Ten
“Thank you…lovely girl,” I heard Leo whisper as if an echo in my mind. My throat hurt and my eyes burned as mascara and tears mixed. I’d lost time, falling into the space where everything hummed, spun, and shined a kaleidoscope of colors. As my breathing leveled and I became aware of the tangible matter of my body rather than the spiritual idea of it, I realized the cross had moved again and my back was flat. Every audible beat of my heart eased me further.
I blinked and looked up to see Leo above me. He smiled carefully and brought a tissue to my face, swiping at my forehead first, then my temples. I meant to speak but only a moan came out.
“Shh…” he whispered. “Let me get your face cleaned up, then I’ll get you some water.”
I sighed and nodded as he gently dabbed under my eyes. He reached down and unlocked my wrists and I could feel his skin against mine. Another wave of relief rocked me, registering the fact he’d taken his gloves off. I flinched when his bare hand pressed something cool and damp between my legs, wiping away the evidence of my orgasm. He offered a soothing shush again. His hand landed on my knee when I attempted to lift my ankle and felt the shackles still holding me to the cross that was now more like a table.
“Hang on. Just relax. Keep breathing. You’re not ready to stand,” he said.
My forehead crinkled. I didn’t know why he thought I couldn’t stand, but staying on my back was comfortable enough and the sound of his voice made my eyes flutter closed once more. A breath filled my lungs and I trembled as I blew it out. I nearly drifted off to sleep but Leo’s hand touched my shoulder and coaxed me to move. Sitting up, with his hand guiding my torso, I opened my eyes and felt the world return as the scene came back to me in a rush. Leo hadn’t let up after my first orgasm. He’d grinned and dropped down in a squat in front of my flipped head and asked me if I thought I could handle more. I remember grumbling some kind of blissed out retort. With that he continued to finger and tongue fuck me, adding in the use of a large wand vibrator that he wielded relentlessly. Plus, as he made sure to explain in graphic terms, he prepared my ass to take him all in due time with the aid of his gloved fingers. I think by my third descent into intrinsic pleasure I zoned out—spinning in that most lovely way—letting him take me over the edge and back again God knows how many times. My limbs shook and my core felt numb from Leo’s bombardment.
I blinked away the blur of leftover tears and lifted one weak hand to swipe under my eye. I sighed when Leo’s hand smoothed down my back. It was odd recognizing that I wasn’t naked—the scene left me exposed regardless of clothing. Glancing at Leo beside me, I smiled weakly and took the bottle of water he offered, swallowing a few gulps before he gently pulled it away from my lips.
“Easy,” he said. “Take it slow. How do you feel?”
His blue gaze struck me and held me more firmly than it did when he assumed the role of my authoritarian. I wet my lips, still relishing the cool water and let a light laugh spill out.
“Spent.”
The corner of Leo’s mouth flickered barely, a smile trying to form while concern continued to harden his features. His touch eased me as he delicately stroked my hair, still pinned up though thoroughly mussed by the thrashings of my body flipped on the St. Andrew’s Cross. I searched his face and found my voice again.
“I’m okay, really. Not dizzy anymore,” I added.
“The party’s winding down. Think you can stand?”
I nodded, another breath bringing me over the line to normal again. Leo quickly unlocked my ankles from the cross and gave me his hand, helping me down. When my feet touched the ground I faltered, but only for a moment, and he secured his arm around my back the instant he noticed my knees buckle.
My eyes swept up his body to look in his eyes. Fire simmered beneath his stare, warming me the same as his smoldering gloveless touch. His grasp hooked at my hip and he helped to prop me upright as I found my footing before slipping into my shoes. As I straightened, finally on solid ground in more ways than one, I moved away from him. It was subtle, but I saw the quick change in him as we parted ever so slightly.
I sucked back another drink of water and followed Leo out into the hall. It smelled more like sex than before and my cheeks flushed knowing I’d contributed with my multiple orgasms. We passed the room Melanie and Gabe had occupied and Leo ducked his head inside. They were sitting together in a wingback chair in the corner of the room, Melanie resting in Gabe’s lap as she stroked his hair tenderly.
“Leo,” Melanie purred, “you heading home?”
Leo tapped the door frame and smiled. “Yeah. Thanks, guys. Dinner was great. Let us know about next month.”
Us.
I expected my heart to clench at the quick show of his hand like that but instead I practically came again, tingles rippling through my core at the nonchalant mention of a future.
