Page 6 of Finding His Forever

Clue #2: The cane is your Secret Santa’s favorite implement inside the club.

Clue #3: The one thing your Secret Santa doesn’t want is for you to call him Daddy.

And, of course, no one immediately came to mind.

Damn. Okay, I can do this. Just think!

“Matthew, c’mere!”

He spun around to see his friend Natalia beckoning him over to where she and four other participating subs were huddled together. A collared submissive named Jamal was with them, offering his services to help each one deduce who their Secret Santa was. After Matthew joined them, Natalia was the first to read the clues off her card. “Okay, clue number one—his favorite piece of equipment is the spanking bench. Clue number two—he loves CIA thrillers. And clue number three—he . . . huh? He wants me to sit on his handlebars? What does that mean?”

Matthew only needed two seconds to figure it out, and he grinned. “I know who that is! It’s Master Dimitri! Almost every time he plays, it’s on a spanking bench. I also heard him talking to Master Marco a few weeks ago about a CIA thriller he’d read, and it sounded good, so I got the e-book to read after my tests were over. And the handlebars are his mustache!” The Dom had one of those long mustaches that curled up at the ends. For some men, it would probably look weird or old-fashioned, but for the handsome Master Dimitri, it worked.

Another female sub named Kristina agreed with a squeal. “Eep! That has to be him!”

A smile lit up Natalia’s face. “I’ve wanted to scene with him ever since he uncollared that blond chick—what was her name again?”

“Brenda,” Jamal supplied with an eye roll. “The one who thought her shit didn’t stink when Master Dimitri wasn’t around. I was so glad when they broke up and she stopped coming here.” His attitude did a one-eighty as he clapped his hands several times. “Okay, Carly, you’re next. Let’s do this!”

Carly and then the other three subs—two women and one straight guy—read their clues, but the group could only figure out for certain who Kristina’s Secret Santa was—Mistress Odette. The sub was a little leery since the Domme was relatively new to the club, and they’d never played together. Kristina was on the shy side and felt more comfortable with the Dommes the longer she knew them. Matthew and Natalia reassured the other sub that she had nothing to worry about. Mistress Odette wasn’t a sadist, and the few female submissives who’d scened with the Domme all had nice things to say about her.

Master Mitch’s voice boomed over the speakers and announced, “Five-minute warning. Subs, you have five minutes left.”

Jamal’s dark eyes rounded, and he rotated his hands frantically. “Shit! Hurry, Matthew, you’re the last one! Give us your clues!”

After he read them off, he looked at his friends expectantly but was disappointed when no one appeared to have a light-bulb moment. Everyone took a few seconds to glance around the large crowd, hoping for inspiration.

“Hmm, that’s hard,” Kristina said. “Maybe Master Alan?”

The Dom was an archaeologist and a college professor in his late fifties. While he liked using the cane during scenes, sex had never been included whenever Matthew played with him, whichwas fine since there was no attraction between them other than a masochist being drawn to a sadist.

Natalia shook her head. “Nope, it can’t be him. He’s definitely not tech-savvy. Last week, he picked up a brand-new smartphone right before coming here because his old flip phone finally died. I had to show him how to turn it off before he came inside so he wouldn’t have to walk back out and leave it in his car.” The only place cell phones were allowed to be used in the club was in the lobby. If they were brought inside, they had to be off and left in the member’s locker. Occasionally, if a member was on-call, like one of the doctors or detectives, they could leave their cell phone at the front desk. If it rang or a text came in, whoever was working at the desk would get a message to them immediately so they could return the call.

“Okay, then, who else?” Jamal asked. “Master Victor?”

“I doubt it,” Matthew replied, shaking his head in frustration. “The one and only time we scened together, it didn’t exactly go well—kinda boring for both of us. That, and I know he looked at Angelo’s limit list last week.”

“Well, crap. It’s gotta be someone.”

“One-minute warning!” Master Mitch’s announcement came over the speakers, and Matthew and the rest of his group started to panic.

Scanning the room once again, Matthew caught site of Master Del’s profile. He stood toward the other side of the stage, talking to Masters Brody and Marco. “What about Master??—”

“Wait! I think I know who it is,” Natalia interrupted. “Master Jonah!”

Matthew’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”

She rushed to explain. “I’ve met him a few times while working the front desk. He just joined about a month ago and is kinda geeky in a sexy way, so I’m sure he’s computer savvy. I think he’s in his forties and has been in the lifestyle for a longtime. Last week, I saw him give a demo to a baby Dom who was interested in caning. I’m not sure whether or not he likes to be called Daddy, but two out of three is better than anything else, right?”

Matthew reluctantly agreed. If it was a new Dom, he might’ve randomly chosen a snowflake, intending to meet a sub he didn’t know yet. “Okay, Master Jonah it is.”

He jotted down the name on the back of his clue card just as Kristen announced the time was up and the subs had to hand in their guesses. Hopefully, whichever Dom had gotten his snowflake, Master Jonah or someone else, they’d be able to give Matthew the pain he craved. The stress of the last few weeks in the paramedic program had him in need of the release he could only find with a good sadist. Mentally crossing his fingers and toes, he handed his card to Angie before dropping his pen into one of two baskets on the stage floor, with the empty envelope going into the other. Then, he rejoined his little group and waited with bated breath.

Chapter Four

Del watched as Matthew handed his clue card back to Ian’s wife and wondered if the twink had correctly guessed who picked his snowflake. It’d taken a lot for the Dom not to stare at the object of his lust over the past hour or so, especially while all the subs taking part in the event tried to figure out who their Secret Santa was. Dressed as an adorable elf, Matthew had caught the attention of many gay men in the club since arriving about an hour ago. As he sashayed past them, their hungry gazes raked over the sub’s delectable body. Del wanted to tell every single one of them that he had dibs on the boy tonight and, hopefully, for the foreseeable future.

Mitch retook the stage. “Listen up! We want to get through these quickly, so if you arenota participating Dom or sub, please back away from the stage and give them some room. If you are participating, please come closer so you can step right up when we call your name. Doms, once you’ve claimed your sub, head to wherever you plan to play tonight or at least out of the immediate area.” People started moving forward or back out of the way, and Del found himself near the right side of the oval stage, with a perfect view of Matthew on the opposite end. “You have until eleven p.m. to complete your scene. Aftercare canextend past that for as long as you need. If you’re participating and haven’t had a chance to get your raffle tickets, don’t worry. Besides the booths, subs will walk around with tickets from eleven to midnight to ensure everyone can get theirs. Good luck, everyone!”

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