44. Briar
Briar
I respond to a pleading message from my father with a single, tired sentence.
I’m not ready to talk to you yet.
I’m not sure when I will be, truthfully. But definitely not tonight.
My skin lights up with a buzz of anticipation as I walk into the kitchen, my copy of the agreement gathered in my hand. It feels so different this time around.
They’re all gathered around the kitchen table, and I pause. Something close to dread has my heart clenching. “What is it?”
River winks, and my heartbeat settles down.
We have some options for you. Kai stares at me with an intensity that makes my toes curl, a flash of heat flickering in my stomach.
Oh. “Have you been planning this?”
Jenson’s mouth tugs up. “Have we been planning what we’d do, as soon as you were comfortable enough for us to do it? Yes.”
I eye the two glasses in front of him with heightening curiosity. “What are those?”
He holds the first one up. “This is the same medication you took before, dissolved in water. You’ll go to sleep, and wake up after around eight hours, completely unaware.”
Slowly, I nod. “And the other?”
“This one.” He picks it up, swishing the colorless fluid. “Is a little different. Since you missed out on the… sensations , last time, I asked Emily if she could work you up a new dose.”
River’s voice lowers. “You’d feel everything we want to do to you, Briar Rose. Every. Single. Thing.”
There’s a smirk on Kai’s lips. But you wouldn’t be able to move.
My lips part as they watch me. “Are you serious?”
Jenson folds his arms. “Deadly. You’ll remember every aspect of tonight. But you won’t be able to speak. To move your arms. Your legs. We would use you however we wanted, just like before. But you would feel everything. It’s a type of temporary paralysis. It’ll wear off faster, after a couple of hours. Maybe less, depending on how your body works through it. But plenty of time for us to play.”
There’s a rush of heat between my legs at his words.
“It’s more intense,” River says quietly. “You wouldn’t be able to stop us mid-session, Briar. If there’s something you don’t like, we won’t know. You won’t be sleeping through it. You would be helpless. It might be something you find you don’t enjoy.”
I turn his words over in my head, seeing the possibility.
One more option. Kai smiles. You don’t take anything at all.
To be a complete part of it, with them. To speak, and move, and beg. It’s tempting. And if I wasn’t staying, that’s the one I would choose.
But I am staying. With them. Forever, according to River.
There are a lot of nights to come.
But my eyes keep returning to that second glass. “This feels like good timing.”
“For what?” Jenson leans forward against the island. He’s still wearing the checkered shirt and faded, torn jeans he wore today. A little more rugged, his hands bearing signs of the work he insisted on doing himself. There’s still a flush in his cheeks from the cold air.
He makes my mouth water.
I pull out the agreement. “I was going to tear it up. To make a point that I trust you.”
I trust them with my body. With every part of me.
“I like the agreement.” The corner of Jenson’s lip curls up. “Or the list, at least. We know exactly what you think you’ll enjoy. As far as I’m concerned, everyone should have one. But I’ll happily set the end date on fire. And the emergency contact information, since you’re not leaving.”
The darkness beneath his words makes me shiver. “I don’t want to leave.”
“Good. Think about it, Briar.” River follows my eyes. “No rush. We don’t even have to do this tonight—,”
He cuts off as I stroll across the kitchen and pluck the second glass from the island.
The look of matching shock on their faces is something I wish I had a photograph of. I raise the glass up in a silent toast before turning, tossing my words over my shoulder.
“Don’t be long. If we only have a few hours, I want to make the most of them.”
I have one final question before I leave. One thought that’s been rolling around in my head, teasing me. “There’s another option you didn’t offer me.”
Jenson’s voice is a rasp. “Name it.”
Breathe. “You have my permission to surprise me. Pick a night. Swap out my drink at dinner. Use me however you want. And when I wake up in the morning… make sure I know exactly what you did to me.”
The idea of not knowing it’s coming, of them planning our night without me having any idea… it makes my whole body flush hot and cold. It could be any time, and I wouldn’t know.
My pussy clenches at the thought of it.
I peek over my shoulder, redness flaring on my cheeks. But I’m grinning. “I hope you like the creature you created. I have quite a lot of ideas, actually.”
This was all their idea, after all.
I’m just… running with it.