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Lyda took another swallow of water, studying her. "I think you were wrong, what you said earlier about me having two of what you have none. I think you do have a sub."
"Yeah, maybe." Regina sobered. "You're my sanity check, Lyda. Anything sending up flags?"
"Oh, hell yeah. But they're the same flags you're seeing clearly enough." Lyda shook her head. "You're one of the steadiest, strongest and most responsible Dommes I know. You're also a balanced, independent woman with no self-esteem issues, a freaking miracle in this world. You don't let anyone fuck with your compass. If it tells you that you're on the right track, I have to believe you are. Though I admit, I'm worried about you. And ticked at him for screwing with what could be the best thing that ever happened to him."
Having two of the Dommes she most respected give her an almost identical vote of confidence bolstered her as much as Noah's hug. Lyda wiped her hands on a towel and rose to stand before Regina, surprising her when she gripped both Regina's hands. Lyda didn't normally indulge sentimental gestures, any more than Marguerite did.
"I'm also pissed at him for hurting my friend and upsetting her," the woman added.
Regina shook her head. "You know I'll be fine. All part of the process. It's hard to break me."
"Yes, it is. Impossible. But scars are a different matter." She touched Regina's neck and stroked the bruising, a caress that conveyed her awareness of a woman's sexual potential as well as comfort. "If there's anything I'd ping you about, it was taking him home last night without a spotter. That's where your emotions took the upper hand on your good sense. You knew better."
"Yeah, I did. But sometimes you take a chance on the emotions. I got my foot in the door, Lyda. Booby-trapped and damn heavy as it was, I got in."
Lyda pursed her attractive lips. "I know the rush of that. But next time he puts a finger on you that you haven't sanctioned, you put his ass down, hard. You make it clear you have a zero-tolerance policy for that bullshit."
"Yes, ma'am," Regina said soberly, then let a smile break through. "I did that, both times. Whereas you just think you're a badass, I actually am one. I might ev
en be enough Mistress to need two subs one day. If you ever get tired of Noah."
"Yeah. Said no woman ever." Lyda let her own smile show, a baring of fangs.
"Well, he's safe from me for now. Marius is two handfuls."
"It's more than that. You're a one-sub woman. I know you've been keeping an eye out for the right one, on that subconscious level that sends up an alarm when a potential candidate comes along. And Marius is ringing all those bells."
"Yeah. Hell of a bell ringer."
Lyda chuckled. "It's never easy when it's worth it. But it's been a long time coming. I hope he doesn't break your heart."
"You and me both. But I've had my heart broken before. It mends." Regina recaptured one of Lyda's elegant hands and laced fingers with the other Domme, indulging in a flirty rock back and forth of contact. "And now I know where to go to get the kind of hugs and friends that help with that."
When she left Lyda's, she saw she had a message from Tyler. Call me.
Frowning, she dialed his cell and turned out onto the rural highway leading away from Lyda's corner of the world. "Were your ears burning?" she asked when he answered. "Lyda and I were just talking about your overabundance of testosterone."
"I count myself fortunate not to be present for any discussion between two Dommes that involve my testicles." He chuckled. The sound eased her mind about the purpose of his call, though that reaction reversed course when he got right to his reason for calling.
"Thanks to some of the fallout on this thing with Siren, I had to do some more digging on Marius, but you can't share the info with anyone else, even him. It came from a sealed juvie file and I don't want my source's ass in the fire. Can you agree to that?"
"If you think I need to hear it, of course." Anticipating the gravity of what he had, she pulled into a convenience store and parked facing a field. Her attention was caught by a cluster of starlings swooping in formation amid the long grasses. She made herself loosen her grip on the wheel.
"He was arrested on nine counts of animal cruelty when he was eleven."
"What?" Based on what she knew of him thus far, she'd been expecting an assault charge. Her mind darted through possibilities as quickly as the starlings' movements. She didn't want an answer to her next question, but she asked it. "What did he do to them?"
"The police report said they were mutilated, likely tortured to death. They caught him burying one of the bodies, and dug up eight others in the same location. Cats and kittens mostly. A couple dogs."
His voice had gotten tight as he relayed the information. She understood why. On one thing, Tyler wasn't hard to read. How seriously he took his responsibility to protect those who were his.
"No. It doesn't make sense." She shook her head. "What he did to Siren and the others...he didn't lift a finger against them. It was vicious mindfucking, yes, but still mindfucking. He didn't physically hurt anyone."
He fought other fully grown men for money, and to spill off aggression with likeminded parties. She'd tripped his triggers, such that things had become a little crazy during an intense session. Both of those things, no matter how inadvisable or over the top, were a far cry from goddamn hurting a puppy. The man who'd shielded her face from a falling vase and carried her out of the hallway to protect her feet from broken glass didn't have that in him.
"Did he plead guilty to it?" she asked.
"According to the report, he was mute through the entire process. The court attorney assigned to him got him mandatory counseling sessions and community service. The counselor reports say he did the same thing for the first couple sessions. Nothing. Not a word. Then he spouted all the usual teenage rhetoric. How he often felt different, frustrated by his differences, and he felt really badly about the animals and wanted to do better."
