Page 75 of Take the Sub and Run

“Sofie, wake up.” The soft feminine voice was accompanied by a hand stroking her hair. It was comforting and strangely familiar. She didn’t know why it was familiar, given that though her nannies had been caring, they hadn’t been maternal.

Sofie snuggled deeper, trying to get away from the motherly touch because it did not compliment the dream she’d been having.

In her dream, she was with Andrei, and they were doing far more than just kissing.

“Sofie.”

Dream Andrei held her by the throat, pinning her to the bed, the position at odds with the sweet words he whispered in her ear and the slow gentle thrusts of his cock into her pussy.

“Sofie!” The shout was accompanied by a shock of cold.

Sofie sat up, hair flopping over her face. She shoved it back and glared at Colette, who tossed the blankets she’d snatched off Sofie onto the floor.

“I was having a sex dream!” Sofie said in protest.

“Did you get to finish?”

“No, you woke me up.”

Colette shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Easy for you to say, you have someone to have sex with.” Sofie flopped back on the bed. Her body was still humming with arousal.

Colette winced. “Ah, yes. That’s true.”

“Why did you wake me up?”

“Rolf.”

Sofie sat up. “Who’s that?”

“He’s in charge of the Club Alibi project. He signed off on you being here.”

“Andrei’s boss?”

Colette shrugged again. “Close enough, I think.”

“Is he…here?”

“He’s on a video call and wants to speak to you.”

“What time is it?”

“Nearly eight.”

She’d slept in later than normal—often, she rose early to paint with the morning light. Still, her sleep schedule had been a mess for weeks. When Colette came to stay with her, there were nights they’d stayed up drinking and talking all night, while other times, they were up early to work on either their dresses or the necklace in preparation for the gala.

Sofie slipped out of bed. A cupboard door in the corner hid a sink, and Colette had gotten her basic toiletries. She applied toothpaste, then turned to look at Colette, asking, “Why does he want to talk to me?” before sticking the brush in her mouth.

“Andrei filed a preliminary report yesterday. That’s why that other agent came. Rolf now has questions—actually I think Andrei and Landon have some additional questions too.”

Sofie turned to spit. After washing her face, she scraped her hair into a bun—it was tangled because she hadn’t braided it before going to sleep, and brushing it would take too long.

She hesitated for a moment, briefly self-conscious, before stripping naked and digging into the HEMA bag full of supplies Colette had bought her.

“Rolf is a good man,” Colette said as Sofie dressed. “He was with Landon and Andrei when they rescued me.”

It was during one of those late drunken nights that Colette had told Sofie what had happened to her. Sofie knew that Colette had left things out, the pauses and hesitations in her story too obvious to be anything but gaps.

---