I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Read online

  “Kinky,” Ken said. “Yep. We’re all Doms.”

  Her pussy clenched, her clit now throbbing. “Oh.”

  “Oh, is right,” Trace said, arching an eyebrow at her. “Glad to know you’re open-minded.”

  She was clutching her backpack and helmet in front of her. “H-how’d you find out about Venture?”

  “The website,” Hal said. “We’ve been a couple of times already.”

  “Arden, my dear, are you all right?”

  They all turned to where Landry stood just outside the doorway, an undecipherable expression in his green gaze.

  “I’m fine, Lan. Thanks.”

  “Do you need me to escort you out?”

  “Huh? Oh, no. Everything’s fine. I know them. They’re my—” She’d almost said bosses but caught herself. “Friends.”

  “Are you quite sure? You don’t look all right.” He seemed to shoot all four men an equally dark glare without taking his focus off her.

  “They just startled me. Really, it’s fine. I didn’t expect to see them here.” She grabbed Ken’s arm, since he was closest, and hooked her arm through his. “Guess we have more in common with each other than I thought. I didn’t even know they were kinky, much less members.”

  “Ah. Very well.” But he didn’t move, his gaze narrowing. “You four do look familiar.”

  Oh, sugarballs. She knew Landry was involved in IT or software or something.

  “We get around,” Trace said.

  But she spotted the exact moment Landry put it together, along with the fact that he silently pointed at each man in turn, as if identifying them in his mind.

  “Yeesss,” he drawled. “I suppose you do. Let me formally introduce myself—Landry LaCroix.” He dug out his wallet and handed Ken a business card. “Seems we do have something else in common. If you ever wish to talk shop, as it were, gentlemen, feel free to ring me. Arden.” He kissed her hand and gave a little half bow with a smile before turning and leaving them.

  “He’s weird,” Hal mumbled.

  “No, he’s French,” Arden said. “And I’m pretty sure he just made you guys. He’s in IT. Software, I think.”

  Ken untangled his arm from hers so he could pull his wallet out to add Landry’s card to it. “I know he made us. We bought a software package from his company not long before we sold Collidezkope.”

  Steve gasped. “Oh, shit! Cris Guerrero! You mean that guy is his—”

  “His other half, yeah,” Ken said. “His Master.” His focus fell on Arden again. “So…can we talk about this now? We don’t want you feeling weird or embarrassed later. As you can see, it’s a small damn world. We were in New York and bought software from their company out of LA, and yet, here we all are, sharing the same little dungeon in Sarasota.”

  She was almost afraid to ask this. “How much did you see?”

  “I think he was just getting started when we came in,” Trace said. “And can I add that we did not mind the view in the least.”

  Heat filled her face. “Oh, my goodness, this is mortifying.”

  “Why?” Ken asked. “Seriously, why are you embarrassed?”

  “Because you’re my bosses!”

  He took her backpack and helmet from her and handed them off to Hal, then cupped her hands in his. “Denny-girl,” he softly said, “we want you to consider us not just your bosses, but your friends. Now, if you insist you’re too uncomfortable, then fine, we can set up a schedule or something so you never run into us here. But isn’t it a little bit of a relief to know there’s a part of your life you don’t have to hide from others? I know it’s a relief for me.”

  The other guys nodded.

  “Besides that, we’re here. You like to bottom, and we are Tops. At work, this doesn’t exist. Outside of work, we’re just people. And we’ll leave it open that if you ever want to talk to us about maybe playing with you, we’d all be fine with that.”

  The other guys were apparently letting Ken do the talking for them, because they kept nodding in agreement.

  He gently squeezed her hands. “Let’s go sit and talk. Otherwise, tell me red, and we’ll walk you outside and wait with you until you’re on that deathtrap and safely on your way home. Deal?”

  She finally nodded.

  “Was that a red?”

  She shook her head. “No, Sir. I mean—”

  He chuckled and squeezed her hands again. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to call any of us ‘Sir’ unless you really, really want to.”

