LOGINSableBy breakfast the next morning, Marcus had somehow become even more excited.Which I honestly hadn’t thought was possible.He practically vibrated through coffee while Jarek cooked eggs like a man preparing soldiers for battle instead of making breakfast. Neither one of them had touched me all night beyond cuddling and sleepy kisses, and while part of me had pouted about it, the other part of me had realized exactly what they were doing.They wanted me rested.Which meant they were taking this seriously.Apparently, much more seriously than I had expected.“Okay,” Marcus announced after breakfast, clapping his hands together. “Rules meeting.”I blinked.“Rules meeting?”“Absolutely.”Jarek nodded.“Sit down, baby girl.”That should have concerned me. Instead, I found myself smiling as I curled
SableBy the time we reached the little mountain town, I was convinced Marcus had consumed enough caffeine to legally qualify as a natural disaster.The entire two-hour drive had consisted of him bouncing between playlists, pointing out random cows like they were celebrity sightings, and reminding me every twenty minutes that I wasn’t allowed to ask questions about tomorrow.Which, naturally, only made me ask more questions.“Are we hiking?”“No.”“Fishing?”“No.”“Skydiving?”Jarek snorted behind the wheel.Marcus looked offended. “Baby doll, I would never throw you out of a perfectly good airplane.”“That’s comforting.”“Plus Daddy would yell at me.”“Damn right I would.”I smiled and looked out the window as mountains slowly rose aroun
MarcusEventually, the awkwardness turned into curiosity.That was my favorite part. Watching her go from embarrassed to interested, from blushing at shelves to reaching for things herself.Not because of what we were buying, but because every small choice was hers. No pressure. No rush. No one deciding for her. Just Sable, standing in the middle of a store full of possibilities, realizing she was allowed to want things out loud.I picked up a flogger from one display, not one of the heavy ones, something soft enough to be playful but real enough to make her think. Her gaze dropped to it, then lifted to mine.“Really?”“Maybe,” I said. “Only if you’re curious.”She took it from me and ran the falls through her fingers, testing the weight, the texture, the idea of it. I could see her thinking through sensation instead of fear, which made my chest do somethin
MarcusBy the time the mountain trip was officially booked, I had become insufferable.Not mildly annoying. Not charmingly excited. Fully insufferable.Sable noticed by breakfast on Monday.Jarek noticed sometime before that, mostly because I had been leaning over his shoulder while he looked at cabin listings and making helpful comments like that one has terrible murder lighting and baby doll deserves better woods. He told me three separate times to shut the fuck up. Then, twenty minutes later, I caught him c
SableThe whole thing started because Marcus had apparently decided the three of us needed to become responsible adults.Personally, I blamed the internet.Specifically, the article he’d found at two in the morning while I was trying to sleep.“Baby doll.”“Mmm?”“When’s the last time you had a physical?”I cracked one eye open.“What kind of physical?”“The normal kind.”“There’s a normal kind?”Marcus had gone disturbingly still.“Sable.”That tone immediately made me suspicious.“What?”“When’s the last time you went to a doctor, had a pelvic exam and all that woman stuff?”I stared at him.He stared at me.Jarek looked up from his phone.“What?”Marcus looked genuinely
MarcusI knew something was up the second Daddy told us to get dressed and refused to answer a single question.Not unusual.Jarek King had three modes when he got an idea in his head. He either barked orders, stared people into submission, or acted like everybody else was stupid for not already knowing what he was thinking.Today appeared to be all three.Sable spent breakfast trying to pry information out of him while I mostly sat there enjoying the show. Every answer she got was some variation of no, stop asking, or you’ll find out when we get there.“Where are we going?” Sable asked for the fourth time.“No.”She blinked.“That’s not an answer.”“It’s the only one you’re getting.”“You realize I know where you sleep.”Jarek snorted. “You mean the room I built?”







