Borderline

  As he lay there trying to catch his breath, he heard Landry murmur something to Tilly in a soft voice he suspected wasn’t meant for him, so he didn’t pay attention.

  If they wanted his attention, they’d get it, he was sure.

  Surfing his Zen, echoes of pleasure still rolling through him, he was barely aware of it when they unfastened the restraints and helped him sit up. Tilly sat with him by the wall, giving him aftercare while Landry cleaned up their toys and the bench so other people could use it.

  Later, as the four of them sat on a couch in the social area, Tilly next to Bob, they talked.

  Bob stared at Cris. “I guess I can’t kick your ass now,” he joked.

  Landry grinned. “Oh, no, you absolutely can, if you wish. I’ll even hold him down for you.”

  Tilly laughed. “Stop. No ass kicking, and no holding anyone down.”

  Bob didn’t take his eyes off Cris, who wasn’t bad looking, truth be told. But when he spoke, he directed his comments at Landry. “I’m not complaining, but you’re really okay with this?”

  Landry nodded. “As long as you remember she’s married to me, and respect me as her husband, I don’t have a problem with it. I trust Tilly. The question is, can you be okay with this?”

  Two women walked over, and Bob uncomfortably realized they were both eyeing him. One was short and petite, almost slinky in the way she moved. The other was a few inches taller, rounder curves and just as pretty as her friend. He’d seen them around before, remembered they were friends of Tilly, but he didn’t know them very well. He thought their names were Kim and Kylee, but he hadn’t seen them around the club in months.

  “Who’s your friend, Til?” the petite one asked. He thought she was Kim. “Are you getting greedy?”

  Tilly rolled her eyes. “You’ve met Bob before. He was one of my clients.”

  Kylee opted for brazen. “I saw you playing with him. You back in business, or is he a free agent?”

  Tilly laughed. “Bob, you realize a target just appeared on your forehead, right?”

  He forced a smile, not wanting to be rude. “I wondered what that feeling was.”

  Kim slithered into Bob’s lap and draped her arms around him. He’d ignore the protocol violation since the woman had glanced at Tilly first and he’d spotted Tilly’s slight nod.

  “So, Bob. You single?”

  “I should warn you,” Tilly said, “they like playing with submissive men. And I personally vouch for them.”

  Landry looked on, but Bob wasn’t sure he could interpret the expression the man wore. Almost as if Landry…didn’t approve?

  Bob wasn’t sure he wanted to get to know the two women this well this soon, but if Tilly vouched for them…

  Hell, she had two men. Maybe what he needed to get out of his head was to take a risk or two.

  Kylee seemed to be more in charge of the two. “I guess since Tilly’s already played with you tonight we can take that off the table.”

  “Yeah, sorry. I’m already tenderized.”

  “I’m guessing if you’re vouching for us, Til, then you’re vouching for him, too?” But Kylee’s eyes never left Bob’s face as she said it.

  “Yes, I vouch for him. He’s a good guy. Fair warning—you hurt him, I’ll kill you.”

  “Hurt, or harm?”

  “Don’t be a bitch. You know what I mean.”

  Despite Kim basically wrapping herself around Bob, he tipped his head toward Tilly. “Is this a hint from you?”

  She shrugged, offering him a smile. “Maybe this is your lucky night? Sign from the Universe?”

  Tilly slid over on the couch, making room for Kylee to sit next to him. He’d almost wanted to ask Tilly to stay…

  But maybe she was right. Maybe this was a sign.

  “So, Bob,” Kylee started. “Feel like getting to know each other a little better?”

  Why not?

  His other option was to reject them outright and make it weird for everyone.

  “Sure.”

  * * * *

  By the time he’d left Venture that night, he found out both women were pretty decent kissers and he had their address and phone numbers.

  He’d be going to their place tomorrow for dinner and more talking.

  In his head, he tried repeating the mantra that Tilly had okayed this. It wasn’t sticking quite yet, but he’d decided he would try.

  For Her, if nothing else.

  The women shared a small apartment in southern Bradenton, not too far from the beaches. It wasn’t the newest complex around, but he didn’t hold that against them. He wasn’t that shallow.

  More importantly, the apartment was neat and tidy, even if a little sparse.

  Again, he wasn’t shallow. Had it contained two lawn chairs and a milk crate for furniture, as long as it was clean, he’d be fine with that.

  He’d been a starving college kid once, even though Kim and Kylee were older than that. Old enough they should have probably pulled themselves together a little better than they had at their age.

  I hope I didn’t make a mistake.

  Then again, Tilly wouldn’t have let him get anywhere near them if she didn’t trust them, right?

  He trusted Tilly. If she knew them and signed off on them, they had to be at least trustworthy. Not that he’d blame Tilly if it didn’t work out in the future.

  Besides, didn’t most guys claim they wanted to be in bed with two women?

  Now’s your chance to make that happen, buddy.

  Not something he ever thought would happen, that’s for sure.

  Then again, he’d never thought he’d be involved in BDSM, either.

  Nothing about his life had ever pinged his radar when he was younger. He’d thought he’d be married, have a kid or two by now, not…

  This.

