Page 69 of The Bonds We Break
But it’s time to admit I’m drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
I try to focus on the tasks in front of me. An estimate to get the roof of the clubhouse replaced in the spring and the idea I had to build some guest bunks out back.
“Thought you might want some more coffee.” Penny, a curvy blond, places the cup down on the table. She lingers, running her fingers along the wood of my desk. “You need anything else, King?” she asks. The look in her green eyes tells me I could ask her for anything, and she’d give it to me. In the past, I’ve answered that question a bunch of ways. Deepthroat under the desk, a fuck on it.
I glance down at my cock that’s hibernating like a bear in winter. Not even the slightest stir as I think of the way Penny had gagged as she took my dick in the past.
Fuck me.
Halo’s right. Rae has me on the run. I fear she’s already broken my cock.
“Coffee’s fine, thanks, Pen.”
“You change your mind, you know where I am.” I watch her as she saunters out of the room with denim cutoffs that ride high over the cheeks of her ass.
Yup. Still nothing.
“Fuck it,” I curse. I need to get back on an even keel with Rae. I need to feel like I’m in control, setting the destination, instead of in some unwinnable battle with fate and destiny.
25
RAE
“I’m just relieved that you’re back,” Annie, one of my clients, says as we reach the end of our video call. “Hopefully your emergency is sorted now with no lasting effects.”
I debated long and hard what to say to my clients. Most just accepted the apology I’d decided on. Family crisis. Emergency mode. Lack of clear thinking prevented me from cancelling appointments and explaining ahead of time.
I mean, it wasn’t like I could tell them the truth. The president of a motorcycle club kidnapped me to make my brother suffer. He also took all my gadgets away from me, but we were too busy having sex for me to remember to ask for them back.
Honestly, if this were a romance book, the plot would literally write itself. Except for the heroines who’d all be so typically sexually aroused in the blink of an eye. I used to read romance, but I stopped because every sex scene simply made me feel worse about myself.
She was so wet, it dripped down her thigh.Nope.
She almost passed out as he coaxed a third orgasm out of her tired body.Nope.
“Come for me,” he instructed.Definite big nope on that one.
Annie was a domestic abuse survivor. One of the things we’re working on is her ability to ask for things. I know from our work that her comment is her way of asking questions without actually asking them.
“It involved my brother, and we are still working through the aftermath of what happened. But everyone is alive and healthy.”
For now.
“Phew.” I see the smile of relief on my video screen. “I was imagining the worst. A death in the family or a health crisis.”
“No. We’re all good.” If only she knew how close she was to guessing the possible outcomes. “And next time, please ask me the question you want to know. If I’m not comfortable answering, I’ll just tell you, Annie.”
We say our goodbyes, and I hang up. When I close my laptop on the kitchen table and lean back on the chair, I realize I’m relieved today is over. I wasn’t looking forward to apologizing to my clients, even though it was the right thing to do. When I realized the root of my discomfort was my fear of them thinking less of me, I was able to acknowledge that and push past it by being professional, honest, and brief. When I don’t go through the process of understanding the cause of the problem, I tend to overexplain.
I pull out my headphones and reach for my water.
“Everyone is alive and healthy, huh?”
I jump at the sound of King’s voice, grateful I didn’t spill any water on my laptop, and turn towards the door to the hallway. “You shouldn’t be listening in on a private therapy call.”
“Cool your heels, duchess. I just got in. Didn’t hear anything but the last couple of comments.”
He looks better than he should. He has a black beanie on his head and removes the thick, lined leather jacket that has an Iron Outlaws patch on the back.
