CHAPTER 38
TREY
Paula’s mouth got her in trouble on a Tuesday.
Not professionally.
Professionally, her mouth paid bills.
At home, it was a recreational hazard.
She had been teasing Trey since dinner.
Small things.
Morning made everything less cinematic. Sunlight showed fingerprints on the glass and a sock abandoned near the chair.
Paula stood in the kitchen drinking coffee while Trey made eggs, both of them slightly quieter than usual.
He liked the ordinariness after intensity.
It reminded him that whatever happened behind a closed door had to return them to themselves, not replace them.
Calling him Professor in that tone.
Ignoring an instruction she had specifically asked him to give.
Smiling when he noticed.
By the time they reached the bedroom, Trey knew exactly what game she wanted.
He still asked.
“What are you looking for tonight?”
Paula sat on the edge of the bed.
“Consequences.”
“Intensity?”
“Yes.”
“Pain?”
“Some.”
“Restraint?”
“Yes.”
“Anything new?”
“No.”
“Limits unchanged?”
“Yes.”
“Color?”
“Green.”
Trey nodded.
Then the softness left his voice.
Paula’s smile vanished.
Not because she was afraid.
Because this was the moment she had been provoking all evening.
The scene was strict, raunchy in language and deliberately frustrating. Trey controlled pace and permission. Paula discovered that begging was less effective when the person listening had already agreed not to be moved by theatrics.
She called him names.
He reminded her of the rule about disrespect inside this particular scene.
She did it again.
Trey raised an eyebrow.
Paula laughed.
“Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“No.”
“Good.”
He preferred honesty.
When intensity crested, he checked her.
“Color?”
“Green.”
Later, after the scene ended, Paula stood in the shower while Trey washed conditioner from her hair.
“You know what’s unfair?”
“What?”
“You’re nice again.”
“I was never not nice.”
Paula turned.
“You were absolutely not nice.”
“I was consensually unpleasant.”
She stared.
Then laughed so hard she had to hold the wall.
“Consensually unpleasant?”
“Accurate terminology.”
“You are such a lawyer.”
“So are you.”
Back in bed, Paula opened the women’s group chat.
Trey saw Danielle’s name.
“No.”
“What?”
“Whatever you’re about to type.”
“You don’t know.”
“I know your face.”
She smiled and typed anyway.
DANIELLE: Well???
NIA: ??
PAULA: I have learned nothing.
DANIELLE: Meaning?
PAULA: I will antagonize him again.
Trey took the phone from her.
“Hey!”
He placed it facedown.
“Aftercare does not include live reporting.”
Paula grinned.
“Add it to the terms.”
“I will.”
She kissed his shoulder.
The bedroom was not vanilla.
Neither was their humor afterward.
Both belonged to them.