A Dom and His Gentleman Read online

  Curtis smiled at Collin, though the mention of pasta and sugar in one sentence had his stomach rolling. He was a delicate eater, and one of the reasons he was so glad to be living in the States now most of the time was that he didn’t have to face “traditional” English food like bangers and mash or black pudding anymore. While he understood that everybody’s tastes ran differently, the mere memory of evenings spent trying not to throw up his portion of black pudding while his parents happily nagged each other about anything and everything, was enough to have him shuddering. Americans had their share of doubtful foods as well, but Curtis had found out most things tasted okay when fried.

  The waitress brought their drinks and Collin’s smile broadened. He inhaled deeply, with his eyes closed, his way of assessing food. “This smells great, like summer and blue and green and orange and red all in one, warm and spicy, yet with a cool undertone. I wonder how that would look on a canvas or maybe in glass. I could try working with glass again—or wax. Wax is a good medium and it doesn’t have to be so hot to work with it, so I’ll have to order wax, and I only hope they still have the original beeswax tiles at the art supply, because the ones with paraffin just don’t work the way I want them to, and they don’t smell even half as good as the others.”

  Curtis gave a serious nod, knowing how hard it was for Collin to find the perfect mediums for his art sometimes. He raised his glass in a cheerful toast. “To a highly successful second BDSM exhibition. The pieces you created were stunning and our customers beyond happy to purchase them.”

  Collin beamed. “It went pretty well, didn’t it, even though I didn’t get to do the chainsaw demonstration, but you were right, most of the Doms there probably wouldn’t have appreciated it, and I was so nervous, I was glad I didn’t have to wield anything sharp, and I talked to Martin and he said it’s up to me, because it’s my money, so I wanted to give you this, because I don’t really need it and I just can’t express how happy I am that you’re helping me and taking care of me and that you’re my friend.” With that, Collin put the glass down to retrieve something from the front pocket of his washed-out jeans. Curtis found it funny how Collin still wore mostly old and battered clothing, despite himself and his fiancé being so rich. It fitted him, though. Now Collin held out a piece of paper, and when Curtis took it to see what it was, he couldn’t suppress a gasp. It was a check for over half a million dollars.

  “Collin, you can’t….”

  “I can. Martin says it’s my money and I wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway, and you do so much for me, and there’s no way I can ever thank you enough, and I know you have a lot of money yourself, but I thought maybe there’s something you really want and haven’t bought because it would just be an indulgence, and I know you try not to buy things just for the sake of buying, which I think is great, because many people just lose themselves in the rush of spending money, and that’s scary, because money should be there to feed and clothe you, but not to eat your soul, and since this is money from me, you can spend it without feeling bad about it.” Collin’s smile was a bit anxious, and Curtis knew better than to reject his gift. He would talk to Martin later to figure out what they would do with the money.

  “Thank you, Collin. That was very thoughtful of you.” He put the check in his wallet. “I’ll make sure to put it to good use. Now should we talk about the exhibition?”

  Before Collin could answer, the waitress brought their shrimp and octopus salad. She served it with a polite smile and then refilled their water glasses. The excellent service was one of the reasons Curtis liked to come to OLA, the other being the fact that it was close to the botanical garden, which he loved at every time of the year. They both had their first mouthful of the salad, and it was as good as it looked. Collin moaned happily.

  “This is wonderful. I have to tell Martin to come here with me. He loves seafood. He loves any kind of food, really, especially when he doesn’t have to cook it himself, so coming here would be killing two birds with one stone, and have you never thought this expression is kind of odd, because I don’t think it’s possible, unless you hit the first bird and that one is so big, that when it hits the second one, it kills it with its sheer weight, and it’s sad anyway, and Wilma and Fred only get one bird in one go, though Dean says they’re mostly too lazy to hunt anyway because cats are like that.”

  Curtis nodded. He was by now so well acquainted with Collin’s way of expressing himself, he sometimes got caught off guard when talking to other people and expecting them to go on and on. And since they had seen even more of each other before the exhibition, he was fully in tune with Collin’s trains of thought. There was one thing, though, which they had to talk about.

