Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rae
I’ve learned my lesson.
“What does it mean?” Rae muttered. It didn’t sound good.
“I don’t know,” Domi admitted, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against her chair. “I’ll be honest, I thought I’d find him here with you this morning.”
“Is that why you brought so much food?” Rae couldn’t help but be amused.
Domi had shown up on her doorstep about twenty minutes ago with a bag full of takeout breakfast and a dangerous gleam in her eye.
She’d barely paused before barging past Rae and running around the house, looking in every room.
Bemused, Rae had just watched her until Domi was done and ready to explain what the fuck she was doing.
That was when she’d found out that Brian had left Stronghold right after her, and her first thought was, ‘I wish he’d been coming to secretly meet me.’
Then she’d immediately realized that wasn’t true.
She didn’t want him to secretly meet her at all.
Had running around and secretly hooking up on Hideaway Island been fun? Absolutely. But it wasn’t what she wanted. Not here at home. She didn’t want to be sneaking around. She didn’t want to have to pretend they weren’t together.
She wanted… him.
If he’d have her. If he could accept a compromise on the whole ‘Daddy’ thing.
If she could be brave enough to ask.
The fact he’d said he’d ‘learned his lesson’ when it came to her did not inspire hope.
For all that she liked to think she was a strong, confident woman who always went after what she wanted, she’d quickly started to realize when it came to matters of the heart, she was far more used to waving the white flag.
Asking for a raise at work? No problem. Making herself vulnerable to Brian? I want to hide.
“I was kind of hoping he’d be here.” Domi sighed. “Even with what Mitch said. I think you guys would be really good together. I think you just need to convince him to give you another chance.”
“What makes you think he’d want to give me one?” Rae’s heart clenched as she sat down at the table across from Domi. “You heard what Mitch said about him giving chances. And it’s not exactly like I’m able to go and offer him everything he ever wanted.” She sighed. It really did sound hopeless.
Domi made a face and began to unpack the food, sliding some of the containers in front of Rae.
“What if you’re everything he ever wanted?”
“He’s always wanted to be a Daddy Dom. That’s something I can’t do for him,” she argued. She popped a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth, using some of the sweetness of the fruit to wash away the bitterness of the truth. If she couldn’t offer him everything he wanted, why would he say yes?
Just to have her?
She didn’t like the insecurity she felt or the way it sounded as though she thought she wasn’t enough, yet wasn’t that exactly what she was afraid of?
“I still think you should call him something that means ‘Daddy’ and call it a day. Papi, Papa—”
“I don’t know.” It felt like not the same. Maybe for Domi it would be if she used ‘Papi,’ but for Rae…
“Pop. Old man. Pater.” Domi said the last one with a terrible British accent, and Rae cracked up.
“Oh my God, stop.”
“Does he have to be a Daddy Dom? Can he be a Pop Top?”
“Oh my God, stop. I can’t breathe!” Rae wheezed out.
She wanted to call him a Pop Top. She wanted to call him a Pop Top so bad. Would she get an even better expression than when she’d called him ‘not the mama’?
Except she couldn’t. Shouldn’t. Because she wasn’t his babygirl, and he wasn’t her Daddy Dom. Or her Pop Top. God, she was never going to be able to look him in the face again without wanting to call him that, just to see how he reacted.
“What about Father Figure?”
“I. Will. Murder. You.” If she could ever stop laughing hard enough to actually take a deep breath. The tension that had been riding her was seeping away, though, unable to hold up against the rockslide of laughter that cascaded through her.
“I’m just saying. You don’t know what he’ll be willing to compromise on until you talk to him. Maybe you guys can skip the fight and get straight to the compromising. Nothing wrong with that.” Domi raised her eyebrows at Rae, who sighed and finally admitted the truth.
“You were right, my parents fight, okay? They just didn’t do it in front of me because my mom wanted to protect me from all the fighting.”
“Ha!” Domi pumped her fist in the air. “I knew it!”
“Iris has been a bad influence on you,” Rae retorted, referencing Iris’ reaction to Hideaway when Brian and Rae’s secret hooking up had been revealed.
