An Unlocked Heart(Collars & Cuffs Stories) (25 page)

Leo waited. It was up to Alex now. The seconds ticked by, and with each passing moment Leo grew more anxious.

Finally Alex spoke, his voice low, his eyes focused on the table. “I want to be your submissive, Leo.”

Leo nodded calmly, but inside he was anything but.
Oh, thank God.

Alex slowly raised his eyes to meet Leo’s gaze before lowering them hastily. “How would we begin? And would you expect me to be your sub all the time?”

Leo shook his head vigorously. “No, boy, I’m not looking for a slave.” He chuckled at Alex’s wide-eyed stare. “Yeah, there are couples who live the lifestyle 24/7, but I don’t want that. Do you?”
Better to know now….

Alex shook his head, and Leo gave an inward sigh of relief. In all his years as a Dom, he’d never been in a situation that had felt as
precarious
as this initial meeting was proving to be. He was conscious of having to tread carefully.

“Can we keep this to the club and… and the bedroom, then?” Alex asked shyly. Leo’s heart skipped a beat. “What I mean is… can we….” His words trailed off.

Leo reached across the table and took Alex’s hand and grasped it tight. “Alex, I want you as my lover, as well as my sub. Do you want that too?” Alex nodded eagerly, and Leo rejoiced to see his reaction.

“How would I know when you wanted me to be… submissive?” Alex asked, his eyes not quite meeting Leo’s. Leo already had an idea about this, but he wanted Alex to be the one to come up with a suggestion.

“We’d need something agreed between us, some kind of signal,” Leo suggested. He watched as Alex’s face took on a thoughtful expression.
Come on, boy, think….

Suddenly Alex smiled. “How about a collar?” he said quietly. Inside, Leo was grinning like an idiot. “If we’re in the bedroom and you want us to do something, you could put a collar on me. Or if I wanted it, I could ask you to collar me.” His gaze flickered up to Leo’s face. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” he said warmly, and Alex glowed at the praise. “There’ll be times when I’ll want to be your lover, not your Dom.”
Like right now….
God, he wanted Alex in his bed right now. He wanted to be balls-deep in him, making him cry out, making him come….

“So… can I see what the contract looks like?” Alex asked, his gaze flicking downward to the folder.

Leo put a tight rein on his libido. Some things were more important right now. “In here is a list of all possible activities that you might want us to pursue together.” Leo strove to keep his voice even. “You’ll need to read through it and make up your own list of hard and soft limits.” He watched as Alex drank all this in. Leo softened his voice. “It’s getting late—do you want to stay at the apartment tonight?”

To his surprise, Alex shook his head. “No, if you don’t mind…. I’d like to take this and read it carefully.” Alex’s expression was suddenly anxious. “Is that all right?”

Leo was more than pleased with Alex’s decision. It told him the boy was treating this seriously, taking his time, rather than making on-the-spot decisions. “That sounds like a really good idea,” he replied, unable to keep the note of pride from his voice. He saw the effect this had on Alex.
Oh fuck
…. The boy responded so well to praise—it made him light up from within. And made Leo hard as a rock. He stood up, handing over the folder. “Let’s get you home, boy. You’ve got some reading to do.”

Alex gave a sudden grin, and just like that, Leo finally felt the tension of the meeting slip away. “If there are any terms I don’t understand, I’ll be able to look them up on the Internet, won’t I?” Alex asked. Leo nodded. “But I haven’t got an evening free until Friday. We won’t be able to talk about all this until then.” Alex’s face fell.

“Not a problem,” Leo reassured him. “I can wait until Friday—that is, if
you
can.” He smirked, and Alex chuckled, brightening up. “Besides, I might pop in to have a meal in my favorite Italian restaurant at some point this week.” His eyes twinkled. Right now he needed to hold his boy. He held out his arms. “Come here.”

Alex got to his feet, and Leo pulled him into the circle of his arms, tilting his face down to kiss Alex thoroughly, loving the fact that Alex paid no attention to those around them but simply gave himself up to the kiss, his arms wrapping around Leo. He’d come along so fast….

