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The stark way she said the last made Tate suck in his breath like someone had punched him directly in the stouts me to have to listen to you say that? About me? Your husband, your Dominant, your lover? All I can look back and see is that I never made it possible for you to come to me with your unhappiness How could you have toldto hear it?"

He rose up to his elbow, planting it in the pillow so they were now nose-to-nose

"I will never walk away fro to happen I don’t knohy the hell you haven’t walked away fro lect I’ve spent the entire afternoon while you’ve been sleeping all curled up next to ivein my life You, baby You And I al with you Because I cannot iineto say about it at all, you and I are going to grow old and gray together and loving every single minute of it There is no Tate without Chessy and I hope to hell there’s never a Chessy without Tate"

She s of their relationship So siant and beautiful No Chessy without Tate and no Tate without Chessy It certainly fit her way of thinking when it came to the man she married and loved with all her heart

"I love you," she said, thinking--no, knowing--he needed to hear it again As e ile right nohen he understood all he had to lose

He touched his forehead to hers and just rested it there, their breaths , eyes closed as they savored the intiirl too," he breathed "And now I’ she’s not going to forget any time soon, and I mean every part fro to get very special treatasm when he paid a little extra attention to the area between her legs later, Chessy sat at her vanity while Tate carefully ran a coh her towel-dried curls

Her entire body was quivering in the afterass would have supported her straight out of the shower The result was a small puddle of water on the floor where it had drained off her body and fro on her mind

She smiled up at Tate in the reflection of theone of her favorite things that Tate had done so often over the years Tend to her hair She was a total tactile person, loved being touched and loved having her hair brushed or simply played with

She couldn’t count the times in earlier years when she and Tate would simply lie on the couch, her head in his lap as he idly ran his fingers through her strands as they watched a movie It would always count as one of her best memories

Her eyelids fluttered open and her smile disappeared for a briefback at her in the , baby? Did I hurt you? Ahed "As if You’re a et tired of financial advising, you can always start up a salon You’d have wo in droves just for those hands of yours Which, by the way, are totallyanother woman access!"

He looked befuddled for the briefest of seconds and then threw back his head and laughed But then he sobered and focused his stare back on her

"What were you frowning about then?"

She fidgeted uneasily on her vanity bench, not wanting to bring up a bad subject But Tate wasn’t going to allow her to dodge his question Quietly he rotated her, picking up her legs and swiveling her body until she faced hiot down on one knee and cupped his hand to her face

"Tell hed "I know I shouldn’t ask I mean, that’s not the way our relationship works, and I don’t want you to get the idea that I want our relationship to change That I don’t want your dominance and for you to ently "I think we both knoe’re at a fragile point in our relationship where the rules are te They have to Because I need to knohat your needs and wants are I’d want to know that regardless of whether it’s now or two years ago I’ve alanted you to communicate your needs to me How else can I fulfill them?

"Yes, it’s my job as your Dominant to often know your wants and needs before you do even, and it’s my job to provide those for you But I’ve been a complete dumbass and as a result--and it’s painful for h to own up to my failures--I a that But you’re going to have to help me until we’re back on track That open line of coo? That has to be in place going forward"

She nodded her understanding, breathing out her relief They would be okay She could feel it Tate was going to extraordinary lengths for ain control of every aspect of his life But he was right They were in anything but control right now and it would take theet back to smooth waters