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

LXX

"Leo's going to want to be present when we sign you on," Thea said.
"Why?"
"We are co-owners. He's not going to need to vet you, but he'll be the one writing your paychecks—"
Aspen slumped in his chair at the words. "Thea, are you one 100% sure I should be doing this?"
"Yes," they said immediately, without missing a beat, "You'd truly be a huge asset to our team." They looked up from their sketchbook. "Do you not want to do this?"
"I don't know," Aspen huffed. "Alan said that I would be allowed to make clients sign NDAs but what if I still end up matching with a client?"
"Easy fix for that," Thea said, shrugging as they turn back to their paper, "I'll let you look at the name before Noah sends the email. That way if it is someone you know you won't be returned to the client as a result."
"And if I'm the only result?"
"We've yet to have a pure 100% match for any of our clients. But if it did happen, we can lie and say you are at capacity. They won't be the wiser."
They turned to the landline phone and pressed a button.
A few rings later, the line clicked as Leo answered with a sharp, "Pantheon Dungeons, Leo Silva speaking?" over the speaker.
Thea smiled and gestured for Aspen to speak.
Well, fuck.
"Hello, Leopold."
A chuckle. "Aspen. Are we on a first-name basis now?"
"Yes," Aspen responded sharply. "Thea and Alan have unanimously decided that I am done being a submissive, and I've decided to agree with them."
"Hear, hear!" A short pause. "Well? I don't have all day!"
"I'd like to be signed on."
Something on the line clicked weirdly, there was a moment of silence and then Leo said, "Fantastic. I'll buy a plane ticket. I'll text you when I'm in New York. Is Thea good to handle the rest?"
"Yes, I am," Thea butted in. "I'll get Noah to help take care of things."
Leo laughed. "Ah, yes, where would Pantheon Dungeons be without Noah?" he mused. "Did you talk to Alan about this?"
"Yes—"
"You broke your NDA."
"I told him Thea was the one who offered me the job," Aspen argued. "Which they did, also, in case they just didn't tell you. He said I need to do it and practically threatened me about it, too."
It was at that moment that Aspen realized a change of lifestyle was imminent: He'd move out of Alan's and Thea's guest rooms, and he'd be alone more again.
And that, in turn, meant that it was probably time to get his household in order.
"Aspen!"
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Aspen could hear Leo scoff into the speaker. "Welcome to Aphrodite."
"Thank you."

"I'm going to miss this place. And your kitchen."
"Really?" Thea asked. "You know that I am about to become your employer, and that once you get your first clients — which will happen rather quickly, we have a backlog of unmatched people who wanted their records to be kept on file — we will see each other at least once a week?"
"So you're not going to walk out of my life like Leo did out of Alan's?"
Thea pursed their lips. "I can't make any promises," they say softly. "But I'll be in it for a while yet."
Aspen nodded. "In that case, I'd love it if we could schedule something semi-regularly. As friends."
Thea smiled. "You're really worried, huh?"
"Of a falling out with one of three people who were all of my outside-of-work social contact? Hell yes. It would." He sighed, and picked up his bag. "This is weird. It feels like a break up."
"We are breaking up, in a way. We had a pretty taxing sexual relationship for a long time. I'd be more worried if you weren't impacted by this at all."
Aspen pressed his lips into a thin line. "I already scheduled a therapy session for this afternoon."
"Good!" Thea exclaimed, and then reached out to pull him into a hug. "You have my phone number, Aspen," they whispered. "Don't be a stranger." They paused for a moment, their eyes wandering to their kitchen shelves. "Wait," they said softly.

A whole minute later Aspen was holding a plastic container with the granola he'd had for breakfast practically any day at Thea's apartment.
"I make that myself, by the way," they said, finally lifting the secret. "The stash you found was my leftovers and when you said you loved it—"
"You made granola just for me?!"
"Of course! It's the little things, Aspen. You remember that."
Aspen nodded, stuffed the container into his bag and then went in for another hug. "Thank you," he said, "for teaching me so much."
"Thank you for trusting me," they responded, "I know that might not seem like such a big deal for you, but it definitely was to me."
"The first thing Alan made me do was undress in front of you—" Aspen started, watching as a grin spread across Thea's face. "You were such a good pet," they almost-cooed. "I know you are going to be an even better dominant. Your clients are going to adore you, and whoever will end up in a proper relationship with you some years down the line will be one of the luckiest people." Another pause. "No matter what happens, Aspen, if you find a partner, you better introduce me, and not wait until your wedding to try and get in contact."
"I will consider this the last 'order' I ever accept as your submissive," Aspen joked.
"I like that," Thea nodded, and Aspen could swear he'd seen a tear glisten in the corner of their eyes. "If I wanted to meet for dinner, do I text you or Noah?"
"Noah is your better bet, they know the inside outs of my calendar."
"I'll just let you know after what day I've settled on with them."
Thea nods.
Once. Decisively.
"Now, get out of my house," they joke, pushing him toward the door.