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Hammer grunted in understanding. Drawing out the submissive inside Raine wouldn’t be simple. He was a demanding Master—and he knew it. Pushing a sub to her boundaries and beyond under his hand—and his body—had always given him a thrilling sense of control. If Raine were truly willing to cast aside her cloak of security, the freedom and beauty she found would blow her mind.
But taking a sub that far fed something dark in him. He always wanted more and more. The need to believe that he’d owned every part of Juliet and to make her prove it every way he could conceive had been their downfall. Maybe it was a blessing, after all, that he’d have Liam there to balance him. His old friend hadn’t loved Juliet, and he hadn’t thought of her as his responsibility, so he’d seen no reason to curb any of Hammer’s more extreme demands. But Liam would watch over Raine and protect her with every cell in his body.
With Liam added to the equation, however, the expectations on her would double. They’d have to remain vigilant, delving deep and bolstering her often, to keep Raine from crumbling beneath the strain.
“I’m worried that Raine’s lack of experience in sharing her feelings could leave her overwhelmed and frightened,” Hammer said finally.
“I think that’s why communication is so critical. It’s the first point we have to drive home with her. If she’ll just share, we can erase some of her fear.”
Yes, and Hammer knew that if he expected her to trust him, to communicate openly and honestly, he would need to do the same…no matter how uncomfortable it made him.
“Replacing old patterns with new ones will take time.” And he hated that for a million reasons, too. His own impatience. His concern that he and Liam couldn’t get along indefinitely. Mostly, he hated to see her so miserable and lost. Nor could he risk losing her. Granted, she wouldn’t take Juliet’s way out, but she’d proven that she would pick up and leave if driven to flee.
“It will,” Liam agreed. “One of the first patterns I want to break is her bloody bad habit of trying to misdirect with sex.”
Hammer heard Liam’s words, but he better fucking not have heard them right. “What did you say?”
“When I’m displeased with Raine, her first instinct is to lose her clothes and rub against me. I hate to admit how often I let her distract me before I realized what she’d done.” He rubbed at the back of his neck with a wry grin. “She’s really damn good at it, too.”
“Son of a bitch!” Hammer grabbed the mostly empty bottle of tequila from the bar and zinged it across the room. The violence of the shattering glass startled Liam—but it didn’t do a damn thing to improve his mood.
“Have you lost your bloody mind?” Liam stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “Or do you just like to break things?”
“Raine uses sex as a distraction? I heard that right?”
“Yes.” Liam frowned. “Calm down. We’ll deal with it and anything else she throws at us. She won’t be allowed to instigate.”
“Goddamn right she won’t be. That behavior will fucking stop. Immediately. The first time she tries, I’m going to put her over my knee and beat the hell out of her ass.”
“Why are you getting so bent over this? It’s not a major issue. We’re aware and we’ll deal with it. But your hot button isn’t her problem.”
Hammer jumped off his barstool. “It’s my problem, your problem, and her damn problem, too. That kind of distraction is just one of the ways Juliet hid from me. She avoided telling me how she felt about anything by sidetracking me on her knees. I was stupid and selfish enough to let her. By god, I won’t let Raine do that. Why do you think I push her so hard when I want an answer?”
“So we’ll be watchful.”
“If we’re not, she’ll slip through our fingers.”
Juliet had taught him a valuable lesson he couldn’t fail to heed. If he did, her death would mean nothing.
“So…we’ll begin tomorrow morning?” Hammer prodded. “We can clean out the liquor supply room and—”
“No.” Liam shook his head. “She’s too comfortable here.”
“You said that she returned to Shadows because she wanted to be in her element.”
“Because it would be easier on her, yes.” Liam sent him a weighty stare. “None of this should be easy.”
“You’re right. If it is, she won’t learn anything. Too many familiar people and places here to hide behind. We can’t have her dodging us instead of doing the work.”
“Precisely. I think we should drive her up to my lodge in the mountains.”
“Why not the house you bought?”
“I’ve got plumbing work and painting going on. We want to be alone with her, not surrounded by contractors. Besides, at the lodge there’ll be no taxis to shuttle her back to the city if she gets the urge to run away. And I’ve got the perfect room there to suit our needs.”
