Page 10 of 8-Bit & Cat

It’s just a chair.It’s not a trap. It’s not an obstacle course. Now sit in it.

Her pulse pounded in her throat as she took a step forward, the instant wobble reminding her of the hazards strapped to her feet.

Zero said nothing. Didn’t guide her, didn’t push. But the weight of the chair mystery did both.

Finally at the suspicious piece of furniture, she turned. Her legs pressed into the cool leather as the weight of Zero’s gaze harassed her. What she did next felt heavy. Likehowshe sat. She surely never had nochairtraining.

Zero gave a sound of curiosity. “Interesting.”

She swallowed, looking at him, her pulse acting up. “What?” she barely cried, quietly. “I know how I sit is probably part of the test and I never had no kind ofchairtraining.”

She wouldn’t say how stupid the idea was since it likely had a whole other meaning to them.

His head tilted slightly. “I can see you want to sit,” he marveled lightly. “But you don’t want me toseeyou sit.”

Her stomach clenched as she realized he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Kitten,” he softly cajoled. “This isn’t a test of strength. It’s a test of surrender.”

She held her jaw, feeling it want to shake. “Well, those two seem to be… the same thing to me.”

“Because you think surrender is weakness.”

His words cut deep then wormed into places evensherarely visited. She took a slow breath through her nose, grounding herself. “I trust Ethan,” she said carefully.

He nodded, and stepped closer. “Do you think Ethan trusts me?”

His soft, hot challenge made her hesitate and that single beat of silence became her answer.

Sit in the damn chair.

She quickly lowered her butt onto the very edge, body bracing for some mysterious impact.

“You chose to sit,” he said, or graded, sounding too impressed for such silliness. His thumb brushed over her shoulder, deliberate and slow. “Are you ready for what comes after?”

His touch and tone put her right back in thepantinghouse with flinching fingers.

He did that curious sound again, like a hum.

A slow beat of silence passed, and Zero lowered onto a leather chaise next to the chair, one leather boot planted on the floor, the other on the furniture, leg stretched out. He locked his hands behind his head with his legs cocked open. Watching her.

Cat froze at sensing a shift in the room. A slow, measured sound filled the silence. A footstep. Then another.

Oh shit. Cat swallowed hard, frozen in panic, wanting to turn but too afraid to see. The presence was behind her chair and felt massive—not just physically, but in force, in something unnamable.

“She sat.”

Her breath caught at the unmistakable sound of Big G’s voice. And it wasn’t a question, it was a velvety smooth statement that moved over her like smoldering fire.

“She did,” Zero said, almost sounding impressed. But not quite.

Cat swallowed at hearing the slide of something along the leather chair behind her. His hands? “What do you think, brother?”

“So much difficulty in our Kitten,” he said, sounding forlorn.

Cat’s stomach dropped as the weight in the room shifted again. Her muscles froze as Big G moved into the edges of her vision. With every step he took, her eyes chickened out and lowered. When he finally stood before her, she was staring at mirror black dress shoes.

“Hello Kitten,” he said softly.

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