COMPLETED | Take Me Down The Rabbit Hole (BDSM | 18+)

XLVIII

Dedication

This chapter is for A., who is the love of my life, and the inspiration behind Thea.
A., thank you for letting me borrow your kinks, and for letting me show the world how I see you — I hope you recognize what a badass you are, and how much better my life is because you're in it. I never want to be without you.
xoxo

*

"I really need to stop making a habit out of falling asleep in places that aren't beds," Aspen groaned, when he woke from having taken a nap on Thea's kitchen floor, head against the wall.
Thea laughed. "That's okay. I did take your leash and your collar off," she informed him, gesturing to the collar on her kitchen island. "And now that you're awake, there's something I would like to discuss with you."
"Sure," Aspen muttered and then yawned loudly as he tried to stretch. "Did I do something?"
Thea laughed more. "No, no," she said quickly. "It's just that I had a conversation with Leo before he left the other day and he pointed out that I'm not entirely honest with you about a very crucial part of my life."
Aspen stopped short just before he'd cuddled up in one of Thea's blankets on the couch, and put the blanket aside.
"I debated if I should tell you about it in the first place because it's not something I discuss with my clients at Aphrodite, but our dynamic isn't like that, so—"
Thea smacked her lips together, and Aspen could tell she wasn't exactly comfortable.
"I'm genderqueer, Aspen."
Thea's entire body seemed to deflate at the words as if it was a balloon someone had forgotten to knot shut.
Aspen sat there and nodded.
An uncomfortable moment of heavy silence passed before he finally said, "I should have realized, I— Leo calls you his sibling."
Thea flushed. "He's the only one who knows. Well, except for you."
Aspen nodded. "You two are close?"
"Of course we are. We're siblings and business partners, I couldn't be any closer to him if I tried. He practically harassed me into coming out to you from the moment he first heard about you, and apparently, you left a sensational lasting impression on him. He talks very highly of you, and said you'd deserve to know."
"I thought he dislikes me," Aspen mumbled. "I appreciate that you've decided to listen to him and share this with me," he added, louder. "Is our relationship going to change?"
"No," Thea said. "I mean, maybe a little. I go by all pronouns."
Aspen nodded. "Did you want me to stop calling you female-gendered honorifics?"
Thea narrowed their eyes at him. "Don't laugh," they warned, "but I've always wanted a sub to call me Your Majesty."
Aspen grinned and then cleared his throat. "Of course, Your Majesty. Your wish is my command."
"Next time, try it without the sass, sweet thing," Thea admonished, grinning widely at him. "Leo was right. My god, I got so lucky with you."
Aspen felt heat rise to his cheeks and he lifted his hands, intending to cover his face. Before he could, Thea had gotten up and was holding onto his wrists. "Don't you dare," they whispered, "hide from me. You're my submissive, this is not how you act."
Oh.
"My apologies... Your Majesty."
Thea leaned in more and decisively kissed Aspen's jaw under his ear. "Just like I thought," they hummed, "I like this new honorific. We'll stick to it. But other than that, gendered terms are fine since I am still female-presenting in every other aspect of my life. It's what I feel comfortable with as of right now."
Aspen was staring up at them, but then he cleared his throat and said, "Confidence is very sexy—"
"You know it," Thea whispered. "If it wasn't dinner time, I'd have my way with you right on this couch."
"We could postpone dinner time," Aspen suggested in a haughty voice. It was getting increasingly hard for him to stay seated without begging Thea to start initiating sex. They were right. He was still their submissive.
"I suppose," Thea started, as they pulled back and then, in a matter of a moment, straddled Aspen's lap, effectively pinning him to the couch, "we could make out for a few minutes. But if you think I could be talked into indefinitely postponing dinner for sex, you don't know me very well."
For the effect, they dug their hand into the crown of Aspen's hair, effectively messing up his signature half-updo man bun he'd grown to like sporting these days, causing Aspen to let out a groan.
"Sorry," he pressed out before Thea's lips latched onto his neck— "Ow!"
Thea laughed against his neck. "I can feel your boner through your pants, Aspen."
Aspen reflexively closed his eyes as Thea pulled his head back more and forced him to rest it against the backrest of the couch. "Confidence is sexy," he repeated.
"And—?"
"And Alan and I didn't have sex last night so maybe I just have a lot of pent-up energy everywhere," Aspen confessed.
Abruptly, Thea got up. "In that case, I'm sure you won't mind waiting until after dinner, hm?" they teased, holding out their hand.
Aspen exhaled lowly. "Of course not, Your Majesty," he conceded, letting them pull him to his feet. "I have all the patience in the world."

Thea winked at him and then proceeded to rope him into dinner prep. Ten minutes in, Aspen caught his reflection in the oven door, and his hand went up to his neck. "You gave me a hickey."
"Yes," Thea said, shrugging before they gently pushed him aside to open the oven. "I sometimes just feel like biting. But if that's a no-go, you can tell me."
Aspen bit back the comment about how he was a lawyer, and Thea should have asked him before biting him and straightened.
"You are glowing," he then observed. "And I'm pretty sure that's not thanks to the glitter in your highlighter."
"No," Thea agreed. "The fact that you've taken to my coming out so fast is giving me a lot of gender euphoria right now. I'm a very private person, as you know, and I was fully prepared to go through the rest of our relationship without you knowing about this. But it feels better now that you know."
"I'm happy to be able to validate your gender identity, even though it technically isn't any of my beeswax—"
"I made it your beeswax fifteen minutes ago. It's alright."