Chapter 64
CHAPTER 64
NORTH CAROLINA
A dria watched the scene unfold before her. She had a hard time believing this was the same group that had been bound in her mud room twelve months ago.
Confident, compliant, and reserved. They were a vision. No one in the room would be able to find fault in her work.
Their work.
Bryson gave as much as he took, and she was confident the entire room felt the love between the three.
It was a beautiful dance. One that didn’t happen overnight.
The Triune would leave her alone after this. There was no questioning the transformation that had happened here.
Scanning the room, there was one piece missing.
“Where is Kate?” she asked Eric.
He whispered in her ear, “Bryson had me walk her to her car.”
That was curious.
She watched as Bryson pulled so hard on Seth’s underwear that it ripped. Seth whimpered, and his legs shook. Adria pressed her thighs together .
“When the scene is over, take Seth and Kaydon to their rooms, and help the guests find their way out.”
Eric eyed her. “And Bryson?”
“Him and I need to talk.”
With people clearing out, Adria said her goodbyes and saw through the final throes of the party before turning her attention to Bryson.
As instructed, Eric had removed Seth and Kaydon for aftercare, and Bryson knelt alone on the stage, awaiting further instructions.
Drawing her body close to his, she could feel his eyes on her. Without looking back, she grabbed his leash and started upstairs.
Bryson followed without question.
As they ascended the stairs to her room, Adria could hear the house falling into silence. Even Bryson was quiet at her feet.
No smart remarks, no questions. Truthfully, the lack of flippant banter had her stomach doing flip-flops.
Clearing the stairs, they moved to her office, and Adria passed through quickly, making her way to her bedroom. Her stomach continuing to tap dance.
She dropped the leash and took pointed steps away from him. Her gaze soft as she watched him, his gears turning. Bryson had no idea why she had brought him here.
Reaching behind her neck, she undid the clasp and felt the cold air as the outfit fell to the floor. She stood there naked, wearing only his favorite thigh-high boots. And she watched as any indecision in his eyes cleared away.
She sat on the bed, leaning on her forearms .
“Come here,” she said and shivered when Bryson crawled to her without hesitation.
Adria loved it when her words affected him.
When he drew close, he wrapped his strong arms around her, like it was something they did every day. She allowed her body to melt into him. She wasn’t sure if it was because it was their last night together, Elena, or a combination of both, but she suddenly felt comfortable letting go.
With a gentle lean, she ran her hands along the contours of his shoulders and biceps. Her light touches continued until he tilted his head up to meet hers. Fireworks exploded in her chest as his lips found her own.
His mouth was warm, exploratory, and he tasted like honey. Adria knew that Bryson was anything but ordinary, and with every interaction, he set her ablaze.
He pushed his tongue into her mouth, and she felt the fire spreading. His hands wrapped around her. Standing, he snaked his hands into her hair, pulling just slightly. She parted from the kiss with a gasp. Gripping her, she tasted blood when he bit into her bottom lip.
His eyes searching hers. “Why do I feel like you are saying goodbye?”
Her voice was breathy. “Why do I feel like you aren’t?”
His thumb traced the bottom of her lip, which was swollen from the kiss. She opened her mouth, accepting him. He pressed her tongue down with his thumb, and she clamped her lips around him, sucking.
His mouth claimed the sides of her jaw, before sucking on her earlobe and whispering, “Just be with me.”
It was by far the sweetest thing he could have said to her, and under any other circumstance, it would have sent her running for the door. But tonight, she didn’t have to run .
He had Elena. He and his brothers would be gone tomorrow. A pang hit her at the thought.
“Hey,” Bryson said, grabbing her chin.
How did he always know?
She stuffed any feelings of loss very far down inside of herself. She would have the rest of her life to retrieve them. This moment was hers.
Tonight, she didn’t have to overthink or analyze. She could be his.
Tonight, she didn’t have to be ice.
Tonight she could be fire.
Laying down on the bed, she asked, “Do you want to take control?”
It was his last night, too. He might as well enjoy it.
Hesitation crossed his face. “Why do you think that?”
She laughed, “I don’t think it’s a secret that you don’t like submitting to a woman.”
His cool gaze roamed over her body, and she felt her nipples harden under his eyes.
