Bound and Determined (43 page)

minute everything in the background went muffled, like he'd gone somewhere

more quiet. “Are you okay? Do you want to hang out when I get off work? I'm

free tonight—Kirk gives me two nights off a week.”

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183

“Yeah, I'm fine.” It wasn't true, but it was starting to dawn on Sterling that

there were people other than Owen who could give him what would help.

“Hey—I know this might sound—weird, or something, but…you remember at

the club, when Kirk gave me his number?” Not that he had it anymore, but if

Alex agreed to what he was hoping for, he could get it again. “Do you think—

would it be okay with you if I…”

The silence that followed had him swallowing hard. Maybe this wasn't

such a good idea. He knew how he would've felt about sharing Owen with

another sub, even someone as good a friend as Alex—hot as a fantasy, but in

reality, God, he didn't want to think about Owen's attention on someone else,

his hands touching them, his smiles and approving words for them, not him.

Okay, add jealous and possessive to the list of his failings…

“You want to play with us?” Alex asked dubiously, filling in the blanks

without much difficulty. “God, Sterling, I know I'd love it—I miss your skinny

ass, you know that—and Kirk seemed
really
into you, but I'm not sure it's a

good idea. Insanely hot, yes, and I would
love
to watch Kirk really push you—

okay, I'm getting hard just thinking about that, and I'm not in any position to

deal with it. God, I'm in the freaking copier room with a hard-on; I'm going to

need therapy after this. I hate you.”

“Please,” Sterling said and hoped that it worked on Alex the way it did on

Owen. “
Please
, Alex.”

He heard Alex suck in a breath. “Owen's going to freak if he finds out.”

Alex sounded tempted, but nervous. “You just don't do that to your Dom,

Sterling, no matter how pissed off you are at each other. Go and find Owen, do

what you do best, flutter your eyes, pout, lick his boots, whatever, and get him

to take care of you. It could be fun. Makeup spankings are the best.”

“It's not like that,” Sterling said, wishing it was. “He doesn't want me. I

was—Alex, I was kneeling at his feet begging him to spank me, hurt me, and he

wouldn't. He thinks I'm looking for a replacement father or something, and I'm

just—I'm losing it here.” His throat felt thick, like he was choking; he couldn't

breathe. “Can I just sort of borrow Kirk? Just for tonight, if he'll… It doesn't

have to be about sex. I just have to get out of my head, just for an hour. If you

can't, that's okay, but—maybe Kirk can hook me up with someone else?

Anyone who knows what they're doing.” He let out a shaky breath. “I don't

know what else to do.”

“Let me make some calls,” Alex said, and he sounded warmly sympathetic

now. “Don't go looking yourself, okay? I know just how you're feeling, and it's

really fucking shitty of Owen to just leave you high and dry, but you can't just

put yourself out there for any asshole. I'll call Kirk for you, but no matter what

he says, you
don't
go off on your own, you hear me?”

“Okay,” Sterling agreed. “Call me back soon?”

“As soon as I can,” Alex promised.

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He was as good as his word, and within half an hour Sterling had a firm

plan for the evening that included Alex, Kirk, and the playroom at Kirk's house,

which Alex assured him was well stocked.

“It'll be great,” Alex said. “Kirk says don't be late, and he means it—he'll

take it out on me if you are. Eat something first, but not too much. And he's

going to want to fuck you.”

The thought of Kirk tearing into him, making him scream, turned Sterling

on more than he would have thought possible, especially considering how

freaked out he'd been about penetration just a few months ago. It wasn't about

the fucking, he knew now, but more about yielding to something whether he

wanted to or not, about letting himself be pushed into the head space that

would give him some peace. The realization of how totally broken and useless

he was made him feel sick, the awareness so painful he'd have done anything,

gone to anyone, who had a chance of making him forget, even for a little while.

The afternoon seemed to last forever, but finally it was time, or close

enough. Sterling drove across town to the address Alex had given him and got

there almost twenty minutes early. Alex's car was already in the driveway, so at

least he knew it was the right place.

He turned off the engine and stared at the house. Smaller than Owen's,

more modern, and less inviting somehow. The driveway had been cleared of

every snowflake and lump of ice, bare and neat, an attention to detail that

made Sterling's mouth go dry.

He'd been thinking about this for hours, his dick so hard that he'd been

tempted into jerking off, but his training held. If Kirk asked, he wanted to be

able to say that he'd waited. A playroom… Lurid images from porn movies filled

his head, doing nothing to calm him down. Chains and frames, whips and

leather, Alex watching him beg and scream and—Sterling whimpered, his

breath coming in short, harsh gasps. Kirk had appealed to him on one level

when they'd met at the club. The guy was big, muscular, oozing confidence,

and that really worked for Sterling.

Owen didn't like Kirk, though; that had come across loud and clear. Owen

thought Kirk was no good at what he did. But maybe Owen was wrong. And it

wasn't like Kirk had to be an expert—he just had to be good enough.

Fifteen minutes to go. Should he knock at the door? Was early going to get

him into as much trouble as late?

His phone rang, and he fumbled it out of his pocket. If it was Owen, what

would he do, what would he say? Fuck, maybe he should just drive away—

“I can see you're prompt,” Kirk said, his deep voice intimate, knowing.

“Good boy. But there's no need to sit out there freezing your butt off. Come in

and let me warm it up for you.”

“Yes, sir,” Sterling said weakly and shoved his door open, the phone still

pressed to his ear. “Thank you. For letting me come.”

