Page 63 of A Secret and a Lie
I nod, my lips curling slightly. “Whatever you prefer, sir.”
He hums. “Leo told me you were a good little submissive.”
While I’m a switch, I gravitate more toward submission, but I’m hesitant to relinquish total control. That’s not smart in this line of work, not when I don’t particularly trust my clients.
He circles me, the sipping tequila wafting from the crystal tumbler brushing my nose as he comes to a stop in front of me. “You really are beautiful, Genevieve.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Why don’t you take your clothes off for me, and we’ll go over some ground rules.”
Reaching behind me, I unzip the black dress, the liquid silk pooling at my feet as I’m left in nothing except a lacy longline bra and matching panties. Folding the dress, I place it on the chair with my purse, unfastening my heels and leaving them neatly on the floor.
“Come kneel at my feet and look me in the eye.”
Grady sits regally in a side chair, and I do as I’m commanded, without hesitating. As soon as I’m settled, he tentatively reaches out a hand to glide through my hair as I stare into his green eyes.
“I want you to understand my expectations so we’ll both get something out of this exchange. Every time we have a meeting, I want you to come in here and kneel in front of this fireplace, naked. Never look me in the eye without permission, only speak when I ask a direct question, and always count your punishments. There will be an additional ten for every miscalculation. If you’re unsure of something or have a question, I expect you to let me know immediately and politely. I’ll also require you to address me with respect and only ever as Grady or Master, nothing else. Do you have a safe word you’re comfortable with?”
I blink as I take in everything he just threw at me. Based on how seriously he’s taking things, I gather that he’s done this before. My spine prickles as I realize that I may be out of my depth here.
Tentatively, I reply, “Whatever safe word you like is fine with me, Grady.”
“Leo says that you’ve done this before. Was he lying?” His dark eyebrows furrow. Shit, I don’t want him to get me in trouble with Leo. “I prefer that the safe word be something you choose, something that’s easy for you to recall.”
“I chooseredthen.”
“Red,” he repeats slowly, arching a well-groomed eyebrow, his lips curling as he lifts his glass to his lips. “That’ll be your safe word. Everything will stop when you use that.”
“Yes, Grady.”
He sighs. “Now, I’m going to ask you something, and I want an honest answer. I won’t be running to tell Leo about this conversation. I simply want to know the truth.”
I hold my breath as he goes on. “Are you really a submissive? Have you done this before? In a healthy Dom/sub dynamic, I mean.”
I nearly scoff.AhealthyDom/sub dynamic.I haven’t had ahealthyanything since I started working for Leo two years ago. Instead of telling him that, I shake my head.
He inhales deeply and slowly, letting it out as he glances away, seeming lost in thought. He’s quiet for several minutes before finding my eyes again and explaining, “I wasn’t really interested in training anyone new, but there’s something about you that seems like a natural submissive. We can shift the dynamic, and I’ll teach you. Is that something you’re interested in?”
Everything I know about being a Domme or a submissive has come from internet deep dives. No one has taken the time to teach me shit. I’ve been learning on the fly, anticipating the right move or by doing what felt natural and reading whatever I could find. I don’t actually know what it’s like to be with arealDominant, but the thought is nothing short of thrilling.
I smile, my first real smile tonight. “Yes, thank you, Grady.”
Excitement bubbles through my veins as my nipples tighten in response to the arousal pooling in my core. Gone is any of the trepidation of meeting this man tonight, replaced only with raw, feverish exhilaration.
He chuckles, the masculine sound as smooth as his tequila, shooting me straight in the clit like Cupid’s arrow. “How about you put your dress back on, and we’ll spend the rest of our time tonight getting to know one another, establishing a baseline of trust.”
Grinning, I obey, the tension coiled around my chest loosening.
Ford
The spray of the piss-poor water pressure glides over my skin in thick rivulets, making tracks in the dust littering parts of my skin that accumulated from the hole I dug. I stare down at my shaking hands, crusted with the dried blood of the boy I’d held in my arms as he died.
He couldn’t have been more than seven, clawing at my shirt as he gasped for breaths. The kid had barely begun to live, and instead of throwing a ball with him, I held him, comforting him while he died. It’s not fucking right.
There’s been too much of this shit lately. Ignoring the way I seem to tremble—with rage or sorrow, I don’t know, maybe both—I reach for the soap, scrubbing the blood from my body, watching as the water that pools around my ankles turns a watery scarlet shade.
It was supposed to be a routine patrol, which I’m beginning to believe is just a fucking farce. There’s no such thing asroutineout here. Last week, we found a goddamn IED that took Suarez four fucking hours to disassemble. This week, kids are dying in my arms after they were left for dead.
