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  As he drove, Bob’s hand drifted up to his day collar, the stainless steel necklace he always wore, even at work, and had for the past several months. The only time he took it off was when his leather collar went on.

  The evening the triad asked him to be more than “just” play partners with them several months ago would remain indelibly etched in his memory.

  He’d just arrived at their house one Wednesday after work to spend a few hours with them, not even “slave” time so much as “friend” time. He was supposed to cook dinner that night to free them up to spend time playing with KC, getting to be “Uncle Bob.” It was an increasingly rare night where all three of them were home at the same time, and Tilly would have more trips overseas ahead of her soon.

  They’d invited him over as a friend, even if he was going to cook. He enjoyed cooking for them, because he usually didn’t get to “cook” for himself very often.

  It felt good having an adopted family of friends to socialize with.

  And he knew that they wanted him around for more than just the kinky shit. They appreciated him and what he did.

  He felt wanted.

  Like he belonged.

  Tilly had intercepted him at the front door and led him to the office, where Landry and Cris were waiting.

  “KC’s over at Leigh’s,” Tilly said. She stood in front of him, her hands clasped in front of her. “We’ll go pick her up in a little while. We’d like to talk to you about something serious first without little pitchers to overhear.”

  His stomach fell. “Yes, Ma’am?” He’d gotten used to referring to her as “Ma’am” instead of “Mistress” around KC, because it was subtle but still allowed him to defer to her like that. He usually referred to Landry and Cris as Sir when needed.

  A smile curved her lips, assuaging his worries. “Are you happy with this arrangement? Playing with us?”

  Hope struggled to beat its shattered wings in his heart. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “You’re not sleeping with anyone right now?”

  “No, Ma’am. I’m not even dating.”

  She glanced at Landry, and at Cris, who both gave her nods.

  She took Bob’s hands in hers. “We don’t want you to not date.”

  “My answer is still the same—I don’t have the time. I’d rather get what I need with you.”

  “How would you feel about formalizing our arrangement?”

  He sucked in a sharp breath. “Mistress?”

  Her smile widened. “For a trial period of no set length.” She looked to Landry but didn’t release Bob’s hands.

  “We would like to collar you as my submissive,” Landry said. “A standing group rule will be no play with others without permission, just the four of us. The caveat is that you can, of course, date. But since we’re basically fluid-bonded with you at this point, you will have to agree you won’t sleep with someone without consulting with us first.”

  He realized he was already nodding, bobbing his head eagerly. “Yes, Sir! Please!”

  She squeezed his hands. “And if you can, we’d like you to start spending nights over. Maybe whole weekends. When KC’s around, of course, you’re in Uncle Bob mode. She adores you. Because we do want to spend more time with you as friends, not only the kinky shit.”

  “Although the kinky shit is fun,” Cris said with a smile. He also wasn’t wearing his formal leather collar, just the stainless steel necklace that was one of his day collars.

  “Indeed,” Landry said. He stood and walked over to Bob. “We decided the easiest way to define this is that we are a leather family. We would be collaring you to us as such. As I am the head of the household, it means you are collared to me. In terms of hierarchy, you are beneath Tilly and Cris. I know you and Cris got off to a rough start due to the circumstances surrounding our appearance in Tilly’s life. Will you be able to accept him as a Dominant or Top? Take his orders as if they came from me? He is part of this house.”

  Bob met Cris’ gaze for a long moment. “Yes, Sir. I trust you and Tilly. You both love and trust Cris. That means I can trust him.”

  Landry turned and said something to Cris in French. Cris quickly left the room.

  Then Landry leveled his intense green gaze at Bob. “You will have to get used to him playing with you, too. Obeying him.”

  Bob swallowed hard. “Yes, Sir.”

  “He will never violate your hard limits. I need you to state them for me, however. And you are free to modify them.”

