Getting it just right to drive him crazy without cockblocking him too badly was an art form.

  Tanner thought it was funny, though. He’d never had siblings, so he seemed to find us curiously amusing when the insanity wasn’t aimed at figuring out his relationship with Shane. I got a free pass on that one since I’d figured out they weren’t as boring as they’d seemed, but they really hadn’t hidden it well.

  Shit. Even my mother was starting to ask questions they wouldn’t want me to answer.

  Tanner just melted into submission every time Shane even looked at him. And they didn’t need to get me started on that whole “Alpha” crap. The number of times Tanner said that around other people was startling. They didn’t seem to know they were doing it, either.

  But they were interesting in a funny way and I didn’t mind their insanity, so I didn’t care what they were getting up to.

  The sound of my stomach growling reminded me that I’d forgotten to eat dinner. I’d had every intention of it when I’d come home from running some errands, but work had distracted me. That was the one downside of working from home—time had very little meaning.

  As I grabbed a few cold slices of pizza, my computer chimed as a new email came in. Since the only logical person it could be was my shy potential new boss, I brought my plate over to the table and sat back down. Yep, they’d already responded. They didn’t seem to have a life either.

  I had to laugh at the first line, and as I continued to read, I kept shaking my head.

  To Whom It May Concern:

  Satisfying your curiosity is not my job as I am not your sub nor your employee. However, I will tell you that the site seems to be within the limits you set forth. Although, your wording on ethical guidelines was a bit vague.

  The site my business partners and I are looking to get set up will revolve around connecting alphas and omegas of like minds together, but it will not be a dating site. As far as the legalities, while it is not illegal it will be shocking to the community should it come to light.

  We are looking to keep it as discreet as possible on the main page to make sure people are not overly curious. Legitimate people coming to the site will be by referral only and will know how to access the real site pages.

  I understand this will mean you need to set up two websites, the decoy and the real site, so please list both separately on any invoice or quote.

  To get you started on the quotes, I will tell you that the decoy site needs to look like we will be running a club, such as a country club or religious social organization. I must stress that we are looking to make it visually and intellectually boring to discourage anyone from being overly curious.

  In your next email, please clarify your wording on ethics and your role in the BDSM community. Also, would you have any problems working for anyone regardless of primary or secondary gender or their position in the BDSM community?

  Thank you

  There was no signature line or hint about who I was talking to as the email ended. It was almost like they just decided to stop writing and send it. After reading over it several times, I started to imagine a male submissive. Something about the language they used and the almost condescending feel to it said a woman would never have sent it. So a male sub, perhaps…maybe even a male omega.

  I’d never run into an alpha who ever thought about their secondary gender. Most just accepted they were alphas and moved on. The only people I’d met who consciously seemed to focus on their roles and gender were omegas. They got the shaft, in my opinion. People like my mother always telling everyone how they should behave and how everyone else should treat them without even asking had to make life fucking difficult.

  Typing out my response, I refused to overthink it no matter how many questions I had.

  I’m going to need more details in order to even begin to quote the job, but I will clarify a few things for you. I am a Dom in the local BDSM community. I’ve worked for and with people of different genders and who had different roles in the BDSM lifestyle. As long as we can maintain a good working relationship, I don’t care if someone is a submissive omega or a dominant beta.

  As far as ethics go, I realize that while laws vary from country to country and some are not rational at all, in my business I follow the same ethics I have with BDSM. I want whatever I am doing to be safe for everyone involved. I want to be able to see the logic in what I’m doing and I want everyone to be on the same page with the use and with the outcome.

  To make sure this is clear, I have no problem working for a submissive or dominant alpha, beta, or omega. I just want to make sure I am not crossing any personal or legal lines with the subject matter of the site.

  If that clarifies your issues with my background, I would like to get more information on your site and on the people I would be working for. I’ll admit you have me very curious at this point.

  Michael

  As I ate after hitting send, staring at the screen to see if he was going to respond as quickly as he had last time, I could see how ridiculous I was being. I knew I was acting like a kid, but I couldn’t help it. There was just something about the person on the other side of the computer. Sure, there could be a lot of reasons I wouldn’t be attracted to them, but finding new friends that I connected with on more than a superficial level was difficult.

  It didn’t really matter if they were on the other side of the country or the other side of the world. Most of my closest friends were people I only saw online anyway. I couldn’t remember the last time Eddie and I had hung out in person—and he lived on the other side of town.

  My doorbell buzzing through the house had me frowning and looking at the clock again. Shane was definitely occupied by now and I couldn’t remember the last time he’d used my doorbell. He usually either walked in or banged on the door like he was ready to bust it down because I’d pissed him off.

  Closing my laptop just in case, I wiped my hands and stood up, heading toward the front of the townhouse. Of all the people I would have expected, I’d have never guessed Austin and Wade, so as I opened the door, I probably looked confused.

  Austin laughed. “You’re supposed to be smiling and gracious when you open the door to wonderful visitors, not suspicious and confused.”

  Snorting, I turned to Wade. “I’ll be gracious and polite to you.”

