Page 12 of Piece Us Together
No.
Fuck no.
Or maybe…
I mean, if he needs it, then…
If it’s with someone I trust, someone good, someone—someone like Hunter, then maybe…
“Not all the time,” I decide. It feels like a good compromise. Something I can live with, at least. “It’d have to be an arrangement, I think.”
“So, twice a month, or every Saturday—something like that?” Hunter suggests.
“I think so, yeah…”
God, could I really do that? Share him?
I look at Hunter. He looks calm. Steady. Ready to take this—takeus—in his hands, if I’m willing to let him.
Yeah. Yeah, I think I could.
“Sexual or non-sexual?”
I curl my hands into fists to hide that they’re shaking. “I don’t know.”
Hunter assesses me, probably determining if I’m telling the truth. Then he nods and turns back to Nolan. “Would something limited be enough for you?”
“Um.” Nolan pauses halfway through slicing an apple, his hand trembling slightly where it grips the knife. “I’m willing to try anything.”
“But would it beenough?” Hunter asks, emphasizing the last word.
“I—” Nolan pauses. He lifts his chin, looking toward me. I’m a total coward for the way I quickly drop my gaze to the counter. I hate myself for that. I hate myself even worse when I hear the resignation in his voice when he speaks again. “I think so, if it was with the same dom. I think it’d be enough.”
Not ideal, but enough.
I force myself to look at Nolan, my heart in my throat. He’s not looking at me anymore.
“But do youwantit to be sexual, baby?” I ask him. Because if I was willing to settle for enough, we wouldn’t be here. I want to figure out a way to give Nolan everything. Or as close to everything as I can get.
“I—I don’t—” He looks at me. His expression crumples the moment our eyes lock. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, his bottom lip quivering.
“Hey, no. It’s okay.” I curl my hands in my lap where he can’t see and conjure my best smile. “I’m not mad. Not at all. We’ll figure this out. It’s going to be okay.”
“It will,” Hunter says, sounding ten times more sure than me.How the fuck does he do that?“I think the best course of action is to figure out what you both can handle, keeping in mind that you can always add things or remove things from your lists as time goes on. Once you have a better idea of what you’re looking for specifically, I can help you find a dominant that matches with you.”
It feels like the world screeches to a halt. I can’t help but glance at Hunter, something cold and almost violent snaking its waythrough me at how calm and collected he looks. Adominant? Not him?
“The first thing you both need to decide is Maison’s role,” he says, unaware of the spin he just sent me in. Nolan has his back to us, so I’m not sure how he’s fairing.Did he expect Hunter to be the dom to help us too? Was that stupid of me? Why does this plan suddenly feel impossible without Hunter at the head of it?“Will you want to be involved at all, Maison? Will you want to participate? Just watch? Sit outside the room? Do you want to be in the same location at all? Do you even want to meet the dom or know details about what they do?”
The dom is supposed to be you.
I don’t fucking know how to do this if the dom isn’t you.
“Maison?”
“I don’t know. I don’t—I don’t fucking know.”
Hunter frowns, his eyebrows pulling together. “Okay. Take a breath. You don’t have to know right now.”