They returned to the kitchen to rejoin Tim and Paul. Rom was going to ask more questions, but a soft chime from the intercom perked up the other three men.

  “And there he is.” Kent grinned. “Ten minutes early. He’s already making a good impression. I’ll be right back.” He left the kitchen.

  Tim wore another amused smirk. “Don’t worry. If it doesn’t work out with this guy, Kent will be on the lookout for someone else for you. Now that he’s got his sights set on fixing you up, he won’t be happy until he does. Kind of his hobby.”

  “That’s some hobby.”

  Paul nodded. “Well, since he’s not allowed to ruin any new guys with his monster, he loves to fix guys up.”

  “Ruin guys with his…monster?”

  Both men smiled. “Yeah,” Tim said. “It’ll be self-explanatory once the party’s in full swing and you get a look at him naked.”

  “Oh, boy.”

  The other two men burst out laughing. “That’s one way of saying it,” Paul said.

  Chapter Six

  Colton nervously changed clothes about four different times before finally going back to the shorts and button-up casual shirt he’d started with. Kent had assured him casual was fine, because most everyone would be stripping shortly after the party started, anyway. Clothing was usually discouraged past that point, except for a few very special exceptions, or for people there for the first time.

  Still, he wanted to set a good first impression for people.

  Especially for the guy Kent was going to introduce him to.

  Maybe they’d hit it off, maybe they wouldn’t, but from the sound of it, at least Colton would be able to get himself fucked tonight. He’d even cleaned himself out in preparation, and wore a butt plug for about an hour, just to make sure he was ready.

  Tonight, he wanted to have fun.

  Needed to have fun.

  When he rolled up to Kent’s front gate, though, he nearly turned around and bolted.

  This guy was money.

  Kent had assured him there would be guys there tonight from all income brackets and backgrounds. That Kent was more interested in the quality of a man, rather than his bank account.

  Keeping that in mind, Colton rolled his window down, plugged the four-digit code into the gate controller, and took a deep breath as the gate swung open for him.

  Here we go.

  Kent was already standing outside when Colton parked next to two other cars. Colton grabbed his bag with his towels and flip-flops—and condoms and lube, because he wanted to be prepared—and headed up the walk to meet him.

  “Right on time,” Kent said. “Excellent. Come on in, so I can introduce you.”

  He led Colton into the kitchen, where Tim and Paul talked with a third man.

  Please don’t let him be a bottom!

  The guy was maybe five-ten, slender, but not like a twink. Built like a runner or cyclist, maybe. Dark brown hair, glasses, and a short beard and mustache that looked like it might be a recent addition.

  His brown gaze met and held Colton’s as Kent introduced them. “Colton, this is Rom. Rom, Colton.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Colton said, sticking his hand out.

  Rom smiled and shook with him, politely firm, no limp fish there. “It’s very nice to meet you, too.” From the steady, direct way Rom watched him, Colton found himself wanting to sink to his knees.

  Kent spoke up. “Let me borrow him for just a moment, Rom, to show him around, then I’ll bring him back.”

  The left corner of Rom’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “Yes, please bring him back, Kent. Don’t make me hunt him down because you sniped him from me.”

  Kent laughed. “Told you—I’m happily taken, or that would be a valid concern.” Kent led Colton through the house, showed him where he could drop his stuff. “Well?” he softly asked Colton.

  “Please tell me he’s a Top?” Colton asked.

  “It’s your lucky day. So, we’re good?”

  “Absolutely. Thank you.” He set his bag down.

  “I just wanted to check, make sure you were okay with him before I turned you loose together.” Kent patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, want to show you something.” He led him to the end of the hall, to a door with a keypad lock on it. After punching in a code, he opened it and pointed. “Look.”

  There sat the two vases, in niches next to the window.

  Colton’s eyes widened. “That’s perfect!”

  “Right? If you want to take pictures, go ahead.”

  He blinked back tears as he could almost hear Grammy’s voice in his head crowing about his success with the pieces. He pulled his phone from his back pocket and snapped a couple of wide shots, with both niches and the window visible, then stepped in close to get each one individually, as well as a short video clip. With the lighting, the vertical stripes that were supposed to be seaweed seemed to gently move, just like he’d planned.

