ARMAND
“Ella, I had no idea you could cook like this—stone crabs, churrasco…you did two of this fool’s favorites well!” Nate observed as the evening wound down. “He loves Miami cuisine.”
I shrugged with a grin. “I love Miami.”
I was in a good mood anyway because I liked Nate, but the news he gave me about some potential endorsements had me pretty close to giddy. I never thought any company would want to partner with my crazy ass again. When I first got drafted into the league, I had a few deals but quickly fucked them up. I was a fighter in high school and college, but it seemed the pressure of being in the NBA had driven me completely over the edge, causing me to act up during games, on and off court. Hell, I punched an arena employee in the tunnel once for talking shit about my performance. And the women? Man, I was wilding for real!
“I knew it was a special night for Armand. Only the best for him. I even made peanut butter cookies,” Ella replied.
“You did, s—Ella?” I was sounding like a kid, but her peanut butter cookies were like crack to me, just like her pussy.
Leaning in to kiss me, she said, “I did. Let me go get them.”
She left the formal dining room, and I looked over at Nate who was staring at me with this serious look on his face. It was like he was reading me.
“What?” I asked.
His eyes shot to the doorway and back to me. “That chain. She collared you?”
Before I could try to answer him because what the fuck, Ella returned with the cookies and another kiss for me.
About twenty minutes later, I was walking Nate to his car when he said, “I shouldn’t have asked you about the chain. I just…I’m proud of the changes you’ve made. If she has anything to do with it, I support what y’all have one hundred percent.”
“Uh…thanks, but how…why’d you ask me that?” I solicited, still shook that he’d figured it out.
“Well, I’ve never collared my wife, unless you count her wedding ring.”
“You…you and your wife?!”
He nodded. “We’re not hardcore or strict with the Dom/sub roles, but we dabble.”
“Damn, I never knew. How’d you figure it out about me and Ella?”
“The way you look at her, it’s pure reverence. And her? The way she caters to you, dotes on you? That tells the tale. Plus, for someone who’s into kink, it’s easy to read between the lines. You look happy. Congrats, man, but know that once her family gets wind of this, especially Leland, it ain’t gonna be pretty.”
“I know, but I love her, and she loves me.”
“I understand that, but you need to be ready. Remember how you told me you reacted to him and your mom? They’re solid, so you obviously overreacted. Don’t expect any less from her folks and be prepared to weather it if you really want her.”
“I get your point. It was fucked up what I did and said back then, and I regret it now, but I’m ready for whatever.”
“Good. Talk to you later, Daniels.”
“Later.”
ELLA
Nathan Moore was long gone, and Armand was on his knees in my kitchen, head lowered, hands bound behind his back, and his body beautifully naked as I washed dishes. Well, that was when I wasn’t sucking his dick. At that moment, it was quiet save for the clanking of dishes and his jagged breathing.
“P-p-permission to speak, sir?”
“Not if you’re going to ask me when I’m going to let you cum.”
“N-no, sir. Not that.”
“Okay…”
“Uh, shit…I forgot.”
“No, you didn’t. You we’re going to ask when I was going to let you cum.”
“Yeah.”
“So you lied to me?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, what?”
“Huh? Oh…sir!”
I stopped washing dishes, giving him my full attention. “You want me to punish you, don’t you?”
He didn’t smile, but his pretty eyes bore amusement.
In response, I wiped my hands, went over to him, and did my best to suck his soul out of his body, making him howl like a wounded dog.
“What are you going to do when your family finds out about us, sir?” Armand asked as he stood in the bathroom while I toweled him off from our bath. “They ain’t gonna like it, considering my past.”
“I know, but I love you. That’s all that counts.”
“Okay…” It was silent before he added, “Sir.”
“You think I would stop being with you because of my family?”
He shrugged as I squatted to dry his legs.
So I stopped what I was doing and stared up at him, saw the uncertainty on his face, and almost cried. “You are everything to me and I’d do anything for you. I love you, Armand. I truly do. I don’t care what anyone has to say about it. Anyone.”
He closed his eyes, and I saw the exact moment his tears began to fall. Standing, I dropped the towel and grabbed his face, kissing his tears. “I love you. I love you. I love you…” I repeated.