Page 5 of Love & Power

Liu spun his chair to face us as Atticus stirred, hearing Ryker’s outburst. I watched as he adorably rubbed his eyes like a little kid, then groped around trying to find the glasses he’d set on the top of his head.

“There’s still four more hours until we land,” Ryker muttered as he continued to bitch, getting to his feet. “Did this need to happen right now? Or do you hate us all that much?”

Not waiting for Hound’s answer, he shuffled to the bathroom and slammed the door.

“And people say I’m the dramatic one,” Braxton commented, sitting next to me on the couch. “Well, Hound Dog, what’s so urgent that we need to wake everyone up?”

That got Braxton a scathing look from Hound, but he didn’t say a word until Ryker rejoined us. Having noticed all of us were in the main cabin area, the two flight attendants appeared.

“Is there anything we can get for you?” one woman asked.

“Coffee, black, leave the pot,” Ryker answered, flopping back on the couch across from me.

The others echoed their desire for coffee as well. Not wanting to share our personal matters, further conversation waited until everyone had their coffee. The attendants also left a tray of fruit, nuts, and cheeses on the table between the two couches. Silently disappearing as quickly as they appeared, we were once again alone.

“All right, Hound, let’s hear it,” I urged. “What has gotten you so worked up?”

“I’m not worked up,” he countered.

I just raised a disbelieving brow at him but stayed silent as I drank my yummy coffee.

“Hound, if you wish us to have a particular discussion as you’ve alluded to, then I believe it would help if you tell us what it is,” Atticus reasoned.

All eyes were on the man as he chewed on one of his lip piercings, telling me he was nervous about what he had to say. “Fine, I’ll just get right to the point since I can’t think of a way to say this without offending someone.”

Ryker let out a huff of laughter. “What else is new?”

Hound flipped the man off but kept his attention on me. “Luna, you said something to me in the shower, and it got me thinking. There are seven of us and only one of her…” he paused to hold up his hand to stop anyone from cutting in, “… I know, I know, this is not news to any of us. However, I don’t think I really understood what that meant for her.”

“I’m not sure I’m following your logic,” Liu said after a moment.

Grumbling to himself, Hound rubbed the back of his neck. This wasn’t a man to get embarrassed, but there it was right before my eyes, written all over his face. “Fuck… okay, let me spell it out this way. After the gala, Astin and I took the evening to ourselves as you know. None of us talk to each other about what happens during our alone time… it’s nobody’s business but our own. That being said, I think that needs to change slightly.”

None of that cleared anything up, but I felt he was just pausing to collect his thoughts and had more to say.

“Hound isn’t just a name for being able to sniff out any code, it’s also because I’m a huge fan of primal play when it comes to sex. That night, I sent Luna into the parking garage to find the car and hunted her down. When I eventually caught her, there was nothing loving or gentle about the fucking I gave her. Forgive me for being crass, but that pussy was fucked rough and raw as she was bent over the car. Then when we got back to the house, we fucked a few more times, not as rough. Gentle lovemaking isn’t my strong suit, but I’ll do anything for my Moonflower,” he admitted, his eyes locked on me as he said that last sentence. I smiled reassuringly at him, wanting to make sure he knew I wasn’t upset and understood where he was going with this.

“Ah… I see what you’re getting at,” Luca said, scratching his jaw, looking slightly disconcerted. “Unknowingly, I came charging in a day later determined to split our girl in half when I should have reined it in a little.”

Hound’s hand snapped to point at Luca. “Yes, exactly that.”

“Hold up a second,” I cut in. “I’m fairly certain I was part of all this, and not once did I say stop, slow down, not so rough, or anything to indicate I wasn’t enjoying myself.”

“No, baby girl, he has a valid point,” Luca stated. “I agree that you absolutely have the right to choose how, when, and with whom you have sex. That isn’t the point of this, not really. As your lovers and partners, we need to be aware of what situation we’re walking into. Had I known you and Hound got down and dirty primal style, what happened in that bedroom would have gone differently. Don’t get me wrong, I still would have fucked you into the mattress, but there were things I could have done to prevent further discomfort.”

I didn’t see the point of this conversation or why it mattered. If I was happy and enjoying myself, then what was the problem? They’d been doing so well not treating me like I was fragile, well, physically that is. Yet right now, that’s all I’m hearing them say.

A hand gripped my jaw and turned me so I was looking at Jace. “Babe, you’re not listening to them. I can see it written all over your face that you have your hackles up. No one is saying you can’t have rough sex whenever or how often you like… it’s your body, your call. What you’re not hearing is sex involves two people. No…” he warned, holding up a finger and gripping my jaw just a little tighter. “Listen to learn, don’t listen to respond.”

That had me blinking at him in confusion, but unable to ask what he meant, I just waited for him to continue.

“You know everything that happens between each of us because you’re there for it all. We only know what goes on between the two of us, leaving us in the dark about everything else. Let’s pretend that Braxton and I have an intense session where there’s a lot of impact play. On certain occasions, he and I explore the limits of his masochist tendencies, meaning learning where his pain threshold is. No matter how careful I am when he’s lost in subspace, he doesn’t safeword out when he should. As his Dom, I watch for the signs and check in, but he knows what his body can handle. I don’t. When those occasions happen, it can leave him sore, bruised, and hypersensitive to certain things,” Jace explained as he searched my face to see if I was following.

“Now, as it stands, you and I don’t have any agreement to share what happened in our session. The only communication so far in that regard is to alert the other if a rule has been put in place that the other needs to be aware of. So there you are unaware of Brax’s night with me, and he doesn’t say anything to you because our puppy doesn’t view it as an issue. How would you feel if you slammed him into a wall, fucked him against it, only to discover his back is covered in welts and bruises from the night before,” Jace questioned, smirking at the anger of this imagined situation sparked inside me. “Something tells me you’d be hunting my ass down to find out what the hell happened and why I didn’t tell you. Well, that’s how Luca now feels after learning about Hound’s exploits. You consented, knowing the whole story, but Luca did not and that’s not fair to him or Hound who now feels guilty he didn’t bust in there and warn him.”

Fuck. The man was making a point I seriously couldn’t argue with.

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