Page 103 of Pretty ’n Peak

It was the last part that stuck out more this time, as he listened to the unknown sub’s desperate moans.

He could be bringing someone that pleasure, not just because he was capable, but because subs actually requested him.

Maybe not as often over the past few years, since he hadn’t been around much or interested in playing. But there were over a dozen who he used to play with regularly.

And they trusted him. They had to.

There was nothing more intimate, no more tangible sign of trust, than allowing someone to chain you up and strike your body.

Somehow, he’d lost sight of that. He’d seen all of his responsibilities, looming over him like a dark cloud.

But he’d forgotten the other side of the equation—the freedom that the subs found in his hands, the way that he, too, could feel that rush of satisfaction as each lash fell.

He’d felt it two weeks ago with Mateo.

He’d made him fly.

And, God, how the boy had flown, begging and crying out for everything Austin had to give him.

Austin had been with him every step of the way, suffused in that power and desire that he hadn’t felt in so long.

Even more, tenderness. Maybe awe. That Mateo would trust himself in his hands.

That Mateo would feel safe enough to attempt a public scene and a whole new type of play, all because Austin was his Dom.

That was the root of it all. Not how he’d taken the boy apart, but the trust Mateo had shown in him.

It felt bright, like a jewel.

He smiled, thinking that the image was something Mateo would have suggested.

It seemed like Mateo was all he thought about these days. Or at least every good thing he thought about.

A bright jewel indeed.

Would it be strange to contact him at this point?

Austin was still tangled up over whether it was Mateo himself, or just the whole situation—the weekend, the new, adoring sub, the new setting—that had him feeling hopeful and aroused once again.

It wasn’t like his depression had lifted. He still felt numb and distant so much of the time, though therapy was giving him new words and opportunities to notice it.

But there was a consistent theme. He was happier when he went out and did things. When he saw old friends.

When he didn’t think about work. Or Cam.

He pushed that thought back abruptly. Taja said he was dwelling on Cam, like he’d let his ex set up a home in his mind, a dirty hovel of a home, and it kept sucking him back into the mud.

It happened even while he was here, watching some Dom driving his sub to orgasm with the skilled application of a whip.

He did what he’d mentally been doing for the past few weeks and replaced Cam with Mateo.

What would Mateo think about the display in front of him?

His fingers would tremble and his words would come out hoarse with desire. If Austin held him, arms circling him from behind, he would press back unconsciously, teasing Austin with that full, luscious ass without even realizing he was doing it.

Austin would make him describe everything with his artist’s flair, combining breathless observations with fanciful imagery.

That reminded him that Mateo’s show was coming up. The show he said he’d try to come to in that last, awkward line before he stepped out of the car.