Page 95 of Speechless
“We want to add two more colors.”
“You can do that?”
Brooks turned from where he was filling the blender. “We can do whatever we like as long as it works for us. Having universal signals is helpful in places like Element, but it doesn’t matter as long as everyone agrees and understands.”
That was true. “What do you want to add?”
Logan crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter. “Well, we might want to add more later, but for now, we’d like to add blue and purple.”
I frowned. “What would those mean?”
“Blue would be the same as yellow. Purple the same as red.”
If they were the same, then... “I’m not following.”
Bastian appeared behind me and lifted my hands away from my food and spun me on the stool. He locked my wrists together in one hand and bracketed my legs. Gentle restraints.
Theo’s voice. “They would be for free use, deeper submission, and consensual non-consent.”
My heart rate kicked up a notch, and perfume swirled outward along with my own embarrassment. Yup. Wanted that.
Bastian squeezed my wrist, drawing my attention to him. “Blue and purple are safe words that we would be allowed to ignore.”
My mouth popped open so fast he laughed, kissing me before pulling back.
Frowning, I shook my head. “I don’t understand. Why would we want that?”
Logan stepped into my line of sight again. “Last night, when you were tired but were okay with playing. Did you want to make that decision?”
I stopped to think about it. It could have gone either way. Last night was amazing. Going straight to bed or cuddling with them would have been great too. So I shrugged. “I was fine either way.”
“These new colors can help you tell us what you’re feeling without fully breaking a scene. If you’re feeling nervous, or you think youmightwant to stop, but don’t want to decide, this gives you that option. And on our end, we can evaluate the situation and decide whether to continue. They don’t override the other colors. Red and yellow still work exactly the same way. We just thought this might help, if it’s something you’re interested in.”
How many times had I said to myself that I wanted someone to lift the decisions off me? This allowed that and still gave me the control to stop it. It… made sense. “Yeah, I’d like to try that.”
“Aiden’s lucky his date is tonight,” Bastian muttered. He released my hands when I tugged, so I could go back to my eggs.
“Have you talked to him?”
Theo shook his head. “Not since last night.”
“So you have no idea where he’s taking me?”
“Not a clue.”
I made a face, and they all laughed. My phone buzzed with a text, which showed me the time. “Shit, I have to go. See you guys later!”
A chorus of goodbyes followed me, and my smile lasted all the way to the office. For the first time ever, I had someone waiting for me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
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TRINITY
There were boxes on my bed.
Boxes that looked like they came from the fancy stores Ocean’s husband owned. Three of them. What the?—
