Leah apparently sensed he wasn’t following and turned. “Seth? Are you okay?”
He dumbly nodded and followed her.
He still hoped that at any moment the two of them would break into broad, beaming grins and laugh that they’d really suckered him in this time, setting up the next round of practical jokes amongst them.
In the kitchen Kaden stood, barefoot and dressed in jeans and a chambray shirt. He chopped vegetables at the counter. He looked up and smiled as Seth walked in.
“There you are.” He looked at Leah. “Are the steaks ready?”
She nodded. “Yes, Master.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “Good girl. Go put them on, please.” He wiped his hands on a dish towel and shook with Seth while Leah picked up a plate of steaks and took them outside to the screened lanai.
Seth’s eyes followed Leah as she disappeared through the sliding glass doors. Realizing Kaden was watching him watch his wife, Seth jerked his eyes back to his friend.
Kaden smiled. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
Seth dumbly nodded.
Kaden’s smile faded. “Just hear me out, please. Watch and listen. At the end of the evening, maybe you’ll understand a little more what and why I’m asking this of you.”
Kaden’s dying.
Stunned, Seth nodded again.
Kaden’s smile returned. He clapped Seth on the arm. “Thanks, buddy.”
Seth settled on a barstool on the other side of the counter, his usual perch where he normally sat when he came over. He watched as Kaden prepped the rest of the vegetables. He skillfully and confidently chopped them with the large butcher’s knife, the blade making snick snick sounds against the cutting board. Leah returned from the lanai and washed her hands, then smiled at Seth before shooting a pointed look at Kaden.
Kaden met her gaze and nodded.
She turned back to Seth. “Would you like a beer?”
“Yes, please.” He suspected he’d need something a lot stronger than that when he got home.
She walked to the fridge and retrieved a bottle—his favorite brand, he realized—and she opened it for him before handing it over.
Leah always stocked his favorite brand. She always opened the bottle before handing it to him.
There were a lot of things, crazy puzzle pieces suddenly slipping into place, things he’d never noticed before and now saw in a new light.
When he’d had hernia surgery a few years earlier, between wives two and three, Kaden and Leah had insisted on bringing Seth home from the hospital to their home for a week. He’d spent the night before the surgery with them. Leah took him to the hospital the next morning, waited there for him, met him in recovery, and got all of the doctor’s discharge instructions before bringing him back to their home. Back then they’d lived just south of downtown Sarasota. Seth hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary between his friends in the time he’d stayed with them. They’d been perfectly normal.
Except the way Leah took care of him.
In a way his exes never took care of him.
The way Leah always seemed to focus on Kaden, as if anticipating his every need.
The way she focused on Seth, too, it seemed, when he was a guest in their home.
“Thanks,” he muttered, watching them.
Kaden finished with the vegetables and poured them into a foil pouch, topped it off with some seasonings before he sealed it, and handed it to Leah. “Here you go, love. Stay out there with the steaks, make sure you don’t let Seth’s go too long. You know he likes his very rare.”
“Yes, Master.” She left again. Seth found himself unable to keep his eyes off her.
Kaden leaned against the counter and took a pull from his own beer, a different brand. “You okay?”
Seth nodded, numb.
“I’ve already told her about me, as I’m sure you’ve guessed. I’ve also told her about my plans.”
Seth finally met Kaden’s intense gaze. “You cannot tell me she’s okay with this.”
“Of course she is. Ask her yourself.”
“You are not serious?”
He studied his bottle. “She’s upset, of course. She doesn’t agree with my decision to not get chemo. I’m sure she’s mad about that, but it’s something we’ll work through. She also understands why I want to do this for her.” He looked up. “Seth, she knows you. She likes you. You’re the closest thing she’s got to family besides me and mine. There isn’t anyone else I would trust with her.”
“I can barely keep my own shit together, Kade. How the hell do you expect me to take care of someone else? It’s not like I’ve got a great track record.”
Kaden’s voice lowered, nearly a whisper. “Maybe you never met the right woman before. Did you ever think about that?”
Seth didn’t answer. It was too close to a thought he’d had many nights over the years.
“She needs someone strong, Seth. I’m going to get sick, and I’m going to die.” Kaden took a deep breath. Seth sensed his friend was once again close to tears. “She needs someone to get her through this. She’s going to need someone to take care of her.”
That didn’t make any sense to Seth. “You realize lots of women lose husbands and go on to do just fine, right?”
Kaden shook his head. “Not Leah. You’ll understand when you learn more about her, about us.”
“I think you’re underestimating your wife. She’s a fucking strong woman.”
“She’s brilliant. She can do nearly anything she puts her mind to, and God help the person who gets in her way,” Kaden agreed. “But there are things she needs that keep her…that keep her sane. That keep her grounded. And there are too many assholes out there who only want a willing sub to use. They wouldn’t do for her what she needs done.”
“You’ve lost me.”
“You need to see for yourself.” He took another drink from his beer. “I talked to my friend Tony this morning. He just moved back here from Denver a few months ago. If worst comes to worst he’ll take her on as his slave, but he can’t love her the way I do.” His eyes met Seth’s. “The way you do.”
Seth reddened and dropped his gaze. “Fuck, man. She’s your wife. I don’t love her.” That was a lie, and he knew it.
He just prayed Kaden didn’t know it.
“I’m not a moron. You’re not gay. You’ve got a hard-on right now. Admit it.”
Seth felt his face redden even deeper. They never talked about sex. There was one drunken night after high school graduation, before Kade went to college and he went into basic training. A bottle of tequila and a willing coed later, they’d had an incredible three-way, yet over the years they never talked about their sex lives.
“Fuck, you parade her around here dressed like that, and I’d have to be dead not to notice her.”
“She’s wearing a lot more than she normally wears.”
This couldn’t be real. Seth looked at Kaden, who wore a sly smile.
Kaden continued. “Normally she’s only got her collar on when we’re home alone. The hair and makeup aren’t normal when we’re home. That’s special for you tonight. I wanted her to look her best. Usually she wears a slightly longer skirt and shirt when we go to the club or private dungeon parties.”
“Club?” Dungeon parties?
“Yeah. There’s a private BDSM club we’re members of up in Sarasota. We usually go once a week. You’ll have fun.”
Seth sat back and held up his hands. “Whoa. Dude, I said I’d hear you out. I never promised I’d agree to this. I don’t think I can just…beat a woman.” The thought turned his stomach.