Page 26 of Masters of Control

Morgan loved clothes, makeup, and doing her hair, unlike Sam who would put in the effort but only when she had to. She was pretty sure if she showed up tomorrow morning, unexpected, Morgan would look as flawless as ever.

Actually, that would definitely be true now that Morgan was moving in with Brian. They weren’t together, but Morgan had once told Sam that she didn’t allow men to see her without her ‘face.’ Granted, Sam had never seen Morgan without a full face of makeup either, so it wasn’t necessarily a gender thing, but she would definitely be fully made up while living with a man, even if they were just friends.

“They’ve also had drinks after class for two weeks in a row now,” Noelle said. There was something in her voice that made Sam look at her, wondering if Noelle disapproved for some reason, but when their gazes met, Noelle smiled at her. Maybe she was reading too much into things.

“Maybe we could do drinks all together after class this Monday,” she offered. If she wasn’t seeing Q tonight, she might have wanted to keep the after-class connection going, but it wouldn’t hurt to include the others.

Especially if Noelle felt left out.

“Oh, that would be great!” Noelle beamed at her. Maybe she hadn’t imagined the tone of Noelle’s voice. There was a definite difference between how she sounded now and how she’d sounded a minute ago.

“You could come join us, too,” Sam offered to Morgan, who smiled at her.

“Maybe! I’ll probably still be unpacking. I also don’t know what Master Brian is going to want us to do during the week.”

“I think Brian is probably going to want you to make your own decision,” Sam reminded her gently, making sure to leave off the BDSM honorific out loud, even though she did tend to use them in her head. Crap. Was Morgan moving in with a man, and a Dom, really the best idea?

No, it should be fine. Master Brian wouldn’t let her bury her own needs or make him make all her decisions. He was a Daddy Dom and a caretaker, and part of that would be pushing her to be her own person.

Morgan blinked owlishly, then shook her head.

“Right, of course, but I’ll probably be busy unpacking. There’s going to be a lot to do. I need to get my ASMR room set up.” She shook her head again. “I should stay home. Maybe some other time.”

“Great.” Sam smiled encouragingly at her, aware of Noelle watching them closely and with some confusion. She would not say anything, though. Morgan would share the details of her past with Noelle when she was ready. Sam was pretty sure she didn’t know everything, though she’d found out an awful lot through the dribbles of information Morgan would sometimes drop. “And you’re probably right, you’re going to be exhausted.”

“Who’s going to be exhausted?” Master Mitch appeared in the doorway of Morgan’s bedroom. “Cuz it’s not me. These guns can go all day.” He flexed his bicep, making all of them crack up. With the sweatshirt he was wearing, they couldn’t even see his muscles. Blond-haired, blue-eyed, and perpetually joking around, he didn’t seem like a Dom until he turned on his Dom attitude, which he could flip like a switch.

He was newly engaged to Domi, but he’d always been friendly with Sam and Morgan. When he’d heard Morgan was moving, he’d insisted on coming to help with the big furniture and brought Master Zach with him. Master Kincaid was helping Master Brian move things around Brian’s house to make room for Morgan.

“Good, here’s a box.” Sam picked up the heaviest one, the one that she’d been about to do herself, and thrust it at him.

Mitch took it with his usual grin.

“Got it. Hey, slackers, come get some boxes. We’re almost done!” He turned and retreated from the doorway. Sam, Noelle, and Morgan looked at each other. They were almost done?

She’d thought Mitch was coming to check on them. The guys had been clearing out the furniture and boxes from the main room. Morgan didn’t have a ton of stuff, but she’d had most of the basics and a few things her old roommate had left for her. Grabbing another box, which wasn’t nearly as heavy as the one she’d given Mitch, Sam followed him down the hallway.

Her mouth dropped open when they reached the living room. Holy crap! It was basically empty. She didn’t realize that she and the others had been talking for so long.

“Wow. We’re going to be done so much faster than I thought!” Morgan said from behind her, sounding thrilled.

Sam wasn’t disappointed. She’d much rather have more time to get ready and more energy than she’d originally planned for her date.

She still didn’t know what she and Q were doing or where they were going. She’d left it up to him. Maybe they’d go to Marquis… which she wouldn’t hate, but at the same time, she’d like to feel like what was going on between them wasn’t all about sex.

Q

A peal of laughter from Law’s basement made Q wonder what was going on down there. It also made Q think of Sam, knowing she was hanging out with her girlfriends today.

“They sound like they’re having fun,” Asad said, cocking his head toward the basement door and grinning. “Think they’d like some company?”

“Leave them alone. You’re supposed to be here to hang out with me,” Law replied with a pointed look. Asad just chuckled. They were gathered around Law’s kitchen table—Asad and Law across from each other while Connor sat across from Q. There was food, though Q privately thought the ladies had taken the better snacks downstairs with them.

“It’s not my fault they sound like they’re having more fun.” Even as he spoke, another round of laughter made its way up the stairs.

Law rolled his eyes. “We’re not here to have fun. We’re here to talk about my proposal to Iris.”

“Which you decided to do while she’s downstairs, rather than waiting until she’s not at home.” Connor raised his eyebrows, lifting his water to take a sip.