Swallowing hard, Seth finally nodded. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently squeezed. “Okay, honey. It’s okay. I’m sorry.”
He heard her ragged breathing, watched her pulse thrum in her throat, her face flushed not from excitement but…
She stared at him, and he recognized the look from the night before. Barely constrained anguish fighting to bubble to the surface.
He suspected this was his second lesson.
Not sure what else to do, he grabbed her hands and gently squeezed them. “Babe, he told you to go easy on me. You’ve got to teach me this shit, remember?” He attempted what he hoped looked like a gentle smile. From the dangerous roll his stomach took, he wasn’t sure he made it.
She finally took a deep breath, then stepped into him for a hug. “I’m sorry, Seth,” she mumbled against his chest. “I know.”
It felt weird to hug her like that, knowing Kaden was watching. But when Seth looked at his friend, Kaden nodded and offered up a smile before silently disappearing down the hall.
Seth figured he must have passed this test.
She clutched at him, the same desperation from the night before. He dared rest his face against the top of her head, inhaling her scent. She always smelled good.
“We’ll get through this,” he whispered. “I promise. I’m fucking lost and I might be stumbling and tripping all over myself, but I won’t let you down.”
“I know.”
After a couple of minutes she stepped back, sniffling, and forced a smile. “Let me show you where I put everything.” She finished putting his clothes away, showed him where she’d stowed his stuff, including his toiletries in the bathroom. When she finished, she turned. “Any questions?”
“What do you want me to do with my dirty clothes?”
“Just leave them on the bathroom floor for me. Do you normally take your shower in the morning or at night?”
That was a weird tangent. “Usually in the morning. I mean, I need one now after moving that crap but usually just in the morning.”
“Before breakfast?”
“Um, I guess. No one’s usually cooking for me.”
She smiled. “Get used to it. What time do you need to be up in the morning?”
He shrugged. “It depends on if I’m working or have classes. Well, I guess working doesn’t matter anymore.” He’d stopped by after class to quit and pick up his final check. When he explained the basics of the situation, his boss understood and didn’t give him any grief.
“I need to know so I can make sure you’re up.”
“Leah, you don’t—” At her storm-cloud look he immediately backpedaled. “You don’t have to do that all tonight. We can sit down this weekend and figure it out.”
At that she relaxed.
Fuck.
His three ex-wives never doted on him like this. And he wasn’t even sleeping with Leah.
Yet.
Fuck.
Seth took a shower and joined Kaden in the den. Kaden sat on a stool as he idly strummed his guitar. Leah had already moved Seth’s to the den, the case freshly dusted and leaning against the wall in the corner. Kaden didn’t lift his head, but his eyes met Seth’s.
Seth took a seat in one of the chairs and shook his head. “Fuck.”
Kaden smiled and returned his attention to the guitar. “See why I needed you to move in? That isn’t something I can explain.”
“She nearly had a meltdown over my dirty clothes, for chrissake! Why the fuck didn’t you come in and help me, asshole?”
He shrugged. “I watched. I was worried for a minute that she’d need to go to the playroom. You did good. That was smart, reminding her what I told her about teaching you.”
Seth closed his eyes. “That wasn’t planned, dude. I didn’t know what else to say.”
“But you said the right thing.” He laid his palm over the strings to silence them and looked at Seth.
“I have to let you find your way with her as much as I can. It’ll be too much of a shock for her to lose me and try to adapt to doing things your way all at the same time. There are some things you have to learn to do exactly right, and those I will work with you on. Those relate to safety and to her security. There’s stuff like what happened earlier… There’s not a lot of time, but we have enough for the two of you to work on some things on your own. I won’t be there to help you out. You need to learn to deal with her in your way, not mine. To find things that will work for you and her. I can give you the map. You’ve got to make the journey.”
“Thank you, Master Fucking Yoda.”
Kaden smiled and strummed his guitar.
Leah called them to dinner. Seth noticed she’d prepared his favorite foods. After dinner, he walked into the living room to watch TV with Kaden.
“This feels weird, to be able to sit back and relax,” Kaden said.
“Relax?”
“Yeah, I know. Weird, huh?” He sighed. “New perspective. What’s really important now. Usually I’d still be working on a night like this. Getting home about this time, wolfing down dinner and changing clothes so we could turn around and go to the club.” He looked at Seth. “It changes a man’s perspective, that’s for sure. When you go back to school and get your degree and start working again, don’t ever forget what’s important.”
They talked for a little while, then Kaden stood. “Time to get ready.”
Seth wasn’t sure he had the right wardrobe. “I’ve got jeans, but I’m a little short on latex.”
Leah walked in from the kitchen and laughed. “I picked you up a couple of shirts this afternoon you can choose from. They’re in your closet. Just wear jeans and your black sneakers.”
They retreated to their rooms. Seth looked in his closet and, sure enough, found the shirts Leah had mentioned. Three button-up long-sleeved chambray shirts, nothing especially noteworthy. One black, one navy, one dark purple.
It didn’t take him long to change. She’d apparently already washed and ironed them, because they smelled like detergent.
He nervously waited in the living room and debated having a drink but wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Kaden appeared first, a long duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He wore black jeans, black sneakers, and a button-up long-sleeved charcoal-grey shirt.
“Somehow, I always pictured leather vests and metal studs,” Seth snarked.
Kaden set the bag on the sofa. “Yeah, leather’s too damn hot. I usually take my shirt off anyway, keeps me cooler and more freedom of movement. I’m not in this to make a fashion statement.” He glanced down the hall and dropped his voice. “Tonight, just watch. Don’t object to anything we do, and don’t act shocked at anything you see. The only time you think about stepping in is if she calls red, I call red, or I ask you in to help.”
“You said I wouldn’t have to do anything!” Seth felt panic clambering for a hold again.
“I hope I don’t. But if I need help, I’d rather ask you than Tony or someone else.”
“How are you explaining who I am to these people?”
Kaden shrugged, sadness in his eyes. “The truth. That I’m training you to be Leah’s new Master.”
Seth didn’t think anything could break through the shock that Kaden’s matter-of-fact tone had struck him with.
Then Leah emerged from the bedroom.
The stiletto heels set off her long legs and curvy hips. The black leather skirt was marginally longer than the one she’d greeted him in the night before but not by much. The black leather bustier pushed her breasts up. He suspected her nipples would be visible if it wasn’t for the short white cotton shirt that barely concealed her cleavage. She wore a different collar, a little heavier looking than the one she’d had on before, still attached with a heart-shaped lock and with a small silver tag hanging from it. Makeup and hair the same as the night before.