He gripped the steering wheel harder with his left hand and flipped the radio on with the other. “It was a bad year. This okay?” He pointed to the radio.
“Country?” She couldn’t help the surprise in her tone; he didn’t look country at all.
He gave a soft laugh. “When I was in the army, most of the guys I was stationed with were from the south. Sort of grew on me.” He glanced her way again, his eyes softer, warmer. “I can change it if—”
“No, I like it,” she said with a smile of her own. Erika sank into the seat and rested her head against the window, watching as the buildings of the city turned into lights in the side view mirror.
The highway spread out before them. The car rocked gently as Dax leveled off his speed. Erika’s eyelids were growing heavy, but she didn’t want to sleep yet. She would sleep once they were there.
Erika stretched her arms out in front of her. The gentle sway of the car had lulled her into a quiet state. But after two hours past, all of her joints were stiff, and the silence became less appreciated.
“So, you were a sergeant in the army?” she asked, pushing herself forward and rolling her neck.
“Yeah,” he answered softly. “You picked out my tattoo pretty easily; it usually gets overlooked.”
“I can spot an army rank from a block away,” she said. “Army brat.”
He looked over at her with raised eyebrows. “Really?”
“Yeah. My dad did his twenty-five years, dragging me and my mom all over the country.” She slipped off her gym shoes and tucked her feet beneath her.
“Didn’t like it, I take it?” he asked.
“It was fine. I never knew anything else so didn’t bother me.”
“He’s retired?”
Erika stilled. She shouldn’t have brought up her dad. But sometimes the memories weren’t so bad if she kept them on the very edge.
“No. Passed away after his last tour.” She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them tight. “I was eighteen.” Legal age to go off on her own instead of being thrown in the foster system.
“Mom?” he asked, softer this time. Like he could sense the pain building inside her.
“Same time.” She looked out the window into the darkness. “We almost there?”
“Yeah, this is the exit.”
The clicking of the turn signal gave Erika something to focus on. Something other than a past memory she’d buried a long time ago.
“This place I’m taking you—it’s a resort.” Dax cleared his throat. She looked over at him and noticed the little twitch in the corner of his lips. He was about to tell her something he’d been holding back the entire ride.
“What sort of resort?” Dax didn’t look the satanic type, but she hadn’t had enough time to inspect all of his tattoos.
“Mostly couples, though there are singles sometimes too.”
“And?” she prodded.
“It’s a resort for people in the BDSM lifestyle,” he said, turning down another dark and empty road.
She turned away from him to look out the front window, letting the bit of information seep into her mind.
“Like real BDSM?” she asked quietly, keeping her voice even as best she could.
“How do you mean?” he asked.
“I mean, there’s a dungeon and masters and mistresses and all that?” She knew she sounded like a newb, but that wasn’t entirely her fault. He hadn’t exactly prepped her for the conversation.
“Well, there’s a dungeon—two in fact—and several outside play areas. I’m sure some of the people there are masters or mistresses, or whatever title they’ve chosen. But it’s not as scary as it might sound.”