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“But you want to pursue it. Exclusively?”
The word gave her a jolt, not because she hadn’t thought it, but because someone else was pointing it out. Did thinking about him as much as she was doing—his touch, words, and sheer presence hovering in her subconscious and higher levels—a few lower ones, too—mean that? She didn’t know.
As she struggled with the answer, Ros’s eyes reflected a shrewdness. “Are you okay?”
Communicating complicated emotions to her friends in ASL went a little beyond their grasp of signing. The only signing practice they got was with her, after all. So she went with the voice software.
“I had a few relationships as a teenager, and in college. Not much since then. I met you, you introduced me to being a Domme, and that’s where I decided to let it stay. It was fun, pleasurable. Easier for where I was in my life.”
Easier than being with men who liked having an armpiece who never interrupted them. Or those who thought her inability to talk meant she needed to be saved. A novelty that always wore off.
She’d thought about seeking a relationship with someone who had been born deaf or had been so for most of his life, but socially those men gravitated toward others in the deaf community. A community comprised mostly of those who shared a lifetime experience with hearing loss, including children of deaf parents.
“I don’t fit a lot of places,” she signed, thinking of all that.
“You fit here.”
Yes, she did. Looking toward her window, Skye watched a group of tourists pause in front of the mansion’s wrought iron gate as their guide likely talked about the Greek Revival and Italianate architecture of the three-story structure. It had been designed by Henry Howard, the same architect responsible for a plethora of other New Orleans historic homes.
Tiger’s deafness was a tragedy, a loss for him. But she’d never had a scene that worked as well as it had in the cottage at Athena’s. She didn’t know if it was because of that, or the circumstances had lowered her guard with him, allowing her to want and ask for more.
Ros sat down in her guest chair. Her expression said she was ready to listen. While she was right, that Skye tended to stay pretty quiet about certain things, she found herself opening up on this. She continued to type, the voice now her Southern female one.
“I feel things for him. I’m learning things about him I didn’t know, and it’s turning my attention to things I didn’t realize I still wanted…this much. He kissed me. I let him kiss me, and it was…”
As she paused, seeking the right word, a slow smile crept over Ros’s face. “Spectacular?”
Skye grinned. “The man can kiss, yes,” she typed. “And you know what kind of sub he is. If he knows you like something, he’s ready to offer it and get even better at doing so.” She sobered. “He’s also got a lot going on in his life. Not just the hearing loss, but the death of his sister-in-law. I hurt for him.”
“Are you worried if you help him, that bond will deepen further than you’re ready for, or it will go that way for the wrong reasons?”
When Skye nodded, Ros chuckled. “I think that’s why they call it falling in love instead of strolling into it.”
Absurd terror spiked in her lower abdomen. To cover it, Skye fired one of her foam stress balls at Ros. Her boss caught it, squishing it a few times, her burgundy nails overlapping on the stress toy. Her countenance had become thoughtful. “That first night I took you to a club and you watched me scene, do you remember it?”
“Of course,” Skye signed.
“That same night, you joined Abby to tag team Sy. You had such a grasp on it from the beginning. You handle things like a boat that can’t be rocked, Skye. If storm clouds gather, you blow them away and create sun and smooth seas.”
Because she didn’t let her feelings take over. With Tiger having so many uncertainties in his life, she’d been focusing on being there for him. If she let her emotions become part of the equation, she might steer the boat into stormy seas she couldn’t calm. She could capsize, right into his arms.
Per her earlier thoughts, she definitely wasn’t the damsel-in-distress type. But his arms supported and steadied. They didn’t hold her back. She liked the way she felt in them, with his attention on her.
She thought again of his touch, his kiss. How he’d spoken those five words,words can’t cover it, Mistress, so close to her mouth, his eyes locked with hers.
Ros leaned over and ran a light finger over Skye’s forearm, resting on the desk. She had gooseflesh. Skye gave Ros a half smile, a shrug. Then repeated it on her phone. “The man can kiss.”
Ros chuckled and rose. “I better get back to things. It looks like you have plenty of company in your own head.” At the threshold, she looked back. “I assume you know if you or Tiger require any kind of support from us, you have it.”
Skye signed a thank you. A glint appeared in the blue eyes, Ros’s lips curving. “Though I like seeing your face, most of whatyou do for us can be done remotely. You work an insane number of hours. Even more than me.” Ros winked. “Take whatever time you need with him. And in case I’m not being clear, yes, hot sex with a submissive male is an acceptable reason for adjusting your schedule and taking off early for the weekend. Though I likely wouldn’t post that on the shared company calendar.”
Skye pulled out the big guns. Literally, a big gun that fired six foam balls on automatic repeater. She usually used it on Cyn, with a paint ball gun backup if Cyn didn’t take the hint.
Ros retreated, laughing.
Skye put the toy gun away. As she did, another pleasant memory crossed her mind. Before Tiger had taken his leave of her the morning after, he’d walked her to her car. They’d been holding hands and she hadn’t let go. He’d brushed a kiss over her mouth, with her responding in kind, sliding her hands into the back pockets of his jeans to get one more squeeze of that irresistible ass.
Lust. Just lust, and enjoyment. But she thought of his gaze upon her, the hunger and yearning. How she’d felt an ache in her heart, like a teenager having to say goodbye to her crush for the unimaginable length of a class period they didn’t share. Crazy.
