Page 44 of Touch In Excess

Pierce smiled almost sadly. “I was injured during our engagement party. I was standing on a table giving my speech when some jackass pushed me off toward the pool. I hit the deck instead of the water first.”

“Shit,” Skye whispered.

“Yeah. The rescue efforts to get me out of the pool pretty much sealed the deal with my spine. It was a huge blow when we were told that without a literal miracle from God, I wasn’t going to get feeling back below here.” He set his hand just above his belly button. “I thought things were going to fall apart, but inthe end, we were able to get really creative. Half the products in here were designed by him.”

Skye suddenly felt all wrong taking this toy.

Pierce seemed to notice because he quickly shook his head, chuckling. “They’re not modeled after our dicks or anything like that. My ex is a lot of things—a jackass, a cheater, a self-centered mama’s boy who can’t say no to anyone except me”—the bitterness was thick in his voice—“but he was also a design genius. But of everything we ever used, we always had one of these in the nightstand.”

Skye ran his thumbs over the box. It was obvious Pierce was carrying more pain than any man should, so if he was recommending this to Skye, it was probably worth it. “It’s good for solo and partner play?”

Pierce nodded. “He could use the suction cup on my chair and ride it and me. And it also fits comfortably in a belt if you want a more realistic fuck.”

There were no bells and whistles. No movement. No vibrations. No fancy colors or weird shapes. It was just…a mostly hard, average-sized dick. And Skye realized then it was perfect.

“I’ll take it.”

“I doubt you’ll regret it,” Pierce said, jerking his chin toward the register before gripping his wheels and giving himself a hard push. “Is there anything else you want to grab before you check out?”

He thought about it for a quick second, but he hadn’t been given permission to get anything else, and he didn’t want to push it with Rami. “I think this is a good start. Flint already placed his order, so?—”

“Oh shit, wait,” Pierce said, spinning his chair once he was behind the counter. “You two were together?”

Skye frowned. “Uh, yeah. Why? Did he say something rude? He’s a nice guy. He just kind of comes off like a murder suspect sometimes.”

Pierce burst into laughter as he took the box from Skye. “No. He and his brother have been clients of the shop for years. I’ve just never met any of the other—y’all call yourselves Sins, right?”

Skye’s cheeks pinked, and he ducked his head as he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Sorry—” But Pierce’s next words were spoken too softly for Skye to catch them.

“Missed what you said.”

Pierce cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. My mouth runs ahead of my brain sometimes, and?—”

“No, no. You didn’t. You’ve been amazing,” Skye told him. “I, uh…I’m not the biggest fan of being recognized for what I do. My job is great, but people are…well. Not.”

“I get that,” Pierce said, all humor gone from his tone.

It wasn’t a surprise that he did. Norwich might have legalized sex work, but the residents had turned it into their main topic to vote on every four years. Luckily, most of the wealthy citizens didn’t want to lose access to their secret habits, so the laws never passed. But it always left Skye and the others on edge whenever another voting year was upon them.

“There’s a reason my ex and I never bothered to live in the city limits,” Pierce said softly as he took Skye’s card and swiped it. He handed it back and put the box in an opaque purple bag with a bow printed on the front. “It’s not worth the bullshit and the judgment.”

Skye nodded and clutched the bag tightly in his hand. “I appreciate you. Do you, ah…are you a client, or…?”

Pierce’s cheeks flushed. “Stone’s been offering me a friends discount for years, but it wasn’t something my ex was into. I never thought—” He stopped and bit his lip. “I might check it out. I probably won’t choose you though—no offense.”

Skye burst into laughter. “Nah. Once you see how the sausage fits in its everyday casing, it’s not as sexy.”

Pierce groaned at the bad joke, but he was grinning. “Maybe I’ll see you around though?”

“I’d definitely like that. And thanks again for this.” He gave the bag a pat.

“If it’s a miss, come back, and I’ll hook you up with something else. Friends discount goes both ways.”

Skye felt warmth in his stomach, and on a whim, he reached into his wallet and pulled out one of his cards. Snagging a pen from the side of the register, he scribbled his number on the back. “If you ever want a friendly, mostly deaf ear for some trauma dumping, I’d be happy to get coffee sometime.”

“Yeah?” Pierce looked unsure, but Skye nodded firmly.

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