I know. I’m sorry.
Seriously. what was that all about?
I can’t explain it over text.
I don’t know if I want to see you. You made me feel so weird. Keira’s throat tightened even more as she hit send.
Weird how? I’m so sorry.
Weird like an idiot.
Can I please come see you tonight?
I have more than a lot of explaining to do.
I understand if you don’t want to be with me anymore.
Just want to talk to you.
That was the problem. Keira didn’t know what she wanted. The Daniel she’d gotten to know, she was falling in love with. Actually, she was already there. And that’s why his behavior the night of the party and everyone’s reaction to him, to them, made her feel so uncomfortable.
Who the heck was this other Daniel and why had he hidden what seemed to be such an important part of himself from her? She had questions for sure, and she wanted answers, face to face. She was just terrified of which version of Daniel was going to show up. The last thing she wanted to was to be sweet talked into forgiving and then falling completely in love with a man who was okay with making her look like a fool.
Her fingers flew across her screen and she hit send without thinking.
Are you fucking that Meegan chick?
NO.
I haven’t been with anyone since we met.
That didn’t exactly make her feel better, but she needed to get the question off her chest. Meegan looked like she wanted to kill Keira the moment she found out who she’d shown up with. There was more than jealousy in her eyes. There was possession, and Keira did not sign up for a catfight.
Come over at 8 and don’t think we’re not going to talk about those videos that guy mentioned.
I’ll tell you everything. I promise.
Great, Kiera thought. But was everything something she wanted to know?
✶
Daniel closed his eyes as he heard Keira undoing the lock to her front door. This was his chance. His one chance to unfuck the mess his personal life had become. He had one chance to tell Keira the whole truth, because he knew she didn’t deserve anything less. She wouldn’t stand for it. They wouldn’t make it as a couple without it.
He tried not to smile when she opened the door. She was standing there in those microscopic shorts, and a Galaxis hoodie. Her hair was up and she had no make-up on, but her toenails were painted black. He’d painted them red for her the day of the party. The last time he’d seen her. She looked just as beautiful and adorable as ever. Daniel wanted to pull her into his arms or fall on his knees at her feet, but the look on her face suggested both would be a dumb-assed idea. Her eyebrows were drawn so tight together it looked like her anger and frustration with him was giving her a headache.
Daniel cleared his throat. “Keira.”
“You can come in, but you are not staying.”
“That’s fair.”
“I know it is. Come in.”
Daniel followed her to the living room and sat beside her on the couch.
“No. Sit over there.” She pointed to the armchair on the other side of the room. He made the mistake of laughing as he went to his assigned seat. “Don’t want to be near me?”
“This isn’t funny. I don’t like the way you’re making me feel right now and I don’t want to be fooled into thinking this is all okay if you touch me.”
“Fair enough.”
“So, what the heck is your deal? I knew you were acting strange before we went to the party, but I still don’t get what happened. Half the people in that room, actually everyone in that room, seemed to see me as some sort of enormous cock block. Which I guess I was, considering I’m or was kinda your girlfriend. But I want to know what you told them?”
His one chance.
“I didn’t tell them anything and that was part of the problem. The other part was that I didn’t tell you anything either. I lied to you, Keira.”
She swallowed and pulled her legs up to her chest. “About how many things?”
“A few, but a few is too many. Especially when I take into account how I feel about you and how I hope you feel about me. I’m not Grant and I’m not Armando.”
“I know that.”
“I know you do, baby. Sorry. Keira. But when we met I think you thought in a lot of ways I was just like them. Grant and Armando are proper Dominants and the three of us belong to the same club and we run with the same crowd, but I’m part of what is called a Family. Grant and Armando aren’t involved in this.”
She seemed to be following so he kept going.
“Master Philip and Mistress Evelyn trained me in all things BDSM, but when my training was done they stayed a major part of my life and my sex life. Meegan is also a part of that family. As is Marcos.”
“And you’ve had sex with all of these people?”
“Yes, I have, with the exception of Master Philip. But I have submitted to him. How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t—I don’t mind. I just wish you’d told me. I basically went into a room with all of these people you’re involved with and you never told me. Can you imagine if I’d invited you to a party with all my exes or people I was still with, let them say all this stuff to you, but didn’t explain it at all?”
“I’d be pissed. Like you are now. But you see how this makes me different from your boys?”
“Yes, I do. So what does this mean? Philip and Evelyn own you and you were just taking a break with me? Grant and Armando are free to date, but you have to go back to your family?”
“And that was where I started to fuck up.”
“What?”
“That’s what I thought—that I had to choose between you and the Family. I owe them my life, Master Philip and Mistress Evelyn. After my accident they were there for me in ways I can’t even explain to you, Keira. I love them.”
“Okay.”
