Kyler snorted. “Big brother Aidan to the rescue.”
“Well, she is like a little sister to me.”
The care and compassion echoed in Aidan’s voice. Kyler rubbed his tired eyes, feeling a lot more strained than he ever had after a scene. He didn’t like it. “I know you care about her. Believe me, your advice has been stuck in my head since you left.”
“Good,” Aidan retorted.
Kyler understood why Aidan cared so deeply for Ella, since he was equally enamored. Rubbing the back of his neck, he felt sorry that Ella had to see Aidan this way, but there were other matters to discuss. “I’m glad you’re back.” He gestured to the couch. “Tell me why you warned me at the wedding about her?”
Aidan dropped down onto the couch next to Kyler, crossing an ankle over his knee. “I don’t know what it is, exactly, but she’s always seemed … haunted, at times. Jumpy, at others.” Aidan’s gaze searched Kyler’s, and his frown deepened. “By the look on your face, I’m taking it you know the cause.”
“I do.”
Silence drifted between that spoke of Aidan wanting to know about Ella and Kyler’s refusal to speak of it. It wasn’t Kyler’s place to tell Aidan Ella’s past. That was Ella’s to share, if she wanted to.
“I should tell you,” Aidan finally said, drawing Kyler’s attention. “When I went into the office before coming here, the security guard told me that a man approached Ella at work on Monday and she looked terrified.”
Kyler inhaled slowly, feeling a possessive burn cut through him. He’d already learned from Ella that Rory had approached her, but she had downplayed it. She hadn’t told him how frightened she’d been.
Fuck, I hate this!
He craved—with desperation—to break through those damn walls of hers. He wanted her to finally let him into her soul so that, as her Dom, he could protect her heart. He understood why she avoided talking of Rory. She’d have trouble trusting anyone and allowing them to get too close. But, goddamn it, he wanted her to be his.
All of it.
Not pieces of it.
The corners of Aidan’s eyes tightened. “Please tell me you know what that’s all about.”
Kyler nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
Aidan looked out to the dungeon as the soft instrumental music drifted along the musky air. “You’ll handle that, then?”
If it wasn’t clear before how much Aidan cared for Ella, Kyler saw it now. Aidan’s tension all but rippled off him. “Yes, I’ll deal with it.”
“Good,” Aidan replied, exhaling a long breath. “Leave what happened here tonight with me. Let me make it right with her.”
Kyler didn’t argue and simply nodded. Aidan’s and Ella’s relationship was theirs. Whatever they had to work out to make her being in Club Sin good for both of them was between them. “I’ll calm her down tonight. Fix it tomorrow. All right?”
Aidan inclined his head. “Now tell me, how are you doing with all this?” At Kyler’s blank look, Aidan laughed. “Seeing how gently you played with her tonight, I suspect it was because of what has happened to her?”
“I’m cautious with her,” Kyler said.
Aidan’s head cocked, brows rose. “Which is why I ask, how are you doing with all this?”
Kyler rubbed the ache in the back of his neck, unable to hide from Aidan. He respected Aidan. They had been close, like brothers. He couldn’t lie to Aidan; his friend would see right through him. “It’s tense.”
Placing a hand on his shoulder, Aidan smiled. “You’re doing right by her.”
Not if you ask her.
Christ, she tempted him. He yearned to take a flogger to her creamy skin, but how could he live with himself if he did? Of course, he knew the difference between BDSM and abuse, as he knew Ella did, but that didn’t seem to help any.
He couldn’t see her scar and not think of what her husband had done.
Ignoring his cravings—yearnings that he’d been allowing himself to indulge for years—was fucking with his head. How to give her what she needed? How to take what he craved? How to forget what Rory had done to her?
“Good. You’re both here.”