They heard the front door open, followed by Kim’s voice. “Is that Tony’s car?”
“Yeah,” Tony called out. “Hey.”
She popped her head around the corner. “Hey, you!” She started toward him for a hug, then hesitated when she spotted Mason sitting there, and she froze.
Mason laughed. “Of course it’s all right, pet. I told you, Tony and the gang, they’re fine.”
She swooped in for a hug as Tony stood. “Staying for dinner?”
“No, just wanted to get the gold-bricker back on his feet.”
“Huh?”
“We’ll fill you in later, pet,” Mason said. He held a hand out to Tony. “Thanks, man. Guess after all these years, I end up working for you again, anyway.”
“Hey, look at it this way, you’ll be going up the food chain. Almost where I was when you left the first time.”
“I’m not going to complain. Thank you for this. Seriously.”
“Least I can do. Oh, and even better? No morality clause in your contract since you’re not management yet. Lucky you.” He smiled. “They don’t care about the trial or any of that. Especially since it all happened before your employment starts. You wouldn’t start with us for at least two weeks, after the holidays, so that’ll give you time to arrange transportation, if you need to. Or you can carpool with me for a while until you’re driving again. I told them that, honestly, you’re the only candidate I want to even consider for the job. Since you’re a previous employee with a spotless record, they’re fine with all of that.”
Kim’s expression darkened and Cole almost wished Tony hadn’t even mentioned the trial. “Hope that fucker rots in jail.”
“How’s your job going?” Tony asked her.
“My boss has been really wonderful throughout everything,” she said. “He said that everyone has stuff in their closets, and that I’m a great employee, and he really didn’t care as long as while I was there I did my job well. I’m really lucky. Considering he had a crazy ex in his past, too, he kind of understands.”
“Oh,” Tony said. “That’s right. That’s the guy whose husband shot and killed the intruder over on Manasota Key a couple years back.”
“Yeah. At least there weren’t any kids involved in our situation,” she said.
Tony returned his focus to Mason. “So, can I tell them it’s a yes?”
“Yes.”
“Great. I’ll get with you to confirm your start date next week. Call Mandy first thing the day after Christmas. She’s got kids in school and took a long break at Thanksgiving. She’ll get you set up in the system and all of that.”
“He will,” Cole said.
Mason looked up at him. “When did you get Dommy?”
“I’m not. I’m husbandy.”
Tony grinned. “Sounded Dommy to me.”
Once Tony left, Kim went to get undressed. Cole turned to Mason and jabbed a finger at him. “You don’t get that call made, I will go Dommy on your ass.” He leaned in and kissed him. “Even if we have to figure out a ride share for a while, we’ll do what it takes to get you back to work.”
“I’ll do it. I promise.” They had a house full of people coming for dinner tomorrow night, including Cole’s parents, his parents—both sets—and Kim’s family.
Another secret Tilly-assisted mission last week that Mason had done and waited until it was over to tell Cole and Kim. He’d wanted her parents to know the full truth, and why Kim was scared to tell them.
Fortunately, despite being taken aback by the poly revelation, they revealed they’d been kind of scared to say too much to her for fear of driving her away again after what had happened with her marriage to Craige.
And that they really did want to reconnect with her. If it meant accepting her poly situation, they would, even though Mason understood they wouldn’t be mentioning that to everyone else. They’d still refer to Cole as her boyfriend, and introduce Mason as their good friend and roommate.
Rightfully, Cole and Kim had both been irritated at him that night when he’d told them what he’d done. He was also glad that after Kim called her parents and talked to them for the better part of an hour, she emerged from the bedroom and curled up on the couch with her head in Mason’s lap.
“Better, pet?”
“Yeah. You’re right. They’re…okay.”
And that was that.
Now they would be coming to dinner, her parents, her sisters, and their husbands.
There’d been one other Tilly-assisted secret mission he’d gone on outside their ken, fortunately three days ago, before his tumble in the shower.
