18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
T he last time Ezra had come to Whipped was when he’d met Kai and Sloan.
Had a month really passed since that class?
His whole life had shifted in a few brief weeks. Not only with Rick’s arrival back into his sphere and the trashing of his apartment but also Sloan and Kai. Having a space to land when everything had gone down was something he’d never experienced. Usually, he dealt with his shit by his lonesome, picked himself up and dusted himself off.
Instead, he had two men willing to stick their necks out for him. Who still wanted to be around him, even after seeing the ugliness of his life.
And who were willing to submit to him, even with the external mess he was.
The interior lights of the coffee shop were dimmed, since it was closed for the night. On Wednesday nights, the dungeon closed early too, which was why the staff held Play Night then.
Nerves prickled through him as he adjusted the go-bag on his shoulder. They’d discussed the scene ad nauseum, and he was beyond excited for it, but he also didn’t trust easily. He didn’t mind power exchange or one-night stands. What had him nervous was the damndest thing. He was starting to care for these two men. This wasn’t just domming in a club with strangers. No, these were some of Sloan’s closest friends.
And they’d be playing with Nolan tonight too.
He stepped to the door, but before he could knock, it swung open.
“Tristan owes me,” Fin said. “He was betting the two of you got cold feet.”
Ezra shook his head. “I’m never one to turn down a challenge.”
“I can relate. Though, that’s not necessarily a good thing.”
Their hazel eyes held a flicker of seriousness that unlatched the locked box with Fin, and he couldn’t help but wonder. He didn’t know much about them, but if their reasons were anything like his…well, maybe they could understand.
A knock on the door dragged him to the present. Kai stood on the other side of the glass. He wore the same gray tee he’d been in this morning and black sweats, and with his tousled hair and winsome eyes, he looked sexy as fuck.
“And the other one.” Fin opened the door. “Come on in.”
“Am I late?” Kai asked, a flush to his cheeks Ezra wasn’t sure was from the chill, exertion, or nerves.
“Right on time.” Ezra extended a hand. He’d come from work, so they hadn’t been able to arrive together, even though he crashed on Kai’s couch. Kai slid his hand into Ezra’s, and sparks shot through him. Ever since he’d started to stay at Kai’s place, the bond between them had grown stronger. And the fact Kai planned on submitting to him tonight in front of an audience? Ngh.
Both Sloan and Kai were a dream in different ways, and he wanted to explore them thoroughly.
“If you’re not comfortable with the scene tonight, you can always sit it out,” Ezra said as they followed Fin. The lingering smell of coffee and vanilla had become a comfort.
Kai shook his head. “I’m having an okay pain day, and I want this. I’ll be submitting to you, which I’ve done before, and I trust you.”
“You guys don’t have to worry.” Fin ran their fingers through their bright purple hair. “I think Parker and Micah are getting their spank on tonight, so you’re not up on some stage or anything. I might help Meg torment Tristan.”
That calmed Ezra’s nerves. He’d been in different kink scenes, some more formal, others comfortable, and this felt like it would be cozy. When he stepped into the dungeon, his breath snagged in his throat.
He’d been in the dungeon when it’d been set out with tables for play, but today, spanking benches and exercise mats had been dragged out. Sloan kneeled on the floor, completely stripped down.
He bowed his golden head, and his tan skin looked delicious in the light of the chandelier, which also highlighted the dips and curves of his torso that Ezra wanted to map out with his tongue. With his legs spread, his cock hung between his legs, already a semi, fuck, he was so delectable in every single way. Ezra wanted to sink into that ass again and fuck him until he screamed, but they had other plans for tonight.
Nolan stepped up to him. “I was glad we chatted online, but it’s time for a better introduction, right?” He was tall, slim, and pretty. His long green strands were pulled back into a bun, and he wore a loose Clash T-shirt and black sweats. Just like Kai, he gave off the switch vibe—not always submissive, but still enough to tick on Ezra’s radar.
