Page 125 of Ready For His Rule

Another adjustment on the haunches—though he finally pushed up, parking his ass on the closed toilet seat, fighting to process what unnerved him the most about her accusation. “Delusion?” he growled. “Still?” And what the hell did “lachrymose” even mean?

“You think I don’t see it?” she retorted. “That I haven’t seen it since that first day, when you moped in your milk with Dan and Shay about it? That I don’t see your woe-is-me inner dialogue about it?”

He jolted to his feet too. His new height gain didn’t change an inch of her defiance. And he’d really expected it to? “My what?”

“You heard me.” She jogged up her chin. “You heard me loud and damn clear, because it’s true. Because it’s easier for you to play misunderstood hero than take responsibility for what you did and know it was the right thing.” With a lengthy huff, she curled a hand around one of his elbows. “You did the right thing, John—no matter what those asses in the big office think.”

Air escaped his own lungs in harsh bursts, drawn out by the warmth of her confident grip. His sights tunneled on her, needing and hating her words at the same time. He looked down, dazed, as her fingers slid down to cover his white-knuckled fist.

“Not every hero gets the pomp and parades, Captain.” Her voice moved over him like her touch, a river of empathy but encouragement, admonishing but acknowledging. “They have only the true north of their own compass, confirming they took the right path when it most mattered. And if they’re lucky,”—she wiggled his arm and flashed a winsome wink—“they also get a cute-as-fuck subbie to remind them about the other ways they can be heroes.”

That was it. She was no longer a river. Franz pushed closer, letting himself drown in her breathtaking, beautiful ocean. Letting his gaze get lost in the gray foam of hers, as his fists unraveled…

So he could yank her even closer.

And breathe her in.

And all but feel her heartbeat, slamming as hard and fast and brutal as his, as he considered just opening his damn mouth and telling her…

Just telling her…

I love being your hero.

Because I loveyou, Tracy Rhodes.

“Mrs. Rhodes?”

They broke apart, flustered as if they’d been trading more than moony-needy gazes with each other, when a distinctly female yell came through the door.

Franz stepped around Tracy to jerk back the portal. Rayna Hayes stood there, a glowing smile on her face and a pair of tennis shoes in her hands.

The sight of her was…weird. Yeah, he was more than aware of how she and Zeke had moved to the building for its proximity to Bastille, but the idea of her in this club, as a willing subbie to the guy he’d slept in jungles with… No. Just no.

As a matter of fact, after tonight, he wasn’t certain he’d be able to see any other submissive in this place but the woman behind him—and now, thank fuck, stepping in next to him, tucking into the crook of his arm. He’d worry about how to deal with her kitten-sized ghost in this place later.

Rayna bit her bottom lip and held up the shoes. “Zeke sent me down. He thought you might need these. Just in case something happens, I mean. Which it won’t, but…”

“Thanks.” He fought to say it like he meant it, as Tracy actually accepted the shoes. But if Z was sending Rayna down here with a fucking shoe delivery…

He beat back the downhill of that conclusion—at least long enough to move around and stride toward Garrett, already modulating his voice so the women couldn’t hear.

“Hawk.” He hooked the guy’s elbow, directing him even farther away. “What are you hearing from upstairs?”

The guy’s bearing, twice as rigid as two minutes ago, was a crappy prelude for the reply. “Not a damn thing.”

“Fuck.” He gritted it under his breath.

Hawk jabbed hands into his front pockets and rocked back on his heels. The bastard’s call-sign should’ve been Opie. He was the king of hiding a thousand dark secrets under that aw-shucks exterior. “About sums it up.”

“Who has the radio?”

“Zsycho.”

“And you’ve hailed him?”

“Five times in the last minute.”

“And he didn’t respond?” Franz persisted. “Not even to give notice he was sending Rayna down?”

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