Page 46 of Dual Surrender

“Did it hurt when he…when he put his heels on your back the way he did?”

“Did he give you a play by play?” I answered with a laugh that choked out of my throat. Sam hadn’t been there, but the idea that Rich had left dinner, gone home, and thentoldSam about it? I didn’t know if I was mortified or turned on or both. And I remembered the things Ronan had said to me before, when he’d tried to articulate for me what I liked the most about that particular scene.

At the time, I hadn’t thought of the pleasure I’d brought anyone else, but with Sam being the second person to point it out, I wondered if exhibitionism was something worth trying. At least, worth trying when things were different.

“Just the highlights,” Sam answered. “I just have a thing for his shoes.”

“Oh, I know.”

“Anyway…” Sam cleared his throat. “Things were predictable and?”

“We started doing new things. We renegotiated our limits.”

“Sounds fun.” I could hear Sam smiling.

“It was going fine, but this thing with Foster has really thrown me off.”

“Why?”

“Because…” I dragged my tongue across the front of my teeth, searching for the answer. “Just mentally, I feel distracted by it. And I think Ronan is too focused on me and not the rest of life.”

“Isn’t that his job?”

“Excuse me?” In the other room, Ronan’s phone vibrated across the nightstand. I glanced down the hallway and hoped he slept through it, but then I heard his sleepy voice answer the call. I sighed and turned my attention back to Sam. “Why would that be his job?”

“He’s your partner, right? Your dom?”

“Yes,” I grit out.

“Isn’t, like, the most important thing for him to do keep you safe?”

“I mean…”

Sam cut me off, “Stop overthinking.”

“You sound like Rich,” I muttered, hating that he was right again.

“There’s only room for one of you to be in your head, Kev. And Ronan is the one who belongs there, not you.”

“You’re too young to be so smart,” I grumbled.

“I’ve lived a life,” he countered.

In the other room, Ronan raised his voice, and then his phone clattered against the wood of the side table.

“I’ve gotta go,” I told Sam. “Ronan is awake, but thank you for the talk.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

I could hear the smile in Sam’s voice, and then the phone beeped as the call disconnected. Sam was right, just like Ronan had been right, even if he’d been taking the long way around to get to the point. I needed to get out of my head and let Ronan back in. I’d started a few days before with the punishment, a sharp reminder that I needed to watch myself more. Even though the pain had been welcome, the intent behind his strikes had not.

I started down the hallway to go talk to him, but ran into him before I even made it around the corner. He looked angry and tired, with bags under his eyes and his hair tousled all around his forehead. He frowned when he saw me awake, then glanced over his shoulder like he’d expected to find me in bed.

“Hey,” I said, touching his chest with the tips of my fingers. “Let’s go back to bed. I want to talk.”

“We’re going out of town,” he grunted, shaking his shoulders to get my hands off of him. Ronan pushed past me and stalked into the kitchen. I listened to him pour a glass of water from the sink and refill it twice. He always drank from the tap when he was stressed, so I hesitated, then followed behind him. I leaned against the fridge and folded my arms across my chest, waiting for him to look at me.

“Where are we going?”