Kota left the living room and made his way toward the kitchen, the smell of sugar and fresh flowers lingering in the air.
The mansion was buzzing with quiet activity, cleaners and staff moving between rooms with armfuls of decorations.
Camilo’s voice echoed from somewhere behind him, barking orders in rapid Spanish.
The whole place felt alive in a way it hadn’t in weeks, like the flu storm was finally starting to lift and everyone was eager to celebrate something good.
He pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen and stopped.
The massive room was warm, the ovens still radiating heat from whatever had been baking earlier.
Bowls and mixing spoons were scattered across the marble counters.
A tray of unbaked cookies sat abandoned near the sink.
But there was no sign of Austin.
The little twink chef was nowhere to be seen.
Kota’s stomach dropped.
Austin was supposed to be handling the food for the Valentine’s surprise.
The cupcakes, if Austin had vanished, the whole plan could fall apart.
He spun around and stuck his head back into the hallway.
“Camilo!
Where’s Austin?”
Camilo looked up from his clipboard, his expression shifting into something between annoyance and concern.
He shrugged, the motion making his dramatic hips sway.
“The little chef has been feeling…
backed up.
After being unable to serve Theodore Senior since he caught the flu, he’s been cooped up in the wine cellar.
He finished the cupcakes for the Valentine’s feast, but he’s been down there ever since.
Sulking, probably.
Or doing something weird.
With him, it’s always something weird.”
“Of course,” Kota muttered, already heading toward the basement stairs.
“Of course he’s in the wine cellar.”
He pushed open the heavy door and started down the stone steps.
The air grew cooler as he descended, the faint scent of wine and dust filling his nose.
The basement was dim, lit only by a few flickering wall sconces, and the sound of soft panting drifted up from somewhere below.
It grew louder with each step, a rhythmic, breathy sound that Kota recognized immediately.
He’d heard enough of it over the past few weeks to know exactly what it meant.
He rounded the corner into the wine cellar and froze.
Austin was pantsless, sitting on top of a large, black vibrating dildo.
The base was suction-cupped to a wooden crate of expensive wine, and Austin’s plump little ass was bouncing slightly, his thighs trembling with the effort of holding himself up.
He was clutching an open bottle of red wine in one hand, the other braced against a nearby wine rack.
His chef’s hat was missing, his blond hair damp with sweat, and his face was twisted in a mixture of pleasure and frustration.
The buzzing of the vibrator filled the small space, a low, insistent hum that vibrated through the stone floor.
Austin’s eyes went wide when he saw Kota standing in the doorway.
He scrambled to stand up, but the moment he lifted his hips, the dildo shifted inside him and he let out a heavy, involuntary moan.
“K-Kota!” Austin gasped, his face turning bright red.
“I didn’t—I wasn’t expecting—this isn’t what it looks like—”
Kota held up a hand, deliberately keeping his eyes fixed on a point somewhere above Austin’s head.
“I’m not looking at…
that.
I just need to know where the cupcakes are.”
“They’re—ahh—they’re in the dessert freezer—in the freezer room—nngh—” Austin’s words came out broken, each one punctuated by a small moan as the vibrator continued its relentless work.
His tiny cocklet was hard and leaking, bobbing against his stomach, and his free hand was trembling around the wine bottle.
“The big walk-in freezer—behind the kitchen—third shelf—on the left—there’s a tray marked ‘Valentine’s’—oh god—”
Kota rolled his eyes.
“Of course you have a fucking freezer room.
Because a regular freezer isn’t enough for this house.” He turned to leave, already mentally mapping out the route to the walk-in freezer.
But before he could take more than a step, he heard Austin scramble up behind him.
The sound of the dildo popping free was wet and obscene, followed by the clatter of the wine bottle being set down hastily.
Austin’s bare feet slapped against the stone floor as he rushed over, his small hands grabbing at Kota’s sleeve with desperate, shaking fingers.
“Wait!
Kota, please!” Austin’s voice was high and needy, his face flushed, his eyes glassy with a mixture of wine and frustration.
“Please, I need it.
I’ve been so backed up.
Theodore Senior has been sick, and I haven’t been able to serve him, and the flu quarantine means nobody’s been allowed in my kitchen, and I’ve been stuck down here with nothing but this dildo and a case of Merlot.
I’m losing my mind.
I need your thick A5 Wagyu.
Please.
Just one serving.
I’ll do anything.”
Kota sighed, the sound long and bone-deep.
He gently pried Austin’s fingers off his sleeve and took a step back.
“It’s a romantic holiday, Austin.
I’m not fucking anybody other than my boyfriends today.”
Austin’s face crumpled.
He looked genuinely distraught, his lower lip trembling, his eyes welling up with frustrated tears.
“But…
but it’s Valentine’s Day!
I’m all alone down here, and everyone else gets to be with someone, and my whole body feels like it’s about to explode, and the only person who usually helps me is sick, and—”
Kota felt a pang of something that might have been pity.
He looked at Austin, really looked at him, at the trembling legs and the flushed skin and the desperate, needy expression.
The kid was a mess.
A backed-up, wine-drunk, vibrator-addicted mess.
He groaned heavily, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Fine.
Give me your phone.”
Austin blinked, confusion breaking through the desperation.
“What?”
“Your phone, Austin.
Hand it over.”
Austin fumbled in his discarded pants, still lying near the wine crate, and pulled out his phone.
He passed it to Kota with a shaky hand, watching as Kota typed something into the contacts.
“There,” Kota said, handing the phone back.
“I gave you two numbers.
Corey and Riley.
They’ll fuck just about anybody.
Call them.
Tell them I sent you.
They’ll be here within the hour.”
Austin stared down at his phone, his eyes going wide.
“Corey and Riley?”
“Yeah.
They’re both insatiable and they both have a thing for desperate twinks in wine cellars.
You’ll fit right in.”
Austin’s face lit up like the sun breaking through clouds.
“Thank you, Kota!
Thank you so much!
I’ll call them right now.
Both of them.
At the same time.
This is going to be the best Valentine’s Day ever.”
“Don’t mention it,” Kota said, already turning to leave.
“Seriously.
Don’t mention it.
To anyone.
Ever.”
He started up the stairs, the sound of Austin’s eager voice fading behind him as the chef began dialing his phone.
As he reached the top of the stairs and stepped back into the warm kitchen, Kota let out a long breath.
The things he did for this family.
The absolutely ridiculous, absurd, over-the-top things he did for this family.
He shook his head and headed toward the walk-in freezer, already thinking about the look on Theo’s face when he saw the surprise waiting for him.