cullen grinned. "does this make me less of a man then? to ask my submissive for help?"

hell. gunny would have said yes-that a dom should manage his own problems. jake rolled his beer bottle between his palms. he wasn't sure he agreed; cullen was one of the strongest doms he knew.

cullen's mouth tipped up when jake didn't answer. "who told you a dom couldn't show weakness?"

"professor in grad school. a marine gunnery sergeant who served in about every war zone since moses and had so many medals he could've used them for weight lifting." jake frowned, remembering his first sight of the battle-hardened vet. jake had been maybe twenty-one? young enough to hang on the dom's every word. "he introduced me to the lifestyle. mentored me."

gunny'd missed the camaraderie of the marines. missed having younger men to supervise. upon discovering jake's interest in bdsm... jake grinned and shook his head. in hindsight, he realized gunny'd been delighted to find someone like jake to train.

"got it." cullen drank half his beer, and then leaned an arm on the bar top. "not a surprising stance considering the marine mentality. however, i disagree. much as we dominants hate to admit it, we're human. you can pull off that infallible, invulnerable shit if the submissive only scenes with you occasionally, but the facade will fall apart in a relationship."

jake stiffened. "you're saying being strong is a pretense?"

"sometimes. we are strong. we also get hurt and need help." cullen glanced at his burned arm. "last i looked, even doms lose loved ones or jobs or pets. we need to mourn. we get depressed." he smiled. "some of the best sex of my life was the night andrea bratted me out of a black hole. i needed her, and she knew it."

jake scowled. "i don't-"

"giving is a two-way street, buddy. don't deny your submissive the pleasure of being able to help you. of knowing she's needed."

the pleasure of helping. his mentor had denied anyone that satisfaction, hadn't he? "i'm fine, sheffield. don't need help." gunny's color had been gray, his age finally showing after his most recent heart attack. he'd been crippled up. jake had wanted so fucking badly to assist-and been refused.

was it strength that'd kept the old marine from accepting any support...or a kind of weakness?

"there he is. and jake too." andrea's slightly accented voice drifted across the bar.

jake glanced over his shoulder, relieved at the rescue. fuck. seemed like his life since meeting rainie had been a mess of confusion.

"jake, it's good to see you." andrea smiled at him, then her dom. "sir."

cullen pulled her between his long legs. "jake just reminded me you're the best thing in my life."

"jake is right." andrea's smile softened into pure beauty. "i love you, mi se