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From the fondness Mrs. Jones demonstrated for him, Regina suspected he would like to have the option of staying longer.
"I told Dale I want the kitten," she said firmly. "I've been thinking about adopting a pet for the past couple years, and this seems the right time to do it. If you never feel comfortable making her all your own, I'll keep her. I'm going to adopt her mother, too. As far as your living arrangements, Dale mentioned one of the men from his old unit recently moved to Tampa and is looking for a roommate to share expenses. I have his number. You could talk to him and see what you think. In the meantime, you can visit your kitten anytime you want."
He played with the neck of the beer, thinking. "I don't...I've never really let someone depend on me. Makes me antsy."
"Time to work on that, because
I depend on you."
His surprised gaze swiveled toward her. "What do you mean?"
"I think you know, so I'm not explaining it." She put her feet on a cut log someone had left in front of the bench as a convenient footrest while watching the river's boat traffic. Marius had his ankle crossed on his knee, and she tipped her feet to the right to brush the sole of that shoe, a teasing admonishment. He grimaced affably.
"This is different from the things we've done lately," he observed.
"Yep. Doesn't have to be all about whips and chains."
He tracked a passing freighter, loaded with towers of containers headed off to ports unknown, but his attention was too fixed, alerting her of the import of his next deceptively casual question. "Is it part of your whole Domme therapy strategy? Doing so much non-Domme/sub stuff?"
She cocked her head. "Tell you what. If we drop the pretense of The Zone issue once and for all, what's the less scary answer to that question for you? Yes or no?"
"No is the scarier answer," he said. "But I don't like the yes answer much."
"Really?" She arched a brow, the expression deepening as he moved his arm from the back of the bench to drape it over her shoulders.
"No," he said firmly. "But what about you? Which one's the scarier answer for you?"
She made a pfft sound. "No falls well within the scared shitless territory."
She surprised a shy smile out of him, so at odds with his usual cocky confidence, it touched her.
"Is that because of what I've done to other Mistresses, messing with their heads, making them vulnerable and then taking advantage of that?" His eyes sharpened. "I won't do that to--"
She shook her head and touched his knee. "I've never feared that."
She turned her attention back to the river. He wasn't the only one who could use it as a buffer against stronger feelings and worries. However, she stayed leaning against his side, absorbing his heat and strength. "I'm falling in love with you."
At his jolt of shock, she laid her hand on his thigh, closing firm fingers on him. "I've no idea what the shape of that will look like. And I'm not asking you to do anything different. You also don't have to be scared about me making myself vulnerable that way. I'm not ever going to let you fuck with my head. You'll never treat me badly, or try to manipulate me, because I will shut you down and shut you out every time you do, until you purge it from your system and overcome those demons. But there's one thing I won't do."
She glanced at him, making sure she had his full attention. "Cut you loose. Not until it's my decision, or the right one for you."
"So if I don't think I'm in love with you, that's not a problem?" But she heard the trace of panic behind the edgy tone. She trailed her fingers over his mouth.
"No. Because I know you've fallen in love with me, too, even though you don't recognize any of the markers. You don't have any points of reference for them. But you don't have to worry about that, either. I can damn well take care of myself, and I see you, good and bad. I won't let the bad take over. I expect you to work on fixing the bad, but I'm your safety net, your warden, judge and punisher, until you figure it out." Her lips curved. "I have ways of punishing you that you haven't even seen yet, sweet boy."
"What if it's never the right decision to cut me loose?"
He had no idea how it pleased her, to hear the wistful note of hope he probably thought he had buried too deep for anyone to hear, even himself. She sighed and settled deeper into the curve of his arm. Turning on her hip, she put her head on his chest, her arm loosely around his waist. It was a very female pose to take, and she was further pleased when he set his beer aside and slid both arms around her. A quiver through them made her think he was a little overwhelmed at being allowed the rare chance to hold her in such a sheltering way. He was damn good at it.
"Well, if I never cut you loose, then I'm afraid you'll be mine forever. You'll have Exclusive Property of Lady Regina branded on your muscular ass."
"Okay." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, nudging so he could bend and kiss her mouth. She parted her lips, her arm sliding up to his neck to hold on. When she drew back after a satisfyingly long moment, she traced his cheek. "Dale is ready to let you adopt the kitten, if I'm the primary owner. Which I think is apropos, since I'm your primary owner. Unless you wish to dispute that."
"Well, I don't know, Mistress." He leaned back and sprawled out indolently again, looking like bad boy sex personified. But below the surface she could see all sorts of emotions churning, because she'd just rocked his world. It almost made her smile. "I'm not wearing your collar," he pointed out.
"Really?" Her gaze went to the ID bracelet on his arm. "I thought you were."
His eyes flickered. "I hoped that was what it meant," he said, low.
