“No? Why not? Because you’re not into it? Or because you’re tryin’ to protect her?”
“I’m not protecting her.”
Cav stared at me, disbelief and frustration reflected on his face. “You’re not prone to lyin’, Edge. Why start now? I saw the exchange in that room. As soon as she mentioned it, the beast was roarin’ to get out. You want her.”
Suddenly needing to sit down, I moved to my desk chair and dropped into it. “This is complicated, Cav.”
“From what I’ve seen, it’s rather simple. Jamie wants someone to show her the ropes. She wants you to dominate her. What’s complicated about that?”
“For starters, she’s Zeke Lautner’s sister.”
“Yeah. I’ve heard.” Cav exhaled, his exasperation evident. “And I’m not understandin’ how that matters? She’s legal, is she not?”
“Barely,” I muttered.
Cav laughed, but it lacked any humor. “You do have a problem with her age. I should’ve figured.”
“I do not,” I lied.
“More lies.” Cav put his hands on his hips. “You’re on a fuckin’ roll tonight, huh?”
I rolled my eyes, pretended to be interested in the top of my desk.
“She’s going about this the right way,” Cav noted. “She’s asking permission and you heard her, she trusts you, Edge. Doesn’t that count for something?”
My eyes narrowed, but I didn’t answer.
Cav waited several long beats before he sighed heavily. “All right. Answer me this.”
I waited.
“Do you want to dominate her?”
I considered my answer. Cav and I were close. We’d been friends for years, shared secrets and women. I found it difficult to lie to anyone, but I found it damn near impossible to lie to him.
“More than anything.” In fact, I wanted her so fucking bad I could taste it. The need she stirred in me was real, even if I hadn’t felt it in a damn long time.
Admission is the first step. We’re making progress.
“So that’s not the problem. Is it me? She mentioned I could be her Dom. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No. Of course not.” The exact opposite, actually.
Cav paced in the small space, watched the floor. “So you’ve admitted you want her. And you don’t have an issue with me dominating her.” He lifted his head, snagged my gaze. A light bulb seemed to click on. “Do you want us to dominate her together?”
A low rumble sounded in my chest. I knew I would regret my response, but I let it out anyway. “Yes, damn it, I do.”
Oh, shit. I think some of those walls just crumbled.
My hands clenched into fists. That damn voice needed to take a hike.
“What if we did? What if we gave Jamie Lautner what she wants? A chance to interact with those in the lifestyle. She can walk in a submissive’s shoes, experience it for herself, and we’ll be right there with her to keep her safe. No kid gloves. We’ll treat her like any other submissive.”
I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly. “That’s the problem, Cav. She’s not any other submissive.”
“And why not?” He held up his hand and grimaced. “And don’t say because she’s Zeke Lautner’s sister.”
“But she is,” I countered with a smirk.
“Maybe. But she’s also a grown woman who knows what she wants. Zeke’s not her guard dog. And he entrusted her to you. There’s a reason for that.”
I laughed, but it was not funny by any means. “Because he knew I could keep my hands off.”
How’s that working out for you?
It wasn’t. She was pushing me to a point I knew I was going to snap. She made it difficult to remember the reason I had agreed to this. Especially when the little brat taunted me. Jamie was looking to me to help her explore this world and I had to admit, I was fucking honored that she’d chosen me. For brief moments I could almost forget she was Zeke’s sister, that she was more than a decade younger than me, and that she was completely inexperienced in this realm.
I slid my hand through my hair, tugged roughly on the strands. “For fuck’s sake, Cav. She doesn’t even know what it means to be a submissive. She has no real idea of what these Doms would ask of her. What I would ask of her.”
“Then teach her,” he countered. “That’s your job, right? Teaching submissives about the ins and outs? Safe, sane, consensual, and all that shit. There’s no one better at it than you are. We can ensure she doesn’t get taken advantage of. We can protect her.”
I glared at him. I hated that he always had a point. More accurately, I fucking hated that Cav could so easily talk me into shit like this. That was the way it had always been between us.
You don’t think that’s why you wanted to talk to him alone? So he could do exactly that?
Fine. The voice was right again. I had wanted Cav to convince me to give in. He was the only one who had that much power over me. I wanted to do this. Not only because Jamie had asked me, but also because Cav was here. Admittedly, I missed him. He’d been gone for far too long and now that he was back, I couldn’t help but think there were a few loose strings he and I needed to tie up. Including him would ensure he stuck around for a bit.
