Page 49 of Smart Ass

And Ben had enjoyed looking at them every moment he could. He stuck out his tongue. “It’s been two days. And healing is for wusses. You could spank me now.”

“I decide when you get spanked,” Max announced, his smoked-honey voice filling the room.

Ben hated that answer, but it made him so fucking horny at the same time. This was what it was like having a real Dom, right? Not just for an evening, but all the time?

Ben would have sworn that it was the last thing he wanted, but with Max, it was kind of hot.

Okay, so it was extremely hot and made him feel all squirmy inside. Because it wasn’t like Max had asked if he could be Ben’s Dom. He just decided. Like he would decide when Ben got spanked.

Ben didn’t have to want it or not want it or anything because Maxamillion had just kind of claimed him. So it didn’t have to mean anything if he just went along with it, right?

Maybe if Max didn’t want to spank him, he could convince him to…

“And we should discuss your limits first.”

Le sigh. “Do we have to?”

“Yes.”

Talk about a boner killer. “I assume you’ve already found my checklist. I know it’s on my phone somewhere.” And Ben was kind of curious about how much Max had snooped.

“Yes. I was using it as a guide on Friday.”

Just like he’d thought. Ben had already said goodbye to his privacy. “Well, there you go. Now you know my limits.”

“I don’t have a humanoid body. Maybe some of it would be different?”

Yeah, like a thousand times hotter. “Improvise, Maxy. That’s what safewords are for. I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Ben realized that he was being a bit of a prick. Doms had lectured him before on not having real conversations about limits. It was dangerous. It scared them. It put too much of a burden on the Dom. They couldn’t really play if blah, blah, blah.

It was just that… the part he loved the most was the thrill and excitement of the unknown. The danger and fear that came from having all of his choices ripped away from him. The chance to scratch and kick and scream like a wild thing, knowing that his Dom wouldn’t stop at anything less than a safeword. Wasn’t that what made it fun? He didn’t want this dazzling playland of kink that Max was dangling in front of him to become boring.

But, uh, maybe he could have been nicer about it?

Or, um, have answered his Dom’s questions, because Max was only four days old and might have some insecurities? And Max had sounded a little worried when he was asking about not having a humanoid body or whatever.

Ugh. This was why Ben hated relationships. People were fun when they were fun, but when they were difficult, they were difficult.

And Ben was pretty shit at the difficult part.

He’d still noticed that Max had been quiet for a while.

“Sorry?” he finally said.

“Why are you sorry?” Max sounded genuinely surprised.

“I mean, I’m probably gonna be sorry a lot. I’m a bit of an asshole, you see. But, uh, we can talk about limits if you need to.”

Maxamillion chuckled. “But it might kill you?”

“I mean… pretty good chance.” How did Max always understand him so well?

“Don’t worry, Ben. I will… improvise.” He said it like it was a dirty threat.

Now Ben was all horny again. “Thanks… Marshmallow.”

“Huh. You must not be in a hurry to play again.”