shooting from her ears die down. We open the doors in twenty and I’d rather not spend the time mopping up your blood.”
Ever the gentleman, Liam presented the box to her for a second time, lid open. “We’ve never drawn blood. Bo and I have bickered like this for years.”
Hands free of the blanket, Bodie snatched a triangle of pizza and devoured it. “There’s a first time for everything. Eating my damn pizza is punishable by...” She trailed off, wondering how safe it was to continue that sentence.
“We can take a joke, girl.” Atticus rumbled. His voice was the deepest of them all, like a truck speeding through a tunnel. A Mack truck, no less. “It’s wise to be respectful, but we do have a sense of humor.”
For how long? she wondered anxiously. They’d all have limits on their patience, on how far their humor would stretch. Sometimes she went overboard, forgetting herself and pushing people too far. If she pushed these people too far...as Braun said to her earlier, there would be consequences.
But where was that line?
“Confusing, isn’t it?” Jasper spoke up from her blind side, and she jerked. She’d forgotten the sadist was there. “This is where the beauty of submission comes in, poppet. Moments like this, when you don’t know what to do or what to say, and the stress of it piles on top of you, you hand it all over to your Dom. Give him control, he’ll protect you.”
“Jasper,” Braun growled in warning. “Stop trying to influence her decision. Bodie knows her own mind, she doesn’t need your help.” He patted her thigh gently under what she was coming to think of as her safety blanket. “Finish your pizza, darlin’. I think I see Loki drooling over there.”
“Some subbies need a firm hand, Braun. Your girl’s stuck on a high wire with no idea how to go back and worse, clueless how to go forward.”
The conversation carried on over her head as she dutifully selected another cheesy piece of heaven and ate quietly. Both Dominants were fiercely defending her in their own way, which few people had ever done, but Bodie couldn’t stop thinking about what Jasper said.
Stuck on a high wire...no idea how to go back...clueless how to go forward.
The sadist was completely right and that scared her.
There was no going back to what had been. In only a few hours, Braun had started a process that she couldn’t undo. He’d unlocked parts of her she’d spent years chaining down with little more than himself and his words. Awakened urges inside her she couldn’t control.
Somehow, he’d found the chink in her armor and peeled chunks of it away so he could climb inside her and find what hurt.
Bodie glanced up at him before she reached for the box again. His jaw was rigid, the muscle ticking. She liked the thick, dark stubble. Even though he was angry with Jasper, his blue eyes smoldering with irritation, he kept his temper in check. When he spoke, he bit the words off with a snap, but without lifting his voice.
He noticed her watching him and she blushed hard enough her cheeks warmed. The harsh set of his mouth softened into an amused smile, and she squirmed on his lap in response. Her heart tilted and quivered in her chest when he pressed a firm kiss to her forehead. “Good girl, Bodie.”
Liam caught her eye, rolled his, then gave her a subtle thumbs-up. He didn’t seem surprised or concerned she was curled up on Braun’s thighs; if anything, he appeared pleased for her. “Well if these two aren’t done squabbling by the time you finish the pie, Bo, come see me at the bar. Time to let the horde in.”
The food in her mouth turned to ash. She swallowed, glancing around at the empty club, and realized the calm, quiet space she’d grown almost comfortable with would soon be alive with things she really had no comprehension of.
Not everything was cuddles and kisses on the forehead.
At Liam’s proclamation, Loki and Atticus grinned at each other and shoved to their feet. Atticus was the epitome of intimidating when he stood tall, his wide shoulders rolling back into perfect posture.
“Have you had enough to eat, little one?” Braun asked her quietly.
Oh yeah. What she’d eaten wasn’t sitting well in her stomach, ruined by nerves. She nodded slowly and tucked her hands back into the blanket. “Yes. Thank you for thinking of me.”
“Thinking of you is my pleasure,” he responded without