Page 6 of Fire & Ice

Sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Tripp mentally slaps himself. This isn’t the start to the night he was imagining, and he deeply regrets making Leander think that he’s second-guessing things. He’s on edge, not looking for an out.Big difference.

“No,” he says firmly, punctuating his answer with a shake of his head. “No, Lee, I’m sorry, man. It’s not you, I swear, I’m just…” Tripp raises his gaze to meet Leander’s eyes, and surprisingly, finds only soft understanding and patience there. Lee smiles, and Tripp can’t help but smile back. His friend’s grinhas always been contagious as far as Tripp’s concerned, and their mirroring breaks the tension.

After another controlled, deep breath, he steps into Leander’s space.

They stand there like that for a long moment, just breathing the shared air, eyes darting around each other’s faces. On instinct, Tripp leans down to close the space between them, completely forgetting himself, forgetting that there arerulesto what they’re doing, that this isn’t just some casual hookup or the start of a romance. It takes the gentle clearing of Leander’s throat, and two fingers pressed against his lips to prevent their mouths from connecting, to bring him back.

“Tripp,” Lee repeats. “I have no problem with—that is, I know that we discussed kissing, but I think we should set the scene first, for both of our sakes. Boundaries and limits, they’re important.” His voice wavers slightly, and it marks the first moment inanyinteraction Tripp haseverhad with Leander—regarding BDSM and / or their potential relationship—where the man hasn’t seemed confidently in charge, the dude with all the answers.

It throws Tripp a little, but Leander doesn’t belabor the moment. He just steps away, over to the little table that holds his “catch-all” bowl, a crystal dish that’s currently storing his keys, wallet, work ID, etc. From the built-in drawer he opens, out comes a small velvet box.

“Here,” he says, holding out the parcel for Tripp to accept. Raising an eyebrow, Tripp looks the box over, unsure what to expect. It’s fancy, like its job is to hold expensive jewelry or something, which is confusing.

“Just open it,” Leander encourages. “When we spoke last night, you said that you’d be open to a collar and I—well.”

Intrigued, Tripp does as he’s told, discovering a thin, emerald-green leather collar resting inside. It’s less than an inch wide and clasped by a metal O-ring that sports a hinge, and his breath catches looking at it. This is a tangible symbol of what he’s about to do, but for the first time, he’s not nervous or scared.

“If you aren’t ready, I understand, but I thought—”

“Put it on me,” Tripp says huskily, working hard to control his voice.

Leander blinks, retracting the arm he has stretched out, ready to whisk away the gift in the wake of Tripp’s presumed rejection. “Yes?” he asks, sounding incredibly relieved.

“Yeah,” Tripp replies with a nod, handing the box over and lifting his chin, waiting patiently.

As Leander works the clasp open, a pleased smile spreads across his face. “I found it very useful, back when I was scening Autumn, to utilize the collar as a signal of sorts. Its presence helped define the boundaries between our friendship and our interactions as Dom and sub. When you come over, you could put it on—or ask me to put it on, if you like—and when you do, you’re mine. If you’d prefer to hang out as friends, or if you’re not in the mood to play, then you leave the collar in its box, simple as that.”

“I dig it,” Tripp replies, and he does. This is exactly the reason he trusted Leander to guide him through this—his own inexperienced psyche would never have considered something like a collar; a visible, tangible signal to help separate their worlds. As Leander’s deft fingers skate along the sensitive skin of his neck, securing the collar in place, Tripp swallows heavily, but he’s feeling increasingly confident—increasinglyready—with every passing moment.

“Of note—you can remove the collar at any time, to the same effect,” Leander elaborates. “It’s less intimidating than safewording, and sometimes that can be a good thing. Of course, that option is always open to you, as well.”

“Of course,” Tripp murmurs, wholly distracted by the way one of Leander’s hands lingers on his shoulder, the other just underneath his jaw, fingers firmly tilting Tripp’s chin up while he very blatantly admires the way the collar looks against his throat.

“What is your safeword, Tripp?” Leander asks, his sparkling baby blues meeting Tripp’s unflinching stare with hope and fire.

“Halligan,” Tripp says clearly, refusing to feel even the slightest pang of shame about repurposing his favorite work tool for this.

“Good—if terribly cliché,” Leander says, his hand soothing across Tripp’s jaw to trail just below his ear and skate over the line where his hair meets the nape of his neck. “And are you using it right now?”

“Absolutely not,” Tripp replies, flashing a cheeky grin that causes Leander to bite back his own amused smile.

“Don’t be a brat,” Lee warns, stepping away and motioning for Tripp to follow. He walks casually, and it would take a better man than Tripp not to gawk at the way his t-shirt stretches across the taut expanse of his back.

“Would you like to see my playroom? It’s yours now, too. I want you to feel as welcome and at home there as I do. In fact, if you’re open to the idea, it would be acceptable if—after putting your collar on—you would come in here directly, assuming that we have nothing else specific planned. If you are in the mood to scene, you may strip, kneel by the bed, and wait for me. Ifyou’d like to wear your collar but need to ease into play or wish to begin with non-sexual submission, keep your clothes on and kneel next to the couch.”

While he talks, Leander occasionally glances over his shoulder, but mostly, he leaves Tripp to listen and absorb, and for that, he’s grateful. It takes him a few deep breaths and a small internal pep talk, but by the time Leander’s holding the playroom door open, Tripp is fully on board and ready for whatever awaits him on the other side.

He’s also quietly appreciative for the array of options Lee is giving him, the reminder that even stress-relieving submission isn’talwaysovertly sexual. That’s something they touched on briefly last night, but Tripp was left unsure as to whether Leander was interested in pursuing that side of things. It’s doing a lot for Tripp’s rollercoaster nerves to hear that heis.

As a show of equal trust and respect, on the spur of the moment, Tripp decides to return the favor. Before he can, though, he enters the playroom behind Lee and his attention is immediately stolen away. He gawks, struggling to take everything in—it’s alot. Even the architecture feels different, somehow, from the rest of the house.

Tripp’s been in Lee’s main bedroom, which—thanks to the apartment’s corner unit status—benefits from windows on two walls, so he knew that this room would have some natural light. Despite that, he was not prepared for the playroom windows to be so dramatic, framed nearly floor-to-ceiling by blackout curtains made of what appears to bevelvet,hanging from silver rings mounted near the top of the wall.

They’re not the only silver rings the room boasts, either, that’s for sure.

It’sclassy,though. On some level, even knowing Lee as well as he does, Tripp was expecting more, ‘creepy sex dungeon’ vibes, less, ‘upscale downtown bar’. He was prepared for vampire-lair-energy, with dark walls and red-hued lanterns, thick carpet underfoot, the works—but this is not that.

The lights above are on sliders, able to be brightened and dimmed at Lee's will, and—probably for show-and-tell purposes—he shifts them all the way on. Between the bright lighting and the white walls contrasted with dark hardwood floors, the room couldn’t be further from the goth-fantasy Tripp envisioned in his head. In fact, considering the elegant, four-poster king pushed up against the far wall, crowned with a gauzy canopy that reads, ‘soft romance’morethan it does ‘Mistress of Pain’, Tripp honestly can’t decidewhathe’s supposedto think.

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