that step
if Dalton asks me.”

Eldridge caught
Issy
just as she flung herself into his arms, oohing and
ahing
. She kissed his face all over, and congratulated him.
Even though nothing official happened yet.
“I know
this is a big step for you, right?”
Issy
spoke as she
released Eldridge from her rain of kisses. “Dalton better realize what a lucky
man he is, my BFF only deserves the best,” kissing
El’s
cheeks one last time she finally released him.

Eldridge sat there with
Issy
and Johnson and watched the wax play
demonstration. Watching Dalton work was a thing of beauty. The man personified
strength and grace as he and Master James created works of art using colored
wax and feathers on Josiah. Eldridge had no idea up until that point how
beautiful and sensuous wax play could be. He actually looked forward to Dalton
creating the art on his own body. The demo went on for about thirty minutes and
then Master James and Josiah exited the stage to go enjoy each other in a
private room.
The smaller sub glowed, and not just from the
colors adorning his body.
Eldridge could see peace and contentment on
his face and in his body language. That’s what El wanted as well. And he wanted
it with Dalton.

Eldridge smiled at
Dalton as he came to the booth, taking his hand and kissing his knuckles.
“Hey, Little One.
Having fun?”

“That was beautiful,
Master Dalton.”
Issy
addressed Dalton using his title
of respect. When they were at the club or at a BDSM-style function, she never
addressed any Dom by their given name. Eldridge nodded his head in agreement as
he watched
Issy
lean into Johnson, completely
absorbed in each other.

“That was just, wow.”
Eldridge turned to Dalton and spoke softly. “I want that. I want that look that
Josiah had. Gods, Dalton, we need to talk, please.”

Eldridge’s voice
dripped with desperation as he tried to convey his feelings to Dalton. He just
hoped the man understood where he was coming from and what he needed to say.

“How about we call it
an evening and head back to the house?” Turning to Johnson and
Issy
, “You guys okay with that? I think El and I need some
alone time.”

“Sure thing, Bro,
Issy
and I are going home as well.”

After a round of hugs,
handshakes and good byes, the two couples split to go to their respective
homes.

Eldridge felt as if the
drive from Club Rebellion took hours as opposed to the thirty minutes or so it
took from Rittenhouse Square to Dalton’s Bryn
Mawr
home. The drive was quick as they missed the rush hour traffic. Most people
were already ensconced in their homes for the night since the next day was a
work day.

Eldridge was looking
forward to tonight, nervous and excited all rolled into one. He was a ball of
energy, and had a hard time sitting still. The night was still pleasant, so the
convertible’s top was down. He wanted to make small talk, but could not drum up
anything to talk about without blurting out his feelings. He decided that he
would wait to see how the scene played out with Dalton before saying anything
to the man. He rested his hand on Dalton’s thigh and stroked the soft fabric of
the leather pants. He didn’t even realize that he was doing it until Dalton
looked over at him and smiled.

“Sorry.” Eldridge
removed his hand and laid it back on his own lap.

“Nothing to apologize
for, but you are getting dangerously close to something that I definitively
want you to stroke.” Dalton laughed as he picked up and placed Eldridge’s hand
back on his thigh.

“I’ll keep that in
mind.” Eldridge grinned.

Turning into Dalton’s
road, Eldridge had not realized that this was actually the drive way until
Dalton said they were there. Eldridge let out a low whistle and exclaimed.
“What the fuck?!”
The house was beautiful. A two-story
colonial, rock faced, large porch in the front and, holy shit, the landscaping.
Gorgeous flowers and shrubs adorned the perimeter of the house as well as the
drive. Shadow boxes with blooming flowers were carefully placed at the base of
each window, vibrant colors in each. To the left of the house was a large
garage with an ornate portico structure, attaching the two buildings. Eldridge
could see no other neighbors as the property was lined with large mature trees
on three sides.

“Welcome,” Dalton said
as he grabbed
El’s
bag from the back seat and took
his hand leading him to the side door.

“I usually come in
through this door, it’s the kitchen, but I’ll show you around later.”