6
And standing in the center of it all was a man who was definitely not entirely human.
He was tall, at least eight feet, with dark skin that seemed to shimmer slightly in the candlelight.
His hair was long and dark. His chest, arms, and torso was also covered in dark hair.
But it didn’t stop there. It continued down his long body, all four of his legs, and ended in a meticulously braided tail.
He was a centaur. I’d never seen one before.
“Silas sent you,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice quivering at the sight of him. “He said you were a healer. That you could help with… tension.”
A smile played at the corner of his mouth.
“Tension. Is that what he called it?” He stepped closer, his hooves clacking against the floor.
As he towered over me, I caught his scent.
It was wild and musky in a way that made my cock twitch with renewed interest.
“My name is Dimitrios. And yes, I can help with tension. Among other things.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m AJ. What kind of things?”
“That depends on what you need,” Ezra said, his golden eyes traveling over my body in a way that made me feel like I was being assessed. Catalogued. “Silas is good at what he does, but he’s just a warm-up. He gets people interested. Gets them ready. I’m what comes after.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Didn’t know what I was doing here, really.
Two hours ago, I’d been on a golf course thinking about quarterly projections and trying to find ways to ignore Kavi’s advice.
Now I was standing naked in front of a beautiful centaur offering me something I’d never even considered before.
“I don’t know if I’m ready for whatever this is,” I admitted.
Dimitrios’s smile widened. “You don’t have to be. That’s the whole point of this place, isn’t it? You can just… let go. Let someone else take control for a while.”
He reached out and touched my chest, his fingers warm against my skin. I felt my breathing hitch.
“Let someone else take control,” I repeated, the words hanging between us. I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of them.
“Yes,” Dimitrios said, his hand moving from my chest to my jaw.
His touch was gentle but commanding, tilting my chin up so I had to meet his gaze.
“You’ve been in control your entire life, haven’t you? Controlling your job, controlling the narrative, controlling every single moment so nothing can surprise you or derail your plans. Does that sound about right?”
I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t. He was right. That was exactly what I’d been doing.
“Here,” he continued, his thumb brushing across my lower lip, “you don’t have to do that. You can let yourself want things without justifying them and give control over to me completely.”
My cock was fully hard again, standing at attention between us. Dimitrios looked down at it with an expression of satisfaction, like he’d confirmed something he already suspected.
“Come,” he said, taking my hand and leading me toward the silk-draped bed. “Kneel on the bed. I’m going to relieve you of your control for a while. That’s what my first impulse tells me you need.”
I followed without question, letting him guide me onto the soft fabric. It was warmer than I expected, and I realized there must have been heating elements beneath it. Dimitrios positioned me on my knees with my back to him, then moved through the room going to a small dresser in the corner.
“What are you going to—” I started, but he cut me off.
“Shh,” he said. “No questions. No control. Just close your eyes and enjoy.”
I closed my eyes as instructed, listening to the soft sound of him rummaging through drawers.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst through my ribs.
This was insane. I didn’t know this man.
I didn’t know anything about what was about to happen.
And yet, some part of me, the part that had been suffocating under the weight of control for so long, was desperate for exactly this.
When he returned, I felt him settle behind me on the bed. His body was massive, warm, and I could feel the hard muscle of his chest against my back. His legs were curled up carefully on either side of me, his tail sweeping gently across the floor.
“I’m going to ask you some questions,” Dimitrios said, his voice low and intimate near my ear. “And I need you to answer me honestly. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” I breathed.
“Have you ever been tied up before?”