Chapter 4

Finn

We walk into the club and Benji signs me in as a guest.  We won't be able to go onto any of the private floors, but I'm okay with that.  The main part of the place doesn't look too dissimilar to a regular dance club, except there's a lot of black leather and a lot of skin showing.  While I am signing a guest form, which I notice includes a non-disclosure blurb at the bottom, I see a very large, very well built man in his late thirties walk up.

Benji immediately dropped his gaze down, while I remained neutral.  "Hello Benji," the very deep and gravelly, but friendly voice said.  "Where's Ajax tonight?"

"Hello Master Phillip, Master Ajax had to go out of town, but he gave me permission to come tonight.  We're going to meet Peter and Evan."  The large man looked over at me.  "Master Phillip, I'd like to introduce you to my friend/little brother Finn," Benji added.  "He's here as a guest tonight, so we'll just stay on the main floor."  I watched the man's expression change from startled, to shocked and then slightly concerned before he washed the emotions away to a blank expression.

"Nice to meet you Finn," He said, looking closely at me.

"Sir," I nodded.

"Would you like a white bracelet Finn, has Benji explained what that is?" he asked.

"Yes he did, I don't need one Sir.  I'm fine, I can look after myself," I replied confidently.  I wasn't afraid of the club or the people in it, I thought to myself, I'm not the scared 16 year old boy and I'll decide who I want or not want to talk with.  Who knows, I might meet someone interesting tonight and I like leaving my options open.

"Very well.  Benji, you look after him."

"Yes Master Phillip, I will."  The large man walked away and I watched as he stopped to talk to a young man, whispering in his ear before giving him a long kiss on the lips and walking away.  The guy smiled and blushed and then turned to us.  He was a few inches shorter than me, brown hair and pretty green eyes.  He was wearing a pair of tight black leather pants, no shirt and a thick black collar similar to Benji's.

"Hi Benji," he said as he came over.

Benji reached over and gave him a quick hug, "Hey Quentin, this is my little brother Finn I told you about."

"Hi," he said as he smiled shyly.  "Master is going to be pretty busy tonight, is it okay if I hang out with you guys?"

"Of course!  That'd be great!" Benji's inherent exuberance at the forefront.  "Peter and Evan are coming too, they said they would hang out with us for part of the night while Rob and Gavin have some Dom-bonding or something upstairs."  We decided to get a table and order some drinks.  It still was a bit early in the evening so the club wasn't too busy yet.  Quentin was really nice and had lots of questions about New York and my art and my plans for school this year.  He was out of University and worked as a graphic artist designing websites and other online media.

"Benji! Quentin!"  We heard a squeal from the direction of the door and I looked over and saw a beautiful young man with creamy caramel skin and dark hair jumping up and down looking at us.  Next to him was a smaller boy, equally beautiful but in such an opposite way; light brown hair and pale skin, large round eyes that looked over at us before he turned to a much larger man who was looking down at him lovingly.  Both of the younger men were wearing collars, as they were obviously with their Doms.   I laughed as the fourth man took the taller boy's face in his hands and after kissing him on the lips started petting his head as if calming him down.  Once they had all signed in they made their way over.

As Benji made all the introductions I found out that the excitable one was Evan and he was with Gavin.  In contrast Peter, the pale boy with the man named Rob, was very quiet and shy.  "This is Finn," Benji announced once the others had been introduced.  Rob had a similar reaction to Master Phillip; surprise followed by concern.

"Wouldn't you be more comfortable with a white bracelet?" he asked.

"No Sir, I'm fine," I replied with a chuckle.

"It's okay Sir," Quentin piped up, "we'll keep an eye on him, Master Phillip said it's okay."  After the two Doms left to go see some friends, I turned to Benji.

"What did you tell them about me, they all seem to think I need watching over."  I was wondering if they knew about my experience in the club in Miami all those years ago, but how could they….unless…

"Nothing, they just know that as soon as the single Doms start arriving, you'll be getting a lot of attention.  You know, 'fresh meat'.  You don't have to talk to anyone you don't want to, just be polite about it."

"Benji wasn't Phillip the name of the guy who…Nico," I still had trouble even saying the name out loud, "had come down to fix the club after…after all that?"

"Yeah he was, I forgot about that, so yeah, you never met him, but he probably remembered your name."

"So then he knows what happened…"

"Don't worry about it Finn, that was a lifetime ago.  You got a fresh start, that's all behind you."

"I know bro."

"And who knows, maybe you'll meet someone tonight."  I laughed at Benji's grin and wiggling eyebrows.

"Nah, I doubt it.  I don't really have any interest in getting back into this lifestyle."

"Okay, then let's just have fun tonight," Benji said a little louder perking Evan's interest.

"Yes, we only have a couple of hours before our men are going to want us back with them, so let's start dancing!!" Evan piped up.

"Ahhh….I'm not really much of a dancer," I admitted, "you guys go dance, I'll just sip my drink here and make fun of you."

"Me too," Peter said shyly, "I hate dancing in front of everyone."  Benji  and Evan hopped off to the dancefloor, Quentin following at a more sedate pace.

"Those two are quite the pair," I chuckled, "Evan and Benji, they're like twins separated at birth."

"You're not kidding," Peter huffed.

While they were dancing Peter and I made small talk; though very shy, he was nice and a very smart guy.  Benji had told me he'd come a long way since first walking into the club and I guess his boyfriend Rob had a lot to do with it.

"Peter, who is your friend?"  I looked up to see a tall man looking down at me with interested eyes…or maybe a better description was a predatory gaze.

