Page 86 of Three Sweet Nothings (The Blindfold Club)

He went wooden, not realizing his mistake until it was pointed out. He didn’t even seem to be breathing.

I didn’t want to watch him suffer needlessly, and tried to be brave. “I’m not sure I’d say no to the idea.”

Okay, he definitely wasn’t breathing now. His eyes were as big as the appetizer plates the server set down before us. Kyle waited until the guy was gone before blinking, and then gradually return to life. “Say that again?”

“Why? You heard me the first time.”

Putting it out there was shockingly liberating. I’d spent a lot of nights wondering what it’d be like to be a submissive. To have another person focused on me, and push me to explore new things. To improve. And the thought of Kyle being my Dom? It was so hot, my skin felt like it was sunburned.

“Ruby.” His voice was heavy, yet filled with hope. “Tell me you’re serious.”

It was madness, but it was certainly one way to move past our current arrangement. “I am.”

The air shifted around us and everything in the restaurant faded away. It was just us. Could he hear the heart pounding in my chest?

Kyle reached across the table and trapped my hand beneath his large one, his fingers curling around my palm. It was a simple touch, but felt more sexual than anything else. Like his hand was wrapped completely around my naked body. Touching me everywhere. Owning me.

It made me weak with desire.

My voice stumbled through the thick fog of lust. “W-W-We need to talk—”

His hand tightened and surprise painted his expression.

I’d had a stutter growing up. Always the first consonant, worst on the W, but sometimes it would also present on a long S. I’d worked hard to correct it, and by the time I hit college, it was virtually gone. Only stressful situations brought it out.

Public speaking was one, which was an enormous hurdle to overcome. Being a full-time trial lawyer was never in the cards for me, but I still had to get over my fear so the stutter wouldn’t be an issue if I had a case that went before a jury.

Kyle knew all about my stutter, because he’d helped me get through it.

There’d been times where we’d be eating lunch in the union hall between our classes, and he’d force me to go up to a table of strangers. I could talk about anything, even how I thought it was stupid what he was making me do. He didn’t care, as long as I spoke.

It turned into a game after the initial rocky attempts, and then the game became fun. Sometimes I made up elaborate stories about Kyle just to embarrass him. The first time I’d talked to a table of strangers for five minutes without a single stumble, he’d grinned so wide I thought his face was going to explode. No, fuck that. I’d worried I was going to explode. It may have been the moment I realized I was in love with him.

I hadn’t stuttered in years.

Kyle’s face skewed with concern and his voice was soothing. “It’s okay. There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

“I’m not.” I shook my head, frustrated with myself. The worst part was speaking after the stutter. Worrying it would continue almost always made it happen, so I forced myself not to overthink. “I don’t know where that came from.”

He searched my face, and hesitated before proceeding. “All right. You were saying?”

“We need to talk about,” I said, pleased the stutter was gone, “how this will change our partnership.”

“I don’t think it would change much. We’re already exclusive, discussed limits, and agreed to be honest with each other.”

His casual avoidance struck a nerve and my excitement flagged. “Don’t think,” I said coolly, “I don’t know what you’re doing.”

“What am I doing?”

“Avoiding discussion of the terms you laid down in the last paragraph.”

His arrogant look was infuriating. “Which terms are those?”

“Don’t.” My voice was filled with so much warning, it sobered him. “Just because you don’t have any, doesn’t mean you get to treat my feelings like they’re a game.”

It was a bit unfair, but how I felt. He looked offended. “I have feelings.”

“Yeah?” I tossed his words back at him. “Prove it.”

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