with his eyes down, back on his knees with hands placed on his thighs. Jamie whispered, “Do you like Jake?” “Of course I like him. He saved me when he could have had my ass hauled to jail, he paid my rent and gave me a job in my field. At this point, I’d do just about anything for him.” Their dinner came. Jake had ordered beef stroganoff and garlic shrimp with a Caesar salad. Davey wondered how he was going to eat. He picked his head up and saw Jake take a piece of the beef, run it through the sauce and offer the tidbit to him on a fork with a bit of rice. He did the same with the shrimp. He’s trying to get me accustomed to eating from his hand. Davey watched the other Doms feed their subs as the subs licked the sauce from their Dom’s fingers. He envied them. The act was so sensuous—it was like watching two people make love. When Jake finished feeding him, Davey was surprisingly full. “Do you want dessert?” Jake perused the dessert menu. “Let’s see what Marcel made today.” “I do like sweets.” Davey wiggled. “I didn’t get them very often growing up.” The waiter came back. “One piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream and apple pie a la mode with vanilla bean ice cream.” § § § Davey’s exuberance was obvious on his face. Jake watched as Davey finished all the pie that he gave him with a smile as big as the one seen on a happy face emoticon. So far, so good…he’s sitting like a submissive, copying the demeanor of the other subs. He agreed to eat from my hand; I used the fork to get him used to it gradually, but soon I’ll have him eating from my fingers. Jake thought that Davey was a bit jealous of the rapport that flowed between the Doms and their subs as the subs licked the Dom’s fingers. It seems like he longes for that kind of relationship as much as I do. He wants to love and I want to be in love. Maybe we can make this work. With the help of my friends and the subs I might have a shot here at a real relationship. Now that I’ve found him I’ve got to manage not to fuck it up until I land him. I could get used to these emotions and the feeling of being close to another human being, I haven’t felt this strongly about someone since my grandmother died. Before today I thought that the only use for a sub was to work out my frustrations by spanking their ass on Saturday nights. I’m beginning to see the advantages of ownership that the others told me about and with Davey in the office I’ll probably be less frustrated by the end of the week and not have to spank his ass so hard. He started to listen to the boys below again. “Weren’t you afraid to go home with a stranger?” Johnny asked Davey. “I had no place else to go. I didn’t have any money to pay for my apartment, I sold my computer, stereo and television, everything of any value was gone except my furniture and the pawn shop wouldn’t take that. I had my futon and my bed and kitchen utensils and a dining room table with four chairs. Jake came into my apartment.” Davey blushed. “He saw everything that was missing. I was down to my last twenty and I wanted to keep that so if I got a call back from an interview, I’d have subway fare. It was for that same reason that I kept a burner phone. No one called and I was so hungry. Since the unemployment insurance ran out I’d been living on Ramen.” “You had a twenty in your pocket and you had the strength not to spend it on food?” Robbie asked incredulous. “I needed a job more than I needed the food. I was praying something would come up. God was looking out for me when he picked Jake to come out of that elevator in the garage.” Jake leaned down and caressed Davey’s hair again. “I think I got my money’s worth.” § § § Jim shot Brian a look. It was time. Brian’s head popped up from under the table. “Papa, can we take Davey to show him the sub’s room?” “If it’s all right with the other Doms, it’s okay with