Chapter 5 #2
I was lightheaded and unsteady, so I didn’t protest when he washed me himself, efficient and thorough but not sexual. When I was clean, he dried me carefully, paying extra attention to my tender skin, then wrapped me in my robe and guided me to bed.
He’d brought a tray of chocolate dipped strawberries and he fed them to me in comfortable silence. Me because I was struggling to stay awake, him because he was watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
“If you keep staring at me, I’m going to develop a complex,” I joked, unable to hide my smile.
“When you stop nearly falling asleep mid-bite, I will.” His face remained calm, but his eyes were troubled.
“What’s wrong, Lex?” I asked, suddenly more alert.
“I’m just... thinking.”
“About?”
“I don’t want to scare you.”
“Too late. Talk to me.”
He was quiet for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “There’s something about you, Cami. I felt it that first night at your house. This pull that I can’t explain or deny.” He paused. “Majesty feels it too. We talked about it after you fell asleep on your couch.”
My heart was racing again, but for entirely different reasons now. “What kind of pull?”
“The dangerous kind.” His dark eyes held mine. “The kind that makes me want things I shouldn’t want. Not this fast.”
“What do you want?” The question came out barely above a whisper.
“More than just two weeks with you at this Ranch.” He reached out and tucked a strand of damp hair behind my ear. “We have time to figure that out, but I didn’t know if you were open to more, if it was right or not.
I thought for a second and immediately knew the answer. It had only been three days, but the amount of gentleness and kindness that these two men had shown me spoke of their character. I wasn’t signing up to go all in, but I was curious about something more than the training.
“I am open to more,” I admitted.
He nodded in acceptance. “For now, I just want to make sure you’re okay. That I didn’t push too hard tonight.”
“I’m okay,” I said, and realized I meant it. “More than okay. I feel... I don’t know how to explain it.”
“You don’t have to. Not yet.” He stood and collected the empty dishes. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back to check on you after I put these away.”
“Lex?” I called as he reached the door.
He turned back.
“Will you stay? Just until I fall asleep?”
Something softened in his expression. “You’ll be asleep before I sit down.”
“Then stay anyway.”
He set the dishes on my dresser, removed his shoes, and climbed onto the bed beside me, pulling me carefully into his arms. The instant his warmth surrounded me, that restless, empty feeling I’d been carrying since he’d stopped touching me disappeared.
“That’s so much better,” I admitted, my eyes already closing.
“Sleep, little one.” His voice was gentle, his hand stroking my hair. “I’ve got you.”
I wanted to stay awake, to savor this moment, to ask him more questions about what he’d said. But exhaustion pulled me under, and the last thing I registered was feeling completely, utterly safe.
I woke to the soft morning light and the realization that I wasn’t alone.
Lex was still there, his arm around me, his breathing even and deep.
He’d fallen asleep too. I carefully turned to look at him.
In sleep, his face lost that intense, controlled expression.
He looked younger, more peaceful. My movement must have disturbed him because his eyes opened slowly, immediately finding mine.
“Morning,” he said, his voice rough with sleep.
“You stayed all night.”
“I did.” He didn’t sound apologetic. “You needed it.”
“Did I?” I think he needed it too.
“Yes.” He brushed his thumb across my cheek. “How do you feel?”
I did a mental inventory. Sore, yes. But also settled and grounded. “Really good, actually, Sir.”
“Good.” He sat up slowly, running a hand through his hair. “We should talk about last night. About boundaries and what happened.”
“Okay.”
“What I did—the spanking, the discipline—that wasn’t planned. You pushed, and I responded. But in the future, scenes like that need to be negotiated beforehand. Do you understand?”
“I pushed on purpose,” I admitted. “I wanted to see what would happen.”
“I know.” His lips quirked slightly. “You’re not as subtle as you think. But that doesn’t change the fact that we need to establish clearer boundaries. Especially now.”
“Especially now?”
“You mentioned being open to more and that can get tricky. So having clear boundaries keeps assumptions out of the way.”
As if summoned, a knock sounded at my door.
“Cami?” Majesty’s voice called. “You up? I brought coffee.”
Lex and I looked at each other and, despite everything, I had to suppress a laugh at the timing.
“Come in,” I called.
The door opened, and Majesty stepped in carrying two mugs of coffee. He stopped short when he saw Lex sitting on my bed, clearly having just woken up.
“Well,” Majesty said slowly, his eyes moving between us. “This is interesting.”
“It’s not what it looks like, Sir,” I started.
“It looks like Lex spent the night taking care of you. Maybe a good massage and cuddles,” Majesty responded, setting the mugs down on the nightstand. His expression was unreadable. “Am I wrong?”
Lex stood, stretching his body out. “You’re not wrong at all.”
Majesty nodded. “Good. She needed that.” He looked at me. “How are you feeling?”
I checked for signs of jealousy, anger, disgruntled behavior, but instead Majesty seemed unbothered by Lex being here. Well… he did seem relieved, satisfied that Lex stayed the night. This was going to take more getting used to than I’d thought.
“I feel refreshed. I’m still a little stiff but much less than last night.”
“Sore?”
“Only a little, Sir.”
Something flickered across his face at the honorific. “We’ll take it easy in training today. Focus on theory instead of physical practice.” He picked up one of the mugs and handed it to me. “Drink your coffee, Cami. Breakfast is in thirty minutes. That one’s for you, Lex.”
He left, closing the door behind him.
I looked at Lex. “Is he angry?”
“No.” Lex stood and found his shoes. “But we’ll need to talk. All three of us. About what’s happening here.”
“What is happening here?”
He took his coffee, paused at the door, looking back at me with those intense dark eyes. “Something neither of us planned for. Something that might be exactly what all three of us need.”
Then he was gone, leaving me alone with my coffee and a thousand questions. And the undeniable feeling that everything had just changed.