“I’m not sure how to respond to that,” he says, casually.
I shrug, looking back at the baby magazine I’m flipping through. I probably shouldn’t be thinking about it at all, but after watching him eye-fuck her all through family dinner tonight, I started to wonder how their sexy time differs from ours. I remember what it was like to get those looks. You haven’t lived until you’ve been eye-fucked by Mateo Morelli. I don’t get them anymore, though. Mia does. And he evidently likes their sexy time better, because he spends way more time in her bed than mine. “Just an observation. I can’t decide if I want to see it or not. You and I don’t usually have super crazy sex.”
Smirking, he flicks a glance at me as he peels his shirt off. “Am I boring you?”
“No,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Anyone who gets bored with you is a legit crazy person. Like, Harley Quinn levels of psychosis.”
“You like a little more control than Mia does so I just don’t do that with you. I can. Want me to step it up a little? I can choke you. Spank you. Tie you up. Push you around. Want me to get mean?”
Grimacing as I recall the menace on his face when he told me he strangled Beth, I tell him, “No, I think you choking me is my hard limit. If your hands are ever around my throat again, I’m going to assume I’m dying.”
Because he’s him, amusement dances in his eyes as he finishes undressing and approaches the bed. “I’m not going to kill you. I’d miss you. I don’t like missing people.”
“Well, thank God for that.”
He climbs up on the bed and immediately climbs on top of me. He leans in and starts kissing my neck, but when he does, I catch the faint scent of coconut.
“Does Mia mind when you spend two nights in a row with me? Is she going to pout prettily when you go back to her tomorrow?”
He pulls back, moving off me and into his spot, shaking his head at me. “Why are you so obsessed with Mia tonight?”
“Hey, I’m just trying to be like the cool kids. First Vince, now you; I’m jumping on board the Mia Obsession Express.”
This causes him to roll his eyes. “I am not obsessed with Mia.”
“Does she coat her nipples in crack before you fuck her? It’s okay, you can tell me.”
“Does it turn you on to think of me fucking Mia?” he asks, watching me.
“I mean, it’s not the worst mental image a person could have. You’re both sexy beasts. I’m just so fascinated by your dynamic. She looks at you like you’re God and you’re so cruel to her sometimes; you have to work actual magic on her with your dick.”
“Mia likes it when I’m mean to her,” he tells me. “I could do anything I wanted to her, however fucked up, and still have her worshipping my cock in three minutes flat.”
“Except murdering her loved ones,” I point out.
“Even that. It’s just too hard on her emotionally. I only want to play with her; I don’t want to actually break her.”
“Does she like when you’re mean to her in bed?”
“She likes to be used.”
“Did you give her a safe word or something, that way she could stop you if she ever actually wanted to?”
“She doesn’t need one.”
Grimacing faintly, I say, “Isn’t it better safe than sorry, though? Don’t get me wrong, your dark spells are a blast to live through, but since we’ve all survived this one and we’re starting to sail on calm waters again, maybe we should take every precaution we can to make sure we don’t have to go through this shit again. No killing loved ones, a safe word so we can be sure all the sex is above board, sharing time between us so we don’t get bitchy. Stuff like that.”
“I’ve got everything under control,” he assures me. “Trust me. Mia wouldn’t like having a working safe word. She likes being stripped of her control. Then she has to trust me. She gets off on it.”
I shake my head, flipping the page to check out which strollers are trendy now. “You guys are all sorts of fucked up.”
He shrugs, unconcerned. “That’s why I do it with her and not you.”
I glance over at him. “I mean, I would play like that if you wanted me to.”
“I know you would,” he assures me. “But you couldn’t mean it like she does.”
“Goddamn sincerity.”
He smirks. “She has an abundance of it.”
“She sure is lucky you found her and not some psycho.” Playfully smacking myself in the forehead, I say, “Oh, wait.”
Now he outright grins, grabbing the magazine I’m still leafing through and putting it on the nightstand. “She could’ve done a lot worse.”