Cole's Mistake (Haven, Texas 8)

“I will, Sir. I promise.”

“Good. Now, go. I’m going to check the door and windows.”

She sucked on her bottom lip as he helped her down, his large hands nearly circling her tiny waist.

Being held prisoner and terrorized was a great weight loss solution.

She winced. Even she knew that sounded terrible. And she’d happily gain all the weight back tomorrow if Julian would have been spared being held by Vincento.

But there was no going back and changing things. No making it so Cole never left them. So that they’d never put their trust in the wrong person. They could only move forward and make certain it never happened again.

Which is why they struggled with trusting others. Jardin was a good man. She’d met him several times. He was a lawyer. He was smart and kind and gorgeous. He had a crazy-ass family, his cousins were insane. But she wasn’t certain she could fully trust him.

So, she wasn’t quite sure how Joel’s plan would work. Without trusting Jardin how could he help them? She pushed those thoughts aside as she got ready for bed. She was blushing as she got into position, knowing what Julian would see as he walked in the door. But she wasn’t going to let that put her off. This is what she’d been waiting for.

She concentrated on taking long, slow breaths to keep herself calm as she waited. She heard a shuffling sound behind her then a sharp intake of breath.

“Damn, that’s a pretty sight, kitten.” Julian brushed his hand over her ass, and she shuddered.

Please touch me. Please.

“You have always had the most magnificent ass.”

Wasn’t much left of it now, she knew. But still she basked in his compliment.

“But it always looks best when its pink.” He ran a finger down the seam of her ass. “And plugged. I don’t have the necessary equipment for that, though. An oversight on my part that we’re going to have to remedy. Seems we’ll need to go do some toy shopping.”

Oh. Now that sounded like fun.

But . . . could they afford it? She wasn’t great with money, so she left that part up to Julian. But even she knew they had to be up shit creek without a paddle. Sure, Joel had been amazing and without him they’d have nowhere to live.

He wouldn’t let them pay rent or for the utilities, and, somehow, magically, food kept appearing in their refrigerator. She knew Julian didn’t like it much. That they were living on charity. It’s partly why she took the job at the restaurant. She’d told Joel she didn’t want to be paid, which wouldn’t have worked anyway since they were trying not to leave a paper trail of any sort. They didn’t know if Vincento was looking for them, but both Joel and Julian were being paranoid. She knew Joel had sent someone to try and find him and they’d failed. She didn’t like what that meant.

She swallowed, trying to push past the fear. He wasn’t in Haven and he couldn’t hurt them.

She wasn’t working often in the restaurant. She still tired easily, and she couldn’t stand for a long time on her leg. So where would the money for toys come from? They hadn’t accessed their bank accounts since they’d returned. Again, part of Julian’s paranoia. Not that there was much of anything in there anyway.

Relocating after Cole had pushed them away had been expensive, and they hadn’t had much to begin with.

How were they ever going to dig their way out of this hole? They’d been in bad spots before, but this felt like a weight she just couldn’t move from her chest. It was suffocating her.

“Kitten, you’re thinking too much.”

His words penetrated the dark fog but did nothing to lift her out of it. She needed to find another job, but how when she could barely manage the part-time one she already had? When she had no ID? When—

Smack!

The slap to her ass caught her completely by surprise and she took in a sharp gasp. “Ouch!”

“Oh, got your attention, did I?” Julian drawled in a dark voice.

Uh-oh. That did not sound like a happy Dom. That sounded like a Dom who was about to lay the law down on her ass. Which did not bode well for her ability to sit in the near future.

“Naughty kitten, letting your mind wander.” Slap! Slap!

Holy fuck. If she’d thought he might go easy on her since it had been a while, it seemed she was sadly mistaken.

“Your job, kitten, is to listen and to obey. Your mind was a hundred miles away when it should be on your Dom. On his orders.” Smack! Smack! “Focused on his pleasure.” Christ, when had his hand become so hard? It was like a paddle.