“You’re adorable, so I’ll let you get away with it.” I stroke my hands over his thighs in arcing motions. “Do I miss him?” I ponder Quinn’s question properly rather than dismiss it out of hand.
He doesn’t say another word, just watches me, presumably waiting for me to come to a conclusion. I start to massage his shoulders, which seems to make his eyelids even heavier. I’m going to have to answer him before I send him back to sleep.
“No.”
“No?” Quinn’s eyebrows rise the tiniest of fractions.
“Charles was controlling. I didn’t really want to be controlled.”
“Why did you put up with it?”
“Because I wanted to learn from him, and that was the price I had to pay. That was how Charles worked,” I add quickly. “It’s not how most Doms would teach another. Not that I knew that at the time.” I lie beside Quinn and stroke his jaw. “I suppose I was also desperate for a male role model. I wanted someone to take me in hand and guide me. Charles did that. He taught me so much, and I will always be grateful to him, but when it ended, I felt an odd sense of relief. He clipped my wings, but once I was free of him, I was able to spread them and truly be myself. I’m not sure any of that makes sense.”
“It does. Thanks for telling me.” He runs his hand over my chest. “And for taking care of me.”
“I haven’t finished taking care of you yet. Roll onto your stomach, and I’ll carry on with the massage.”
“I’ll fall asleep again.”
I kiss him softly. “That’s not a problem.” I nudge him, coaxing him to roll over.
He obeys and rests his face on his folded arms. His eyes drift shut as I drizzle lotion over his back and continue to massage him. I can tell the moment he falls asleep because his back muscles completely relax beneath my hands. I don’t stop. I finish the massage, hoping I’ve done enough to make sure his muscle won’t ache, and then settle down beside him. I don’t want to be anywhere except right here with Quinn.
21
QUINN
“This sucks.” Fraser flops onto the sofa beside me and folds his arms.
“It does.”
“Maybe we should have gone with them. Not to the meeting with their mum, obviously, but we could have gone to a coffee shop nearby or something.” He huffs out a sigh. “I know. It’s too late. I should have come up with that master plan much sooner.”
“What are you two sulking about?” Hendrix asks. He lies on the other sofa, taking up the whole thing.
I exchange a glance with Fraser, unsure how much we’re supposed to tell anyone.
Hendrix raises his hand. “Ah, top-secret twin stuff. Got it.”
“How did—?” I begin.
“Well, you two are here, looking miserable, and they’re nowhere to be seen. So they must have gone off to do something important, leaving you two to pine for them.” He flutters his lashes. “It’s either romantic or tragic. I’m not sure which.”
Fraser glares at him.
“You need cheering up,” Hendrix decides. “How about a game of Never Have I Ever? I’m pretty sure Preston, Theo, and Rory are all in. I’ll go and round them up.” He gasps and points at me. “You could invite Rubin over too. How long will it take him to get here?”
“Half an hour or so if he’s not busy. Isn’t Never Have I Ever a drinking game?”
Hendrix nods.
“I don’t drink.”
“Huh.”
“And Rory will be working tonight,” Fraser points out. “So he won’t want to get shit-faced either.”
“You only have to drink if you’ve done something, so I doubt Rory will get drunk,” Hendrix says. “Besides, we can do something else.” His eyes sparkle, and his mouth upturns into an impish smile. “We could play strip Never Have I Ever. If you’ve done the thing, you take an item of clothing off. The first person to get naked is clearly the wildest person in the house. Or we could be boring and make mocktails or something,” he adds in an exaggerated tone.
