(Joshua's POV - Sat. 14 December 2013)

"Josh... it's Saturday evening... it's almost ten... what the hell are you calling for?" Allan grumbles when he picks up the phone.

"Sorry to disturb you... I accidentally squeezed your email with the report on the fire incident and I need it now... Can you please just send it to me again?" I explain.

"Now... like now immediately...?" he exclaims.

"I wouldn't disturb you if I didn't it need it right now..."

"Aren't you out tonight?" Allan asks suspiciously.

"No, not this week-end. Liam had other plans."

"Now that explains your grumpy mood yesterday in the office..." he chuckles.

"My mood had nothing to do with that, now can you please send me the damn file again?"

"Sure thing... Give me five minutes to get to my study and send it. Have a good week-end... working..." he smirks.

"Thanks, you too..."

Working on the week-end is not really something new for me, so I don't understand why he seems to be that surprised. He always gets a lot of emails from me on Saturdays and Sundays, though not quite often at that time on a Saturday since I am always at the Black Diamond... and I have to admit that I have spent less time in my study over the week-ends since Liam accepted to become my Submissive. So yeah... maybe that explains why Allan was surprised.

However, since my boy has decided to spend the week-end on his own, or rather with his friend Shannon, I didn't really feel like going to the club tonight. When one of my previous Subs would need to take a week-end off, I never minded spending the Saturday evening at the Diamond with my friends, but with Liam, it is different.... Everything is different with Liam... And that sometimes gets on my nerves because I know that my feelings are growing for the boy and I'm not certain to be ready for that. What is worse is to feel that I can't exert control on my emotions and control is the one thing I need. Not only as a Dominant but also as the human being that I am.

I suffered a lot from this relationship I had in college. Julian and I had been together for over a year and I sincerely loved him. Our couple was just a normal one with a top and a bottom; there was no BDSM at all. Aaron was already drowned in the lifestyle at time, but the little fucker had kept that secret from his friends, so that was completely foreign to me. Anyway, I was really involved in this relationship with Julian and was already imagining what our future could be. Julian studied business management while I was in my first year of architecture; I had high expectations on my career and even if my father was going to be my boss in the beginning, I well intended to carry his company to a much higher level. I was also hoping to partner with Julian and our college friend Allan. I was hoping to finally come out to my parents at some point, even if I wasn't ready for that yet. I was hoping to marry Julian one day - I had even bought an engagement ring - and maybe raise some children. Yes, I was crazy in love with that guy... All these dreams blew out in one second... the one second when I went to Julian's dorm unexpected and found him being fucked by some kind of jock.

That was my breaking point. This was the moment I lost all hopes on love. Until that day, I stupidly thought that cheating was only reserved to hetero couples, like my mother often did. I couldn't believe in love anymore and however much Julian tried to apologize and promised that it would never happen again, I couldn't trust him anymore. I couldn't trust anyone else either. This was a huge turning point in my life and I promised myself to never ever fall in love again.

What Julian did a few weeks later when he realized that I wouldn't get back on my decision only strengthened my opinion. As if cheating on me wasn't enough, he tried to ruin my life with a treacherous act when he sent some pictures of us to my father and, what happened next is already known. After my old man's funeral, it was obvious that I needed to take over the company and give up on my architecture studies. However, I made a last round trip to the university campus to pack up my things, and I beat the crap out of him like I never did before with anyone. Or almost... but that's an older story that I've tried to forget.

Anyway, that was six years ago and in six years, I never failed to my promise not to fall in love again. I was barely twenty-two at that time but I had a successful company to run and to expand, so I dedicated myself to work like a maniac. I took control of everything, changed most of the policies of the company and developed it into an empire. I had the occasional boyfriend - nothing serious... mostly one night-stands to just empty my balls - to my mother's utter contempt, but after two years of dealing with her shit and all her attempts to find me a woman and turn me into a hetero, I decided to send her to Florida and to move my headquarters to Chicago. I could have stayed in the area... After all Mark was back from France and had opened his first restaurants in Philly and New York. Cam was not that far either. But I needed some fresh air. I wanted to forget about my past in New Jersey. So Aaron didn't need to push me too much before I decided to join him in Chicago.

