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  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah.” He looked up into Joel’s eyes. “Please don’t mention anything about that. She doesn’t like to talk about what happened.”

  “No, of course not.” Joel laced fingers with him. “Did they arrest the fucker?”

  “Nope. DA’s office declined to press charges. He claimed she attacked him and it was self-defense.”

  “Da fuq?”

  “Right?” Fen closed his eyes. “Guy claimed he thought she was a woman, and that she’d tricked him into having sex, then attacked him when he said no, so he fought back. DA didn’t care the fucker was like a foot taller than her and over a hundred pounds heavier. And that he’d raped her.”

  “But I don’t understand—Mads is a woman.”

  “That’s why the hospital caught a ration of shit from us. She’d legally changed all her paperwork, including her birth certificate, to female. But because she hasn’t had bottom surgery, they tried to treat her like a man.”

  “Assholes. Why would they treat her like that?”

  “You know how you were terrified to come out as gay while you were living in Alabama?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Try coming out as trans.” Fen sniffled. “She thought the guy was going to be open-minded because his brother’s gay. Turns out his brother is gay, but as butch as they come. She’d dated the guy for a couple of weeks and had him over for dinner. Cooked for him that night and everything. Then, after dinner, she told him and he…exploded.”

  “Fucker.”

  “She’s one of the main reasons I figured out I was kinky. Back when we were in high school.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. We were screwing around together. Not sex, but talking, and joking about getting tied up. We realized we liked kinky stuff. Just…”

  “Not with each other?”

  “Yeah. Because she’s always felt the same way about me that I feel about her. I really wish we could find her someone. Turn Eliza and them loose to let them help her.”

  “Kind of hard when she lives in Miami.”

  “I know.”

  “You want to go over and visit her, don’t you?”

  “Kinda. Yeah.”

  Joel brought Fen’s hand to his lips and kissed it. “Baby, you don’t need my permission to go visit her. Even if you want to stay a night or two.”

  “You don’t want to come?”

  “If you want me to. I trust you. I’d understand if you want alone time with her.”

  “I wouldn’t mind going out dancing with you. They’ve got some great dance clubs.” Fen pulled their hands to his mouth and feathered his lips across Joel’s knuckles. “Mads and I have gone a couple of times when I went to visit her.”

  “I thought you weren’t really into the club scene?”

  “I’m not.” He smiled at Joel. “She doesn’t like going to the clubs alone, and she hasn’t really met someone she feels safe enough to go with. It’d be fun going with you, though. And I do like to dance.”

  * * * *

  Oh, who was Joel kidding? He couldn’t refuse Fen anything. “Is that a hint, baby?”

  “Maaaaybe.” Fen looked up at him with those gorgeous eyes of his, those beautiful, sweet long lashes that made him look even sexier.

  “I’ve got some maintenance I want to do around here this weekend,” Joel told him. “We can go next weekend, or the weekend after that. The weekend after that, we’re helping Mom get moved down here. Then our weekends are free after that. Why don’t you ask Mads if she’s available?”

  “Really?”

  “Really, baby. We’re all moved in, and I wouldn’t mind taking a weekend off just for us.”

  Fen threw his arms around Joel to hug him. “Thank you, Master!” He grabbed his phone and started texting again.

  Joel raked his fingers through Fen’s hair. His boy was happy—that’s all he cared about. He didn’t consider themselves “done” as a couple. Growing complacent in their relationship, especially considering the Master/slave aspect, would set them up for problems down the line.

  How Joel approached his relationship with Fen—all aspects of it—was like an ongoing campaign of courting and sparking, as his mom once called it.

  Always wooing him.

  Always wanting to do more for him, to do better by him.

  To never stop trying to be a better man for him, as a partner, husband, lover, and Master.

  Because Fen deserved nothing less than that from him.