Melanie caught my eye and smiled. “We will. Hope you had fun tonight, Sloane. It was lovely meeting you.”
Though she looked petite and almost childlike in Gabe’s arms, her gaze remained lustful and commanding. I flashed my teeth then softened, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear as I returned the sentiment. Leo’s hand slipped gracefully to the small of my back and he ushered me out to the car without a word.
Almost a mile down the road, I finally broke the silence. “Leo?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t pull his eyes from the road, but his hand reached for me over the gearshift, settling on my knee warmly.
A million things ran through my mind. I wanted his take on the scene, his thoughts on the night in general. I wanted to know if he’d meant to say “us” when asking Mel about next month’s gathering. But it was becoming increasingly clear that the less I questioned this—the less I doubted and analyzed—the easier it was. A slow grin curled my lips and I tapped my tongue against the back of my teeth before I laughed.
“What was the final tally?”
He shot me a look, his intense eyes lit by the moon and the glow of streetlights off the highway. “What?”
Another breath of a laugh escaped me. “Exactly how many times did you make me come?”
Leo grinned and restricted me with a firm and sultry look. “Not nearly enough.”
I smirked and faced the road again, letting thoughts of the scene swirl around us in the quiet car. We reached my apartment and inhibition stole my voice for its own advantage. “Do you want to come up?” I asked.
Leo’s brow rose and he cleared his throat, adding a muttered affirmative before pulling into a parking space. There was no way we’d be engaging in anything other than conversation and I assumed he knew as much since he’d already sexually drained me. His distance as I opened my door and allowed him inside confirmed my assumption. My stomach fluttered once the door shut and we were alone in my home. Leo easily toed around, hands clasped behind his back as his eyes scanned my space thoroughly.
“Wine?” I chirped.
He smiled and nodded. Another clue that he didn’t expect anything from me. Thank God. I pulled down two glasses and poured from the bottle of Riesling I had chilling in my refrigerator. I found Leo staring at my bookcase—not surprising—and offered him the glass.
“Thanks,” he said before turning back to the shelf. “You have interesting taste.”
I laughed and took a gulp of wine, attempting to calm the jitters he gave me. My taste in books was a bit all over the place. I had everything from brutal true crime accounts to dime store Harlequins and presidential biographies.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, leading us to my couch as though he owned the space. Why had I invited him inside? His demeanor had changed from the party to here in my space but everything he said, every move he made, captivated me.
I shook my head as we sat down beside each other. Comfortably close. “Some would say the same about you,” I remarked with a lingering snicker.
He didn’t laugh. His eyes scanned my face the same way he’d read the spines of the books I owned. It was the same way he read me—carefully, deliberately.
“Tell me what you liked best about tonight,” he said.
I looked away and drank another gulp. “I don’t know.”
“Are you embarrassed?”
My gaze pulled back to his face as if by some magnetic force. I was embarrassed and I hated that he knew it. Worse, I felt guilty for being embarrassed. What we did made me feel so good, I just didn’t know how to process it yet.
“Maybe I am.”
“What for?”
I pushed the little bit of hair that had fallen in my eyes away and sighed. “It’s not so much embarrassment as it is…”
“Vulnerability.”
I swallowed around a lump in my throat at his perfect speculation. His ability to look inside my mind without my permission only made me feel more vulnerable. Just like when consciousness returned to me on the flattened cross, my nakedness had nothing to do with what I wore. He didn’t need scissors to free me from an article of clothing; his words were keen and sharp enough to cut through every part of my exterior, leaving me bare.
“That’s what makes it so powerful. You allow me the greatest intimacy, not by granting me permission to invade your body, but your mind,” Leo said.
My heartbeat slowed as I nodded. I wouldn’t have known how to say it—I didn’t wield words as beautifully as Leo, but he was right.
“I liked being tied,” I started softly.
“What about it?” His voice was just as low and even keeled as mine.
“When I couldn’t move…I was forced to feel everything in a way I never have before,” I said. My face flushed just referencing the onslaught of multiple orgasms he’d doled out. Without free limbs to disperse the energy building inside me as he pumped his fingers and tongued me expertly, I had no other choice but to experience every sparkling nerve at my sex with no reprieve. When I looked up from the wine glass I’d confessed into, I saw his slackened jaw and darkened eyes. The shameless look on his face made a grin works its way onto my lips. He may’ve been able to disrobe me with vocabulary but my words had their own effect.