“She would say she’s been the best influence.
” Domi stuck out her tongue in a move that was more reminiscent of her daughter than of Iris, and Rae had to shake her head and laugh again.
Also, because Domi was right. Iris would definitely say she was the best influence.
“So, does this change everything for you?”
“I don’t know about everything.” Rae sighed again as she nibbled her bacon.
Her delicious, delicious bacon. Sadly, bacon did not bring clarity.
“It’s made me kind of mad at my parents.
” She’d talked to them the day after she’d run out on them—they’d known to give her some space before reaching out—but she couldn’t help the lingering feelings of resentment, despite knowing where her mom was coming from.
It was like they’d been so determined not to do one thing, they’d overcorrected in the complete opposite direction.
You mean the way you do?
Yeah, but she came by it honestly. Like mother like daughter.
The problem was that now that she’d noticed it, she did want to course correct. Again. But she didn’t want to overcorrect. Somehow, there had to be a way for both her and Brian to get what they needed, even if they didn’t get everything they wanted.
Right?
“I’m just saying. You were really happy on the island. Happier than you ever were with Damian. I thought it was just getting away from everything, but now that I know it was also partly Brian…” Domi let her voice trail off, giving Rae a Significant Look.
The truth was, Rae had also felt happier on the island than she had in a long time.
Other than the ‘Daddy’ thing, she and Brian fit together.
She missed him. She was pretty sure the reason she couldn’t write right now was because of him, just like he’d been the reason her ideas had been flowing while they were at Hideaway.
“He said that he’d learned his lesson, though, right?” Rae let out a long, slow breath, trying to hide the ache that she felt at those words. “That sounds like he’s done with me.”
“You just have to show him that it’s worth giving a relationship with you a real shot. For once. You guys don’t need a second chance for that. Neither of you have ever really given it a first chance,” Domi pointed out.
She was right. Rae had definitely never really given her and Brian a real shot. There had always been roadblocks and reasons not to and hard-end dates. How was she supposed to convince him?
“Seriously? You’re a romance author. You have read nothing but romance for the entire time we’ve been friends.” Domi raised her eyebrow. “How do you think you’re going to convince him?”
“Are you reading my mind?” Rae demanded to know because she had definitely not said that out loud.
“Yes. Duh.” Domi snorted. “Like I didn’t know exactly what you were thinking. Now… what are you going to do?”
That was the question.
Brian
Marquis on a Friday night. Well, not night, exactly, more like early evening. Dinner would be starting soon, then the show, but it wasn’t quite time yet except for the earliest arrivals.
He’d actually been planning on staying in this weekend and not going to either club.
He’d made his point last weekend by being at Stronghold.
This weekend, he was going to hang out at home with Zach…
but then Zach went out to lunch with his sister on Thursday and told her about him and Kincaid.
Then he’d called Kincaid today to tell him he’d come out to his sister, and they’d ended up agreeing to meet for drinks.
Zach had texted Brian and told him not to wait up. Which was a message Brian was thrilled to get. He hoped it meant good things for Kincaid and Zach. He’d even looked forward to having the evening to himself, and that meant he’d be on call in case things between the couple took a turn.
But then Law had messaged him, asking if he could come give his opinion on a new addition to Marquis’ pink room, formerly known as the Little Girl’s room.
They’d started calling it the ‘pink’ room after one of their nonbinary members pointed out that they weren’t a little girl but still enjoyed that room.
It had been an easy switch to include everyone, and now they had the pink room and the blue room, and no one felt like they couldn’t enjoy either room.
Brian hadn’t known they were getting anything new, and he’d been both flattered to be asked for his opinion and curious about what they could have added.
“Hi, Brian.” Olivia was standing behind the front desk of Marquis, looking at something on the computer.
She straightened when he reached the top of the stairs and the lobby.
He was rather surprised to see her there instead of Law, even though she ran the place.
She had her bright red hair down rather than pulled back, and it fell in waves around her shoulders, down to the top of her black leather corset. Intimidation, thy name is Olivia.
