She had her head lowered, some sort of white lace mask on, her hair braided back.
“Sorry, doll, but we’re not interested.” Connor spoke this time, since she wasn’t looking up, couldn’t see Garrison wave her off.
She didn’t move, her body small, wearing a white dress that showed off her back and fell to just above her knees.
“Hey,” Garrison said, trying to keep his voice gentle. Doms could scare subs, and he didn’t want his mood to frighten this one. “There are plenty of Doms interested tonight, but we just aren’t in the mood.”
She lifted her head, her pink lips sweet, the bottom one swollen as if she’d been chewing it, and wearing a mask he would never forget.
Our Fox.
And on her wrist? Not the club’s cuffs, but theirs—the brown leather padded ones, with silver buckles and their initials monogrammed on them. He frowned, glancing toward their bag to find it open, and there, across the room? Kat staring, telling him who had put her nose into their business.
Still, Garrison didn’t move, not sure what to make of it. “What are you doing here, sweet?”
She chewed that lip, the best thing he’d seen in days. “I wanted to see you,” she answered.
Connor leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “You made it pretty clear in the hospital. You told Tanner that you belonged to yourself, and that’s your choice to make. You don’t really want this.”
The words hurt to hear, the truth that had kept Garrison up, the one he couldn’t get past.
She didn’t want this, but they needed it.
It left them at an impasse.
She shook her head. “Idobelong to myself. That’s what I needed, what you taught me. I am mine.” She paused, as if searching for the way to explain herself. “See, Tanner, I never gave myself to him, but Ifeltlike I still was his. I’m not, though. You made me realize it.”
“I’m glad,” Garrison said. “I really am happy we helped you figure that out. It doesn’t change things, though.”
“Itdoes, because now that I understand that, now that I’m sure of it, now that you’ve proven you aren’t going to try and steal anything I don’t give you, that’s why I can give myself to you. I couldn’t before.” She lifted her hands, their cuffs around her wrists, and set them in Garrison’s lap.
It was an offer like he’d never seen before, like the only thing that mattered.
“You’re sure?” he asked. “Because you have to be sure. You have to know this is what you really want.”
She swallowed hard, a tremble to her hands. “I’m sure. I’ve been terrified for so long, afraid of what I want, or the world, of myself. I’m not afraid anymore, though. I trust you. Iknowyou. Garrison, I’ve never met a man who can make me feel like I’m the center of the entire universe before, who can drive me crazy, make me totally lose my mind. You make me feel safe, and like I have a place.” She twisted to look at Connor. “And you? You’re always making sure I know I’m important, and it wasn’t until you I realized Iamimportant, that I’m not what was done to me.” The last look was to Trent, and she hesitated before talking. “And, Trent, you frustrate me so much, forcing me to realize that what I was sure I hated, I don’t, that it’s okay to not be like everyone else, that I can be who I am and to hell with anyone who doesn’t like it.”
Garrison didn’t speak, letting her sit there in silence for a moment, letting her words sink in.
Her shoulders dropped. “But…maybe I’m too late? Maybe this wasn’t a good idea…?” She blew out a soft breath. “Maybe you realized you want something else?” She pulled at her wrists, clearly planning to withdraw.
That woke Garrison up.
Fuck that.
He wrapped his hands around her wrists and pulled her forward, into his lap. The little gasp she let out was the final wake-up call his cock needed, as though it had just realized it was Sunny there, not anyone else, and now it was interested. “You really think we’d let you get away that easily, little Fox?”
She smiled, an honest one, and Garrison knew that even though they were all dressed up, even though they were all pretending to be something else, Sunny had put all her cards on the table.
They’d been looking for something for years without realizing it, and he never would have figured it would be the sweet little fox who had walked into their lives.