“Tragedy happens.” Seconds pass as I try to accept it, staring at the unlit fireplace.
“You should come back.” I’m grateful for Laura’s distraction as she adds, “Aiden’s gone for three days and he told me to schedule you for next week. So you’re on.”
My eyes lift to the bookshelves, feeling wider, more alert. “I can come back to work?”
“We need you. There’s so much that’s happened.”
The way she says it makes my heart still and I can feel a deep crease settle between my brow as I ask, “What? What happened?”
“I can’t tell you over the phone; just start back on Monday.”
A cold prick flows over my skin, knowing something’s wrong, but not knowing what. “Okay.” I take a moment, which feels awkward and tense, but I make sure Laura knows I’m genuine when I tell her, “Thank you.”
“Are we okay?” she asks me softly. I can practically see her nervously wrapping her finger around the phone cord in the office like she does. It’s a habit I picked up from her.
I answer her honestly, “I don’t understand why you did it. Why you called him and didn’t tell me.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know.”
“You could tell me,” I offer her. “Really, if you’d told me no, or if you told me you called him before he showed up…”
“I… I can’t tell you right now, but soon? I can tell you soon, if you want.”
“I want to know. I do.”
“And then we’ll be okay?” she asks me as if that’s all she wants.
“Yeah,” I answer her even though I don’t know if it’s truthful. I don’t know why so many people are hiding secrets. Or why each one hurts more than the last.
When I hang up the phone with her, I hear the front door close from all the way down the long hall. Jase is home and it surprises me how much I want to go to him, how much I want him to hold me like he does every time he gets back and just before he leaves.
I wait for him, holding my breath at first, but I can’t hear where he’s going or what he’s doing. Leaving my phone on the glass table, I pick my book back up, although my gaze flicks to the open door.
Bethany
He’s been quiet, but there’s a look in his eyes that’s anything but. I can feel the tension crackle and it promises that if I follow him, I’ll be given everything I could possibly want in this moment. And so I do. The second he looks at me, I close my book and leave it there to go to him.
“Come on,” he commands but it’s soft and low, pleading almost. My heart yearns to follow him quickly; to show him I accept his demands.
“I don’t want this distance between us anymore.” Jase’s voice is calming and deep.
“I don’t either,” I admit to him and reach out to take his hand when he offers it. There’s something about the roughness along his knuckles and the warmth of his skin that’s soothing. His touch consoles a part of me that’s desperate to heal.
“Trust works both ways,” Jase tells me as I gauge the changes in the fire room. Everything’s been moved out, most notably the chaise and the wooden bench. In place of the plush white rug is a black blanket, large and heavy. The room’s barren, but still beautiful, with the crystal fireplace and lit chandeliers.
“Both ways,” I repeat, registering his words and wondering what he has planned.
He said he found a solution to our problem. Funny how a man’s solution involves sex… or so I assume. To be honest though, I need this.
I need him like this. I close my eyes knowing we need this.
“Strip here.” He gives me orders as he places a handful of things in the middle of the blanket.
A candle, a lighter, a bottle of ethanol, some sort of white cloth, and the weighted blanket. Tremors of pleasure send a warmth flowing through me, meeting at my core and heating instantly.
By the time I’ve stripped to nothing, he’s done the same. The light from the fire emphasizes every etched muscle in his taut skin. His cock is already rigid and my bottom lip drops at the thought of being at this man’s mercy.
A deep, rough chuckle whips my eyes from his length to his gaze. “Ever needy and greedy, aren’t you?” he teases me and that’s when I see the glimmer of light that reflects off the blade. The tension rises, stifling me, wrapping its way around me… and I love it. I crave it. It does nothing but ignite a fire inside of me.
My feet patter on the slick black blanket beneath us as I make my way to him, tucking my hair behind my ear as I prepare to drop to my knees in front of him. I want to please him, to prove to him that I still desire him, that there’s still a roaring fire between us. I don’t get a chance to though.