Chapter Nineteen
My house feels empty despite everything but my clothes being here. I mean, my sofa is still next to the window in the front room, and my mugs are still lined on the shelf in the kitchen, but it feels different.
Maybe it’s because I’m here alone. Where this was once my sanctuary, it’s now a building that’s almost unfamiliar. Uncomfortable.
The fact that the last time I was here was with Naomi is irrelevant.
I grab the pile of mail from behind the door and drop it on the island in the kitchen. An envelope with a handwritten address on it catches my eye.
Shivers snake their way down my spine when I pick it up, and I swallow hard. The only things I get in mail are bills and lingerie catalogs, and I don’t like what my gut feeling is telling me. It’s a shame that ignoring it won’t make it go away.
I slide my pinkie finger under the flap and pull out the piece of paper inside.
Tick tock.
I fold the note over and shove it in a drawer with a bang. Because I needed the reminder. Because I really needed a shitty little note to tell me that I have two f*cking weeks to come up with a miracle.
I lean against the side and take several deep breaths, letting the tension roll off my shoulders. Bitch. Absolute bitch.
There’s nothing I want to do more now than get all my things and leave this house. I don’t want to wait for Aaron. I don’t want to sit here in this house trying to figure out what I have to do.
I don’t want to spend my time thinking about how such a beautiful love carries something so ugly.
I fill a suitcase with everything else necessary, photos, books left behind, the half-full can of hairspray sitting on my dresser. Downstairs, I fill two bags full with food and leave them on the floor by the door.
And I grab my cell. I speed-dial Monique and pace until the line clicks.
“Dayton.”
“Monique. Can we talk?”
“Unnecessary. I already know what you’re telling me, don’t I?”
I nod. Stupidly. She can’t see me. “If it’s…” I swallow, my stomach coiling, and screw my eyes shut. This is harder than it should be. “If it’s that I’m leaving you, then yes. You already know.”
“I expected you would. I’m sorry to see you go, Day.”
“I’m sorry I have to. Truly, I am.”
“But as sorry as I am, I’m much happier for you. Although you tell that man if he hurts you, I’m coming after his rich motherf*cking ass and I’m going to slice off his balls.”
I laugh. “I will. Don’t worry. I promise.”
“Good. And, Dayton? If you ever need anything, even as a friend, call me.”
“Why, Monique. Are you going soft in your old age?”
“No. You and your aunt bring out the worst in me,” she laughs. “I have to go. The girls are here for the weekly meeting.”
“Tell them bye from me, will you?” I ask as something pangs in my chest.
“Of course. I’ll see you, honey.”
“See you,” I whisper, hanging up.
I close my eyes and press my hand to my stomach. I never expected leaving that world to be easy, but I never thought it would hurt either. For five years, it truly was my life. But just like a book has different chapters, life has different stages.
This, me and Aaron, is a new stage in my life. One I can fully only embrace by saying goodbye to the previous one.
Two sharp raps at the door echo through the house, and I jump. I don’t want to answer it—just in case. What if…
Aaron strolls into the kitchen and I let out the breath I was holding. Stupid woman, jumping to conclusions. Of course it’s Aaron.
“You’re back early.” I lean back as he kisses me.
“I have senior staff for a reason. All they needed was a handful of signatures on contracts after they’d been to the lawyers. Why they couldn’t wait, I’ll never know.” He looks at the suitcase and bags. “Do you have everything you need?”
I nod. “Including food.”
He smirks. “You and your food.”
“It’s a basic need.” I flatten my hands against his chest, loving the feel of the solid muscle beneath my fingertips. “I called Monique.”
“You did? Already?”
“Yep. I’m a free woman,” I whisper.
He sweeps me his arms around me and plants a hot kiss on my lips. “No, baby. You’re not a free woman. You’re my woman.”
I smile against him and kiss his cheek. “Like I have any other choice.”
“Damn right you don’t.” He releases me. “Can I ask you something about this place before we go?”
“Sure. What?”
“When my assistant came here with Liv—”
“Your assistant was here?!”
“—she said there was an extension, but it was locked and Liv wouldn’t let her in.”
I suck my bottom lip into my mouth. Would you believe I totally forgot about my extension? With everything...it just faded from my mind.
“Why is it locked?”
“I built my extension to…work in.” I hold my hands up when his eyes widen. “It’s not uncommon. Some entertain in their bedroom, but I never did.”
“Thank f*cking god for that.”
