Page 36 of Rough Ride

“Oh, so I get to thank him personally for the use of his jet.”

Dee smiled. “Yeah. He’s so hung up on Lizzy; I can’t get rid of him most nights. You want to hold her?”

“Am I breathing? Gimme.”

Dee laughed and carefully handed over the baby. Crysta looked down at the small bundle in the pastel pink blanket. There was a tuft of soft black hair on top of her head and a golden glow to her skin. She yawned and Crysta’s heart sighed.

“God, she’s so pretty. So tiny.”

Lizzy yawned again, and cuddled in closer.

“You like babies?” May asked her.

“Yeah, what’s not to like? They don’t talk back, and god,” she sniffed, “they smell so good.”

“She didn’t earlier,” Dee laughed.

“Why don’t you have a seat? We have a few minutes before we have to be down there for dinner,” May said.

She took the rocker, content to sit and talk to other women. She wasn’t a woman who had a lot of female friends, but it had been a long time since she’d had a gabfest.

“So, you like being at the ranch?” Dee asked.

“Yeah. It’s hard to be away from my father, but we both needed space now that he’s in remission. And, I was looking for an adventure.”

Dee smiled and May snorted. “She’s being nice. We want to know about Eli.”

“What do you mean?” Crysta asked. She assumed these women knew Eli better than she did.

“What we want to know is if he’s tried anything.”

“Tried anything?”

“Oh, come on,” May said. “We know you’re a sub and he’s a Dom. I’ve seen him in action, but on that ranch, I would think there would be a lot of fun with leather.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. No one had ever been that bold with her, especially after meeting her five minutes earlier.

“May, I swear to God, could you, for once, act like a normal person?” Dee asked, but she was smiling.

“Oh, come on. You know you want to know. We all do. He comes to the club, but he doesn’t have any long relationships. So, we’ve always wanted to know what goes on with him when he leaves the club.”

Dee gave Crysta glance. “Yes, I do. But I have more class than to ask like that. Really, May.”

“I just say what everyone else is thinking. And we both want to know.”

They both turned to look at her. “No. Nothing’s happened. I’m not sure I’m made for the life anymore.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Oh, please, please, please, tell me you said that to him.”

“Just this evening.” She shook her head. “Other than some strange situations?—”

“Strange, how?”

“Well, there was once or twice I found him looking at me. Then he yelled at Danny for hanging around the kitchen yesterday.”

May shook her head. “I hope that boy knows he can’t handle a sub like you. More than likely, he’s there for table scraps.”

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