ServingSimon (2 page)

“I’m waiting,” Simon said, bringing Max’s attention back to him.

“And I’m still thinking,” Max said, snapping at him.

Simon’s deep chuckle rumbled through Max’s chest, warming him to the core. He loved the sound of Simon’s laugh and even the little chuckle he had just made was enough to make Max’s cock swell in his pants. He so didn’t need this right now. On top of everything else that had happened today, he didn’t need Simon knowing how turned on his roommate made him. The man didn’t even know he was gay for fuck’s sake. At the very least they had another few months of living together. He couldn’t screw that all up now by freaking Simon out.

“Come on, Max,” Simon said, walking toward him. “You know that pretty little head of yours can think faster than that.”

Max’s mouth fell open. “You think my head is pretty?” He scowled. That wasn’t something guys usually said to each other. At least not the ones he’d ever known.

Simon nodded and reached out to touch him. His hand landed on Max’s shoulder, the warmth bleeding through his shirt. “Yes, Max. You have a pretty head. But that’s not what you want to know.”

“It’s not?” Max said, frowning.

Simon smiled and shook his head. “No, you want to know why I’m telling you now, after we’ve been living together for so long, that I’m a Dom.”

Max hoped his face didn’t give away too much of what he was thinking because yes, Simon was right. He did want to know that. Among other things. Like what he looked like in the leather pants Max pictured him wearing. And if he owned leather pants. And what size he was because if he didn’t, Max was going to make sure he did now. Just so that he could see him walking around the apartment in his leather pants, barefoot without a shirt on. Simon had lovely feet. Long bones and neatly trimmed nails. Max hadn’t thought he’d been a foot man until he’d seen Simon walk around in a pair of faded blue jeans one morning while drinking a glass of milk. His feet had been as bare as his chest was. Max hadn’t been able to stop staring, and luckily Simon hadn’t noticed. Or maybe he had. Maybe he’d always known when Max was watching him. Like some kind of freaky stalker. But he wasn’t. It wasn’t stalking if the man lived with you. Was it? He didn’t think so. That was just called being aware. He was supposed to know what his roommate was up to. Wasn’t he? That was just being smart. Yes, he was just—

“Max, enough,” Simon said, interrupting his wayward thoughts. “Do you want to know why I want to tell you about being a Dom?”

“Yes,” Max answered automatically, still picturing him wearing a pair of tight leather pants that would perfectly fit Simon’s muscular ass. “I mean—”

“Go lay down on your bed. Get comfortable,” Simon said, his voice soft though the words were clipped. Max didn’t know if his roommate was angry with him, had become frustrated, or was simply giving a command.

Since going to bed was what he wanted to do anyway, Max nodded and walked into his room. He was messier than Simon and kicked a few pieces of dirty laundry away. He’d do them tomorrow. For now he stripped off his shirt, tossed it aside and flopped onto the bed, the thick comforter sighing under him as his weight pressed out some of the air.

“I desire control,” Simon said, coming into the room and standing next to his bed. Max looked up at him, unused to having someone else in his room.

“What are you doing in here?” Max asked, barely able to keep his eyes open as his head sunk into his fluffy pillows.

His eyes shot open as Simon’s fingers grazed Max’s chest, trailing over his sternum and down his ribs. Max couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe, as Simon’s fingers tickled his stomach and circled his navel.

“As I was saying,” Simon said, his voice soft in the near darkness. “I want control.”

Max gulped, watching him in the moonlight streaming in from his open curtains. “Of what?”

His mouth turned up into a smile and Max froze, both dreading and needing the answer all at once. “Why, Max, that’s simple.” He took a breath. “I want to control…you.”

Max shook his head. “Crazy, psychopathic, lunatic—” His words became muffled as Simon leaned down on and captured Max’s lips with his own. His hands tightened in the sheets, afraid to touch him, though he desperately wanted to know how the thick muscles of Simon’s shoulders that he’d been dreaming about would feel under his hands. He bet Simon was warm, that his muscles were hard, that he—

He frowned as Simon pulled back. “You stopped,” he grumbled.

“Oh? Did you want me to continue?” he replied, smirking.

Max bit his lip. He couldn’t admit that. Not out loud. So he nodded. He wanted Simon to kiss him again. To bring his beautiful mouth back down so that Max could kiss him again. And then he wanted so much more than that, too. Though the kissing had been damn nice.

