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I straightened up, but he moved with me, his mouth kissing over my jaw, nipping lightly.

“God, Aaron, does he taste that good?” Clay asked, and the whole table laughed.

“Yes, he does,” Aaron said, turning away from me. “Not that you or anyone else will ever find out.”

And no one said a word to contradict him. It was going to be a long night.

As we sat there in the uncomfortable silence, I checked out the room, noticing a swing in the opposite corner. It took me another minute, but I realized I was looking at Kian, naked and trussed up in the contraption.

Squeezing Aaron’s thigh to get his attention, I pointed.

“Oh.” He squinted and then addressed Clay. “Your boy is up for grabs?”

“What? Oh yes. Kian’s leaving my employ, and unlike you, Mr. Sutter, I give my pets the choice to find new masters. So whoever wants him at the end of this weekend is free to take him home with them.”

“I see.”

“I had already taken his collar off when you saw us in Vegas, so some who saw us there are here and now vying to be the one who takes him.”

Aaron scowled. “So you removed your protection.”

“Yes.”

“I find that reprehensible.” Aaron passed judgment. “Better to simply sell him so that he goes from master to master instead of leaving him alone until someone new claims him.”

“I don’t see how giving him the choice is worse treatment.”

“Because he should know he’s wanted, especially if he’s a true submissive. He should know he is safe and won’t be shared and will be sheltered.”

Wells gestured over at Kian. “If you are so concerned, Mr. Sutter, make him an offer. But I suspect your idea of putting him through school, as you did Mr. Cobb, is not what⁠—”

“How do you know about Jaden?”

“Because he told me.” Clay smiled, lifting his hand.

I had never met Jaden Cobb. All I knew was, he was the one who had cracked and confessed to Aaron’s father about their relationship. But now, in person—the young man that Clay had gestured to—he resembled a younger version of Jory Harcourt. The similarities were many, but the differences were more pronounced. Jaden had a sort of plastic look about him—from the overly tweezed brows to the collagen-pumped lips to the deep tan that must have taken hours in a bed to achieve. Jory was a natural beauty; Jaden had been created.

He was stunning, though, and many in the area where we were sitting were entranced, as evidenced by the buzz he created when he took a seat on the floor next to Clay’s thigh.

Aaron’s eyes narrowed, and from the look on Clay’s face, it was not the response he had been hoping for. As if he could rattle the billionaire.

“Well”—Aaron clipped the word, staring holes through Jaden—“what happened to the cooking career?”

“I realized I don’t really much like working.” He simpered, rubbing his chin over Clay’s knee. “I mean, I like to cook for one, but that’s it.”

“And so, back to being kept,” Aaron said bluntly.

“Back to being pampered and adored,” he corrected his ex.

“I see.” Aaron nodded, leaning back against me. Something was wrong.

“Lemme talk to you a sec,” I said, getting up.

Aaron held out his hand, and I lifted him to his feet.

Crossing the floor to the balcony, when we passed by the swing, I saw Kian on his feet, looking up at a very angry-looking man who tightened a collar around his neck. He also yanked his own lightweight sweater up over his head and pulled it down over the smaller, younger man.

“Oh, that’s good.” Aaron cleared his throat. “It looks like someone was just waiting to hear that Kian was free of Wells.”