  He took a deep breath, still trying to process this, afraid he might pass out. “Nothing that will interfere with my job, Sir. Nothing that will permanently harm or disfigure me. Only…the three of you.”

  “Sexual limits?”

  “Anything Sir wants to do to me within those other stated limits.” Bob hoped his voice didn’t tremble when he said it. “I have no sexual limits with Sir other than those.”

  Landry stepped in close and caught his chin. The sadist was only a couple of inches shorter than Bob, but in times like this, it felt like Landry towered over him.

  “If I decide I want to bend you over my desk and fuck your brains out right this second?”

  Bob swallowed hard. “Yes, Sir. I’m your good boy. I will do as I’m told.”

  Landry’s expression softened. His thumb gently brushed across Bob’s lips. “Yes, yes you are. You’re my very good boy. For now, we will have some sexual limits, though. No intercourse, no direct oral sex. Have you enjoyed our little exploration into feral play?”

  “Very much, Sir.”

  “Would you like to add biting to permissible actions?”

  Bob nodded.

  Landry smiled. “Excellent.” He looked to Tilly. “Kissing?”

  She thought about it. “No making out right now, but I don’t think kissing should be restricted. I think we’re all smart enough to know the difference.”

  “Agreed.” He returned his attention to Bob. “Anal play with toys or hands allowed?”

  Bob nodded. “Yes, Sir. My sexual limits are defined by your limits, Sir.”

  “That’s an interesting blanket permission to give me, boy.”

  A thrill raced through Bob at the term. It felt more real now, even though Landry had called him that before.

  “I trust you.”

  It was his default mode and standard answer, because he did trust them.

  He wouldn’t be standing there and having the conversation with them if he didn’t.

  Landry released Bob’s chin as Cris returned with two boxes, one tiny and unwrapped, white with a lid, like a box jewelry came in. The other was small, maybe eight inches square, and wrapped with dark blue paper.

  Landry restated what they’d just discussed to Cris, who nodded. “Agreed.” He reached out with his free hand and cupped Bob’s cheek. “I swear I won’t violate your trust. I’m not going anywhere. I won’t hurt them, or you. But I understand if you need more time to get to know me better, to build trust in me, and I won’t hold it against you.”

  Bob felt Tilly’s gaze on him, even as he stared into Cris’ brown eyes. They were almost the same height.

  That first night, he’d wanted to beat Cris for what he’d done to Tilly, and for returning to complicate her life just when Bob had finally been given a lucky break, happiness within his reach. He would have beaten him…if not for Tilly stopping him.

  Except…he wanted Tilly to be happy.

  And she was.

  Bob reached up and laid his hand over Cris’. “If they trust you, I trust you.” Nothing the triad had ever done had violated his trust.

  Cris smiled. “Thank you.”

  Landry took the smaller box from Cris, opened it, and withdrew a stainless steel necklace. “This is a big step for us. I certainly never envisioned ever collaring another. But your history with Tilly predates me. You’ve known her longer than I have. We’ve discovered your absence leaves us missing you. And it feels like our family is complete with you around. While I do not wish for you to
deny yourself what we cannot give you at this time, I wish to give you what we can—a symbol that you belong to this family, and a promise that we will never knowingly or willingly violate your trust or your limits.

  “In accepting this collar, it also means you’re willing to accept my training and control. And I will be training you. You’ve seen me play with Cris, and some of the things I do with and to him. Many of those things you will be learning yourself, within the confines of our limits. If you wish to accept this collar, it means you willingly accept my authority over you, and you willingly accept both Tilly’s and Cris’ authority over you as well. We will be giving you a few protocols and rituals to do, both here and when you’re not with us. It will be expected of you to follow through, or face punishment for not doing so. Accepting this collar means accepting all aspects of this dynamic as you have agreed to them.”

  “But you need to ask for it,” Tilly said. “This is Landry’s collar, not mine.”

  Bob nodded. “I want to wear your collar, Sir. I want to be trained by you. Being with the three of you feels like family, and I want to be a part of that.”