“I don’t enjoy submitting to anyone,” he said, and she shrank inwardly, because of course he would find a way to make her wrong.
“Man, woman, whatever, Bryson, do you want to take charge or not? Because surprisingly, I’m feeling less in the mood.”
“No.”
“No? No, what?” she snapped.
“No, I don’t want to take charge,” he said, still watching her.
She looked at him, really looked. Searching his face to see if there was a hint of humor or a shred of teasing. But it wasn’t there. He was dead serious.
He cleared his throat, kneeling down, unlacing her boots. It wasn’t until he had the first one undone that he spoke.
“I don’t submit to anyone,” he said again, but this time he said the words slowly and carefully, his fingers pulling at the laces on her next boot. “But you are not just anyone.”
She propped herself up on her elbows. He was there, right there. No walls, no subterfuge, just a young Bryson.
It was what he should look like. What he would look like if he didn’t grow up under Callen. Hadn’t grown up a Winters.
How would his life have been different? But then he wouldn’t have met Seth or Kaydon.
Or her .
“What are you saying?” Her voice was foreign. She felt foreign.
He undid the last tie, and her boot slid to the floor. His hand rubbed her calf, soothing the tension knotted in there from a day in heels.
“One of us had to change, right?” he said, moving further up her leg.
She relaxed on the mattress as his massage moved over to her other leg.
“I kept telling myself after this was over, things would go back to normal. But I realized I don’t want them to go back to normal. I enjoy being around you. With you, I don’t want to be in control.”
It was the first time he had ever admitted to liking it, and Adria wished it didn’t make her feel ten-feet tall.
She sat up, grabbing his face, pulling him towards her. “Why are you telling me this now?”
His boyish grin could have killed her. “I figure you should know you’ve won.”
The grin she felt break out on her face in return was so big. She felt like a teenager.
The two embraced. She felt his hands on her, and she ran her hands over him in turn. Every touch sent tingles through her entire body, and she felt him shiver in return.
The truth was that neither of them were in charge. From the moment they started, there was only one inevitable conclusion.
They would own each other.
The subtle shifts and dances were just that, not moves and countermoves. It wasn’t a game; it was an exchange.
He was hers, and she was his.
And when they were gone, she would pay the price for allowing herself to begin that dance, but she would never regret it.
She would hold on to that pain because it would be the only way for her to convince herself that any of it had been real.
Adria pressed herself into him, and he gave into her advances. Positioning herself on top, she straddled him, squeezing him in between her thighs.
He groaned when she ran her tongue along the center of his chest and up his neck.
But when she sat back up, she noticed indecision on his face.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I don’t want anything between us,” he said.
Adria was quick. “You were tested, and I can show you my results if you’d like.”
“No,” he said. “Not that.”
She eyed him. He rubbed his face.
“About today, the game,” he said, his lips pressed into a line.
A nervous hum broke out in the back of her mind. “If you’re talking about Elena, don’t worry about it.” She tried to sound casual, but there was an edge to her voice.
His eyes widened. “You know her?”
“No, dumbass, I don’t,” she snapped, rolling her eyes as she slapped his side. “You know I run a multi-million-dollar business. Right? Do you think I can’t learn the identity of one of your girlfriends?”
The laugh that broke out from Bryson had him vibrating beneath her. The extent of enthusiasm the laugh held had Adria second guessing her assessment.
Had she been wrong?
He shook his head, still laughing. “She is most definitely not my girlfriend.”
“What is she?” Adria asked.
“She’s—” he stopped, thinking. “She’s a friend.”
“A friend?” Adria parroted.
Bryson nodded. “She helped with the photos of Jonathan.”
Okay, so she was the assistance he had alluded to.
“It seems like there’s more,” Adria said, not quite feeling like he was telling her the entire story.
He nodded again. “There is more, but I can’t tell you right now without putting her in danger. Can you be okay with that?”
Adria thought about X and her mother. There were things she couldn’t tell Bryson too. But with Elena, she had been so sure.
Searching Bryson’s face, she saw nothing but sincerity. Her gut told her he was telling her the truth.
But if he was telling the truth, that meant he didn’t have someone. It meant her safety net was gone.
Adria flopped her body to the side, covering her eyes with her arm.