Page 44 of The Menagerie

“Eh, used most of ’em except the fuckin’ massive ones. They’re all pretty good, but like I said, the real thing’s better.” He glances at Rowan’s crotch, tongue darting out over his lower lip.

Rowan huffs out a laugh through his nose, if only to keep himself from pushing Mal to his knees to let him have a taste ofthe real thingright now.

“Do you like vibrators?” Rowan asks.

“Vibes are good. Not big on the feeling inside unless it’s right on my prostate, but everywhere else outside is pretty sensitive.”

“Good to know.”

Rowan’s mentally cataloging everything Mal says. It shouldn’t surprise him that he seems so in tune with his body and knows exactly what he likes and what he doesn’t like, but it does. It’s a pleasant change from what he’s used to, anyway. In the past, Rowan’s had partners who barely knew how they liked to be touched, or had a hard time communicating it, so Rowan couldn’t get them off as well as he would have liked. And sure, given enough time he can figure anyone out, but that’s not exactly feasible for a one-night stand.

He’s lucky, really, that he was able to pick up on Mal’s tastes so quickly last time. It led him here, after all.

Glancing at the cabinet again and eyeing the litany of cock rings in all shapes and sizes, some with and some without ball rings, he asks, “How about cock rings?”

“Eh, they can be good for edging. Usually they annoy the fuck outta me.”

“Got it.” But a thought strikes him. “Did you like it when I cut you off from coming last week?”

“Yeah. Shit was hot. I’m big into edging and orgasm denial in general, so it was a good surprise.”

Somehow Rowan’s brain manages to make him feel both relieved and turned on at the same time.

Mal points to a set of fleshlights and masturbators. “You ever use those?”

“Fleshlights? Once, but it’s kinda shit compared to an actual hole.”

Mal snorts. “Got that right. Can be fun if you’re gettin’ fucked at the same time, though.”

And fuck if that thought doesn’t go straight to Rowan’s dick. He’s definitely going to have to remember that for the future.

Mal points out a large, long set of silicone anal beads, each bead nearly two inches in diameter. “These are my favorite. Got my own set at home immediately after I used ’em for the first time.”

It’s almost funny how willing Mal is to talk about sex—howeagerhe is to talk about it—when he wouldn’t even have a casual, polite conversation a few minutes ago.

“You wanna use ’em tonight?”

Mal looks like he’s considering it. “Nah. We’ll keep shit pretty vanilla for tonight.”

Rowan nods, thinking that even anal beads are pretty vanilla. Actually everything they’ve looked at so far seems vanilla. Though he knows from the experience hedoeshave that you don’t need toys to have filthy, kinky sex, they certainly help.

They move on to the next cabinet, this one containing cuffs, collars, and gags.

“Prob’ly get a lot of use outta these,” Mal says.

“Yeah?”

A shrug from Mal. “I like bein’ restrained. Got my own set of cuffs that I like better, though. I’ll bring ’em with me.”

“What’s different about yours?”

“They’re fur lined. The plain leather’s hot as shit, but after a while, the chafing gets to be too much, and it takes me outta it. The club doesn’t really keep any toys with fabric like that since it’s hard to clean in between uses.” He gestures to a cabinet to the right that they haven’t looked at yet. “’Cept the ropes, but those are easy to wash.”

“That makes sense.” Rowan looks around at the other toys in the cabinet. “You like being gagged?”

Rowan swears he sees Mal’s eyes flash. “Yeah.”

“Any in particular you like or don’t like?”

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