Robert's POV

Jerry didn't know it, but I was beyond excited about his water sports scene.

I knew exactly how I wanted it to go. I know how I wanted to make him feel. But most importantly, I wanted him to enjoy it.

"Do you remember our rule for the club?" I asked him before we entered.

Jerry nodded, looking at me with a delighted expression. "Oh yeah. No talking to other Doms. If they try to talk to me, I... well, they're supposed to talk to you instead. But how to I get that across without speaking?"

"Shake your head, avert your eyes, tap the collar," I rattled off. "If that doesn't work, then you may say one sentence to explain the situation."

I doubted he would have issues. I ran this fucking club. Not a single Dom in the room would make moves on what I claim as mine.

"Okay, that works," Jerry chirped. "So who can I talk to tonight?"

"Aidan, if he's here," I said, because even if I'd told Jerry he couldn't talk to Aidan, that would be a losing battle. "There is one other— Jason Milo. We may see him tonight."

I looked at Jerry. He averted his eyes and tapped his collar, hiding a smirk.

"Obviously you can talk to me, devil boy," I scoffed, smacking his ass. Jerry burst into giggles.

"I'm so funny," he sighed, leaning against my arm. "Okay, so can we do my scene first? Or are we hanging out first?"

We walked through the back hallway, getting closer to the thump of the music. "We're going to pleasantly interact with Master Jason, and then we can play."

"Yippee!"

Jerry and I entered the main floor of the club, greeted by crowds of people and flashing lights. Jerry's hand was firmly wrapped around my bicep, which was not only adorable, but also perfect for attracting attention.

Doms around the room snuck glances at the two of us, checking out Jerry's new collar. Jerry held his head high and wore a smile on his face, soaking up the attention and living for it.

"Should I wave to my peasants?" Jerry asked, shooting me a sideways glance. "I am their queen, after all."

I snorted and lead him to the bar. "Brat, you're not a queen until I start calling myself the king of this place."

He pouted. "I'll talk you into it eventually."

I got Jerry water to hydrate him, and I bought myself water to work up the urge to piss. I scanned the crowds for Master Jason and Jerry noticed.

"What are you going to say to Jason Milo?" Jerry chirped, sipping at his drink.

I bit my lip and turned back to him. "I'm probably going to have to take him to my office. He's not a member of this club, but he's a well-known Dominant in the area. Aidan convinced him to come here to see if he wants to teach a class."

"That's fine!" Jerry said. "Moira and her friends are over there grinding, so I can occupy myself while you boys chat."

I looked at him, surprised, and tucked a lock of short hair behind his ear. "You can come in with us."

Jerry shrugged and leaned back, and easy smile on his face. "Nah, I don't wanna do boring business tonight. Please let me stay out here and dance, Sir?"

I definitely couldn't say no to those big, brown puppy-dog eyes. "If that's what you want to do. But don't tire yourself out, we have a big night ahead of us."

Jerry grinned evilly.

In a stroke of good luck, I managed to spot Master Jason laughing with a few Doms from the club. The second he broke away, I stood up and made my way over with Jerry.

Master Jason caught my eye and smiled, walking towards us. He was a handsome young man, in his very early twenties, but he carried himself like someone who was far older. His bright, white smile and wavy blonde hair made him look like a surfer boy, but his eyes halted the illusion. They were gray— intelligent and observant. Not quite cruel, but certainly critical.

He also looked damn good, showing off his muscular, tanned torso. I looked at his abs and hated him a little.

"Master Robert," he greeted, cheeks dimpling with his grin. His eyes went straight to Jerry. "And who might you be?"

Jerry's jaw dropped a little and irritation prickled in the pit of my stomach. Suddenly I wanted to kick myself for saying those stupid things, about how I wanted Jerry to find a sweet young man to fall in love with.

I cut in front of Jerry and shook Jason's hand, smiling tightly. "This is Jerry, my submissive. Jerry, this is Master Jason. It's been a long time."

Jason nodded. "It has."

Annoyingly, Jerry held out his hand and smiled at Jason. "Nice to meet you!"

Jason's smile lit up the room. "You as well. I didn't realize that Robert had a submissive, actually."

"It's recent," I admitted, glancing at Jerry with a smile. "We've been playing for a bit now, but only recently made a contract."

Jason grinned, looking back and forth between us. "You have that honeymoon glow," he said. "You make a cute couple."

And then Jerry and I were both blushing, but neither of us corrected him. "Thanks, Master Jason," Jerry said, looking slightly toward the ground. "Um, so you two were going to discuss business, right? I'll go dance with Moira."

"Bye, baby," I said, kissing him on the cheek before he left.

"Nice to meet you," Jason said.

"You too!" Jerry called, still staring at me a little when he walked away, cheeks pink. He almost tripped over something and then disappeared into the crowd.

Jason turned back to me. "Master Aidan told me that you want to talk about a class?"

"Yes," I said, shaking myself out of thoughts about how good Jerry's ass had looked as he left. "Come on to my office, I'll give you more of the details."

Jason and I sat down and I explained to him the details of the course — mostly a lecture on safety techniques in edge play — and the pay.

His eyes were bright with interest by the time I was done talking. "I love the idea of having these specific classes be local," he gushed. "I've had to attend a lot of conferences to learn what I know now."

