Screwing the System (16 page)

“One hundred a week?”

Shit, that was way more spare cash than he had at the moment, although he had the feeling the taxi fares between Alasdair’s place and High Wycombe might be on the steep side. “Might need more. For the taxis, if I’m coming in for band practice a few times a week.”

“You don’t need to pay for that. I’ll set up an account with the taxi firm.”

Cosmo just gaped.

“Rule number five,” Alasdair continued. “No shagging anyone else without my permission. I don’t want to share you.”

“God, possessive much?” But Cosmo’s whole body threatened to break out into a grin. Oh, that wasn’t going to be a problem. Sex with Alasdair had spoilt everyone else for him. He wasn’t about to give the smug bastard the satisfaction of knowing that, though. “Okay. Next.”

“This isn’t a rule. More of a request. We both get tested, and if we’re clear, we ditch the rubbers. I want to feel you properly.”

Cosmo spluttered on his cider. Shit, he’d never dared bareback before, but he’d always wanted to find someone worth trusting that much. Was Alasdair really as faithful and honourable as he made out? No way to tell for sure, probably, but he was going to go with his gut instinct on this one. “Okay, me too. Anything else?”

“No more rules. But if you break any of those, you’ll be disciplined.”

Cosmo gulped. “Disciplined in a fun way or an ouchy way?”

Alasdair’s grin sent a thrill pulsing through him. “That depends on what punishment I think fits the crime. Could be a spanking. Could be standing in a corner with your nose to the wall. Could be wearing a cock cage.”

“A cock cage?” The drunk at the table next to them looked up at Cosmo’s shocked outburst, and he made an effort to keep his voice down. “What the fuck’s that? Some kind of torture device?”

“More of a chastity device. It keeps you from getting hard. Lets me control your body’s reactions.”

“But… But what makes you think I’d let you do that?” And why did the very idea make his body buzz with sensation?

Alasdair just cocked an eyebrow. “I think you crave someone taking control of you.”

“I bloody well don’t.”

“And I think when I ask you to do it, you’ll put it on yourself and say ‘thank you’.” Alasdair smiled maddeningly, and Cosmo’s protests dried up in his mouth. Would he? If Alasdair used the voice? He hadn’t yet spoken in that commanding tone outside of their play sessions, but if he did, could Cosmo resist?

But Alasdair’s grin was spreading, and Cosmo wasn’t about to give the man everything he asked for, just like that, no matter how sexy he was.

“No cock cages. I want to be able to decide any punishments myself.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” What the fuck?

Alasdair shrugged. “That’s acceptable to me, for now.”

“But, but what if I decide on something really tame?”

“I don’t think you will. Not once you experience how it makes you feel. How much you need it, deep down.”

“You some kind of fucking head doctor now, are you? Jesus Christ. You’re worse than my nan. She’s always on about how I wouldn’t be so bloody feckless if it weren’t for the lack of boundaries when I was a nipper.”

“No boundaries?”

“Very few.” But Cosmo wasn’t ready to share the whole sordid story just yet. He could just imagine the sneer on Alasdair’s face when he heard about Marilyn and the way she’d brought him up.

Alasdair didn’t dig, though. He nodded and looked thoughtful, as if Cosmo had just said something really interesting. Cosmo wanted to see that expression more often. Bugger it, it was just too much to turn down, being the focus of the man’s attention.

“All right, then. A trial. I’ve already paid my rent for the next month. If I’m not happy at the end of it, I’m heading back. If I am, I’ll hand in my notice. I’m not gonna sign off my benefits until then either, as it’s a right bloody pain having to reapply for them all. You have no idea.”

“Really?”

Alasdair’s face was carefully neutral, but Cosmo saw a glimmer of something in his gaze. Maybe Alasdair did know. He employed people who were so desperate for work they’d clean toilets, didn’t he? So perhaps he could understand something of what it was like to be on the bottom of the heap, even if he hadn’t been fair to Alf.

“Are we all agreed, then?” Alasdair said. “I’ll put it in writing later, but we can shake on it now, if you’re up for it.”