  Landry pointed at the floor in front of him, and Bob needed no verbal command to drop to his knees.

  Landry fastened the necklace around his neck, then pressed a long, lingering kiss to the top of his head before playfully ruffling his hair. “Our sweet boy. You are, of course, free to ask any questions of any of us. We only ask for honesty in return.”

  “This means,” Tilly added, “all discussion topics are on the table, no matter how difficult they might be. You will never be punished for honestly answering a question, unless it’s you confessing to breaking a rule.”

  “I cannot tolerate lies,” Landry said. “I reiterate, you are allowed to date. But because of the nature of our play, and that it puts our health at risk as well, you need to discuss it with us if you sleep with someone, before it happens.”

  “Yes, Sir.” He stared up at Landry.

  Landry took the other box from Cris and handed it to Bob. “These are from me. You are collared to this house, but you are collared specifically to me. When KC is around, obviously, you cannot wear these. But from now on, you will not wear the collar Tilly gave you. You may keep that, of course, but I have bought these for you, and only you will have ever worn them.”

  Bob unwrapped the box to find a gorgeous, supple set of matching wrist and ankle cuffs and a collar. The edges were wrapped with leather lacing, and scrollwork Celtic designs were embossed in the black leather.

  These were obviously expensive.

  Landry had shopped for these for him?

  He blinked back tears as Landry dropped to one knee and took the collar from the box. Bob’s soft moan escaped him before he could help it as the scent of leather wafted to him when Landry buckled the collar around his neck.

  He cupped Bob’s face in his hands and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Our sweet boy. We shall take good care of you, I promise. I wish I could leave those on you all evening, but we need to go get KC and start dinner. Those will come with you, however, on every visit here, even if you can’t wear them. Failure to bring them will result in punishment. And, of course, you may wear them when at home.”

  Landry hooked a finger under the necklace and gently tugged it. “You may always wear this and know we are with you, and you with us, even when apart.”

  Now Bob was crying. “Thank you, Sir.”

  The sadist smiled. “Oh, you thank me now. You can ask Cris and Tilly what a vicious bastard I can be at times.”

  “Yeah,” Tilly said, “but you have your good points, Master Fussypants.” She grinned.

  Landry’s gaze didn’t leave Bob’s. “She, of course, can get away with talking to me like that. You, however, would be punished for it.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Landry stood, offering Bob a hand up. Then he engulfed him in a long, strong hug. “Welcome to our family, boy.”

  Tilly and Cris hugged him from either side, and as Bob rested his head on Landry’s shoulder, he drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “Thank you, Sir,” he whispered, overwhelmed. “I had no idea you were going to do this. Thank you.”

  Landry finally ended the embrace first. “I wanted to make sure this was the right move. If you’ll look back, you’ll see I was having you over even more for non-play. To see how KC reacted to you, and you to her. You’re not simply our toy, although you absolutely are our toy.” He smirked. “But I prefer my pets to be part of my household, not just a plaything to take out only when convenient.”

  Bob nodded, brushing his eyes with the backs of his hands.

  Landry reached up, unbuckled his collar, and tucked it back into the box. “You may go put those in your car so you don’t forget them. For now, if you wish to put that you are in service to the three of us on FetLife, you may do so. But that is not a requirement. I do not wish to scare off any potential romantic partners for you. That isn’t fair to you.”

  “I want to list you, Sir.”

  He smiled. “Then you may do so. And we’ll list you on ours as such.”

  As he drove, Bob played with the necklace again. His life, in this way, at least, had felt peaceful, fulfilling. Even though not with the triad every night, it felt like they were with him.

  Like he wasn’t alone anymore.

  * * * *

  Bob forced his thoughts back to the present. He texted Skye when he got off I-75 and was waiting for the light at the exit ramp to change. She was ready when he arrived, dashing out the door with her backpack before he even shifted the minivan into park.

