Page 96 of Set In Stone

“I’m going to see him alone,Krystina.”

“I see,” I replied, nodding slowly and waiting for him to continue. I had no idea where this wasgoing.

“You and I don’t have any real issues that we need to work on. However, I do. My educational background won’t allow me to overlook the suppressed childhood memories I had. Ignoring PTSD of any kind would be foolish and potentially dangerous,” he paused and took a deep breath. “Any major problem we had in the past was always because of the issues I couldn’t face. If I continue to ignore them, it could cause problems down the road for us. I’m doing this as part of my promise to you, to show you that I will do anything to keep you. Are you good with me going at thisalone?”

“Alex, if this is what you need to do, you have my full support. Ipromise.”

“There’s one more thing. I spoke to Kent Bloomfield about the house in Westchester. I asked him to modify theblueprints.”

“Oh, you spoke to the architect too? You’ve had a busy couple of days,” I observed. I tried to keep my tone light by adding a small chuckle in order to hide the way I instantly bristled at his statement. I thought we had an understanding about my involvement with building ourhouse.

What changes would he make? He didn’t think to consult mefirst?

“I asked him to add two separate wings to the house,” Alexanderadded.

This time I really didlaugh.

“Why in the world would we need two morewings?”

I stopped laughing when I saw how serious his expressionbecame.

“One of the wings is for my mother. I’d like her to be transferred there to live. You won’t have to worry about anything. I will arrange for a full-time, live-in staff to care for her. She doesn’t know me, but I feel the need to make up for losttime.”

I thought about it for a moment before answering. All the horror stories I ever heard about nightmarish in-laws came to the forefront of my mind. However, this situation was so far from the norm. I would be extremely selfish to deny him this. For him, she was lost for more than twenty years. I couldn’t blame him for wanting herclose.

I slowly nodded myconsent.

“Okay, I’m good with that. What about the other wing?” I asked cautiously. If he told me Justine was moving in, I might have to take issue. Yes, I was currently upset with her, but it wasn’t that I didn’t like her. It was more of a privacy thing than anythingelse.

I looked at Alexander expectantly, waiting for him to respond. A devilish smile formed on his lips, making him seem more like himself than he had since hearrived.

“The other wing will be our mastersuite.”

“But we already had one designed,” I pointed out inconfusion.

“Hmm, yes we did. But it was upstairs, in the middle of the house,” he waved off. “It will now be on the second floor of the East Wing. There will also be a staircaseadded.”

“I’m sorry? A staircase? Leading up towhere?”

His smile grewbroader.

“Not up. Down. It will go to a room that is only accessible from our bedroom. It won’t be open to anyone else. Just us,” he explained, drawling out his last two words slowly. Seductivealmost.

My brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before the realization dawned. I nearly stopped breathing as a shiver raced down myspine.

“A playroom. You’re making us a playroom,” I stated, my voice coming out in almost a whisper. My pulse began to race as he gripped the nape of my neck and leaned in to whisper in myear.

“On Friday night, I saw your body wrapped in leather and lace. On Saturday night, despite the terrible circumstances, I got to see you in a shadowy setting surrounded by whips and chains. Just the idea of combining the two makes me inexplicably hard. And, if I recall correctly, you did say something about helping me secure the chains that would bind you to thewall.”

“Shackled. I said shackled,” I breathed thecorrection.

His fingers began to trace small circles near the hairline of myneck.

“As twisted as it sounds, I can’t seem to get that image out of my head. I don’t plan on ever stepping foot inside Club O again, but I did realize something as a result of that night. You were right when you said I needed that outlet. But it was never to release violence like I once thought. It’s for my pleasure. It’s what I enjoy. And with you, I can’t ignore it. I can’t explain how much I get off on seeing your strong spirit willingly submit to me. So, I’m creating a playroom of our own. That is, of course, if you still want me,” he added and pulled away to look at me. His eyes were intense when he met my gaze. “Do you still want me,Krystina?”

The tone of his question was low and husky. Goosebumps pebbled over my skin. I wasn’t sure if it was from the idea of a playroom or from the potent way he was looking at me. There was no doubt that still I wanted him. However, his gaze was so penetrating, the words got caught in mythroat.

Tears began to well hot in my eyes and threatened to fall. It didn’t matter what his past was. He was still Alexander. He was still mine. He would always be mine. I reached up and cupped the side of his beautifulface.

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