“Give me a minute, and I’ll come.”
I wait, giving Laurel more time to process things. My life has been the way it is for so long I can’t really be objective about it. I think about when she asked me about my sex drive. By Crue standards, my sex drive is average and that’s my only frame of reference. But then we’ve always had access to women who are eager to please us. I don’t know what a normal sex drive is for a normal married guy. I would think anyone with Laurel would want her all the time, the way I do. But maybe Schager and whoever else didn’t want sex every night? Thinking about him with her makes my jaw creak from how hard I clench my teeth. He’s dead, and I’m still jealous. Like a lot of things, that’s something she’s got exclusively. I’ve never been jealous over anyone else.
C returns showered and wearing black boxer briefs. We go to the media room where Laurel’s sitting cross-legged on a couch. She’s wide-eyed when she sees C and quickly looks away, her cheeks turning pink.
C drops onto an ottoman in front of her and pops the top on a bottled water. He drinks, then speaks. “So, you all right?”
“Did Zoe know we were watching?” Her eyes dart from my face to C’s. “I should’ve made sure we had her permission.”
“I don’t need her permission for things. She needs mine.” C rests a forearm on his thigh, leaning forward. He’s still shirtless, with shoulder muscles that could double for bowling balls these days.
Laurel looks at him, then away again.
“Zoe’s known since the first week we were together that I consider her body my property. I show it off when I feel like it. And sometimes when she gets in trouble I take care of her without clearing the room. She knows the score. I love her, and I own her.”
Laurel stares at him, clearly taken aback. “And she has no choice?”
“She’s got a choice. To be with me or to be with someone else. And she’s been mine quite a while. If she had her way, the arrangement would be permanent.” C glances at the diamond ring on Laurel’s hand.
Laurelyn’s silent, but follows his gaze and twists the ring, like it’s worrying her finger.
“Don’t take my word for it. Better if you talk to Zoe alone. Then you can ask things you’d only ask another woman.”
Laurel nods.
“Anvil’s way with Rachel is different,” C adds, his gaze cutting to my face, waiting to see whether I want him to stop.
I nod for him to keep going. No more peeking in the bag. It’s open now. Time to dump out what’s inside.
“He’d never punish her or have sex with her publicly the way he did with other women. I wish he would because just the geometry of the two of them together would be interesting to see.” C finishes off the bottle of water. “Zoe’s a performer, and she’s pretty uninhibited. You don’t have to be that way. But you should know how things are, so you’re not blindsided if some random woman tells you that the guys who founded C Crue once took her to a hotel and took turns fucking her with the others in the room.”
Laurel’s soft gasp makes C smile. “What woman let you guys take turns like that?”
“A lot of women did. Usually call girls, but sometimes women who just like to be in the middle of a gangbang. Ones who want the thrill and release of being dominated and fucked.”
Laurel winces.
C gives me a pained look. “Haven’t you talked to her at all? Because it seems like all of the sudden, you’re more buttoned-up than ‘Vil. He doesn’t do it front of other people, but in private, he owns his girl.”
“To each his own.”
“Mmm hmm.” C stands and stretches. “So, this beautiful girl who said she was tired is still up at midnight. She hasn’t been spanked or she’d be in bed. There’s no ginger in the house, so I’m curious. Gonna tell me?”
I lean back, and stretch my own arms. The tug in my left bicep sends a sharp pain through it, so I massage it before I stand. “Maybe, but not tonight.”
I’m not interested in discussing my decision making where punishing her is concerned. She’s been hit with a lot of about my lifestyle tonight. I’m not looking to overwhelm her. Besides, my promise to Laurel is that I’ll keep what we do private, so my days of being an open book about sex are over unless she relieves me of the gag order. “Time for bed.”
“Goodnight, Laurelyn,” C says.
She looks up. “Goodnight, C.”
I’m proud of her for saying goodnight without a disapproving tone. He leaves us alone, and I put out my hand. She stares at it.
“You said you wanted details. Was I wrong to believe you meant it?”
She looks up at my face. “No. It’s just shocking to learn how unconventional your life is. On every level.”
For a second, I think she’s going to start talking about sleeping in any bed but mine, but she doesn’t.
