Vadim
"Surprise!" I say, keeping my voice light even though there's a very strong possibility that when Preston returns to Reno, he’s personally going to hunt me down and murder me himself for this stunt I'm pulling.
"What? I'm horny and looking for a man to relieve me of some of this tension. Please don't judge me."
"Is this a joke? Because I could be earning money right now."
"You've already earned a hundred K. Plus a tip."
His eyes bulge. "You've tipped me?"
"Not yet. I believe you can only do that at the end. But I will. And, just so you know, I'm a very generous tipper."
He throws his head back, groaning out my name in frustration as he does, and the sound bullets straight to my cock.
But even though I've thrown down an obscene amount of money, and we are literally in a private online room designed to get me off, that is one thing I will not be doing. This isn't a ploy to get Preston to perform sexually for me. It's a way for him to accept money from me. Period.
"You can't do this."
"I believe I just have."
His mouth flaps open and closes several times. It gives me time to prepare for the next onslaught. I never expected him to be jumping for joy, but if he's allowed to do whatever he wants, then so am I.
Fair's fair, after all.
But I'm not met with the immediate fight I was expecting. Instead, he utters one single word.
"Why?"
"Why do this, you mean?"
He nods.
I take a second to recalibrate. I won't be needing my arsenal of counter-arguments. Just the simple truth.
"Because I'm falling in love with you."
His lips part, and one of his eyebrows lifts.
"And even though I have no right to interfere in your life or to tell you what to do, you doing this doesn’t sit right with me. Not because I've got anything against sex work. It's not that."
"Then what is it?"
"It feels like you're doing this because you're out of options, and you need a lot of money fast."
"Is there anything else?"
Communication only works when you're being honest, right? No wonder I avoided it for this long.
I clear my throat. "And I don't like the idea of you getting naked and jerking off for anyone else. Anyone other than me."
By the time I finish speaking, I'm scowling.
I hate how my admission makes me sound. Like I'm possessive or insecure. But…maybe I am? When it comes to Preston, I keep discovering more sides of myself I never knew existed. This is one side I'm definitely not comfortable with.
Preston stares straight down the barrel of the camera, his hazel eyes homing in on me. His expression is frustratingly inscrutable…until the corner of his mouth gives way to a tiny grin.
"Hmm. That's interesting."
"Glad you think so."
"Slightly territorial. Possibly…jealous?"
He waits for me to respond.
Whatever pin-dick shrink claimed that vulnerability is a strength was obviously playing a joke on everyone. I'm vulnerable, more vulnerable than I've ever been with anyone, and the last thing I feel is strong.
"Yes. I'm jealous. I'm interfering. I'm controlling. I'm all the red flags." I blow out a breath, hating feeling so out of control.
So weak.
"Good thing I'm colorblind then."
My track record with humor isn't exactly stellar, but I'm pretty sure that was a joke.
"Yeah?"
He chuckles to himself, and then he peels his shirt off over his head in one fluid motion.
I bring my phone in closer. "What are you doing?"
"Well, you're a horny man who did pay money to see me put on a show."
"No. We are not doing that. Nuh-uh. Nope. No way."
"But you paid—"
"I paid for your time. And as the customer, I believe I get to decide what we do with that time. Now put your shirt back on."
Preston looks hurt, his bottom lip pushing out. He's taken it the wrong way.
"It's not that I don't want to see you naked," I clear up. "Believe me, I've spent many hours fantasizing about all the things I want to do to you. I just mean I don't want it right now. I don't want to pay you for sex."
"Well, I have to do something, otherwise it's just pity money, and I don't want that. Put me to work, Vadim."
First, I have to adjust myself in my pants because those words coming out of his mouth are a Dom top's dream come true.
Second, I need to come up with something we can do for the next fifty minutes.
"How about we just talk?" I suggest.
Preston shakes his head. "Nope. We do that every night for free."
I scrape my tongue, left to right, on the underside of my top teeth. "Fine. If that's how you want to play this, if you want to earn this money…"
"I do," he says, reinforcing his words with an adamant nod. I swear I've never met a more stubborn person in my life.
"Fine." I jut my chin out. "What's your middle name?"
His jaw audibly pops. "What?"
"You heard me. Figure this is my best chance of finding out. Unless there's another way?"
"Uh, yeah," he scoffs. "It's called getting me black-out drunk."
I chuckle darkly. "I prefer my approach. This seems to be your closest-guarded secret, so it's a worthwhile investment."
"You're insane."
"So I've been told."
He shakes his head a few times, and I take a moment to appreciate his new haircut.
It’s still on the longish side and, like everything in his life, ridiculously messy, but it's not the overgrown tangle it was when I came to visit.
I completely understand he's got more important things on his mind than his appearance, but it's nice to see him looking a bit more like himself again.
"Have we got a deal?" I ask.
I feel like a bit of a dick for pressing, but I'm out of options. I won't have him jerk off for me, and he doesn't want to talk, so what the hell else can I do to make him feel like he's earned the money?
"We do. But on one condition."
"Name it."
"We never speak of this again."
"Fine by me."
"And you can't tease me about it."
"Impossible to tease you about something I'm never going to bring up."
He grins, wagging his index finger in front of his face. "Oh, you're good."
"Another thing I've been told."
"Don't get too cocky."
That's enough to shut me up. He really doesn't realize the effect his choice of words has on my body.
"And you can't laugh. Or look at me weird, like I have a second head or something."
"No laughing. No weird looks. You have, and always will have, exactly one head. Scouts honor."
He fixes me with a look.
"You weren't in the scouts."
"No, but I can still say it."
"Ugh…" His head falls back again, gifting me a prime view of the long line of his throat. "I can't believe I'm about to reveal this."
"For the record, it's not too late to back out. I'm more than happy talking. That's my preferred option. It's you who's being a stubborn ass and wanting to earn this money."
"Thanks for the reminder. Fine." He rolls his eyes then draws in a deep breath. "My middle name is Gertrude."
"Oh."
He points sternly at the camera. "Do. Not. Laugh. Don't even make a face."
I hold my breath because I'm on the brink of breaking at least one of those rules. There are some weird-ass-sounding names in Polish and Ukrainian, especially to English speakers. But we tend to stick to names that, you know, match a person's gender.
Gertude.
Gertrude?
That's a female name, right? An old-school female name that must've fallen out of favor since I don't recall ever meeting anyone by that name.
Satisfied with my stoic face, Preston explains, "So, apparently, when Mom was pregnant with me, the ultrasound tech told my parents I was a girl.
They were thrilled since they'd always dreamed of having a boy and a girl.
They didn't get any choice with the adoption but were thrilled with Shannon, and they were even more excited that I'd even up the gender card.
Except, obviously, that's not what happened. "
I make sure I am in full control of my facial muscles before calmly agreeing, "No. It didn't."
"They'd gone all out, fully expecting a girl.
Painting half the nursery pink since I'd be sharing it with Shannon.
Picking out girl's clothes, girl's names, the whole deal.
They obviously had to change the name, but since Mom had been calling me Gertrude for months while I was in her belly, and it's her mom's name, and her mom had died just a couple of years before she fell pregnant with me, she said she didn't want to not use it in any way.
So it became my middle name. Dad and Shan thought it was hilarious. I have never shared that belief."
"Yeah, that's a tough one." I puff out my cheeks and blow out a breath because I am dangerously close to grinning.
Preston eyeballs me hard.
"Thank you for not laughing. It's bad. I know it is."
"It's…original and…interesting."
"Vadim?"
"Yeah?"
He slants his head. "Quit while you're ahead."