My mother’s fork clattered to the table, and when she spoke again, it was in a tone I hadn’t heard for years. “Ryan James Chase, this is not appropriate dinner conversation. And Zane, why would you do something like that to yourself?”
Zane shrugged.
Mom said, “My honorary son, Rami, is the only one behaving the way I raised you boys to act.”
Elena grinned. “That Rami, always above reproach. Did you ever find your phone under that desk?”
I’d never seen Rami blush before, but his cheeks were definitely bright red. Exemplary trolling from Elena as always.
“I did.”
Ryan said, “I’ve got homework to do. Are we done with obligatory family dinner time?” Not waiting for an answer, he got up from the table and took his plate.
We cleaned up the dishes and hung out for a few more hours without any further fireworks. There was definite tension between my mother and Elena, but it eased as the evening went on and Elena continued to be her articulate, charming self.
When they’d all finally left, we retreated to the bedroom.
“Thank the goddess they’re staying with Zane.” Elena laughed, pulling my clothes off. “P.S. How did you turn out so wholesome and Zane...didn't?”
“The corrupting influence of rock and roll, obviously. What do you mean, though? The piercing?”
She laughed mischievously.“My superpower told me more than I want to know about your little brother. Let’s just say Zane is a very bad boy who could make Lucas Steel blush. And no, it has nothing to do with the piercing."
“Gross. I'm docking you an orgasm for even mentioning it. Now what do I owe you for that disaster?” I groaned and flopped down on the bed.
She gave a throaty chuckle. “You owe me as many orgasms as it takes for me to stop picturing your brother’s pierced dick or hearing your mother’s reference to ‘wrinkly old dominatrixes’ in my head.”
I groaned again and threw a hand over my eyes like I could block it out. I peered through my fingers. “That’s a tall order. We may need to extend our contract for it to even be possible.”
She froze. It was only a split second, but enough for me to see the shift in her posture.
Shit. I hadn’t meant to say that, and now I’d spooked her. Before she could overthink it, I inched my hand slowly under her skirt. “Or I could just get to work on that debt of mine…”
30
Elena
Alex had gotten up early to work out with his trainer and I’d done the unthinkable and simply slept in. This break from work was going to make it really hard to go back to my old schedule if I wasn’t careful.
He woke me when he got back from his workout, freshly showered and smelling delicious. He’d brought me a cup of breakfast tea that was the perfect temperature and two slices of toast on a wooden tray.
“My other clients are really going to need to step up their game when I go back to work.” I sighed contentedly, sipping my tea and lounging on a nest of pillows with my book.
“You mean you don’t usually have a sub to bring you breakfast in bed, my lady? What a travesty.”
He kissed me and stole a bite of my toast, so I swatted his hand away.
We sat in comfortable silence as I kept reading while I finished my breakfast, then he set the tray over on the dresser by the door and came back to me in bed.
“What’s the key for?” He looked questioningly at the antique key choker from the dungeon, running his fingertips idly across my collarbone. I didn’t really need my key since I wasn’t going to work, but I’d gotten so used to wearing it that I felt naked without it. It made me feel safe even when I didn’t have it paired with anything.
“It’s for the chastity device that stops you from getting hard.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, but what’s it really for?”
“Your chastity device,” I repeated with a completely straight face. “What, you didn’t read the final agreement? You cock belongs to me for ten more days.”
“That’s so not a real thing.”
