Lance escorted her to the car and they headed back to Connecticut. Usually she spent her weekends playing at Kingsley’s townhouse. The most interesting kinksters of the city passed through his house on a regular basis. They’d drink, they’d talk, they’d play. One time Kingsley and S?ren had even gotten into something of a Dominants’ duel as they put their flogging and whipping skills to the test. A little alcohol plus a lot of male ego plus far too many beautiful women watching and applauding had made for one hell of an entertaining evening. But she knew the atmosphere at Kingsley’s would be subdued while everyone waited for news about Mistress Natasha and the man who had attacked her. So much injustice in the world, so much suffering. On days like this Nora almost wished she could have been one of those vanilla types she usually so disdained. A nice husband, a house in the country, maybe some cats and dogs. She could write and go for long walks, maybe do volunteer work. She knew she’d be bored out of her mind after a week with a life like that. But every now and then she did see the appeal of a life lived outside the Underground.
They reached her house and Lance escorted her all the way to the door.
“You want to come in?” she asked. “I won’t jump you. I promise we can just eat dinner and talk.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I can’t remember the last time I wanted someone as much as I want you. We both might forget to behave ourselves.”
Nora leaned back against her front door.
“There are other jobs, you know, even if you lose this one,” she said.
“This one pays better than anything I could get right now that isn’t a desk job.”
“Money troubles?”
“No. I’m just saving up to buy a really good lawyer and go another round with my ex-wife.”
“I’d like to go a round with her. I have a vicious right cross I’d like her to meet.”
“No violence against women,” he said, wagging his finger at her. “Not even ex-wives. But I would pay good money to see you walk up to her and tell her we had sex.”
“Oh, I’d tell her. I’d tell her how good in bed you are and how she doesn’t even know what she’s missing. And that she can have fun being frigid while I’m riding her ex-husband’s amazing cock every night of my life...”
“Got a tape recorder on you? I’d like you to say that again. Just for me, though. And maybe my voice mail message.”
Nora reached out and grabbed Lance by his jacket lapels.
“Please...” she said, pulling him a couple inches closer. “Stay with me tonight. King won’t know.”
“But I’ll know. I made him a promise I would protect you without letting anything get in the way of that. And anyway, once they catch that bastard, I won’t be on guard duty anymore. We can pick up where we left off.”
“Promise?” She raised her hand to his handsome face, stroked the stubble on his chin.
“On my honor as a seaman,” he said, kissing the back of her hand.
She tore herself away from him and went inside her house. She didn’t make it much farther than the front door, however. Once she’d closed it behind her, she waited. It took almost two whole minutes before she heard Lance’s boots heading down her front porch steps. Nice to know he was as reluctant to leave her as she was reluctant to let him go.
Finally she heard the engine starting and Lance driving away. With a heavy heart Nora looked around her house and found its emptiness almost unbearable. No, not almost. Entirely unbearable. She needed something, someone, safety and comfort, and distraction. She needed an amazing distraction. She ran up to her bedroom and changed from her fetish-wear into more normal clothes—a plain black skirt, black sweater, stockings and low-heeled black boots. She threw on her coat and headed out again, knowing her destination before even admitting it to herself.
Forty minutes later she arrived, parking her car where no one would see it and its telltale SAY OUCH vanity plate.
She prayed he would be home and her prayer was answered. She knocked and he opened the door, greeting her with only a raised eyebrow and not a word.
She didn’t bother with a greeting, either. She merely stepped past him and walked into his house like she owned the place.
If she couldn’t have Lance, she’d have the one and only man who she wanted more than him tonight.
S?ren.
*
The Last Good Knight
Part III: The Games Destiny Plays
Tiffany Reisz
An Original Sinners Story
Told in Five Parts
The Last Good Knight: An Original Sinners novella told in five parts.
Part III: The Games Destiny Plays
Shocked to see Nora’s bruises, Lance is furious that she put herself in danger and demands to know where she got them. As Nora confesses her true nature, she’s equally shocked to learn that Lance has some secrets of his own, drawing them together despite Kingsley’s orders....
Contents
The Games Destiny Plays
“Don’t look at me like that,” Nora said as she stepped into his kitchen.
“How am I looking at you?” S?ren closed the door behind her and locked it. She shucked off her coat and sat on the edge of the kitchen table.
“Like you’ve been expecting me.”
“I was expecting you. I knew you’d want to talk about Natasha. I saw it in your eyes last night at Kingsley’s.”
“Ha,” she said as S?ren came to her and stood in front of her. “Shows how much you know. I don’t want to talk about Natasha.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. Now late evening, he’d abandoned his clerics for normal clothes—black long-sleeved T-shirt, black jeans. Even off-duty he couldn’t get away from all black. She saw a glass of wine on the kitchen counter and smelled a fire burning in his fireplace. Briefly she wondered if she’d interrupted him entertaining someone. But no, it was one glass of wine—not two—on the counter. They were alone, and she was ashamed of her relief.
“Is that so?” he asked. “Then what do you want to talk about, Eleanor?”