2 Chapter 2

“Adam? Did you hear me? I said—”

Adam waves his hand at Mahiro’s face to silence him. “Yes, I know what you said; I’m just struggling to process. As in theAlex Breschi. The figure skating legend. The one you have had a boner for your entire life. The one you took up professional figure skating to impress. The one who writes books now. That one.”

“Would you shut up! Yes. That one.” Mahiro tries to whisper, but the constant hum of people makes it impossible to be heard without raising his voice a little. “I don’t understand. Why is he here?”

Adam looks hilariously confused by the question. “Uh, why are we allhere?”

Mahiro feels a pair of arms slide around his shoulders from behind and a stubbly kiss on his cheek. “Why are we all here, Adam darling? To be taught a very special lesson, right, Mahiro?” Chris purrs into his ear. Mahiro swats him away and feels panic spiral up in his stomach.

“You never learned any lesson I tried to teach you, brat,” Mahiro says, and focuses on finishing putting his equipment in his bag so he doesn’t have to turn around to see the person he absolutely knowsis standing there as well. He takes a deep breath and makes himself straighten and stand up. He finally turns, and of course he’s absolutely correct.

Alex. In all his perfect, glorious flesh, complete with those devastating blue eyes and a pair of slick dark jeans. His platinum hair is styled perfectly in a swooped, long fade, and Mahiro is about to melt into a puddle right there in the middle of the room.

That is, until he remembers who and where he is.

He’s no swooning teenager staring at posters on his wall. He’s an adult, a practicing Dominant, and Alex is in hishouse now.

So he takes a deep breath and snags Chris under the chin with his finger and tips his head back to give his neck an exaggerated inspection.

“My, my, my. Brazen. Anyone would think you were out looking for a keeper, Christopher.” Mahiro casually hooks his thumb into Chris’s mouth to tilt his head back down. Chris winks and, as expected, sucks lightly on it.

“You’re the only keeper I’d have ever wanted, cheri,” he says. “But alas, you and I, as two ships passing in the night. But I’m being incredibly rude. I want you to meet a friend of mine, from my skating days. Alex. This is his first time at a party, so be extra nice, okay?” Mahiro has Breschi, his last name is Breschion a constant loop in his head as Chris smiles and pulls Alex forward a touch. “Alex, this is Mahiro and Adam. Two of the most adorable and fierce Doms in the game.”

Mahiro snickers, wipes his damp thumb on his pants, and holds his hand out, never more glad in his life that he never made it past a single appearance at a Grand Prix series event six years ago and is allowed this shred of anonymity. Alex looks interested and amused and doesn’t hesitate to shake Mahiro’s hand.

“Hi!” he chirps. “Nice to meet you both. Chris has told me a lot about you. Your demo earlier was fascinating.”

Mahiro can feel his face go a touch pink. “Thanks. Adrian’s fun. He likes showing off, too, so that makes things a bit simpler.”

“He’s easy, you mean,” Adam says, cutting in. “I’m about to go get a drink, now that we’re finished for the night. Do you guys want to come with?”

Chris nods. “Yes, please. Alex’s here for a reason, and it sort of involves you both.”

Adam looks at Mahiro and Mahiro just shrugs, bewildered; it’s not like he’s got some magical insight into Chris’s head. They collect drinks and find some open seats on the balcony. Mahiro settles into a squashy, low-slung chair and breathes in the soft spring air, taking a moment to settle the butterflies that threaten to erupt.

“So, what’s going on?” Adam asks. “I didn’t even realize you were in town.”

Chris takes a long drink, pauses, and then leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He looks serious, contemplative, and a bit unsure. “Like I’d miss this party. But really, I need a favor. Well, it’s not my favor, but I promised Alex I’d talk to you and see. Alex is writing a book, a murder mystery where a submissive is killed by her Dom.”

Mahiro and Adam both recoil. “Oh hell no. No way,” Adam says. “It was bad enough after the Clarendon murder; I don’t need another book about murderous Doms, for the love of fuck, Chris.”

Chris sighs and rubs a hand over his face. Mahiro looks at Alex, who is biting his lip and still hasn’t said anything. “See, I told you they’d react that way,” Chris says and shrugs at Alex. “You’d better explain it.”

“Okay. Well.” Alex scoots forward on his chair. “I’ve known Chris a long time, and I know he’s into this, and I think it’s really fascinating. I had an idea a few months back, about a murder that people think is a BDSM relationship gone terribly wrong—you have to admit it makes for a good novel. So I thought I’d write the story of an investigation into the murder, and how the investigator is pulled deeper and deeper into the scene and realizes there’s no possible way the murderer was an actual Dom, and finds the murder was a homicidal sociopath, who insinuated himself into the community and was never actually a real Dominant at all.”

Adam sits back and looks skeptical. Mahiro’s pretty sure he looks the same, but it’s not the first time someone hasn’t understood. Alex looks pretty sincere, so Mahiro decides to humor him for a bit.