I nodded. "It was Jerry's idea, actually. He said that having intro classes wasn't enough to engage the entire community."

"He's a smart boy," Jason said, mouth quirked upwards.

He was kind of looking at me like he knew more about me than I thought he did. Aidan had said something about him being a psychologist, so I could only imagine the kinds of things Jason was analyzing about our relationship.

"He is," I agreed, choosing to leave it at that.

"Well, you've sold me," he said, shrugging. "I have no problem teaching the class. Twice a week, correct?"

"Exactly."

Jason grinned. "I already have ideas, but we'll meet again on finalizing a curriculum. And, if you like the idea, I would also be interested in a class specifically on TPE or CNC. I don't currently practice either, but I'd confidently say that I know more about them than any other Dominant in the state."

Well, shit. There was the sadist in him. He looked me in the eyes, not displaying cockiness. He was simply self-assured. I found myself believing him.

"I'll see what the interest level is and take it into consideration," I agreed. "It's a great idea, though. Thank you, by the way."

And then that smile was back, and Jason was a kid in his twenties again. "Cool, I'm excited!"

We shook hands and I led him back to the main room. Before he walked away, he turned back and said, "I like the business you have going on here, Master Robert. Aidan told me about the changes you're planning on making, specifically to how membership will be working. Once you iron out the kinks—" he smiled a little at his own joke "—I have a couple of friends that might be interested in joining."

"Please, let them know," I said, a little shocked. "The more the merrier."

Jason grinned. "I will. Nice seeing you, Robert."

"You as well."

He walked away, but was instantly swept into another conversation with other Dominants asking him questions. That kid certainly had a reputation.

Or he was just social.

I didn't relate to that.

I left to find Jerry, which didn't take long. He was sitting at the bar in our original spot, eyes darting around the room nervously. His leg was bouncing and he was tapping the bar. The second he saw me, he practically folded into himself.

I approached him, head tilted and trying to catch his eyes. "Sweet boy, what's the matter?"

His eyes shot up to mine and his mouth wobbled. "Please don't be mad."

I sat next to him and rested my hand on his thigh. "I won't. Tell me what's wrong."

"Okay, you're gonna think I'm so stupid though," he said, huffing out a sigh. "And I promise I'm not stupid! I just...I had a brain fart. Okay?"

I chuckled a little and ruffled his hair. "No, I don't think the kid with the triple major and 4.0 GPA is stupid. Tell me what happened."

He nibbled on his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes shut. "I disobeyed already."

I nodded and Jerry peeked up at me. His expression was so cute, but I tried not to let it melt my heart. He looked like a sad little puppy. "Explain the details, okay?"

"I was dancing with that bitch Moira," he said, gesturing vaguely in her direction. "And she started talking some shit about a Dom and he overheard. I think his name is Master Chuck or something that sounds equally pedophilic. Anyway, they started going back and forth, and then—" he sucked in a breath "—he came at me. He insulted my collar and said you'd toss me out for any submissive. And I totally didn't answer at first, but then all of Moira's friends were looking at me like I had some kinda mental disorder, and then he was like 'aw are you waiting for your Master to come save you' and I just sister snapped."

I stared at him. "Who the fuck was this?"

Jerry's sad puppy dog eyes quickly turned into mildly alarmed puppy dog eyes. "He had a pedo name. Chuck, Carl, Curt. I don't remember."

"I'll find out."

I tugged Jerry close and kissed him. He immediately relaxed into my arms. "So you're not mad at me? I totally thought I was about to have my ass fried."

I pulled away and smiled. "I'm not mad at you. But I would like if you took the key—" I pulled out my wallet and handed him the key card. "—and waited in the private room. The code is the year I was born. I want you naked, kneeling in the center of the room."

He smiled bright. "For my scene?"

"Silly. For your punishment." I kissed him on the nose and smacked his cute little butt. "Off you go. I'm going to make sure this pedophile never speaks out of turn ever again."

Jerry shot me an exaggeratedly shocked look before turning away and stalking off. I didn't miss the way his shorts tightened before he left.

I managed to find Moira, who directed me to Master Claude.

And the second I found him, I definitely caused a bit of a scene.

"Did you honestly think my submissive wasn't going to tell me about what you said to him?" I growled, shoving him up against the bar.

Claude's eyes went wide and he stammered out, "This is a misunderstanding! I wasn't being rude, Robert, I was helping you."

I paused, because I was so shocked by his stupidity. "Excuse me?"

"I was trying to get him to talk to see if he'd disobey you," he explained, brown eyes dark with judgment. "That sub of yours needs discipline."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to listen to your excuses. My submissive told me the disrespectful things you said to him. The way he responded to them is between the two of us. And it is insulting for you to suggest that I need your input on how my submissive behaves."

Claude gulped, a sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Yes, Sir."

"You sign the agreement at the door along with everyone else," I snarled. "Disrespect results in punishment. You're getting one warning. If I hear any other word that you've disrespected another member of my club, you know what happens."

Claude gulped again and nodded. "My apologies, Sir. I understand."

I stalked away without another word. Some people were fools.

Lucky for me, I had a naked Jerry to make me feel better.