  Alone once he’d divorced Charlene, up until now. He’d thought she would be the woman he spent the rest of his life with.

  In retrospect, it was probably better she had divorced him when she did. He hadn’t been obligated to pay her alimony, and she’d gone on to be happy with another guy, had kids.

  After dinner, they sat on the couch and talked, about vanilla and BDSM stuff. He wasn’t interested in being collared to them in a formal way, but they outlined play and service and other things.

  He was even proud of himself for remembering to discuss sexual history.

  As he thought the evening was coming to a close, Kylee smiled. “Kim, sounds like the man’s had a rough couple of years. Why don’t you help him out a little?”

  She was like a zipper ninja or something. Next thing he realized, Kim was between his legs and had fished his cock out and had it down her throat.

  Torn between shock and lust, he hesitated, then finally grabbed her head and held on for the ride while she gave him the best blowjob he’d had since Louise.

  Kylee leaned in to kiss him. “Yeah, we’re going to have a lot of fun playing with you. I can see that already. She took care of me earlier, so I’m good, and she’s not allowed to come until tomorrow night, because she got mouthy with me and got in trouble earlier today.”

  She held his chin, making him look her in the eyes as Kim seemed determined to suck his balls through his dick from the inside out. “Don’t worry, we’re not looking to take over your life, just a few nights here and there as time allows.” She nibbled on his lower lip. “You don’t have to be in charge with us, either. In fact, you’re not allowed to be in charge with us. We won’t put up with that.”

  He’d hoped to hold back longer, but Kim was just that good. She let out a happy moan when he filled her mouth with cum. When Kim sat up and moved, Kylee straddled his lap, facing him.

  “That’s a gimme,” Kylee told him. “Quid pro quo. You busy Wednesday night?”

  He hadn’t quite regained the power of speech yet, so he shook his head.

  “Excellent,” she said. “We both get home from work around five. Plan to be here about six, and you can cook us dinner.
Then we’re going to go in to the bedroom, tie you up, and take turns riding your face and your cock until we get bored or can’t get your cock hard again. How does that sound?”

  He swallowed hard. “What would you like for dinner?”

  She grinned. “Such a good boy. I’ll let you surprise us. We don’t have any food allergies.”

  “No liver,” Kim said. “Blech.”

  “Yeah, that.”

  He nodded, still wondering if he was imagining this. They were both cute, in different ways. Younger than him, but not stupidly young, at least. Kim was thirty-three and Kylee was thirty-two. He was over ten years older than them.

  “Condoms for fucking, always,” Kylee said. “We’re both on the pill but we don’t want any accidents. Unless you bring your own, you’ll use what we give you, but you will use one.”

  He nodded. “Okay.”

  That was his preference, actually. He didn’t want to get slapped with a paternity suit down the road.

  “And you can even still play with Tilly and Landry, if you want to. A lot of times we have to work Fridays and Saturdays. But if we’re going to be having sex, it’s just the three of us. No, I don’t count them jerking you off in a scene as sex.”

  More nodding. This felt…wow. Weird, odd. Bizarre. But not in a bad way.

  Like maybe he’d hit a metaphysical lotto jackpot or something.

  As he drove home in a daze that night, he wondered what the hell he’d just gotten himself into.

  And for the first time in a long time, he realized he felt like smiling again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bob settled into an odd sort of routine with Kim and Kylee. After nearly eight months, Bob couldn’t say he was in love with the women, but it certainly felt…comfortable.

  Neither woman was interested in trying to lock him into a committed relationship beyond what they had, either. Play, and sex, and fun, and friendship were all they were interested in, because the two women had been together for eight years.

  Bob wasn’t interested in anything more than what he had with them, either.

  They hadn’t “collared” him. He could still play with Tilly and Landry—and had, several times. Kim and Kylee weren’t a fraction as heavy in play as Tilly and Landry, and he was a little surprised to find he missed the heavier levels of play.

  And Tilly was the only one he called “Mistress.”

  One Wednesday, Bob wasn’t sure what was going on, but he hadn’t heard from Kim or Kylee at all that day, even after he’d texted them both good-morning the way he always did now.

  And they were supposed to be meeting that evening, for him to go over to their place, cook them dinner, and then play after.

  Except…neither responded. Which was odd. Usually, at least one of them responded within an hour, depending on their work schedules.

  By late afternoon, and after two more texts to each woman had gone unanswered, he finally called Kim when a call to Kylee went straight to her voice mail.

  She answered with a terse, “Hello.”

  Taken aback by her tone, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. “Is everything okay? I was starting to worry about you guys.”

  A very exasperated-sounding sigh escaped her. “Listen, I don’t have time to talk right now. I’m sorry, but tonight’s off.”

  A chill started congealing in his gut. “Was it something I did?”

  “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. She’s an asshole.”

  Relief and fear warred within him. “Could you please give me at least a hint about what’s going on? I don’t like being left in the dark like this.”

  A moment of quiet before her voice broke as she talked. “She’s been seeing a guy. Not you, another guy. Behind our backs.”

  Shit.