Ezra extended a hand, and Nolan shook with a firm clasp, his fingers long and slender. He seemed easygoing from their interactions, and Ezra didn’t mind cotopping, especially since Kai was so new to this. Once Sloan, Kai, and Ezra had discussed a scene, they’d reached out to Nolan, one of Sloan’s best friends, and Ezra and Nolan had taken it from there. The conversation had been fluid and easy, with plenty of transparency, which he preferred when he cotopped. Not like he’d had the opportunity often, so this sparked an excitement inside him that had been burning hot all night.
“Where do you want me?” Kai asked, glancing between them. His nerves buzzed on full broadcast, and Ezra squeezed his hand tight. The minute motion seemed to calm him a little, and that gave Ezra the confidence that Kai wasn’t hiding anything or pushing beyond his boundaries. Honestly, the man was one of the bravest he’d met.
“Hey.” Nolan shook Kai’s hand as well. “We’re still good to start with impact together?”
“Yeah.” Kai squeezed his neck with his free hand, the blush ever-present on his cheeks.
“Fantastic. It’s my favorite—for giving and receiving.” Nolan’s gaze dragged over Kai in a long perusal, appreciation clear. Ezra understood completely. Both Kai and Sloan were ridiculously hot. Where Sloan was gorgeous in a blond-haired, blue-eyed All-American way, Kai had smooth skin and a dazzling smile due to his Greek heritage. The sight of them submitting together would be in Ezra’s spank bank for the rest of eternity.
Ezra squeezed Kai’s hand again. “Strip down and join Sloan on the mats, okay? ”
“Yes…Sir?” he paused. They’d never discussed honorifics. While Ezra didn’t need them, the adrenaline rush coursing through his veins was a mixture of power exchange and gender euphoria wrapped up in one amazing package.
Ezra leaned in and pressed a light kiss to Kai’s lips. “That’s perfect, boy.”
A shiver ran through Kai. Fuck, his submission was going to be beautiful.
With that, he pulled back and let go of Kai’s hand. Time to approach his other sub for the night. He closed the distance between him and Sloan, his heart thumping a little harder. With all the difficult stuff going on in their lives, this escape was everything he needed. He kneeled in front of Sloan and tipped his chin up so their eyes met.
A slow grin rolled to Sloan’s lips. He already seemed at peace on his knees, settling into the flow of submission. It helped that he’d played with Nolan plenty, and this was a safe space for him. If anything, the ease there made Ezra want to do this tonight even more. He wanted to explore Sloan at his most comfortable. Everything about the man intrigued him, and he was dying to peel back each layer until he lay truly bare.
Except that might mean doing the same.
Ezra’s chest tightened, but he pressed his lips to Sloan’s. Sloan moaned at the contact, and electricity zipped through Ezra’s veins. God, he couldn’t wait to get lost in this scene. He made out with him in soft, slow strokes, then stopped for breath. “Want to go to the spanking bench with me?”
Sloan stared at him with a dreamy gaze. “Mmm, yes, Sir.”
Ngh, yes. These men would be his undoing.
He pushed up and helped Sloan to his feet as well, too aware of just how bare Sloan was. As Ezra guided him over to the first open spanking bench, one they’d planned on having alongside Kai and Nolan’s spanking scene, he took in the other participants. He and Kai had been running a little late, and everyone else had gotten started in the interim.
Meg and Tristan were stationed at one of the St. Andrew’s crosses on the other side of the room, and Meg sorted through implements. She waved at him. He offered a nod back. Tristan was strapped to the cross, his head hanging forward. And Parker had his boyfriend Micah corralled onto the spanking bench set up closest to Meg and Tristan. They hadn’t started yet, but based on the willful look in Micah’s eyes, their scene would progress quickly.
Ezra glided his hand across Sloan’s lower back, loving all that smooth, bare skin on display. He glanced down to his legs, which were just as hairless as the rest of him.
