But Rowan doesn’t actually know how many Doms Mal has had; all he’s gathered from his conversations with him have pointed to “more than a few.” One or more of them could definitely have been a romantic partner as well. The thought makes his stomach churn.

He blames it on the lasagna Jay made for him last night.

[MS] I wanna do some spanking on saturday

The text comes through while Rowan is chopping vegetables for his lunch salad tomorrow, and when he reads the banner that lights up his phone on the counter, he nearly slips and cuts himself. He should really know better than to be doing anything remotely dangerous when he’s within eyesight of his phone, Mal’s texts always unpredictable and usually dirty.

Placing the knife far out of reach, he taps out his reply, silently admonishing his rapidly-beating heart for begging him to say Fuck yeah! rather than something normal.

[RC] OK, more than usual you mean?

[MS] yeah

[MS] and hard

The Fuck yeah! narrowly avoids being sent this time.

[RC] Do you have a set stopping point or max hits or anything

[MS] not really. just till i can’t take it anymore

Rowan ditches his lunch on the counter and jerks off on the couch, coming in barely four minutes to the image of his handprints on Mal’s ass.

WITH ALL the drama of the past week, when Saturday arrives, Rowan almost forgets about the shibari class entirely. It’s nearly 5:00 p.m. when he jolts up from lazing on the couch and has to scramble to shower and change. Mal had told him to wear something comfortable, so he pulls on some dark gray joggers, a white T-shirt, and his trusty red Nikes before he bolts out the door.

Surprisingly, thanks to his lead foot, he gets to the club a full twenty minutes before the class is scheduled to start. Mal told him he’d meet him at the bar as usual before they went to the class, but he’s nowhere in sight.

A sharp crack! rings out and catches Rowan’s attention. He scans the club, looking for the source of the noise, when it comes again, louder and definitively to the left.

To the VoyEx corner. Color him intrigued.

For the first time, rather than sit and order a drink, Rowan visits the area which he’d only glanced at during his tour the day he joined. The “corner” is actually a fairly large open room tucked around a wall that divides it from the main lounge and bar. There’s a small crowd of about ten people forming a semicircle around the main stage, which is bathed in overhead spotlights highlighting two men on stage. Both are fully naked, toned bodies catching the light attractively.