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

LI

Hours later, Aspen is lying in his bed in Alan's guest room, trying to adjust his noise-canceling earplugs so he can't hear the sound of the TV in the living room. When he and Alan got home half an hour earlier, Spencer and his friend were all cozy on Alan's couch, just into what appeared to be the last movie of a movie marathon.
A part of his heart is aching for some physical contact, but he doesn't dare to go into the living room and ask Alan for it in front of Spencer.
But he doesn't need to.
His phone rings, and the unknown number that Aspen hadn't dared to save into his phone flashes across the screen.
Abruptly, Aspen sits up and blindly feels around for his AirPods, before he answers the Facetime call.
"Aspen?"
Sure enough, there's Leo on his screen.
"Just a second—" Aspen says hastily and switches his earplugs out for his AirPods before he switches his bedside lamp on.
"Oh," Leo says. "You're not with Thea."
"No," Aspen responds slowly. "How are you, Sir? Nice to see you again."
Immediately, a smile curls Leo's lips. "I'm very well. I'm in Mexico for the weekend, and then I'm off to Seattle."
Aspen sits up, trying not to give Leo a view of his naked upper body, and then grins right back. "Competing with billionaire-bachelor Christian Grey?" he teases, and Leo's barking laughter fills his AirPods. Aspen is glad that Alan can only hear his parts of the conversation — he could be talking to anyone.
"I like you," Leo says, jabbing his pointer finger at the screen. "If you decide Alan doesn't pay you well enough, you could always come and work for this billionaire-bachelor."
"You make that much money?"
Leo laughs some more. "Not yet," he says softly. "But what do I know, times are changing."
He waits for a moment before he asks, "How was the Shibari class?"
Aspen can't help but smile. "It was great, I'd love to go to more like this."
Leo nods. "Maybe one day you'll host your own."
"How come you and Thea invite these people and you're not in attendance?"
Leo nods, obviously considering the question. "Many people enjoy bondage," he says slowly. "I'm not people. I prefer impact play and casual everyday dominance. My favorite thing to do was to force Alan to wear my clothes around campus. They were always a tad small on him and made him look built as fuck."
Aspen flushed, remembering the time Thea had given him a tight T-Shirt with their baking business' logo on it to drive and deliver cakes, and how that had felt.
"He must have hated that."
"He did. It took him two semesters to realize that I accept a safeword as a no and that he didn't have to wear my clothes."
Aspen nods. Then — "He's on the couch with Spencer and one of Spencer's friends, and I'm," he starts, hesitating mid-sentence. "I'm craving physical contact?"
Immediately, Leo's expression darkens. "You do?" he asks, barely waiting until Aspen nods again in confirmation and then, he says, "Go out there and tell him you'd like to talk to him, and then, when the two of you are alone, tell him you need aftercare. Aftercare isn't only for submissives, dominants benefit from it, too. People have their own ways of going about it, but if you feel like you need physical contact, then you should listen to your body."
Leo's face is really close to the camera now, and then he says, "We can talk again once I've landed in Seattle. Perhaps when your Master isn't within earshot. Goodnight, Aspen."

Aspen sits on the bed for a few minutes and stares against the wall, before he grabs a discarded shirt from the floor and puts it on, only to make his way out of the room with his AirPods still in his ears.
He leans against the doorframe and watches, noting how Spencer is sitting on the couch with an arm around his friend, who is holding a giant bowl of popcorn on her lap, her head resting on his shoulder. Alan is curled into an armchair off to the side, and that's what gives Aspen the confidence to approach and tap his dominant's arm. "Alan."
Alan turns, a small smile on his face. "Hmh?" he hums.
Aspen inhales sharply and points his thumb at the door to the guest room. "Could I have a few minutes?"
Immediately, Alan is up and out of his chair. "Of course."
He turns back to Spencer and says, "Don't forget you have appointments tomorrow, love. Goodnight."
Spencer barely reacts, but Alan is already busy steering Aspen back into the guest room and then plucks Aspen's AirPods from Aspen's ears. "What do you need, pet?" he asks gently.
Aspen sits on the bed. "I want to be the little spoon," he says, the words are out of his mouth before he can overthink them, but he lets them settle in the room.
Alan sits with him on the bed. "Come on then, little spoon," he says tenderly, "Good job telling me what you want."
Aspen's insides squeeze at the praise, and lays down on the bed, turning so he's facing Alan. "Today was nice," he says slowly, "but it was all the more exhausting."
He feels Alan threading his fingers into his hair and lightly scratching his scalp. "Being in charge is exhausting," he agrees. "That's why I enjoyed not being that today, but I'm happy to be here for you right now, and I'm so incredibly proud of you for all the amazing ropework you showed off today."
"I want to go to more classes like this."
Aspen leans into Alan's embrace and smiles. "And tying you up was the most fun I've had in a while."
"All you have to do is ask," Alan reminds him. "This is supposed to be a mutually beneficial relationship."
That's the last thing Aspen hears before he drifts off to sleep.
In his dreams is a scene from the class earlier that day, Alan tied to the rig with that multicolored rainbow rope.
That was the first time that Aspen had ever truly felt powerful.