Page 49 of His Turn

“Mr. Bricman,” she says, turning in her seat. “I don’t waste my breath with lies. I said yes. Several.”

“Several.” I say the word. Process it. “Is this the whole hoods, and chains, and sucking cocks you were talking about the other day?”

“Yes,” she says, then smiles so big as she gazes out the window. Fucking Cheshire cat is back.

“Can I come?” I ask. I realize it’s not a command. I could’ve said, I’m coming with you. But I asked instead. A question she has to answer is so much better. And I know it will make her think.

After a few moments of nothing but the sound of heat blaring at us from the dash, she says, “If you don’t interfere.”

“You’re going to fuck them?” I ask. “I won’t let you fuck them.”

“I told you I don’t fuck them.”

“I won’t let you suck them off, either.”

“You don’t get to decide, Elias.”

So… we’re back to Elias. “I do, Nadia.” I say it honestly. Meaning it. And she knows this just from my tone. “I’m with you tonight whether you like it or not. So I do get to decide. I’ll take you there. I’ll take you in. I’ll stay with you every moment. But you touch no one but me. You leave there with me.”

“And what if I say no?” she asks.

“You won’t say no because if you do then the game we’re playing is over. You like the game. You like Jordan. You might not like me, but you like what I’m offering or else you’d never have given it a chance. You’d never have wasted your time playing with me on the phone the other night. You’d never have wasted your time with Jordan if submitting wasn’t turning you on. You like to slap him, but you also like what comes after. When he gets you alone.”

She glances at me, but catches herself a second later and stares back through the window.

“No,” I say, answering her unasked question. “He hasn’t told me what you two do. But I’m not a beginner at this, Nadia. I’m a professional. I know what comes next.”

Ball in her court.

“I don’t…” But she stops.

“You don’t what?” My question is harsh.

“You can watch, then.” she says. “But that’s it. If I follow your rules, you follow mine.”

“That’s your only rule? Watch, but don’t interfere?”

She turns her head to look at me. Opens her mouth. Pauses. “Yes.” It comes out soft. Not what I was expecting. It makes me hard, the way she just gave in like that.

“Are you lying?” I ask. “I get that this is a power play. I like it, OK? I do, or I wouldn’t be here. But I need honesty, Nadia. Or it won’t work. It won’t be fun. If you’re lying—”

“I’m not,” she says. “I like things my way. Tonight it’s my way.”

“And tomorrow?” I ask, hint of a grin on my face.

“Tomorrow we can do it your way.”

I squeeze the leather-clad steering wheel and imagine taking her to New Year’s Eve. “Tomorrow I get to play my way and you can’t interfere.”

“You can’t fuck them, either. If I can’t, you can’t.”

“Why would I need to fuck them when I have you, Nadia?”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t interfere.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I say. “I can’t wait to see you in action.”

Her grin is twisted.