  * * * *

  Hal was having trouble thinking, much less talking, because his cock was hogging his brain’s blood supply.

  He still couldn’t get the image of Arden’s sweet ass being caned by Landry out of his mind.

  It also shocked him a little to realize that dark feeling mixed up inside him was more than a hint of jealousy that someone besides them got to put their hands on her sweet ass.

  An ass that was even more beautiful naked than he’d fantasized it was.

  They were able to get a table to themselves in the social area, and Steve grabbed Arden a bottle of water.

  Hal was happy to let Ken take point, because frankly, he was the smartest one of them, especially when it came to shit like this. Ken had the tact and poise and perfect words, and when Hal felt like this sometimes it seemed like everything he tried to say came out sounding like boooobiiieeesss.

  But he was smart enough to keep his trap shut.

  Apparently, so were Trace and Steve.

  “How did you hook up with Landry?” Ken asked.

  “We’re just friends. He’s topped me before. Abbey’s also topped me.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “Gilo’s wife. They’re not here tonight.”

  “What kind of play do you like besides impact play?”

  Her face turned pink again, and it was one of the most adorable things he thought he’d ever seen in his life.

  “I like rope. Love rope. I don’t need heavy play. I like a lot of things. I’m still trying to explore. It’s only been recently I’ve had more time and the money to come here.”

  They still didn’t know a lot about her family, her history. She was kind of closed-mouthed about them and he suspected there was a bad or maybe painful story there. He knew she had brothers and sisters, and that her parents were alive and living in Jacksonville, but other than that, nothing beyond the quick background report Ken had run on her when they’d first talked to her to make sure she wasn’t a serial killer or ass-deep in debt or something.

  As Ken talked to her, Hal realized what he was trying to do—trying to calm her down so she didn’t leave there upset while driving that deathtrap, but also trying to make sure this didn’t scare her away from the lifestyle.

  Or them.

  And maybe trying to get her interested in seeing them as more than just her bosses.

  * * * *

  Arden wasn’t shaking nearly as badly as she had been. The longer she talked with the guys, the more she was starting to realize maybe this wasn’t horrible.

  Hell, she’d been fantasizing about them. Why not think about more?

  No, wait, horrible idea. They’re my bosses!

  “Why don’t you ever swear, Denny-girl?” Ken asked with a playful smile.

  “What? I swear.”

  “No, you say all sorts of adorable things that aren’t even close to swearing.”

  “My Granny.” She explained a little about her. “I loved her so much. She was my idol. It crushed me when she died.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “But at least I got to go to school. I used my share that she gave me for my tuition.”

  “I’m sure she’d be very proud of you.”

  “At least someone would have been.” She didn’t want to talk about her family. She still couldn’t believe the men wanted to attend her graduation.

  “Trace is great at forced orgasm play,” Hal said.

  They all stared at him. Arden honestly wasn’t sure
what to say to that, especially when Trace reached over and smacked his shoulder.

  “You just couldn’t keep it shut, huh?” Trace asked. He looked so aggravated at his friend that she couldn’t help but smile. “Sorry, Denny,” Trace said. “Non sequitur Hal strikes again.”

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Steve said, “but in Hal’s defense, we are talking kinky play. So it wasn’t as left-field as most of his comments are. Still a stupid thing for him to say right now.”

  Ken took over again. “If you tell us you never want to talk about kink again with us, no problem. We can pretend like this never happened. We don’t want to lose you as a friend or as an employee. But, if you ever want to consider talking to us about maybe negotiating play, we’d be happy to discuss that, too. It’s completely up to you. We won’t ask or pressure you for play, ever.”

  It touched her they were so worried about her, but she was more worried about them. “I appreciate that. Maybe at some point…yeah. Let me get through graduation, and we still need to figure out the site’s main focus.”

  Ken nodded. “Fair enough, Denny-girl.” She loved it when he called her that, and now she knew why.

  She’d been right pegging him as using Dom-tone when she’d first met them. All of them.

  “Can I ask a question?”

