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Minty ran to my side, his eyes gleaming and his smile broad. “Eight, seven—”
Peter and Daniel cuddled up. Barry and Robert started kissing and it wasn’t even midnight yet. Ryan and Windy stood staring into each other’s eyes, an intimate negotiation taking place silently between them.
Grinning, Minty took my hands, butterfly necklace glistening in the low lights of the bar, and he went up on his toes. “Three, two, one—”
He jumped into my arms. The room exploded with cheers from below, and my heart exploded with hope and the joy of Minty being safe and with me. The future was roaring into our present, and I had no idea what it was going to bring. Somehow, someway, we’d get through it together.
Because, against all odds, I knew love was on our side.
***
Minty
Glitter followed mefrom the club to Luke’s car and into the house. I dropped red, gold, and silver dust with every breath. It was in my hair, on my skin, and shining on my tutu skirt and clinging to my ballet slippers.
As I passed through the kitchen and the living room to the front hall to hang up my coat and scarf, I held back a small squeal at the surprise plans I’d made tonight for the basement. We hadn’t been down there together since before Luke had gone home to help hismother with his father’s transition to Senior Care, since before I started seeing Pamela, and before my last confrontation with Kyle.
I, however, had gone down two days after we got back from Christmas in Johnson City. While Luke was enjoying a post-leftover coma, I’d walked around the room, touching all the implements and contraptions, thinking about each one, considering whether—and more importantlyhow—it could ever be safe to use the room again.
A few days after that, while Luke was at work, I’d headed to Walmart with the gift card I’d gotten from Rodney’s parents and some money I’d scrounged up from the back of my desk at the dorm when I’d moved out. After returning with an armload of bags, I’d prepared the space carefully, making changes both permanent and temporary. The fact that Luke hadn’t mentioned it told me he hadn’t been down there at all.
It was late—almost two in the morning—but I wanted him to see it now. It was time. Giddiness and verve made my stomach quivery, along with a glimmer of fear that Luke wouldn’t like what I’d done, that he’d be upset about me making changes without him.
Entering the front hall from the living room, Luke slid his arms around me from behind, nuzzling the back of my head and breathing in my scent. I was sweaty from dancing, but he always seemed to love the way I smelled. I clung to his arms still encased in his winter coat and felt the scratch of the wool against my exposed lower back.
“Happy New Year,” Luke murmured, squeezing me almost breathless.
“Hey,” I said when he started kissing my neck. Fizzy anticipation raced through me. “Do you remember when I called you while you were staying at your Mom’s house?”
“Hmm?” Luke pushed his erection into my ass and tried to walk me forward toward the stairs, making it clear that he was moreinterested in proceeding to the bedroom than in talking right now.
I turned around in his arms, stopping him. He tried to kiss me, but I lifted my fingers to block his lips. I asked again, “Do you remember the call?”
With a huff of disappointment at having his amorous ambitions thwarted, Luke released me enough to peer down into my face, searching my expression. Seeing that I was serious, he sobered too. “Of course I do.”
I fiddled with the lapel of his coat. “Well, if you remember it so well, then you’ll also recall that you promised me a New Year’s spanking.” I widened my eyes, bit my lower lip, and tilted my head toward the basement door.
Luke’s brows went up, a spark lighting in his eyes. But just as quickly, he dampened it down, saying, “Are you sure you’re ready to go down there? If you want me to tan your ass, Your Majesty, I can do that upstairs.”
I licked my lips. Anxiety slipped through my bloodstream. I could do this. Iwantedto do this. I’d gone to a lot of trouble to do this. “Not Your Majesty right now. Just me. Minty.”
Luke cocked his head slightly. “Wait. To be clear, you’re saying you want to go to the basement as Minty?”
I nodded and smiled up at him. “I’ve missed being your boy.”
Now Luke’s brows came down again, furrowing slightly. “What does Pamela think about it?”
I sighed, leaning my head against his chest. Thinking about my therapist, kind as she was, was not sexy, but given everything, Luke had every right to ask. I owed him an answer. I met his worried gaze, pulling lightly on his lapel again. “She said a consensual spanking in a sexual context from my loving partner isn’t at all the same thing as what I’d been doing before, and if I feel ready to play like that, then I should try it. I have a safe word after all.”
I went up on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss, hoping to soothehim with sweetness.
With a shuddery sigh, Luke drew me in, ducking down to kiss my neck and hug me close. He rocked me back and forth slightly. The press of his lips was distracted as if he were seeking comfort more than trying to arouse me.
“Just a spanking?” he asked.
“A crop could be fun,” I said, breathlessly. “Like the one you got for Christmas when you were a kid. I could pretend to be Speedy.”
He huffed a wet laugh against my ear, still holding me tight. “I told you, I never used it on her.”