“Good boy.” He squeezed Sloan’s ass. “Someone got ready for this.”
“Not my first rodeo.” Sloan cast him a backward glance. Those long lashes, the lust flaring in his blue eyes, everything about him turned Ezra on. This close, he caught his scent, some addictive cologne, and he breathed it in.
“Get comfortable on the spanking bench.” Ezra squeezed Sloan’s ass again. The soft give, the bounce there—ngh. Thank everything holy this night was leading to orgasms because his T-dick had woken the fuck up and was tingling. As Sloan climbed aboard the spanking bench, Ezra sank to the floor and unzipped his go-bag. He’d packed plenty for tonight, but first were the soy wax candles for stage one of their scene. While Nolan was having fun priming Kai’s ass with the paddle, Ezra would send Sloan right to subspace with wax play.
“Same limits as usual?” he checked in as he grabbed the candles and his Zippo.
“Yeah,” Sloan said. “Stoplight system still works too, Sir. ”
Ezra’s pulse sped up as he approached with the candles and Zippo. Something about watching the wax drip, the splatter on the skin made his brain spark. “God, you’re going to be the prettiest canvas.”
A shiver ran down Sloan’s spine as he settled into place. Ezra trailed his fingertip along his back, his touch featherlight. Sloan all but melted onto the spanking bench. His responsiveness was addictive, and after the pain he’d been through, fuck, Ezra’s heart clenched.
Not now. Right now, he wanted to memorize Sloan’s body, to make him soar.
He lit one of the candles and watched the flickering flame. Edge play like this always had an appeal to him, a recklessness that broiled through his veins. Except this was contained, nowhere near the depths he’d dived into in the past. All these years, domming was the sole thing that had kept him from careening over a cliff.
The wax pooled, which meant he was ready to pour.
“Be my good boy.” He placed a hand on Sloan’s hip to ground him. “Tell me if it’s too much.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Those words were like the pull of a starter’s pistol. He tilted the candle, and the wax dripped down. The liquid splattered onto his back.
“Oh god,” Sloan gasped, his body tensing.
“Still green?”
“More,” Sloan begged.
Adrenaline flushed through him. The splatter of dark blue on Sloan’s back looked beautiful against his smooth skin, and Ezra couldn’t wait to add more. He stroked along Sloan’s side, preparing him.
More wax splashed onto the canvas .
Sloan arched his back, letting out a sinful moan. Ezra’s T-dick was fully alert now that the gorgeous man was unraveling in his hands.
“You’re being so good for me.” He tilted the candle again. The splash of the wax on his skin, the way Sloan reacted, like he was getting fucked, all of it slammed in at once. Lust pumped through his veins, hot and heavy. The air between them grew more intense, and even though other scenes were going on around them, he zeroed in on the man beneath him.
Another dribble of wax. Another moan.
It dripped down his sides, and he squirmed in place.
“Like having that hot liquid gush down your back?” His voice took on a bit of gravel with the weight of the lust he tried to restrain.
Sloan let out a moan. “God, yes.”
“You’re such a pretty little slut.” Ezra trickled more down Sloan’s back. The heat of the flickering flame dancing by his skin amped him even higher. “Just want to be a mess for me, don’t you?”
“Mmm.” Sloan’s noises were gorgeous as he writhed on the spanking bench. The splatters of wax across his back looked like starbursts against his smooth tan skin, and Ezra brought the candle lower, right at the base of the spine. When he dripped the wax, Sloan ground against the spanking bench, letting out another pretty little sound.
“You’re so good for me.” He dribbled some wax right over the top of Sloan’s ass. The response was instantaneous. Sloan thrust his ass back in offering. And damn, Ezra wanted to grab his cock and sink into him until they were both sated. But he had more planned for tonight, and it would only be fun if he drew this out longer.
On the spanking bench beside him, Kai was stretched out on it, his gorgeous ass in the air as well, and Nolan wielded a paddle. His strike echoed through the room, but then he leaned in to check. Ezra’s protectiveness soothed at seeing the care Nolan took with him. While he expected that with this crew, Kai had become important to him in a short amount of time. So had Sloan.
