Chapter 22 Jack
JACK
Fortunately, the shower stall that’s furthest from the door is free when I get Bunny back to the changing room.
The other one is bigger — which is probably why there’s an orgy going on in there — but this one is more private.
And that’s what I want for putting Bunny back together, just like I promised I’d always do after I broke him.
He makes a little noise of distress when the hot water hits those fresh welts. The sound cuts through me in a way it never has before. Fuck, I’m getting soft.
“Shh. The sting will go away in a sec.” From my usual position seated behind him, I kiss the top of his head. The water streams down over us and creates a cloud of steam that wraps us in warmth.
I bring my lips to his ear. “I appreciate you letting me make each and every one of those marks, showing me how badly you crave the pain I give you.”
When he stirs in my arms, I squeeze him a little tighter. “You know I’ll never take the gift of your submission for granted, right? Not now, not ever. And… Bunny?”
I wait until he makes an interrogative sound before I continue. “You were hot as fuck.” A possessive edge creeps into my voice as I add, “And I sure as hell wasn’t the only one to think that. I like putting you on display — dominating you, humiliating you, making you crawl and cry for me.”
“Why?” he asks. I can hear in his voice that he’s coming back to himself after the intensity of the scene. After I stand, pulling him up and shutting off the water, I wrap him in a towel.
Turning him around to face me, I stare down at his pink skin and wet hair.
I huff out a self-conscious laugh. “You’re not like me, Bunny.
You’re so sweet and so bright. But I know you have the same dark hunger I do.
Yours is hidden deep inside you, but marking you brings it to the surface.
I love — I need — to see that on your skin.
“And when you let me show you off like that — when you beg me to hurt you in front of a room full of strangers — that makes you mine more than anything in the world except for this.” I lift my left hand to display the black band tattooed on my ring finger.
I’m not normally… talkative about this shit. But he asked, and something about his soft expression silently encouraged me to keep going.
Bunny’s eyes are shining as he throws his arms around me in a fierce hug. “I love you, Jack.”
“Love you too, Bunny.” I start to squeeze him back but stop when I see him wince a bit. “You alright?”
“A little sore,” he admits as we head back to where our clothes are. “I’m sure the ibuprofen will kick in soon.”
“Here.” I pick up his sports drink from the bench. “You promised me you were going to get the rest of this down the hatch, too. And here.”
“What’s this?” He holds up the pair of black joggers I just handed him with a frown.
“I figured you might not want to get right back into jeans after the beating your ass just took,” I tell him with a little grin. “You know. If you wanted to hang out for a while still.”
This isn’t my usual M.O. and he knows it, as his sharp look tells me. In fact, I don’t know what possessed me to toss those pants in the bag right before we left. I hope I don’t regret this.
Once Bunny gets himself more or less put together, albeit still shirtless, he follows me back down the hallway to the main room.
It’s still pretty crowded but I spy an empty easy chair towards the back.
It’s further from the action than we were before, but I don’t mind being a bit more unobtrusive right now.
I really like the vibe of this place and I want Bunny to feel comfortable here, but I still feel my lip curl every time somebody runs their eyes over his body.
He’s settled on my lap with my arms wrapped around his midsection when I realize one of the guys who peeled himself off from a larger group is actually headed our way. Son-of-a-bitch. I’m really not in the mood to deal with some asshole right now.
I’m more than a little astonished to see that it’s the same guy as before… Eric? Motherfucker’s persistent, if nothing else. He stops in front of us. I’m about to tear him a new one, but he starts talking first.
This time, he barely gives Bunny a glance.
“That was really hot. Jack, right? The two of you are so in sync with each other —” I scowl at him, but he just holds up both hands in a position of surrender.
“I’m not trying to hit on either of you or anything.
Just wanted to say — dunno if you noticed, because I know sometimes when you get really into it, the outside world kind of disappears — but that scene had pretty much everybody here —” He breaks off with a sort of awkward laugh, which makes me hate him just the slightest bit less.
“Well, you had the undivided attention of pretty much this entire room,” he continues.
“You two have a great dynamic. I know I’m not just speaking for myself when I say hopefully we’ll see more of you.
Do you play together regularly? Is he —” He nods towards Bunny without breaking eye contact with me, “your full-time sub, or…” He trails off, but the way his eyes dart between us silently finishes his question.
An hour ago, I would’ve automatically assumed he was asking about our status because he was checking out Bunny. As it is, a hot flicker of jealousy ignites in my guts. But then Bunny turns to face me, and the blue of his eyes is like water landing on that spark.
There’s a question in them I can’t read.
A frisson of fear shoots through me as I give him an almost-imperceptible nod.
I do not know where this is going. And I don’t like that fact one bit.
But the memory of our earlier exchange has me…
maybe not optimistic, but willing to put myself in Bunny’s hands and see where this goes.
Bunny laces his fingers through mine and displays our joined hands and the rings inked on each.
“Married. So, like, very together,” he says, pointing at the tattooed bands.
A radiant smile lights up his features. He looks weirdly thrilled to be telling a random stranger this fact.
No, he looks even more inexplicably… proud? That can’t be right.
There’s a sudden, sharp sensation in my chest, as if my heart just cracked in two. “Yeah, married.” I keep my voice gruff so whatever’s spilling out of that fissure won’t leak into it.
Bunny makes a small sound. “A year this weekend, actually.” The contrast of his sweet, doe-eyed smile against the harsh marks on his neck left by the collar combine like a chemical reaction in my brain. The guffaw that bubbles up from my chest catches me by surprise.
Bunny looks equally startled. Guess I can’t blame him. Once we get home, I should probably tell him something else I’ve realized: Even if they think I’m fucking shy, I guess Olivia and Gina aren’t so bad. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be good to know a couple more people in Las Vegas.
Eric chuckles. “No way! Well, I gotta give it to you two. That’s a helluva way to celebrate your first anniversary.”
He’s not wrong. I might even get around to telling him that one of these days.
THE END