  Normally, the club scene wasn’t Joel’s thing, but that was before he’d had Fen sleeping in his bed every night and had his ring on Fen’s finger. Life’s events had finally settled down for them, with the wedding behind them, the move into their house completed, and everything finally calming down.

  Honestly, he liked Mads. Frankly, if he hadn’t known she was trans, he wouldn’t have thought it. She completely passed with no problem. It made him ragey-angry someone had hurt her so badly and, worse, had gotten away with it. Especially since Joel had a younger sister, and he would have probably ended up in jail had anyone hurt her the way Mads had been hurt.

  It also explained why Mads seemed to look more than a little sad when she didn’t think anyone was watching her. Like she was used to putting on a good front for everyone, but it was impossible to keep that up all the time.

  Right now, she managed a large beach-front resort over in Miami Beach, but her parents still lived there in Sarasota. He first got to meet her a couple of days before their wedding, when she came over early so she could visit with her parents for a couple of days. Joel hadn’t known her very long, but he already considered her a friend.

  Albeit a very lonely friend.

  A friend he wished they could help, or at least spend more time with. But unless or until she moved back to Sarasota, she’d have to remain a long-distance friend for now.

  Chapter Four

  Fen awoke before their alarm Friday morning and found himself draped over Joel’s chest. For a moment, he thought about burrowing under the covers to give him a blowjob. Then he squinted at the cable box, which looked very fuzzy without his glasses, and caught sight of the time just to realize they only had fifteen minutes before they had to get up. Not to mention he felt very sore in places he didn’t usually ache, even after hard scenes with Joel.

  It took him a moment to remember last night’s pole-dancing class and connect that was where the extra pains originated.

  Damn.

  Not that he was complaining, because he wasn’t. He just wasn’t expecting the self-sadism like that.

  June warned me.

  At least it was Friday. Mads had already confirmed their plans for next weekend, and Fen had reserved them a room at the resort despite her trying to get him to let her comp them one.

  They could afford it. Not every damn weekend, but with both their incomes, the occasional splurge like that was fine. They’d drive over early Friday afternoon and leave late Sunday.

  That meant this weekend could be spent mostly lounging and relaxing and just…being.

  A nice, boring weekend for them.

  Damn, I can’t wait.

  Going on five months since “the incident,” Fen relished the serenity. Joel, with the help of Fen’s parents, had basically moved Fen in with Joel the day it happened, and he’d lived with him ever since.

  He wouldn’t deny smiling every time he cooked with Joel’s grandmother’s skillet, either.

  Living well is the best revenge, but bashing in an asshole’s face with a skillet sure is a close runner-up.

  Joel let out a soft groan, and the arm that had been draped over Fen’s back tightened around him. “Good morning, baby.”

  Fen closed his eyes and a happy sigh escaped him. “Good morning, Master.”

  Joel’s hand stroked the back of Fen’s head. “What time is it?”

  “Not enough time, unfortunately. Just under fifteen minutes.”

  “Darn.”

  “I know.” He pressed a kiss to Joel’s chest. “Want me to get up and start the coffee?”

  Joel rolled to his side, curling his body around Fen’s. “No, baby. I want to hold you for a few minutes more, just like this.”

  At six-three, Joel was six inches taller than Fen, broad-shouldered and with naturally beefy muscles from what he did for a living as a boat mechanic. In Joel’s arms, Fen felt enveloped, swallowed.

  Safe.

  Sure, Fen could take care of himself—and had proven that—but the comfort soothing his soul from turning himself over to Joel couldn’t be measured by any standard.

  He’d never take it—or Joel—for granted, either.

  Also, for the first time in his adult life, lately his thoughts had strayed to maybe talking to Joel to renegotiate their hard limits.

  To maybe…explore a little.

  He would absolutely spend the rest of his life with Joel. Trusted the man with his life.

  Trusted him with his heart.

  Joel had never, not one single time, even tried to talk to Fen about working on “getting over” his hard limit about no anal.

  Ever.

