Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Hey.”
“How are things going?” I ask.
“Good. Chad had the day off from school, Diana’s working from home, and we’re taking it slow. You?”
“Good,” I tell him. “But it’s time I get…” I pause. How much do I tell him? “I gotta get my guest home. Looks like the snow’s dying down.”
“Sounds good. Later, fill me in about that guest of yours?”
My jaw ticks as I stare at the wall. If I tell him no, he’ll respect that and won’t ask again.
“Yeah. But when the time is right, okay? She’s an old flame and I’m not sure where this is going yet.”
“Of course,” he says. “Thanks for everything. I’ll stay closed tonight, but we’ll open back up again tomorrow. Sound good?”
“I’m there.”
I disconnect the call and turn to see Chandra in the doorway. She’s dressed in the clothes from the night before, her hair slightly disheveled. She wears no make-up or jewelry, but her hair shines and her face glows, and she looks like an angel.
“Old flame?” she asks. “What is this, 1950?”
I take her hand and swat her pretty ass. “Yep. Walking out of here with a bonafide throwback, babe. You game?”
She shrugs. “We’ll see.” She’s subdued now and lost the saucy brattiness she got when she tossed the pillow at me. I’m a little disappointed. Though I want her submission, I like the little vixen in her. Still, I won’t let her act out to get what she wants. I’ll give her space to really figure that out and right now, she needs time.
I get our coats and we pull them on.
“Where to?” I ask. God, this is killing me. It feels like there are too many layers between us now, too much padding. My balls are heavy and aching, my cock tight and swollen. I want to scene with her to completion… again, and again, and again.
More than that, though, I don’t want to let her go, back into the wide, wide world, with no one to protect her. No one to make sure she’s safe. No way of knowing she’ll come back to me.
“Oh, I’ll just get a cab,” she says, gesturing at the big black entryway door.
Oh hell no, we’re not playing that game.
I shake my head. “I’m going with you. Cab it is. Address?”
Her lips pull down in a frown. “Alright, then,” she finally says. “But you’re not coming up.”
“I wouldn’t ask,” I tell her. “And that’s fine.”
She looks to me expectantly like she expects me to argue the point, but I’m not playing any games with her. I jumped in too fast, too soon. Under the guise of helping her, I pursued my own selfish needs. What we had once is gone, and we aren’t the people we once were. Will we ever be the same?
It’s freezing cold outside. Her breath comes in billowy clouds, and I can’t help myself. I make sure she’s good and warm, with her jacket pulled snugly around her. The snow’s plowed on the street and sidewalks but stands in large drifts on both sides of the streets. It’s surreal, too quiet here while we’re surrounded by snow. We hail down a cab, I open the door and gesture for her to get in, then I slide in beside her. She gives the driver her address.
We sit in silence as he drives toward her home, until I finally break it.
“I never expected seeing you at Verge,” I tell her.
“Mmm,” is all she says.
I need to know if she’s coming back. “Are you planning on returning?”
“Definitely.” She’s looking out her window and tapping her fingers on her knee.
Definitely? She’s coming back, but she hasn’t made plans with me. If she comes back here and hooks up with another dom—
“When is that?” I can’t keep the bite out of my tone.
Frowning, she looks my way. “When I decide to.”
God, I want to put her over my lap and spank that sass right out of her, to make her open up again, but it’s not my privilege and I can’t dom her into trusting me. I need to earn that privilege.
“Is that right?” I ask, trying to keep my tone even, but failing. I sound like a cockblocked teen.
“Yeah,” she says.
I blow out a breath. “You’re not scening with another dom.”
Her mouth drops open and she stares at me before she speaks. “So let me get this straight,” she says. “You won’t touch me, yet you won’t allow another dom to?”
“Who said I wouldn’t touch you?” I ask. “Sweetheart, I did a hell of a lot more than touch you.”
Her cheeks flame and she turns to looks out the window. She mutters something under her breath, but I don’t catch it.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.”
God, I should have spanked her harder.
“Chandra.”
“I said yes, you did.” She sighs.
“Okay, fine,” I tell her. “Let’s compromise.”
Pursing her lips, she raises a brow to me and crosses her arms on her chest. Yeah, I definitely could’ve plied that flogger a little better.