kind of fluttering in my tummy. Similar to the butterflies I had as soon as I met him,” I confessed, the words falling out like gum balls from a faulty machine before I had the chance to stop them.
“Woah. Butterflies? That sounds like you’re talking about L-O-V-E. Bit quick, isn't it, Snow White?”
“Oh, come on. It wasn't really love at first sight. We even went on a date before I started to solidify whatever feelings these are for him. Yeah, there were cameras, but I suspect he's used to that. It seemed like a regular romantic date to me, even if it was for TV.”
“Yeah, but still, love? That’s never a great idea so early on. Look what’s happening now. I would suggest you just forget about him. It will be easier that way. Trust me.”
She didn't exactly speak from experience, but that didn't stop Astrid from having a valid point. She could certainly be wise beyond her experience at times. Must be the kind of ancient, indefinable wisdom some people just seem to be born with, like prodigies of thought.
I never saw it coming, but I guess I really should have. Apparently Adam was dropping me because I was a single mom. And Astrid was right – I just had to accept that fact and move on. I had no other choice.
Freya dropped her crayon, climbed up into the couch and gave me her version of a big hug.
“Mama sad?” she asked.
“I’ll be okay, baby,” I said, hugging her back.
At least I’m going to try my best to be.
Chapter Seven - Adam
The room was as empty as it had ever been. But my heart, it was quite full. It was full of warmth for the connection with another, and with love, even though logic and tradition would dictate it was too early.
The peace came from knowing that love was still possible. After so many years spent with temporary flings or gold-diggers, I really felt I had found the one, as foolish as that might sound.
In addition to the warmth of my heart, my skin felt as if it were on fire with a burning passion for Morgan and what we would soon be doing together. I was more excited than I had been in years.
I guess I should have known something was wrong. I wasn’t quite to Jedi-level of sensing disturbance in the Force, nor did I possess a Peter-Parker-grade Spidey Sense, but I could more or less smell trouble coming from a good distance away. It was a skill one developed quickly when trouble became a way of life.
That was why I had security. Sure, they doubled as drivers, but that really only made them more deadly, not less.
Shonna pulled up in the limo, McQueen shades reflecting my own face back to me as she got out and opened the door.
“Lookin’ good, Shonna,” I said, climbing into the back.
“Sir,” Shonna said with a terse nod.
It was a well-kept secret known only to myself, and any of the assorted gods who might be listening in at any particular moment, that I preferred my pets to call me Master. It was not as a power play as could easily be assumed, but because my staff insisted on calling me ‘sir.’ I wanted to separate business and pleasure as much as possible.
‘Sir’ was certainly a more traditional Dom title. Particularly for newer ones. Dom was a general description for a role and ‘sir’ an open term of respect. ‘Master’ meant something else. Not only that one was a mastery of one’s chosen kinks, but it was also sometimes an indication from the submissive that they had given themselves entirely to their Dom’s control. The Dom is the master of the submissive’s world. It is a very special and somewhat rare relationship that tends to be noted when it happens.
I, of course, meant the term in the first sense, something with which few, particularly those who have been in my bedroom, would argue. It was similar to how one did not need to be a light of the realm or qualified and practicing lawyer to use the honorific ‘esquire,’ but it was also a term that can refer to an upstanding or respectable person. Neither of which I had ever been accused of, but still, the example held.
I went to the production office. Images of Morgan’s beautiful form were playing in my head when the storms came in the form of a very down-looking production assistant who was literally staring at her