Jake’s club was called Dungeons, not a highly original name, really. The door was unremarkable too, just a single, solid door in a brick building. No sign except for a discreetly tasteful bronze one on the side of the building, indicating that this was a private club. The door was manned by two wholesome-looking men wearing pressed dark pants and white button down shirts and looking totally—well, wholesome. If not for the muscular builds and the nipple rings showing underneath one of their shirts, they might have been well-dressed Mormons. They checked Jake’s membership card, gave Jake toothy white smiles and opened the door without further comment. Cody thought he could feel their gazes on his ass as he stepped past them, but it was probably his imagination, since the jeans he was wearing were loose and baggy —much more accommodating to the cock blocking torture device Cody was wearing and not as revealing as his usual jeans.

This was Cody’s first time at Jake’s club and once they got inside, he was surprised to see that the lobby was no more alarming than a dentist’s office and looked rather similar. It alleviated some of Cody’s nervousness, but all of it came washing back over him when Jake led him toward a door marked “Lockers.”

Jake tugged on his arm. “Come on, boy, nobody’s going to bite you. It’s just lockers to put our clothes in. We can get changed in here.” Changed—he meant undressed. For Cody, anyway, because Jake was already wearing his outfit. A pair of leather pants hugged his perfect ass and then tucked into motorcycle boots. He was sporting a sleeveless leather vest with all those muscles bulging out everywhere. He looked gorgeous and dark and dangerous and exactly like what Cody imagined the Marquis de Sade must have looked like as he led his victims into his dungeon rooms. Cody could feel the sweat popping out on his brow.

Jake led him over to an empty locker and turned toward him. “Everything off except your jock strap.” Cody looked around nervously. The locker room was empty except for the two of them, so he removed and folded his clothes, putting on a little extra speed, figuring that it would be best if he just got it over with before anyone else came in. He handed everything over to Jake and then stood there not knowing quite what to do with his hands. He wished he had some pockets to shove them into, but finally settled for folding his arms. That felt dorky, so he let his arms fall to his side and shuffled his feet. The damn floor was cold—in fact, there was a definite draft coming from somewhere, and that’s all he needed, to get pneumonia and wind up in the hospital with that word imprinted on his ass for the world to see.

Jake ignored him, digging a padlock and a slim leather leash from his pocket. He put the clothes in an empty locker, snapped on the lock and turned back to Cody, motioning for him to lower his head. He clasped the leash onto the thick, leather collar around Cody’s neck and stood back to survey him carefully.

“Present yourself.” Cody awkwardly assumed the position Jake had taught him—his back and shoulders straight, hands behind his back and feet spread apart, shoulder width. Chin up, eyes down, his hands clasped behind his back. Pursing his lips, Jake walked around him a couple of times and then nodded.

“Very nice.” He smiled and dropped a kiss on Cody’s lips. “Very sweet. Now walk at my heel like I’ve taught you and you’ll be fine. Stop when I do and present yourself, just like you’re doing now. Speak if someone talks to you and be respectful of other Doms, but you belong to me, so no one should try to order you to do anything.” He kissed him again. “Don’t be nervous—everyone will love you.” Since that was kind of what he was afraid of, Cody settled for a nod and tried to “breathe through it,” like Jake always said when he was whaling on his ass.

Jake took off into the club and Cody followed. He kept his eyes down, not looking at anyone, just concentrating on Jake’s feet and stopping when he did. He tried not to step on his heels, but once when Jake stopped short, he ran into the back of him. Jake was patient with him, simply sighing, angling him a look, and then kept going. He so wanted Jake to be proud of him, but he just wasn’t good at all this. He was terrified that Jake would find out what utter bollocks he was at it and give up on him.

Jake stopped by a table to talk to some guy sitting there that Cody figured was a Dom. He had the I’m-so-much-hotter-than-you-are attitude down pat, anyway. The Dom looked Cody over carefully with a speculative gaze. Jake turned to Cody and put one finger in the air, twirling it around. Cody blushed and slowly turned in a circle.

The guy gave a bark of laughter when Cody turned around. “Very nice…especially the ass. New paddle?”

Jake smiled and nodded, then looked at Cody expectantly. Cody realized he wanted him to respond. He had no idea what to say. “Uh...th-thank you, Sir?”

“Are you a brat, boy? You look well-behaved, but your ass tells a different story.”

Cody glanced at Jake, who was looking amused. He quirked up one eyebrow but didn’t help him out a damn bit.

“I-I try to be, you know, well-behaved, but…sometimes I’m not…I guess. Sir.”

Jake put a finger under his chin and tilted his head up so that he had to meet his eyes. “You guess?”

At a loss, Cody simply stared into those beautiful eyes.