  “Thanks for showing me,” he said as he scrolled through the pictures.

  “Sure.” Kent leaned in. “And, heh, I hope you don’t mind I showed Rom. Told him you made them. He seemed very impressed. And now, back to the kitchen, and I’ll go over the rules for tonight with you.”

  * * * *

  Rom hoped he wasn’t drooling as he watched Colton and Kent leave the kitchen.

  “Well?” Tim softly asked.

  “Oh. My. God.” He turned to the other two men. “Fucking dibs, and I’ll cut a bitch who tries to get in my way.”

  The men high-fived each other, and Rom. “Sir’s good,” Paul said. “He’s got a knack for it. Like he can see someone’s aura or something. Daddy and I, we’ve quit doubting him when he says he wants to introduce two people. It’s his secret superpower.”

  “Fuckin’ A, he could go into business. Colton is a fucking god.”

  In fact, Rom had to reach down and adjust himself in his jeans, because his cock was hard and screaming, begging to drag Colton into the playroom right now, before anyone else got a look at him, and fuck and beat the cutie senseless.

  Kent and Colton returned a moment later, and Kent led him and Rom into the living room while Tim and Paul finished preparations for the evening in the kitchen. Rom couldn’t help but stare at the guy. Blond and square-jawed, had to be about six-four, and yes, broad shoulders and a gorgeous fucking ass he wanted to beat, bite, and fuck.

  I guess my luck’s turning around.

  Once Kent finished going over everything with the man, he smiled. “Any questions?”

  Colton shook his head. “I think I’m good.”

  “I’ll let you gentlemen chat and get acquainted, then,” Kent said. “Our first guests won’t start arriving for nearly another hour. I wanted you two to have time alone together, and it won’t be held against you if you wish to pair off even before the others arrive.” He dropped them a wink and returned to the kitchen.

  Even though Rom was experienced negotiating sex and play, this guy totally had him tongue-tied. “Um, well, for starters, hi.”

  Colton smiled. “Hi.”

  “Let’s start with the easy part, I guess. Twenty-seven, Top for play and sex. I mean, I’ll catch when I feel like it, but overall, I’m a Top.”

  “Thirty-two. Definitely a bottom. And I’m long overdue a good hard scene.”

  While Rom wanted to drag him down to the playroom, he knew he needed to take a deep breath and take this slow. This wasn’t just a weekend-fuck kind of guy.

  He hoped.

  Rom wanted to know more about him. “I loved the vases Kent showed me. They’re gorgeous.” The man had huge hands. But now that Rom was looking at them more closely, he could see they were also soft, with long, nimble fingers, much like his own. Except Rom’s were smaller.

  Colton’s expression brightened, adorable. “Thanks. I run a ceramics studio.” He whipped out his phone and Rom found himself dangerously sliding close to an immediate infatuation even as he slid closer to the guy on the sofa so he could look at more pictures.

  Not just vases, either, but sculptures and other kinds of items.

  “These are beautiful. Where’s your place?”

  “Over on Venice Island. Right off the main street. Little slow this time of year, so I also work part-time as a personal trainer.”

  “How’d you get started in this?”

  Colton blushed, and it took every last ounce of self-control in Rom’s body not to grab him and kiss him right there. “My grandmother. It was her store. I loved being there, and learned so much from her. I started living with her when I was twelve. I’ve always helped her run it. I…I lost her four years ago.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah, other than my aunt and uncle, she was my only family.”

  “I’m an orphan, too, except I have an older brother. He raised me.”

  Colton’s expression darkened. “I wasn’t exactly orphaned,” he said. “I was disowned and discarded.”

  Yikes. “At twelve?”

  “Yep. I thought they’d be okay with a gay son. Turned out not so much. Grammy raised me from that point on. She loved me unconditionally, nurtured me and my art. I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for her.”

  Gawd, now all he wanted to do was bundle the cutie up and take him home and hold him.