  Unlike literally every other man he’d ever tried to date in the past.

  On his own, he’d taken the initiative a few times to engage in anal play with Joel on the receiving end. Joel enjoyed it, but he’d never asked Fen to participate—it’d always fallen on Fen to volunteer. All Joel had done was ask, for example, if Fen minded if he used a toy on himself.

  Fen never minded that. Sometimes, Fen helped him by using a toy on Joel. Or even donned a glove and used his fingers, when he was in the mood to.

  But Joel never expected it of Fen, and that all fell within Fen’s hard limits, so he didn’t object in the slightest.

  “What are you thinking so hard about, baby?” Joel murmured in that deep, throaty, sexy-sleepy voice he always had this early in the morning or after awaking from a nap.

  “How much I love you, and how lucky I am we met.”

  “I love you, too.” A contented sigh escaped him. “And I feel damned lucky to have met you. I couldn’t have made it through everything without you there. Thank you.”

  Fen knew what he meant—Joel’s father’s death and the emotional impact of Joel’s ex, Johnny, showing up at the funeral, where Fen had tackled him, and then trailing them back to Florida.

  No doubt Johnny would have tried attacking Joel at some point, once he knew where he lived.

  But he’d gone after Fen first, and that’d been Johnny’s first mistake.

  And his last.

  Ever.

  * * * *

  Mornings sucked, but they sucked even harder when Joel felt so damned comfortable and happy and had Fen perfectly tucked against him, wrapped in his arms like this.

  Then he didn’t want to move, didn’t want to let him go.

  Didn’t want to crawl out of bed.

  Damn sure didn’t want to go to work. But since that’s what paid the bills, he knew he’d have to.

  “Any idea when your next pole dancing lesson is?” he asked Fen.

  He loved the sound of Fen’s playful giggle. “I will find out from June this morning and send you a text once I know. Regardless, I’m going there after work for yoga.”

  “Excellent.” Joel stretched but didn’t release Fen. “Never thought you’d ever be able to out-sexy yoga, outside of outright sex.”

  “It was fun. I have a feeling I’m going to really enjoy it.”

  “I know I will.”

  Another giggle from Fen.

  That was one of the things Joel loved the most about his boy, outside of their M/s, outside of their marriage, outside of sex—he loved Fen’s laughter, his joy.

  His giggle.

  Hell, Joel hadn’t had much to laugh about before he’d met Fen.

  Now, it felt like even if he wasn’t laughing, he was at least smiling most of the time.

  “Anything special you want for dinner, Master?”

  Joel stroked his fingers along Fen’s spine. “You?”

  Another giggle. “I’m dessert. What do you want to eat?”

  “Whatever you feel like making, baby. I have no preference. I hope you don’t mind if I don’t want to go out much this weekend.”

  “Yay!” He looked up at Joel. “I was hoping for a naked, lazy weekend.”

  “Sounds great to me. We have a pool that’s lonely.”

  “Oooh, I can play naked pool boy.”

  “Who says you’ll be playing? You are my naked pool boy.” That giggle finished hardening Joel’s cock. “Okay, we need to get up or we’re both going to be late to work.” He patted Fen’s ass. “Go get my coffee started, pleeeease.”

  Fen pushed up on his arms and stared down at Joel. “Maybe I don’t mind being late to work, Master.”

  “I normally would let you talk me into being bad, but I’m supposed to meet a customer at eight and I don’t want to be late.”

  “Ah.” Fen sat back on his heels, an adorable pout on his face. “Nuts.”

  Joel sat up and cupped Fen’s nuts. “Tonight, baby.” He kissed him. “Coffee, please.” Just a hint of Master tone in that one.

  “Yes, Sir.” He climbed out of bed to do it while Joel shut off the alarm clock before it could rudely blare its morning siren and disturb the peace.

  Being a responsible adult sucks.

  He’d made it into the shower by the time Fen joined him. “Coffee’s in here, on the counter.”

