Page 57 of Bitter Desire
God, hearing her say that went straight to my dick. My sub knew she was safe, that I would do my duty to keep her safe and happy no matter where we were. And that within the confines of the club, she should expect no less than what I offered her in our day-to-day. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and Honey’s dark eyes came to mine. She smiled at me but said nothing, walking further into the club. We hadn’t come in the front doors this time. Taylor had pulled around the back of the club, the side entrance in an alleyway I knew Honey wouldn’t have walked down if I hadn’t been with her. We’d walked down the dirty alleyway, the bronze door to the club appearing in front of us as if by magic and the second we cleared the door it was like stepping into another world.
Zeus’ world.
Fucker.
I frowned, thinking about the all-powerful and anonymous asshole that somehow had his fingers in my life. My carefully fucking ordered life that I had kept barren and cold, devoid of anyone or anything that gave me comfort, made me weak...until Honey. She was all sweet and warmth and I’d taken her for my own in the club—though I knew that was simplifying things. Zeus and Connie had pushed us together, making my attempts to avoid her in real life futile.
I’d given up and taken her. Taken what they’d offered up to me. I drew Honey closer to me, sliding an arm around her waist and drawing her closer to me. Is that why this suddenly felt like they were taking back what had never been mine? My fingers flexed, pressing into her hip and I swallowed, eyes on the dimly lit hallway we walked down. We were alone in here. Taylor was on call nearby, but not in the club, as he wasn’t a member.
Bringing him in would tip my hand to Zeus that I knew what was going on. But then again if it was him that had put Christian up to harassing Honey he already knew. I still couldn’t believe the little shit hadn’t told me who had put him up to it, though the more I thought on it the more I began to believe he hadn’t given up the information because he hadn’t known.
Christian O’Hanon liked to pretend he was more important than he actually was. He was fuck all to what was happening, but I knew the pissant would twist things up and around until he was the main focus. Not knowing who was pulling his strings, winding him up and sending him on like a good little toy soldier couldn’t sit well with his current self-absorbed world view.
The only way to rectify that was to lie. To posture that he knew more than was real.
Maybe the reason Christian hadn’t told me was because he didn’t know. If he didn’t know then I still had the element of surprise on my side when it came to getting answers from Zeus. But if he did know...I figured Connie would let me know straight away. She liked to play as well as anyone else, but there was something to be said for her straightforward nature.
She’d cut right to it.
This, the whole game, would be laid bare in front of Honey and I, which suited me just fine. Better to get through it by going through it and being done with it. Whatever it was, I’d handle it. Keep Honey safe. Get back to the life we’d begun to enjoy together.
Put all this fucking shit behind us.
At the end of the hallway we walked down a door gleamed in front of us. It was silver, an oddity in a place like The Cairn where Zeus favored red, blacks, dark golds and copper. Silver was different. Honey’s gait slowed and I knew she was taking in the door. She noticed the out of place shine of the silver set against the dark wood walls.
“It’s fine,” I told her, urging her forward. “This is just where Connie meets VIPs when they take the side entrance.”
“How does she know when they get here,” Honey asked, eyes darting around the hallway. I could tell she was looking for a clue to how Connie knew we were here, but there was nothing but us and the occasional door dotting the hallway.
“She’s got eyes everywhere. Besides, we have a strict check in time when we use this entrance,” I said. “She gives a few minutes on either side, but you don’t keep her waiting.”
Honey nodded. “She doesn’t like her time to be wasted.”
“Exactly, and she better not fucking waste ours tonight.”
“Law…” Honey reached out, gripping my arm and turned to face me. “Please be careful.” She was worried, I could hear it in her voice, see it in the way she bit her lip, all of it gone before it had time to take root. She cleared her throat. “Please.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
Her brows knitted together but she nodded all the same. “I know, but things have been…”
“Strange,” I finished for her.
“That’s putting it mildly. I’m worried about this, but I know you’re going to keep me safe. I just wish you’d focus on keeping yourself safe too,” she said, giving my arm a squeeze on her last word.
“You let me worry about what matters,” I said.
“Law-”
“And that’s keeping you safe. I’m fine.” We were in front of the silver door now and I stepped in front of Honey, blocking the door from her view. “I can take whatever happens, but you?” I reached out cupping her cheek, fingers rubbing lightly across the soft skin, “You, I protect.”
Her eyes drifted closed, a hand coming up to cover mine and she smiled. God, I loved her smile. It was warm and open, inviting even when she wasn’t looking at me, but then she opened her eyes, and it was like a sucker punch. Honey came close and kissed me, still pressing my hand to her cheek.
“You take care of me,” she murmured, lips still close to mine.
I kissed her, exploring her mouth as if we had all the time in the world. Like we were in my penthouse, like we were in the dark corner of a restaurant, like we weren’t possibly walking into a trap a very powerful man had laid for us. Honey leaned in, giving me her weight and I wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to me as we kissed.
It was sweet and slow. Just the way I preferred Honey. When we pulled apart she had a faint blush coloring her cheeks. The pink of it was almost hidden in the dim light of the hallway and I wished we were somewhere brighter where I could see her better.
