Page 9 of Corporate Bondage

Chapter Four

(Gio)

I had no backup plan. Once Keith had nuked my plans to rope him into my scheme to ruin Bryan’s relationship with Tate, that was it. I had only one thing left to do, and that was to tell Tate once and for all how I felt about him. But how could I do it? I’d be devastated if he rejected me, and I had no reason to think he would open his arms to me and say to hell with Bryan. He cared about Bryan, and the only way he probably would consider being with me was if Bryan did some major fuck-up. All ethics aside, I’d been hoping Eardley could trick Bryan into somewhat of a compromising situation, where they could be videoed or photographed, and send the whole enchilada to Tate. While he was heartbroken, then I would make my move. I would comfort him and be there for him. He’d be grateful for me always being there. He would see what could exist between us. We already loved each other. He could learn to love me in the way I wanted too. I wouldn't have to worry about losing him to someone else.

Pacing at home Friday night, a part of me wanted to go out, but I had no idea where to go. I didn’t want to visit the strip club tonight. Keith had mentioned seeing me there. I had never noticed him before. I had butterflies in my stomach each time I thought of him watching me, stripping me naked with his eyes the way he had done in his office.

I still fumed that Keith thought I would blow him. Where did he get off giving me a condition like that? It had been a damn foolish idea to ask for his help when I knew nothing about the man. Given the way Tate had described him when we talked about Bryan, I’d thought the man was obsessed enough to agree with my idea. The way he had flipped the script on me had left me feeling unnerved. And, a little intrigued.

Tate had warned me about the kind of man Keith Eardley was, but I never thought it would be as bad as he made it out to be. Keith was even worse. The audacity of the man to want me to suck him off when I’d just met him. There was a reason I usually went for twinks who didn’t mind putting out exclusively. I preferred being on the receiving end of a blow job, not the other way around.

Having sex with Keith was out of the question though. If I did let him fuck me and Tate found out, that would be a disaster. I could kiss my chance with Tate goodbye then. I wasn’t looking to jeopardize what was already a far-fetched relationship in the making.

My attraction to Keith was nothing short of s surprise. Seeing the way he looked at me had heated my blood, but what his eyes promised was not up my alley. The man had looked me over, stripped me naked with his eyes, and told me without words what he wanted to do to me. There had been no gentleness in his eyes, and I wasn’t so foolish to think he was a kind lover. I had seen the bruises on Bryan the first night I met him when Tate had taken him to Ristorante Da Gio. The last thing I needed was an abusive partner.

It was definitely best to forget that Keith Eardley existed. He was unlike any man I’d ever come across. The raw power emanating from him was too forceful.

I thought of calling Tate to invite him for drinks. Since I was already on a destructive path, why the hell not? The worst that could happen was him telling me no or bringing Bryan along with him. I chanced either happening and rang his phone. He didn’t pick up. I rang him two more times before I gave up. I didn’t even want to think about what he was likely doing with Bryan.

The phone was still in my hand when it rang. My heart skipped a beat as I thought Tate was calling me back, but it only turned out to be Willie, the redhead from the strip club. It had probably been a mistake of mine giving him my number, but I hadn’t thought it would hurt. That way, I didn’t have to go to the strip club when I wanted him over.

“Yes, Willie?” I answered the call.

“What are you doing tonight?” he shouted in the phone because of the noise in his background. He sounded like he was at the strip club.

“Nothing.” Nothing sounded pathetic. It wasn’t even that I didn’t want to go out, but I had no idea what to do. I didn’t feel like going to the strip club tonight. I needed a change of scenery.

“Great. How about a little party?” he asked. “A couple of us guys from the strip club are going to check out this party everyone’s talking about. Some guy opened a male lingerie shop, and it seems to be making a big hit. Wanna go?”

“Hmm. I don’t know.” I wasn’t big on seeing men in ladies’ underwear. It was just not my fetish.

“Ah come on, old man. It will be fun. We can go back to my apartment if you’re not feeling it. I’ve missed you. You’ve not been around as much lately.”

No kidding. Between Tate and Keith, I’d been plenty preoccupied to think about the strip club. It hadn’t been so long ago though since I’d picked up Willie there. He was getting a little too clingy lately, and I had a feeling I’d be cutting ties to him soon. Tonight, he might just be the distraction I needed though. Willie was eager to please in bed, and his mouth game was on target.

“Alright. I’ll meet you there. Give me the address.”

By the time I hung up, I had the address and the time Willie got off work. I decided to drop by the party half an hour before he arrived to scope out the place. Maybe if I found someone interesting enough, I might mix things up for the night and take someone else to bed.

An image of Keith popped into my mind and I scowled. Why the hell was I thinking about him? But, I couldn’t banish his image. He wanted me to suck him? I’d like to see him on his knees showing me what he was capable of doing.

I arrived at the lingerie shop Itsy Bits some minutes before ten in the night. The party was already in full swing, lots of cars were parked in the lot, and others lined the sides of the street. I was just in luck to have someone drive out of the lot so I could take their space.

“Welcome to my store, Itsy Bits! Explore your wild femme side!”

As soon as I entered the shop I was greeted by a voice I had trouble identifying by gender. My eyes swept over the owner of the voice who was smiling brightly with pouty pink lips. Definitely a guy, but dressed so sexy it was hard to tell in the feminine ensemble he had put together. I couldn’t begin to describe the skimpy negligee he wore with heels. The man wore heels! I shouldn't have been surprised since some of the guys at Manny did kick out their heels. I just never saw anyone rocking those heels the way this guy did.

The fucking weirdo looked good in it too. He seemed familiar like I’d seen him before, but I couldn’t remember exactly how I knew him. It was probably from the strip club. He looked the type to have shimmied up a pole a time or two. He must have hit it big or taken a load off some rich bloke to be able to afford a place like this.

I mumbled thanks and walked away from him. As good as he looked, he wasn’t my type. The fancy female attire ruined it for me. I swiped a drink from one of the waiters dressed in a ridiculous schoolboy costume with bikini shorts, bow tie, and fishnet stockings. I stayed because I was amused at best.

I ran into a few guys I knew from the strip club who weren’t browsing lingerie. They seemed safe enough to talk to, and we ended up joking about the store. They admitted although they wouldn’t be caught dead wearing any of these feminine contraptions that they had boyfriends they liked dressing up for them. Out of the blue, I found myself thinking about Keith wearing a bra and a thong. The thought was funny as hell because Keith wasn’t the sort of man who would ever be caught dead wearing anything of the sort. He did seem like he could be a guy who would want his boy toy to dress like this though. I frowned. Was that the edge Bryan had over me? Was he dressing like this for Tate?

I snagged drink after drink from the servers as I brooded, my mood turning black. I excused myself from the other guys who were entertaining themselves anyway since I was quiet. I had taken only a step when I saw Tate bearing down on me.

“Gio, what the hell are you doing here?”

I froze and panicked. My face paled, and I felt sick at him finding me here. Now he would know I was gay and had been hiding it from him.

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