And that's when I discovered BDSM. Of course Aaron was the one to get me into it because he knew that this was what I needed and he trained me himself, like he trained Mark and Camden later on. Being a Dominant provided me with everything I needed: control, authority and absence of love. All the relationships I had within this context were exactly that and nothing else. I would see a Submissive that attracted me - mostly physically I admit -, then I would propose a contract, stating everything clear as to my expectations and making sure that the Sub wasn't waiting on anything more than sex and submitting to my dominance; and then it would last for a few weeks or months, until either the sub got tired of me or I of him and basta! And it worked pretty well. I was able to have some relationships without falling in love. My only love was for the dominance I exerted on my Submissives and everything was just fine like this.

Until I met Liam. I can't deny that my heart jumped in my chest the first time I saw him. I can't deny that there is something extremely special to him. And I certainly can't deny that I do repress some powerful emotions and feelings toward him. The one thing that I am sure of is that I am not ready for this and I have no clue on how long it will take me to admit that my feelings are growing for him. If ever at all. That's just a risk I am taking.

A ping coming from my Iphone resounds and brings me out of my reverie. Fuck! It's almost midnight! So much for having disturbed Allan on a Saturday evening... I haven't even opened the email he sent me two hours ago...

11:55 pm - Liam: "Hello... You're probably not sleeping so... I just wanted to say that everything is going well at the club... I'll text you again when I get home as promised. And I'll call you tomorrow morning. Miss you... Liam"

11:57 pm - Joshua: "Good boy. Enjoy your evening and don't forget to send me a text when you get home, whatever the time is. Miss you too."

It is pointless to say that my heart rate picks up at reading his text, but I still say it, although my domineering side soon takes over and I just see the perfect little Sub in Liam. Compromising on this week-end turned out a bit difficult but in the end, I managed to make him stay home on Friday evening, promising that I would drive him early to his apartment on Saturday morning. So the dinner that I had planned to have with the guys and Gary with Jeremy on Saturday took place yesterday evening and we really had a great time.

It is actually good to have Gary back with us; he is one of the best Dominants this club ever had and we have always gotten along very well with him. Liam and Jeremy are also becoming good friends and they seem to have enjoyed the evening together. We just watched the first show and headed back home early so that Liam would get enough sleep before I dropped him off at his place at 9:00 this morning as I had promised.

If I am honest, I have to admit that I don't really like that he is now out in a nightclub that I have never set a foot in, among hundreds of other young men who could easily hit on him, but which Dominant would appreciate? Yet I decided to trust him, not only on his faithfulness, but also on his responsibility not to follow his friend into troubles and not to accept alcohol drinks at all. Sure Liam will be 21 in a few days, but I don't want him to take any risk.

It is half past four in the morning when I finally get Liam's text that he is back home and I decide to call it a day. I have spent the last four hours working on the action plan that Allan prepared with Devon. The investigation that my works foreman led at Salters' house didn't lead us anywhere and even if I don't have too good a feeling about this, I have to admit that we may have simply installed a deficient electricity meter. These things can happen, but I still want the investigation to go further and we are going to dedicate a team to verify all the installations we did at that period as well as check with our supplier.

* * *

My Sunday could have run pretty smoothly and I was decided to spend is better part in my study but some people decided otherwise since Aaron, Camden and Mark invited themselves for lunch. Mark brought one of his delicious coq au vin and we enjoyed a great afternoon playing billiard and table football in the basement of my house. In the end, I was grateful that they did so as it prevented me from thinking too much about Liam and what he was doing with his friend. What would I do without those guys...?

Liam called me in the morning - or rather early afternoon - to tell me about his evening out and he promised that he didn't drink any alcohol and just enjoyed himself dancing with Shannon. These two seem to be quite like two peas in a pod and I know that he missed his friend. Yet he admitted that it was more fun with the Subs at the Black Diamond because he fits better among other Submissives. He was supposed to spend the rest of the day cleaning their apartment and helping his friend with his laundry before they would go do some grocery shopping.

