Page 47 of All Tied Up

Neil looked down, mumbling his words for the first time today. “Maybe my fantasy vacation involves financial planning.”

If Jamie said the same thing—which he never would—it would have been a come on, a sexy interlude to playing naughty secretary and getting bent over the desk. With Neil, Sebastian was pretty sure that he meant it. He seemed to love the process, and would probably get off on feeling useful. That could be an interesting form of service, and Sebastian was already getting ideas.

Before he could discuss it any further, Neil’s attention was caught, mouth open in wonder, by something on the cliff face. Sebastian didn’t even need to look to know what it would be, but he watched with enjoyment anyway: Jamie scampering up the near-vertical surface, barely pausing to clip in to the bolts along the route.

Once at the top, he attached five more ropes to the pulleys in their set anchor points and tossed the trailing ends down. Then, he started back down on another route, climbing rather than relying on a pulley.

“That was amazing,” Neil breathed. “It’s like he’s dancing with the mountain. He doesn’t even need to look.”

“Well, those are the two easiest routes and he does them almost every day. But I never get tired of watching him, either. He calls that prosthetic his goat foot, and it’s actually modeled off of mountain goats.”

“Yeah?” Neil asked, still watching Jamie’s graceful descent.

“Yep. Increased toe strength, tiny surface area, a hoof-like grip, and some other stuff I can’t remember about that yellow stretchy cord at the back. At any rate, Jamie says it’s better for climbing than his biological foot. He says it gives him a superhuman advantage.”

Neil chuckled. “That sounds like something he’d say. Which only makes him more amazing.”

“Yes, it does.” Sebastian felt a pulse of pride. He always loved and respected Jamie, but seeing him through a stranger’s eyes brought it home to him just how talented his boy was.

Once at the bottom, Jamie called the group’s attention and began his spiel. Sebastian tuned it out, since he’d heard it all before. He was a passable climber himself, but not passionate about it, so he split his attention between watching the experienced climbers and watching Neil.

Neil’s look of concentration, like he was trying to memorize everything that Jamie said, was adorable.

At last, Jamie started ushering people into pairs and handing out harnesses.

“Do you want to do this?” Sebastian asked while they were waiting.

Neil looked up the mountain side, then around at the gathered crew. The experienced climbers were already making a steady ascent. The newbies were climbing into their harnesses just as awkwardly as Neil likely would be in a minute. He checked the mountain again, eyes tracing the two paths Jamie had used.

“I want to try it, Sir,” he said, just as Jamie arrived.

“Oh good!” Jamie handed Sebastian his personal harness and a second one for Neil, freeing his arms to give Neil an exuberant hug. “Don’t worry, Daddy will get you all tied up.” He winked broadly before flouncing off to help the other climbers.

Neil blushed, but he still rolled his eyes good naturedly. Good. It was nice that he could take a joke, and Sebastian was pretty sure that Jamie had already used that line once today.

“I’ll check that everything’s correct and secure,” Sebastian offered instead, handing over the harness. They weren’t supposed to be flirting right now, as hard as it was not to. “Unless you’d like help?”

“No, I’d like to figure it out, Sir. I mean, unless you have tips or I’m doing something wrong.”

“You’re holding the harness right, so I think you’ve got it. Go ahead and step in.”

Sebastian stepped into his own harness while Neil struggled with his own. It was second nature to push the loop of rope through the belay device and fasten the locking carabiner through the two loops on the other side.

Neil had managed to get the harness on and figured out how to adjust the straps. “Does that look alright?”

“The only way to check is with my hands. May I touch you?”

Neil looked at him for so long that Sebastian thought the answer was going to be no.

“Sir?” Neil asked, surprising him. “I trust you and… can we pretend for the rest of this trip that I’m your boy and you don’t have to ask?”

Sebastian sucked in a breath. There had been a dozen points since yesterday afternoon when Sebastian wanted to kiss Neil, but none so much as this one right now. Not because he wanted a total slave, but because Neil was so honest in his trust and his longing. This little fling was spinning out beyond anything he’d foreseen, but in the best possible way.

He stepped a little closer, whispering for Neil’s ears alone. “I’m still going to ask, because I want to make everything good for you. You can submit and still have things you like and dislike. But for the rest of this trip, you’re my boy. Our boy,” he amended, including Jamie.

“Thank you, Sir.”

Sebastian dropped a kiss on his cheek, knowing that when they finally kissed later it would be explosive.