“This has got to be the strangest start of a cohabitation ever,” Cosmo grumbled, but he held out his hand and shook Alasdair’s, enjoying the rub of cool, dry skin against his clammy palm.

“Thank you.” Alasdair spoke softly, but Cosmo could still hear the warm familiarity in his tone. “I’m going to make you happy, I promise.”

“We’ll just have to see about that.”

“Oh, we will.”

That level of self-confidence should have been irritating beyond belief, but Cosmo found himself strangely comforted. If Alasdair believed in them, maybe it could work after all. He seemed to have made a success of the rest of his life. Okay, so maybe there was more of the feel of a business deal rather than a romantic proposition, but that must just be the way the man rolled.

Cosmo would get him to open up. He was bound to have plenty of opportunities, what with them living together.

“We’ll head back to your place now,” Alasdair said, rising. “I can wait while you get your things together, then drop you off before I head back to work.”

“Whoa. Wait a minute. I’m going to need a bit longer than that. Got people to say bye to. Explanations. You just hold your horses and come pick me up after work, yeah?”

For a moment, Alasdair looked like he was going to argue, but his expression turned blank again and he nodded. “Fine. That works too. I’ll be there at six. Be ready for me. And I’m not just talking about the packing. I want you ready in every way.” He stepped close to Cosmo, shielding him from any onlookers with his body.

“Every way?” Cosmo teased. He stayed in his seat and let Alasdair’s fingers tilt his chin up and caress his jaw. Against the bright sky, those grey eyes were so deep he could wander around in them for days.

Alasdair lifted his briefcase up onto the table in front of Cosmo. “Unzip it,” he said.

“What, lost your parking ticket?”

“Do it,” Alasdair said, and there was that tone creeping in. The one that brought Cosmo out in a million delicious goose bumps. “Find the plastic bag and take it out.”

Cosmo felt around the documents and laptop and discovered a smallish box wrapped in one of those plastic packets you send through the post.

“Open it. It’s for you.” Alasdair had crowded in even closer, and if Cosmo were brave enough, he could have leant forward and mouthed the bulge at his crotch. Instead, he unwrapped the plastic to find what looked like a jeweller’s box, but it was too large for jewellery, surely?

Cosmo flipped the lid open, immediately slamming it shut again. “Oh.” The image of the stainless-steel butt plug was branded across his retinas. “Umm, thanks, I guess. No one’s ever bought me one of those before.”

“Good thing I came along to rectify that. A cute little hole like yours shouldn’t go unplugged for too long.” Alasdair’s lips curled in a predatory smile. “I want you to be wearing that when I collect you. In fact, I want you to get it in as soon as you can. There’s a bottle of really nice lube in the bag too. Make sure you use plenty. It’s only a small plug, so you should be able to wear it for a few hours.”

“That’s small?” It was bigger than the one Alasdair had shown him in his kitchen table BDSM demo.

“Oh yes. You can work your way up to the big ones.”

Cosmo shivered hot and cold. How the hell was he meant to concentrate on packing and explaining himself to Nasher when he had something like that up his backside? It might be narrow at the base, but the curve in the shaft looked like it was going to be impossible to ignore. For a nanosecond, he considered refusing, but the blood thundering through his veins beat its own insistent rhythm.
Try it, try it, try it…

Cosmo looked back up from the box into eyes no longer grey but almost black. He dry swallowed and called up a smile from the part of him that wasn’t dazed by lust.

“Okay. I’ll be ready.”

“And don’t go wasting your energy. No orgasms until you’re with me, understand? I’ll make it worth your while.”

Cosmo attempted to speak, but his mouth had turned to cotton, so he nodded instead. He could stand to wait, just this once.

“Good boy.” Alasdair smiled broad enough to show his canines, dragged his thumb over Cosmo’s lips, and left without a backward glance.

Cosmo slumped back into his seat and contemplated another drink. But no. It was going to be hard enough packing with that thing stuck up his bum, and he’d just promised Alasdair no drinking during the day, hadn’t he? This was going to be weird, but strangely enough, the prospect of having Alasdair’s instructions to follow was comforting. Cosmo drained his pint, shoved the box in his coat pocket and headed home.