“There are rules, Max,” Simon said, trailing his warm fingers over the band of Max’s pants. He tucked his fingers inside for a second, making Max jump, before he pulled them back out again. He continued this game, teasing him as he touched Max’s heated skin.

“What rules?” Max gasped out as Simon lowered his hand and began stroking the hardened ridge of his cock through his pants.

Simon squeezed him through his pants and Max couldn’t stop his moan in time before it slipped past his lips. “First of all, you have to tell me when you like something, but much more importantly, when you don’t. I’m not a mind reader. I won’t assume that you enjoy something without knowing for sure.”

Max nodded quickly. He could agree to this. He’d agree to pretty much anything Simon wanted, as long as he kept touching him.

“Secondly, I want to give you this release because you need it. I’ve seen you over the past few months. Head of the surgical unit was a big move for you. It was a good promotion. But long weeks and late hours have taken their toll. You’ve stopped taking care of yourself. That ends tonight. You have to be in control of everything all day, all the time. You aren’t made for that.”

Max opened his mouth to argue but Simon shook his head.

“Tell me, and be honest here, Max, tell me that you honestly enjoy having to keep order at the hospital? That you like having all those people under you, that you don’t hate being responsible for every little detail that happens in your wing?” Simon pressed him.

Max would have loved to lie to him, would have given anything to tell Simon that he didn’t know what the hell he was talking about because Max loved his job and enjoyed every damn minute of it. But he didn’t. He hung his head, ashamed that he couldn’t be as strong as the hospital needed him to be, even as his chin trembled with unspent emotion.

Simon gently kissed his cheek. “Not enjoying it isn’t a sign of weakness. Some people simply cannot handle that environment.”

Max snorted. “I don’t really have a choice. What do you expect me to do? Quit? That’s not going to happen. This is a dream job. I’m not walking out on it.”

With quick, sure movements Simon undid the button on Max’s pants. “I never said that I expected you to quit, now did I?”

Max shook his head, staring at Simon’s fingers as they toyed with his zipper.

“I’m simply offering a solution. A distraction, if you will. Where you can release all of this pent up stress and hand control over to someone else.”

Max’s heart jumped. “Who?” he whispered, not believing his ears even as he saw Simon form the words.

“Me, of course.”

Max nodded as if it all made sense. “Of course. So your solution is what? Sex?” Please let it be sex, he thought, his gaze travelling over Simon’s naked chest and back.

Simon laughed. “Well it certainly isn’t ice cream. So, do you agree to try my solution out? Just once?”

“Yes,” Max said, eager to get started.

“Good,” Simon said, grinning. He reached into his pocket and brought out two long pieces of material. Before Max could protest, Simon had already strapped one of his wrists to the slats in his headboard. Max was too surprised to fight him off as he secured the second.

“What the hell?” Max tried to struggle, shaking his wrists and pulling his arm until he thought the slats might break. But his efforts did nothing to loosen the ties on his wrists.

Simon tsked at him. “I said that I would control you. What did you think I meant?”

Max continued to struggle, despite the way his muscles ached as he worked his already tired arms. “I thought you’d spank me or something,” he admitted, falling back against his pillows with a sigh. He was held too tightly and he was much too exhausted to keep fighting. As much as it sucked, he’d just have to admit defeat. “When do the ties come off?”

“When we’re done. You’ll be asleep within an hour. I promise you this. You’ll have plenty of time to catch up on your rest. I won’t let our activities interfere with your time off any more than necessary. A good Dom takes care of his submissive,” Simon said as he unzipped Max’s pants and began sliding them over his hips.

“And are you?” Max asked, lifting himself off the bed to help Simon undress him.

Simon tossed his pants aside and began working on his socks. “Am I what?”

Max swallowed, realizing Simon had him completely naked and exposed. He didn’t mind. Not as much as he thought he would anyway. “A good Dom?”

Simon chuckled and quickly took off his own clothes. He placed a few items next to Max’s hip and Max gulped loudly as he realized they were a small bottle of lube and a condom. “I am an excellent Dom. Though I can go get references for you if you’d like.”

Max shook his head. “No. That’s not necessary.”

