Page 35 of Pretty ’n Peak

Austin stabbed a bite of something on his plate. From the resistance, it was probably a potato.

Alright, so it had been a scene.

Almost a tame scene. A little bit of impact play. A little bit of dirty talk.

Nothing new. Nothing to get worked up over.

Definitely nothing he wanted to talk about.

“Well?” Jamie prompted, falling into the seat next to him.

“Well, what? Your coffee’s actually quite good. Much better than any hotel I’ve ever been in. Where do you get it from?”

Jamie laughed. “Nice try. We’re practically in Portland, so of course we have good coffee. And I saw you leave the mixer with that cute baby sub last night. He came down this morning looking well fucked, with stars in his eyes.”

Mateo was here? And he looked all sexed up and happy?

That made Austin feel prouder than he had any right to.

Jamie laughed. “He’s not here yet. He signed up for the second breakfast hour, so he’s prowling around the lounge.”

Austin made a mental note, ignoring the flutter in his chest. It would only be responsible to check up on Mateo today. Make sure he was OK, and not experiencing any sub-drop or unforeseen worries.

To Jamie, he just said, “I was mentoring him.”

“Mmmmm…. You must have mentored him reeeeeeeeally goooooooood.”

Austin suppressed a smile. Jamie was always over-the-top. “He’s doing a scene with Master Carlos tonight at the demo. He wanted to try something a little less intense first.”

“And was it? Less intense, that is?”

“Yeah.” At least technically.

That was the part where he was getting confused.

It hadn’t felt less intense.

After the first Yes, Austin, all of the old feelings had flooded back. The heady rush of taking control. The thrill of a sub’s adoring worship. The heat of a bare ass, lifted for another strike of his hand. The sacred tenderness of aftercare, and the softness of someone’s breath as they fell asleep.

On one hand, it had been magnificent. Glorious. Like everything he ever was or was meant to be.

On the other hand, he didn’t trust it.

He hadn’t been truly invested in a scene in years. So to enjoy one now? What could possibly have been different? The only thing he could think of was that it was Mateo’s first time.

In a way, it was like Mateo had helped him relive that first flush of enthusiasm for BDSM, before he’d become jaded and started drifting away.

Yes, that had to be it.

Helping Mateo was like recreating his own early experiences, living vicariously through Mateo’s enthusiasm. Maybe he could even think of their scene like a coda. A last goodbye to something he’d once been so invested in.

It didn’t hurt that Mateo truly was a charming boy. So eager for the praise that Austin had lavished with him. So honest with his reactions, both when they talked and later, when he was screaming for more. So sweet when he asked Austin if he could stay the night.

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

Austin ate the potato on his fork. “We had fun. It was a good scene. He wasn’t sure if he was submissive, and now he knows he is.”

Yes, Austin. That deep voice, so breathy with arousal, kept echoing in his head.