“Stop calling me that.”
“No.” Law’s moving again, but not towards me. He drapes the tie around his neck, the ends of it hanging loose, the dark color of it severe against the crisp white shirt he’s wearing. “I don’t think I will.”
I lick my lips and keep watching him. He’s still not moving in my direction but towards the door. When he places his hand on the door and opens it, I’m confused.
“What are you doing?”
“They want a scene,princess,” he says, dragging out the pet name until I’m scowling at him but heat blooms across my body in a way that has me clenching my thighs together and my hand pressing tight to the tops of my thighs. Law notices, because of course he does. He knows my body just as well as I do.
“A s-scene?” My fucking voice shakes.
He nods. “As proof.”
What he’s saying makes sense. Public scenes are a normal part of the club. I’ve even been a part of them with my ex. Christian wanted a public scene to show off. I’d been hesitant then, but desperate to please him, so I’d agreed to it. But even then I’d drawn a line to my greedy self-serving ex.
No sex. Not oral, not penetrative, nothing. I hadn’t wanted to share that with the eyes of the club, because I hadn’t felt safe. But it wasn’t the thought of eyes on me that made me uneasy. It’d been Christian.
I hadn’t trusted him enough to carry me through the scene if I faltered. To stop if I got scared or nervous. There are lines and boundaries and Christian had been shit at abiding by them, but that was because he wasn’t just a shit boyfriend but a terrible Dom. Law is the exact opposite of him as a Dominant and as angry as I am at his betrayal, at his willingness to sell me for a stake in the club and make everything we had a fucking lie, I know he won’t drop me if I misstep in a public scene.
Even if there’s sex.
I force my muscles to relax and I start towards him. I stop when I’m just a foot away from him and inhale sharply, my breath catching at his familiar scent. Amber and citrus, warm and comforting. It’s a smell that always soothed me in those dark and scary moments I was trapped between waking and sleep. When the dreams were so dark that I couldn’t find my way out of them, I had the warmth of him, the bulk and weight grounding me and the smell of him all around me to remind me what was real and what wasn’t. I shouldn’t be relying on it like I am now but in for a penny, in for a pound, right?
I’m breathing quicker now and I swallow hard as I look down the dark hallway in front of us. The lowlights of the wall sconces bath it in a golden light that fades away to black the higher up you look. I can’t see the ceiling at all and the hallway feels endless, like my path is just the tip of what’s actually there. The effect makes me feel dizzy and I put a quick hand out to steady myself. Except that my hand lands on Lawson’s chest and I jump a mile when my fingers touch him. I try to snatch my hand back, but Law is quicker. His big hand comes up and catches mine, he presses my fingers to his chest, forcing my hand flat until my palm presses against him.
My breath catches and I shake my head, trying to pull my hand away from him even though the warm muscle beneath my fingertips is the only thing I want to touch right now. I’m exactly where I want to be, but I won’t tell him that. He knows that.
I lift my eyes to his. “My safeword is Silver.”
He grunts that he hears me. Law’s hand goes tight on mine and he gives me his own safeword. “Ocher,” he says.
“Got it,” I whisper. Having the words is good. I feel more in control with them, even though Zeus has forced us into a situation where they’re little more than an illusion of control and boundaries. He’s forced us into playing out a no win scenario, hasn’t he? My brow knits thinking that and I frown, my hand shakes but then Law’s fingers are at my chin and he forces my head back to look up at him.
“We’re in this together,” he tells me, his voice pitched low so that only I can hear. We’re alone now but I don’t really know what that means in Zeus’ world. “I’m going to take care of you. You know that.”
I do trust him. He isn’t asking me to trust him. Not outright, but he is right. I know he will take care of me. “Because you take care of what’s yours, right?” I ask with a thin smile.
“No.” He shakes his head. “Because you’re my wife. I will always take care of you.” The words sing through me. They weave themselves around me, through me, knit and hook into my flesh and bone until I feel heavy and full from them. Drunk on those fucking words. “You’re not alone. Not anymore.”
Tears burn my eyes until they spill over. He still has his hand on my chin, tilting my head back so that we’re staring at one another. He clicks his tongue at the sight of my tears and wipes them away with his free hand. “These are the last fucking tears you shed in this place, do you understand me?”
My chin wobbles and more fat, hot, tears come, but I don’t stop them. What’s the point? As much as I try to hide my heart and the hurt from all of this from him, Law sees it all.
Daddy.
That word is there, a thorn in my side, the tip of a knife sliding between my ribs and striking me down. Daddy. That’s what I’m going to have to let him be again, to pull off what Zeus is asking of us. What I stupidly brought down on our heads for vengeance on my mother.
A deal with Zeus is a deal with the Devil and I was a fool to make it without asking about payment. Law’s eyes move over my face and he sighs heavily.
“I’ll make it good.”
I chuckle. That was not the issue going into this. “It’s always good with you,” I confess and his fingers flex on my chin.
“Princess…” His pupils are blown, he wants me. I fucking know it and I’m practically dripping for him. My clit throbs and my pussy is aching for him. I’m glad he’s looking at my face or he’d see my nipples pebbling through the thin material of my dress. My fucking wedding dress. Christ, we just got married. Everything is so twisted up from how I thought the future would unfold for us. I remember sitting with him and eating breakfast with my feet propped up on his lap while he took a call that was entirely too much business for a Saturday morning.
“Daddy,” I’d purred, nudging his thigh with my foot, toes pressing into his muscle as I pouted at him over the rim of my coffee cup. “Too much work.”
His eyes had cut to me and he’d smiled. It was just a quick upturn of his lips before he’d cut the call short. “Make the deal. There’s an emergency I have to see to. I’ll be out till Monday.” He’d dropped his phone on the table with a thud and then he’d come for me. I’d tried to run from him then, but he’d been too fast, catching me before I’d even made it around the dining table. He’d slung me over his shoulder while I’d shrieked and kicked my feet before taking me to the bedroom.
