Chapter 9

 

The moment she saw him walk through the front door, she knew he’d changed.

Setting out a cup of coffee for him, she flipped through the paper in the silence of the morning. The sun was just beginning to turn the sky from jet to indigo, the world stirring for another day, birds already chirping. She wasn’t able to sleep for some reason.

Perhaps it was the fact Troy seemed shaken by something. It weighed on her, for she knew her husband. While he didn’t seem upset per se, there was something occupying his thoughts.

It was easier, in a way, for her to focus on what it was. For it allowed her to distract herself from worrying about Hunter. She had an increasing sense of dread regarding he and Sara. She wasn’t sure anymore that telling his wife what he really wanted was the best idea after all.

Though she couldn’t put her finger on it, Lacey suspected a woman as self-absorbed as Sara… might not be equipped for that sort of splash of reality.

“Not your show, Lacey. Not your husband.” She warmed her hands around her mug, idly picking at the chipped section of the handle with her thumbnail.

Bitch doesn’t deserve him.

She listened to the creak of the risers as Troy walked downstairs, and she allowed herself a tiny smile at having him home again. She winced as her arm brushed her boob, a reminder that having Troy home again was indeed a double-edged sword.

One she gladly accepted.

He kissed the top of her head as he padded into the kitchen, his WSU T-shirt stretched over his broad chest. The patterned green and black striped warm-ups perfectly showcased his tight ass, and she snuck a glance back at it as he reached over the counter to drop a couple of slices of rye into the toaster.

The stirring deep in her belly made her sigh.

Down, girl.

“How was the little jaunt?”

He turned around and leaned a hip against the edge of the counter, his fingers drumming on the granite. “I knew this was a beautiful state, but… Jesus, Lace, it was like it was a town right out of a postcard. No wonder nobody knows about it. I wouldn’t tell a soul if I lived there either.”

“You meet Von out there?”

“Um hm.” Troy turned his seat around then sat down, straddling it, his arms perched along the top of the chair back. “Dude’s got a good thing going out there, that’s for sure.”

“Are we really going to talk about the scenery?” She knew better than to think Troy had any intention of driving six hours to the other side of the mountains for mere sight-seeing. There was something else going on here.

He grunted, a hint of a smile as he sipped. “You know how we live, the way we live?”

“Of course.”

“This town… the whole place believes the same thing. They’re — how do I say this? They’re into it. Really, really into it.”

“I don’t know what that means, Troy.” She looked directly at him. “What happened? Something is… bothering you. Was it that place? Von?”

The thought that he’d met someone else was an absurd one. She trusted Troy more than any person on Earth… but it was there nonetheless.

“I’m still not entirely sure what I think of it. It was like the most comfortable place, and at the same time, this… most alien place I’ve ever been. I think it was just a lot to take in. The people are great — you’d love Von. I didn’t get a chance to meet his wife — out of town on business, I guess — but I met a few others. You’d… maybe you need to see for yourself.”

“So, you’re saying you liked it?”

“Wanna move?”

She giggled, setting down her coffee and wiping her lips with a napkin, trying to ignore the way even the movement of her night shirt over her nipples made them stand up. The clamps, though they’d numbed her flesh at the time, seemed to have left the tight tips insanely sensitive. It was almost too much.

Almost.

She met Troy’s gaze, noting the sober intensity in his gorgeous eyes, and her mirth drained away. “Oh. Y-you’re serious?”

He shrugged, but he didn’t look away. “Might be good to see it in person. See how you feel about it.”

“You think that’s a good idea?”

The thought of taking a little road trip with her husband was exciting, her many fond memories of their trips together when they first met were still fresh in her mind. They’d driven cross-country more than once, and she swore he’d fucked her in every hotel room along the entirety of I-70.

“Is it a good idea?” He shook his head slowly, his gaze sliding toward the kitchen window, the light of the morning brightening now. “I suppose that depends on what you think. I love the place… but I know it’s entirely possible you’ll run screaming once you experience it.”

“That bad?” She took up her cup again, her mouth suddenly dry. “Just what happens there? Are all the men there… like you?”

“Disciplinarians? Don’t know. More than a few are, I’d guess. Do the men call the shots with their women? Definitely. It’s to the point that I didn’t know a place like this could even exist outside of a fantasy novel. Pretty surreal.”

“Oh… wow.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I need to head into work, but… think about if you’d like to take a trip. I can have my mom watch Hayden, spare Hunt and Sara from a night with the hellion.”

“I…okay.”

“You look like you’re dying to say something.”

Oh, but I am.

Hunter’s smiling face immediately appeared in her mind… along with the smirking image of his wife. Oil and water.

But it wasn’t that time… yet.

“Can you tell me something? Why do you think I should visit?”