The gorgeous man before him was writhing in place. The way Sloan opened himself up, how he let himself experience and feel, even after all he’d been through, was so goddamn beautiful. The breath caught in Ezra’s throat, and he skimmed his fingertips along Sloan’s side, tracing the differences between his hot skin and the cooled wax. Guaranteed, he ground his hard-as-fuck cock against the spanking bench, desperate to get fucked.
Sloan’s hair was mussed, his back a patchwork of navy blue with peeks of his tan skin. He bit down on his lower lip, and when he glanced up, the need in those blue eyes struck Ezra square in the chest. Lust didn’t just brew between them. No, the depth conveyed an understanding only the two of them would get.
Because after being destroyed, the chance to feel whole again meant goddamn everything.
“Beautiful,” Ezra murmured. “You’re so goddamn beautiful.”
He squeezed Sloan’s ass so some of the cooled wax flaked off. Ngh. He would detonate in an explosive way by the end of this.
“All right, sweetheart.” He blew out the candle. “Time to get this off.”
Sloan let out an “mmm.” He was the picture of relaxation, the tension gone from his body, which was the perfect state to send him vaulting into oblivion with the next part of their plan.
Ezra trailed his fingers along Sloan’s side. “Let me grab the knife.” He crouched and snagged the butter knife he’d packed for wax play. Something about seeing the metal, even blunt, against skin sparked his synapses. He worked it under the first slab of wax and peeled it off. Working the flat knife underneath and prying it away from his skin, then watching the piece come off was so innately satisfying.
“You’re being so good for me,” Ezra said, and the truth of those words traveled deep inside him. He’d played with different partners, but the chemistry, the trust he felt implicitly with Kai and Sloan, was new. And it thrilled and terrified him at the same time. He made quick work of peeling the wax off and dusting the residual flakes off his skin. To his right, Nolan worked over Kai, the crack of leather to flesh resounding through the room. Kai’s moan was music to his ears. God, playing with these two was like thrusting his hand into the flame. Both had imprinted on him far more than he’d intended. When this ended, he’d be dying embers soon to turn to ash.
Ezra ran his palms over Sloan’s bare back down to his gorgeous ass, smoothing strokes that melted him into even more of a puddle. He glanced over to Nolan, who had a nice rosy flush to his cheeks from exertion. Their gazes met, and Nolan nodded, picking up the state of things with Sloan. Kai had some lovely red marks across his ass, but it was better not to push him too far. Not only was he new to impact, but due to his lupus, his nerves could flip on a dime.
“Ready for some more fun, sweetheart?” Ezra asked Sloan, giving his ass another squeeze.
Sloan moaned. “God, yes, Sir.”
They’d talked about the details of the scene ad nauseum because this was Kai’s first time sceneing with another Dom, but they were also still figuring out dynamics. However, that only heightened his anticipation. The feverish looks, the casual mentions of what was to come, the goddamn teasing. All of it had been a thrill he’d never gotten to experience with less personal scenes.
“Okay, let’s get you off the spanking bench.” He helped Sloan into movement.
When Sloan pushed up from his slouch, his gorgeous blues were dreamy, as if he were floating in subspace. His blond hair was rumpled with a freshly fucked look, even though they hadn’t even gotten there yet. But what struck Ezra square in the chest was the way he stared at him.
Like he completely trusted him.
Like he mattered.
Rage flashed through him in a quick sweep that anyone could’ve taken advantage of this. Ezra was flawed and broken beyond repair, but there was something so pure, so true about Sloan and Kai both that brought his protective side out. That made him want to get involved rather than run.
“This way, sweetheart,” He placed a hand on Sloan’s lower back and guided him over to the mats where Nolan and Kai would join them. “Ready to get wrecked?”
Tonight would be one he’d remember for a long time.