Page 4 of We Own Each Other

I couldn’t help sniffing myself to make sure I wasn’t wafting some kind of Sub-like pheromone as the stranger leaned in and her hot breath tickled my ear.

“Hey. I’m looking for a pet. You interested?”

I took a swig of my beer and swallowed, letting her feel good and awkward as she waited for my response. Only after that swig of beer had settled in my stomach did I finally turn my head to glance her way. She wasn’t unattractive by any means. On the contrary, she was as domineering as one would expect from a decent Dom, and the prospect of being her pet didn’t sound too bad.

But I could feel it in the air — she was a weaker Dom than me. Not by much, but she wouldn’t be worth the time, especially when I was looking for a Sub. So, I clicked my teeth, growled, watching as anticipation filled her face, only for it to evaporate as I whispered:

“No thanks.”

She furrowed her brow and cursed under her breath, then quietly took her leave. Free of her presence, I was just getting ready to go back to watching the fall of the Griff family on TV when Lyle, the bartender, started cursing as he cleaned glasses.

“I can’t believe you let that Dom go. I’d kill for play like that.”

I rolled my eyes, taking another sip of my beer.

“Nothing was stopping you from offering yourself up.”

Lyle groaned, setting the glass he was cleaning down somewhere behind the bar.

“Bartenders are allowed to flirt, but actively offering ourselves up for play probably crosses a line. How fucking ironic that I’m at a Dom/Sub bar and can’t play.”

I shook my head, setting my beer down.

“You just don’t get it. I’m not a Sub like you. I’m a Switch.”

“But you seemed so happy being a Sub. What changed?”

Had I been happy? Sure, I felt happy a lot of the time, but was I actually happy? It was titillating being dominated and controlled by someone. And freeing in many ways, like my body wasn’t my own. I was entirely owned by someone else, and that someone had been one of the wealthiest people in the country. All that power being held over me? There probably wasn’t a Sub in the world that didn’t want something like that.

But maybe that was the issue to begin with.

I wasn’t a Sub.

Just as I was about to pay my tab, gather up all of my stuff, and move on to a more promising bar, Lyle tapped my glass.

“You said you wanted a Sub, right? Check out who just walked in.”

He motioned with his head, and my gaze followed.

His hair was dark, nearly pitch black, and it was rather shaggy over an undercut. When he turned his head, there was a longer section falling over the nape of his neck. He didn’t look all that impressive in a dark tank top and black, saggy pants. His body was lean, but even as he lifted his arm to brush a hand through his hair, there were clearly toned muscles rippling across his body.

He was cute, but I wasn’t so sure he was cute enough.

But then his eyes met mine.

They were a pair of ruby jewels. They were sharp and defiant. They weren’t all that different than a Dom’s eyes, and I so wanted to make them cry.

With a sharp intake of breath, I asked:

“Who is he?”

“Corin. He’s actually pretty popular, but you’ve been out of the game so long, it’s no wonder you haven’t seen him.”

Corin.

Corin was going to be mine.

“What is he into?”