Page 3 of Bondage Play

Phil stared at Ellery, hopeful they could still be friends after all. “I appreciate that, I really do.” He let out a long breath. “I haven’t told anyone in our circles, you’d be the first.”

“Whohaveyou told?” Ellery’s face still held an amused expression, but Phil didn’t feel as if he was being mocked.

“Terry.”

Ellery gasped. “And?”

The one thing Phil had shared with Ellery while he was away, was how much regret he had over leaving Terry behind. Ellery had been the one who’d encouraged him to contact Terry and tell him, to confess his love.And I was too stupid to listen.Although he had to admit, he wouldn’t have been the man Terry deserved, theMasterhe deserved. He’d give anything to take away the hurt their separation had caused Terry, but was glad he could come back to him a changed man.

Phil broke into a grin before he could stop himself. “We’re back together, stronger than we ever were before.”

“Congratulations, buddy, I really mean it.” Ellery shook his head. “Man, that’s great news. I know how much you hated losing him.” Ellery chuckled. “And he’s okay with the whole BDSM thing?”

Phil made a sort of high-pitched groaning sound as he worked his way up to an answer. “Wellll…now, yes. But initially, I think I freaked him out a bit.”

Ellery let out a snort. “Yeah, I bet. But he’s cool with it now?”

Phil didn’t doubt his happiness would be obvious in his expression. “God, Ellery. We’re still at the beginning, but we click so well. He’s the perfect sub for me, and I love him more than ever.”

His friend no longer appeared judgmental or reticent. His eyes lit up as he spoke. “That’s amazing. After all that agony and things being rocky when you guys were first together, I never held out any hope you’d be a couple again. Hey, I don’t know a thing about the BDSM lifestyle, but if it makes you both happy, then I think it’s great.”

Phil considered his friend’s words. Had he and Terry come across to Ellery, maybe even those around them, as an unstable pair? He’d been lost in his feelings for Terry, but then there were those times, the ones Terry had mentioned about how self-involved he’d been, how Phil had pushed him aside and made him last in everything.

“You thought we were rocky?”

“Well, yeah. You were always complaining that he didn’t understand how busy you were, that he was just a photographer, didn’t have to deal with real problems the way you did.”

Phil’s stomach twisted, the pain at how he’d behaved toward someone he loved so much filling him with shame all over again.

“Fuck. I can’t believe he gave me a second chance, let alone loved me in the first place. I was a supreme asshole.”

Ellery’s smile had a wistful quality to it. “No one’s perfect. But I saw how he looked at you the few times we socialized.And I knew you really cared about him—even if you had an odd way of showing it.”

“Odd?” Phil grunted. “Try horrible. God, I need to do something special for him, something…” Phil shook his head. How could he ever make it up to such a good guy, someone young and beautiful, yet unaware of how sexy he was?He could have anyone. Instead, he chose a middle-aged dickhole like me.

“Hey. You’re here for him now and it sounds to me like you’ve made some pretty heavy changes while you were gone. Ones for the better, right?”

Phil sucked in a large breath. “Yes. I have.”I need to call Eric tonight.His trainer had become a friend as well as a mentor. He could help him, could understand his dilemma in a way Ellery wouldn’t be able to.

“Then that’s great.” Ellery glanced at the letter again before returning his gaze to Phil. “We should all get together some night. I saw Terry on the lot a few times when he was on a shoot, but we never did anything other than wave in each other’s direction.”

Despite his friend’s hetero status, it didn’t stop a possessive jealous streak from surging through him before quickly dissipating.Don’t be an ass.

“We definitely should. So, you’re seeing someone now?”

Ellery shrugged. “On occasion. Truthfully, I think it’s a casual thing that doesn’t appear too likely to turn into anything else.”

“It takes time. You and Sherry were together for a lot of years.”

Ellery let out a mournful sigh and Phil wished he could be there for his friend the way he had once been in the past.

“I know. So, anyway, this project. I hate to say it, but I’ve been offered something with a guaranteed salary and this seems tooiffy.” Ellery gave him a pained expression. “I feel a bit guilty about proposing it to you in the first place. From what I’ve heard, they were sorry to lose you on that show and it’s such a success. You could’ve ridden that for a few more years at least.”

Phil shook his head. “Don’t feel bad at all. You gave me the perfect excuse to come back. I think in the back of my mind I was waiting for the opportunity to give things a try with Terry again, no matter how terrified I was at the prospect of him telling me to fuck off.” Phil let out an uneasy chuckle. “There was a moment there when I first saw him again that I thought forsurehe was going to do precisely that.”

“You leaving a lucrative paycheck behind must’ve gone a long way to reassure him of your intentions toward him.”

“Uh, well, he doesn’t actually know about that.” Phil pressed his lips together. “I let him think I came back because I had this big film to produce.” He gave Ellery a tight smile. “Which was somewhat true.”