Page 35 of Becoming the Owners
He hated everyone equally and told me that if I thought falling in love with anyone was a good idea, then I deserved what I got…but he’d taught me shit and helped me get my GED, so…
“I’m betting it was a bit of a bumpy ride.” The serious look in his eyes said he was remembering our talk the other night.
“You’ve had your own bumps. Just because mine were different doesn’t make them better or worse.” No one went through life without some trouble spots. “I’ve got a great crewand a great company and I think I’ve got a great…something…Dom, I guess?”
Ben rolled his eyes, getting quite the workout during our talk. “Something? At least call me a boyfriend, please.”
Drama queen.
“And while we’re on the subject of names.” He narrowed his eyes. “CB?”
My groan didn’t distract him this time. “Nope, not going to work. Keep talking.”
“Cocky boy.” As he chuckled, not laughing as much as I thought he would, I sighed and closed my eyes. “I might’ve been a bit of a shit at one point, but by the time I got the name, I was as good as I thought I was. Some assholes just couldn’t help themselves because I was a bit of a twink, and while not quite sparkly levels of fabulousness…I was a bit shiny.”
“Oh, pretty bird.” Stroking my cheek, I felt him shift and press his lips against my forehead. “You will always shine above the rest.”
Nuzzling against him now that the stupid shit was all out in the open, I peeked up at him. “Does that mean I’m forgiven for being an ass?”
Ben tried not to laugh, but his eyes gave him away. It took him a few seconds to make sure he wouldn’t bust out in giggles, but he finally got himself under control. “You are forgiven because you apologized. You realized why I was frustrated and you came to me yourself to explain what you were thinking. I’m very proud of you.”
It was clearly one of those Dom moment things, but I kind of liked it.
“You’re really not going to hate me when I do something even more ridiculous, or when I overschedule myself and work too much, or when I turn into an annoying attention whore? The sub stuff like the flogger really did help, but eventually I’m going to want to go out.” There were so many ways this could explode.
Shaking his head, he leaned down and kissed my forehead, making me blush. I just couldn’t help it and I even started squirming. Ben’s grin was nearly ear to ear and he was delighted. “Oh, pretty bird.”
Ugh.
Hiding my face against his thigh, I huffed. “No.”
That just had more laughter escaping from my brat of a Dom…and boyfriend…and lover?
My everything?
He ignored my drama and stroked his hand over the back of my head. “We’re going to make rules that we both agree on. We’re going to look at your schedule and keep it reasonable when we can. When we can’t, well, that’s when I do my best to support you and help you and flog you when you need it.”
He was so weird.
But I was starting to realize it was probably a good thing since I wasn’t exactly boring myself.
“When you break the rules, there will be consequences and a long discussion about what happened and what you were thinking. I’m pretty sure you’re going to hate that so much you’ll behave for the most part.”
Smart men were scary.
“When you need adoration from your fans, I’ll pick out something sexy for you to wear and we’ll go to Niko’s. You’ll dance for me and everyone will see my beautiful bird.” I felt him press another kiss to the back of my head. “I’m not going to change you, birdie. I’m going to make you shine even brighter without the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
It sounded almost too good to be true, but for some reason, I knew if anyone could put up with me, it would be Brass Man.
“I really am obnoxious sometimes.” I had to make sure he knew that. “You’re going to get frustrated with me.”
His sigh had me sneaking a peek at him, but he caught me and cupped my cheek. “One day you’re going to realize I mean every word I say, but for the time being, I’m just going to show you with rules and patience and floggings and all the attention the Queen desires.”
I couldn’t help smiling at that. “The Queen likes a lot of attention.”
“It’s one of the Queen’s best qualities because I love giving attention.” He seemed to honestly believe that, so I let him be delusional because it was kind of cute. “But the Queen is also a worrier, so how about we find a therapist to work with who understands drama queens and attention whores and sweet subs who don’t want to upset their Doms?”
Ugh.