“What did you like best about tonight?” I asked boldly.
“This,” he replied with a smile.
***
The two weeks following that night, when he’d stripped me down to my most primal state, had groomed me into someone new. Something had shifted between us and though I felt as unbalanced as I had when the cross tilted back. I lived for my moments with Leo. We broke the walls of communication over a bottle of wine on my couch and it seemed from then on his voice grew thick each time he addressed me—always my Dom. I’d never felt more aware of the senses I possessed. Turned on by the lightest touch or the most vulgar word. Getting dressed suddenly became an erotic experience, never knowing if he’d be the one to disrobe me by sundown. The sound of the bell above the door at Calloway Books signified the start of our games and the click of the lock each night was the gavel adjourning us. A truce until daybreak. His power plays during the workday varied from a simple firm grasp around my wrist and a whisper of filthy fantasies to a stolen moment upstairs where one leather covered hand gripped my throat as he slid fingers inside of me—never letting me reach my peak.
“I have a bone to pick with you,” Oliver said, snapping me out of fantasy and forcing me to pull my gaze away from Leo’s back where he stood across the store.
My brows cinched together. “What’s wrong?”
Oliver’s head ticked to one side and he huffed. “I know your secret,” he said.
A wave of fear rippled through my gut. Leo wouldn’t be so stupid as to tell his brother about us. So did that mean Oliver saw us at some point? Was that even possible? My face reddened and I tried to find the best way to explain myself. Leo should be the one having to explain, not me. He’d turned me into this, after all.
“You have a background in marketing?” he asked incredulously. “How could you not tell me that?”
A laugh croaked out of me as I released the breath I’d been holding onto for dear life. Relieved that was the secret he’d become privy to, I shook my head and logged another book into the computer from the new shipment.
“Nothing personal.” I laughed. “It just never came up.”
“Well, I could use a little help in that department if you’re up for it. Since Wendy is coming back to work and with that new kid I just hired…maybe I could set you up in the office? If you kept it part time, I could probably even pay you a little more.”
My hands halted above the box of new books at my side and I narrowed my eyes on him with a smirk. “Wendy’s coming back?” I asked, completely disregarding the rest of his sideways offer at a promotion. My brows shot up and he rolled his eyes.
“She, um,” he voice stumbled and he roughed up his chestnut hair, averting his gaze. “Yeah, I mean, since we…”
My eyes widened. “You two are dating?”
He blushed and shook his head with a smile. “Yeah. I guess.”
“You guess?”
Oliver sighed and paused for a beat. “I’m crazy about her. So crazy that it scares me and I almost screwed it up and lost her for good. So yeah, we’re together and I’m sure as hell not going to let her go. She liked working here and the closer she is, the better I feel,” he said. “Do you want to moon over my love life some more or will you let me promote you?”
I chuckled and folded my arms over my chest. “What would you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. Rebrand us? This place has been the same since my grandfather bought it. Find some publicity opportunities around town? There’s that Fall Festival coming up, I’d love to get a booth. That kind of stuff isn’t my thing at all. We aren’t struggling necessarily, but a little boost in sales wouldn’t hurt. It’s time for a facelift around here and you’re probably way more apt than Leo and I are at PR.”
I didn’t need to consider it for any longer than he took to explain. Putting my skills to use wouldn’t be a problem and despite whatever I had brewing with Leo, I actually liked working at Calloway Books. In fact, these days the only thing I missed about Warren was my job at his company. I smiled at Oliver and saw relief wash over his face and warmth exude from his brown eyes.
“That’s a yes?”
I nodded and he grinned. “How about I hit the pavement later this week and see what kind of advertising outlets I can find? Make some contact with other businesses we could cross promote with?”
He slung his arm around my shoulder and yanked me to his side, kissing the top of my head. “That’s perfect. Sloane, I feel like you came along at just the right time,” he said, pulling back and looking down at me kindly. Maybe it was the fact that he was the oldest sibling, or just his good nature, but he seemed to look at me like a little sister and a part of me wondered if he did have some vague clue about Leo and me. “I didn’t know just how much the Calloways needed a girl like you around.”
I felt a hearty laugh build in my chest but I stifled it into a chuckle. With the way my world had changed since finding the Calloways—one brother in particular—it was clear they’d come along at the right time for me as well.
