Текст книги "Falling For My Best Friend's Brother"

Автор книги: J. S. Cooper

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 12 страниц)

Chapter Ten

Bling Bling Says the Ring

I knew as soon as I walked into the apartment after work that something was off. The air felt chilly and the rooms were too quiet. I closed the door quietly and stood there for a few seconds wondering why I felt as if I were out-of-place in my own home.

“Alice, is that you?” Liv cried out my name and I followed the sound of her voice to the kitchen.

“Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?” I asked with a small laugh, though my insides were tense. “What’s going on?” I asked with a small frown as Liv was sitting at the kitchen table with a teapot and two cups in front of her.

“Want some tea?” she asked brightly, and I couldn’t stop from making a face.

“No, I don’t want some tea. We never drink tea.” I sat down across from her. “We only got that tea set in case we met some hot English guys, so we could invite them back for tea and biscuits.”

“True.” She smiled. “That never happened, though.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Who knew that all British guys weren’t hot?”

“Or into tea.” She laughed. “They preferred beers.”

“Or pints, as they called them.” I grinned. “And lagers.”

“Oh yeah, what was that one lager called?” Liv made a face. “Fosters?”

“Oh yeah, that was gross.” I giggled and then sat back and stared at her face. “What’s going on?” I asked again, my heart racing as the room went still and quiet. Was Liv about to tell me that Aiden and Elizabeth were dating and that he had played me the previous night? I’d been so nervous all day, and I’d been upset that I hadn’t asked him exactly what was going on with the two of them. A part of me was scared that he was going to say something that I didn’t want to hear. Liv looked uncomfortable as she stared at me and I could tell that she was nervous. “Liv,” I asked softly and then I gasped. “Is Aiden dating Elizabeth?”

“Huh?” She looked at me in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Is Aiden with Elizabeth?”

“Wait, what?” She frowned. “Didn’t you spend the night with Aiden? Didn’t you text me that you were staying over?”

“Yes, I did.”

“So why do you still think he’s with Elizabeth?”

“Long story.” I sighed. And watched as she twirled with her hair. My heart dropped as I looked at her. “You don’t have cancer, do you?”

“What?” Liv looked confused. “No, no, of course not.”

“Then what’s going on?”

“Xander proposed to me last night.” She bit her lower lip and just stared at me for a second. I stared back at her in shock as she looked at me uncertainly. I have to be honest here; I felt two emotions at her words. The first emotion I felt was extreme happiness for her and when I say extreme happiness, I mean I immediately started grinning in excitement. But, if I’m honest, my smile hid my other emotion. And that was fear. Fear that emanated from my disappointment, jealousy, worry and anxiety. In that moment, I wanted to burst into tears. There were too many things going on, too many things changing, too many uncertainties in my life and I could barely stay afloat.

“Oh my God, let me see the ring!” I said finally and grabbed her hand and gasped out loud. “Whoa,” I said, impressed, as I stared at the gigantic rock on her finger. “Did he go to South Africa and mine that himself?” I said, my eyes wide. “That’s huge.”

“Isn’t it?” she said, her eyes equally wide. “I think it’s too big.”

“There is no such thing as too big.” I laughed and then paused. “I thought he was going to give you his family ring though?”

“I think that he felt bad about proposing with that ring after Gabby had worn it.” Liv made a face, and I groaned. Sometimes I forgot that Xander had been in a fake engagement with Liv’s older sister, Gabby.

“As he should,” I said and then looked at her ring again and squealed. “Oh my God, Liv, I’m so excited for you.”

“You’re not upset?” she asked hesitantly.

“Of course I’m not upset.” I shook my head at her. “I’m so happy for you. Okay, I admit I’m a little jealous, but you know I’m so happy for you.”

“It’s going to be so weird,” she said with a sigh.

“What is?”

“Leaving here. Leaving you. Moving in with, Xander.”

“When are you leaving?” I asked nonchalantly, my stomach in knots. I was going to be alone at twenty-two. I had known she was planning on moving out anyways, but now it all seemed so real.

“Not until we’re married,” she said with a smile. “I told Xander I don’t want to live together until we’re married.”

“Oh.” I bit my lower lip and paused for a second without speaking. “Isn’t it a bit late to be taking a virginal stance?” I squeaked out. “Didn’t you already tell him you were going to move in with him?