  He giggled, poking Austin. “Stop trying to drive him crazy.”

  I nodded. “I’m not the alpha who’s going to spank you when you’re naughty.”

  Now it was Austin’s turn to giggle and poke Wade. “See, I told you he’s not as vanilla as he appears.”

  Me vanilla?

  Stepping back, I gestured for them to come inside. “What brings you here tonight? You know Shane is next door?”

  Wade shook his head as Austin giggled and teased. “Why would we want to go bug them? You’re much more fun, and much more single, I presume, since we haven’t heard anything about your dating life?”

  “Brat.” As they laughed, stepping into the house, I shut the door. “Do you honestly think I could hide a relationship in this family? Please.”

  Wade shrugged. “You seem to know how to work the system in your family, so it’s possible. And look at Graham.”

  “But not likely; he’s a complete anomaly.” I snorted. “The last time I was dating someone, my mother sent him flowers to welcome him to the family.”

  They both groaned.

  “Oh yeah, had to backpedal that one quick because he was expecting a ring after that.” I nodded as they both shook their heads, commiserating with me. “Yeah, we’re just going to say it was more of a casual relationship than my mother realized. I still don’t know how she figured it out.”

  Austin grinned. “She told you she wouldn’t tattle on anyone, didn’t she?”

  “Yes.” I laughed. “I’m going to figure it out at some point.”

  Wade’s smile widened. “I bet you’d be good at getting revenge.”

  “Oh yes.” As we headed into the living room, I pointed to the couch and scattered chairs. “Have a seat.”

  “I know this appears very random, but we actually had something we wanted to discuss with you.” Wade’s easy smile looked slightly nervous, but he didn’t back down as he got comfortable on the couch next to Austin.

  “I have a feeling that with you guys this could literally be about anything.” I grinned so they knew I wasn’t worried, but I was serious. They were an odd group of omegas, but they were entertaining.

  Austin nodded, a wicked grin on his face. “Oh yes.”

  Wade shoved his elbow into Austin’s side. “Behave.”

  Austin shoved back. “I won’t promise that.”

  It was like watching kids fight…or maybe me with my family.

  “So what’s up?” It clearly wasn’t a social call, so I wasn’t going to ignore that. “Everything okay?”

  I wasn’t the one they’d probably think to come to in an emergency, but if there was a problem, I’d do my best to help.

  Wade nodded. “We’re fine. There are just a few things we needed to talk to you about.”

  “Stop being so vague.” Austin sighed dramatically. “If you’re going to be around us more, with things like the pool party, there are things we need to know about you.”

  Ahh.

  I had a feeling I was getting ready to be invited into the inner circle, but they wanted to make sure I wasn’t some kind of asshole or confused vanilla alpha first. Nodding, I leaned back in the oversized chair I’d sat down in. “I get that. But honestly, it’s pretty clear that at least several of you guys aren’t in conventional relationships and that doesn’t bother me at all. Whatever makes you happy.”

  Then I pointed to them and narrowed my eyes. “Just as long as I don’t have to explain anything else to my mother.”

  They both laughed and some of their tension seemed to ease. Wade nodded. “Deal.”

  Austin seemed to take that as permission to charge right in. “What is your opinion of BDSM in general? What do you think about omegas who submit? You’re entirely too knowledgeable about wonderfully diverse porn to be too vanilla, so I’m going to be overly nosy and ask if you’re in the lifestyle.”

  Interesting.

  Wade smacked him. “We were going to be subtle.”

  Really?

  Austin didn’t have a subtle bone in his entire body. That negotiation had clearly gone wrong somewhere.

  “You guys realize you’ve made Shane part of your family, so you’re asking me to hypothetically out myself to my family, right?” I didn’t necessarily have a problem with opening up to Shane since he seemed to be fairly interesting himself at this point, but they needed to see it from my perspective.

  “Yes.” Austin finally grew more serious. “We wouldn’t ask unless it was important to us. Yes, we tease and say outrageous things, but this is different.”

  Why was it different?

  I had a feeling I wasn’t going to know the answer to that until I actually talked about myself. Rock, let me introduce you to hard place.

  Everything that I knew about Austin from our personal interactions and even his TV appearances said he loved to play the dumb flirt, but that he was incredibly intelligent and fiercely loyal. I’d even seen a site that had claimed to have proof that his IQ was genius level.

  That probably explained why he was so odd, honestly.

  The only reason he’d show up like this was if he were protecting one of the guys…or maybe all of them.

  Shit.

  They had too many suspicions at this point. I wouldn’t lose much by opening up and it might save me from them poking around any longer. They had the combined resources to make things difficult if they decided to go snooping in my private life.

  “I was introduced to the lifestyle in college. I found other like-minded people soon after I got out and I’ve been in the lifestyle ever since.” They were both watching silently like I was offering up the secrets of the universe, so I kept going.

  At the very least it was a good way to keep Austin quiet.

  “I haven’t been dating much lately, but in the past, I’ve had subs of different sorts. Nothing you say will shock me.” They’d have to be into something a lot more interesting than BDSM to shock me.

