Pushing Connor (The Dungeon #4)(7)

So, when he’d met Wesley—a fellow Dom working at The Dungeon—he’d thought they could have some fun. Wesley was meant to be a challenge and a distraction. Instead, Connor had fallen for him. He didn’t know when it had happened. But it had.

Whatever reservations he might have held in the beginning had fled the moment Wesley first kneeled down to him. Wesley, the man who had never submitted to anyone, had given Connor this gift.

The image of his lover’s peaceful, sleeping face passed before his eyes, and a smile played on his lips.

A distant bell, designed to mark each hour throughout the building, chimed the beginning of the day, forcing him to concentrate on his job. He went to the front desk, where the assistant was settling in for the day, and confirmed his daily schedule. He, like the rest of the staff, was sent a daily email containing the next day’s appointments, but he liked to recheck everything before the clients came in.

Walking toward the rooms, he read the sheet. Two steps later, he stopped and stared at the details. The first appointment was a new client: Matthew. New not only to himself but to the club as well, judging by the little mark in front of his name.

He moved on to the list of the man’s preferences and boundaries, and frowned. Blood play. Needle play. Suffocation. Extreme humiliation. Pet play. Connor swore through clenched teeth as he turned and headed back to the front desk.

“Maria, have these been vetted by Lucas?”

She glanced at him in confusion, then turned to frown at the screen, no doubt checking her own version of the list. “Yes, they have. Is something wrong?”

Connor showed her the comment section. “I don’t know. The first one seems odd.”

“Odd how?” She rose and reached for the file.

“Not the usual type of subs the club gets, I guess.”

She went over the details again, and her brow furrowed. “Not really. We do have a few that are a bit more extreme than the rest.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize that.”

“Is there something on that list that you consider to be a hard limit? There’s nothing in your file to suggest that.”

No, there wasn’t indeed. Mostly because he hadn’t thought he’d need it, not in a Dungeon where safety was paramount.

“Is there something wrong? I can call Lucas and have him moved to someone else.”

Connor pursed his lips, thinking. “No. Don’t worry about it. If he’s been vetted by Lucas, I guess it’s fine.”

“Actually, Tamara did the background check on him.”

Connor nodded, and set off back to the rooms. As he looked again at the sheet in his hand, he noticed that he had a new assigned room: the sterile one, where all the more intense subs were taken. He changed direction toward it, turning over the possibilities in his mind. When he reached the room and looked around, he shook his head. It wasn’t a room he’d expected to be using, especially when there were Doms better suited to the more intense play for which it was designed. He stared at the paraphernalia available, debating what to use for the scene. He checked again the details listed, and swore.

The knock came sooner than he’d hoped. Sighing, he went to open the door for Matthew. The sub’s appearance threw him. For an instant, he thought he was looking at Alin, his former partner. His deceased former partner.

The man standing in front of him, head bowed, was short and lithe, and in his early twenties. His hair was a mud blond, and while Connor couldn’t see his eyes, he had a nagging suspicion they would be blue.

But that was where the similarities ended. From the set of his shoulders and the way he held himself, it was clear this wasn’t Alin. It had to be Matthew, his current sub.

“Hello, Matthew.”

“Sir.”

“Come in. Take off your shoes.”

Matthew obeyed immediately. He stepped inside and removed his shoes, one at a time, his moves clearly well-rehearsed. At least Connor wouldn’t be dealing with a novice with such extreme inclinations.

Connor went through the rules with Matthew, reiterating the safe words, making sure Matthew would remember them. Then, when he couldn’t put it off any longer, he started the scene.

Connor donned latex gloves before taking the nipple clamps to Matthew. He rubbed an ice cube over each nipple, to harden them, then clipped the tiny metal jaws around them. Matthew gasped, his eyes fluttering closed, but otherwise he showed little emotion. From the nipples, Connor moved lower and attached a chain of bigger clamps from beneath the pecs all the way down to the waist. Then he secured a heavy collar and leash around Matthew’s neck. By the time Connor was done setting the scene, Matthew’s pupils were wide, his gaze dazed.

Connor jerked on the leash, and Matthew followed him on all fours. It came so naturally to him that it unsettled Connor even further. Matthew was too good, too perfect. To everything Connor did, Matthew responded beautifully. The harder Connor went on him, the better Matthew liked it. There was no hesitation, no uncertainty in his reactions, yet Connor was the one left disheartened. Matthew didn’t push Connor for more, accepting everything he dished out with grace. Alin hadn’t done that. He had pushed and pushed, wearing Connor out until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

Yet, while Matthew evoked a need to be faster and harder to everything Connor did, the effect on Connor was similar to the one Alin had.

Connor fought to remain in the present, to keep his head in the scene, but it was difficult. He shouldn’t have allowed himself to be so affected by his interaction with Matthew, but he had. When the session ended and he had tended to his sub, he fell into a chair.