"Umm…hello Sir…um," Peter's eyes flicked between the man, myself and the floor nervously.

"My name's Finn," I finished for him standing up.  I looked him straight in the eye and held my hand out confidently.  We were about the same height, but he had a much larger build than me.  I no longer allowed myself to feel intimidated by men like this, so I held his eyes while I watched his face go through a myriad of looks; surprise, admiration and interest.

"Well I'm Jacob, nice to meet you Finn.  Do you gentlemen mind if I join you?"

I looked down at Peter who averted his eyes, visibly uncomfortable.  "Feel free," I replied, signalling a free chair.  I waited until he sat down before I retook my seat as well.  When I glanced over at the others I noticed Quentin looking concerned and as if he was about to come over.  Benji gripped his shoulder and spoke into his ear and they kept dancing, though I chuckled to myself as Quentin kept his body turned so that he could keep an eye on us.  My own personal bodyguard and I'd never met him before.

"Are you new here," Jacob asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"I'm just a guest for the evening.  I've just moved back from New York," I explained, "you could say I'm indulging Benji," I joked.

"I see, so you're not…"

"In the lifestyle, no.  I was a long time ago, but that was a different life."

"That's too bad, our loss."  His smile was genuine and I was relieved that I felt no discomfort or apprehension at this club.  Perhaps one demon's been slayed.

The rest of the evening went about the same.  I was approached by many Doms and even got many sidelong looks from single subs.  I found everyone I dealt with at this club polite and friendly.  I enjoyed meeting Peter, Evan and Quentin and even promised Benji I might come back again with him some time.

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Benji’s POV

“Hi Baby, I missed you,” the love of my life said as he came in the door just after noon, he walked over quickly and grabbed me in a big hug.  The way he held me tightly and almost desperately made me feel like something was wrong.

“What’s wrong boo?”

“Nothing, I just missed you,” he replied, nuzzling his nose into my neck.

I leaned back out of his hug and looked at his face.  He looked tired and a bit drawn, but what I noticed primarily was sadness in his eyes.  Ajax could often be more serious than was good for him, which is why maybe he had me as a counterbalance, but this sadness was something I only saw a few times in the last few years and those were times had to do with Nico, specifically the break-up of Nico and Finn.

He’d just been away for a business trip in South America.

Lightbulb.

“Ajax, tell me the truth, did you go see Nico this weekend?” I asked before looking around the kitchen and into the living room.  I was sure that Finn was still in his studio working, so we had the house to ourselves.

“Baby, I don’t want to talk about it right now,” he sighed, holding me tighter, his face still tucked into my neck.

“Ajax…why didn’t you tell me…wait, this wasn’t the first time was it?  How often have you seen him? Is he okay?  Is he coming back?  Does he want to see Finn?”  The questions just seemed to start flowing light lightning through my head.

“Ajax? Boo?” A time like this was just us, no formality, no Dom, he was my boyfriend right now. He was hurting and I wanted some answers.

“Let it go Benj,” he groaned tiredly.

“You know I can’t, please talk to me,” I pressed on, rubbing my hands in circles on his back, hoping he would stay calm and not get angry at my probing. 

“I just want to know what’s going on, I care about both of them, I think I have the right to know.”

Ajax lifted his head off my shoulder and took a step back, sliding his hand into mine as he did.  “Come on, let’s go talk up in our room.”

When we were seated on the bed, Ajax flopped back so he was lying down, closing his eyes as he hissed out another long sigh.  He threw an arm over his head as if blocking out…I guess me.

“So how many times have you seen him since he left Miami?” I started.

“A couple of times a year, but I talk to him about once a week.”

I took a second to digest this information.  Was I angry that he’d been basically lying to me for over three years?  I put that thought away for later.

“How is he?”

Ajax took his arm off his face and looked up at me.  “He’s not good,” he said seriously. “I thought in time he’d bounce back a little, move on, like Finn has, but Nic…he’s a broken man and I don’t know how to help him.  He doesn’t want my help which doesn’t make anything easier.”

“Why doesn’t he come back, see Finn, he’s 19 now, it’s all okay.”

“He won’t…for a variety of reasons.”

“Like?”

“He doesn’t want to interfere in his life again, he knows that Finn has moved on and…he doesn’t think Finn wants to see him again.  He feels unworthy, I think it’s his way of punishing himself…I don’t know Benj, there are lots of reasons he won’t talk about, but basically I think he’s afraid of hurting Finn again.”

“What if we talk to Finn and ask him if he wants to see him again?”

“No baby!  Nico made me promise I wouldn’t do that.  And if Nico’s not willing to see him, it will just stir up a lot of pain that Finn seems to have put behind him.”

“But…”

“Really baby, promise me you won’t say anything to Finn.” My mouth opened and closed a few times, different words, warring thoughts trying to come out.  “Promise me baby,” Ajax said more sternly.

“I won’t say anything,” I promised, “or if I have the urge I’ll talk to you first and you can talk me out of it.”

“Okay…now I’m really hungry and I need to get my mind off everything, can we go get some lunch somewhere away from everybody, everything just the two of us,” he pleaded.

“Your wish is your command Master…Bae-ter,”I mocked with a salute and a smirk that I’m sure that looked forced.

“Or maybe we should go down to the playroom and I can inflict some much needed punishment on my smart mouthed boy,” the old Ajax growled back.

“Food!  You’re starving! Can’t punish on an empty stomach,” I shouted jumping up, “you’re out of your mind with hunger!”

I ran to the door and peeked back as I opened it.  “Come on Boo, let’s go run away for a little while, I’ll leave a note on the kitchen counter for Finn if he ever comes up for air.”