***
I spent Friday morning popping into every independent retail shop along Salem’s main street, offering my cheeriest of grins and my not-too-over-rehearsed pitch for the bookstore. My final stop was at Black and Brew, a coffee shop and craft beer microbrewery combo that had opened a few months back. When I walked in, the scent of coffee beans nearly made me moan in delight. I’d gotten an early start and hadn’t had my normal amount of caffeine.
I stepped up to the counter and a man shot out from the swinging kitchen door with a beaming smile. Pale brown strands of hair tucked under a knit hat and a thick dark beard covered his grinning face. He stopped at the register, punching in a few quick numbers, and the muscles under his tattooed forearm flexed before he caught my eyes.
“Hey, what can I get for you?”
“A manager, please,” I replied.
His face paled. “Is everything all right? I’m—I’m the manager,” he said leaving the register, walking around the counter to meet me.
My hand stretched out to him without making contact and my eyes grew wide. “Everything’s fine! Sorry,” I said, pulling my hand back then offering it again more easily. “My name is Sloane Montgomery and I work over at Calloway Books. I was hoping I could talk to you.”
The man took my hand as he chuckled. “Way to give a guy a heart attack, Sloane. I’m Ethan Corbin. The manager,” he said before gesturing to a table for us to sit.
“Sorry.” I laughed.
He rested his colorful arms on the table and leaned in a little, his full attention clearly given. For a second I swallowed thickly, watching as his eyes examined me while a smile lingered on his mouth.
“So, what’s up?” he asked casually. I almost laughed again. He was different from every other store owner or manager I’d spoken to that morning. He was younger, calmer, and while he didn’t seem unprofessional, he didn’t have the same stuffy quality to him like the others did. As much as I loved Oliver, he was more the caliber of people I’d been dealing with. Neurotic, no nonsense types. Ethan seemed like he’d just hopped off of a tour bus and decided what the hell, I’ll manage this coffee shop. His ease was refreshing, especially since I’d been having the same meeting over and over again.
“Do you know about the book store? Calloway Books? We’re just across the street, down about a block and a half.”
“Yeah, I’ve been in there. Cool place.”
“Great! Yeah, so, we’re trying to gain some new business and look for some new ways to get ourselves out there. Um, anyway, I was thinking, we serve coffee all day to our shoppers so it could be a nice opportunity for us to cross promote with you guys here.”
God, I was rusty. It was my sixth on the spot meeting of the day and I’d been stumbling over my words all morning but this was really bad. Maybe I needed that caffeine sooner rather than later.
A crooked grin plastered on Ethan’s mouth and he leaned back in his chair, eyeing me. Maybe caffeine wasn’t the issue after all. Maybe it was the fact that none of the other people I’d met with had looked at me quite like Ethan.
“I love it,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest. His gray t-shirt with the store name and logo on it stretched tight across his torso and my eyes became distracted by the designs on his skin once again. The second I wondered how far the tattoos crept under his clothes, I cleared my throat and shook the stray thought. Leo had certainly lit a match to the fuse that was my sex drive.
“How about I send you back with coffee and some discount cards to put out and in the meantime, I’ll clear off one of those shelves,” he said pointing to the massive display of coffee bags and logo-laden merchandise. “And you can come back in a few days with some books? We can sell a handful of titles and make sure people know to check you guys out.”
I’m sure my grin was touching my ears as I nodded. “That’s an awesome idea. Thank you so much,” I replied.
Ethan pushed back from the table and rose to his feet, looking over his shoulder at the person who’d just stepped up to the counter. “Sure thing,” he said taking a step away before holding up one finger. “Can you hang on a sec?”
I nodded and his thank you came in the form of a wink that I didn’t have time to comprehend.
“Sloane?” I heard a voice say behind me.
I turned in my chair and stopped breathing when I recognized the beauty speaking to me. Melanie Nolan walked the rest of the way over to me, dressed in black cotton pants that hugged her limbs, sneakers, and a purple zip up jacket over a tight white tank top. Her dark ringlets sat in a flouncy bun atop her head and her face was clean of makeup. She was just as shockingly gorgeous as she had been dressed in red and painted to perfection at her house party, but still the sight of her casualwear took me aback briefly. At her side stood a young woman with the same nose and mouth but her eyes were all Gabe’s.
“Melanie,” I croaked as I stood. “Hi.”
