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

LXV

"You're becoming a really good baker," Thea complimented him a week later, and Aspen flushed.
"I've been, ah, practicing. Turns out that if you put out a plate of cupcakes in the Caulan household, Spencer will inhale them like a vacuum."
Thea giggled. "I'm glad. You seem more relaxed these days, too."
Aspen nodded. "Yeah, I can tell I am, too. I guess it took me a while to figure out where I want to be going in life, but your employees have been very eye-opening."
Aspen had bonded the most with Noah, Thea and Leo's neon-haired non-binary personal assistant.
They always seemed to have some sort of tea to spill, and after a while, Aspen figured out that Noah was the significant other of one of Aphrodite's first employees.
They had fallen in love with each other "on the job" so to say, but that was before Noah had become the Silva's assistant.
"Meghan and I had fun here once or twice, but by my third appointment she confessed that she had a crush on me and she felt a bit weird about getting freaky with me on the clock. But she's a great domme, we just... Keep it behind closed doors now."
Meghan was still employed with the Silva's, and she was currently overseeing the hiring process for another dungeon Leo was planning on opening in another state, which was why he only visited New York sporadically.
And he had yet to make another appointment with Alan so they could talk it out, but perhaps that was wishful thinking.
Leo had probably changed his mind on that, now that he had plenty of opportunities to make his stance on rekindling with his ex-boyfriend clear to Aspen: Leo was too busy to be a decent human being.
Thea elbowed him in the side. "Earth to Aspen."
"Sorry. I was just thinking about Noah."
Thea grinned. "Meghan says Noah is like a Doberman. They are a lot of bark when you first meet them, but the longer you stick around, the cuddlier they get. When I put the ad for a PA up and Meghan approached me about hiring Noah I was a bit unsure, but now  I wouldn't want to miss them for the world." A short pause. "They're a goofball."
That made a lot of sense to Aspen. He remembered the way Noah had looked at him when he had come in to meet Leo the first time.
As if Aspen wasn't worth Leo's attention.
He said as much to Thea, who laughed even harder.
"Oh," they said, patting Aspen on the back. "That's because you're worth way more."
Aspen almost crumbled at that. "That's very high praise, Your Majesty," he whispered.
"I'm serious," Thea insisted. "I know you're about to become twice the dominant Leo wishes he was, and he's going to turn in his grave knowing he indirectly contributed to it."
Aspen inhaled sharply and looked at Thea. "About that," he said slowly. "I think I might be... a switch."
Thea did a double take at that, too. "Oh?"
Aspen nodded. "I didn't know that was a thing, but I talked to Jason two days ago, and he—"
"Is one, yes," Thea finished the sentence for him, and then pulled him over to one of the sofas. "Why don't we unpack that, hm?"

Aspen could think of a few better things to do than that, but he grabbed a pillow and hugged it to his chest.
"Sometimes I dream about kneeling for someone shapeless, and in my dreams it's the greatest and most comforting feeling in the world, but then, when I wake up, I ... don't feel like that's very me."
Thea had pulled their legs to their chest and they sat on the couch, huddled like a pair of goblins over a treasure: the privacy of their own thoughts.
After a moment, Thea said, "I am a switch."
Aspen only nodded. After Thea had come out as genderfluid to him, little about who they were as a person or what they did surprised him anymore.
"It doesn't work so well in a professional setting because as the person offering the service of submitting, I'd have to be able to put a lot of trust into my dominating partner, which is just not feasible."
Again, Aspen nodded.
"Sometimes, I let clients who have been with me a little longer explore that aspect, but that is a rare thing." They smiled at Aspen. "But you, my dear, are in a great position to do a lot of exploring."
"With you?"
Thea nodded. "If you'd like that."
Aspen had to wrap his head around that.
"But then that means I'd be domming you," he said slowly.
"Yes," Thea confirmed.
"What if I'm bad at that?"
They laughed. "Aspen, honey, no. You're not. I didn't spend all this time educating you on domination for you to doubt yourself. I should spank that out of you." Their tone was light. They were teasing.
"I'll spank you first," Aspen retorted, without missing a beat.
"Oh yeah?" Thea challenged. "I'd very much like to see you try."
Then they jumped up from the sofa and bee-lined for the door to their bedroom. "You'll have to catch me first!"
Aspen inhaled and exhaled sharply and then got up, following them to their bedroom — but of course, Thea had shut and locked the door in his face. Something deep inside of him had awakened, something that Aspen hadn't felt before. He raised his fist to rap against the door.
"Thea, open this door," he demanded. "It's not very fair of you to suggest things and then run away from them. Especially not when you've made the mistake of teaching me bondage. If you don't come here and face me, I'm going to have to show you just how much I've learned in that regard."
He could hear Thea on the other side of the door, giggling, but they didn't say anything, and the door stayed shut.
"Thea," Aspen warned, reaching into the pocket of his pants for the stray bobby pins they left everywhere for him to gather up. "Don't make me break open this door!"