But maybe that wasn’t Stellan. She hadn’t learned this side of him yet.
And seriously, she thought as she fingered the glittering treasure in her hands, she shouldn’t be complaining.
*
Sixx walked down to breakfast in an olive-green suede tank, tan short-shorts and nude suede, high-heeled sandals, with her rose gold choker at her neck.
“Hola, mija!” M cried.
“Hey, M,” Sixx replied.
After giving M a smile, she watched closely as Stellan did as he always did.
He made her a cup of coffee.
He brought it to her as she was downing vitamins with grape juice.
“Ami texted this morning. He’ll be here shortly,” he shared.
She stared up at him in surprise. “He will?”
“He needs to speak with you, darling. For obvious reasons.”
Oh.
Right.
“It really isn’t necessary. I get it,” she pointed out the obvious.
“This isn’t Ami’s way. The relationship was short but meaningful. Regardless, he would not show that disrespect,” Stellan replied.
It still wasn’t necessary, but she nodded.
“I told him you’re rather busy so he said he’d come immediately. It shouldn’t take long.”
“I have time,” Sixx said.
“Breakfast!” M announced.
Sixx was almost done with her scrambled eggs, bacon, refried beans and tortillas when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” M declared, bustling toward the door.
“M maybe shouldn’t be around when this goes down,” Sixx pointed out when the lady was out of earshot.
“You can take him to the library. The front room. My study. This house is your house. Have this conversation wherever you wish,” Stellan returned offhandedly.
“You’re not going to be there with me?” she asked, again surprised.
He turned from his plate to her. “There’s no need. You are very taken. It appears if he isn’t yet, he’s going to be. My presence is unnecessary.”
She loved the trust, smiled that to him, and bent in to kiss his jaw.
“Ami is here,” M announced, and Sixx and Stellan turned on their stools to see him trailing in behind M.
“I interrupted your breakfast,” Ami said, clearly not liking that idea.
“It’s cool,” Sixx replied, sliding off her stool.
“Would you like some?” M offered.
“No, ma’am, I’m good,” Ami declined.
Stellan came off his stool. They greeted and shook hands, then Ami turned to Sixx.
“This won’t take long,” he told her. “Then I’ll leave you to your morning.”
She nodded and lifted an arm to the hall, inviting, “Let’s go chat.”
He shifted to the side to allow her to pass him, and she did, deciding to take him to Stellan’s study because she thought of the library as “their place” considering what happened in it, and the front room might seem too formal, even if it wasn’t decorated that way.
She led him there, turned to him when they were both inside, and started things.
“You really didn’t have to do this,” she said. “Not only was I there watching when you gave yourself to her,” she shot him a big smile, “I set that up.”
He bowed his head briefly and lifted it. “I know, Sixx. But you owned me. You worked me. I performed for you. I liked it. It meant something to me. I think it meant something to you. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t do this.”
“It meant something to me, definitely,” she agreed softly.
“So I had to do this.”
The smile she gave him then was gentler. “You’re a very chivalrous sub.”
Finally, he smiled back at her. “I have a feeling I’m gonna need to be.”
She laughed quietly. “Oh yes. I think you’ve got a bit of a princess on your hands.”
Ami chuckled through saying, “This man is not complaining.”
“I noticed that,” she teased and tilted her head to the side. “I witnessed the naked stuff went over pretty well. How’d the conversation in the booth go?” she asked.
“I’m taking her out tonight.”
Sixx’s eyes got big and happy. “A date?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“She seems very sweet,” Sixx noted.
“She’s great. Out of the scene, she’s great,” he confirmed, then grinned a particular kind of grin. “In the scene … shit.”
“I was worried last night would be too much for you,” Sixx admitted.
He shook his head. “We talked about it beforehand. She was hinting at things, things I could tell she was too wired to try. I told her to let loose. We had a hand signal when I was gagged and obviously a safe word when I wasn’t. Anyway, I’m into that, I like to be pushed. The further, the better. It’s just that the Domme has to be skilled at giving it for it to work for me.”
“She appears to be a natural.”
“She said she’s always been nervous in scenes so has sucked at it,” he declared.
Sixx was stunned. “Really?”
“That was why that Aryas guy was keen to set us up. She wasn’t connecting. But also, last night after, when we talked through the play, I think none of the subs she trained on were a big enough challenge for her. She needs to go deep to get the big payoff, and if she isn’t feeling it, she’s not gonna be able to do that. But I think she was worried she’d break a sub, so she didn’t even try, and holding back was frustrating her.” That particular grin returned. “She’s not feeling so frustrated anymore.”
Sixx gave him her own brand of particular grin. “You two seem to have had a meeting of the minds very quickly.”
“Yeah, and I’m looking forward to keep working on that.”
“This makes me happy, Ami,” she told him with open honesty.
“I’m glad, Sixx, and that’s another reason I came. I wanted to thank you in person for giving a shit enough to set this up. Even if it doesn’t work out, the sex has been the best I’ve had in freakin’ years, no offense, but when you had me, you couldn’t go that deep.”
“I get it,” she promised.
“And she is really not hard to look at.”
That made Sixx burst out laughing.
“Very true,” she said through it. When she stopped, she told him, “Stellan is really the man behind this magic. He’s the one who talked to Aryas for you.”
“I already thanked him, but my guess is you were behind that.”
She couldn’t disagree, so she just inclined her head.
He got closer, and his voice dipped lower. “You’ve been great, Sixx. Thanks.”
“Honest to God, it was my pleasure. And you haven’t seen the last of me. I’ll be pitside on Tuesday, enjoying you winning for your princess.”
“Awesome,” he muttered on a smile.
Was she going to do what she was thinking about doing?
Well …
Fuck it.
She went in and gave him a hug.
It felt amazingly good when Ami’s long arms wound around her and he hugged her back.
They separated, and she looked up at him. “Maybe I should take some krav maga classes.”
“I know a guy if you want that.”
She laughed again as they headed out. Stellan met them in the kitchen and walked with her to guide Ami to the front door.
Ami gave her another hug, shook Stellan’s hand, said, “See you all Tuesday, hope to give you a good show,” on a teasing smile, then he headed to his SUV in the drive.
Sixx wrapped both hands around Stellan’s elbow as they walked back, sharing, “He and Naya have a date tonight.”
“Excellent,” Stellan murmured.
They moved inside, he closed the door, and she looked up at him to see he was leading her forward, looking lost in thought.
“You okay?” she asked.
He turned his gaze to her.
“Perfect,” he answered before he immediately turned to face forward again.
He looked it, then again, he always looked perfect.
He even acted it, mostly.
But for some reason, Sixx thought he was lying.
*
Sixx was on her way to the Bolt for the evening’s festivities when the music died and the cab filled with ring tones.
She looked at the dash and took the call.
“Hey, Tucker,” she greeted.
“Hey, Sixx. Have a minute?” he asked.
She was hoping this was good news.