Page 138 of Smart Ass

Ben

Ben strolled down the tree-lined sidewalk, enjoying the changing color of the leaves. He’d never imagined that he’d enjoy the peace and quiet outside the city so much.

Then again, he’d never imagined that he’d live in some bougie mansion like a rich asshole… But apparently he and Oliver were rich assholes now.

And hell, it didn’t matter how much it cost or how pretentious it might look to anyone else, when Oliver was so happy.

That made Ben fucking ecstatic every time he saw it.

Plus, their new contracts with Orbit, Axis Robotics, and various governments were all promising. While they didn’t have money to burn like some of their neighbors, they had plenty to set up a full engineering lab for all of their pet projects.

“The sunset’s beautiful tonight.”

“Mmmm,” Ben agreed. He was wearing his harness with wide-angle cameras on the back and front. The table-top camera Oliver used to communicate with groups was in a bag that tapped Ben’s hip with each step. He knew that Oliver was following along with security cameras along the street as well.

Weeks had passed, and he still hadn’t gotten over the wonder of having Oliver with him for every moment of every day. They were even getting ready to submit a paper to a journal, with Oliver’s official name as first author. His registration as a spark had gone off without a hitch.

Oliver must have been thinking something along the same lines, because he said, “We should make a donation to Rashid and Justice’s firm. They never charged us, and they do a lot of pro bono work for sparks. Plus, they keep having us over for dinner.”

Ben laughed. “They don’t need the money. They make gobs of it with their usual work and investments, and all of their spark representation is what they find meaningful. Plus, I’m the only one who can eat when we hang out.”

One of the unexpected benefits of moving to their fancy neighborhood was the Pierces living three blocks away. Ben had savored a dozen tasty little hors d’oeuvres and enough wine to make him pleasantly tipsy, but it would hardly be a blip in their finances.

“If we offer them anything,” Ben suggested, “it should be a fresh young sub.”

“Are they looking for one?”

“They’ll say they’re not, but I mean, two Doms together? They’re missing something from their lives. And I happen to know their tastes quite well…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Oliver growled.

Ben laughed, light and carefree. He loved riling Oliver up. It had the best consequences.

“Did I ever mention that they can do this electric charge thing with their…”

“Yes, brat. And you know it.”

Ben walked a little faster as the high, brick fence surrounding their home came into view.

He’d thought at first about having it torn down—it was pretentious as fuck—but now he appreciated the privacy.

The thick, wooden gate slid noiselessly open as he approached it.

It was still fucking weird that he and Oliver owned a house with grounds. Like, not just a lawn, but manicured hills and little patches of flowers and pagodas and shit. They even had a pond. A fucking pond!

Oliver had taken to landscaping like a pro. He had a whole team of bots who wandered around planting things and trimming hedges, or whatever it was that landscaping involved.

The gate slid shut behind him.

The house was beautiful, tucked back behind a curving driveway lined with ancient trees. Almost like a fairy-tale cottage, except that it was ridiculously large. The windows glowed with a warm light, welcoming him home as night fell.

The building was immaterial, though. It was the fact that Oliver had turned those lights on for him that made all the difference. Even with Oliver with him all the time, being together in their home was special. Oliver was still a separate entity from the building, but he truly inhabited it, and that made Ben love every ridiculous inch.

He strolled down the drive, admiring the little clumps of flowers by the light posts. “Did you plant these today?”

“Last week.” Oliver’s voice was fond. “I’m amazed that you noticed them at all.”

Ben started to tease back when he heard an odd sound off to the left. Almost like a shriek. An owl maybe? Some weird kind of big cat that had wandered in from the nature preserve a few blocks away?