“Virginal stance?” She grinned. “What are you talking about?”

“You not living with Xander before you’re married.”

“I’m not doing that because I don’t want to live in sin.” She laughed. “I’m doing it for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes!” She shook her head. “I know you don’t want me to move out, and I don’t want to either. I’d love for Xander to move in and we all live together, but he would never go for that. And remember he kinda already asked me to move in with him, and I kinda already said yes.”

“What?” My jaw dropped. “You don’t have to do this for me. If you want to live with him beforehand, you should.”

“He asked me to move in before he proposed and while I was happy, I didn’t really know what to say,” she said with a shy smile. “I didn’t know how to tell you then and I felt so bad how you found out, but I thought about it and I don’t want to move out and leave you just yet. So I told him I prefer that we don’t move in together until we’re married.”

“Wow.” I felt as if I were in shock. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Neither did he.” She laughed. “I don’t think he was too happy that I changed my mind about moving in earlier.”

“Dump him, then.” I laughed. “Find a guy who will be cool with that situation. Who needs Xander anyway? Tell him to keep his cheap-ass ring,” I joked, and Liv laughed.

“You know how much I love him,” she said dreamily, and I nodded as we both gazed at her beauty of a ring.

“I know.”

“This is it for me, Alice.” Her eyes were soft as she gazed at me. “He’s the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life. He’s the one who makes me feel whole. He’s my better half. My perfect half. And he loves me. He really loves me. After everything.” She stopped then and grabbed my hands. “I never thought I’d meet someone like him.”

“I know. And you deserve him,” I said seriously. “He’s perfect for you. I’m so happy for you, Liv.”

“I want you to have what I have.” She squeezed my hands. “I want you to be loved and to love like I love.”

“Maybe it’s just not in the cards for me,” I said, my eyes watering. “Maybe I’m not the girl who gets the forever love. Maybe I’m not the girl who gets the guy. Maybe I’m just destined to be by myself forever.” A lone tear fell from my eyes, and I looked down and I felt my heart breaking for the millionth time that week “Maybe I’m that girl who gets no one.”

“You’ve got Aiden.”

“I don’t know what I’ve got with Aiden,” I groaned and more tears fell from my eyes. “We spent last night together and it was wonderful, Liv. It was so perfect, and I felt as if my heart and soul were on fire. He was perfect. The perfect lover.”

“Ugh,” Liv groaned. “This is weird to hear about my brother.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She smiled. “I can deal with it.”

“He did things to me, Liv.” My voice dropped. “You don’t even want to know, but he bossed me around and made me strip off and then we made love against his window.”

“His window?” Her eyes widened.

“You had to be there.” I laughed. “Let’s just say it was hotter than hot.”

“Wow.”

“But then Elizabeth texted him.” I bit my lower lip.

“And said what?”

“She asked him something about me seeing the handcuff marks.”

“No way!” Liv’s mouth dropped open. “Why would she ask him that?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I was too scared to ask him.” I sighed. “Do you think he is seeing both of us? Do you think I should pretend to have another boyfriend to try and make him jealous?”

“No.” Liv shook her head vehemently. “Maybe we’ve gone about this the wrong way,” Liv said after a few seconds.

“What do you mean?” I looked up at her and wiped my tears from my eyes.

“Maybe we’ve been too immature.” She sighed. “Maybe we tried playing too many games.”

“You think so?”

“I think so.” She nodded. “And so does Xander.”

“Huh?” I sighed. “What did he say?”

“He said that he thinks we need to grow up.”

“What?” My jaw dropped.

“I know, right?” Liv wrinkled her nose. “I was like, excuse me, who do you think you’re talking to?” Then she paused. “But I think he’s right. Maybe all the games and tricks and stuff aren’t the way to go about getting a guy.”

“It worked for you,” I said softly.

“Barely,” she said. “And maybe the games didn’t help me. Maybe it was the games that nearly made me lose him.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I guess we’re really growing up now.”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Who would have thunk it?”

“A skunk.” I grinned at her and blew my nose. “A skunk would have thunk it.”

“I love you, Alice.” She squeezed my hand. “My brother’s an idiot if he can’t see how perfect you are for him.”