“I wasn’t comfortable with it, so I had the extension built. There’re two rooms. A normal bedroom and something a little…kinkier.”
Aaron’s shock soon changes to an amused curiosity. “Kinkier?”
“Um, yes. Whips and the like.”
“You were whipped?”
I shake my head. “No. It wasn’t—it isn’t—my thing. I’m all for a bit of kink, but that doesn’t appeal to me. There were some clients who preferred it that way… Who preferred being dominated.”
“Is it wrong that the thought of you head to toe in black leather is turning me the f*ck on right now?”
“That’s awfully stereotypical of you, Mr. Stone. I didn’t always wear leather. Sometimes I didn’t wear anything at all.”
“Dayton,” he growls in the bottom of his throat, the huskiness of it hitting me square between the legs. “Can I see?”
I drop my gaze to his pants and the bulge there. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“I’m not planning on laying you on a bed and whipping your ass or asking you to do it to me. I’m just…curious.”
“Curious? About whips and chains and kink?”
“Chains?”
“They do the same job as your tie, but I much prefer the tie.” I grin sexily and take his hand in mine. “Come on.”
I grab my keys and pull him through to the back of the house. My key clicks in the lock, and we enter a small hallway.
“Which side first? The normal room or the kink room?”
“I’ve seen your bedroom, sweetheart. I don’t need to see it again.”
I put my hand on the doorknob and smile at him. Oh, dear. “Aaron, this is nothing like my bedroom. Trust me.”
I push it open and step inside. Nude photos line the walls, and thick red curtains are draped over the window. The blankets on the large, black cast-iron bed match them, and the black throw pillows break up the red somewhat.
Aaron’s eyes skim the whole room, including the leather chair in the corner and the fluffy rug at the side of the bed. “You’re right. This is nothing like your bedroom.”
“It’s not supposed to be.” I drop his hand and cross to the curtains, pushing them open a crack. “My bedroom is my space to relax. This bedroom is for seduction and pure, hard f*cking.”
“And the kink room, as you put it?”
I drop the curtain and lead him into that room. The coloring is mostly the same, the décor not much different at all, with the exception of the leather chair now being a thick wooden one.
Oh, and the fact there are whips, floggers, and paddles hanging on one wall. Aaron stops when he sees them, and I walk to them. I pull a whip down and run it through one hand, gazing up at him through my lashes.
“Crack in your armor, Mr. Stone?”
“No.” He takes it from me and hangs it back up. “As sexy as that look is on you, I’m struggling to imagine a situation in which I’d rather smack your gorgeous ass with a bit of leather instead of my hand.”
“I would be offended if you preferred the whip over your hand.”
“I’d be offended if you wanted the whip.”
“Well, would you look at that? Something we both agree on.” I pat his cheek with a grin and leave the room.
The thought that I won’t be using this room again is happier than I imagined it would be. Truth be told, this room was never my favorite, but they were big players because of the taboo that goes with the dom/sub arrangement. Absolute anonymity was required because they were the guys with the most money. The most powerful ones.
“You know the interior of these rooms will be ripped out, don’t you?” Aaron asks softly behind me.
I twist the key in the lock and nod. “I know. And I’m okay with that. It’s my past, and that doesn’t matter anymore.”
His kiss is soft. “Good, because those rooms are the perfect size for—”
“An office and a playroom.” I laugh the words and he pauses. “Hey, you were about to say that exact thing.”
“I was,” he agrees with a smile and pulls me into his side in the kitchen. “Come on, Bambi. Let’s go home. I’m hungry.”
I smack his stomach and grab the food bags. “I hope you can cook. I don’t intend to.”
***
“When are you in Seattle?”
“In two days.”
“Got a couple of hours to spare for me?”
Tyler chuckles down the phone. “Finally come to your senses and realized I’m the better cousin?”
I laugh into my hand. “Yes, that’s it. Since leaving London, I’ve realized I’m madly in love with you and I can’t be without you any longer.”
“Ah, well, it was coming.”
“You’re an ass, Ty. No. I was wondering if I could…take you up on your offer.”
“You’re going to let me shoot you?”
“As long as we’re talking cameras and not guns, yes.”
He clicks his tongue. “I suppose I can go easy on you. Of course I have time for you. I’ll call you when boss man has given me my schedule.”
“Text me. This is going to be a…surprise.”
“A surprise, huh? Is that what they call a shock these days?”
“Shut up. He already moved me into his apartment. I’m not giving him the further satisfaction of knowing he’s getting his way with this too.”