The rain continued to pour, the thunder rumbling softly in the distance. Night had officially fallen, and the only light that came through the gap in the curtains was the weak halo of the sign for the bar across the dirt road.
“Triumph.”
“Hmm?”
“What if I told you I wanted more with you?”
He inhaled audibly. “Define more,” he said after a moment.
“For years, I did what was necessary. Hated every moment of it. Stupidly, I gave my loyalty to a case that could never be resolved. I signed my own death warrant. Not just of my physical body, but the slow, torturous killing of my soul. Now I needsomething that I choose for myself. Something that will feel good after years of pain, or worse yet, nothing at all.”
“Glennon,” he began. “I want to explore this with you. Until now, the situation we’re in has been less than ideal for that. I told you earlier. I know we both feel it. And it’s okay to want this.
“I intended to have this conversation when we got home and got you settled, but since you’ve brought it up, I don’t want to wait. I don’t want you thinking I’m dismissing it.
“I’m not a soft man. I know I give the vibe of being more easygoing, but I’m a Dom, and I have all the characteristics that go with that label, beyond the bossiness you tease me about. It’s how I’m wired, and that’s not going to change.” He paused. “Are you familiar with consensual non-consent?”
“I’d say I’ve experienced it directly, in some ways.”
“Technically, the definition sort of tracks. With Guillermo, you gave up control because it was part of your legend. That will never be the case with me. The difference is that you are giving true consent. Because it’s what you want. Because you want your ability to make choices taken away from you.
“When it comes to sex, my… wants… fall into the CNC category. I’d want you to be totally available to me. Anytime. Any place. Any situation. In the past, most of my play has been in clubs for a few hours’ time. If they were longer than a weekend, it’s been on a contract, but there haven’t been many of those, and it’s been a long time.
“However, you’d be different. You’d be my submissive. Mine. No one else’s. No contracts. We’d be a committed couple. Even if what we do is public, it will always be within the confines of a safe environment. That could be our home, Shadowlands, one of our clubs, or some other space. The key there is ‘safe.’ I would never risk that with you.”
She opened her mouth to speak.
He laid a finger over her lips. “Don’t. You need to think, and we’re not in a place where we can think clearly about this.”
Her heart began to sink.
“I am not dismissing what you’re saying. I’m thrilled, even if it seems like I’m not. But I am being honest with you about who and what I am. After what you’ve been through, you need to think about whether this is what you want. When this is over, and when you’ve had some time to think without all this bullshit crowding in, then you can tell me what you want.”
He was right. The combination of injury, flight, and the unknown facing her back home was always swirling inside her head.
“Okay,” she agreed. “When we get home, we’ll talk.”
WHAT DID THE SKILLET EAT ON ITS BIRTHDAY?
Glennon
“What didthe skillet eat on its birthday?”
Squinting, she registered sunlight starting to peek through the curtains that didn’t quite close over the front window. She groaned. “You know, I’m not sure the dad jokes jive with our last conversation. Are you sure there aren’t two of you, and you’re switching back and forth?”
“C’mon, take a guess,” Triumph cajoled.
“I dunno. Pancakes?”
There was a huge pause. “You got it right.”
Her eyes opened completely. “No,” she denied. Gingerly, she sat up, attempting to tuck herself under his T-shirt better. “That’s not possible.”
“Well, not really, although I’m guessing you got it right subconsciously because that’s what you smelled. I reheated the food Jhon brought us earlier. We’ve got about twenty minutes to eat and be out the door. Do you need help getting dressed?”
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. With a slight twist and stretch, she realized that, other than sometenderness around her torso, she could move fairly well. “I’d like to try on my own. If I need help, I promise I’ll ask.”
He smoothed her sleep-tousled hair back from her ears and over her shoulders, and he kissed her again, this time on the forehead between her eyebrows. Then the tip of her nose. Finally on the lips. He could spend hours touching every inch of her body, and she wouldn’t feel as worshipped as she did with those three simple kisses.
