Page 70 of The Inquirer

Something about the way he said it made me think he wasn’t bluffing or exaggerating. He really could make me disappear. Despite the threat to my safety, I was glad he was that protective of her, and I felt the need to make sure he knew where I stood too.

“This isn’t a fling for me,” I said. “I’m all in.”

“And if she pushes you away?”

I gave him the answer I’d already decided on. “If it’s because she truly doesn’t want me anymore, I’ll respect her decision. But if it’s because she’s scared, I’ll fight for her.”

Gavin was quiet for a minute, processing my answers before he spoke again. “Carrie doesn’t betray confidences, so I don’t know how much Nyx has shared with my wife about her past, and Nyx hasn’t shared any of it with me, but I have…experiences from my own past that have taught me how to read people, and they tell me that Nyx has had some serious shit happen to her. You might have to fight pretty hard to beat back those demons.”

I locked eyes with him. “I will. She’s worth it.”

He nodded, apparently satisfied. “Good.”

Then he left without another word, and I finally looked at the room I was in.

Damn.

A dimmer switch for the lights was right next to the door, as was a color-coded pad that I assumed changed the lighting, and those two things alone made Hades look cheap. An X-frame cross stood in the middle of the room, held up by chains that led to a winch where – I made another assumption – the cross could be raised or lowered.

The straps on the X were leather but might’ve had releases for changing them out. I moved in for a closer look and confirmed that the restraints were replaceable. I was also close enough now to see that there were other places in the beams where things could be attached. I’d been in this world long enough to at least have an idea of what those things could be.

A large chest of drawers sat against one wall, and a decent-sized bed was against the opposite one. Restraints were at each of the four corners of the bed, leather, like the ones on the X. Different ones were most likely in the drawers, along with any other attachments or toys. At the foot of the bed, on the floor, was what looked like a small footstool, but I figured it was probably more for kneeling, either to give a little comfort to the knees or height, if needed.

“What do you think?”

I turned at Nyx’s voice. I considered asking how her conversation with Carrie had gone but pushed that aside. Coming here tonight had been, in part, about showing me this place and talking to Carrie, but I saw a deeper need in her eyes, and even if I was being submissive, I had one Dominant trait that I couldn’t suppress, especially with her. I needed to take care of her.

“It’s amazing,” I said. “Makes Hades look like a poor third cousin.”

She laughed as she came toward me, and I saw that she’d closed the door, completely cutting off any sound from the main part of the club. “We can have music if you want.”

“I want whatever you want.” She had no idea just how true that really was. “Just tell me what to do.”

She stopped a few inches in front of me, a strange expression on her face. “And if I want you to be…Dominant?”

It was like all the air went out of the room. She’d asked before for me to be in charge or in control, and she’d asked if I’d be willing to be submissive, but she’d never specifically asked me to be Dominant. And I knew that was an intentional thing. Asking for it here, in this place where she’d never been anything but Dominant, wasn’t something I looked at lightly.

“Is that what you want?” I kept my expression as blank as I could. I didn’t want my own desires to push her into something simply because she felt like she owed it to me.

“I think…” She licked her lips. “I think it’s what I need. At least right now.”

It was the uncertainty on her face that did it for me, and I reached out on instinct more than thought, taking both of her hands in mine.

“I’ll take care of you.” I kissed her forehead. “But if you need me to stop, you know what to say, right?”

She nodded, and the tension in her body shifted to something different. Not submissive, exactly, but more like I’d taken a weight from her that she hadn’t even known she’d been carrying.

“Now, firebird, let’s get you out of those clothes.”

Twenty-Nine

Nyx

I waited for the panic to set in, but it didn’t come. I just felt…peaceful.

Which was strange because it wasn’t like Bradyn hadn’t been in charge before. Maybe it was because being here, the place that had taught me to be Dominant, made everything feel different. Like I’d handed over another piece of myself to him, but it wasn’t something I minded, at least not right now.

“Five strokes, my little firebird.”

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