Page 101 of Naughty November

“What?” The word tumbled out on a laugh.

“Have a look around some more. Explore your options. I’ll be waiting.”

Adrian turned and walked away, his round, perfect ass taunting me as he left the room. Leaving me there, bereft. Confused. Aching. My cock throbbed in my shorts. I’d been so close to something and before I could identify what it was, it had disappeared.

Only it hadn’t. He hadn’t said no. He’d said come find him when I was ready.

I twisted the cap off the water and took a sip.

Game on.

TWO

ADRIAN

“I thought you weren’t playing tonight,” a familiar voice purred in my ear. I was still watching Riley make the rounds. His inexperience made him stand out. He moved through rooms like he wanted to manifest confidence, but couldn’t quite get there. Not with so much naked skin and sinful sights to see.

“I thought so too,” I told Rory. “I saw your men earlier. Andrew has come a long way since he met the two of you.”

Rory beamed with pride, his love clear as day. The three men had come together a little unconventionally. Rory and Nick had an on-again, off-again thing. Nick was a switch, but Rory had only ever oozed dominance. Then along came Andrew. Young. Submissive. Hopelessly in love with both of them. They’d been together for probably five years now, and under Nick and Rory’s guidance, Andrew had blossomed into a wonderful submissive.

Rory sent me a soft look that was no less cutting than the sharpest knife. “You’re changing the subject, Adrian.” His gaze swept over the room and I knew where Rory was looking without having to check. “He’s very pretty. Very new.”

“Do you disapprove?”

Rory’s eyes snapped back to mine and I was rewarded with one of his delicate smiles. The lines around his eyes were deeper now and his roots had more silver in them, though the rest of his hair was still electric blue.

“The exact opposite, actually. I don’t know the young man, but I know you. You’ll do right by him. There are a lot of men in here who are good with experienced partners, but don’t know, or remember, how to handle someone who still looks at everything with equal parts lust and terror.”

“I agree.”

“Then why are you over here and not over there?”

I smirked at Rory. Always forward, always direct, yet he always managed to say what he wanted with a kind of grace that other men lacked.

“He’s new. I want him to choose me. To look at every option in this place and then choose me anyway.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Rory asked, his accusatory eyebrow rising again, leveling judgment at me.

“Then he doesn’t choose me. But I have a good feeling.” I watched Riley slip from the room—the stares of a couple men followed, but their bodies didn’t.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Adrian. It’s good to see you out again.” Rory gave my shoulder a friendly squeeze before whisking himself away, no doubt to go find his men. The last I saw them, Andrew was strapped to a swing with a fist in his ass. Rory was probably wanting to kiss him all better by now.

His comment lingered long after he left, sending me back in time to my last relationship. It had ended amicably, but it had still ended. It was never easy to lose someone you loved, even when the decision was mutual. Even when it was faultless. My ex and I had simply grown apart. We’d started out wanting the same things, but by the time it ended, we weren’t even on the same chapter anymore, let alone on the same page.

Losing someone was hard even when it was nicely done. When belongings were separated into neat piles and packed into boxes andways were parted with handshakes and fond smiles tinged with sadness. We’d promised to be friends. We weren’t. But that was okay. It wasn’t the first promise we made to each other that we broke, but at least it had been the last.

Now that I’d given Riley a few minutes to slip off, I pushed away from my post by the wall and went to find him. I wanted to stay in view, wanted him to see me. To know I was watching him. Waiting.

From the moment I’d strolled up to the bar for a drink and saw him there with his ass sticking out, begging for attention, I was hooked. Angelo had watched me notice him and had smiled at me as I let my gaze track him through the room.

It wasn’t that there was a bad dom in Desires. Steve did a remarkable job screening members and keeping an eye on what went on in his club. Nothing bad would likely happen to Riley, no matter who he ended up with later, but I wanted to be the one he chose.

I found him taking in a sounding demonstration. Tonight was all about pushing limits. Exploration. Encouraging people to push their boundaries and step out of their comfort zones. Well, maybe not out of it, but to the edge of it.

Riley was riveted by the sight of the sleek silver rod sliding into the slit. The sounds that filled the room were hoarse, like the dom had been at it a while. Riley caught me looking at him and, when he turned away, I moved from where I stood to somewhere else. The look of confusion and surprise on his face when I wasn’t there morphed into disappointment, so when he next located me, I stayed where I was. I let him look. I wanted him too.

It was a silly game to play with him. Catch and release. Tease and taunt. But I hoped it would work. All I could think about was getting my hands on him. I wanted him to melt against me. I wanted to get close enough to smell his arousal over everyone else’s.