AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t know if I can do that.” London shook his head, his expression twisting. “That’s… I mean, that kind of stuff is sick, Juliet. I don’t want to tie you up like you don’t actually want to have sex with me… and I sure as hell don’t want to hit you.”
Disgust. That’s what she was seeing in his face. Actual disgust.
Juliet’s insides froze.
Considering that he had some qualities of a Dom, she’d figured he’d be all in. At worst, she would have thought he’d be indifferent to the idea. This outright disgust, the complete misunderstanding of what bondage and spanking meant… she didn’t know how to respond.
“Look, you know my cousin, Val, she’s a therapist-“
“What the fuck!” Juliet’s jaw dropped and she bent to grab her shirt, pulling it back on over her head. There was no way she was having this conversation topless. “I don’t need freaking therapy because I wanted to try a little kink.”
Thank God she’d made the most innocuous request possible. She could only imagine what he’d have thought if she’d asked to be flogged or caned…
Or humiliated, or primal play, or to be choked…
If he thought she needed therapy because of bondage and spanking… fuck. That was like, beyond vanilla. She didn’t know what to call that.
“Look, I know that you can’t help your desires, but that’s probably due to some past trauma-“
“No, no, no.” Juliet ground her teeth together. “You know what, forget I said anything about it. Let’s just… go to bed.”
But instead of moving, instead of agreeing, London looked at her for a long moment. The disgust was no longer showing on his face, but his expression was blank. Unreadable. And she didn’t think she wanted to know the thoughts that were happening beneath it.
“I think… maybe I’m going to go spend the night at my parents tonight. So I can be there tomorrow.”
Juliet gaped at him.
“Are you saying you don’t want me to come to your parents tomorrow?” Hurt lanced through her. Fucking hell. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“No, but… I think we need some space. I need to think, and I want you to really think about what you’re asking me and what that means about you. Like… spanking? You want me to hit you?” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “That’s not who I am, Juliet. I thought we knew each other better than that. Where is this even coming from? This is completely out of nowhere. That you would ask this of me… I feel like I don’t even know you. London was completely earnest, his very real concern coming through. He was completely sincere, and totally taken aback by her request.
Which was when it hit her - they didn’t know each other. Not really. Because she’d hidden this side of herself from him so completely that she’d just blindsided him. Maybe if she’d eased him into it… but she’d rushed it. Because of fucking Orlando.
Even if I hadn’t rushed it, I deserve someone who doesn’t automatically equate kink to abuse. We would have just broken up sooner.
So what the fuck did it all matter?
“Sure. Take all the space you need, but don’t worry, you can do it from here.” Spinning on her heel, Juliet found herself storming away from her second man in one day.
What the fucking fuck. She was going to Brooke’s house. She needed her best friend and a drink and then she needed to figure out what the fuck was going on with her life.
CHAPTER FOUR
ORLANDO
When the unknown number on Orlando’s phone popped up, he almost didn’t answer it. He was staring at his television without really seeing it—he didn’t even know what was actually on right now because it was on a commercial. He’d been sitting and thinking about the day before and everywhere he’d gone wrong with Juliet, trying to figure out how he was going to convince her that she needed a Dom, and that she specifically needed him as her Dom.
Talk about a Herculean task.
So he almost didn’t pick up the phone. But at the last moment he decided he needed a break from his thoughts, and he also was a little curious who would be calling the day after Thanksgiving. He even had the wild thought that perhaps it was Juliet, calling from some unknown number.
“Hello?”
“Orlando?” It was a woman’s voice, which was familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on who it belonged to off the top of his head. Definitely not Juliet.
“Yes, who is this?”
“This is Brooke.”
