Chapter 52

Sinead could tell she’d finally, finally taken Marc by surprise. She’d come into the conversation hot, and she’d known it. She’d planned on it. Planned on giving him a piece of her mind.

She hadn’t been ready for Marc to be so fucking ... sincere.

He’d just stop?

Really?

But everything he said made an odd sort of sense. She could argue that he had been leveraging her to start out, but the leverage was based entirely on her own desire to make a case no matter what. She wasn’t sure she did want ‘the game’ to stop, and Marc showing her that the door was unlocked and she could walk out at any time was different than what she expected. She’d thought he would fight her on it, argue with her. She’d been ready for him to press hard and convince her to keep going.

And, deep down, she’d sort of wanted him to fight and keep her in it, which was a disturbing thought.

But the door was open, and she was looking back out at the world, and her metaphorical feet felt heavy. She was scared, and frustrated, with who and what Marc was, and what he did to her, but...

God, he made her come hard. And made her stomach feel like a teenager getting asked to prom by their crush. And that fucking smile...

But he wasn’t smiling now. She’d caught him unaware, maybe for the first time.

“I assume you heard that name at the fundraiser?” he finally asked. His face had barely twitched from the neutral expression he’d worn as he’d outlined the state of things between them, and what would happen if they stopped. But it had twitched, just a little.

“People didn’t mention her to me, but I heard her name joined with yours a lot in nearby conversations,” Sinead said. “And I’m not an idiot. You have sex toys on hand in your bedroom. You’re ... experienced in things that I’m not. You’re way too good at buying women’s clothing as a gift. So who is she? Because I’m not looking to be the person you cheat with, Marc - I know you’re not married, at least legally. Is she your girlfriend?”

Marc worked his jaw a couple of times, forming the right words, and even in her frustrated concern Sinead felt a little spark of a smirk starting to form, knowing she was finally putting him on the back foot. She suppressed the urge to let that smirk fly though because it would be- Fuck, it would be bitchy, she thought. Or ... bratty.

“Felicity is a very good friend of mine and long-term casual partner,” Marc finally said. “We are...” he took a breath. “We are lovers, but not in a traditional relationship. So no, she is not my ‘girlfriend,’ though many of my acquaintances assume that we are joined in that way and it is easier not to disabuse them of that.”

“Does she know about me?” Sinead asked. “Did she need to approve you starting this thing with me?”

“No, she didn’t need to approve,” Marc said. “And yes, she does know about you, Detective. She doesn’t know who you are, only that I am involved with a female police detective.”

“And she knows about the ... games?” Sinead asked, not knowing how she felt about that.

“She does,” Marc nodded. “It was actually her idea to take you to the fundraiser. She thought you would enjoy seeing a bit more of my world, and I agreed.”

That was a weird feeling in her gut. ‘Jealousy’ wouldn’t cover it, and neither would ‘envy.’ For a second Sinead thought she was disgusted, but that wasn’t right either. A woman she didn’t know was suggesting to the man who she was... ‘playing’ with what sort of things she might enjoy.

“Do you do the same things with her?” Sinead asked.

“Felicity is a submissive,” Marc nodded. “We are very close and have shared many experiences and games together. She and I are not the same as you and I, though, Sinead. I- This is a complicated subject, and I say this honestly - the more you see behind the curtain, I think, the faster the newness of our game will wear off and you can only have that once. I can tell you more, but you need to decide if what you’ve been experiencing is something you want to continue or not.”