  Ken shrugged. “You can ask me anything.”

  “Aren’t you gay?”

  “So?”

  “You wouldn’t mind playing with me?”

  “Nah, I’d love to play with you. Besides, I’ve slept with women before.”

  Gulp.

  * * * *

  Arden spent another hour talking with the guys before she finally headed home. It wasn’t until she’d unlocked the RV door that she finally realized why, every time she’d mentioned leaving, the guys had engaged her in more questions.

  They were worried about me being subspacey. Bless their hearts.

  The good meaning, not the snarky meaning.

  It was a little freaky, the indirect connection between them and Landry. Small world, indeed.

  Never poop where you eat.

  There was that. While playing with the guys was a very tempting idea, it wasn’t something that could ever happen in reality.

  She grabbed a quick shower, then curled up in bed with her vibrator and a head full of even hotter fantasies than she’d ever had about the men before.

  Fantasies can’t hurt. Right?

  And forced orgasm play with Trace? With his intense blue eyes?

  Yum!

  All four of them were dang good-looking

  It didn’t take her long to work herself up to a good, hard orgasm, between the pain in her ass and the memories in her head.

  As she drifted to sleep, she wondered if maybe she should ask them about playing.

  Chapter Eleven

  By three in the morning, Trace still couldn’t sleep. Running through his mind—the sight of Arden’s gorgeous ass getting spanked, and it wasn’t them doing it…

  Then there was Ken’s offer lingering in the ether.

  Trace finally gave up and slowly opened his bedroom door, listening for any signs of life from the other parts of the house, but all was quiet.

  Ken’s room lay at the end of the hall, his door across from and just past his own. With the house’s floor plan, Steve and Hal likely wouldn’t hear anything.

  Unless they got really loud.

  Then again, if I have as much fun as Hal, maybe getting loud isn’t a bad thing.

  He took a deep breath and stepped across the hall to Ken’s door, lightly rapping, nerves jangled with stress and need.

  Maybe I should have texted him.

  Trace was about to turn around and dive back into his own room when Ken’s door swung open.

  Trace stared into his eyes and found his mouth suddenly dried out.

  Ken smiled, but that sleepy kind of smile he’d sport when he first crawled out of bed every morning, before the caffeine kicked in. He wore a pair of boxers and nothing else.

  Ken stepped aside and opened his door wider.

  Before he could chicken out, Trace stepped inside.

  Ken softly closed the door behind him and headed to his bed, leaving Trace to follow. In the shadows cast by a nightlight through the open door of his bathroom, Trace could see the usual tidy order of the man’s room, done in earthy, soothing tones, the walls a medium fern green, one wall nothing but books floor-to-ceiling, the comfortable reading chair and hassock near the window.

  The man climbed into bed and lay back, his fingers laced behind his head. “You tell me what you want,” he said, no teasing in his tone. “Even if you’re not sure what you want tonight and just want to talk.”

  Trace felt his cock thicken as he thought about the other night when he’d lain there and listened to Hal…howl. “I don’t want you to think I’m…using you.”

  Ken shrugged without moving his hands. “Don’t see me complainin’. If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’ta let you in. Question is, can you do somethin’ and still want to be friends later?”

  “You and Hal seem okay. And you and Steve.”

  Another shrug. “Hal isn’t hung up about labels. He likes to come, likes to make me come. Mutually beneficial dynamic for us both. Fuck buddies. Steve’s bi and likes dick and pussy. He’s an equal opportunity slut.”

  Trace found himself walking over to the other side of the bed, where he slowly sat on the edge. “You’d be okay with that with me, too?”

  “Why not?”

  “What about Hal?”

  “He don’t care. What’s this really about? Is this about Arden?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Look. I don’t want you doin’ something you’re gonna regret. I’m not into that. I’m not gonna do some forced seduction thing with you so you can tell yourself pretty little lies later that you really didn’t want it and I coerced you into it. You want me? You can have me. You gotta come to me, though. At least, this time. We can play games later, if you want. But for this first time? No games. Just us. We’ve known each other too damn long to be anything but honest with each other.”

