Page 77 of Caged in Desire
“Safe to touch. It’s the seeds that are dangerous,” I reply as he pulls one from the tree and turns it in his hand.
He’s deep in thought, his brows furrowed in concentration. “Ivan? Does this look familiar to you?”
I can see the moment realization hits them both, “Is this what I think it is?” Ivan asks, stepping back from the fruit Henry has held out.
“I believe so.” My husband replies, “Is there anyone who could send you a picture of the basket?”
Sasha and I watch on with confusion as Henry and Ivan go back and forth, almost as if speaking a different language. They’re holding Ivan’s phone up, looking back and forth between the fruit and his screen when Sasha finally breaks the silence. “Can someone tell me what’s going on?”
Henry drops the fruit and runs his hand through his hair, sighing as Ivan flips his phone to show us a picture of a fruit basket in Pavel’s old office. “I don’t think Pavel committed suicide,” Henry says as Sasha and I continue to study the photo. “And I don’t think Tommy did either.”
The walk back is much more melancholy with the weight of our discovery outweighing our adrenaline, and when we get back to the study, we’re all quiet. Like magic, Mrs. Potts waltzes in to save the day with a tray of refreshments and the mail.
I’m in Henry’s lap again with Sasha and Ivan both in a chair across from us. Henry’s alternating between feeding me, feeding himself, and sorting through the mail. I would have thought I would be shy about letting my husband feed me like this in front of my dad and brother,but it’s still the most natural feeling.
Their plates are almost empty when Henry speaks up, holding a letter in his hand. “Wait a minute. Ivan, do you still have that letter from the person posing as my representation?”
Ivan nods, pulling the letter out of a folio he had on the edge of my husband's desk and handing it over. Henry studies the twoletters before turning them around to show my father. “Do these names seem a little too similar to you?”
I’m half leaning over the desk, trying to look at the papers, when Henry pulls them back. “Oh, I’m sorry, darling. Here,” he says, placing them in front of me instead of Ivan.
Dilan B. Sims.
Simon L. Dixon.
When I’ve finished looking, Henry gives the papers back to Sasha and Ivan.
“That’s a bit toocoincidental if you ask me,” Sasha says, handing the letters to Henry.
Henry pulls out his phone and snaps a photo before sending a message to Ledger. “Well, I don’t believe in coincidences, and especially not ones on this scale. I do believe that this Dilan/Simon is our guy. I’m going to send this to my brother to see if he can dig anything else up, and then tomorrow I’ll go into my office and see if any of our investigators can help as well.”
Turning his attention to me, he cups my cheek, resting his forehead against mine. “I swear to you, I'm going to find whoever is doing this, love. And when I do, they better hope I’m in the mood for an easy death.”
I’m wrapped in a blanket, staring into the blackness engulfing the trees behind the house, when Henry finally finishes his business with my family.
“Kitten? I thought you were in the library,” he says, wrapping his long arms around me and resting his chin on my head.
Sighing, I turn to bury my face in his chest hair, delighting in his warmth and the smell that’s so uniquely him. “I missed you, and I got restless. I was going to take a nap, then I thought about you coming to find me after I was already asleep.”
His eyes darken as he realizes my meaning.
“And then I got even more restless, so I decided to read, which didn’t help. I’ve only been standing here for a couple of minutes. I was about to come looking for you.”
Henry picks me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively, letting the blanket fall to reveal my minuscule lounge set.
“I sincerely hope you weren’t about to come looking for me dressed like this,” he teases, nuzzling into my neck. He’s just as ravenous for me as always, but I can’t help but think about the parts of his past that I haven’t fully experienced. Before my brain can go totally fuzzy with need, I decided to be brave and ask a question I’ve been pondering as we’ve continued to strengthen our relationship.
“Why don’t you tie me up or make me kneel?” There. Straightforward, easy peasy. He stills, pulling back from my neck to look into my eyes with concern. Gently, he sits down on the edge of the bed and arranges me back on his thighs so we can see each other better.
Rubbing gentle circles on my upper arms as he holds me, he tilts his head to the side. “Why do you ask? Is that something that you want?”
I can’t help but bite my lip, then smile as his eyes immediately track the movement. “I don’t know if it’s something I want…maybe?”Ugh. Time to be very, very brave.“I just don’t understand why we don’t do that stuff. I know you used to, with the other women. The shibari, or whatever it’s called. It seemed like a big part of your life.”
My voice is so quiet by the end that I’m not sure he heard me until he lifts my face back to his with one finger under my chin.
“It was a big part of my life, particularly when I wanted to feel in control. If you’re curious, we can try it and see if you enjoy it,” he says gently, tracing my bottom lip with his thumb.
The thought has me wiggling in his lap. “Please. Can we?”