  Wade took the lead this time. “I think it’s pretty evident that most of the guys aren’t involved in typical relationships.”

  I nodded. “Yes, you’re actually terrible at hiding it.”

  Austin shrugged carelessly, but I could see the grin he was trying to hold back. The others might be trying to keep their kink in the closet, but if I had to guess, I’d say he was tired of it.

  Wade sighed. “They’re trying.”

  “It’s hard. I get that.” I glanced between them. “Is that everything you needed to know?”

  It felt like a very strange job interview.

  They turned and had some kind of silent conversation that was composed of stares and the occasional noise. Finally they turned back to me and Austin spoke. “We’re opening a BDSM club and if you’re going to be around all the time you were bound to hear about it, so we needed to make sure you wouldn’t lose your mind.”

  Not what I’d been expecting, but it filled in some of the blanks.

  “Okay.” When that didn’t seem to satisfy them, I glanced back and forth. “Is everything going well?”

  Wade leaned forward. “You don’t mind? It’s not…”

  I shrugged. “I’ve been visiting private dungeons for years. Unfortunately, they’re usually in people’s houses and that can have a lot of drama associated with it when couples break up or when something goes wrong. Having a professional space in the area would be nice as long as you find ways to maintain people’s privacy.”

  Again, it seemed like I surprised them.

  “Private dungeons?” Austin sighed. “Why won’t Silas let me have one?”

  Wade snorted. “Because you’re constantly followed by cameras. Someone would notice if you put a dungeon in your house.”

  “Yeah, I have to say he’s right.” I laughed when Austin gave another dramatic sigh. “The club is the next best thing, though.”

  He perked up at that reminder. “Yes, and that’s coming along nicely.”

  “I’ll get to at least come look around before you open, right?” I wasn’t going to assume I’d get an invitation, but at the very least I was curious.

  Austin laughed. “Of course. And as long as it wouldn’t be too weird to see Shane and Tanner there, you’re more than welcome to put in an application to join.”

  It sounded like they were really thinking it through.

  “Great.” But as they started to chatter and ask random questions about private playrooms and kinks, I started putting other things together.

  If they were starting a BDSM club that would need applications and careful screening, there was only one person in the area I knew who would do that kind of thing…Eddie. So that led me to another question…who had I been emailing earlier?

  Chapter 5

  Bradley

  “If you don’t stop bouncing around and driving me insane, I’m going to tie you to my couch.” Snapping at Austin didn’t help his behavior, but it made me feel better until he started giggling.

  The lunatic only stopped his bouncing long enough to bat his eyelashes at me. “That sounds like fun. I didn’t realize you went for omega-on-omega porn.”

  “I’m almost done, but you’re making everything take twice as long as it should.” We were supposed to be heading over to Jonah’s, but I had one more thing before we could go.

  I’d put off the email for too long already and the website guy was going to think I was ditching him for some reason. That wasn’t the case. I just couldn’t decide how to answer his questions. On the surface, I knew he was probably just asking about the site and the business. But every time I read the last line, I had a feeling he was curious about more than just the site.

  How much should I share about the club and about myself?

  “But you’re so boring and we’re going to be late. What’s so important?” He flounced over and leaned against the desk. “Who’s Michael?”

  I sighed but gave in and pointed to the email. “The name that the website developer goes by. From what your computer friend said it probably isn’t his real name, but we’ve been emailing back and forth.”

  Austin perked up. “Great. How much will the site cost?”

  “No idea yet. I wanted to get more information on him before I explained everything to him.” When Austin snorted, I leaned back and glared at him. “I’m supposed to hand over personal information that could make our lives very difficult to a perfect stranger?”

  “Eddie said he’s trustworthy.” Austin really didn’t seem to understand why I was so cautious. “Stop playing games with him and just get everything started. At this rate, the club will be done before the site is up.”

  Possibly, but I wasn’t going to rush.

  “He answered my questions about himself, but now he’s asking for more details.” Something in my voice must have given it away because Austin giggled.

  “More details about you or the business?”

  I shrugged. “Both, I think.”

  “Well, is he single and a Dom like Simon seems to be? Because really, an alpha in the hand is worth two online.”

  “That is not how that expression goes.” Rolling my eyes, I focused back on the screen. “Besides, you ambushing Simon into sharing that he’s into BDSM is not grounds for assuming he’s some kind of single alpha on the hunt.”

  Getting more information about him was supposed to have made it easier to ignore him. But it wasn’t working out that way. I kept going over everything from the last party and I couldn’t get a grasp on the fact that the laid-back guy who didn’t seem to be overly interested in anyone was a single Dom who liked submissive omegas.

  His knowledge of porn said he wasn’t judgmental, but not that he was a Dom.

  Why hadn’t he mentioned that when everyone else started dancing around the topic? Sure, we’d acknowledged we weren’t as vanilla as people assumed, but Austin wouldn’t have been able to hold himself back if he’d known Simon was a Dom.

 

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