“When I met you I had no idea what was going to happen. I didn’t even think about what Armando was asking me to do. It was a favor. A simple favor. Meet up with his friend for an afternoon, but…”
“But what?”
“But you. Do you have any idea how amazing you are? How bright and sunny and wonderful and smart? And you’re an absolute freak even though you refuse to use swear words, which I think is the cutest shit ever.
“I didn’t think I’d fall for you like this, but I did. But you only wanted part of me. You didn’t want what Armando and Grant were into. I definitely didn’t think you wanted The Club or this community we belong to, so I gave you what I could, on your terms, so I didn’t scare you off.”
“So it’s my fault?”
“No. I could have walked away, but I didn’t.”
“And you lied to me?”
“I did, and other people I care about. I couldn’t keep it up though. Philip and Evelyn want to give The Club to me when they’re ready to retire. I would be the head of my own Family and the owner of The Club and I realized then that there was no way I could do that without you, so I went to Philip to ask him how to fix things between us and what I should say when I finally got up the nerve to propose to—”
“What?!” Keira sprang up right on the couch. “You were gonna ask me to marry you?! What the heck? Do it! Do it now!”
Her enthusiasm changed the whole climate of the room. Daniel practically snorted when he tried to hide his smile, but he wasn’t finished. “I can’t, because you don’t know everything. You only know one part of me. After we started hanging out, I started to feel like—I thought a lot of people were using me at The Club. They love to see me perform, put on a show, and I was okay with that, until I met you. With you I started to see that something was missing. I thought kink and companionship were all I needed, but that’s not true. I needed love, someone to be in love with. Someone to be in love with me.”
Daniel pulled the flash drive out of his pocket and moved back over to the couch. Keira took the drive from his finger
s when he offered it to her.
“That’s everything I have. Every video I made. This will give you an idea of what you’re really dealing with, with me. If you can watch this and still be with me then…”
“Then we’ll get married and run a sex club and be swingers with Marcos and Meegan, and Grant and Armando and Nailah and Violet will come by and watch sometimes.”
Daniel shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be that. But it has to be something.”
Keira chewed the inside of her lip for a moment as she rotated the drive in her hand. “Is there an expiration date on this? You’re giving me a lot to think about.”
“No expiration date.” Daniel meant it. He wanted to be with Keira. He would wait.
“Okay. Well, you should go.”
Daniel didn’t want to push things, so he headed for the door. Keira followed so she could lock up behind him. He turned to her one last time.
“And the proposal? That’s what Meegan was mad about. I’ve been single for over ten years. She knew if I started seeing someone it would be serious. She thought when I made the move it would be to her, but it wasn’t. You’re my queen, Keira. My princess. Only you.”
“Okay, you have to leave.” Keira shoved him out the door and slammed it in his face. But she was almost smiling when she did it.
“I love you,” Daniel said through the door.
“Bye,” Keira shouted back.
“I love you!”
“Go home!”
Enough was enough. Daniel walked out to his car, thinking maybe the two of them had a chance.
✶
Keira plugged the drive into her computer, but it took her forever to actually slide that little arrow over the first video. She watched the clip through fifteen minutes of a younger Daniel with Mistress Evelyn and another young man. It was interesting. Interesting enough for her to click the next and the next.
A couple hours later, when she finally had to take a break, two things were obvious. One, Keira was really wet and she was definitely going to have to masturbate. And the other surprised her a little. She’d seen Daniel in almost a dozen clips of different lengths, with almost two dozen people, and it didn’t bother her. The opposite. It turned her on. He was right, they’d only scratched the surface of what they could do sexually, what Daniel was capable of doing with his various toys. And what he was capable of having done to him. Instead of making her want to take the drive and flush it down the toilet, or call Daniel and tell him to never contact her again, what Keira had seen had made her want to act.
She had to say something, do something, but she wasn’t ready to talk to Daniel yet. Something she couldn’t quite name had to be done first. She decided to sleep on it, think on it some more. Maybe she’d even confide in Armando and Nailah. He always looked out for her and Nailah always gave it to her straight. She watched a few more clips, ya know, just to be sure, then headed to bed with her vibrator.
In the morning Keira realized that she needed to figure out exactly what she wanted, and if she wanted all the details on Daniel and his kink crew, the person she really needed to speak with was Mistress Evelyn.
CHAPTER NINE
“Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap.” Keira wasn’t even close to being ready, but Daniel was on his way up to her apartment. She’d given herself plenty of time, but a new video of the cast of Galaxis went up online right as she got out of the shower. The panel was only an hour, but then Selia did a bunch of interviews with JD. They were so funny together. There was also a little bit in the b-roll where she saw herself in her Princess Orora costume. She had to roll that part of the video back ten or fifteen times.
Then she remembered that she had to be over at the Baker’s for a little New Year’s Eve dinner. The festivities at the club wouldn’t kick off until ten. It was so kind of Evelyn to include her at their small dinner party. Keira didn’t want to be late.
