He smiled, knowing I was bullshitting. “Taylor would be thrilled, except we don’t need one. We have Matteo.”
Matteo blushed and rolled his eyes, but I smiled, and it was a relief to have some humor applied to the situation.
“You said Zarah’s mother passed away?” I said, addressing the elephant in the room.
“She died a long time ago. We’d already split up. I was moderately involved in Zarah’s life at that point, although her mother had issues with my…pastimes. I’d tried to keep them secret, but it was difficult. I’m not ashamed of my tastes or of anything about my sexuality.”
I squeezed his hand again, giving him a nod.
“Look… Please don’t go anywhere near this guy again, Matteo. Not alone. If there’s a problem, tell us, and we’ll all go, or we’ll go to the police. But I won’t have you putting yourself in danger in such a reckless way again.”
“Okay.”
I cleared my throat, meeting his gaze with my Dom look.
He nodded once. “Yes, Sir.”
We were silent for a few beats.
“May I go to work now, Sir?” Matteo asked in a hushed voice.
I released him with some reluctance. “You may. But please come straight home when you’re done. We need you here tonight.”
“Yes, Sir.”
* * * *
That evening, after we’d had supper and Matteo had touched base with Zarah to make sure she was okay and that her husband hadn’t tried to contact her, I took him and Vincent upstairs.
Taylor had gone to Daphne’s because one of her regular clients had requested an appearance from Sparky. Some of her clients remembered the young man dressed in tight shorts and a leather pup hood who had passed Daphne the instruments she used to debase them. Taylor got a kick out of it and now occasionally revisited his role when requested. He was beginning to learn the basics of shibari rope work from Daphne in his role as helper.
We had the house to ourselves. The events of the previous day had shaken the foundations of our relationship, and we needed to reconnect and confirm that we were still a united partnership.
Matteo looked nervous and reluctant as Vincent and I started to remove our clothes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“I feel like I’ve betrayed you both. I’m so sorry.” He took a sudden inhale that broke on a half-sob. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this part of my…life.”
I glanced at Vincent, who was now in nothing but a sweet pair of lacy purple panties with ruffled edges. I was down to boxer briefs, a sports bra and an open white button-down. We moved toward Matteo at the same time.
“I’m sorry, too,” I said, gazing into Matteo’s eyes with conviction. “We want you to share everything with us. We thought you had.” I pulled him into my arms.
Matteo’s face crumpled as he returned my embrace. Vincent put his long arms around us both, and we huddled together until Matteo stopped shaking.
“Your problems are our problems,” Vincent whispered, nuzzling Matteo’s stubbled cheek.
“Thank you,” Matteo replied in a quiet voice. “I’m so sorry.”
I snorted and detached myself from the embrace.
“Okay, now. That’s enough apologizing.” I pointed at him. “Get naked—unless you’re too emotional to have some fun with us?” I asked, gazing at him with my eyebrows raised.
He shook his head. “No. I think…I’ll take off my clothes, Sir.”
“Excellent,” I said, clapping my hands together and licking my lips. “Nothing too strenuous, but I want to make sure both of you know you can bring any problem to me, no matter how big”—I glanced at Vincent’s erection—“or small it might be. Vincent, you don’t have any secrets, do you?”
Vincent gave me an innocent and angelic look. “Nothing that you haven’trootedout of me by now. Sir.”