Leo broke the kiss reluctantly. “It’s no use, boy. I’ve got to take you home.”

Alex gazed into his eyes. “But think how happy to see me you’ll be on Friday.” His eyes gleamed mischievously and he leaned closer, whispering into Leo’s ear. “And then think how much fun you’ll have, fucking me.”

Leo groaned, the whispered words going straight to his cock. And he couldn’t believe that Alex had actually said them. He stared in surprise, and Alex blushed. Oh, his boy was
full
of surprises….

“Home, now,” Leo declared abruptly. “Before I do something I’ll regret—like kidnapping you and chaining you to my bed.” Alex laughed as he was tugged toward the main door, but all Leo could think of was the image in his head right now… a naked Alex, cuffed to his bed, spread-eagled, crying out as Leo thrust into him.

Friday couldn’t get here soon enough.

Twenty

A
LEX
was sitting up in bed, laptop beside him and the contract in his hand.
What the fuck…?
He had to admit, some of the things on the list made his heart beat faster. It started out with pretty basic stuff, asking him to circle which sexual acts were acceptable: fellatio, anilingus, anal fisting…. That one got his heart racing, especially after the scene he’d witnessed that day. Anal intercourse, sex toys… and then it got interesting.

Bondage
. Alex knew straightaway that bondage was going to feature pretty high up on his list of favorites. But what floored him were how many types were named: hands in front, hands behind back, hog-tie, spreader bars—that one caused him to break out in a sweat, conjuring up mental images that made him so fucking
hot
—tied to bed, tied to chair, blindfolds, gags, rope, hood, tape, handcuffs.

When he reached the section headed “Pain,” Alex forgot to breathe.

He read on. What was his general attitude about receiving pain?
Quantity
of pain? And then on to which types of pain were acceptable: spanking, paddling, whipping, caning, face slaps, biting, nipple clamps, genital clamps, hot wax. Alex shivered. What exactly was he getting into here?

“Erotic humiliation” caught his eye, and when he read down the list and saw the word “enemas” followed by “water sports,” he had to look that one up, and then spent a good few minutes staring in disbelief at guys pissing on each other, into one another’s mouths, even into their
holes
, for fuck’s sake. He looked up “scat” and quickly deleted the search in horror when he saw the definition. Fucking hell, no
way
!

The final section was about safewords, and he read about having a word that meant everything stopped, another for slowing things down a little, and nonverbal safewords for when he wasn’t in a position to speak. That actually made a lot of sense, and Alex started to give some serious thought as to what his safewords might be.

He got out a pen and started to circle things on the list, ticking off those items he was absolutely positive about and putting question marks next to ones he was more dubious of. “CBT” got a thumbs-down, as did “cage.” And as for wearing a cage on his cock….

He spent a bit of time considering what to choose from the “Bondage” section, and then realized all of it was acceptable. “Oxygen deprivation” and “knives” set his heart racing, so he put question marks next to them.

By the time he’d finished, Alex realized there was very little he’d deleted. And then wondered what exactly that said about him.

He jumped as his bedroom door opened and Rob came in. Why couldn’t his brother knock, like any normal person? Hurriedly, Alex tried to cover up the contract, not wanting Rob anywhere near it. He slammed down the screen on his laptop as Rob approached the bed, trying to peer around to see what he’d been looking at. “Rob! What do you want?” Alex was seething.

Rob sneered. “What are you hiding, bro? Gay porn, perhaps?” His lip curled in obvious disgust. “Don’t bother. I don’t want to see guys getting fucked in the ass.” His eyes alighted on the contract, and he made a move to snatch it from Alex’s hand. Alex reacted fast and moved it out of his reach. “Oh yes? Something you don’t want me to see?” Rob’s eyes glittered menacingly.

Alex had had enough. “Get out of my room,” he gritted out. “Right now.”

