A
fter feeding his Little a full breakfast, he had walked her to the Nursery to play with the other princes and princesses. The group had welcomed her eagerly to join them at the table. Rylee had been so excited to see her first friend, Cecily, arrive, that she’d almost been too busy to give her Daddy a goodbye kiss.
The governesses had assured him that they would take care of Rylee and that she would be fine for a couple of hours. Today, several kittens were playing in the large nursery. A pure black charmer had already claimed Rylee’s lap for her own. Delighted as she was by the opportunity to color, play with her friend, and pet the adorable kitten, Dallas knew he would not be able to pry her away for quite a while.
When she’d waved happily to him as he’d left, Dallas decided to check out the gym. Perhaps there would be enough weights there to do some training. He jogged back to pick up some workout clothes and headed to the gym. He changed his clothes in the locker room. Quickly assessing the weights, Dallas developed a strategy to use what was available even for his high tolerance of lifting. He had just begun to work on his arms when a large man also wearing a white bracelet entered the gym. Dallas nodded and continued to do bicep curls.
“You need more weight,” the stranger observed. “Want me to add them for you?” He pointed to the extra weights Dallas had gathered ahead of time and left ready at his feet.
“Just getting warmed up. I’ve got a plan for those. I definitely could use a hand. I’m not monopolizing equipment you need, am I?” Dallas asked, assessing the man’s physical condition. Castle Security
was written across the man’s black short-sleeved shirt. He obviously visited the gym often. Quickly, Dallas knew what he would help him work on if he were a client.
Setting his weights down, Dallas held out a hand and introduced himself. “Da—Axel.”
“Jackson,” the other man responded remotely.
Even without the white bracelet, Dallas would have known he was a Dominant. Quickly, he dropped into a plank position and flattened his back. He would need to be perfectly horizontal for this to work. “Load the weights on my back, please.”
Dallas braced himself as the large security guy stacked the circular weight plates on top of his braced body. When the other man hesitated to add the last heavy pieces, he said, “Go ahead. I’ve handled more.” His eyes focused on the floor as he fought to support the weight on his arms as well as keep his balance.
When the stack was complete, he began to walk his hands and feet parallel in lateral plank walks. Dallas reversed the pattern each time he reached the wall. After several laps, he controlled his descent to the ground. Instantly, Jackson was there to pull the weights off.
Giving him a hand up from the floor, Jackson’s demeanor had changed from remote to intrigued. “What were you targeting?”
“Biceps,” Dallas answered, breathing hard. “The best thing is, I just taxed pretty much all of my muscle groups.” He looked over the man’s musculature. “Want to try it?”
“Yes,” Jackson replied as he dropped to the ground.
Dallas soon was coaching the weight-laden man through the exercise. After several minutes, he removed the weights and helped Jackson to his feet. “What do you think?”
“You have training,” Jackson observed. “Ever do any remote strength coaching? I need someone to help my security force stay healthy and strong. Would you come speak to me tomorrow at my office?” He pulled a card from his pocket to hand to Dallas. It read: Master Jackson, Chief of Security.
“I’d love to talk to you about it,” Dallas said with a smile.