Page 5 of Submit
Chapter Three
Something about the Dom who’d beaten the shit out of him made Larry want to see him again.Dom Bo. Bo. What the fuck kind of Dom name is that?Larry knew he was asking himself stupid questions, but as he squirmed and stood throughout the meeting for the soup kitchen volunteers, he was exceedingly aware of his marks.
Bo hadn’t gone easy on him, and for whatever reason,Larry had been able to let go like never before. Bo had asked for his soft and hard limits, and somehow, without planning a scene—at least not that Larry knew of—Bo had given Larry everything he’d needed.
And Bo hadn’t tried to hit him up for sex afterward. Some Doms did, no matter what Larry told them upfront.
Not Bo. He’d just beaten Larry’s ass, left stripes all over it and below it, thenonce he’d had Larry sobbing, floating in that blissful perfection Larry had sought, Bo had begun to comfort him and clean Larry up.
Aftercare—another bane of Larry’s existence. He’d always taken his beatings and shooed away the Doms.I didn’t do that to Bo.
Perhaps he’d just not been in the shape to do so with Bo. Bohadworked him over pretty good.
Excellently, really. It was three days laterand Larry still didn’t want to sit down.
“Earth to Larry, hell-ooooo!”
Larry blinked and realized the meeting was over and people were filing past him, out of the door.
Except for Bee, who had spoken and snapped their fingers in front of Larry’s face.
“Sorry.” Larry had that word down pat.
Bee pushed their glasses up their pointed nose and sniffed. “Did you hear anything the director said?”
Larry nodded. “Yes. Funding is in trouble. Jen’s needs more donations and volunteers.”
“You’re an odd duck,” Bee said, smiling at him. “We could be friends if either of us had time for that shit.”
“Maybe we should make time,” Larry replied. “Maybe friends are necessary, and we’ve fooled ourselves into thinking otherwise.”
Bee’s eyes rounded. “Whoa. I don’t do deep thinking.” Then they turnedand hustled off.
Larry thought of Hank and Thomas. It was possible that Hank could be a closer friend. Or that Larry could be a better friend. At the very least, Larry should get to know Thomas better. After all, Larryhadpushed Hank into making a move on Thomas.
The last tie to his past was gone. Larry still couldn’t believe it, still felt as if the burden was being lifted anew half the timehe thought about it.
He could move on with his life. There was no reason for him to keep people at a distance.
Maybe there never was. Maybe it’s all in my head, and always has been.
Larry only had to remember his father’s anger, the threats he’d made and followed through with—
He didn’t have to remember them now. Larry wanted to let the past go. He just wasn’t sure it’d let go ofhim.
* * * *
Back at his apartment, Larry stared out of the window onto the city street below. It was Wednesday, almost ten at night, and there was plenty of foot traffic. Surprising for a weeknight, and he wondered idly if there was something going on at a nearby club or theater.
He didn’t want to know enough to go find out.
What hedidfind himself wanting was sex. Sex, while he had cane stripesand bruises all over. Bo hadn’t just beat his ass, he’d also pinched, slapped and marked Larry on his torso, back and arms.
That was a perfect memory, and while the pain didn’t exactly arouse Larry, he did find himself becoming hornier by the minute as he thought of Bo.
Larry bit his lip as he considered going to the club. Maybe Bo would be there, and he’d want to fuck. Larry would bet he hada big dick, hopefully a fat one. In Larry’s perfect fantasy, Bo would switch and let Larry fuck him every now and then. Larry shook his head and quit gnawing his lip. He wasn’t often prone to stupid fantasies like that.
Getting fucked by some anonymous guy would help, but there was no way anyone having sex with Larry wouldn’t see his bruises.
