Page 32 of Dark Rules

“No, it’s fine, really, the blanket will be enough.” I smiled my thanks and walked out to the deck. I wasn’t really surprised when he came out later and filled a small cast iron fire pit with wood. It wasn’t close to us, but close enough that I felt the warmth from it.

“Thanks, that’s great,” Dylan said as the man left. We were settled in the lounge chairs again, and I had a blanket wrapped around me while we watched the sun go down.

“You’re welcome,” the man said, tipped his white head, and then left us in the looming darkness.

“God, it’s beautiful,” Dylan whispered as the sky changed colors, and darkness slowly took over.

“It is, isn’t it?” I replied and looked at him. He was looking at me.

“You meant the sunset?” he asked with a smile. “I was looking at you, cuddled up there with the fire behind you. It took my breath away.”

“Oh stop it,” I said and blushed. I looked back at the sky. “Watch, it’s almost done, and you haven’t seen it all.”

“I can’t look away from you, Steph.” He reached out, and I gave him my hand. “You really are … you’re just, well damn … you’re just beautiful.”

I looked at him, tears in my eyes, and I gave him a tight smile. “Thank you, Dylan.”

“It’s true, though.” He took a deep sigh and finally looked at the sky to let me have time to wipe tears from my eyes. “You amaze me.”

“You amaze me, sir,” I said softly and felt his fingers clench around mine.

We both went quiet then and said nothing more. After our drinks were gone, we left the deck and went back to the room. Dylan held me close in the bed, and we talked about what we would do the next day. He’d wanted to stop on the drive back, show me a little shop he knew about that made furniture from driftwood. I’d drifted into sleep as he told me about the places he knew along the drive, and I dreamed about weddings and family cars.

It was a dream that disturbed me, because I knew it was impossible. Dylan had said from the start that he wasn’t the marrying kind. That he wanted the contracts to keep everything businesslike. When I woke up, the memory of the way he’d looked at me nearly broke me. I went into the bathroom and turned on the faucets to hide the sob that I couldn’t hold back.

With my hand over my stomach and the other over my mouth, I’d cried the pain out of my chest. It didn’t help; it only gave me a headache and left me feeling drained. I got into the shower, and when I came out, wrapped in a towel, and my hair wet, I saw Dylan was awake. He’d sat up in the bed, and his eyes watched me, as if he knew I’d been crying and didn’t know what to do or say to make it all better.

He’d never been in a situation like this, I knew, and he was probably trying to figure out what to do next. I looked him in the eye, mine red from tears, his filled with the pain of loss and being lost. He almost spoke, but then he didn’t, for some reason. Something held him back, and I turned away to get dressed.

The moment had been there, and then it was gone. It wasn’t the best way to start the day, but it was what we had. We had breakfast at the restaurant, and then we left, both of us quiet. The drive back was quiet, and dread filled me the closer we came to home. I had a feeling Trent would be there, waiting on me.

“Can I come to your place for the night?” I’d asked, and he turned with a surprised smile.

“Sure, pet. I have work to get done, but you’re welcome to keep me company.” He took my hand and kissed the back of it, his eyes back on the road.

“Thanks.”

We got back to the apartment and took our bags up in the elevator. A short side trip to the shop he’d mentioned resulted in the purchase of a table I’d put in my hallway, which would be delivered later in the week. I felt like an intruder for some reason, as I walked around the apartment. The bare walls, still not decorated, reflected an emptiness, and the black colors, which had seemed modern and tasteful when I’d first come here, now seemed cold and empty.

People say a home reflects the person who lives in it. Dylan wasn’t this empty, though, or cold. He could be, I knew he was ruthless in his business practices and in his dealings with others, but with me? He was as gentle as a teddy bear, unless he was being my dom. Even then, he only pushed me to the limits he knew I could handle. Only once he’d driven me past that, but it had been an incredible torment. I hadn’t wanted it to end, but I’d wanted to beg him to let me go from it. I hadn’t, and in the end, it was an experience I wouldn’t take back.

Kind of like the whole experience I’d had with him so far. I found a blanket in a closet and wrapped it around my upper back and arms, crossed in the front to keep me warm. I walked to the windows, the huge panes of glass that gave us a view of the city. Even that spoke of distance from others, of being above it all.

Not in a snide way, but in a protective way. He could look down, see the life that was out there, but he could also keep it at bay. What had made him like that? What had drawn him into this lifestyle? Was there something broken inside of him?

I knew that the man I saw was a keeper, the kind that rarely came along. I wanted him, I wanted him sexually, emotionally, in all the ways that were possible. What I didn’t want was another fucking contract.

When I’d thought he’d given me another one a few nights ago, I’d felt the world shattering around me. My hands shook when I’d opened the envelope. When I’d pulled out a brochure he’d printed for the island, I’d breathed a sigh of relief that he mistook for excitement and pleasure. I’d played along with it and tried not to shake even more as relief flooded through me.

I was still left with questions though…

“Pet? Where are you?” I heard him call from his office, and I went in to him.

“I’m here, sir. Do you need something?” I asked and went to sit on his lap.

“Just you, sweetness. Want to dance?” He smiled down at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“I would love to.”