He slipped the ring box from his pocket and when Kim emerged from the bedroom, wearing her leather collar and wrist and ankle cuffs, and nothing else, he called her and Cole over.
He kept the box hidden in his hand when he pointed at the floor in front of him. She knelt, and he opened the ring box, removing the diamond solitaire.
“Early Christmas gift, pet. Left hand.”
She held it up. Her eyes widened as he slipped her wedding band off, put the solitaire on, and then replaced the wedding band. He cupped his left hand under her chin. “Pet, will you do the honor of wearing my ring permanently, in place of a collar when you can’t actually wear a collar? Something you can wear all the time and proudly show people and not have to worry about explaining? Something you never have to take off, ever?”
She nodded, tears pooling in her eyes. Happy tears. “Yes, Master. Thank you.”
“I love you, pet. I think tonight we need to change our FetLife designations, right?”
She smiled. “Yes, Master.”
“You may take a picture of your rings on your hand and post them as your new profile pic.” She currently had a picture of her collar around her neck, no part of her face visible.
“Thank you, Master.”
He looked up at Cole. “Come here, you.”
Cole smirked. “I’m not kneeling.”
Mason patted the couch next to him. “I’m serious.”
Cole sat.
Mason took another ring from the box, another band, this one in a different pattern than their wedding bands. He took Cole’s right hand and slipped it onto his ring finger. “I wanted to pick this ring out. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. A beautiful pet, and a handsome husband. I can’t ask for more.”
Cole smiled and leaned in for a kiss. “I suppose I should go get one of your presents now because I can’t give it to you tomorrow in front of everyone.” He disappeared and returned a moment later, handing Mason a business card.
It was for a local place Mason knew did quite a bit of piercings for the kinky community.
And it was an appointment card for the evening of the twenty-seventh.
“What’s this for? I’m not getting pierced.” He’d had enough medical procedures to last him a lifetime, thanks.
Cole smiled and pointed to Kim. “Oh, she doesn’t know yet. That’s to get her clit hood piercing done. You’d mentioned a while back that you thought it’d be nice to get that done.”
She gulped as she looked up at them.
Mason started laughing. “Check under her. I think she just piddled on the carpet.”
Cole grinned. “She better not have.” He sighed. “And to get my nipples done. I’ve been thinking about it. If I don’t like it, I can take them out. I like how it feels when you play with them.”
“Oooh.” Now Mason’s cock had fully hardened. Yes, Kim had already consented to letting them get her pierced.
She’d just thought they’d forgotten about it, since it’d been so many months earlier.
But the thought of both of them getting pierced, even if Cole wasn’t his submissive… Yeah, definitely hot.
He shoved his shorts down and off and pulled off his T-shirt. “Pet, come here. Hop on. Cole, go get the lube and a condom.”
Cole arched an eyebrow at him. “Mase, dinner’s going to be ready in ten minutes.”
“Won’t take us tha
t long. And bring the new egg.”
She moaned as she straddled him on the couch and impaled herself on his cock.
“Now sit there like a good girl and wait,” he said, smiling. He hooked a finger through the D-ring on the front of her collar and pulled her in for a kiss. “Just think, once that piercing heals up, you’ll be even more sensitive down there. We’ll be able to have all sorts of fun with you.”
Yep, her eyes had glazed over. “Yes, Master.”
Cole returned, naked, and a condom already over his stiff cock. He quickly got her ass lubed and slid his cock into position, Mason’s cock twitching at the sound of her moans.
“Hold her hands behind her and fuck her beautiful brains out.”
Cole did, Mason struggling to hold back his own release as he played with her nipples. “Maybe next Christmas, we’ll get your nipples pierced and be able to hang little jingle bells from them like Ross does to Loren.”
She moaned, lost in subspace.
“That’s it. Let him fuck our sweet, sexy little pet. A pet who’s going to spend allll day Christmas Day tied up and squirming on our cocks in one way or another.”
