Until now.
Which was why I was sitting here, on my balcony, looking out over the world. No distractions, no hyper Charlie bouncing off the walls, nothing. Just me, enjoying the sun on my face while it felt like someone had dragged a fire blanket into my mind, smothering the madness that normally engulfed me, offering me solace.
I tilted my head back, lowering my sunglasses over my eyes, letting the feeling of calm spread through me. My cock ached, but quietly in the background, my skin buzzed as if an electric current was humming just below the surface. My lips felt swollen and sensitive and my head tingled like I’d done one too many wraps of speed.
And I sat in silence.
When I noticed the time again, two hours had passed, and the sun was lower in the sky. I knew I’d not been asleep; I’d heard the traffic passing and people outside, but I’d just been here, totally present in the moment.
Fuck, I’m losing my mind.
Deciding I needed to speak to the one person who would understand, I typed out a message.
Me: You busy? I need to chat. It’s SOS level. But don’t tell Fox.
A few minutes later, a knock sounded out on my door.
“It’s open. Come on in,” I yelled.
“Hey, man. What’s up? I’ve left Nee, so it better be really SOS level and not just mild Charlie drama.”
I looked at the man standing in front of me and my secret spilled from my lips. “I’m wearing a cock cage and I really fucking like it. Tell me I’m not broken, Arch.”
Archer let out a small laugh while the shock of my statement landed before he sat in the chair across from me and smiled. “Let me see.”
My back straightened. “Fuck off.”
“You all saw pictures of me tied up in a million different ways in Nee’s art show. Let me see.”
“You’re just jealous ‘cause Fox and I shared girls, but you’ve never seen my cock.”
“Yeap, you tell yourself that, but show me.”
I stood up, wondering when this became my life. Holding out my shorts, I let him look.
Slapping his hands against his thighs, he burst into fits of laughter before something seemed to dawn on him. “Fuck, you called me because this is like my ropes, right?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Shit. I’m the worst friend ever. But if it makes you feel better, your cock looks good in there. Right, sit, talk. Tell me everything.”
So I did and in the end, Archer said one thing that changed everything. “If it feels good, why feel embarrassed or need to explain it?”
“So you don’t think I’m a freak?”
Archer moved closer and pressed his forehead against mine. “No. Never. You and I like to be restrained and restricted without someone whipping the shit out of us or making us kneel submissively on the floor for hours.”
“Yeap, fuck that. I’m too old for that shit. I’d never be able to stand up the next day.”
“Exactly,” he laughed. “What you need to do is find a way to make your kink work for you. Find someone who can enjoy it with you.”
“Alright for you. We can’t all find an erotic artist who loves kink as much as us,” I scoffed.
“But we can find you a head of communications who has a thing for a certain Myth Maker and is missing him like crazy while he’s been away.”
I froze.
“Did she send you the cage, C? You said you’d slept with her.”