Page 1 of Sir Avery's Wish
Prologue
Eli grinned as he drove back home to the Valley from West Hollywood. His friend Lenny was right. Kiss of Leather was an amazing kink club, the exact kind of place he’d been looking for. Even though he was a complete newbie to the scene, he hadn’t felt uncomfortable there at all. The last two clubs he’d checked out hadn’t seemed very keen on protocol, and he’d bailed.
“Thanks, man. That place was sick.” Eli thought his wide smile might split his face. He chuckled at the visual.
Lenny sleepily glanced his way. While Eli watched a demonstration with tickling and spanking, Lenny had gone to a private room and gotten a good flogging. He was still all blissed out.
“Hey, no problem. This Dom I hooked up with on a kink site told me about it. I figured you’d dig it.” Lenny let out a huge yawn, complete with an operatic sound effect.
“Damn, dude! My ears.”
They both fell into a round of laughter, then Lenny groaned. “Ow, my head. The Dom I worked with gave me great aftercare, but I haven’t been so good about getting enough sleep lately. Too much going out.”
Eli signaled to connect to the next freeway heading west across the expansive San Fernando Valley.
“I thought Doms were supposed to make sure you took care of yourself and all that.”
Lenny stretched and yawned again, but this time without the sound effect. “Well, yeah. If you have a contract. This was just a one-off. He took care of me after the flogging, but then we both went our separate ways.”
“Oh. Okay.” So far, all Eli had done was hang out and watch demos. He had a vague understanding of everything, but he wasstill learning. And oh, how he ached to learn by doing. “So you’re not going to see that guy again?”
Lenny gave a small shrug. “I dunno. Maybe. He was all right. We didn’t exchange info or anything. We might hook up if we happen to be at the club together again.”
Eli was too embarrassed to comment that he was searching for something steadier. He didn’t think he could be that vulnerable with different guys all the time. If he got with a Dom, he’d want to at least go into it with the idea of trying for a long-term thing. However, he didn’t want to admit that to his buddy in case it sounded too judgy.
Maybe he was being naive. Maybe that wasn’t how it worked in the kink community. Not that he expected forever and ever on a first date. But if he was going to tread into new and scary territory, he didn’t want it to be with someone who wasn’t hoping for something more eventually. And now that his twenty-fifth birthday was around the corner, kink or no kink, he was getting weary of the hook-up scene.
Eli signaled again, this time to exit the freeway. Only a few more blocks and they’d be at Lenny’s Encino apartment, which he shared with two other guys. It was the only way he could afford to live in the nice neighborhood. Even waiting tables at one of the trendier cafes on Ventura Boulevard barely kept him afloat.
Eli knew how he felt.
Lenny straightened in his seat as if preparing to move his body once they reached their destination.
“You wanna crash tonight?” Lenny cracked his knuckles. “I have a shift at eleven, so we could grab breakfast at Denny’s before I go in.”
“Can’t.” Eli turned down Lenny’s street. “I have to be at the hotel by six. Gotta get all those sheets and towels sparkling white before check-in at two.”
“Ugh. No offense, but I couldn’t do that job. Why don’t you let me ask my boss if there are any openings? You could make bank there.”
Eli sighed as he pulled into the alley next to the apartment and shut off the engine. Parking spaces on the street were a miracle that rarely happened. But he wanted to take a few minutes to ask Lenny about where he worked. Maybe heshouldtry something different, even though he had no restaurant experience.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.Maybe one day he’d make a decision. Eli rolled his eyes. He’d have a better chance of finding a parking space.
He angled his body toward Lenny. “That place is pretty fancy. I doubt your boss wants someone who’s never waited before on his staff.”
Lenny rubbed his chin. “Well, you’d probably have to start off as a dishwasher, then move up from there.”
Eli arched his eyebrows. “So instead of washing fabrics, I’d be washing china. Got it.”
Lenny smirked. “At least you wouldn’t be in a dark, damp basement all day.”
“I could be in a hot, stuffy kitchen instead. I see your point.”
Lenny gave him a playful punch in the arm. “Whatever, dude. I’m just trying to help.”
Eli laughed and rubbed his arm. “I know, I know. One of the problems is that unless I got out of there in the early afternoon or only worked weekends, which wouldn’t be enough hours, it would interfere with my class schedule.”
“Oh yeah, that.” Lenny winced. “Again. please don’t take offense. But how many different majors have you had in the last six years? Three? Four? It might be time to pick a career that doesn’t require schooling. Because at this rate, you’ll be in school until retirement.”