  “Collin, in regard to the exhibition, I wanted to talk to you about the two Doms who wanted to buy the Sleeping Sub.”

  A look of defiance appeared on Collin’s face. “The sculpture was all wrong for them. They wouldn’t have been happy with it, and then they would have sold it, and then it would have ended up somewhere terrible! I couldn’t give it to them, Curtis. I just couldn’t!”

  “I understand, Collin, I do. And it’s not that I want you to sell your work to people who won’t be able to appreciate it or are unfit to own it. I wanted to talk to you about how to steer your customers in a way that leaves them feeling—let’s call it superior, for lack of a better word.”

  The blank look on Collin’s face was endearing, since it told Curtis the young man was still innocent enough to not get the meaning behind his diplomatically phrased meanness.

  “What I want to say is that if you don’t want a customer to buy a certain piece, you have to carefully steer them toward something more suitable for them while at the same time giving them the feeling they’re doing this of their own free will. It’s another form of art, I’d say.”

  Collin looked at him wide-eyed. “You mean like when Leeland or Dean want something, but they want Jonathan and Richard to think it was their idea to give it to them?”

  Curtis grinned when he thought how easily their two friends were able to twist their Doms around their little fingers. “Yes, exactly like that. By offering them a commissioned piece, you distracted them wonderfully, though it would be preferable if you tried to get them to buy something you’ve already made next time.”

  “I’ll try my best, Curtis, I promise. And if I’m unsure, I’ll just tell them to talk to you instead.” Collin looked at his almost empty plate. “Oh, what a shame! With all the talking, I didn’t even realize I’ve eaten all the delicious octopus. Eating and talking don’t go well together, don’t you think? You can only really concentrate on one, while the other falls by the wayside, which probably is why you’re not allowed to talk during mealtime in a monastery, or was that some Buddhist temple, I can’t remember, but they have a point, and sometimes I wonder what would happen if people stopped talking altogether, and a few days ago I heard a wonderful song by a band called Disturbed on the radio, it was called the ‘Sound of Silence,’ and it made me think if silence really has a sound and what color it would be, and now I have this great idea for a glass sculpture, but I think I need to talk to somebody who knows a bit about statics, because I want it to be high and broad and there’s going to be a lot of colors, and I have to get the swirls right, and do you think that nice woman would let me borrow her glassblower equipment again, and I’m going to need….”

  Curtis kept listening to Collin’s monologue while he made a mental note to talk to Sara Stanton, the glassblower who had allowed Collin to use her equipment before, and signaled the waitress to bring them another round of melon drinks and a plate with samples of the restaurant’s seafood selection. After their meal, they decided to take a little walk in the neighborhood to enjoy the nice weather and walk some of the consumed calories off. When they headed onto Thirty-First Street, Collin suddenly started tugging on Curtis’s sleeve. “Look, Curtis, that store they were renovating has finally opened! Let’s see what’s in there now!”

  The
y walked a little faster, Curtis infected by Collin’s excitement. When they stopped in front of the small shop, Collin clapped his hands wildly.

  “Oh my God, it’s a bakery! We have to try it out and tell the others about it. Come on, let’s get in. We need to find out what they have.”

  Curtis glanced at the sign above the shop, telling them they were about to have a “Sweet Break,” before he followed Collin inside.

  Chapter 4

  ANDREW LEFT the kitchen when he heard the shop bell chime. It was half past two, the usual after-lunch lull in full swing. He normally used this time of quiet to get his kitchen in order for the next day, which saved him from doing it after hours. That way he could retreat to his apartment sooner and take care of unpacking the last boxes from his move. It never ceased to amaze him how much stuff he still had even after throwing half of it away during packing. His sister was right; he was kind of a hoarder. When he entered the salesroom, Andrew stopped dead in his tracks. The most perfect man in existence stood at his counter, dressed in light gray linen slacks, a short-sleeved, blue shirt, and with a gorgeous smile on his lips. His blue gaze was settled on his companion with an expression of loving exasperation. That man was a lot younger than the hot silver fox and glued to the glass of the counter, behind which the macarons were on display. Or at least what was left of them. Andrew was about to greet his two customers, when the young man looked up at him and said in a voice tinged with awe: “You have the rainbow in your counter.”

