Je Suis a Toi - Pepper Winters Page 0,4

could eradicate the tension I found there.

For months, he’d been hiding something from me.

This weekend wasn’t just to celebrate his birthday, but to break whatever cage he’d built and figure out what he refused to say. He’d often said I couldn’t handle the darkness inside him. I knew he still refused to fully let himself go.

It used to bother me—knowing he’d never be completely free with me. But not anymore. Because I saw it for what it was. Holding back his demons was the way Q protected me. He gave me just enough to satisfy both of us. But not enough to destroy what we held so precious.

But this…it was something else.

A secret he harboured night and day and one he refused to share even when he had me at my rawest, barest form quivering beneath his touch and open to any suggestion he might utter.

Turning in my embrace, Q kissed the top of my head. “What will I find soon enough?”

“Stuff.”

“Stuff?”

“Not telling…but I will give one hint.”

His face darkened. “I don’t appreciate secrets, Tess.”

“This isn’t a secret. Besides, you’re about to find out.” Dancing from his arms, I headed toward the bathroom. “Oh, and you might want to pack something. Whatever you need for three days.”

His jaw tightened, but before he could growl and demand answers, I slammed the bathroom door in his face.

WHAT THE FUCK was she up to?

She knew I hated secrets.

She knew surprises fucked me off and made me rage. Surprises in my world were never good. And she’d given me enough to last a lifetime. First, by forcing me to accept my darkness, and then, by being stolen from my protection.

I’d done things.

I’d killed people.

I’d hurt both her and myself.

All because of secrets and surprises.

My hands balled as I banged on the bathroom door. “Ouvre la porte, Tess. Maintenant!” Open the door. Now!

My breathing came hard and harsh as the shower splashed, echoing off tiled surfaces behind locked obstructions.

I attacked the door again. “Answer me, esclave. Tell me what you’re planning. Otherwise—”

“Eh, sir?”

“What?” I roared, spinning to face the unwanted guest. Visitors were not permitted in this part of the house. Not even to clean. The apparatus and toys Tess and I used were for our eyes only.

People knew what I needed. Our staff and friends understood how fucked up I was. Yet knowing and seeing were entirely different things.

I shuddered as the beast inside me scratched and clawed. Tess had forced me to leave her alone. She’d barricaded herself so I couldn’t lash out and torture a confession from her.

Fuck.

My cock twitched at the thought of hurting her.

The disgusting sickness never let me go. I’d already done so much to her. I’d branded her. I’d bit her. I’d whipped and bled and fucked her.

Yet now, she’d forsaken me, and the monster howled at the goddamn moon for answers to her secrets.

Franco stepped hesitantly into my quarters. “Tess said the car is ready.” He rubbed the back of his neck. The guy was slightly taller than I was, yet he knew what I was capable of. He’d seen me tear a rapist’s heart from his chest all because my esclave told me to.

“What car? Pourquoi?” Why? I pointed at the door, punching it again for good measure. “Know what? I’d rather hear it from her.” I hoped she understood my anger at her stupid games. The moment I had access to her, she’d regret ever keeping things from me.

Franco glanced at the locked bathroom, a slight smile on his face. “Fuck, she does know you well.”

My nostrils flared as my heart raced to a diabolic rhythm. “What does she know?”

“That you wouldn’t take this news calmly.”

I fought my temper. “Being kept in the dark won’t exactly make me calm.”

Things had been going so well. I had her. My work. My charities. Yes, I was frustrated, and I wanted things that hadn’t come true. And fuck yes, I’d found myself curbing my true nature more and more because the longer Tess was my wife, the more I fought the need to keep her safe—even from myself. But none of that mattered because I had her. I’d earned her. Hadn’t I?

Our marriage was good.

Our sex life was excellent.

But things were…missing.

No, not missing.

Changing.

“Fuck!” I roared, kicking the door, wishing I had an axe to chop it to smithereens. My attention slipped from Franco and his fucking cryptic comments to the ceaseless shower washing my naked woman only a few metres away.

Goddamn door and the extra locks and precautions