Two hours later, and packing was proving to be more of a challenge than Cosmo had anticipated.

“For fuck’s sake.” He sat back on his heels again and glared at the bottom of his wardrobe. A pile of T-shirts lurked down there, but every time he leant forward, gravity pushed the plug right into his prostate. It was bad enough trying to do this with the hard-on the sensation of the plug had given him. He really didn’t need his dick to be leaking too.

He examined the crotch of his jeans. Bugger. Either he was going to have to borrow one of beanpole Nasher’s tent-like T-shirts, or he’d have to change his jeans. Again.

Fuck it, he’d have to do it when he’d finished packing, or he’d run out of dry clothes first.

Getting to Alasdair’s house couldn’t come soon enough. Quite literally.

Chapter Thirteen

The afternoon had been a hell of a challenge to Alasdair’s ability to focus, but eventually he’d managed to drag his mind away from the prospect of Cosmo moving in, and back to the spreadsheets where it was meant to be.

But now, the car’s engine idling as he waited outside Cosmo’s place—ex-place, he told himself, hoping repetition would make it true—he could indulge in thoughts of getting the lad settled. Or unsettled, depending on how evil Alasdair was feeling. Just how much would Cosmo’s body arch and wriggle if he got a paddle out? Or a crop? A cane? He’d love to see that smooth white skin striped with pink.

However, when Cosmo finally sloped out of the front door, a huge rucksack on his back, the warmth that flooded Alasdair had nothing to do with floggings and everything to do with that wide grin.

Three other faces appeared at the door behind Cosmo, curious and hostile glances directed at the car. Good, let them watch Cosmo moving on to better things. Maybe it would prompt the lazy shits to sort their own lives out.

Cosmo seemed to be moving stiffly, and after he’d thrown his rucksack in the back and gingerly sat down, Alasdair remembered why.

“Something bothering you?” he asked. “You look like you’ve just sat on something uncomfortable.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny. Did you know this was going to turn me into a jizz-dribbling wreck?”

“You don’t look like you’re dribbling.” Alasdair glanced down at Cosmo’s rather obvious erection, trapped by his jeans.

“Yeah, well that’s because I just changed again. The guys think I’m suffering from some kind of terminal wardrobe indecision. They’ve renamed me Cosmo Magazine, thanks to you and your kinky toys.”

Alasdair fought the grin tugging at his lips. “You poor thing.”

Cosmo huffed, but Alasdair cut off any further complaints with a kiss. The lad couldn’t be that pissed off, because he yielded readily, opening that sweet mouth to his and moaning. They kissed until all the space in Alasdair’s mind was filled up with Cosmo, with the urgency to get inside him, now.

But he could wait. He wasn’t some randy teenager, needing a blowjob in the car before he popped. Alasdair broke off reluctantly, sucking on Cosmo’s lower lip before releasing him.

“Is that all you’re bringing?” he asked, gesturing at the bag in the back. “I don’t mind if there’s more.”

“Nah, that’s it. Thought I’d leave my guitars here for now. I can always practise on yours. And I’ve left my weights for Nasher. He could do with building up a bit of muscle.”

“Is he the tall, skinny one with the ginger afro?” The one who was still staring wistfully out at the car like he was heartbroken, Alasdair noticed.

“That’s him. Think he’s a bit pissed off about me leaving.”

“Too bad. You’re mine now. Come on, let’s get you home.”

Cosmo rolled down the window. “See you later, suckers.” he yelled at the group of pasty faces and flipped them the bird. Two of them flipped it back, but the ginger one looked like he was about to cry.

That kid definitely had a crush on Cosmo. He’d have to get used to disappointment, though, because Alasdair wasn’t giving up his claim on Cosmo for anyone.

Alasdair carried Cosmo’s bag into the house, letting Cosmo follow. The lad was definitely walking funny, and Alasdair could see one of the reasons why still tenting the front of his jeans.