She beamed and pulled me into a friendly hug, looking me up and down as she let me go. “It’s good to see you. How are you? How’s Leo?”
My voice caught in my throat. I knew why she was asking me about him, we’d all but screwed at her house, but it still made the hairs on my neck prick up.
“I’m good, thanks,” I smiled. “Leo’s good, as far as I know. I haven’t seen him in a few days.”
Her smile slanted barely and her brow jumped almost too quickly for me to notice, but I did. Melanie nodded and looked over at the young woman beside her. “Sloane this is my daughter, Angela. Angela, this is my friend, Sloane.”
Angela waved and pulled her lips into a shy smile as she added a hello. I smiled back at her, figuring she was probably sixteen or so. I hated the thoughts that popped into my head. I wondered where Angela had been the night of the house party. I wondered if she knew the kinds of things her parents were involved in. I knew it didn’t matter, but a tiny part of me felt judgement clouding over my thoughts of Melanie. The mistress was a mother? I didn’t know why, but I’d just assumed a couple like Gabe and Melanie didn’t have children. Melanie’s hand came down on my shoulder and I relaxed under her touch, though my mind fired cannons of confusion the moment it happened.
“We should exchange numbers,” Melanie said. “I’d love to go to lunch some time. I don’t have many girlfriends so I end up dragging my daughter around after school.” She laughed and Angela rolled her eyes. “She humors me now, but as soon as she gets her license I’ll be old news.”
I nodded and stuttered something like a yes as I rifled through my purse for my phone. I handed her mine as she handed me hers and we each entered our information before exchanging again. Her full lips split into another sweet smile and I suddenly felt my heart warm a little. Despite the awkwardness of our initial meeting, a new friend actually sounded pretty wonderful and Melanie was obviously a great person. I squashed the foolish judgement I’d placed on her just moments before and returned the second hug she pulled me into before saying goodbye.
“I’ll be in touch,” she said over her shoulder as she and Angela walked out the door.
As I turned back to the table I’d been sitting at with Ethan, I nearly jumped to see him standing right in front of me. His eyes bugged out a little and he stifled a laugh, pulling his lips in his mouth.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya,” he said, extending a paper cup toward me. “I made you this month’s special. Caramel apple latte. On the house.”
I took the drink and smiled softly. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” Ethan replied. In the other hand, he held a brown paper sack out to me and I took it as well. “There’s a light roast, medium and a bold in there. Just let me know when you need more.”
“Wonderful. Thank you so much. And I’ll plan on coming back with some books soon. This is great.” I grinned. My new role at Calloway Books seemed to suit me. I hadn’t felt happiness fill me like this in a while and it was clear I was getting back to the old me. The me who made friends and loved to work. The me who cared about herself first.
“For sure,” Ethan said. “I’m really glad you stopped in, Sloane.”
His stare pressed deep into me for a split second before someone called his name and he shot me a grimace crossed with a grin as he hustled back behind the counter again.
I left Black and Brew and stopped at the tiny building that housed the historical society and an art gallery. After I filled out the forms for a booth at the annual Fall Festival, I decided to take the long way back to the store, passing through the little park I’d always looked at from afar. The leaves had started to change barely, but an Indian summer had lingered over the last few days.
I found a bench and sat down to finish my latte. The warm, sweet coffee touched my tongue and I breathed deeply, thanking Ethan silently, suppressing thoughts of the way he winked at me. Looking around at the surprisingly busy park, Ethan left my mind as quickly as he crossed it. The sight of the playground filled with happy children lit a bittersweet pang in my chest. I swatted the thoughts that chased through my mind and coated the feeling in my sternum with sugar and caffeine, closing my eyes and taking another sip of my dwindling drink.
Something brushed the hem of my dress and my eyes flew open. I smiled and reached forward to greet the little golden puppy snuffling at my shoes. Tentatively petting the downy soft fur of its head, I only looked up to who held the dog’s leash when I heard his voice.
“Hi.”
Leo stood grinning at me and I froze, though a smile had half-formed on my lips the moment I saw him. Leo was an impeccable dresser. At the store, he was always in either a suit jacket or a crisp button down shirt, sometimes a vest. He was trendy but he also had his own way of wearing fashions I wouldn’t have picked out for him. But as I stared up at him where he held the frenzied little puppy’s leash in one hand, the first thing I noticed past his stunning blue eyes was his plain black t-shirt and jeans. I’d never seen him looking so casual. My brow rose slightly as I considered the way I’d just seen Melanie at Black and Brew. Just because they wielded leather weapons didn’t mean it was all tuxedoes and gowns all the time. The image I had of what Leo and his friends’ world continued to crumble.