“We both already know he’s an idiot.”

“That is true.” She grinned. “Hey, before I forget, will you be my maid of honor?”

“Try and stop me.” I laughed.

“I have some advice for you.” She wrinkled her nose. “Well, the advice comes from Xander, but it’s good advice.”

“What’s the advice?”

“Xander thinks you need to have a serious talk with Aiden. He thinks you need to tell him everything you’re thinking and see where he stands.”

“I don’t know about that.” I made a face. “I don’t want him to think I’m a sad case.”

“You should have a conversation with him,” she said and then grinned. “I just had an idea.”

“Oh, gosh, what idea?” My eyes narrowed. “Didn’t we say that we need to be mature from here on out?”

“We do.” She held up her finger. “Hold on, let me get something.” She jumped up, ran out of the room and returned a minute later with her laptop. “You need to go here.”

“Where?” I looked at the page on her screen. The site said “Kat’s Corner” and had a pair of furry handcuffs on the top of the screen. “What’s Kat’s Corner?”

“That’s where you’re going to take Aiden.”

“I’m going to take Aiden to Kat’s Corner? Why?”

“Because you want to show him that you can be all things.” She grinned. “Imagine how shocked he’ll be if you bring up the BDSM stuff first; unless of course you guys discussed it last night.”

“Well, we didn’t discuss it.” I grinned. “But I think it was pretty obvious that he was into taking control.”

“Text him,” Liv said. “Text him and tell him to meet you there tomorrow night.”

“What?” My eyes widened. “You’re being serious?”

“Totally serious.” She nodded. “Put all your cards on the table and let’s see what he says.”

“You think this is a good idea?”

“Oh yeah.” She nodded. “My brother needs to stop playing games. Put it all on the table, and let’s see how he reacts.”

“Okay.” I grinned back, even though I was really nervous. “Here goes.” I grabbed my phone and texted Aiden. “Here’s to special BDSM stores and the truth.”

“Here’s to you and Aiden,” Liv said and jumped up. “Now we need to drink some champagne and celebrate the fact that Xander wants to marry me.”

“Here’s to Xander and you getting married, and here’s to me getting a good spanking from Aiden.” I giggled. “Or maybe here’s to Aiden getting a good spanking from me.”

Chapter Eleven

Oops! I Did It Again

What I know about a Dom/sub relationship is virtually nothing aside from what I’ve read in two erotic romance books and seen in one almost-porn movie. Needless to say, that doesn’t make me an expert or even close to an expert. That was why I’d decided to rent a room at Kat’s Corner, a local sex store and club that specialized in introducing couples to dominatrix relationships. You could rent rooms with all sorts of equipment, outfits and toys for a couple hundred dollars, and I had taken money out of my Louis Vuitton handbag fund to rent the room. I wanted to show Aiden that I was the sort of girl who enjoyed spice and that I was the girl to enjoy his alternative lifestyle. At least that’s what the lady at the front of the store had said when I’d rented the room. She’d said that alternative lifestyles were for men and women who enjoyed spice and didn’t mind straying from the norm. I nodded and smiled as if I knew exactly what she was talking about. I didn’t really know what I was willing to do and accept. It was all a pretty new process to me and the more I thought about it¸ the more I was worried that I wasn’t the sort of person who could feel relaxed doing heavens knows what. Even though the other night with Aiden had been hot.

I was also surprised that Aiden was into this stuff as well. I just didn’t see him as being completely Dominant, but what did I know? He’d told Xander, and Xander had told me, and now I was going to show him—well, hoping to show him—that I could be the ball to his chain. Or maybe it was the chain to his ball. Or maybe it was the tongue to his balls. Or the tongue on his balls. I giggled as I groaned at myself. This relationship was never going to make it off the ground if I couldn’t stop myself from making stupid jokes.

Knock. Knock. My breath froze as I realized Aiden was here. It was time for me to go into action. I took a quick breath and shook my hands out to calm my nerves before he came into the room.

“Can I come in?” Aiden’s voice sounded confused through the door and I knew that he was wondering where he was. The sign on the outside of the store said “Kat’s Corner” and so it wasn’t completely evident that this was a sex store, or in fact that this was a BDSM store. Unless, of course, he’d been here before, and I didn’t want to think about that possibility.

