Page 324 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

The past few weeks had been rough on both of us... but we were getting to a better place. A place where things seemed to work. To fit. We were falling back into our rituals and habits, and I was trying to communicate more and be less of a bitch.

Well, most of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed bratting the hell out of him, and I was finding that the harder I went, the harder he went. He matched me pace for pace in intensity, and it made me love him even more.

But the best part was every night, I climbed intomybed out of sheer rebellion. And every morning I woke up inhisbed, either because he carried me over his shoulder while I was still awake or because he came and collected me while I was asleep. Sleeping beside him, being wrapped up in his arms all night... that was the best thing in the world.

Sometimes when we went to bed and neither of us were tired, I snuggled against his chest and we talked quietly until we got drowsy enough to sleep. They were my favorite moments.He talked to me, not like I was his sub or his toy, but like I was someone he trusted, telling me about his day, or about the girls at the center, or the dreams he had. I told him about my friends, or my discord groups, or the things I’d learned about outer space. For those few minutes while we drifted off, everything felt so wholesome and normal. No pressure, no rules, no punishments... just two people talking.

“And you said he used a...what?”

“A pear of despair.”

“Oh damn, those suck.”

I shifted in my seat at the memory. “Yeah. So anyway, never do that. That was four days ago and my asshole is still sore.” I blushed despite my warning.

“Hard Doms are scary,” Jenny said. She had her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, resting her chin on her knees. A cute fluff of bright pink hair framed her face and made her cheeks look even pinker.

“Yeah, but you’re blushing.”

She blushed harder.

“And yeah, he’s a hard Dom, but he’s not...” I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s got his soft moments. He likes seeing me cry, and he loves bullying me more than anything.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “Uh,yeah, that’s what a hard Dom is.”

I laughed. “I guess everyone’s soft compared to Michael.”

Lindsay was leaning up against the wall, participating in our shenanigans. She held a knife in her hands, flipping it between her fingers like a more dangerous fidget spinner. “Michael’s not a Dom. He gets as close to murder as he can. Reuben legitimately has your best interest at heart. You can’t really compare pineapples to blueberries.”

Laura nodded. “I mean, Reuben has to have a sweet side. He cares so much about all those girls he saves...”

Lindsay flicked some gunk out from under her fingernail with her knife. “Weston has his nice moments, and he’s a good guy... but some of the shit he fantasizes about,let me tell you.It has always blown my mind that he and Michael aren’t buddies, becausedamnare they cut from the same cloth. Or... bred from the same beast is more accurate.” She tossed her knife up in the air and caught it by the handle, making all of us jump.

“He doesn’t like Michael because Michael has fucked me, and he hasn’t.” I picked at my cuticle, and then sat on my hand before I got the urge to tear it off.

“Pierce and Huxley have both fucked you, and he doesn’t hate them. No, he doesn’t like Michael because of the girls heplayed withback in the nineties.” Lindsay’s phrase implied the nature of his games, and I shut my mouth.

“You slept with Becca?” Laura asked.

I shrugged. “Once or twice.”

“Isn’t she your therapist?”

“It wasbeforeshe was my therapist.”

Annette had managed to escape the office early that evening and was draped over an armchair, her legs hanging over the edge and her feet in Josh’s face – which he was enjoying the hell out of. “Whatever category you want to put Mister Weston in, he’sterrifying. You should see what he can do with a whip. He’s like an artist with a paintbrush, and hesmileswhile he paints.” She shivered.

I hadn’t thought much about whips since our first week of vetting since I’d said I didn’t want to use them. True to his word, he hadn’t brought them up. In fact, I hadn’t even seen them hanging up in either of his playrooms. Maybe he’d hidden them?

I felt my phone buzz. Looking down at the screen, I saw I got a text from him.Outside.

“One word?” I shouted in disbelief. “All I get is one word? He forced me to recite my rules yesterday while he tortured me with that fucking feather, and all I get is one word. Nope!Nopeis my one word for him!” I shoved the phone back into my pocket, ignoring it.

“Feather?”

“Yeah! He strapped my legs into this awful toe-bondage-contraption-thing and tickled me to death! Idied!”

Cody laughed. “And why, you demon child, did he have to tickle you?” He smiled with a cocky expression on his face. He had his arms wrapped around Melissa, who was sitting in his lap with her arms tied together because she’d been teasing him earlier.

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