Page 44 of Beneath the Flames
Her Return
The next morning, Brie was surprised that Rytsar hadn’t texted her back yet. She decided to call him directly, planning to give him a hard time about ignoring her. When his phone immediately jumped to voicemail, she wondered if he’d let his message box get too full again.
Sending him another text, she wrote:
Rytsar, why haven’t you responded to my text? Aren’t you curious to hear what I thought about my gift? Please give me a call as soon as you read this. I miss you.
Glancing at the picture of Wildflower on the nightstand, Brie smiled as she left the bedroom. Heading straight to Sir’s office, Brie popped her head in and asked, “Sir, have you heard from Rytsar recently?”
He thought for a moment. “I haven’t, actually. But then, I’ve been busy working on a project and haven’t reached out. Is there a problem, babygirl?”
“I was just wondering because I texted him yesterday and haven’t heard back yet.”
“Durov did mention to me that he was planning to travel to Siberia for several weeks. If that’s the case, he’s probably out of range and hasn’t received your text.”
She nodded while a ping went off in her pocket. Glancing at her phone, she saw a new text suddenly pop up. Clicking on it, she read the text and smiled at Sir. “Guess who just texted me?”
“A Russian with a bad case of sadist humor?” he answered.
Brie grinned at his dry humor. “No, it’s Master Nosh’s secretary. She says he wants to meet with me to discuss the interview before they schedule it.”
Sir nodded, smiling. “You will enjoy spending time with him.”
Brie sighed nervously. “I’m sure I will, Sir, but the head trainer is so solemn. I find him a little intimidating.”
He chuckled. “I can understand that. As a submissive, you respond naturally to his commanding presence, and his silence can be daunting unless you understand him. Nosh is a man of few words because he does not feel the need to speak unless he has something of importance to share.”
Brie laughed. “If everyone were like him, the world would be a silent place.”
Sir smirked. “And far more peaceful, I dare say.”
“The thing I worry about is inadvertently offending him, Sir,” Brie confessed.
He took hold of her hand and guided her to sit on his lap in his office chair. “Nosh reads people far betterthan I do. He can easily discern malicious intent from idle chatter. As long as you are open with him, you should have no issues, babygirl.”
He chuckled and added, “I’ll never forget the night I had to go to his office after failing to show up for a class because of my beast of a mother. It was grounds for immediate dismissal, and I fully expected my time at the Training Center to be at an end. But Nosh believed in me without any judgment. I trusted him enough to tell him what happened to my father—and the hell I’d endured because of my mother. As fucked up and crazy as my story sounded, he accepted everything I told him without question.”
Hesitating a moment, he told her, “To have someone in authority believe me and want to help to lift me out of the mire I’d found myself in…” He shook his head with wonder. “It changed my life.”
Brie felt goosebumps on her skin as she listened to his story. “I understand why you admire him so much, Sir.”
Pressing his lips against hers, he murmured, “What he did for me eventually led me to you, babygirl.”
“And I am eternally grateful to him for that,” she said, kissing him back.
Brie was set to meet with the head trainer a half-hour before the Dominant Training class was set to begin for the evening. It was a super tight schedule, but it was theonly time Master Nosh had open to meet with her.
Grateful for his willingness to squeeze her in, she made a point to arrive at the Center early so there was zero chance of offending him by arriving late. It also gave her a chance to chat with Rachael Dunningham.
Walking out from behind the receptionist’s desk, Rachael gave her a hug. “I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see you again, Mrs. Davis!”
Brie gratefully returned her hug.
Stepping back, Rachael beamed. “When Master Nosh informed me you were coming, I did a little happy dance in my head.”
Brie grinned at her. “It is lovely to see you, Miss Dunningham.”
“How are the children?”