“Hold on,” I said and checked my appearance one last time in the mirror and fluffed my hair. I licked my lips and walked towards the door and opened it slowly. Aiden was standing there with a confused look on his face and his eyes widened as he took in my appearance. I was in a short plaid skirt and a white halter-top. I was going for the naughty schoolgirl look, a la Britney Spears’ music video, “Oops! I Did it Again,” as I’d read that was a favorite fantasy of most men, and I wanted to do everything I could to turn Aiden on.

“Alice?” he said hesitantly, still standing on the other side of the door.

“Yes, Sir,” I said in a breathless voice, getting into my role.

“Sir?” He peered into my eyes curiously, and I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room.

“Has Sir come to teach me a lesson?” I pouted and pushed my chest out. It was getting harder and harder to keep a straight face and not feel self-conscious as he kept standing there looking like he was in the Twilight Zone. This was not how I’d imagined this going down.

“Teach you a lesson?” He raised an eyebrow and then looked around the room. I could see his eyes narrowing as he took in the big king size bed and different toys. He looked back at me with a question in his eyes, and I licked my lips slowly and played with my hair.

“I’ve been a naughty girl, Sir.” I waited for him to respond, my heart racing as I waited on his response. Was this going to be the worst seduction ever?

“You’ve been a naughty girl?” He pursed his lips and then licked them. “You know what happens to naughty girls, right?”

“No, what happens to naughty girls?” My breath caught and my heart was racing even faster as I realized that he was playing along.

“They get punished,” he said with a growl and grabbed me around my waist. “Do you want to be punished, Alice?”

“How are you going to punish me?” I asked and batted my lashes.

“Didn’t you forget something?” He growled again as his hands slid down the back of my skirt and he realized that I had no underwear on; not even a thong.

“Oh?”

“Don’t forget to call me Sir.” He slapped my ass lightly, and my eyes widened.

“Yes, Sir,” I purred up at him, feeling exhilarated. This role-playing thing was a lot more exciting than I’d anticipated it being. This was something I could really see myself getting into.

“Forget again, and I’ll have to have you perform a special task for me.”

“What special task?” I whispered as his mouth came dangerously close to mine. “I mean, what special task, Sir?” I breathed out as his eyes narrowed.

“Nice catch.” He grinned at me. “You’d be kneeling in front of me if you hadn’t remembered quickly.”

“Kneeling in front of you?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, you’d be on your knees, my zipper would be undone, and my cock would be in your mouth.”

“Oh.” I swallowed hard. He’d gotten to the kinky shit pretty fast and that delighted me. “That doesn’t sound like a punishment, Sir.”

“It’s not a punishment.” He winked at me. “It’s a treat before the punishment.”

“I …” My voice trailed off as I could see that he was starting to laugh. What was going on here? Was Aiden really playing along? Was this actually going to work?

“What do you want the punishment to be, Alice?” he whispered into my ear. I could feel the tip of his tongue inside it. “Do you want me to show you what I want to do, or is this just a game to you?”

“It’s not just a game. I am enjoying this. I want you to continue.” I whispered back, my fingers gripping his shoulders. All pretenses were gone from my voice. This was no longer an act, and I was no longer worried or scared about what was going to happen next.

“Then let us proceed. Sir is ready to start class. I want you to go and lie face down on the bed.” Aiden closed and locked the door behind him as he watched me walking to the bed. “You’ve been a bad, bad girl, Alice.”

“Why, Sir?”

“Coming to my class with no underwear.” He shook his head. “And then playing with yourself so that you could turn me on.”

“I only did that because I thought that was what you wanted,” I said breathlessly, excited that he was getting into his role.

“My role was to teach you math.” He growled as he walked over to the bed. “It wasn’t to teach you how to play with yourself.” He lifted up my skirt and slapped my ass. “That’s for being a tease.”

“Oh, Sir.” I moaned as his fingers slipped in between my legs and touched my wetness and then spanked me again lightly.

“And that’s for being wet.”

“I can’t help it if you make me wet, Sir,” I murmured and watched as he sat on the bed and lifted my legs into his lap from the mattress.

“Only naughty girls get wet for their teachers,” he said as he rubbed my ass. “Only bad girls want their teachers to play with them.”