  Again Andrew parted his lips, but the customer was faster. “That’s so cool! I didn’t know you could have the rainbow in sweets, or no, that’s not true, you can have the rainbow in the smells and then it’s in your mind, not for the eyes, and I just read a book about colors and did you know colors aren’t really there, only in your mind, and other creatures, like bees and cats and dogs see them differently, so perhaps it really is all in our mind and I’m not sure if that’s great or not, but I’ll take two of each color, and can you tell me how you made them?”

  Andrew was so overwhelmed by this avalanche of words, he looked at the silver fox for help. The knowing smile on the man’s lips told him he was used to his companion’s antics.

  “Collin, I’m not sure if the gentleman can tell you how he makes those macarons. It’s probably a secret. Otherwise, everybody could just bake their own.”

  Andrew felt his lips part into a beaming smile. The silver fox’s voice was like liquid chocolate in his ears, all warm and soothing and with a distinct British accent that made his knees go weak. He only hoped the young man—Collin—wasn’t his boyfriend. Only one way to find out.

  “Your boyfriend is right. How I make my macarons is a secret. It took me some time to get all the ingredients just right.”

  Collin nodded his understanding, and then shook his head vigorously. “Oh no, Curtis isn’t my boyfriend; he’s my agent. Martin is my master and he keeps the bad people away from me. Curtis sees to it that people pay me for my work, which is nice, because now I have money to buy as many rainbow sweets as I want, look, I even have my own credit card, though Martin has put a limit on it, because sometimes I forget to keep track of what I bought, and nobody needs so many things, except for sweets, even though Martin pretends not to like them, but I know better, which is why I’m getting two of each.”

  Collin beamed at Andrew, whose confused brain had managed to latch on to two important things: that Curtis was not Collin’s boyfriend and that Collin had a master, which meant Curtis at least knew about BDSM, which in turn eliminated the sometimes insurmountable hurdle of explaining to an outsider how a BDSM relationship worked. It could still be that Curtis wasn’t interested in that type of sex, but at least he would probably know what he would be getting into with Andrew. Now all Andrew had to do was find the guts to ask the hot silver fox out.

  While he carefully arranged the macarons in the bright yellow paper box with Sweet Break’s logo on it, he wracked his brain for how to get the conversation with Curtis going again. He was nearing the last two types of macarons—purple and orange—and was getting desperate. Then, out of nowhere, inspiration hit him, and he closed the box before taking another pair of tongs to get two of the mini-éclairs that were his other specialty. He put them on a plate, which he offered to his two customers. “On the house.”

  Collin’s eyes lit up and he grabbed both sweets, holding the slightly bigger one out to Curtis. When Curtis took it with a nod and a graceful “Thank you” in Andrew’s direction, Collin put his éclair in his mouth, closed his eyes, and groaned in utter delight. Curtis followed suit, and Andrew got the great pleasure of watching how those beautiful lips parted to let the sweet in. Unbidden, but definitely not unpleasant pictures of those lips closing around his cock flooded his mind and made his jeans a tight fit. The things he wanted to do to Curtis! It had been a long time since Andrew had felt so strongly for somebody and he felt the urge to come around the counter and just kiss Curtis senseless.

  “Why are you staring at Curtis like that?” The question poured the proverbial bucket of ice water over his erotic daydreams that were getting hotter by the second. He stared into Collin’s eyes, which were of a stunning blue and filled with innocent curiosity. Andrew felt a flush creeping up from his neck. There was no plausible explanation for his behavior, but before he could come up with at least an attempt at veiling his true motives, Collin already went on, seemingly completely oblivious of Andrew’s discomfort and, as a quick glance toward Curtis showed, the silver fox’s widened eyes.

