Free Paint by Becca Jameson and Paige Michaels

comfortable.”
    “Still. It’ll be nice to see your legs in the summer. I bet you have really nice calves from all that biking.” She sighed. “I miss calves.”
    Luke snorted. “Are you flirting with me?”
    “Hardly. You’re an infant. But I can still appreciate infant calves. Now get to class before your kids start climbing the walls.”
    Luke’s class went by quickly. It always did. The kids asked interesting questions and were so engaged in what they were learning. He didn’t think he did anything special as an instructor, but Kathryn told him he had some of the highest mid-semester evaluations she’d ever seen. Maybe it was because he treated them like people, not kids.
    When he went to retrieve his bike, he pulled his phone out of his pocket just to check. His heart hammered at the indication of two texts.
    Olivia: Luke, come over and work some more magic with that wicked tongue. We miss you already.
    Nathan: What she means to say is—Luke, are you busy this evening? We would love to eat you for dinner.
    Luke laughed out loud at Nathan’s text. His cheeks almost hurt at the wideness of his grin. They wanted him to come back. They wanted him again. It was more than he could hope for. More than he’d ever thought he’d get from them. But the tiny voice in the back of his head niggled at him. Tomorrow was Sunday. Years of taking communion and making confession swamped him and he stood at his bike, paralyzed. He couldn’t do this. It wasn’t right. He typed in an apology, but before he could hit Send, he heard a voice behind him.
    “Luke.”
    He turned. Julian stood before him, his presence swallowing up all the space around him. Black skin, bald, eyes that pierced Luke and seemed to see everything in just a glance.
    “Sir,” he squeaked.
    Julian shook his head. “Not your Sir. Just Julian is fine. Kathryn told me she’d hired you.”
    Luke flinched, waited for the blow that would be his dismissal. Julian had told him the night he’d fucked Morgan that he needed to make himself scarce. That he wasn’t to see either of them again.
    “I’m glad,” Julian said now. Luke blinked in shock. “I’ve seen your work. Your paintings are beautiful. You should pass your skill along to those kids.”
    Luke nodded. “Thanks.”
    Julian stepped forward, and Luke backed up against his bike. Julian grinned and winged an eyebrow up. “Are you afraid of me?”
    Luke shook his head. “Not exactly.”
    “I assume you’ve heard that Morgan and I are exclusive now, yes?”
    Luke licked dry lips. “Yeah. I know. I’m happy for you.”
    Julian studied him for a long moment. Luke tried to stay calm, to breathe through his nose and keep his chin up, but it was too much with the Dom in front of him. He couldn’t imagine anyone being able to hold Julian’s gaze for long. “Ah. You’ve been claimed?”
    Luke swallowed past the lump in his throat. “No. Um, not exactly.”
    Julian let out a dark chuckle. “You want to be, though… You don’t have to answer. I can see it in the way you hold your body. Someone has intrigued you. Two people, yes?”
    Luke couldn’t do anything but nod.
    “Excellent. That will make my little girl very happy. She worries about you too much. I’ll be happy to take that worry from her now. Anyone I know?”
    “I don’t know, Sir. I haven’t… I mean, I’m not…”
    Julian held up a hand, and Luke snapped his mouth closed. “Do they want you?”
    Luke nodded.
    “And do you want them?”
    Luke ventured to peek up, and Julian’s gaze bore into him like a fiery poker. “Yes. But…”
    “But nothing. You’re making it too complicated. Let everything else go. You’re young, let your instinct drive you. Don’t worry about anything else. Your instinct will take you further than you can ever imagine. If you want to be in this lifestyle, you’re going to need to get really good at ignoring a lot of things and trusting your instinct. Can you do that?”
    Luke swallowed again.