“I am a bad girl,” I moaned as he gently rubbed my clit. “I’m a very bad girl.”

“Show me how bad you are, Alice.” His voice was deep as he lifted me off his lap and put me down on the bed. I have to admit that I was a bit sad that the spanking had stopped already.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked in a silky voice and spread my legs for him. His eyes widened and he gave me a satisfied smile.

“I want you to play with yourself until I tell you to stop.” He licked his lips, and I stared back at the challenge in his eyes. Was he serious? “What are you waiting on, Alice?”

“Nothing.” I took a deep breath and lowered my right hand in between my legs. As soon as I felt my wetness, I closed my eyes.

“Stop.” Aiden’s voice was brusque. “Open your eyes, Alice.” I opened my eyes and looked up at him, shivering as I saw the intensity in his gaze. “I want you to look at me as you play with yourself. I want to see the pleasure in your eyes as you bring yourself to the brink. I want to experience every emotion you feel as I gaze into your soul.” His hand found mine and moved it back and forth across my sex. “I want to see what you do to please yourself, so I know what you like.”

“You already know what I like.” I gasped as he slipped a finger inside of me.

“Aiden knows what you like. The teacher doesn’t.” He withdrew his finger and sucked on it. “Now look at me and show me.”

“Yes, Sir,” I said breathlessly, feeling very much like the naughty girl he’d called me a few minutes before as I reached back down between my legs. I moved my fingers gently, and I stared up into Aiden’s blue eyes as I played with myself. I could feel myself getting more and more excited and then his hand grabbed mine and moved it away.

“Now, it’s time for teacher to show you how to do it.” He grinned and pulled his tie off and rolled over on the bed next to me.

“What are you going to do?”

“Put your hands above your head and hold your wrists together,” he said and I felt him tying my wrists together with his tie. “Good. Now you can’t touch yourself.” He grinned down at me. “Are you going to be a good girl now?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good.” He jumped off of the bed, and I watched as he took his shirt and pants off. He stood there in his briefs for a few seconds and then pulled them off. “I didn’t even know this place existed,” he said as he climbed onto the bed. “How did you know about it?”

I stared up at him silently for a few seconds. I knew now was not the time to tell him that his sister had found the place for me. That would totally ruin the mood.

“That’s for me to know,” I said finally, and he growled.

“So you still want to be a bad girl?” He raised an eyebrow at me and his fingers trailed down the valley between my breasts and all the way down my stomach. He then ran his fingertips down my legs, and then I felt his tongue licking back up my legs and my inner thighs. My whole body trembled in sweet anticipation as I felt his breath close to my sex. I moaned as I felt the tip of his tongue next to my clit, and I cried out as he kissed back up my body.

“No,” I moaned. “I don’t want to be a bad girl.”

“That doesn’t sound too convincing,” he said and jumped off of the bed. “Hmm, let’s see what toys we have here.” He walked around the room and immediately picked up a flogger and held it up to me. “Shall we use this?”

“If you want.” I looked over at him and he licked his lips slowly.

“Or we can use the paddle?” He picked one up and hit it against his hand lightly. “Would you prefer me to use this?”

“I’d prefer your hand,” I said shyly, and he smiled.

“You like it when I spank you, don’t you?”

“Perhaps, Sir,” I said with a smile.

“You’re a dirty girl, aren’t you? You like it when I put you across my lap. You like it when my big manly hand slaps your juicy butt. You love it when my fingers slid into your wetness. You love it when I rub you. It turns you on, doesn’t it?” He was breathing harder, and I watched as he put the flogger and paddle down and grabbed something else from the floor. It looked like a huge feather and he walked towards me with a grin. “I’m going to use this tickler on you.”

“No,” I groaned. “You know I’m too ticklish.”

“That’s why I’m going to use it.” He chuckled. “I’m going to take you to the edge.”

“Then what?”

“Then you’re going to beg me to come down.” He grinned. “You’re going to beg to jump off of the edge.”

“I don’t like jumping.”

“I’ll be there to catch you.” He ran the feather across my lips and then down my neck and towards my nipples. I writhed on the bed as the feather tickled my nipples, and I groaned as he continued his teasing.

“Aiden, please,” I moaned forgetting that I was playing his student.

