They were both quiet, and though my blood pounded in my ears, I didn’t look up, wasn’t sure I could handle seeing their faces. Most people didn’t understand what I needed. Hell, some submissives didn’t even understand it. But I knew when I found the Dominant who could handle me, he wouldn’t need a long, drawn-out explanation.
“He raped you.”
It was Ian’s voice, full of anger and torment, that had me lifting my gaze to his. “Yes, Sir. He did. But he didn’t break me.”
His eyes locked on mine. There was no pity there, like I’d expected. Just a need to understand.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” he said softly, as though it pained him to think that it was possible.
“You won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?” Isaac asked.
I looked at him. “Because I trust you.”
Isaac got to his feet, his eyes never leaving my face. “I want a limit list by morning. Filled out completely, no blank spaces. If it’s there by the time I come out for our run”—he swallowed, his eyes narrowing—“then you’ll know what it’s like to be owned by this Dom.”
With that parting shot, he turned and left the basement.
I remained where I was, kneeling beside Ian, my heart in my fucking throat.
“Once he claims you,” Ian said softly, “he won’t let you go. He doesn’t do that lightly. In fact, until you, he’s never taken a male submissive.”
My heart was beating so loud I was sure Ian could hear it.
“Nor have I.” His hand slid into my hair again. This time, he wasn’t gentle when he jerked my head back. His voice was a rough growl when he spoke. “And for the first time in my life, I want that.”
He released me, got to his feet. “Follow.”
I got to my feet, fell into step behind him. He took a stack of papers off his desk, handed them to me.
“We’re going out at seven in the morning,” he said quickly.
“I’ll have it completed, Sir.”
He nodded, turned, stopped, keeping his back to me. “Have you been up to the library?”
“No, Sir.”
“Will you?”
I opted for the truth. “Not unless you make me.”
“Understood. And you can rest assured, we will never make you do something you don’t want to do. Good night.”
“Good night, Sir.”
With the limit list in my hands, I went to my room, settled on the bed, and got to work.
ISAAC
Friday, May 31, 2019
I was awake early, but I stayed in bed, held on to Everly as she slept soundly beside me. Dawn broke as I lay there, and still I didn’t move until six forty-five for the sole reason that I wanted to ensure Dante had the time he needed to complete that limit list.
I wasn’t sure when it happened, or even how, but I’d come to need what he was willing to give, seemingly as much as he needed what we could give him.
My brother would be the first to say I was driven by pure emotion. I doubted I’d be able to provide a reasonable enough counter to convince a grand jury. However, I would say my decisions were slightly more calculated, partially fueled by emotion. More so, I’d admit to having wanted something for so long that, the moment it was in my hands, I wasn’t willing to let it go.
After all, God created the heavens and the Earth in six days, rested on the seventh. Who was to say I couldn’t fall in love in that amount of time?
No one.
No one who mattered, anyway.
Without waking Everly, I tucked the blankets around her, then slipped out of the room, my running shoes in hand. When I got to the kitchen, Dante was the first thing I saw, stretching on the back porch. I did enjoy waking up to seeing him like that.
I walked over to the island, saw the stack of papers laid neatly. I picked them up, scanned through the pages covered in neat, block letters. He’d filled out everything, including lengthy explanations that he’d continued on the backs of the pages. Not a single line had been missed.
Ian appeared, his keen gaze zeroing in on the stack of papers.
I nodded. “Some light reading for later.”
Ian looked as relieved as I felt.
“Five miles,” I told them as I stepped outside. “Got to save some of my energy for later.”
My brother coughed to cover his laugh, then broke out into a jog toward the street.
I forced my mind to blank for the run. Everything faded into the background, Everly, Dante, the asshole who’d hurt those I had come to care about. I let it drift away like mist, taking this time as my own.
It wasn’t until a few minutes into the run that I’d realized Heaven hadn’t been included in my list of people I cared about. I thought back to her mentioning she was going to stay with her sister. For some reason, I felt that was a good idea. Then again, I wasn’t sure how Ian felt about that. Again, I had yet to ask him, to pursue the details of whatever was going on between them. However, I was in tune with my twin, and had there been something there, I would’ve recognized it. I didn’t. As far as I could tell, Ian was indulging and that was all.
