Page 5 of Cheese Daddy

Beside him, Bree choked on her drink. Owen just laughed. He didn’t mind being called Cheese Daddy.

“I’m doing pretty good. How about you?”

“Do not encourage her,” Marcus ordered.

A mischievous glint appeared in Eden’s eye. Well, shit. It appeared the tables had turned between the two of them. Marcus was experiencing Eden ignoring him for the first time, and he didn’t like it any more than she did when he did it to her. Great.

“I’m good. Trying to figure out who I’m going to scene with tonight. Any suggestions?” She turned away so she could look around the club at the various options.

Marcus actually growled. At least, Owen couldn’t think of any other way to describe the noise he made. If Eden heard him, she didn’t notice it.

“Oh, there’s Master David, and he’s not on Dungeon Monitor duty right now…” She pranced away while Marcus glared after her.

Bree ducked her head down, pretending she didn’t see him, while Andres and Rita turned to each other. Both of them looked like they were laughing, thankfully, unmoved by their friends’ drama.

“I think we’re going to go grab a private room, if you all are okay here?” Andres asked, giving Owen a significant look.

That asshole.

“Yeah, of course,” Bree said. She clearly didn’t realize this was a setup. “Go have fun. I’ll just hang out with Marcus and Owen.”

“Actually, I see someone I need to talk to. Excuse me.” Without a second glance, Marcus walked off in the same direction Eden had gone. Imagine that.

Owen shook his head.

“Go on,” he told Andres and Rita. Even if his friend was trying to set him up, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Maybe he and Bree could talk a bit, and he could get an idea of where her head was—if she had any attraction to him the way he did to her, whether or not she was over her ex… that kind of thing. “Bree and I will hang out.”

Rita gave him a discreet thumbs up as Andres moved her away from the table, which was very interesting. Turning his attention to the woman beside him, he wasn’t surprised when she didn’t meet his gaze. She always seemed to be in a more submissive headspace when she was in the club, which meant she kept her head down a lot.

It gave him the opportunity to look at her, so he didn’t mind. Her hair was done in a ponytail, a big pouf of curls on the top back of her head, while the front edges were done in cute little curls that framed her face. She was wearing a forest green corset and black tutu that went down to her knees, giving interesting glimpses of her legs whenever she moved.

“So, how have you been?” Sadly, he couldn’t think of a better opening line.

“Good.” She cleared her throat, looking up to meet his eyes. “Really good. Work is good. Hanging out with my friends is good.”

“Everything is good.” The corner of his mouth hooked up, and she blushed. At least, he was pretty sure she was blushing. It was hard to tell with her dusky skin tone and the dim lights of this section of the club, but he would be willing to bet money on it.

She glanced away, looking away from the bar toward the balcony, which looked down on the majority of the kinky section of the club.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” He was a little taken aback. They hadn’t had much time to talk one-on-one since they usually hung out as part of a group or she peeled off with Eden, leaving him and Marcus together. But if she had a question for him, of course, he was happy to answer.

“How did you decide you were a Daddy Dom?” As soon as she asked, she bit down on her lower lip, as though she regretted asking and wished she could take the words back into her mouth. It wasn’t necessarily an invasive question, but it was definitely wasn’t a casual one.

He also got the feeling it was a significant one.

“Well, I got involved in the kink scene and found my way to the Outlands, where I learned there was more to kink than tying my girlfriend to the bed and spanking her.” He smiled ruefully. “A lot more, in fact. From talking to people, I realized I wasn’t a hardcore sadist and definitely didn’t want a twenty-four seven slave. What really resonated the most with me was being a caretaker. I was predisposed to the subs who wanted a Daddy, and that made things pretty clear.”

“You didn’t think it was weird they wanted a Daddy?”

A sudden protective surge of anger welled up inside Owen. Shit. He had a feeling he knew where these questions were coming from. Bree wouldn’t be the first sub who realized she wanted a Daddy, only to be met by ridicule from someone who didn’t understand. He had a feeling he knew what had led to her breakup with Samuel. He just didn’t know why Andres hadn’t said something. They would have all been there to support her…

Unless her friends didn’t know.

Studying her, Owen could see it. She was totally the type to keep something hurtful to herself to keep it from hurting others. No wonder she was asking him.

“No, I didn’t think it was weird. Everyone has different needs. While I might not understand someone else’s desires, that doesn’t make them weird. They deserve to have their needs met, even if it’s not by me.” He hesitated for a moment, then decided to open up. Whether or not she’d meant to, just by asking the question, she’d already opened herself up to him.

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