“Who?” he growled. “My name is Sir.”

“Sir, please,” I whined as he ran the feather back and forth across my clit.

“Please what?” he said as he stared down at me.

“Please let me come,” I groaned. I was so close to coming; yet, he was pushing me to the limits and not finishing the job.

“Not yet.” He shook his head. “You can’t come until I say so.”

“I should have known that you were a control freak,” I moaned.

“A control freak?” He laughed. “So now I’m a bossy-boots and a control freak.”

“Frigging let me come, Aiden!” I moaned as his fingers started rubbing me gently.

“I thought you wanted me to be in charge.” He raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this why you invited me to a BDSM club? You want me to dominate you, right?”

“I wanted to know …” My voice trailed off as Aiden slipped two fingers inside of me, and I felt myself orgasm right away. My body shuddered as he moved his fingers in and out of me and then he bent down and licked up my juices with his tongue.

“It looks like teacher is being bad as well.” He growled as he positioned his cock at my entrance and rubbed me gently.

“Yes, you are,” I groaned and he laughed.

“It’s a good thing I like being bad then, isn’t it?” He winked at me and then jumped off the bed again. “Hold on, Alice. I’m just getting my rubbers.”

“Okay.” I tried to move my hands and he laughed.

“Hold on.” He climbed back onto the bed and untied my wrists. “So, what do we do next?”

“What do you mean?” I asked him, surprised by his words. “I thought we were about to have sex?”

“Yes, but maybe we shouldn’t do it on the bed. Not while we’re here at Kat’s Corner.”

“You’re the expert.” I licked my lips and ran my fingers down his chest. “What do you suggest we use next?”

“Uhm,” he grinned at me and looked around the room, “about that …” His voice trailed off, and he groaned as I grabbed his hardness.

“About what?” I said, distracted by the fact that he seemed to be growing even harder in my hand.

“Nothing,” he said and grabbed my hand and pulled me off of the bed. “Put this on.” He grabbed a black latex jacket, with two big holes where my breasts would be.

“This looks like a straitjacket.” I frowned as I saw the arms tied together.

“Yes it does. Put it on.” He watched me putting it on and stared at my naked breasts. “Why does this look even sexier than when you were naked?”

“I don’t want to wear this.” I pouted. “I want to be able to touch you.”

“It’s not about what you want. Not right now.” He leaned forward and pinched my nipples.

“You love taking charge, don’t you?”

“Of you, yes.” He nodded and then grabbed me. “Bend over,” he growled as he pushed me forward onto the bed, my ass tilted up as he came in behind me. “I like to know that you’re always up for whatever I want,” he muttered as he pushed himself into me. “Oh, yes!” he groaned as he moved in and out of me and held onto my hips. I could feel his cock sliding in and out of me quickly, and it felt so weird not being able to move my hands or arms. My breasts brushed against the sheet, and I knew when he was about to come because he paused right before his body shuddered against mine. He then pulled out of me, pushed me down onto the bed and kissed me.

“Oh, Alice.” He stroked my face as he panted. “That was fucking fantastic.”

“I’m glad I pleased you, Sir.” I smiled up at him. “So what shall we do next?”

“Let’s talk,” he said and kissed me on the lips. “I think we need to talk.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “Can you take this jacket off me first?”

“Of course,” he said with a smile and undid the straps and I pulled the jacket off quickly. “So I need to tell you something.”

“Is it about you and Elizabeth?” I asked softly, my heart thudding.

“Yes.” He nodded and looked nervous.

“What is it, Aiden?” I pulled away from him slightly, scared about what he was going to tell me.

“It’s about Elizabeth and me and how we met,” he said with a groan and then looked around the room and sighed.

“Are you guys dating? Is she your girlfriend?” I blurted out.

“No, she’s not my girlfriend.” He grabbed my hands. “This is hard for me, Alice.” He groaned and shook his head. “Why is this so hard?”

“Just tell me, Aiden.” I stared into his eyes and I could see that he looked worried. “Are you guys in a Dominant and submissive relationship?” I asked him finally, unable to stand the silence any longer. “Just tell me, Aiden. Are you her Dom?”

He shook his head and then took a deep breath before speaking. “It’s worse than that, Alice, it’s much worse than that.”