Page 32 of Savoring Addison

“I look forward to trying it someday.” He moved casually to the sofa, taking a seat and gesturing toward the cushion beside him.

“May I kneel, Master?” she asked, voice tentative but eyes hopeful. “I think it’ll help.”

“Of course.” He waited patiently as she moved to his side, trying to hide a wince as she knelt on the rug. He’d chosen the rug intentionally, loving how the stiff wool fibers would feel under a submissive’s knees if he ever met someone he wanted to bring home. It pleased him that the decision he made almost seven years ago finally bore fruit.

Addison took her time getting situated, arranging her body into almost the exact position he put her in last weekend. Even her hair fell across her shoulders the way he liked. That she remembered so much after a single interaction—that she would put this level of effort into pleasing him with the tiniest of details...

It left him momentarily breathless.

“Like this, Master?” Her voice sounded like the sweetest song.

Leaning forward, he made minor adjustments, tilting her chin to the most pleasing angle, pushing her shoulders back the tiniest bit. “You’re perfect.” The words came out rougher than he intended.

That earned another small smile from her. “You sure know how to make a girl feel beautiful.”

“You should feel beautiful.” He ran a reverent hand through her honey blond hair, straight today, but as silky as he remembered. “Every second of every goddamn day.”

Her breath left her on a sigh. “I’m thinking about what happened last time,” she said, no trace of her earlier fear in her voice or expression.

“Understandable.” He waited patiently for her to continue.

“I’m ashamed of how I acted.”

Shaking his head slightly, he said, “You had no control over what happened.”

“Maybe.” She didn’t sound like she really believed it. “I know how much the dark scares me, though. It was stupid to put anything but a one for blindfolds. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking.”

His mouth almost dropped open, but he stopped it at the last second. A fear of the dark? That’s what sent her into such a fit of terror?

There had to be way more to the story than that. A simple fear wouldn’t have garnered that level of reaction—or compelled her to literally line the Manor’s third floor with nightlights. Though now that he knew she put them there, he was glad he never got around to asking housekeeping to get rid of them.

He wanted to ask for more details. To dig into the why. But it was clear in her eyes she had no intention of discussing it, at least not yet. Instead, he settled for, “It doesn’t sound like you ever wore a blindfold before last week, so there wasn’t a way for you to know. It was still out of your control.”

“Even if that is true, I was in total control of how I treated you after, in your bedroom. I’m...not like that. Not usually.” She cringed. “Though I guess my behavior these last couple weeks doesn’t give you much proof of that.”

One corner of his mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Neither of us have been on our best behavior.”

Amusement flashed in her eyes. “When you said that thing about Cinnabon...oh my God, I seriously wanted to strangle you with my bare hands.” She sighed, the humor draining out of her as quickly as it appeared. “My granny taught me how to bake after some...not great things happened in my life. It’s been like a lifeline to me ever since. Moreso than it probably should be.”

Mason ran a hand through his hair, only holding her gaze by sheer force of will. Talk about ashamed. “I’m sorry. I genuinely had nothing against you or your food. It’s just that a lot of things have changed at the Manor recently. Things I maybe should’ve expected, but every single one of them still somehow managed to shock the hell out of me. I haven’t handled any of it very well, to be honest. Jonathan’s been about ready to strangle me for months now.” Hell, Rafe might actually kill him if he dared say anything about Nell again. “Your arrival was just the cherry on top of the sundae.”

“What things?” she asked, sympathy filling her voice now. “Like Aiden and Olivia getting together?”

How had this turned into him talking about his feelings? He almost steered the conversation back into more comfortable territory, but stopped himself at the last second. He supposed he shouldn’t expect her to talk about her issues if he couldn’t be bothered to do the same. Maybe this would help her open up.

“That’s when everything started to change,” he said, slumping back against the sofa. “And I fucking hate it.”

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything. It took him a moment to realize how bad that sounded.

“Don’t get me wrong—Olivia is wonderful. I don’t hate her or their relationship. I fucking love how happy they both are. I just...” Letting the sentence trail off, he tried to find the perfect words. This wasn’t something he’d managed to articulate yet, even in his own mind. “At first, I convinced myself I was upset because her presence might cause issues with some of the guests. I thought they might not want to spend an absolute fortune to be with a man in a committed relationship.”

“Has he had fewer guests since they got together?” she asked.

“The opposite, actually. As soon as it got out on our subreddit that Aiden was taken, applications addressed specifically to him started pouring in. I think some women see it as a challenge. Others just like the fantasy of the forbidden fruit.”

Her laugh bewitched him. How could he feel such a simple sound in the depths of his heart?

“The Manor has a subreddit?” she asked, still smiling.

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