Rob snorted. “Don’t worry, I’m going. I just wanted to see if you and the
boyfriend
had gotten over your little lover’s tiff, or whatever the hell it was.” But his eyes were still on the contract.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Alex stated flatly. “As if
you
care if Leo and I have sorted things out. Now, get the fuck out of my room.” He tried to put as much menace into his voice as he could, but it clearly had little effect. He tried another tack. “Or do I need to ask Leo to come round and ‘talk’ to you?”

Now
he got a reaction.

“Getting your boyfriend to do your dirty work for you?” Rob blustered, but he paled. Yeah, Alex had him pegged right—Rob was definitely scared of Leo.

It was Alex’s turn to smirk. “Get out.”

At last Rob seemed to give up and turned to go out the door, giving the contract one final longing glance as he left. Alex let out a sigh of relief. From now on, anything important would be kept at Leo’s apartment. Home wasn’t safe anymore.

After stowing the contract in his laptop bag, Alex got into bed and turned out the light. Rob’s intrusion had completely ruined his mood, and it was a long while before he was able to relax enough to get to sleep.

T
HURSDAY
morning, and it looked likely to be a busy day, seeing as Manchester’s main shopping center, the Arndale, had started up its late-night hours in the run-up to Christmas, which usually meant more customers wanting to eat out after spending an evening shopping for presents. Alex shook his head. It
was
still only late October, after all.

Alex and Adam were busy in the restaurant, getting the tables ready for the lunchtime trade. It was still early, however, and the two young men were being meticulous—especially as Sev was in the bar area checking on the alcohol stocks. The radio was on in the kitchen, and the sound of seventies rock filtered through. Alex smiled. Luca loved his rock music, bless him.

“So, you found out yet what your guy does for a living?”

Alex looked up from his task to see Vittorio leaning against the doorframe, a cup of coffee in his hand. Vittorio was smirking. Alex had known at some point,
someone
was going to start up this particular conversation. And if he’d been a betting man, he could’ve laid money on that someone being Vittorio. “Yes,” he replied shortly. Maybe if he ignored Vittorio long enough, he’d take the hint.
Yeah, right
….

“So, do I take it you’re gonna be naked, wearing a dog collar, and leashed to his coffee table on all fours while he props up his booted feet on your back while watching TV—or maybe jacking off all over you?” Vittorio was grinning. His voice must have carried, because Pietro suddenly appeared in the doorway behind him, eyes wide. Sev was flashing Vittorio warning looks from across the bar, but he didn’t leap in to stop the conversation.

Alex took a deep breath. If he didn’t do something now, Vittorio would think he had a license to mouth off about this whenever he felt like it. He straightened, eyes meeting Vittorio’s. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this…. “What are you going to be doing on your next night off, Vittorio?” Alex asked innocently. His clear voice rang out in the empty restaurant, steady and true.

Vittorio shrugged. “Dunno, maybe going to the cinema with some mates, grabbing a few beers. Why? Did you and your
Dom
wanna join us? Not really sure it’s his kind of thing, y’know?” He winked at the others, enjoying having an audience, as usual.

Alex smiled sweetly. Vittorio seemed to have forgotten his last disastrous attempt to have a laugh at Alex’s expense. Oh well… seemed like he needed another lesson.
Here we go….
“Well, on
my
night off, I’m going to be servicing my hot-as-fuck boyfriend with a kick-ass blow job before he takes me to bed, ties me up, and fucks me all night long with his gorgeous, seven-inch long thick cock, making me come several times, if I’m lucky. Then we’ll probably end up in the shower, where he’ll fuck me again.” He smiled once more, ignoring the loud gasps from Pietro, Adam, and Sev. “Don’t know ’bout you, but I think I got the better deal.” He waited, heart beating fast.

Suddenly the sound of hands clapping rang out. Pietro was applauding him, a broad smile on his face, and then Adam joined in, grinning. Vittorio was red-faced and openmouthed, staring at Alex in disbelief. Eventually he gave Alex a short nod before turning and disappearing back into the kitchen, pushing past Pietro, who was doubled up with laughter by now.