“No one is worthy of a queen. There are only those she permits the privilege of her body to,” Braxton answered. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll serve you, my queen. Give me the honor of you being my ruler. This humble servant only wants to serve however his queen desires.”
Holy shit, Braxton was a sub. Not just any sub, but from what he was saying, a service submissive who wanted nothing but to make my life easier.
“What does Jace call you?” I whispered, rubbing my nose along his in a gentle caress.
“I’m his pup… playful, full of energy, and sometimes in need of discipline,” he answered. “That’s not what I want between us, though.”
“Tell your Mistress what you want, and I’ll see if you’re worthy of that role,” I ordered.
“To be yours to use as you wish. I want to serve, obey, and be owned by you, Mistress,” Braxton pleaded. “Never have I wanted to be someone’s, but the moment I saw this mark on you, I hated it. No one but those the queen allows should ever take such liberties.”
“What if I told you I allowed this to get what I wanted?” I countered.
“That’s not the same as wanting it. I imagine you didn’t feel good about what happened even if it got you what you wanted,” Braxton pointed out.
I frowned. “Are you questioning my methods?”
Braxton shook his head. “Never, Mistress, what you choose to do with your body is your choice. What I want is to be the person you use to remove the stain they leave behind, to erase the experience from your body with something you own and can trust will never betray you. Whatever happens between us or whoever you bring into our moments willneverbe spoken of out of my mouth. I’ll serve and protect you, my queen. That’s what I want.”
I pulled his hand from my pants and sat back to consider what he was asking. “Do you want this to be a full-time dynamic?”
Braxton grinned at me. “I think that ship has sailed the moment you held a knife to my throat. I’d serve you no matter what you offer me in return as long as you allow me to still have Jace to meet my needs.”
Fixing my bra, I slipped the tank top on and tucked it into my pants as Braxton righted himself, clearly understanding things were not progressing. “I think this is a conversation we need to have with Jace. He’s been your partner longer, and I’m not going to create problems within the small circle of people I need to rely on.”
“As my Mistress says, I’ll follow,” Braxton agreed.
Reaching over, I grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me. “No matter what, I still need you to be you. What caught my interest in the first place is the sassy, honest, and playful part of you. I don’t want a slave, that’s never something that will win me over.”
Braxton grinned. “I knew choosing you would be the right move.”
“So just like that, you could give up being a manwhore, letting the wind take you wherever your cock fancies?” I asked, dropping my hand. “You have Jace, why look for more?”
He shrugged and looked out the window. “He never asked, but I’m not sure I’d have listened either. Jace feeds part of what I need, but there was always something else I kept looking for. Listen to me sounding like a fucking idiot and probably scaring the shit out of you with this emotional crap,” he muttered, looking back at me. “You’re just like me. We don’t do anything permanent or attached, that’s when it becomes too serious. I really can’t explain it, Astin. I fucking wish I could because it would make me feel better, but I can’t. The second I saw that mark on you, I knew I didn’t like it one bit and had to shoot my shot.”
He let out a sigh and rubbed his face with both hands. “Just so we’re clear, if you say no, I won’t hold it against you. Fuck, I’m not sure what I was thinking coming at you like that out of the blue. Just forget I even said any of that, and I won’t bring it up again.”
Everything in me wanted to comfort Braxton and tell him it was fine, but I think I was reeling from it as much as he was. We had no business starting a dynamic like that, we hardly knew each other. Not to mention there was the whole Jace matter, and it was clear to me those two didn’t understand the relationship they were already in. My brain was buzzing with all the thoughts racing through it about what had happened and how I wanted to say yes to him. Why the hell had things gotten so complicated? Fuck, maybe I did just need to get laid. Then I might be able to stop whatever was happening to draw all this crazy amount of attraction going on between most of the guys and me.
“We’re here,” Braxton said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
twenty-seven
Thebuildingwasolder,historic-looking, not at all what you think of when you say strip club. It wasn’t on the side of the highway in a dumpy old building with no windows, making you question if you really wanted to go inside. No, this palace was classy with a beautifully hand-carved and painted sign with the name written on it. Braxton led the way through the double doors into a lobby area with a ticket counter, coat check, and restrooms. There was another set of double doors that brought you into the interior of the strip club.
Everything was luscious red or deep glossy black, making the whole place feel rather decadent. Booths were along either wall with chairs and small cocktail tables closer to the long stage that went down the middle of the space. Nothing in here felt cheap or dirty—this was a place you went with business guests or if you were famous. This wasn’t the spot for a rowdy bachelor party or college students blowing off some steam.
“Damn, Braxton, this is incredible,” I shared as I took it all in. “Seriously, this is fucking impressive.”
“Why, thank you, m’lady,” Braxton said with a bow. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you the back office and the locker room for the girls. I have Ms. Cherry coming in to meet with you first, then Alfie will come in an hour later.”
“What did you tell them this meeting was for?” I asked.
“Told them the new underboss wanted to interview some of our top earners to check up on my work,” he informed me. “They love being able to give their opinion on just about everything, so I know they’ll show up.”
“You were worried they wouldn’t?”
“Nah, I just try to make it their choice as much as possible. Some didn’t come into this of their own free will, so even if it is an order, I like to make it sound like they have a choice in the matter,” Braxton explained.