It is barely seven in the morning on Monday when I switch on my laptop and set at my desk, eager to see the next hour fly by and the moment when Liam will show up in the office. For some reason, my thoughts stray back to our trip in New York two weeks ago. I push the memories of the week-end at the back of my mind since they only remind me that I am slowly falling for the boy and think about that conversation we had on that Wednesday at Cole's offices. Since we had checked out of the hotel in the morning, Liam had followed me to Cole's building. He could easily use a spare office there to work and I wanted him to meet the team that would join us in Chicago. Cole's offices are old and faded, a bit like Barkins' current headquarters. A few minutes before Tony was supposed to pick us up to drive us back to the airport, Liam and I met in the dull coffee room and he had that sudden flash of genius.

"I don't understand how huge companies like Cole's can have such crappy premises..." he suddenly said. "And at the same time, I don't understand why these huge groups go for the easy option to build new offices rather than to improve what they already own..."

"Care to elaborate?" I asked, curious about his train of thoughts.

"Well... I understand that companies like yours need these companies who buy new buildings, because that's how you make money... but that's just too easy... For example... what will happen with Barkins Electronics' former headquarters? A smaller company might buy it and settle in shitty spaces at best... and at worst, the old building will be destroyed, adding to the pollution even if part of the materials will be recycled..." Now he really got my interest because if he was going to say what I expect the smart guy that I think he is to say, I might have some great opportunities for him.

"Develop, please..." I encouraged him.

"What I think is... when a company asks your company to quote for a new building, why don't you also propose them to completely renovate their old premises which would allow them to sell their old building for a much higher price and help finance the new building? Well, I understand that there's a risk that this company might finally choose to stay in their current location, but if they don't, you could buy the old one, renovate and sell with a nice profit..."

That left me totally dumbfounded because this was a project I had years ago and that I hadn't developed yet. This would mean to implement yet another new division within Pierce Construction - or rather a subsidiary - but, as he said, the most difficult part was to convince the client to pursue his goal to move into new offices and not to finally keep their renovated building. At some point, I will need to seriously think about this idea because from what Liam told me next when I asked him to expose his ideas on what could be done at Barkins Electronics' to improve and renovate the building, I sincerely believe that he has some potential there. Of course that would imply him to resume his studies, but he has great ideas already and I wouldn't be surprised to see him succeed in such a field.

Well that is something I will think about a bit later because for now I need to work on our current projects, the main one being the new division opening next week. The seventh floor is now finished and ready to welcome the new team. Scott Andon, the manager of the Hotel Department is moving in today together with the few people we hired here in Chicago while the three guys from New York are moving in throughout this week. By next Monday, the division should be operational and ready to kick in which means that even if the activity usually slows down during the Christmas season, I will be as busy as ever.

This shouldn't prevent me from going with Mark to New Jersey to spend Christmas Eve and day with his parents. I wish our other friends would join us, but Aaron will never set a foot again in our old town and Camden decided to stay with him for Christmas, so it will only be Mark and I. Paul and Sofia are lovely people and I have always loved spending time with them. I wish my own parents had been as open-minded as they are, although they don't know half the truth about their son; well even if they did, I am pretty sure that they would never stop supporting him. I was about to decline Mark's offer in the beginning, but when Liam told me that he would like to spend some time with his own parents, I thought that I should go to my old town, sure that the chatterbox of Sofia will help me forget about Liam for a few days while he is in Los Angeles.

Speaking of the devil... there he is, his cheeks all pink from the freezing cold outside, smiling at the little note I have discreetly pinned on the seat of his chair when I arrived and that says that he doesn't need coffee immediately because I can feed him with my own milk. I watch him chuckle, his huge grin brightening his face, and take off his coat and jacket while I recline in my own armchair and pull out my already hard cock from my pants through the zipper. Having missed him for the whole week-end, I don't have the patience to wait for him to undress me and I am also confident that releasing in his mouth won't keep me from hardening again to pound into his ass.

"Come in, Pet... Lock the door and come get your milk," I order as soon as he walks in. Without an ounce of hesitation, he locks the door and hurries to kneel between my legs. I don't even have to ask anything else as he immediately sets to work his lips around my girth, making me hiss in pleasure. That's my boy... He is getting so fucking good at that! I make him rest his cold hands at the top of my thighs and lay my right hand at the back of his head, gently adding some pressure to guide him. "That's it, Pet... you're doing great... relax your throat... oh yes..." Feeling the tip of my cock hit the back of his throat is just wonderful... "Get ready to swallow, Baby..." I say after a few minutes of watching my shaft disappear into his mouth. And just as I say that, I feel my cock twitch in his mouth and release long streams of cum that he swallows without any problem.