  “Mine wasn’t exactly like that. Our parents…died.”

  Let’s see how far we get after tonight. Only then would he open up and tell Colton the full truth. It wasn’t a story he liked to share with people. Hell, even the people at work didn’t know the story.

  Rom opted to change conversational directions. Tonight, he wanted to have fun. “I’m definitely interested in playing with you tonight, if you want to. I won’t be a dick if you’re not into me, though.”

  “I’m definitely interested.”

  “Excellent. Then let’s talk limits and play…”

  During their conversation, Rom was wishing he was a religious person so he’d have a deity to give thanks to as he stared at Colton.

  Holy.

  Fucking.

  Shitballs.

  Once Rom thought they’d covered all the conversational territory he needed to for their play, he smiled. “Still want to play?”

  The six-four blond Adonis—and that wasn’t even a cliché, because he was a fucking Adonis—smiled at him. “Oooh, yes. I heard there was a playroom?”

  Rom nodded, hoped he wasn’t drooling, and finally found his voice. “Yeah. I brought my implement bag with me.”

  “Cool.”

  Rom stood and led the way back to the kitchen, where the three men were talking. “We’d like to use the playroom,” Rom said.

  Kent smiled and clapped his hands together. “Excellent! My boy will let you in the playroom and give you the basic rules tour for that special play area.” He leaned in and dropped his voice. “If you two end up hitting it off and wish to spend the night, you can have the use of our guest room. But keep that quiet. So there’s no need to rush, hmm? Take your time. Enjoy.”

  Kent patted Rom on the shoulder before he headed out of the room, apparently in search of what sounded like a ringing cell phone.

  Paul offered them a smile. “Follow me, please, gentlemen.” He led them down the hall, pausing while they grabbed their things from the spare bedroom, before leading them to the playroom door. There, he punched in a four-digit code and showed it to them.

  “You can use that code,” Paul said. “And here’s the rules for this room.” Paul pointed at a copy of them posted on the wall, right inside the door. “A little stricter than the rest of the house, and if you don’t follow them, you’ll likely lose not just playroom access, but won’t get any more party invites. But let me show you around first before you read them. Mostly, the big thing is to make sure to clean anything you use, even if all you do is take it out of a bag or bin and look at it, and leave it in the bin in the bathroom for us to sanitize later. We prefer to take the extra step to clean it. Definitely clean up after yourself.”

  The closet in there was a well-stocked fetish store in and of itself, Implements, cuffs, collars, blindfolds, gags—insertable toys.

  Items like the insertables, blindfolds, and gags were each stored in a clear zipper-top bag with a date written on the bag in permanent marker.

  “That’s when we last sanitized it and put it in the bag. Kent’s a little OCD about cleanliness, but that’s cool, because we can guarantee everything is probably cleaner than it was when it left its original factory. We rewash everything that gets used, even if it looks clean when it’s put in the bathroom bin for used items. Fresh bag used every time, obviously. The dildos and stuff actually go through a cycle in a specially dedicated dishwasher we have in the utility room just for this purpose.”

  Five minutes later, Paul was leaving them alone and closing the playroom door behind him with a smile.

  Rom turned to his wet dream on legs and smiled. “You ready?”

  Colton nodded, his brown gaze focused on Rom. “You have nooo idea how ready.”

  Rom pointed at the floor in front of him. “Then let’s get a few more things out of the way.”

  Chapter Seven

  Colton slid to his knees and stared up at Rom. The more time Colton spent talking with Rom, the harder his cock grew.

  This guy was perfect, for him. Well, so far. Time would tell if he was a dick or not, or how good of a Top he was.

  For this moment in time, though, all Colton wanted to do was turn himself over to Rom.

  The man nudged his glasses higher on his nose before he crossed his arms over his chest. Colton wanted to rub his face all over Rom’s and feel the other man’s beard against his cheeks, wondered what it’d feel like between his thighs…

  Damn, Colton couldn’t stop wondering what the man would look like naked.

  This was the first time he’d been able to kneel for someone in too damn long.

  Rom wore a sexy, studious look on his face as he stared down at Colton.

