Page 95 of Solanum

She nodded while letting out a shaky breath. "I think I'm going to resign."

"I'll support you in that, honey. I will."

"Wilkinson won't put me back in the field. And I can't do it anyway. I'm compromised. My assessments are invalid." Her words poured out of her like confessions off a long-held tongue.

"I understand that. It will take time to divorce yourself away from your own experiences to form assessments. That's normal considering everything. Right now, you're on disability and you have insurance and income." I repeated what I told her in the past. Each time seemed to soothe her a little more than the last. "You have everything you need."

"And no bills." She laughed suddenly, swiping at her eyes. "None. No house. No car. Nothing."

"Right." I smiled and stroked her cheek. "You don't need any of that. We have all we need here."

"I think…living with Sali and Maggie for now is a good choice for us when you go back to work. We can have your place here and their house, too."

"I'm already enjoying it. Being around people who understand."

She nodded, her whole demeanor calming down now that she was able to talk things out.

"And they'll be home tomorrow, too."

"They call me every day."

"I know." I grinned and laced my fingers with hers when she sat up properly in my lap. "Me too. New besties."

"You're my number one bestie," she said, shoving my hands playfully.

"Right back at you, Kitten." I kissed the end of her nose. "But don't tell Maya. She'll murder me in my sleep."

Nora laughed, tossing her head back with it. "She totally will. She was so mad at you for not telling her right away."

"I know. It was a difficult decision and I had to listen to Anita… I'd rather Maya be mad at me because I tried to protect her a little bit than anything else."

"Me too. It's a low-key kind of mad. She still came over for dinner."

"She did." I chuckled and rested my hands on her waist when she draped her arms over my shoulders. "Your little clone."

Nora smiled at me, tilting her head as her tears faded again. She tugged at my curls, bouncing them back the way she always did. "I missed you so much. Every night I would get into bed and think about calling you…"

I listened to her, nodding while I stroked her sides. "I felt the same. Life became very lonely without you in it, even if I was surrounded by people."

"I thought about just showing up at your door completely naked, too." She laughed, her hands caressing my neck and shoulders then. "You can't ever say no to me…"

"You're right." I grinned when she called me out. "I can't and couldn't. Not after the first time we…"

"Everything changed then," she said, brushing her thumbs over my chin.

"Everything." I drew in a slow breath. "But you were mine way before then. You just didn't know it."

Her bottom lip found its way between her teeth, and she nodded, holding up her wrist with the bracelet I'd given her a long time ago it seemed. "Nightshade."

I nodded. "Solanum."

"It has more meaning, doesn't it?"

"It does. Do you want to know?"

She nodded and returned to rubbing my shoulders. "Yes."

"In BDSM lifestyles, giving your sub a bracelet or a necklace is called collaring. Or claiming or whatever people call it. It means the sub exclusively belongs to that Domme. It comes with the consent of both parties only. Even though we weren't in that kind of relationship, I wanted to give you something that had meaning, even if you didn't understand it at the time. Even if we didn't consent together, it mattered to me. I wanted to see something I gave you encircling your wrist…" My confession left me on gentle, even tones.

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