“That must have been difficult,” Eve said.
“It was. But I got through it. And here I am.” Faith looked at Eve. “I know what it’s like, to be expected to live a life that isn’t your own, to be shoved in a box you don’t fit into. And I know how hard it is to try to move on from that, to figure out who you are when everything you know has been torn away from you. It’s been almost eight years since then, and I’m still trying to figure myself out.”
Eve gave her a soft smile. “We have more in common than I thought.”
They sat in silence for a moment, shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand. It felt good to be able to support Eve in the tiniest way. For all their kinky games and dirty talk, Faith really cared about Eve. And after working for the family for so long now, Faith had come to know the twins so well too. Eve losing the twins, the twins losing their mother, would be a terrible outcome. It pained her to think of the turmoil Eve was in.
Eve looked down at the floor where the contents of her desktop were scattered. “I need to clean this up.”
“I’ll help,” Faith said.
“No. This mess is because of my tantrum. I’ll deal with it. You should go home. You’ve been here since morning.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”
“There is one thing,” Eve said. “What Harrison is doing, it changes things. The stakes are higher now. It makes it even more important that I be on my best behavior. We can’t have anyone finding out about us now. What we did in my office was far too risky.”
“You’re right.” Faith felt a tightness in her chest. “If things between us are causing problems for you, maybe we should stop.”
Eve shook her head. “That’s not what I want. We just need to be even more careful about keeping everything under wraps.”
Faith felt a wave of relief. “Okay.” Although she was glad to take a step back if it made things easier for Eve, the thought of giving up on what the two of them had made her heart ache.
“Fortunately, we still have options when it comes to seeing each other,” Eve said. “There’s a place we can go where no one will ever dare to out us.”
“Where’s that?” Faith asked.
Eve smiled. “How do you feel about a night at Lilith’s Den?”
Chapter Fifteen
F aith held up a slinky black dress in front of herself in the mirror. She frowned. It was too plain. She needed something more daring. More risqué.
She tossed it onto her bed and started rifling through her closet again. In just a few hours, she and Eve were returning to Lilith’s Den. They were finally going to get a chance to be together openly. Eve had told Faith that there was an unwritten rule in the BDSM community, that outing anyone was unforgivable. The rules of Lilith’s Den added that extra layer of privacy. What happened at Lilith’s stayed at Lilith’s.
Faith let out a wistful sigh. They were going back to the place where it all began for her. The place that had awakened Faith to all kinds of unexpected pleasures. The place where Faith had discovered a side of her boss that she never expected.
But that wasn’t all that made tonight special. Up until now, everything between her and Eve had felt like a game. So far, Faith had only dipped her toes into the world of submission.
Would she finally get that taste of surrender she yearned for tonight?
Faith wanted tonight to be perfect. Which meant she had to look perfect. She drew her fingers through her hair. Earlier in the day, she’d dyed it a darker brown to compliment her look for the night. She’d felt the need to do something different with her hair. She usually changed it whenever she was feeling restless. And she was definitely feeling restless today, mostly in a good way.
She pulled a short leather skirt out of her closet along with a dark red blouse with a neckline in the shape of a deep V. The low cut meant Faith couldn’t wear a bra with it, but that wasn’t a disadvantage. She held it up before herself in the mirror. Yes. This was it. With some fishnet stockings, a pair of heels, and lipstick in her favorite shade of red, it would be the perfect outfit. One look at her, and Eve wouldn’t be able to resist doing all those dirty things she’d threatened Faith with.
Faith hung the outfit up on the door of her closet, then sat down on her bed. She still had an hour before she had to start getting ready. Perhaps it was time to deal with the problem that had been plaguing her for weeks now. She still hadn’t heard from her sister. Had something happened to her? Had Abigail’s letters with Faith been discovered? There were so many possibilities, each worse than the last.
As much as she worried about her sister, there was a selfishness behind Faith’s concerns. She didn’t want to lose the one connection she still had to her past. Despite what she’d told Eve, Faith hadn’t entirely let go of her old life. It was hard for her to admit it, but she longed for what she’d left behind, what she’d given up. Purpose. Meaning. Family. Love. It didn’t make sense. Her family had turned their back on her. They’d shown her that their love had strings. And yet, Faith still missed them.
; She grabbed her phone and dialed her aunt’s number. Faith’s aunt Hannah had taken her in after she’d left her family home at sixteen. Hannah had sympathized with her young niece, having done the same thing herself. At ten years older than Faith, Hannah had been something of a big sister to her. Faith had needed one at the time. After her sheltered upbringing, the real world had been a shock. Without Hannah, Faith would have been lost.
Hannah answered the phone. “Faith. It’s so good to hear your voice. It’s been a while.”
“Hi, Hannah.” Faith felt a pang of guilt. Since moving to the city for college, Faith and Hannah only saw each other once or twice a year. They used to speak on the phone at least once a week, but over time, Faith had gotten lazy when it came to keeping in touch. “Sorry I haven’t called in so long.”
“It’s fine. How are you?”