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Before he could respond, her hand went straight to her blindfold, yanking it off.
He held up his palms. “Kelsey.”
She blinked once, twice, then her eyes went round. “Wyatt?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to burst in on you like this.”
She glanced downward, as if remembering how little she was wearing, and scrambled to her feet. She reached for a robe on the bench behind her and wrapped it around herself with hasty movements. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you even get in?”
He stayed on the far side of the room, not wanting to make her retreat further. “I was worried about you, and no one could tell me where you were. I needed to see if you were okay. So I called in a favor to Jace.”
“Goddammit. He shouldn’t have told you anything.” Her whole face was flushed now. Part of it was clearly anger, but he also sensed shame there, embarrassment. “I didn’t want you to . . . This is not your business.”
He frowned, rubbing a hand over his jaw and feeling like a jackass for putting her in this position. “You’re right, it’s not. I’m overstepping bounds all over the place, but I had to see you. And God, to see you like this . . .”
Her expression turned pained, and she looked away. “Right. Like this. Guess you can let whatever shred of respect you had left for me go now.”
He took a tentative step closer, unable to resist the magnetic pull she always seemed to have on him. “Is that what you think? That I’ve lost respect for you? Kelsey, it’s taking everything I have not to haul you off to a private room and tie you to something so I can spend the rest of the night showing you exactly how I’d like to respect you.”
Her face whipped back his way, surprise morphing her features. “What?”
He peeked back at the closed door, hoping he still had a few minutes before being interrupted. “You’re not the only one with secrets.”
She stared at him for a long moment, and he could almost see when the awareness dawned.r: Roni Loren
I can do this, Kelsey reminded herself.
Surprisingly, despite the trauma with Davis, fear wasn’t at the forefront of her mind. She knew Colby wouldn’t physically harm her. There wasn’t even a doubt there about that. She was more knotted up about what this submission could open in her. She tried not to think of all the men she’d yielded to in her life. None of those relationships had been D/s based, but the blind trust had been there all the same. When she let her guard down, she could lose herself in a guy. Each time thinking this was going to be the one who didn’t fuck her over. And time and time again, she’d picked the wrong guy to grace with that hope.
Growing up, she’d thought it was her version of rebellion against her mother’s sour view of men. Her mom had told her and her sister to trust none of them, that men only did what was good for their dicks, their wallets, and their ego. But Kelsey had trundled along, reading her fairy tales and believing that she could create her own one day. And that silly girlish hope had only led her right down the path scarily close to the one her mother had ended up on. Kelsey had been used, taken advantage of, and belittled more times than she cared to remember. And now she was going to let another guy have control over her.
Even though logically she knew it was temporary and that Colby would rather cut off an arm before he ever hurt her, she was having trouble keeping her dread locked away.
She glanced at the clock and realized she had three minutes before she was due in the training room. I can do this, she repeated silently, and took a deep breath. In an hour, it’d be done. The hurdle crossed. All she needed to do was get past this first session, then it would get easier. Gathering up all the iron inside her, she straightened her spine, slipped on a silk robe and ballet flats, and headed out into the hallway. Reluctant or not, she wasn’t going to dare to be late.
Once she made her way down the hallway to the training area, Kelsey let herself in, shucked the robe and shoes, and kneeled down in the middle of the quiet room. Colby had left a kneeling pad on the floor and had made sure the temperature in the room was comfortable. Both were subtle messages to her that he wasn’t going to push her too hard this first time. But there was a blindfold sitting in front of the mat, proving that he wasn’t going to be that easy. She slipped on the blindfold, sat back on her legs, and laid her palms up on her bare thighs. Now she waited.
* * *
Grant Waters crossed his arms and eyed Wyatt before looking back to Jace. “Kelsey’s in a training session right now.”
“With who?” Jace asked. “Wyatt just needs to talk to her for a few minutes.”
“And Wyatt isn’t a member here,” Grant said, ignoring Jace’s question.
Jace groaned. “Come on, man. I signed him up for a membership a few months ago. You already have all his information and approved him back then. He just never took advantage of the gift. And you know I wouldn’t send anyone in who I didn’t trust to follow the rules. Wyatt knows how this works. He’s the one I learned from.”
Grant hooked his thumbs in his pocket, stared both of them down for a moment more, then softened his stance. “You’re lucky we’re friends, Austin. Because I would normally throw out a member for trying to pull this kind of last-minute shit.”
Jace smiled his most winning smile. “Aww, is that your way of telling me you love me best?”
Grant shook his head. “Poor Evan and Andre. How they put up with your cocky ass is a wonder.”
“They both happen to love my ass. And I, theirs.”
Grant let out a long, God-give-me-the-strength sigh and cocked his head toward the big door on the far side of the lobby. “Kelsey’s supposed to be working with Colby. If he left the viewing window open to the room, you’re welcome to observe. But don’t interrupt.” He looked to Wyatt, his gaze all business now. “If you want to talk to her, you wait for the scene to be done.”
Jace clapped Grant on the shoulder. “Thanks, man. ’Preciate it.”
