most. She’ll take care of locking the door when she comes in,” he said. “Unless something’s changed and she wants an audience.”
I chose not to comment on his first statement about this being Nyx’s favorite room. Nyx and I had both had sex with other people. Being jealous of the men in her past would be nothing but destructive. I did address the last thing he’d said, though, more to show that I did actually know some things about Nyx as anything else. “Neither of us are exhibitionists.”
Gavin gave me a searching look, as if he was more insightful than I would have guessed. Considering he’d already surprised me, I figured any other assumptions about him would be pointless.
“You’re not a submissive.” He folded his arms, the stance making the muscles bulge.
I decided it’d be in my best interest to go casual with my body language. My hands went in my pockets, and I answered the statement-question. “No, I’m not. Not completely anyway.”
“You switch?”
“I’m whatever Nyx needs me to be.”
He didn’t respond right away, and I just let the silence sit, letting him figure out whatever was whirling through his mind right now. Nyx looked up to Carrie and Gavin, and their opinion mattered to her. Not as much as her family’s did, but if I wanted things with Nyx to work, I had to pass whatever test Gavin and Carrie sent my way, even if Nyx didn’t know they were doing it.
“You know she doesn’t have any family, right?”
“She does. Kaimi, Sitara, and Rose are her family.”
“Good answer.” He smiled. “If you hurt her, they’ll never find your body.”
Something about the way he said it made me think he wasn’t bluffing or exaggerating. He really could make me disappear. Despite the threat to my safety, I was glad he was that protective of her, and I felt the need to make sure he knew where I stood too.
“This isn’t a fling for me,” I said. “I’m all in.”
“And if she pushes you away?”
I gave him the answer I’d already decided on. “If it’s because she truly doesn’t want me anymore, I’ll respect her decision. But if it’s because she’s scared, I’ll fight for her.”
Gavin was quiet for a minute, processing my answers before he spoke again. “Carrie doesn’t betray confidences, so I don’t know how much Nyx has shared with my wife about her past, and Nyx hasn’t shared any of it with me, but I have…experiences from my own past that have taught me how to read people, and they tell me that Nyx has had some serious shit happen to her. You might have to fight pretty hard to beat back those demons.”
I locked eyes with him. “I will. She’s worth it.”
He nodded, apparently satisfied. “Good.”
Then he left without another word, and I finally looked at the room I was in.
Damn.
A dimmer switch for the lights was right next to the door, as was a color-coded pad that I assumed changed the lighting, and those two things alone made Hades look cheap. An X-frame cross stood in the middle of the room, held up by chains that led to a winch where – I made another assumption – the cross could be raised or lowered.
The straps on the X were leather but might’ve had releases for changing them out. I moved in for a closer look and confirmed that the restraints were replaceable. I was also close enough now to see that there were other places in the beams where things could be attached. I’d been in this world long enough to at least have an idea of what those things could be.
A large chest of drawers sat against one wall, and a decent-sized bed was against the opposite one. Restraints were at each of the four corners of the bed, leather, like the ones on the X. Different ones were most likely in the drawers, along with any other attachments or toys. At the foot of the bed, on the floor, was what looked like a small footstool, but I figured it was probably more for kneeling, either to give a little comfort to the knees or height, if needed.
“What do you think?”
I turned at Nyx’s voice. I considered asking how her conversation with Carrie had gone but pushed that aside. Coming here tonight had been, in part, about showing me this place and talking to Carrie, but I saw a deeper need in her eyes, and even if I was being submissive, I had one