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Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four…
Honestly, he was impressed she'd made it so far without freaking out. Atticus had dumped a load of information on him while Connie slept, along with a few dire warnings that the woman wouldn't be a cooperative submissive to begin with. Thane knew how difficult it was to shift fluidly from one extreme personality to the other; relinquishing dominance and embracing submission was like being a lead detective on a case, then suddenly becoming the victim.
Okay, that was possibly the worst analogy he'd ever thought of, but it was that kind of power exchange they were dealing with. It took time and practice to switch—no pun intended—from one to the other, and from what he understood, Connie had spent the best part of a decade denying a very vital part of herself from existing as it should.
Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight…
A soft knock on the door had Thane nodding in approval. Thirty-eight seconds as a response time was admirable, taking into consideration it was Friday night and Avalon was heaving. Unwilling to disturb Connie, he kept his mouth shut and his eyes on the door as it eased open. A dark head peered around it, the face unfamiliar.
Instinctively, Thane cupped his sub's face and turned it against his chest, protecting her identity as best he could. Adjusting the blanket higher for extra shielding, he gestured for the monitor to enter and do his job. The guy was bigger than him by maybe an inch, Thane thought, but totally outclassed him in width.
“Hey, everything okay in here?” Startlingly dark blue eyes swept over Thane, over the shivering bundle in his arms. “We got a safeword alert.”
“Quick response time,” Thane shot back with a wry smile. “Do you guys get training on how to respond to an SOS?”
“No, we just haul ass where we're needed, prepared for anything. I was just putting my wife down for a nap in my office when the alert came in, and seeing as it's just across the hall, I got here first. Braun Fitzpatrick, owner,” he added quietly as Connie stirred. “Looks like you've got everything under control here, but I need to check with your sub.”
Grimacing, Thane glanced down. Atticus and the bartender, Liam, were in on this plan that he was aware of, but no one had mentioned whether the club owner was privy to the details. He was reluctant to expose Connie to anyone who wasn't in the loop about this unique circumstance. Possessively, he held her tighter, one hand cupping the back of her head. “Yeah, I'm gonna have to decline, Braun. No disrespect to you.”
The friendly, curious expression on Braun's face turned dangerous in the space of a heartbeat. He'd left the door open a few inches, evidently expecting to check the situation and leave, but now he shut it and stalked halfway across the room, his blue eyes blazing. “I'm afraid you don't have the option of declining. I'll speak to your sub, now, or I'll drag your ass out of the club and kick it across the parking lot.”
It wasn't wise to make an enemy of the man who owned the one place that felt like home, Thane reminded himself, weighing his options. Getting his membership suspended or, worse, a ban from the club would suck, but Connie's right to privacy was infinitely more important. “I understand, but there's a lot at stake here. Including my sub's trust in me. Look, talk to Atticus, okay?”
The blue became narrow slits of fire. “What does Atticus have to do with this?”
Connie sighed. “It's fine, Thane. Don't piss the boss off.” She lifted her head, the blanket sliding back, and she turned her face toward Braun. “Don't beat the new guy up, Braun. It doesn't set a good example for the masses out there.”
Thane rubbed a hand over her back, trying to relax the muscles stiff with anxiety. By the stunned look on Braun's face, he either hadn't known Connie switched teams, or he hadn't expected to find her bundled up on a stranger's lap in a private play area. It didn't really matter—the cat was out of the kinky bag and there was no shoving it back in. “You don't have to do this, Connie.”
Soft gray eyes peered up at him, sad and resigned. “Braun won't say anything. He's one of the Masters, Thane. The original Master.”
Big arms encased in long shirt sleeves crossed over the broad chest. “What's going on, Connie? Who is this guy? Atticus mentioned he had…concerns about you and that he had something in mind to help, but I got the impression hewas the one who'd be dealing with you. Nothing was said about you being submissive, or scenes with unfamiliar members in private playrooms.”
Just a quiver of her bottom lip. It wasn't much, but Thane caught it. She was trying to straddle a dangerous line by being the strong woman Braun expected her to be at a time when she neededto be seen, and accepted, as the submissive. And as the submissive, she had a real aversion to confrontation. “Connie, look at me, sugar. He's not shouting at you. He's not angry with you.”
“What the hell—”
Thane slashed his hand through the air, silencing Braun's exclamation. “Braun has to understand how complex you are. He's known you a long time, right? A long time, and you've kept this hidden from everyone because not everyone understands.” He glanced at the bewildered Master apologetically. “I think, once you and I are done in here, you should talk to the ones closest to you, so they can see this from your point of view.”
“I've messed everything up,” she whispered.
“Nothing that can't be fixed. Can't blame the guy for being shocked,” Thane whispered back. “Believe me, I've been there, sugar. We have things to discuss that can't be left until a later date,” he added, brushing his lips over her forehead. “Do you trust me enough to stay with me here, alone, while we talk? I know that's the issue,” he told her when she hesitated. “Self-defense mechanism, being in an isolated room with a man you don't know, in a state of mind you're not familiar with. It's okay to be scared, even if you think you're not allowed to be.”
“Can someone please tell me what's going on?” Braun demanded.
Making sure Connie remained bundled in the blanket, Thane rose and set her into the rocking chair as carefully as he would a newborn. He brushed the hair away from her face, pushed the chair into motion, then turned to face Braun with what he hoped was a diplomatic smile. Not friendly, not hostile, but a lukewarm balance of the two. “Connie is just fine, Braun. She's still finding her limits and some of her anxiety got the better of her. I promise you, she is safe with me, and as soon as we're done here, she'll come find you. But right now, you need to let me tend to my sub. As hard as it is,” he murmured, “you know the drill.”
The Dom's obvious concern and bafflement was monumental. Braun ran his hands over his face roughly, then clenched his jaw. “Fine, but I'd really like some answers…Thane, is it? If Connie safewords again, you and I will be discussing some things of our own. In the parking lot.” The look in those blue eyes promised retribution, then softened when they left Thane's face to land on Connie. “Con, I…I'll see you soon.”
With one last fulminating glare, the force of nature known as Braun left the room.
Thane wasn't proud enough to deny his own passive side was a little shaken by the big guy. Fortunately, he was comfortable enough in his own skin to shake it off. “Okay, that was fun. Not as much fun as a root canal, but close.” He rolled the tension from his shoulders and prepared for round two with Connie.
Not surprisingly, she was sitting up in the chair when he turned around, tugging the blanket around her. He could see her using it as a shield against him, shutting him out, and that was what he couldn't allow. Once those barriers went up, it would take a shitload of C4 and a battering ram to take them down again.
“Okay, sugar. Hiding time's over and done. Do you want to talk first, or should I?”
Connie fidgeted in the chair. The war in her eyes was beautiful to watch—Thane couldn't predict the outcome, but the fight itself was enlightening. It was like two snakes writhing around each other, each dragging the other down whenever one rose above. “I…I should apologize. It wasn't you, you didn't do anything wrong. I panicked.”
