Page 1 of Pretty ’n Peak

1

Austin

Austin rested his head back against the bench and closed his eyes. Under the low throb of music, he could hear moans and sobs from the playrooms around the corner, accompanied by the occasional sharp clap of a whip. It was vaguely arousing, like a porn soundtrack playing in the background.

All he could think of was Cam.

Cam calling out hoarsely with every strike of his whip. Cam’s hands and mouth unbuttoning Austin’s pants in a fever of need. Cam asking so prettily for a turn on this piece of equipment or that.

He didn’t actually want Cam, but in his mind, the boy was everywhere.

Their first night together, the sweet and sassy brat had walked right up to him, told him what he wanted, and said that Austin should be the one who gave it to him.

At the time it had been flattering.

Intoxicating, really.

A few years ago, just walking into the club and getting hit by the heady smell of leather, antiseptic, and sex used to get Austin hard. There had been days when he’d go to work half-distracted as he planned elaborate scenes for his sub in this very room.

This was the place where the magic happened.

But somehow, over the past few years, the magic had become tarnished. He and Cam stopped connecting. Cam was unhappy, disappointed with his performance.

In their last desperate months of trying to keep things together, Austin’s urge to dominate became a millstone around his neck, another thing that he couldn’t do well enough to please Cam, until his desire had all but disappeared.

And now…

God. He didn’t want to think of Cam.

Maybe he should have stayed home for a long bath and an early bedtime.

The only reason he’d come tonight was that a bunch of friends had encouraged him last week, but he’d begged off to work late. They usually came on Fridays, though, so he figured he’d try again. Tonight was supposed to be his treat to himself for finishing the project that had been hounding him for months.

It didn’t feel like much of a treat now that he was here. Just another thing he had to do.

“Anybody sitting here?”

Austin brightened as he turned in the vague direction of the teasing tenor voice. “Hey Jamie!”

He could make out a blur of pale colors, which he took to be Jamie’s white skin, clad in pink lingerie. The club had dim mood lighting that made it impossible for him to make out anything more detailed than the shape of a couch or a human, but he knew Jamie’s preferences.

He and Cam had scened with Jamie a time or two. He remembered Jamie as an excellent partner—playful, creative, and completely devoted to his Daddy Dom, but always interested in another partner or two for some fun.

Jamie dropped onto the couch across from him, followed by two more blobs. The first one, with bronzed skin and black pants on display, was presumably Sebastian, Jamie’s Daddy. The other was a stretch of pale skin, perhaps with a darker blur of chest hair. He was either bald or had short, pale hair.

“Sebastian?” he asked, to confirm.

“Hey, Austin,” Sebastian’s deep voice greeted him. “How are you holding up?”

Austin straightened his back. He must have looked worse than he thought if Sebastian was worried about him. Though it was in the man’s Daddy nature to look out for everyone, so maybe there was that.

Austin had never been much into the Daddy thing, and Cam had disliked being fussed over. But he knew Jamie ate it up.

“I’m doing alright. Just hit a major deadline, so I haven’t been out for a while.” There wasn’t any reason to go into the long hours and endless stress. Even with the project over, he didn’t feel any sense of satisfaction, just relief. “How about you? And who else has joined us?”

Austin had decided long ago to just ask those questions up front. The third person sitting across from him might be a friend he’d talked to last week, or someone he’d never met. He wouldn’t know until they opened their mouth.

“Wow! We really haven’t seen you in a while,” Jamie replied. “This is Neil. He’s our boyfriend and Daddy’s sweet boy.” Adoration flowed through his words. “Neil, this is Austin.”