  “He does look good, doesn’t he? I mean, I’ve already painted two portraits of him, but I had to destroy them again, because somehow I never manage to capture what I see in him, which is odd, because normally I’m good at that, but there’s something about Curtis, something mysterious, that evades the canvas every time, though I’m sure I’ll be able to do it one day, and what I mean is you don’t have to feel bad about looking at him, many people do that, especially Doms, but so far, he hasn’t chosen one, which I can totally understand, because finding the right man, the right Dom, is very difficult, because sometimes the chemistry is there, but then you like different things, which always sucks, and if you told Curtis what you liked in bed, perhaps you could ask him out and you could get to know each other and then Curtis could decide if he wanted to keep you, and wouldn’t that be nice?” Collin smiled happily. Andrew rushed around the counter to pat Curtis’s back. The man was chocking on his éclair, which Andrew could relate to, because he himself was having difficulty getting enough air into his lungs. When his hand touched Curtis, Andrew could feel his body’s warmth seeping through the shirt. It was so good, he let his hand linger a bit longer than strictly necessary, but Curtis didn’t seem to mind. He gave Andrew a grateful nod, accompanied by a small smile.

  “Did I say something wrong, Curtis?” Collin sounded anxious, and Andrew realized the young man really didn’t seem to know what he had just done. Next to him, Curtis straightened with his hand on Andrew’s arm for support. He looked at Collin with a smile. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. Andrew and I were just surprised, that’s all.”

  The sheer relief flooding Collin’s face washed away the last tiny bits of animosity Andrew had felt toward him for exposing him so brutally. Since the cat was already out of the bag, he decided to go with the flow. “And you were right. I was staring at Curtis, because I think he’s a very attractive man and I was wondering how best to ask him out.”

  Andrew felt Curtis’s eyes drilling a hole into him. “Is that so?”

  He turned to look at the stunning man. “Yes.”

  Curtis closed his eyes and for a moment, Andrew feared the worst, but when he opened them again, they were bright, and a smile was illuminating Curtis’s features. “I’m free on Friday. And it would be my pleasure to go out with you, stranger.”

  The blood was pulsing so loudly in his ears over this victory, that Andrew almost didn’t get the hint. When he saw Curtis’s questioning glance, he hurried to
introduce himself. “My name is Andrew. Andrew Granger. I’m the owner of Sweet Break.” He extended his hand. Curtis took it, and Andrew was glad to feel that Curtis’s hands trembled as badly as his own.

  “I’m Curtis Morris. I have an art gallery here in Miami.”

  “How fascinating. I’d like to hear more about it on Friday.” Andrew winked. “There’s this great restaurant close by, OLA. They have excellent food.”

  Curtis grinned. “We actually just came from there. It’s a wonderful choice. How about I come here on Friday, say around 7:00 p.m.?”

  The positive reaction from Curtis had Andrew in full flirting mode. He was surfing on a wave of endorphins. “Shouldn’t I pick you up?”

  Curtis shrugged. “You could do that, though my house is near the Keys. It would definitely be easier if I drove here.”

  “If you put it like that…. Then at least let me offer you a private parking lot at the back of my bakery. We can walk to OLA, if that’s okay for you.”

  “A private parking lot is always appreciated.” Curtis pulled out his phone. “May I have your contact information? Just in case something happens and I can’t make it.”

  While Andrew typed his phone number into Curtis’s smartphone, he thought about how Curtis’s accent got thicker the longer they talked. Andrew’s people-reading skills were a bit rusty due to him having been busy with his move, but he was sure Curtis was as nervous as he was.

  “Then let’s hope nothing happens, because it would be a shame if we missed out on getting to know each other.” He handed the cell back to Curtis.

  “Yes, let’s hope that.”

  “Cool! Leeland and Dean and the others will be so excited to hear this news. I can’t wait to tell them!” Collin’s enthusiasm pried Andrew from the nice bubble in which he was staring at Curtis, entirely content with the way things had gone. Curtis rolled his eyes.