  Trace stood, slid his boxers off, and then climbed into bed next to Ken.

  Ken unlaced his fingers and rolled onto his side to face Trace, his head propped up on one hand. “Tell me what you want,” Ken whispered.

  “I don’t know what I want.” Tension wound inside him, along with need, desire.

  Fear.

  Ken placed his other hand along the flat of Trace’s abs. “We can go slow. No games. You say stop, we stop. Now, how about you put my hand where you really want it?”

  Trace remained on his back but turned his head to stare Ken in the eyes as he laid his hand over Ken’s. His fingers laced with Ken’s, and the other man gently squeezed.

  This man was far closer to him than a brother—all of them were. He trusted Ken and knew if he kicked his fear out and let his body take control, it wouldn’t steer him wrong.

  Ken would never hurt him, never screw him over. None of the guys would. And if Hal and Steve had both had fun with Ken, and each other, and Ken wanted to have fun with him, too…

  Why am I so chickenshit?

  Slowly, Trace pushed Ken’s hand down until his fingers cupped Trace’s erection and balls. Just the feel of the warmth of someone else’s fingers around him made him throb even harder and softly gasp with need.

  “That’s better, ain’t it?” Ken whispered.

  Trace swallowed and nodded, already rocking his hips against Ken’s hand for traction along his aching cock.

  Ken smoothly sat up and stared down at Trace before he leaned in and teased Trace’s lips with the tip of his tongue. Trace reached up and cupped his hand around the back of Ken’s neck, holding him close as he kissed him back.

  He didn’t know why he’d never thought about how good a kisser Ken would be, but it made sense. There wasn’t a damn thing the man did that he didn’t excel at. Why would sex be any di
fferent?

  Ken’s hand slowly stroked Trace’s cock, making him moan into the other man’s mouth. He rocked his hips in time with Ken’s strokes and the man lifted his head just enough he could smile down at Trace.

  “That feel good?”

  “Yeah.”

  Ken pulled away from him and leaned down to lick the head of Trace’s cock.

  The warm, slick heat of his tongue slowly swiping along the head of his cock made him shiver. “Oh, fuck yeah,” Trace gasped.

  Ken sat up again. “How much you want to do tonight? Not even talking fucking you, if you don’t want to.” Another long, slow squeeze of Trace’s cock pulled a strangled moan from him.

  “Sixty-nine?” Trace gasped.

  “Mmm-hmm. I’m down for that.” Ken released Trace’s cock, shimmied out of his boxers, and then stretched out next to Trace, on his side, his head toward Trace’s feet. He reached over Trace’s hip to coax him into rolling onto his side, facing him. “C’mere.”

  Trace’s hand came to rest on Ken’s hip. He followed the plane of his abs down, finding his cock lying there, thick and heavy and hot, ready.

  Ken let out a hiss. “Dat’s it. Won’t bite you.” First the heat of Ken’s breath, then his hot mouth engulfed Trace’s cock again.

  Least I can do is reciprocate.

  A low rumble of approval vibrated around Trace’s cock as he tentatively explored the head of Ken’s cock with his mouth and Ken moaned in response. Ken’s felt a little thicker than his own, but maybe not quite as long.

  “Ahh, dude, yeah,” Ken whispered. “Run your tongue around the head. Like this.” Ken demonstrated on Trace’s cock, making Trace moan again. He finally remembered he was supposed to be learning, and as Ken did something to his cock, he in turn did it to Ken’s.

  “That’s it. Now you show me what you like,” Ken said. “Give me some direction.”

  Gaining a little courage, he slowly traced Ken’s slit with his tongue, playing with it, then lightly flicking the glans. He took his time, mesmerized by how Ken imitated him exactly, the best blowjob he’d ever had. Ken didn’t have to read his mind as long as he followed along.

  “That’s real nice,” Ken said. “You keep doing that. Let me get you over how you like this time. I’ll follow you.”