“Did you miss me?” he asked the cat.
“Brow rowww rown,” the cat responded.
“No shit?” he said, as if he and the cat had a shared language only they understood. “No tuna at all? That sucks. I’ll have words with her about that.”
“Browww—” Brownie’s unusual meow was cut off by her loud and persistent purr as she rubbed her face against Jace’s jaw, one of her claws caught securely in his gold hoop earring so he couldn’t escape her affection.
Through the dungeon doorway, Aggie watched them ascend the stairs until they were no longer visible. Starr’s hand on her shoulder wiped the tender smile from Aggie’s face.
“He’s a cutie pie,” Starr said, her breath hot against Aggie’s shoulder. “No wonder you gave up your independence and career to serve his needs.”
Aggie stiffened. She hadn’t given up her independence or her career. Well, she didn’t strip for a living anymore, but she didn’t really have time for it when following Jace around the world as he toured. And maybe the number of clients she served in the dungeon had been reduced to a trickle, but any time she wanted to take on a dominatrix job, Jace didn’t complain. The weird thing was, she no longer got the same joy out of being domme to those who’d pay her tribute. Not unless it was Jace under her lash. He gave her everything she needed to feel complete. Shit, maybe Starr was right. Maybe she had gone soft. Maybe she had given up her independence and career to serve Jace. And maybe it wasn’t any of Starr’s business, because for the first time in her life she was happy.
“Shut up,” was the only retort Aggie could muster.
Starr’s lips brushed her shoulder and her arm circled Aggie’s waist so she could splay a hand over her lower belly. Aggie’s brow furrowed with confusion. Why did this touch feel intimate and at the same time creepy?
“Of all the people who ever claimed to love me, you’re the only one I regret hurting,” Starr said quietly.
Aggie threw off Starr’s hand and stalked across the room. “That’s the biggest load of bullshit you ever shoveled at me,” Aggie said, her heart twanging with pain. She’d gotten over Starr a long time ago, but the betrayal she’d suffered at Starr’s hand still hurt when she was reminded of it.
Starr sighed. “Believe what you must; I’m just stating facts. But your friendship means a lot to me, so I won’t ruin it again with sex. Even though all I could think about while you were whipping my cunt was your mouth on me.”
“I’m not interested.” As if Aggie would ever even consider hurting Jace by fooling around with someone like Starr. Or with anyone, for that matter.
“Are you going to tell him about us?” Starr asked.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Aggie said, striding purposely to the other room to retrieve the implements they’d used on Jace.
“Are you afraid of how he’ll react, knowing you once loved a woman?”
“No,” she said. Maybe, a little voice in her head countered. “I might tell him later.” If she wanted to send him back to that closed-off place he used to frequent.
She didn’t think he’d take her admission well. Mostly because she’d been hiding it from him for so long. He’d told her things about his past—about the deepest, darkest parts of himself—that no one else knew, and she couldn’t even tell him that she’d once been in love with a woman. Why? Would she have had the same reservations if Starr had been a man who’d broken her heart? She honestly didn’t know. A man had never broken Aggie’s heart. She’d never given one enough power over her to do so. Before Jace, she’d never loved a man. Never even considered loving a man. But she loved this man, and she refused to jeopardize their relationship. He meant everything to her. And he did have the power to break her heart. To destroy her.
“You’re afraid of losing him, aren’t you?” Starr interrupted Aggie’s turbulent thoughts.
She was surprised by the sudden tightness in her chest and the sting of tears in her eyes. “Terrified,” she said breathlessly.
“Then you should probably marry him.”
She was a touch terrified of that too. “Someday.”
Chapter Three
Aggie wrapped her arms around Jace and stole a kiss. Distracted, he kissed her back, but he didn’t seem to mean it. She gave his ass an appreciative squeeze and drew away to stare into his dark brown eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Just a bit…” His eyebrows drew together. “Cold.”
While June in London wasn’t as warm as June in southern California, it wasn’t cold. Not even close.
“Cold?”
“I’ve been cold since we left the Tower of London yesterday.” He pursed his lips and shook his head.
“Are you coming down with something?” She touched his forehead, then his cheeks. He didn’t feel feverish. “Jet lag maybe?” He’d been a bit off all day. She hadn’t even been able to convince him to join her in the shower that morning.
“Maybe,” he said and wrapped his arms around his body to hold in a hard shudder.
Because she’d wanted to play tourist, she and Jace had rented a car to make their way from London to Donington Park for Sinners’ stage performance at the Download Festival. The rest of the band had left on the tour bus the day before. Maybe Jace was just worried they wouldn’t make it to the show in time. Their set didn’t start until late that night and driving across England wasn’t quite the same as driving across the United States.