His hair looked a little damp and a tad out of place. Of course, it was sexy. He made just about everything sexy. Leo could get a spiral perm and wear nothing but head to toe acid-washed denim and I think I’d still feel a pulse of electricity between my legs at the sight of him.
“Hey,” I finally breathed.
I moved my attention back to the puppy excitedly jumping up at me from the ground, its stubby legs never getting high enough to reach my lap. I scooped the sweet dog up and into my arms. It licked my cheek, evoking a giggle and I reveled in the small moment of glee. Something about affection from an animal always made me feel like a child again and it had a way of erasing any worries from my mind.
“Who is this?” I asked as the pup’s squirming calmed and it nestled against my chest.
Leo shook his head and smiled. “That’s Rosie and apparently she’s your new best friend.”
“I didn’t know you had a dog,” I mused.
Leo handed me the leash and sat down beside me, slinging one arm over the back of the bench as he turned his body toward me. Feeling like a child flew out the window the moment I dragged my gaze up and down the length of him once more. Though my insides still held onto gleefulness.
“She’s not mine. She’s Ben’s. He just got her a few weeks ago and I offered to take her out on my days off,” he said before leaning in a little to scratch Rosie behind one ear.
I scoffed a little laugh and quipped, “A puppy and a kitten? Ben’s got his hands full.”
Leo’s eyes widened, perhaps not expecting the off the cuff joke from me—or the reference to the party—but he broke out into a laugh that squeezed my heart deliciously.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were working.”
Rosie’s head popped up from the two second nap she’d had on my lap and crawled over to take her place in Leo’s arms instead. I watched the way his face lit up as she padded across the small length of bench between us to cuddle him. He helped her up and stroked her head whispering down at her, “Good girl.”
Fire licked up my spine and warmth pooled in my belly at those words—how desperately I wanted him to say them to me. His gaze lifted and though I saw the embers of lust in his stare and recognition of his effect on me, he played it off coolly. His brows jumped, waiting for my answer as I simmered at his use of the phrase that owned me.
Clearing my throat, I looked out toward the playground again, trying to find a focal point. “I was taking a break before heading back the store. Oliver sent me out to sign us up for the Fall Festival and make some contacts for cross-promo,” I replied before shooting him a teasing glare. “You know, since he just happened to find out about my previous marketing experience.”
“Weird. Maybe he Googled you,” he shot back.
My lips twisted, smothering a beaming smile while my thoughts raced. I’d so quickly come to adore this. Us. This banter, this familiarity outside of our sexual chemistry. I couldn’t think of anyone else I shared such an easy connection with aside from Bryon. It started at the party and with our hours of discussion at my place, it only grew more unavoidable. The idea struck me like a falling meteor. From the very first moment, things with Leo had been rather effortless.
“So is this what you do on your days off? Use poor, innocent Rosie here to pick up girls at the park?”
“Is it working?” His full lips bowed and his expression softened as he shifted barely beside me, moving an inch closer.
I shook my head though my mouth betrayed me by smiling and my brain screamed the correct answer. Of course it was working.
“I’d like to have dinner with you,” he said. My breath clung to my throat. “Tonight. May I?”
A series of images flickered through my brain. The first time we locked eyes over a wrecked copy of The Scarlet Letter, the pattern of wood grain I stared at the first time he spanked me, my shirt falling down my body as he interrogated me, his ravenous lips against my pussy, his hands slipping into leather gloves time and time again… All of that and yet none of those moments filled me with the amount of melded fear and excitement I felt when he proposed dinner.
I traced Leo’s face for an instant and couldn’t see a single shred of dominance. He wasn’t willing me to agree and he wasn’t commanding it of me. He was asking. Leveling with me…or deferring to me. Did Leo want more? The thought hadn’t entered my mind. Did I know what to give or how to give it? Warren’s damage remained present as faint seams, like scars on my spirit. I could give my body, I could hand over control, but could I share any more without falling apart?
Leo must’ve seen the wheels turning at rapid speed when he leaned a little closer. “Just dinner,” he specified.
My head nodded before my emotions gave full permission and the look of relief on his face made my belly tremble. Just dinner.