  “I only found out about it this morning. I grabbed her phone by mistake and saw the texts from him. Check this out, she’s his fucking submissive. I guess this has been going on for over a month. Longer, probably, but they first slept together a month ago.”

  He was going to ask a series of questions that might get him labeled an asshole for his callousness, except he wanted to know if Kylee had been using protection, if there were more guys, and what the ever-loving fuck?

  But Kim kept talking, so he held his tongue.

  “I’m really sorry, Bob. I’m going to move out when I get home today. I already talked to my brother and I can crash there for a few weeks while I get shit straightened out and find a place to live on my own.”

  “Do you need help moving?”

  “No, he’s going to help me. He’s got a truck, but thank you.”

  Bob noticed she didn’t ask if she could crash with him. Which both relieved him, because it saved him having to tell her no, and bothered him that she hadn’t sent him texts about this whole situation as it unfolded.

  Or that neither of them had at the very least given him a heads-up about it earlier in the day.

  “What does this mean?” he asked.

  Although he already knew.

  He needed to hear her say it.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m going to step away for a while. I need space, and I need to get my head on straight. I really like you so friggin’ much, but we’ve talked about this. I can’t call something love until I know for sure it’s love. I loved her, would have fucking married her ass if they ever quit being pricks in the government and get rid of the gay marriage ban, and she’s basically shredded me. I don’t know if you want to have anything to do with her now, but I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to have anything to do with me, either. I hope you can understand.”

  He closed his eyes as he rubbed his forehead. “I do. I’m really sorry.”

  Now her tears started. “Me, too. You’re a great guy. I’m so sorry it had to end like this. She told me she was going to call you and tell you this morning, but I guess I should have known better than to trust a damn thing she says now.”

  Tilly’s face swept through his mind.

  She was going to be reeeeally pissed off when she heard about this.

  He wouldn’t go running to her to squeal, though. He was a big boy. He could deal.

  Except it was like Kim could read his mind. “Tilly is going to want to kill her. You might need to help Cris and Landry hold her back. That is, if Kylee’s stupid enough to go to Venture any time soon. Which, who knows, she’s so fucking stupid to throw eight years away between me and her, god only knows what the fuck else she’s done behind my goddamned back. Jeez, I feel like a moron.”

  “You didn’t know.”

  “I should have. There were probably clues and red flags all over the place I didn’t see and should have. And worse, you ended up collateral damage.”

  Again, but he didn’t say it.

  This wasn’t Kim’s fault.

  It definitely wasn’t Tilly’s fault.

  It was Kylee’s fault, and if anything his own fault for stupidly thinking he could find someone who’d ever measure up in his eyes.

  Measure up to Her.

  “Well, you have my number,” he finally said, knowing she wouldn’t call. “If there’s anything I can do for you…” He didn’t know how to end that statement, so he didn’t.

  She sniffled. “You’re a great guy. You really are. If you need a reference for future play partners, I’ll be happy to vouch for you. But I just…I need to withdraw and figure shit out. Apparently, I’m an idiot. If I wasn’t, she wouldn’t have been able to carry on behind my back, and I need to deal with that. I need to deal with a lot right now.”

  “I understand.”

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “Me, too.”

  He ended the call and leaned back in his chair, eyes closed.

  Tilly.

  His mind always drifted to her. Sure, Kim and Kylee had been fun. Absolutely.

  But…

  There had always been something missing.

  Someone.

  Submitting to Tilly had always felt like the most n
atural thing in the world. With Kim and Kylee, okay, yeah, it was fun, absolutely, but…it was different than with Tilly. It wasn’t “submission” with them. It was just playing around.

  A role he could easily step into and out of, but not in the same way he had with Tilly.

  With Kim and Kylee, it had felt more like an ill-fitting costume than a finely tailored suit. They could scratch his itch and divert his time, but they couldn’t really fill that empty space within him shaped perfectly like Tilly.

  I guess I’ll be hanging around Venture again.

  At least he could play with the triad. He wasn’t looking forward to hitting the dating world again, though.

  Then again, maybe I shouldn’t.

  A headache threatened. After checking his calendar, he told his staff he was working on a migraine and headed home.

  There, with the door securely locked behind him, he stripped, donned the leather collar Tilly had given him, and started to clean the place from top to bottom. It wasn’t exactly dirty, but he did all those annoying and extra chores he usually didn’t have time for. Dusting the very tops of shelves, cleaning ceiling fans and light fixtures, wiping down baseboards.

  All the little things, in addition to the big ones, that he’d done as Tilly’s submissive.

  He straightened his closet, his dresser drawers, sorting and refolding his clothes.

  He sorted through his pantry and neatly lined everything up.

  He rearranged his silverware drawer.

  He cried.

  Finally, standing in the shower a little after midnight, with the water beating down on him, he stared at the water circling the drain and let his mind drift. Exhaustion had set in hours earlier, but he’d wanted to push himself past that so, hopefully, when he hit the bed he would be able to collapse.

  Kylee still hadn’t called, hadn’t responded to his texts. By now, Kim would be moved out.

  Fortunately, he hadn’t left anything over at their place other than a toothbrush and deodorant. Nothing he cared about.