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“Enjoy,” Odilia said.
After she left, Lia lifted her gaze to Beau. He was grinning broadly. “You did good.”
Lia laughed, relaxing. “I feel good,” she asserted. “Except that I’m starving.”
Mouth flooding with saliva, she turned her attention to the French toast covered in sliced bananas and melting butter. She poured a healthy amount of syrup over the stack and tucked in with gusto.
They ate in companionable silence. The eggs were cooked just right, the bacon the perfect complement to the sweet French toast. When Lia couldn’t eat another bite, she wiped her mouth with her napkin and leaned back in her chair with a satisfied sigh.
Beau, who had finished his meal before her, shook his head with feigned amazement. “I have no idea where you put it all, girl.”
Lia shrugged, grinning back. “What can I say? That workout you put me through last night gave me an appetite.”
Beau smiled, but then his expression grew serious, his lovely forest-green eyes fixing on her. “I owe you an apology, Lia. I’m the one who talks about how communication is paramount in a D/s relationship, but I’ve been less than forthcoming. All the insanity last night with my ex aside for the moment, I owe you a better explanation for why I thought I had to put the brakes on things this past week.”
He blew out a breath, a determined expression moving over his handsome face. “First, the age thing.”
Lia scowled. “Not that again.”
He held out his hands, palms up. “I know, I know. It’s just a number and all of that. But the last thing I wanted to do was take advantage of your innocence. Though I have to admit,” he added with a chagrined smile, “in some ways you’re more mature than I am.”
“Damn straight,” she retorted with an answering grin.
He looked down at his hands. “When I left you at your door last Friday night, I told myself it was so I wouldn’t take advantage of you. We had a finite training contract and we had completed the terms. I’ve seen it before with submissives in a training situation. It’s very easy for a sub to confuse getting her deep-seated erotic needs met with feelings for the person making that possible. Precisely because you’re so young and inexperienced, you might be especially susceptible to that kind of transference.”
He met her gaze, his expression earnest. “It took me a while to admit what I was feeling. The age difference wasn’t the primary factor driving my behavior. The unvarnished truth is that I didn’t want to get hurt again. That woman you saw last night, her name is Renee. We were in a relationship for over two years and it was quite serious. She wore my slave collar and we had talked of getting married.”
“When did you break up?” Lia asked.
“It’s been a while now—nearly three years. Which is one reason it was so freaky to have her show up out of the blue like that. The thing is, back when we were together, I believed she was the one. Then she cheated on me. I managed to forgive her the first time, though it wasn’t easy. But then she did it again, and that was it for me. I ended things, but I never really dealt with my feelings for her and how the whole thing affected me. I let it shut me down for a long time.”
“I can relate,” Lia said. “I thought I was in love with a guy but it turned out he didn’t exist.”
Beau wrinkled his brow in apparent confusion. “Huh?”
She slapped her forehead in disgust. “It was so stupid. I got heavily involved with an online Master, but only virtually. According to his profile, he was single and looking for a real life submissive to claim for his own. I fell for his bullshit, thinking I’d found Master Right. But then I started having some doubts when it never worked out for us to actually meet in person. Finally sick of waiting, I tracked the guy down and showed up at his place. His wife answered the door, a baby on her hip.”
“Ugh,” Beau said sympathetically. “So, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That gut punch of betrayal.”
“I do, indeed,” she agreed darkly. “So, when I finally got up the nerve to show up atyourplace last night, it happened again—or I thought it had. You can see why I freaked out, and why I wasn’t in a hurry to open the door to you.”
Beau groaned. “God, talk about horrible timing. I am so, so sorry you had to go through that a second time.”
He reached across the table, taking her hands in his. “I behaved like a coward, not a Dom. I denied the possibility of love because of fear.” He shook his head, his expression rueful. “The crazy thing is when you showed up at my door, I was already planning to show up at yours. Mark and I had been talking, and he really brought it home to me. Love—even just the potential for love—is something too precious to throw away. I finally understood that I don’t want to take the safe route anymore just to avoid possible emotional pain. I’m ready to open my heart again.”
He squeezed her hands. “What am I saying? It’s already open. And last night—making love to you—just confirmed what I already knew.”
He brought one of her hands to his lips. Turning it over, he placed a slow kiss on the tender flesh in the hollow of her palm. The gesture was supremely sensual, and Lia couldn’t help but sigh.
“I’m falling in love with you, Lia.” Beau shook his head. “No. Scratch that. I’minlove with you.” He gave a small, self-deprecating laugh. “I was already falling when I agreed to our week of one-on-one training. I put up every wall I could think of, but you knocked each one down without even realizing that’s what you were doing.” His expression was earnest, almost pleading. “There’s no more denying it—not to you or myself. I love you, Lia.”
A joyful laugh escaped Lia’s lips. “I love you back,” she proclaimed. “I fell the first time I saw you at that stupid wedding, even though you were with yet another tall, gorgeous blonde.”
Beau made a face. “Don’t remind me.” But he was grinning too.
“Y’all look happier than two pigs in a mud bath.”
They looked up at the sound of Odilia’s voice. “I guess we are, at that,” Beau replied with a laugh.
