Divine Solace: 8 by Joey W. Hill

but she
hadn’t noticed him carrying a phone, an unusual thing for anyone these days.
She could always call the nursery and leave a message that she wasn’t coming.
If that’s what she decided to do.
    She tuned back into the present at Tea Leaves. She was
already missing him, which was a crazy schoolgirl feeling she hadn’t had…well,
since she was a schoolgirl.
    Chloe had brought one of her fresh pound cakes this morning,
as well as strawberry preserves made from the fruits of her garden. When she
and Brendan married, they’d decided to give up Brendan’s apartment and stay in
the house Chloe was renting. They were now on a lease-to-own plan. In a rural
area outside Tampa, the run-down cottage surrounded by a wild tangle of nature
had always been a good fit for Chloe. Brendan meshed with it the way he meshed
with Chloe herself.
    That couldn’t be as simple as it appeared. How had Chloe,
not a Mistress per Noah’s description, made it work with a male who was as
devoted to the submissive role as Noah himself? She thought of how Noah had
adapted to her this weekend. True, it was a limited interaction, and she
certainly wasn’t a Mistress of Lyda’s caliber—she didn’t think of herself as a
Mistress at all. Yet taking the lead with him had felt so…refreshing. If that
was how it worked with Chloe, was that enough for Brendan, or was there more to
it?
    It didn’t really matter, did it? Why was she even thinking
about it?
    “Earth to Gen…”
    Chloe was standing at her side. Her coworker was switching
out the teas Gen had put in the brewer, because she’d been about to make the
wrong flavor for the morning special. Though Chloe had her trying moments, far
more often she picked up on Gen’s moods perfectly, like now. Chloe squeezed her
hand. “Want some pound cake for breakfast?”
    “Love some.” They still had about fifteen minutes before
opening and everything was ready. Marguerite was in early today, but currently
on the phone in her office. Chloe had already parked a piece of the cake at her
elbow, along with a cup of Marguerite’s preferred morning brew. Now Chloe
snagged herself a fork and she and Gen shared a piece while leaning against
either side of the counter, something they’d done often enough it was a
foregone conclusion they’d split the calories.
    It was a good reminder of why Gen felt so accepted here. She
shouldn’t be doing anything to rock that boat, but that missing-Noah feeling
was putting pressure beneath her ribs, making her stomach all swirly.
    She should have kissed him. He would have kissed her if
she’d lifted her head. Since she’d denied herself that, she’d let herself
indulge some idle curiosity along with the pound cake.
    “So what do you think is his best skill? I’m just wanting to
know some more about him,” she qualified. “About…that side of him.”
    “At the club, we call him the Pussy Whisperer.”
    Gen choked, set down her fork. “What?”
    “Thought that would get you to lighten up.” Chloe pressed
the tines of her fork against the top of Gen’s hand, a gentle tease. “But it is
true. Mind you, I haven’t experienced it directly. Brendan would absolutely
flip.”
    Chloe beamed at her absent husband’s possessiveness. “At
first, he tried to be the way he was with other Mistresses before me. Like
whatever, whoever I wanted, it was all the same to him, but he left that
bullshit behind pretty fast. Especially when I made it clear it hurt my
feelings, him thinking it was okay for me to be with other guys. Even if it was
a club sub in a structured session. Sometimes it’s how things go both ways in a
relationship that locks it in, makes it a stronger bond, if that makes sense.”
    It did, but Gen’s focus was on one particular submissive.
“Do a lot of them have that kind of arrangement? Multiple partners? Are Lyda
and Noah that way?”
    Noah had made it clear that Lyda’s decision to share him
with Gen, without Lyda present, wasn’t their usual