Kim was trying to rock against them. She’d admitted one fantasy she’d had was spending Christmas Day like that with them.
They planned on making it happen for her.
He could feel Cole fucking her through the thin wall of muscle separating their cocks inside her. Their pet, his husband.
Perfection.
He grabbed her chin, holding her, making her look him in the eye. “Go ahead and come for me, pet. You know you like it when we fuck you like this. You can’t hide it. You’re our sweet little slut, and believe me, we love fucking you to the point your brain shuts down and your clit takes over.”
That did it. Her body clamped down on their cocks as she tipped over the edge. Mason grabbed her hips and started fucking her, coming about the same time as Cole. Cole pulled out first, and Mason held out his hand for the new egg and the controller.
She hadn’t seen this one yet, and it was even bigger than the other two. Cole had released her arms and went to clean up. “Raise up, pet.”
She did, Mason’s softening cock falling from her. He slipped the egg inside her, giggling out loud when she moaned at the feel of it sliding in.
Then he hit the switch and giggled again when she cried out as she came, her head dropping onto his shoulder.
“She like it?” Cole called out from where he was cleaning up in the master bathroom.
“I think so. That wasn’t even high.” Mason adjusted the egg some more, Kim nearly collapsing on top of him.
He grabbed her by the hair and made her go down on him. “Clean me up, pet, then go clean yourself up in the bathroom.”
She came at least one more time while she was doing that. Then he took pity on her and turned it down onto low when he let her get up to go to the bathroom.
She kind of wobbled a little on her feet, but she headed down the hall.
Mason snickered, waited, then cranked it up to high. He heard her cry out from the bathroom and Cole started laughing. He emerged, dressed in shorts and nothing else.
“That was mean.” But he wore a smile.
“Hey, I just wanted to test the range.”
He snickered. “Uh-huh. Suurre.”
Mason turned it back down to low and the moaning from the bathroom quieted.
Mason pulled his shorts on and went to wash his hands in the guest bathroom. Kim emerged from their bedroom, expression glazed and glaring at him. “I nearly fell in the toilet.”
He giggled. “Then I suggest you better figure out how to get used to it. Oh, get a towel to sit on for dinner.”
“Yes, Master.” She turned around to go do it and he delivered a stinging slap to her ass.
She turned and smiled. “Love you, Master.”
“Love you, too, pet. Merry Christmas.”
He washed his hands—again—and headed for the kitchen.
“Dinner’s—hey. Where’s your walker?”
“In the living room. I used the walls and couch for balance.” He slid into a chair at the table. “See? Safe.”
Cole rolled his eyes and leaned in for a kiss. “Damn stubborn Dom. Love you.”
Mason hooked a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. “Love you, too. Merry Christmas.”
Cole picked up the remote from where Mason had left it on the table, and cranked it up to high.
They both laughed as Kim squealed in the hall.
Cole grinned as he turned it back down. “It is now.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Mason awoke feeling achy and sore.
Dammit.
The forecasted winter weather front must have made it through. Februaries in Florida could be balmy or brutally bitter—sometimes from one day to the next, depending on the frontal boundaries.
It was a Friday, meaning he needed to get his ass out of bed and get ready for work. Tony was a great boss, but now that Mason was back up to what currently passed for full speed in his life, he knew Tony also wouldn’t hesitate to razz him about being late too many times.
As Mason slowly forced himself up into a sitting position, his area of awareness expanded and he processed that he was alone in bed.
“Pet,” he called out.
“Coming, Master.” She hurried into the bedroom, a steaming mug of coffee in one hand and two ibuprofen tablets in the other. “I was just coming to wake you up.” She set the coffee on the end table and handed him the glass of water from there. “There you go.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Now more awake, he heard the shower going. From her damp hair, he suspected she’d already showered. “Cole in the shower?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He switched out the water for coffee and took a few sips. Then he handed the mug back to her and held out his right hand. “Okay. Help me up.”