His finger played about the rim of his mug as he mulled it over. “You know, it’s a good question. I think I want to see if it’s the right sort of place for you — and if you’re the right sort of girl for it.”

“Are you the right sort of person for this town?”

Tension suddenly snuck into her limbs as she waited for his answer, even though she really didn’t know what it was she wanted him to say.

“Honey, if we weren’t married, I’d already be packing my bags.” His grin beamed bright.

“Troy!” She playfully slapped him on the shoulder as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

Then his smile faded. “Seriously though? It’s like something out of a twisted dream. A wet one. Makes me wonder if it’s too much of a good thing.”

* * *

 

 

Lacey was loading the last bags of groceries into the back of the truck when her phone went off. She pulled it out of her purse, cursing as a fat raindrop splatted on the bright screen. She looked up at the gray sky. It was about to dump.

“Hunter?”

“Lacey, I fucked it all up.”

The desperate hopelessness in his voice had her heart clenching. “Wait, what’s going on?”

She knew it even before the words had left his mouth.

“I told her. It… she just walked out the front door. Wouldn’t say a thing. Fuck.”

“Oh, Jesus, Hunter, I’m so sorry!”

She’s wrong for you, Hunter. Good riddance.

For a terrifying split second, she was certain she’d said it out loud. It was the last thing he needed at that moment. Now was not the time to tell him she was a bitch who didn’t deserve a guy like him.

No matter how true it might have been.

“She didn’t… she didn’t leave leave, did she? She answering her phone?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t even tried it. I’m too pissed off. I feel like if I talk to her now… only gonna make it worse. I was fucking stupid to tell her.”

“It would have been stupid — not to mention tragic — for you to hide something that important from your wife. How would you feel if you’d lived twenty years with her and never let her know how you really are?”

“Shitty — kinda like I do now.”

“Better to have gotten it over with now than realize you lost two decades to a woman who was…”

“Who was what?”

Then she wanted to tell him, the words crowding at the tip of her tongue, begging to be released, pleading to let her tell the truth of things.

Time and a place, Lace.

“She really didn’t say a thing? You’d think… well, you’d think most women would have wanted to do nothing but talk about it. I’d say… hell, I know that more than a few women would say it was a dream come true to find out their hubby was a closet Dom. They’d be creaming their panties over it.”

“I’m not a closet Dom. I just… like to call the shots in the bedroom.”

“Does that label bother you?”

It was a surprise to hear him backing away from acknowledging out loud what he so obviously was — or at least what interested him.

“I don’t like labels.”

“So, that’s a yes.”

“That’s an I-don’t-know-what-the-fuck-I-am. Other than an idiot.” He cursed something under his breath. “The stupidest thing? Right before I said it, there was this little voice, this tiny thought at the back of my mind.”

“There was?”

(It was mine.)

“Yeah — it said: ‘Don’t do it, Hunter.’”

“Ah, shit… maybe she just needs to cool off, think things over?”

She hated this, hated the words that said the exact opposite of what she knew was right for him. Sara never setting foot back in that house would be the best thing that ever happened to Hunter — even if it cost him a broken heart.

There were cures for broken hearts. And sometimes they were found when — and where — you least expected them.

Yes, like in my arms — and between my legs.

Lacey!

She clapped her hand over her mouth then, squeezing her eyes shut, sure she was going to hear Hunter’s shocked gasp over the phone. But there was nothing, only the sound of the rain pattering on the top of the car as the sky began to open up. She yanked at the door handle on her truck, and slipped inside, the door shutting her within the quiet of the vehicle with a muted thunk.

“I’m gonna try to get her to answer her phone. This is… I’m gonna get this fixed. I don’t know how, but I’m going to. I just… wanted to tell somebody.”

It touched her in a way she didn’t expect, that he’d chosen to confide in her first rather than Troy. But she pushed that aside. There would have to be time to think about that later. Now, he needed her — and he needed to not be alone.

And he wasn’t the only one.

“Look, come over. I’m just leaving the store. Troy should be home in a few minutes. We were going to go out, but I’d feel better with you at the house with us, okay? I’ll cook you guys up some steaks. You and Troy can get piss drunk and reminisce on the simplicity of life before women or something. I won’t even laugh at you.”

A quiet chuckle sounded from the other end of the line, and the tension in her body loosened ever so slightly.

“That sounds pretty good, actually. But yeah, I don’t think that’s—”

“No arguments. Get your butt over here.”

“Shit… okay, I’ll see you in a few. Thanks, Lacey.”

“I’ll crack a beer for ya.”

Then she hung up, smiling, her hand on her chest, relieved he wasn’t being stubborn about this. Military men could be notoriously difficult when it came to dealing with such things as feelings. So often, it was easier to just keep things close to the vest, to internalize it. To tough it out.

But Hunter didn’t need to tough it out. He had his best friend, Troy.

And he had her.