Page 64 of Emergence and Ascendance

"Business?"

"Unfortunately." He handed me the key. "Make yourself at home. The code for the gate is programmed into the car already."

"You're trusting me with your million-dollar car on day one?"

He paused at the garage door. "Should I not?"

"No, I'm just surprised. Men don’t like to share their toys."

A sexy smile surfaced as his eyes traveled the length of my body. “No, we don’t.”

Then he was gone, leaving me alone in the garage with a very sexy car I wasn’t sure I would be willing to leave after all of this was over.

I slid into the driver's seat and ran my hands over the steering wheel, inhaling the new leather and whatever cologne Christian wore made me smile. This was a beautiful car and I would be doing a search to see if I could locate and purchase one in a wine or deep burgundy color, but with only twelve in the world I might be shit out of luck. In the middle of my pouting, Giselle called and I cringed, already knowing what this was about…

The damn contract.

"Hello?"

"Scotlyn, I've been trying to reach you."

"Sorry about that. It's been a busy day."

"I’m sure. Christian called about amendments to your contract."

I adjusted the seat and leaned back. "Yes, he showed me a few minutes ago."

"And you're comfortable with the changes? Having sessions at his house?"

"I am."

"You're staying there, aren't you?" Her tone was neutral but I still cringed. She knew I was visiting and staying at The Metropolitan so…

I hesitated. "How did you know?"

"Just an assumption. Making a change like this is out of character for Christian. He typically… Structure is important for him."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're different and that concerns me."

"Because?"

"Because when things get personal, boundaries can blur. Your contract was meant to help you regain control and not potentially lose more of it."

I tensed and remembered our initial conversation when I did my intake interview for membership. I told her more than I planned but Giselle had a way of making you feel comfortable.

"I know what I'm doing.”

"Do you? When we discussed your plans for Erogenous, you told me about your marriage. What your husband and father did. The betrayal and lies were hard on you, Scotlyn. Even if you weren’t the one who initially pursued the membership, you agreed to follow through, but only to reclaim something you lost."

Control over my life…

"That’s still the case."

"Then I hope you also remember you said you needed a safe place to surrender control because you felt you needed to control everything else in your life after what happened with your marriage."

I stared out the windshield but remained quiet.

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