Just One Taste (Topped #2)(25)

Disappointment welled. She’d kind of wanted the connection. It seemed like spanking was the only way she was going to feel connected to this man, but she’d been right about him. He was a softie. That was a good thing because if he didn’t give her what she needed, then she wouldn’t be tempted by him. “What are we talking about tonight, Sir?”

It was best to get everything back on an even keel. He would forget any rumor he heard about her talking to Master Ian and then they could move on. If he kissed her again, she would deal with it. She might take it further or she might not. Whatever she did it would all be okay in the end because she was strong enough to walk away. She graduated from college a week after the training period was over and then she wouldn’t even see him at work anymore because she already had a job lined up.

She looked up at him and he was watching as Masters Alex and Liam had begun to move into place.

“We’re going to have our first class in how to use the equipment,” Eric explained, his voice normal again. She studied the straight line of his jaw as he spoke. “There will likely be some kind of demonstration and then I would very much like to take you out for a cup of coffee and we can talk further.”

So much talking. He seemed to seriously like to talk. How long had it been since she opened up and talked about anything? She rarely even mentioned how her day had gone beyond telling whoever had asked that it was fine. They would talk about the class and maybe he would tell her more about his childhood and how he ended up choosing the Navy and…

She wanted to know everything about him. A hundred questions popped up and she had to face the truth. That timer on their relationship might be the only thing that saved her from falling head over heels for this man. The training period would end and she could always walk away. She’d learned that lesson from childhood. When the going got tough, the tough moved on.

She cuddled against him because this part was nice. “That sounds good, Sir.”

Maybe she would view this whole six weeks as a graduation present to herself. After that, it would be a whole new game and Eric Vail wouldn’t even be a player.

Why did that make her so sad?

She let the thought go and concentrated on the lesson for the evening as Master Alex started to talk about impact play and all the fun toys associated with it. Yes, this was what she needed.

The rest didn’t matter.





CHAPTER FIVE



“Hey, I thought I would find you in here.”

Eric looked up from his brisket and smiled as Kyle Hawthorne strode in. Though he’d only made the decision to join the military a few weeks before, only told his mother last week, he already held himself with more pride than he had before. The young man who had seemed so sullen and withdrawn when he began to work at Top earlier in the year now walked into the kitchen with his shoulders straight, his head held high. “Kyle, you look good. You ready for OCS?”

Officer Candidate School. Unlike Eric, who had enlisted and gone to Great Lakes with the rest of the grunts, Kyle had a degree. It made more sense for him to train to be an officer. It also seemed to Eric to be proof that the kid was serious. He was heading to Newport in the morning.

Kyle grinned. “As ready as I can be.” He sobered a bit. “I went out to the cemetery today. I know no one understands, but I was in that car with him. I have no idea why he died and I didn’t. We were best friends for most of our lives and it doesn’t make sense to me. I got out with a couple of scratches. I have to do something. I have to be better than I was before. My mother doesn’t understand.”

“I’m sure she understands more than you think she does. She’s scared. You’re her baby.” He could remember his own mom crying when she’d found out, begging him to stay safe, while his dad had shaken his hand and told him how proud he was. “She’s never going to be happy with you going off and putting yourself in danger, but she does know you need this. Why else would she be throwing this going away party?”

Kyle shook his head, his mouth turning up in a grin. “First, my mother loves a good party and second, I think she managed to totally piss Sean off. I heard that argument. I couldn’t not hear it. People in Mexico might have heard it. Carys managed to sleep the sleep of the toddler dead, but I heard my mother blame Sean and the whole Taggart family for making this life seem glamorous.”

Eric whistled. “Damn. How did that go over?”

Kyle leaned against the counter. “Have you ever heard a silence that was so loud you almost put your hands over your ears so you could pretend it wasn’t happening?”

Sean had recently lost his brother to “this life.” Eric could imagine Chef hadn’t taken it well. “Are they all right now?”

Kyle nodded. “I think Mom realized what she’d said because they were quiet for a very long time and she was still clinging to him the next morning. Sean is a good man. I hate that I made them fight.”

“We needed it,” a feminine voice said. Grace was standing in the doorway. She wore a pretty emerald dress, her hair around her shoulders. Around her neck was a gold necklace with a heart attached. Eric had never seen her without it. It had taken him a while to figure out that was her collar, the gift from Dom to beloved submissive. “I haven’t been talking to him because I’ve tried to give him space after what happened to Theo and let me tell you, saying what I said definitely got us talking. Sometimes you have to say the wrong things to get to the right outcome. Sean and I are fine, Kyle. And you couldn’t possibly find a better role model than your stepfather and his brothers. I’m sorry you had to hear that, but I’m glad it’s all out in the open and we can move on. Now, you should go out there because your stepdad has a present for you.”