Page 41 of Prey for You

“We had a safeword,” I said firmly. “Atanytime—even before the hunt started, or while it was underway—she only had to text me that word, or say it, and I would stop. Completely. That was her safety.That’show I knew.”

The lawyer nodded. I thought he’d argue, but he didn’t. Something felt off. He sat back in his chair like he’d gotten what he wanted and I frowned. I looked at my lawyer, but he was staring at the guy across the table.

That guy flipped pages in his folder, then asked another question very casually. But when he flicked his eyes up to me his gaze glinted with satisfaction.

“And during the months and years you undertook these practices you were simultaneously working as a…ministry leaderin the prisons as well, is that true?”

Oh, God. “Yes.”

“The religion you ascribe to condemns sex outside of marriage, does it not?”

“Objection—relevance.”

The lawyer shot a look at mine. “He’ll answer, because this goes to whether or not he’s good at lying—consistently, and in the face of pressure from influential groups.”

I blew out a breath. I wasn’t going to lie. But I also knew how it would play.Fuck.

Then the lawyer looked at me again. “Mister Priestley, please answer the question.”

“Yes,” I said reluctantly. “It was a battle, especially at first. When I first got out of prison it was the first time I was walking through the world with God. It took some time to… shift my habits,” I said bluntly. “But I was always working towards finding a balance. A way that I could use my… practices to help people.”

The lawyer’s brows popped up. “You’re saying being aPrimal Domdoesn’t contradict God’s moral code?”

“Objection!”

“I’ll rephrase: Please explain to me how you believe you could be both a minister of God, and a Primal Dom without… being in the wrong?”

“God met me where I was at. I can do the same for others. If I approached a woman on the street and asked her if she had fantasies and was considering killing herself, she’d run screaming. But putting myself out there as a Primal Dom, a woman who struggles with self-destruction and trauma will come to me. And when she realizes I’m not going to take advantage, that I’m listening and can be trusted… well, that’s the whole point. I can take her to meet her fears in a healthy way. And bring God with me while I do it.”

The lawyer snorted. “Healthy?”

“Objection—”

I didn’t care, I answered him, because this was the battle for every person who ever knew God, whether he realized it or not. “God never condemns sexual desire—He condemns sexual intimacy in an unsafe relationship that He defines as marriage. Most of the guys who are Primal are in it for the power trip. They’ve got issues and they’re using the kink to feel empowered. I know I was. But some actually want to connect—and there’s incredible intimacy in a relationship when you’re pushing boundaries and building trust together. Over time I found the balance—the women learned to trust me, and I didn’t breach that trust.”

“Yet, you were having sex with them.”

“Not the last couple years, no.”

That set the lawyer back. His eyes narrowed. “You just said—”

“You asked me about the early ones and I’ll admit I made some mistakes—not with their boundaries, but withmine.As I honed my goal and became pickier and… I figured it out. It stopped being about the sexual thrill, and started being about helping women who needed someone to give them a safe place to face their fear and powerlessness.”

His jaw rolled. “That’s a very interesting perspective, Mister Priestley. Tell me, whatagreementdid you have in place with Bridget Reynolds?”

My jaw went tight. “She initially asked that there be no rules.”

“Did you have sex withherduring those weeks and months you two were… engaging?”

“No.”

“But you did have sex with the other women?”

“Years before. Some of them. The later clients were less about sex and more about trauma. Their focus was on… well, most of them were engaging in suicidal ideation. I wanted to help them see that they had a life to live. That didn’t need to involve sex. But what contact we had wasallconsensual. Clearly defined and agreed beforehand. Even the sexual stuff.”

“But not with Bridget?”

“No. Her situation was unique. I was forced to put boundaries in placeforher to keep myself safe. But she didn’t want to set any boundaries on me.”

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