“It’s cold out there.”
“I figured.” The house felt comfortable. He knew Cole had set it to sixty-eight the night before, and he heard the air handler kick off in confirmation.
Sure enough, Cole was still in the shower. He stepped inside with him.
“Hey, you,” Cole said as he leaned in for a kiss. “I was just finishing up. Want me to scrub your back?”
“Please.” Mason turned and leaned his forehead against the tile, closing his eyes as the warm water sprayed on his aching body. He was one massive ball of pain this morning. Yes, they’d all warned him that this would likely occur, at least at first. He might be up and mobile, but his body was still healing, and in some ways medical science couldn’t even understand. Such was the legacy of the injuries he’d survived.
At least he was still alive, something he could appreciate far more now looking back on the experience than he could at first. Several months since the accident, he was still a long way from a full recovery, and he had only just been cleared to drive again a couple of weeks earlier.
Cole scrubbed his back for him, finishing by pressing his body along Mason’s back and wrapping his arms around Mason’s midsection. “Do you want me or Kim to drive you?”
“No, I’ll manage it. I just need to stand under the hot water for a while.” Once again settled in and working at Asher Insurance, it was amazing how easy it’d been to absorb back into the culture there. A few people he knew from his earlier stint still worked there, too.
And had he just stayed there, he might have been even farther along than he was now.
Then again, had he been “meaner” to Freddie when he broke up with him, he might not have lost his other job.
Maybe my dad was really onto something after all.
Cole made him turn around and look at him. “I know that tone of voice, dude. Talk to me.”
Kim was absolutely right. Cole was their balance. Mason could divert Kim’s concern for him, but Cole wasn’t so easily swayed. Especially after his time spent with Kim and dealing with her issues.
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“Just stuck in my head right now. I’ll be okay. The weather and the pain. That’s all.”
Cole finally nodded and kissed him. “Warn Tony when you get there that you’re hurting today. They might let you come home early.”
“I will.” No might about it, they would. But Mason hated doing that. He hated feeling like he wasn’t pulling his own weight.
Hated feeling borderline useless sometimes.
He finished his shower to find that Kim had already made the bed and laid his clothes out for him, making him smile. She was in the other bathroom getting ready so she wasn’t in his way, plus she needed to use a mirror that wasn’t all steamed up so she could do her hair and makeup.
“Thank you, pet,” he called out as he reached for his boxer shorts. They were more comfortable to wear when he was in pain. No elastic to rub and pinch.
“You’re welcome, Master,” she called back.
She’d even set his comfortable sneakers on a towel on the bedspread so he wouldn’t have to bend over to pick them up off the floor.
She thinks of everything.
Mason was sitting on the edge of the bed and struggling with his shoes when Cole walked in. Without a word, he knelt in front of Mason, gently pushed his hands away, and tied them for him.
Mason let out a sigh.
Cole sat back. “Ask for help, dammit.” He lowered his voice and hooked a thumb toward the door. “Call for her to do it for you. She’ll jump to it. Let her.”
“I don’t like being helpless.”
“You’re not helpless. You’re in pain. There are plenty of people out there with arthritis and stuff younger than you who can’t do it. Why the hell you think they make shoes with Velcro?” He grinned. “Maybe get some of those old man shoes like your dad wears.”
“You sound like a man who wants a spanking.”
Cole smiled as he stuck his tongue out at Mason. Then he stood and held out a hand to him.
Mason accepted it and stood, letting Cole pull him into his arms. “I love you both so much,” Mason said. “Thank you for standing by me.”
Cole stared down at him. “You’re my husband. I love you. ’Til death do us part, and all of that. I’d have married you even if all of this hadn’t happened. This just pushed up the timeframe. I know you’re not going anywhere, we know she’s damn sure not going anywhere, and I’m happy with our odd little family.”