  “Thank you, baby.” He pulled Fen in for another kiss and struggled against the urge—again—to make them late for work.

  By the time Joel finally got out of the house, miraculously on time, he’d managed to drag his focus onto his day at hand, and even made it to the customer’s boat slip a few minutes earlier than he’d arranged. Fortunately, the man was there already.

  Peter Kowalski was a repeat customer, but this was only the second time Joel had met him face-to-face. Usually, the man had someone from the marina meet Joel there with a key to let him into the boat. The older man looked like he was in his late seventies, and what little hair he still had was completely silver. He stood maybe five-eleven and was ridiculously skinny and fragile-looking, except for his potbelly. The thin legs sticking out of the bottoms of his shorts made him resemble a chicken, in a way.

  The white socks with his black sandals should be fucking illegal, but there was no accounting for taste.

  “So what are we looking at today?” Joel asked as he stepped down onto the transom from the dock. He carried his earmuffs in his hand so he didn’t blast his hearing with the noisy diesels.

  “Port engine’s got a weird stutter in it. Intermittent. I think maybe an injector.”

  Joel helped him unlock and lift open the hatchway down to the engine room, but then Joel realized he still wore his wedding band. “Oh, hold on.” He twisted it off his hand and threaded it onto the stainless steel necklace he wore just for this occasion. He didn’t want to not have it with him.

  “Hey, congratulations! When did you get married?”

  “Almost five weeks now.”

  “Where’d you meet?”

  Joel was ready for this one. “Mutual friends.” He couldn’t climb down into the engine room because the guy stood right there, in the way.

  It was obvious the elderly man wasn’t ready to stop talking, either. He grinned. “So? Is she pretty? How soon before you kids start popping out babies?”

  He wasn’t used to dealing with these questions yet. Not from the general public or strangers he didn’t know.

  He bit the bullet and decided to plunge right in. “I think my husband’s adorable. And we’re not adopting any kids.”

  The man’s good humor evaporated. “Whoa, wait, what? You’re gay? Since when?”

  Joel felt the bad kind of tingling start at the base of his spine. “All my life. Now, let’s go take a look at that engine.”

  But the guy didn’t move. In fact, he crossed his arms over his chest, a dark scowl furrowing his brow. “You never told me you were gay.”

  Shit. “Didn’t think it was a conversation that needed to be had, either. My personal life has nothing to do with my mechanical skills. I have three other appointments this morning after this one,” he lied to try to get the guy moving. “I’d like to get started, if that’s all right with you.” He did have three appointments that day, but not that morning.

  The guy continued to stare at him.

  Joel was going to force the man to make the next move. He refused to turn tail and say fuck it, even though he did want to say just that.

  But he’d be damned if he’d abandon a job and give the guy the satisfaction of bad-mouthing him for refusing to take it. Instead, he’d force the man to show his true colors and actually say outright he didn’t want Joel working on his boat.

  If the guy wanted to not hire him because he was gay, then the old fucker would have to nut up and say it to his face.

  Fortunately, the guy blinked first and finally stepped aside, making way for Joel to descend the steps into the engine room.

  An hour later Joel was back at the shop. “Next time Kowalski calls to have his boat worked on, we’re backed up for weeks,” he told Barney, one of the mechanics who worked for him. “Or triple the labor rate and quote him an obscene price and make him choke on it. He can float it to another marina and have them work on it.”

  “What happened?”

  Joel recounted the exchange, and the uncomfortable time following it. The man had barely spoken ten words to Joel the whole time Joel had worked to isolate and diagnose the problem, and didn’t even bother to say good-bye to Joel when he’d finished and left.

  Joel felt a small measure of satisfaction that Barney’s expression darkened.

  “Give me thirty minutes to make some phone calls, and the fucker won’t be able to find a decent mechanic from Tarpon Springs to Naples who’ll work on that piece of shit for him.”

  “He’s not worth it.”

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