“Hi, Olivia. Law asked me to come by to see something in the pink room.” He managed to sound pretty confident as he spoke rather than nervous, which was a feat in and of itself. Olivia had taught the class he’d taken when he’d wanted to become a Dom at the clubs.
It was hard to stay confident with someone who had heard you squeal when she pushed a plug up your ass. Brian definitely had a better understanding of what he was putting a submissive through after taking the class.
“I know.” Olivia smiled enigmatically. “I asked him to text you. I’m very interested to see what you think.”
“Oh… well, great. I’ll be happy to give you my thoughts.” He couldn’t help but feel even more chuffed, knowing Olivia had specifically asked for him.
Her smile widened.
“Do you know how Luke and I got together?” she asked.
As eager as Brian was to head over to the pink room and see this surprise, there was no way he was going to cut off Olivia. Even if he didn’t understand why she was suddenly bringing this up.
He’d been new to the club when she and Luke had gotten together, not really part of anyone’s inner circle other than the so-called “Baby Doms.” There was a new set of Baby Doms now, but he, Mitch, Kincaid, and Zach had been the first to be titled that.
They’d heard plenty of gossip when they were the Baby Doms, but back then, they never had any idea how accurate any of it was.
“I heard he was a silent partner for Marquis, so you guys had to spend a lot of time together, then he signed up for the new submissives class because you said it was the only way you’d consider being with him.” It hadn’t been all that juicy of gossip, other than the fact it had to do with Olivia.
She laughed.
“Almost right. He signed up to prove to me that he could handle being a submissive and to force my hand into giving him a chance.” She leaned her hip against the desk, smiling at the memory, her grey eyes unfocusing.
Well, that was certainly playing with fire with a Dominant like Olivia…
but it had worked out for them in the end.
He still wasn’t sure why she was suddenly confiding in him…
unless she was expressing an opinion on him and Rae.
Olivia had a bit of a reputation as a meddler when it came to relationships, though she was usually more blunt.
He’d once heard Law say it was like being hit with a fairy godmother’s two-by-four rather than a magic wand.
Subtle was not her thing.
“Anyway. The main thing is to keep an open mind. Sometimes what we think we want isn’t what we actually need, and sometimes, what we need shows up in a way we didn’t expect.
” The unfocused look in her eyes had disappeared entirely, sharpening into something…
more. Okay, she had to be talking about Rae, right?
“Anyway, I’ll be interested to see what you think.
Here’s the key card. Go on to the pink room. It’s all set up.”
“Right. Um, thanks.” More confused than ever—had she been talking about Rae or about whatever new addition they’d made to the pink room—Brian took the key card from her with a nod and headed through the door into the club.
The main area of Marquis was set up completely differently from Stronghold, where everything was public. Everything here was far more private.
The main room was set up around a stage with deep booths to watch from, each with its own set of curtains that could be closed for extra privacy.
There were sheers if the booth occupants wanted to watch the show but remain hidden, and thicker velvet curtains if they wanted to be totally in their own little world.
Each of the booths was equipped with all sorts of restraint options, and all sorts of implements and toys could be ordered from the menu along with dinner if you didn’t bring your own.
On the opposite side of the room, there was a door that led to the themed rooms, which were also hotel rooms. Each one was set up as a suite, with the theme room being the first room, then the bedroom and bathroom beyond that.
The pink room was the first on the left, and it had always been Brian’s favorite room.
He’d spent one very memorable night in there with Rae… back when he’d hoped to convince her that she really did want to be his babygirl.
So much for that.
Regardless, he still loved the room, even if he hadn’t used it again since that night. It wasn’t because the last time had been with Rae. It was just that a night at Marquis was… special, and he hadn’t had anyone special to use it with.
He didn’t know what he was expecting to see when he opened the door, but he knew one thing that he wasn’t expecting—Rae standing in the middle of the room dressed in a pink corset and tutu that went down to mid-thigh with white trim on both and white bows holding her braids in pigtails.
Brian ground to a halt and blinked as Rae gave him a tremulous smile.
What the fuck?