Page 31 of Love Limits

He added a few more notes to his diagram and then looked back out at the garden, trying to imagine it in the summer, lush and full of color.

The light shifted behind him and he looked up.

Dustin dropped a kiss on his head and then settled into the window seat behind him. Got your plans all worked out?

Zhong shrugged. I’m thinking about doing more bulbs this year. And what would you think about a couple fruit trees in the back?

Dustin shrugged. I’d like to eat the fruit. He couldn’t care less about plants, which made the garden completely Zhong’s domain.

They probably won’t have any fruit for the first few years. If he’d planted them when he first moved in, they’d be tall and bountiful by now.

There hadn’t been space, though, until the giant oak that had covered most of the lawn had gotten hit by lightning last year. He’d enjoyed its shady branches, but he’d much rather have fruit trees than constantly step on hard acorn shells. Plus, he could trim them back so there would be more sunlight for the vegetables.

Dustin stared out the window with him, though his mind was clearly miles away. Zhong studied him for a moment. You’re stressing about something. What’s going on? Dustin had been more broody since starting this relationship with Landon than Zhong had seen him since college.

Kink is confusing.

Zhong laughed, then motioned for him to continue. He’d totally guessed it.

I think that… Landon needs something. But I don’t think that he knows what it is, and since he’s supposed to be teaching me, I don’t have a clue.

That sounded fascinating. Zhong had meant to look up the kinks Ash had mentioned but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. People were endlessly amazing. Would it help to describe it to me?

He keeps trying to push me away, which I guess I understand if he wants to protect himself emotionally. But it’s like he’s daring me to do something about it, too. I think he’s being difficult as a way of communicating that he wants me to step in and take charge. The best I’ve been able to find online is that he’s a brat.

I just can’t figure out why he’s doing it, Dustin continued. I mean, it seems like it would be easier for him to just ask for what he wanted, right?

Zhong considered that. Maybe he doesn’t know? Or, really, if you read about it maybe he’s using a communication pattern that’s established in the kink community. So maybe he is asking but in a different way. That would make sense. He’d read a little bit about brats back when Dustin declared that he was kinky. Do you like that way of asking?

Dustin tipped his head back, examining the ceiling. Would it be messed up if I said it was really hot?

Zhong laughed. I think it’s weird that you like to do penis... things. He fluttered his hands around in confusion, scrunching up his nose in disgust. Thinking it’s hot when someone acts like a pushy brat isn’t any weirder.

Dustin pretended to look annoyed, but he was smiling. Thank you for that vote of confidence. He’s not pushy, though. Kind of the opposite. It’s just… really hard to describe. And even if it is a brat thing, what do I do next?

If you’ve diagnosed him as a brat, what do brats need? It seemed obvious enough.

Dustin blinked. I don’t know. I was just trying to figure out why he was doing it.

Well, ask Google what brats need.

Good point. Dustin wandered over to the couch and picked up his tablet. Zhong curled up next to him and pulled out his own phone. Dustin’s warm, muscular chest pressed against his side and the fresh scent of his shampoo wrapped around him. Dustin always smelled like comfort and home.

He looked up to find Dustin’s eyes growing large.

Zhong looked over. Porn. Boring.

He poked Dustin’s shoulder. You learning a lot about what brats need?

Dustin gave him an apologetic smile. Sorry about that.

Zhong shrugged. He didn’t care as long as he didn’t have to be a part of it. He did a few searches of his own and, yeah, there were a lot of videos to scroll past. He usually avoided them anyway, since they typically weren’t captioned, but today he was going to stay far, far away.

He hit a few websites that sold sex toys, but the rest of it was surprisingly straightforward and educational.

There was more out there than he’d thought about brats. They wanted someone to take care of them and keep them in line. They liked acting out so that someone would set rules for them. Fascinating.

There wasn’t as much about the Dom’s role, though. He tried another search, trying to focus more on that. He finally got a hit and tapped Dustin’s arm.