Page 95

“Five shot and killed in Miami hit and run.”

“You shouldn’t read sad things on a day like today.” Helen, dressed in a light cotton shirt and khaki pants, stood beside the hammock, her sunglasses tight on her head and her hands on her hips. “There’s plenty of time for that later.”

Monique lowered the paper but did not answer her Mistress.

“Scoot over.”

Helen snatched the paper as Monique pushed herself to the side of the hammock, the net swinging toward the wooden patio floor just before Helen pushed it back down and claimed a spot for herself.

Monique rolled into her hold, head and hand on Helen’s chest as she gazed at the clouds roaming across the horizon. Helen’s hand didn’t wait to stroke her hair.

“I hope you’ve been happy these past few days.”

“I have been.” Relaxing on private beaches eating fantastic food and making love after dusk? What woman could say she hated that? “I don’t want to go back.”

Going back not only meant returning to the Manoir but the real world it inhabited. Not to mention being away from Helen for who knew how long. Monique wasn’t ready to completely move in with her yet, or at least not until she figured out what to do with her business.I don’t want to give it up. She still wanted to be the primary owner even if she groomed someone like June to take over as madam. Her breakup with Jacqueline taught her to always have her own source of income.

“I know you don’t. I’ll miss you.” Helen kissed her cheek.

She would have been content to spend the remainder of the afternoon there, swinging slowly in the hammock as they looked at the world passing them by.Best way to live a life.

“I have a confession to make. One I’ve been holding in for a long time.”

Monique sucked in her breath. “Don’t break my heart, Helen. We’re on a private island. No one will hear you scream.”

“Duly noted.” Whether that was her dry wit speaking or her honest opinion… “I don’t know how you’ll take this, but… I already knew who you were before we met that night.”

“Knew me as in recognized my name? Or knew me by sight?” She knew the first was true if Gerome Warner owed Jacqueline a ton of money. No one knew Jacqueline without knowing who Monique was as well.

“Knew you by sight. Monique, we had met a few times before… not that I ever expected you to remember me.”

“How had we met before?”

“Functions, Midnight, parties… wherever Jacqueline Love brought you and I happened to be as well.”

“I see.”

“I’ve loved you for a long time, Monique.”

She lifted her head, studying the gaze behind Helen’s bright eyes. “That’s bold to say.”

“I always thought you were beautiful. Any person can think that, yes, but there was something else about you, even when you were in that woman’s shadow. You were quiet and demure, but commanded respect when people spoke to you.”

“Is that what your previous sub was like? You never told me about her.”

Helen sighed. “She was too new to this lifestyle. She only had one Domme before me, and she was a novice as well. So they didn’t go as deeply as I take my subs… as you know now.”

Blissfully so.

“I always regret pushing her away from me like that. I should have seen it earlier. I learned a lot from that experience. I sworeI wouldn’t take on another sub until I thought we were truly a good fit and I had a better grasp on aftercare.”

“I’ve yet to want for either.”

“That’s what I mean. I held longing in my heart the moment I heard what happened between you and Jacqueline Love. I admired you, first and foremost. Nobody likes that woman unless they’re licking her boots.”

“You mean like I literally used to do?”

“No offense, my love.”