Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“You really care about her, don’t you?”
“I do, very, very much. Judith needs to understand that, and back off. This isn’t a science experiment, this is my life, and if I’m made to feel like I’m living in a lab, I won’t like it.”
Nodding, Ramón’s gaze shifted to the bookshelves around me. “Never pictured a house like this for you, but I like it. Feels more like a home than your place in the city. Hannah like it?”
“She does.”
“I’m going to apologize in advance if I’m weird around her. After watching the living room camera at her apartment so much, I feel like I know those girls.”
Tensing, an unexpected jealousy burned through me. “I didn’t know you were keeping such a close eye on them.”
“Easy, mi amigo. It wasn’t your woman I’ve been watching.”
I hoped he meant Joy, but decided to fuck with him a little. “Please tell me it isn’t Kayla.”
“That cokehead cunt? No, not her.”
“Ahhh, Joy then. She’s very beautiful, very loving, and a good friend to Hannah.”
A hint of red tinted his cheeks and I swore he was blushing. “Indeed. And kind, smart, funny—and feisty.”
“But also very independent.”
“She is, but much like Hannah used to, Joy picks weak men who need to be fixed in some way. I believe her maternal instincts are stronger than she wishes to admit, that taking care of people, nurturing them, is what makes her happy. And I know she wants children of her own.”
“How so?”
“I’ve seen her looking at baby sites and browsing baby names. She looks very wistful while she does it. Her sister has recently had a daughter out in Oregon and Joy misses her terribly.” His fond look dimmed. “I keep waiting to find something wrong with her, but she’s so freakishly…good.”
“You like her.”
“No, but I want to. I can’t give myself permission to feel anything for her other than friendship until I know for sure she won’t betray me, that she wants a strong family-centered life as much as I do. That she’ll not only indulge my desire to have her be my submissive, but will find immense pleasure while wearing my collar. I’m a good Master, I know how to please my subs, and I can’t imagine a life where I have to hide my desires from a wife who isn’t into the same things I am.” A scowl twisted his full lips. “I’ll end up like my uncle Ed, married to a bitch who won’t spread her legs without the lights being off and fuckin’ church music playing.”
I couldn’t help but laugh because what he said wasn’t a lie. “True, but I don’t think you’d have to worry about that with Joy.”
“No, I wouldn’t. She’s like a sexual nuclear bomb waiting to be set off. The lovers she brings home don’t satisfy her. She always ends up masturbating after they leave, and it’s a crying shame, because she comes like a porn star. All quivering tits and aching moans.” Some of the Ramón I used to know surfaced from beneath his grief, a flash of the prankster who loved to make people smile. “You should see her nipples, mi amigo, the areolas are big and dark, like half-dollar-sized chocolate drops.”
I cleared my throat and leaned forward. “As far as I know, I don’t have any cameras in Joy’s room.”
Ramón grinned with more mischief than I’d seen in his eyes in a long time. “No, but I do.”
For one brief moment his entire demeanor softened in a way I hadn’t seen before, and I knew Ramón liked Joy more than he was willing to admit to even himself.
Interesting. I’d thought for sure he would have gone for a more passive woman; even I could see that taming Joy would be a challenge and a half. This would change my plans a little bit, I couldn’t use Joy to blackmail Hannah in the future if I needed to, but I knew it would be much easier to keep Hannah in my life if Joy happened to be married to one of my friends. I wasn’t sure if Joy’s sassy nature would bend to Ramón’s iron will, but if Ramón had been watching her, then he knew what he was getting himself into.
Or at least he thought he did.
“I met her before,” he blurted out in an uncharacteristic display of nerves. “Six months ago. Total coincidence. I mean, I didn’t even recognize her at first. She was pissed. At home, she’s always happy and smiling, plus I was used to looking at her from the angle of the cameras in the corners of the rooms. She looks different in real life. Shorter.”
“You still haven’t told me how the hell you met Joy.”
“Remember when my cousin Jonas was being a dumbass and partying at college instead of studying, pissing away his chances of a good future?”