  “Is sex on the table for tonight?” Rom asked. “Again, it won’t hurt my feelings if you want to wait, but I’m definitely open to it.”

  “Yes, please.” Oh, god, please!

  “I’m going to say wrapped for intercourse tonight. But do you want wrapped or raw for oral? Your choice.”

  Colton knew his mouth was watering and he didn’t even care. “Raw, please.” The thought of getting that man’s cock into his mouth made his cock throb in his shorts.

  “Marks. I know you’re a personal trainer, so I’m guessing marks are a no?”

  “I can wear pants and a T-shirt to hide marks. So nothing below the elbows.”

  “Mmm.” Rom’s gaze narrowed even as his smile widened. “How do you feel about marks, though?”

  “Don’t carve me up like a brisket, but don’t hesitate to go heavy on me. I can take it.”

  “That didn’t exactly answer my question.”

  “I like looking at marks the next day. Been too damn long since I’ve had any to look at.”

  “Here’s my deal. I don’t mind playing around and swinging, but if I’m in a relationship, I’m monogamous. I don’t have a problem with it if we get done here tonight and you want to keep your options open. If we’re going to do this on a regular basis, and maybe have a trial period, I’m going to need exclusivity for that. Won’t ask for it right now, because you might hate me after we finish. But keep that in mind.”

  “I’m good with that, Sir.” Colton thought he’d try the title out and found it tasted good rolling off his tongue.

  Rom’s gaze narrowed even more. “Mmm. Keep calling me that and it might become a requirement.”

  “I’d be okay with that, Sir,” Colton said.

  Rom stepped forward and stroked Colton’s head, massaging his scalp. Colton’s eyes dropped closed and he softly moaned, tipping his head forward to rest it against Rom.

  Where, through Rom’s jeans, he felt the outline of a very hard cock awaiting him.

  Holy shitballs, he’s hung!

  “I can’t stand a cheater,” Rom quietly said. “If it’s not working for me, I’ll be honest and tell you. I’d rather stay friends than end up enemies. I ask the same courtesy in return.”

  Colton nodded a little, trying not to lose contact with Rom’s body. “Yes, Sir. Ditto.”

  “You’re dying to explore, aren’t you?” Rom sounded amused.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  His hands cupped Colton’s head. “Hands behind your back.”

  Colton complied. Rom guided him, letting him mouth his cock through his jeans, and yes, thank you, the guy was a respectable size, from what Colton could tell.

  After a couple of minutes of that, Rom made Colton tip his head back and met his gaze. “I like to be in charge,” Rom said. “In the bedroom, and out of the bedroom. I like things the way I like them. I believe in informed consent, so here’s a future preview of me for you. Your business would be off-limits, of course, even if doing something that makes my eye twitch. But I won’t ease things up regarding issues that are between us. If anything, they’ll only get stricter as we grow more comfortable with each other.

  “So keep that in mind when you’re thinking about all of this. The way I am now is the most relaxed I will be about things with you. I know that’s kind of backward from how most people are, but I’m honest about it and I own it. I expect that, the more you get to know me, the less I’ll have to tell you to remember, or that you won’t forget the way I want you to do certain things. If I have to keep telling you to do them, or how to do them, unless you give me a reason why you’re having trouble and discuss it with me like an adult, I’m going to assume what we have isn’t working for you. Don’t tell me—show me. Words mean nothing to me if they aren’t accompanied by actions.”

  Colton was in Heaven right now. Someone who wanted to take charge and take things out of his hands?

  Yes, please!

  Rom let him go back to nuzzling his cock again. “Yes, Sir,” Colton mumbled against the front of Rom’s jeans.

  Rom’s fingers deliciously massaged Colton’s scalp. “When we’re spending personal time together, I expect your attention to be on me. No phone distractions, no texting and Facebook with others, unless I’ve said it’s free time. Doesn’t mean you won’t have time for that, but I will specify personal time for us and expect it to be just that. We might be fucking or we might be snuggled on the couch watching TV, but your attention will be on me, because my attention will be on you.”