Bound in Blue (Cirque Masters 2)

“Enough!” Jason could see he’d hit a little too close to the truth. Lemaitre scowled at him, his eyes dark with pain. “Yes, it’s the truth. I don’t want her here. Yes, I admit it.” He bowed his head until he collected himself. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted her near.”

“Oh, I’m going to have her near. I’m going to Marseille to win her back, and then I’ll stay with her, go wherever her talent takes us. I love her.”

“I know you love her, because I’ve seen you together. I see how you’re both hurting now. But if she’s truly your slave, she’ll come back to you when she’s ready. And if you’re a good Master, you’ll give her the space she needs right now.”

Jason wondered how Lemaitre could be so wise about power exchange, about Master/slave relationships, and so stupid about other things, like accepting Sara into his life. Either way, he was right. Sara had requested space and Jason was obliged to give it to her.

“Have patience,” Lemaitre said. “She’ll be okay. Let Theo and Kelsey look after her for a while.”

Chapter Sixteen: Now

Jason’s phone pinged while he was at lunch. He flicked onto his messages, hoping it might be Sara. He hadn’t heard from her in almost two weeks, since she’d gone to Marseille. But no, it was Theo.

Sara says please stop txting her.

It’s sad, dude.

Jason grimaced and tapped out a reply.

Why won’t she talk to me?

Because she’s busy.

Too busy for one text? “I’m okay, Jason”

You sound like a woman.

Stop.

Jason pushed away his half-eaten plate and hunched over his phone, and tapped out the one question he had to ask.

Have you been sleeping with her?

No reply. Jason applied the capslock.

WELL, HAVE YOU?

Theo’s reply came a few seconds later.

I asked but she refused.

She’s slept with Kels several times.

What???!!!

Joking.

Idiote.

Then, a moment later, words that soothed some of his ire.

She misses you. She doesn’t say, but...

Oh, no. Theo wasn’t leaving him hanging with an ellipsis.

But what?

No reply.

Call me when you get a min, Jason typed.

No.

I need you to call me.

No.

Just tell me how she’s doing. She’s okay?

If she wasn’t, I’d tell you.

Is she sad?

There was a long pause, then Theo typed, Two more weeks.

Two more weeks, what?

Two more weeks, act is ready.

I can see it?

Yes. In Marseille.

Now stop txting.

I’m busy. She’s busy.

Tell her I love her and I miss her, he typed quickly.

No reply.

* * * * *

Sara lay back on the grass in a meadow a few miles outside the city. A small brook outlined the clearing, as well as a ring of great, old trees. Marseille was beautiful in late summer, warm and breezy. A few hundred feet away, two tails of aerial silk wafted in the breeze. Theo had hung them from a thick branch of the largest tree, and he and Kelsey played on them, practicing tricks and showing Sara some of the rudiments of their art.

It took skill and strength, Sara thought. But mostly it took trust. It was just like duo trapeze. She’d heard from Baat, learned he was feeling better now that he’d completed the first phase of his rehab. Sobriety is a whole new world, he’d written. I feel like a new man.

Sara was trying to feel like a new woman. She wasn’t finding success at it, not so far. Oh, her act was coming along, thanks to Theo and Kelsey’s encouragement. The show in Marseille had its own rehearsal space, and Minuit’s artists gave her plenty of time to practice. All that was going great, but...

She watched Kelsey and Theo fool around on the silks, speaking a cobbled-together mixture of French and English. Since she was staying at their house, she’d learned a lot about their relationship. They kissed a lot. They touched a lot. They fought a lot too, but they always made up. She wished now she hadn’t blown up at Jason, disappeared and left his ring behind as if it meant nothing to her. She wished she’d given her and Michel Lemaitre’s newborn relationship a chance, rather than spewing anger and accusations at him.

She wished she didn’t have so many regrets.

“You two sure know how to have fun,” she called as they swung across the clearing. They were together, a happy couple. Sara was alone, by choice, because she thought it would make everything easier to deal with. Maybe she’d been wrong.

In two days, Lemaitre—her father—was coming to check out her new act. Theo said Jason would probably come too, but what if he didn’t? What if he’d found some other slave by now, a slave who was perfect and normal, and truthful and obedient?

She could text Jason and ask him. She could call him right now on the phone but she was afraid. With them, it had always been about what happened when they were face to face. The chemical reaction that occurred when they were in a room together, or gazing into each other’s eyes. Would it still be there? Lemaitre said she had to spend this time growing into her new self...but two big parts of her new self weren’t there.

Kelsey came over to sit by Sara while Theo showed off, doing a series of pull-ups on the silks.

“Feats of strength,” Kelsey yelled. “We want to see them.”

He grinned over his shoulder and levered his body into a right angle with the ground. His sculpted muscles contracted into statue-like perfection.

“Whoa,” Sara breathed. “How does he do that?”

She laughed. “Jason can do it too. I’ve seen him.” She looked over at Sara, covering her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring him up.”

Sara tried to sound casual. Unaffected. “It’s okay.”

Theo was doing an actual handstand on the silks now. They applauded and cheered, then lay back on the blanket again. “He’s going to break his neck, isn’t he?” asked Sara.

Her friend shrugged. “Maybe. Hopefully not. I learned a long time ago that Theo is gonna do what Theo is gonna do, and that’s why he’s so good at what he does. You’re the same way when you’re on the trapeze. Fearless. It’s good to be that way. It frees you up to create.”

“I guess.” Sara rolled onto her side, picking at twigs and blades of grass. “But is it hard to be married to someone like that? Someone so fearless?”

“Sometimes it’s hard. But love is worth the risk.”

“Was there ever a time you didn’t trust him?”

Kelsey burst into laughter. “Oh, lady. I could tell you some stories.”

“I’m waiting. Tell.”

Was Kelsey blushing? She covered her eyes, then looked back at Sara. “Let’s just say Theo and I didn’t have the most conventional start. The first time we slept together, I wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss me or choke the life out of me. I was a fearless little innocent myself, and I got involved with him just after...after Minya died.” She looked over at Theo, swinging in the silks. “There were so many whispers, so many terrible things people said. Some people said he dropped her on purpose, that he murdered her—” Her voice cracked and cut off. “Well.”

“That seems crazy,” said Sara.