The little walk down memory lane hadn’t told Cason much about Vince’s recent experience in the scene, but it did tell him a lot about the man himself. He tapped the side of his coffee mug.

“Is that what he’s looking for with all those men playing at being Doms? Focus?”

Page cocked his head to the side. “I don’t know. He won’t talk about the scenes he does with them. You can see it, though, right?”

“The hole inside that seems to be getting deeper each time he comes back into the club and tries a new guy? Yeah.” Cason didn’t like it. The younger man needed some help and he was going to make sure he got it so he’d stop looking so sad when he thought no one was looking.

“I tried talking about it with him. We staged this whole intervention with him. He had some friends from school and I got them all together at our apartment. Some of them were freaked by the lifestyle, but I got that part. But something was still wrong, and none of us knew what to do about it.

“He was with this guy, for like a year, just after we turned twenty-one. He met him at some club he went to alone and after the first night he told me the guy signed a contract with him. Normally Vince is bounce off the walls energetic, except for when he’s working on an engine, but he was depressed whenever he was home. He wouldn’t talk to us, or let us touch him at all.” Page was growing agitated and he had a harsh scowl on his face. Cason had never seen the normally smirking sub looking quite so angry.

“Turns out the bastard told him that when he was away from him, or not at work, that he wasn’t to touch, or even speak, to another man. This guy was supposed to be this great Dom, though I’d never seen him at any events or clubs. Whatever hold he had on Vince, the bastard used it to make him miserable, but he wouldn’t leave. After we confronted him, he completely shut everyone out.”

Some Doms believed in breaking submissive partners into slaves that lived to serve their every need. Page’s story sounded exactly like that was what had happened, but not every man was made to be a slave. Cason took a drink of his coffee and grimaced at the cold drink. He set it down and folded his hands together in his lap. He was getting tense just hearing about Vince’s experiences.

“So why did he leave his Dom then? He did leave him, right? Not the other way around?” If he’d left, then Vince hadn’t broken. But how he left him, and why, would say a lot about the young man.

Page pursed his lips. “He never said, but I’m pretty sure the contract expired. Vince isn’t stupid, but we’re both new to the lifestyle, you know? I stopped playing for a while after I saw what was happening with him. It scared me. But this submissive chick I know told me about the munches hosted by Master Pete at the restaurant. I thought that would be safer than going to clubs, and I could learn some stuff too.”

Cason nodded. “You were smart.”

Page snorted. “I was lucky. I met you. I thought that I wanted you, especially after I saw that paddling you demonstrated on the guy wearing those leather chaps? Man, his ass was so red afterward it was practically glowing. You barely had to touch him before he came all over the stage. But Brandon is perfect for me, and you knew that, didn’t you?”

Shrugging one shoulder Cason said, “I guessed you two would be good together.”

“Brandon says it’s more than guessing. You’re good with people. That’s why you’re a counselor, right?”

“I advise students on the right career path. I’m not a psychologist.” Cason wanted to help people, but he’d never wanted to study psychology formally. The classes he’d taken had various approved methods that made relying on his ability a bad choice. Second guessing himself never helped, so he went in a slightly different direction. He got up before he could start doing it then. “Be right back, I need to get a refresh.”

He took his coffee up to the counter, getting a refill from the smiling barista. When he sat down again, though, Page started the conversation right back up.

“Do you think Vince is in some sort of crisis, like he might need to talk to someone? Is that why you’re so concerned?”

That had been Cason’s first impression. He argued with himself that Vince needed more than just an ear, and knowing he had a diagnosed mental condition like ADHD meant he’d need a psychiatrist. Kink friendly ones existed. Vince didn’t need a daimon descendent whose ability was completely failing Cason just when he most wanted to use it to help someone… but knowing that wasn’t going to stop Cason from helping Vince, not anymore.

“Do you know if he’s on medication for the ADHD?”

Page shook his head. “Not for a few years. He calmed down a little bit, at least compared to when he was a teenager. I think he has other ways of dealing with it now.”

Maybe Cason could still help him. He didn’t have to be their Dom to become friends with someone. “I’m guessing that he lost a lot of friends, even after that contract was up?” He tapped the arm of his chair.

“Yeah.