She’d actually gotten pretty close with Evelyn in the last couple of weeks. She liked Philip too, but she and Evelyn really clicked.
With a little help from Armando, she’d met up with Evelyn for brunch. Evelyn told her all sorts of stories about how she’d met Philip and the way they’d started and grown The Club and their Family. She’d also shared her unique perspective in being a black woman in the BDSM community. After, they’d had a pretty serious heart-to-heart about Daniel and all his bonehead moves. And then they’d talked at length about what Keira wanted, what she needed and what scared the crap out of her. They continued to talk on the phone and over text and planned to meet up again soon. No matter what happened with Daniel, Keira definitely felt like she’d made a great friend. Evelyn was awesome.
So yeah, Keira did not want to be late.
With her hair only a quarter straightened, Keira flung the door open just as Daniel rang the bell. She tried to ignore how good he looked in his tailored slacks and suit jacket. He had a simple white t-shirt on underneath, but he still looked delicious. Keira put her eyes back into her head.
“Thanks for agreeing to see me again.”
“I’m late as crap. Come into the bathroom and we’ll talk while I finish getting ready.”
“Okay.”
She talked as they walked. “Have you talked to Evelyn lately?”
“Yeah we talked this morning,” he said hesitantly. “Why?”
“No reason. We’ve just been talking a lot lately.”
“I see.”
“Sit on the toilet. Tub’s still wet.”
Keira bit the inside of her lip when he did as she suggested. This gorgeous six-foot Korean man sitting on her closed toilet seat. In a suit. She grabbed her flat iron and went back to work.
“We talked about you a little.”
“Oh?”
“Yup, and the club and stuff. She’s a great lady.”
“She is. What else did you two talk about?”
“Well, I told her about some of my misconceptions about BDSM and she cleared a lot of stuff up. Which was good. She also got Meegan to apologize to me. Meegan and I had a good talk too.” Even if Keira could tell that the girl was still kind of bitter.
“You’ve done a lot of talking lately. Talking’s good.”
“Yup and she explained to me that you can be a part of their kink family and still be collared by someone outside of the family or someone who’s planning to join.”
Keira glanced at Daniel. He was squinting at her, confused as all get out. He also looked like he was turning a little red.
“She told me I could be any kind of Mistress that I want to be. That I don’t ever have to wear leather. And she said I don’t have to be mean or cruel. I can just be me. But she did say that I should go through some training so I understand how to treat all submissives the right way. I have to learn more about limits and negotiations and also what I need for the dominant part of myself and the submissive side. I thought that sounded pretty cool. Right?”
“All very cool. What else did you talk about?”
“Hold on. Crap. I hate doing the back.” Keira sucked her nearly singed fingertip before she went on.
“We talked about you some more. I told her how I went out of my way to be myself with you. That so many guys didn’t want the real me and after all that it was you who was holding back.”
“Yeah? I fucked that up.”
“But we figured that out, talked about why and what—”
“And what I need to do to get you back?”
“More like what you need to do to keep me.”
Daniel swallowed, running his fingers through his hair. “Can I have the details?”
“Well, for one, you have to understand that I’m not Evelyn or Philip. I’m me and I like that. So I can’t change to emulate what they are to you.”
“I wouldn’t want you to do that.”
“I didn’t think so, but I had to say it.”
“Okay. What else?”
“Say you’re sorry one more time.”
“I’m sorry, love.” Keira
didn’t move when he reached over and rubbed the bit of bare skin on her back. “I’ll never lie to you again.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.” When he stood up Keira let him kiss her, but he wasn’t completely off the hook yet.
“Good. Sit.”
He obeyed immediately, dropping back down onto the toilet seat. “So what’s the occasion tonight? Are you coming to the club later?”
“After dinner at the Bakers.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yup. You’re my plus one.”
“Am I?”
“Yup.”
“Does this mean we’re dating again?”
“Possibly.”
“Then I have to do something first.”
Keira froze when Daniel took the flat iron out of her hand and placed it on the counter. She stayed frozen in that same spot as he pulled a little ring box out of his pocket and showed her the sparkling ring inside. She let him slip it onto her finger. What other choice did she have?
Keira glanced up into Daniel’s deep brown eyes before she looked back down at the aquamarine stone surrounded by diamonds. An embarrassing snort came out of her mouth.
“What, you don’t like it?”
“No, no. I love it. I just—I’m just thinking about this AU fic I wrote and Orora totally gets an engagement ring like this.”
“I asked Selia what ring would suit Orora best and she suggested this.”
“Oh my god. That is so cool. Selia picked out my freaking ring. Lori is going to die.”
“I thought a super fan like you would enjoy that.” Daniel leaned down and kissed her again. “Should I still ask? I will if you want me to.”
SATED: #3 in the Fit Trilogy Page 10