"Good morning, beautiful..." I whisper, cupping his face and tilting his head to the back so that I can kiss him properly, tasting myself in his mouth.

"Good morning, Sir..." he replies with a grin. I pull him up to make him stand in front of me and begin to undress him, pulling down his silken trousers together with his briefs at his ankles. As expected, the sight of his perfectly shaved crotch and his beautiful hard-on gets me hard again at once. I grab a bottle of lube from my drawer and pour a nice amount on my left fingers before I make him spread his feet further apart. My right hand begins to stroke his length while the left one snakes between his thighs to reach for his tight little hole. In this position - me still sitting in front of him - I can easily reach his prostate and within only a few minutes I have managed to stretch him with three fingers.

I stand up and make him bend over my desk, the right side of his face resting on the table, before I pull both his wrists to the small of his back. Liam moans as I adjust myself to his entrance, holding his wrists in one of my hands, and I watch my cock gradually slide into his asshole. Feeling the ring of muscles at his entrance massage my stick as it enters millimeter after millimeter is just wonderful and I quickly find the right angle to brush against his sweet spot, soon turning him into a moaning mess. I don't withhold the building of my orgasm nor his this morning since we don't have much time before my first meeting with Allan and within a few minutes, we have both reached our release in bliss.

After this nice little episode, Liam gets us some coffee and we sit down at the round table in my office to discuss this week's schedule which will mostly consist in meetings and conference calls anyway, so it goes pretty fast. We then discuss a little about our respective week-end although we spoke on the phone yesterday evening for a while, but then something hits me all of a sudden.

"I haven't seen you arrive with a duffle bag...?" I ask. Seeing how he immediately blushes and bites his lips in nervousness, I already know that I might not like the answer.

"I thought... I thought we would resume our usual schedule now that..." he hesitates, blushing a bit more.

"Now that your friend is back...?" I finish his sentence and he nods in answer. Ignoring the pang in my chest, the Dominant within me tries to convince the boyfriend that I am that this might be a good idea in the end. I have gotten used to having Liam with me all the time over the past three weeks and this certainly hasn't helped with my emotions. I have enjoyed every minute of it, even the stressful ones. However, if we resume our normal schedule, the one we both agreed with at the start, I will still get to have him one or two week nights at home and at least three full week-ends per month so this is not that bad in the end. "Liam, look at me," I ask gently and provide him with a warm smile when his eyes finally rise to mine. "I absolutely adore having you with me 24/7, but I can understand if you need more time on your own and exactly as with your parents, I won't keep you from seeing your friend."

"Really...?" he asks, his eyes wide open.

"Of course... as long as we keep our schedule of three week-ends per month and one or two week days, I'm fine with it," I confirm.

"Thanks!! I can go to your place tomorrow evening..." he cheerfully offers.

"And I also want you this week-end... Friday included."

"No problem..." he replies and I can tell he feels relieved, as if he had been stressing this over for some time.

Just as he is about to pounce from his chair, a knock echoes on the half open door and a smirking Allan walks in, smiling at the blushing Liam who excuses himself politely. Once Devon has joined us, we set to work on the action plan I spent part of my week-end on, but I am not really in the mood and let Allan lead most of the discussions. I can't say that I am really upset by Liam's decision, but I am not happy about it either. A part of me is actually quite glad that he decided so because it will allow me to take some distance and repress these emotions that have been building over the past few weeks; another part of me is upset that I didn't think about it myself; and yet another tiny part of me hurts and hates that he would take such a decision because it means that he doesn't really have feelings for me. And that particular part of me mostly hates itself for not being able to overpower the Dominant and make him admit that he does have feelings for my sweet boy.

Published on 16 October 2016

So now you know exactly why Joshua is like that (i.e. a Dominant who always considered his Subs as Subs) and however lame this excuse might be, that's just what it is. His heart is rather cold as stone, and you know how it can take a few punches to break a stone...

And after three weeks of spending all their time together, Liam was a bit worried about how Joshua would react, but in the end, they both see their own advantages In this schedule, so that will go on for a while.

This is Liam's 21st birthday in the next chapter and count on Joshua to make it hot, hot, hot...