AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I braced as she covered her eyes. What was she going to tell me? What dramatic, heartfelt revelation was going to make me want her even more?
“You can talk to me about anything,” I said.
She eyed my bare chest, and I wondered if she could see my heart beating. She was in a sleeveless white cotton nightgown. Nothing frilly, just practical. So Nordic. Kind of virginal.
“Tell me what’s on your mind,” I said, before I could start having dirty thoughts about it.
She met my gaze, her eyes wide, her features pale and lovely. “Milo, I accidentally… Well, I sort of stumbled on… I went into your…dungeon…today.”
The breath I’d been holding hardened to an ache in my chest. I let it out, wishing she’d said anything else, any other thing in the world besidesI went into your dungeon today.
“Milo…?” she said in a soft voice.
I didn’t say anything at first, couldn’t say anything, but I felt anger and a dark sense of betrayal. I kept the dungeon’s door closed for a reason. I ought to have installed a lock when she moved in, but that would only have drawn attention to it. “I wish you hadn’t found that,” I finally said.
“I’m sorry. I was wandering around with Blue. I felt restless. I love your apartment so I was looking at the rooms and then I saw that door, and I thought it was a closet, something to do with the music room, so I went in, and once I was in there, I couldn’t stop myself from looking at all the…equipment.”
“You were creeping around my apartment?” I asked. “Opening all my doors?”
“It wasn’t locked.”
“That doesn’t mean you’re welcome to go in.”
She stood, facing me with her arms crossed over her chest. “I’m sorry if I intruded on your privacy, but you shouldn’t feel embarrassed.”
“Shouldn’t I? Would you be embarrassed if you were in my position? If I’d wanted you to know about that…that room…I would have told you.”
“I wish you had told me.” She stuck out her chin, her eyes alight with flaring anger. “I wish I had known. It would have explained a lot of things about you.”
I was surprised she had the audacity to scold me for my secrecy, considering she was the one who’d done something so wrong. I was angry and embarrassed, even more so than her. I wanted to order her out of my room, wanted to yell at her,You shouldn’t be in here, especially to tell me this.
“I could have pretended I never found it,” she said in the fraught silence. “But we’re closer friends than that. I wanted you to know that I saw it, and that I know now that you’re into BDSM, but I don’t care. It doesn’t scare me. It actually…” Her blush deepened. “It makes me curious.”
I had to laugh at that. Curious? She had no fucking idea.
“Why are you laughing?” She tossed her head, with her beautiful intricate braids. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Because it’s none of your business. If I wanted you to know about that side of me, I would have told you. I would have said,hey, Alice, I’m into BDSM. Want to check out my dungeon?”
“Why didn’t you want me to know?”
“Because it’s private.”
“Is this why you won’t consider a relationship with me? Because you think I won’t accept this side of you? You’re wrong about that. I’m not afraid of passion…and…and sexy stuff.”
I laughed again. “Sexy stuff?”
“Whatever. Whatever craziness you’re into, it doesn’t scare me.”
“I’m not sure you have enough information to say that.”
“You think I’m too innocent?”
“I know you’re too innocent.” Why was I even sitting in my bed discussing this with her? Why hadn’t I sent her out of my room yet? “Alice, it’s really late, and I don’t want to talk about this with you.”
“Too bad. I want to talk about it with you.”
“Obviously. You came in my bedroom while I was half asleep and dropped this on me, but I don’t want to discuss it.”
