“Everyone lived, which is what matters.”
We sat there, eating together, talking about nothing in particular, but it felt like one of the most important conversations of my life. When I finished the bagel and he the omelet, we switched, and he went for the carbs while I used his fork to eat the eggs.
I loved being in Aidan’s space like this, just talking to him and eating with him as if this had been our life for a hundred years. He laughed when I told him a story about Ian, and I was reminded how much I loved the sound, the way it settled inside me like a hug from within.
He shared his orange juice with me too, and when we finished eating, he said, “Thank you, boy. That was very good.”
I felt my skin glow and my smile get too bright. “You’re very welcome, Sir.”
He chuckled. “You are so eager to please and a bit of a slut for praise. It’s utterly adorable.” Aidan brushed the back of his hand against my cheek. I was beginning to notice it was his thing, and I liked it very, very much. “Go downstairs and take care of your morning responsibilities, please. I’ll be down soon.”
“Yes, Sir.”
I was giddy as I took the tray back downstairs, put his laundry in the dryer, washed the dishes, cleaned the counters, swept and mopped the kitchen. Aidan came down not long after in shorts and a T-shirt. “Have you done your workout yet?”
“No, Aidan.”
“Get changed. We’ll do it together.”
“Oh my God, really?” I still wasn’t fond of exercising, but I liked the idea of doing it with Aidan. I wanted to do anything and everything with Aidan, and I would if he’d let me.
“Of course, silly boy. You say that as if I never spend time with you.”
“No, I just want to spend all the time with you, and if you’re forcing me to like, be healthy and sweat, then at least I should have a nice view when I do so.” I waggled my eyebrows at him, which earned me another Aidan snicker.
“There’s a gorgeous view out the window, you know.”
“Yes, but it’s not you…all glistening and sweaty and muscular.” Now if he would just let me lick him up afterward, it would be perfect. “But I’ll go get dressed before you change your mind!”
“That’s what I thought!” he called after me as I jogged away. Playful Aidan was the best.
I used the elliptical while Aidan ran on the treadmill. From there we lifted weights and he spotted me, cheering me on with things like, “One more. You can do it, Finley,” which made me all melty inside.
Afterward, Aidan got on his laptop as I cleaned bathrooms.
That done, I went back into the kitchen, where he’d been in the meantime. Aidan stood and stretched, saying, “Shower and dress, then meet me in my office.”
“Yes, Sir.” Which meant school stuff was next, and the thought made my stomach tumble in a fuck this sort of way. Still, I obeyed him because I trusted him, and Aidan said this was for the best.
When I got to his office, he had pulled up another chair next to his at the desk. My grades had been shitty when I was in school, and I hated that he would likely see them. “No shame, remember?” Aidan said as I sat beside him.
“Are you a mind reader?”
“I wouldn’t be very good at this if I didn’t learn to read you. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to communicate, because you do. I’m not perfect, but I do my best.”
“I know.”
It took a few hours to get the information we needed. I had to give Aidan school names and my personal information as he requested transcripts. He researched local programs for getting your diploma. They had programs at community colleges, and some high schools also did continuing adult education.
Aidan made phone calls, and then we left for appointments, and before I knew it, I was going to be taking summer courses to get my high school diploma.
“Are you hungry?” Aidan asked.
“Starving.”
I was quiet after that, and I figured he noticed, but I was trying to sort through the day, the future, and deciding how I felt about it all. What Aidan had done for me was…unexplainable. No one had ever gone through the trouble for me the way Aidan had, no one had ever made me feel loved the way Aidan did, even though I knew he didn’t love me. He was my Dominant, my Sir, my employer, my…friend, in many ways. The man who watched TV shows with me when I knew it wasn’t his favorite thing; the guy who let me rest my head in his lap and stroked my hair. But knew I didn’t love him either. It was surprising how he could be my world while I wasn’t in love with him, but I also knew I could be. Very, very easily, I could be, because he was kind, made me feel secure, and was funny when he wanted to be. Was the fact that I could love him why he didn’t want to fuck me? Or was it something more?
Aidan took me to a burger place for a late lunch/early dinner. It was the first time we’d gone out for a meal together, and I felt proud that people would see me with him.
When we got back home, I lost myself in cleaning things that didn’t truly need to be cleaned, because it centered me and cleared my head.
At about eight o’clock, Aidan found me and said, “Meet me in the living room. We’ll find a new show to watch together.”
It was things like this—Aidan telling me to choose a show because he knew I enjoyed it—that made me see how much more there really was to Aidan.
He allowed me to kneel for him as we watched the first episode of Spartacus. “The special effects are badass,” I said, and he chuckled, his hand finding its way to my hair, petting me.
We ended up watching two episodes before Aidan turned off the television. My instincts took over as the day washed through my mind and heart, making me lean into him, push my nose farther between his legs as I inhaled. “Please…please, Aidan.”
I wanted to serve him. I wanted to thank him because this day had been…the best day of my life, and I realized as I sat there on my knees that I truly did want what he’d said. I wanted my diploma, even if I never used it, even if it didn’t get me anything. A part of me wanted to know I could do it, and another part wanted it because Aidan desired it. “Please,” I begged again as my nose rubbed over his full balls and thick erection. Pride rushed through me that I’d gotten him hard, that he wanted me, and I kept breathing him in and trying to push in as close as possible. God, I loved the way he smelled, masculine and dominant, heady.
He inhaled a deep breath. His hand tightened in my hair. Yes, yes, yes! He was going to give me this. He was going to allow me to serve him this way. “Please, let me thank you for today.”
It was as if I’d thrown cold water on him. I felt the change in Aidan’s body as he stiffened, then gently eased my head back. “No. Go upstairs for the night, please. I’ll take care of turning off the lights and locking up.”
“Aidan… I…”
“I said no. If you don’t obey, you’ll get punished, and I promise you, you won’t like it.”
I stood, crossed my arms, almost told him I hated him, but instead said, “Yes, Sir,” and walked away.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Aidan
I was spending more time than I should thinking about Finley. Not that I shouldn’t have him on my mind, because he was my responsibility. He was under my care, which meant I should consider him in all things. But there were other thoughts coming more and more frequently, especially in the weeks since he’d knelt for me, inhaled my scent, and begged to let him serve me. I’d been right there, ready to throw my rules out the window, until he’d whispered the words that had doused the flames of my lust—“Please, let me thank you for today.”