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185

“Don't make assumptions,” Kirk said. He sounded amused, like he

thought he was pretty funny. “And I like it if you keep your mouth shut unless

I ask you a direct question. I don't like a lot of chatter.”

Obeying, Sterling walked to the front door, which opened before he even

got there. Kirk was even bigger than he'd remembered, hair and mustache

carefully groomed like his appearance was important to him. He was wearing a

white shirt with a black leather vest over it, leather pants, and heavy boots.

“Get in here,” Kirk said, then shut the door and took Sterling's chin in his

hand, studying his face. “On your knees.”

God, this guy didn't waste any time, did he? Sterling dropped to his knees,

head down, and told himself that Kirk—Master Kirk, that was what he liked to

be called—was in charge, and all he had to do was obey. That was easy. He

could do that.

“So you and Owen had a falling out,” Kirk mused. “Yeah, I didn't give you

two long. He's got a reputation for being fussy as hell, all rules and regs, and

he babies virgins. I don't.” Sterling's hair was used to pull his head backward,

and his eyes watered slightly as he stared up into Kirk's cold brown ones. “I

show the new boys who their master is right from day one, and if they're as hot

for it as you are, they love it and beg for more. Is that what you're going to do,

you pretty little boy? Gonna beg me right now?”

The words were crude—hell, cheesy, even, but there was no doubting the

intent behind them. Kirk was hard; kneeling like this, his erection was

impossible to miss, thick and long, a bulky shape outlined by leather, and that

was all that mattered. If he'd gotten Kirk turned on already, then he was doing

something right. He wasn't being a disappointment.

“Yes, sir,” he said. “Please, Master Kirk. Please do whatever you want to

me—hit me, spank me, whip me. F-fuck me. Please—I promise I'll be good for

you.”

“You will,” Kirk said. “I'm not going to give you a choice. Gonna hurt you

good—tie you up, make you scream and cry, spank that sweet ass of yours red-

hot. And then, just when you think you can't take any more, I'm going to fuck

you. Just shove my dick up inside you.” He smiled almost cruelly, and for a

second Sterling's gut twisted as if this was real and he was in danger. Kirk's

eyes brightened as he took in Sterling's expression, and he grinned wider,

looking younger and more natural for a moment. It should have been

reassuring, but it just rubbed in the fact that being a Dom was an assumed

role for Kirk. For Owen, it was part of him, unforced, genuine. God, Sterling

missed Owen so much…

“Yeah. This is going to be fun,” Kirk said, satisfaction thick in his voice.

“Now follow me.”

It took Sterling a few seconds to realize that he was supposed to walk on

his knees. The gold shag carpet against his jeans made static electricity spark

and pop as he followed Kirk down the hallway to a set of stairs that led to what

looked like the basement.

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Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow

“You can walk now,” Kirk said as he started down. “Don't want you to hurt

yourself before I have my fun.”

At the bottom of the stairs was a door that was locked from the outside

with a slide bolt. Kirk unlocked the door and pushed it open to reveal the

playroom, making a gesture for Sterling to step inside and join Alex, who was

kneeling with a gag in his mouth and a cock ring tight around his cock and

balls.

Sterling went to his knees automatically, his eyes wide with shock. Alex

had been locked in. Okay, he wasn't tied, but he'd been trapped and left alone.

Owen had never gone more than a few feet away when Sterling had been

bound, and when he'd been blindfolded, he'd always been able to hear Owen's

voice, or the small, deliberate rustle of his clothing, the soft, measured sound

of his breath.

He should stand up and get the hell out of here. Now. His brain told him

to run and his dick—oh shit, he was hard, achingly hard.

“See that disobedient little boy in the corner?” Kirk said, closing the door

with a shove. “He's not going to get to come at all tonight, but he's going to get

to watch everything I do to you, aren't you, pet?”

Alex nodded, his eyes bright with tears and frustration.

“W-what did he do?” Sterling asked without thinking. There were whip

marks all over Alex's chest and thighs, a faint tracery of scarlet decorating his

skin, the nipples swollen, surrounded by stripes, as if they'd been used as a

target, something to aim at. No blood, and the marks would fade, but that had

to have hurt. From where Sterling knelt, he couldn't tell if Alex's back had been

whipped too, but he guessed it had.

“Did you forget what I said about talking?” Kirk inquired, his voice silky.

Sterling tensed and ducked his head, hoping to placate Kirk, who'd sounded

almost pleased, like he was glad Sterling had fucked up. “Guess I can see why

Owen ditched you if you can't remember a simple order from one minute to the

next and don't know how to address your Dom. Take off your clothes—I'm

going to give you a reminder.”

Sterling started to undress, first pulling his shirt off and letting it drop to

the floor where there was a pile of Alex's clothes already, then undoing his

jeans. As he took off his clothes, he reminded himself that his first night at

Owen's, he'd been nervous and out of his element too. Just because he felt

uncomfortable didn't mean something was wrong. Alex had been with Kirk for

months, trusted him. That should reassure him.

Naked, he put his hands behind his back, crossing his wrists, and bowed

his head without saying anything. Master Kirk had told him not to talk, so he

wouldn't. If he was good and followed the rules, he'd get taken to the place he

needed to be all the sooner.

“On your
knees
,” Kirk barked and slapped the back of Sterling's head

hard enough that it surprised a gasp out of him. Owen had never hit him like

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187

that, just out of the blue without warning, and while it hadn't hurt exactly, it

had come as one hell of a shock, a shock that made him slow when it came to

dropping down to his knees again and earned him another slap. “For such a

pretty boy, you're stupid
and
slow.”

Sterling couldn't help it—when he looked up at Kirk, his irritation