Hidden Desire book 1 (Un)Control(led)

Chapter 20. Floor etiquette.

Briel woke with a startle, because of the alarm he set at eight, to realize three very distinct things. First off Benny was an evil friend seducing him into another movie. How could he say no to 'Stardust'? But it did mean that they didn't go to bed until way past two am. Secondly he hated the feeling of silk on his skin. Meaning that he had to relay this information to Kincade hoping they would be replaced by simple cotton ones. To top it off the spacious bed was currently crowded seeing that it was occupied by two humans and three felines. He could see two of them and felt one under the blankets warming his feet. Wiggling his toes earned him a sharp bite followed by a raspy tongue. 'Okay, no wiggling'.

Benny sat up laughing his ass off.

"You really won the family over, haven't you? First the Daddy and now the kids. Man, you are done for."

Carefully retracting his feet, Briel got up from the bed.

"Come on. We have to get ready."

Benny reached for his phone to set a timer.

"You go ahead. I'll join you in thirty minutes."

Briel checked his iPad, locating his outfit selection for today without problems and placed the clothes he wore yesterday and washed overnight back into its rightful place. Then he quickly showered before Benny woke up. Admiring himself in the mirror he approved the clothes Kincade picked out for him. Dark blue jeans, plain taupe T-shirt, black denim jacket, paired with dark green sneakers.

This time he beat Nari to the center of the couch and plopped down waiting for Benny. He quickly discovered Her Majesty Queen Isis already left the apartment, that Rufus was a look but don't touch kind of cat and Nari had no problem sharing the couch with him. She nestled into his side while he worked on his notes.

At five to nine he got antsy.

"Will you hurry up, it's almost nine!" he called out to Benny.

"Lighten up, will you. We have like no commute."

"Still, I don't like being late."

Staring at his watch Briel waited in the corridor with one hand on the door handle counting down the minutes. With twenty seconds to spare he couldn't hold it any longer.

"I'm going", he yelled at Benny still somewhere out of sight and stepped into the main hall of the penthouse.

The beeper on his phone went off the second he spotted Kincade at the breakfast table.

"Good morning...erm...Kincade", he said unsure if that was the way to address his Dom.

"Good morning, Gabriel", Kincade said pursing his lips. "Cutting it a little close, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir", Briel turned his eyes down. "It won't happen again."

He heard the door behind him close and mentally scolded Benny for almost getting him into trouble.

"Did you have any problems locating the clothes?" Kincade asked him.

"No, sir."

Kincade raised his eyebrows. 'What now?'

"Was anything about the process uncomfortable for you?"

"No, sir."

Kincade observed his expression and came to an irksome conclusion. Gabriel wasn't respecting him as a Dom, he was drawing a big fat line of fake politeness between them and he resented it.

"Did I insult you by kissing your forehead, Gabriel?" he asked in a cool tone.

"Insult? No, sir", Briel shook. "It just didn't fit in the relationship I thought we agreed too."