Page 71 of See You Sometime
Great.
“Is he mad at me?”
Landry frowned. “Who?”
“Bob. He answered the door. He didn’t talk to me.”
Landry’s brows lifted. “Ah, that’s because he’s not allowed to. I told him he cannot.”
Humiliation flashed through him. “What? Why?”
“He’s in training, that’s why, and this is part of it. Formal protocols. Doesn’t concern you, no offense.”
More processing needed. “Um…” He really had no idea what to say.
Landry leaned back in the office chair, his right leg crossed over his left knee. He wore jeans and a short-sleeved button-up shirt, but he was also barefoot. “Since I can see the questions on your face, I suppose I could choose to elucidate, but only if you promise not to discuss it outside of this room without my express permission first.”
“Um…okay?”
“Is that a yes, or are you confused as to my terms?”
“Yes. I promise.”
“Bob is formally in training, collared to my household as a leather family member. Tilly asked me to collar him to us as a house. After some careful consideration, I agreed. He has a slave’s heart and soul and absolutely bloody horrible luck with relationships with dominant women who aren’t bloodsucking bitches.
“He’s our friend first, and what we can give him, he cannot easily find by right swiping on a dating app. I have been working with him, as well as Skye. He comes to us to get his needs fulfilled that a girlfriend cannot, and he is free to date as he pleases, so long as it does not interfere with our agreement. It is a win-win, as they say. He currently spends every weekend living with us, in training and acting as our manservant, as well as spending several evenings a week here, as long as it doesn’t conflict with work.”
Axel wasn’t sure how he felt about that, not that it was any of his business, he supposed. “Skye never mentioned any of that to me.”
“That is because she was sworn to secrecy. It is no one’s business outside of this leather family. Since she and Bob have no sexual contact, and nothing I have them do together violates anything in your protocols,andyou gave me permission to work with her, it was outside the boundaries of our agreement and therefore not germane to our discussions before now.”
Do together?
Those two words churned and tightened his gut. He felt weak as he asked it. “What, exactly, do you have them do together?”
“For starters, he provides her aftercare in Tilly’s absence. Skye is not attracted to him romantically, and he doesn’t participate in my scenes with her other than as an observer or fetching me anything I cannot reach without leaving her side. I felt it was a better alternative than myself or Cris doing it, or having to coordinate schedules with Cali when Tilly isn’t home. Far less chance of any messy, accidental attraction on anyone’s part. Obviously, in the case of myself or Cris, it’d be one-sided, because we are committed to each other and Tilly.
“Unfortunately, not everyone is so readily able to separate what happens within a scene, or a more overarching BDSM dynamic, from romance and love. Which is why we are always very careful with whom we scene. Since Skye and Bob are both in training under me, they have a more sibling kind of bond. Friendship.”
Landry smiled and it reminded Axel of a predator. “Fellow slaves.” His smile faded. “I felt it also wise…just in case.”
“Just in case?”
“In case you cannot, as my sweetly vicious firebrand phrases it, pry your head out of your fucking ass and step up to own Skye the way she truly deserves.”
His body felt numb. “You just said she’s not attracted to him.”
“She’s not. Not like that. And while he is quite dominant in his career, outside of work, he wishes nothing more than to be a cherished slave. But if things go off the rails between you and Skye, it’d be cruel of me to shun her and leave her emotionally twisting in the wind. Bob can be a friend and comforter to her without being sexual with her. He is no stranger to having what seems like perfection cruelly wrenched from under him just when it feels within reach. Not once, but multiple times.”
His expression turned…regretful? “Unfortunately, I unintentionally created one such void in his life. I, therefore, feel responsible for helping him out, as it were. He’s a good man, an honorable man I’m proud to call a friend and adopted family, even outside of what it is that we do. Rest assured, if I felt he would come between what you and Skye have, or if I could not trust him, he would not be here in the first place, much less be wearing my collar.”
“Okay. So…he’s not mad at me?”
Landry smiled and laced his fingers behind his head. “Oh, he’s quite upset with you. I never thought he’d ever want to hit someone more than he wanted to go after my Cristo upon their very first meeting, but there you have it. Believe you me that says a lot.”
His smile faded. “Another reason he’s under orders not to speak tonight. He’s only allowed to speak to Skye, or obviously if there’s some sort of emergency. But unless I or Cris ask him to directly answer a question that cannot be answered with a simple gesture, he’s not allowed to speak unless I give him leave to do so. Especially to you.”
“Why?”