“Sure you don’t want to see my resume?” Simon teased as he knelt on the bed next to him. He moved toward him and Max spread his legs, opening himself up for Simon as he crawled on top of his body.

“No, no I don’t.” Max frowned, hating the bit of jealousy he heard creep into his voice. But it was there all the same, and now that it was out his overworked mind began picking at that emotion. Sure, he found Simon attractive, and he was more than willing to play guinea pig to his desires. But he didn’t think he’d become jealous of the idea of Simon having lovers before him. He was a rational adult, fully capable of realizing that—

“Ow!” he yelped, shifting away from Simon’s mouth as he raised his head from the red mark he’d left on Max’s hip. “You bit me!”

Simon nodded. “Yes. I did. And do you know why?”

Max glowered at him. “Because you’re a fucking cannibal?”

Laughing, Simon shook his head. “No. I bit you to keep your mind with me, grounded in the here and now. Let’s try this again. You are?”

“Getting annoyed.”

“No, what’s your name?” Simon continued, not missing a beat.

Max blew out an irritated breath. “You know my damn name, Simon. If all you’re going to do is play mind games with me for an hour I’d like to just skip this and go to bed.”

Simon shook his head. “Nope, no games. Just answer the question. It’s a grounding exercise. I know you’ve done these before. You did take a few psychology courses after all. So humor me. What’s your name?”

With a sigh Max relented. If this would get Simon off the stupid topic of what his name was he’d play along. For now. “Maxwell Peterson.”

“And what did you have to eat last?” Simon continued.

Max pursed his lips. “You’re supposed to go through the whole list including what I do for a living and where I live. You don’t get to jump around.”

Simon shrugged. “I know that you’re a surgeon and since I’ve been living with you for a while now, I know where you live. Those answers don’t interest me. What I care about though is that I’ve seen how poorly you take care of yourself when you’re stressed. And it’s only getting worse. Now, answer my question. What did you last eat?”

He couldn’t remember and that sucked. It wasn’t that the meal had just been boring to the point of not being memorable for him. He had that kind of food all the time. No, this was the kind of day where he had been so worked up in his own stuff that he couldn’t remember the last thing he ate because it had been that long.

“Food wasn’t really a priority for me today,” Max replied quietly. He closed his eyes and tilted his head away before he could see any sort of disapproval in Simon’s clear gaze. He tried not to care what his roommate would think about him not eating, after all he was an adult and if he wanted to go around skipping meals that was his business. But for some reason it mattered to him. Just a little though. He wasn’t going to go overboard with this whole new desire to please Simon.

Max felt the bed shift as Simon moved and frowned at the instant loss of contact. He’d liked having the other man laying next to him, feeling his bare chest and stomach pressed against his leg. It’d been nice. Like they were connected somehow.

“I’ll be back in a minute. Call out if you need me.”

Max opened his eyes quickly, shocked to see Simon walking out of his bedroom. “Hey!” he yelled, shaking his wrists in an effort to get them free. “You can’t just leave me here!”

“I said I’d be right back,” Simon called, lifting his hand to give Max a little wave that just served to piss him off even more.

Grumbling, Max tilted his chin down to rest his head on his bare chest. He glared at his hard cock as it stood proudly against his stomach. Simon had pretty much guaranteed him sex. Hadn’t he? So why was he taking off now like Max wasn’t all tied up and waiting for him? Literally.

After a minute of impatiently waiting, Max yelled, “Simon!”

The microwave beeped and Max pressed his lips together in annoyance. Surely Simon couldn’t be getting something to eat. How rude could one guy get?

“Yes, Max?” Simon asked as he came back into the bedroom. He sat down on the bed next to Max, getting comfortable against his side.

“What’s that?” he asked, barely able to make out the shape of a bowl in Simon’s long fingers.

“Oatmeal.”

Max frowned. “You hate oatmeal.”

Chuckling, Simon scooped some out and brought it to his own lips. He blew on it loudly before putting the spoon in front of Max’s mouth. “You’re right. I can’t stand the gooey stuff. But you seem to be fascinated by it. So open up.”

Max shook his head. Though the oatmeal smelled amazing and he could feel his stomach churning by the temptation that was his favorite food, something inside of him refused to give up that easily. He was competitive by nature and letting Simon get his way felt a bit like losing to Max. And he hated to lose.