  He barely had time to get out, walk around, and open the passenger door for her.

  “Hey!” she said.

  “Hey. Ready?”

  “I hope so. I don’t know what I’m going to do if Axel can’t…” She didn’t finish.

  He closed the door and returned to get behind the wheel. “Try not to think about that. Landry’s smart. He and Cris have been working on a plan for tonight. Trust them.”

  “I love Axel so much. It’s going to break my heart if we can’t get through this.”

  Bob found it ironic that he had come to love Cris, in a way, and yet he wanted to punch Axel, a man he barely knew.

  Mostly because of how Axel had bailed on Skye at the club several weeks back. Okay, so Axel couldn’t stand there and watch Walt scene with her. Fine. But come in and do her aftercare, at least.

  And Axel’s actions had pissed Tilly off.

  Cardinal sin, in Bob’s mind.

  Anyone who pissed off his Mistress, they might as well be dead to him.

  He already knew he’d be in formal mode tonight around Axel, not allowed to speak to him. Landry had laid those plans out last night as he talked with Cris and Tilly about the best approach to hopefully break through Axel’s mental block about playing with Skye.

  Hell, Skye could handle Landry at nearly full-tilt. It wasn’t like Axel was going to break her.

  Over the past few weeks as Landry had worked with Skye, training her alongside Bob except with far less physical contact and modified to nearly eliminate any sexual overtones, Landry had privately explained to Bob he was trying to find a combination of things that he might be able to teach Axel that would be less strain on the nearly vanilla man.

  It also meant once Skye had left the premises that Cris and Landry usually had frustrations to unleash on Bob.

  And he loved it.

  Sure, he got that it was also a way for Landry to reward him for agreeing to let him work with Skye, to make sure there was no jealousy.

  It didn’t hurt that they’d given him veto rights. That if he thought what the four of them had was being negatively impacted, he could speak up and Landry would stop working with Skye.

  Once again, the three had validated his trust.

  When Bob parked near the front door, he walked around to open Skye’s door for her. That wasn’t a submissive thing, although Landry had asked him to do that for her. He w
as not subordinate to Skye. Actually, in the hierarchy, Bob was above her, because he was part of the household, involved in her training as…well, a trainer, not just someone else being trained.

  He also knew, as they approached the front door, that Landry would be opening it and immediately taking Skye in hand and dropping her hard into subspace to keep her there all afternoon.

  Again, part of the plan.

  In a way, Bob felt this was his chance to pay the Universe back for finally spinning the cosmic wheel around to his favor. To help Skye and Axel hopefully find their level of play that would meet Skye’s needs while not freaking Axel out. It felt good being able to help someone for a change.

  He felt secure with the triad.

  He was their good boy.

  He was where he belonged, and even if nothing else ever happened between the four of them beyond what he currently had with them as friends and as play partners, he was happy.

  Because he trusted them.

  The door opened just steps from it, Landry ready, Cris standing right behind him.

  Here we go.

  Chapter Ten

  Back then, post-Tilly…

  Sometimes—frequently—Bob would head to Venture, even when he knew he wouldn’t play with anyone. No one in his vanilla life knew about this side of him.

  No one knew the loss he still mourned.

  Not like he could ask for recommendations from his vanilla friends for a new Domme, either.

  On that Saturday evening he headed for the club. He didn’t expect to see Her there. He’d heard through the grapevine—mostly Loren—that Landry had been going through cancer treatments, which was why Tilly hadn’t been around much.

  He hoped she was happy. That Landry could make her smile.

  That Landry wouldn’t let her ex hurt her again.

  That the men would treat her right and truly take care of her.

  He took a deep breath before walking into the office.

  Here we go.

  It stunned Bob when he walked into the dungeon and saw Her standing there, talking to Loren.

  He couldn’t help it. Like the thread-worn tale of the moth and the flame, he willingly went, knowing he’d still get scorched.