A Slave to Love, Broken Hearts, and Everything In Between

Chapter 5: Whisper, Part 2

Slave to Broken Hearts, Chapter 46: Whisper -- Ace POV 

"So..." Kiana said once Rick left, in a tone that meant I was screwed. "...friend of yours?"

"You could say that." Maybe I could try and deny it somehow?

"Uh-huh."

"You know, don't you?"

"I have a hunch."

It wasn't a hunch, it was a fact.

"Was it that obvious?" I asked with a sigh. Of course it was obvious. Rick easily could have hidden it, but why would he? That wasn't nearly as fun.

"Kind of, yeah," she said, bumping my hip with a smile, not at all upset or even that surprised looking. I wasn't sure whether I should be relieved or not. Not that there was anything to be ashamed of, but I preferred not to have my private life aired out in front of her thank you very much. "And here I thought you were straight."

"To be perfectly fair, he was--is--the only exception," I said. Sure I'd tangled with men in the past, one on one and in more crowded settings, and I'd even enjoyed it, but for the most part I preferred women and didn't tend to actively seek out men. It just sort of happened by circumstance. Eh. Okay. Mostly anyway. Besides, most people would agree that Rick surpassed the rigid confines of sexual labels. "Very few people have walked away from that opportunity, even those who swore up and down they would never go there. Rick has a way of turning even the most levelheaded and unfeeling people into a puddle of warm goo, it's like some kind of super power."

"Interesting. Very interesting," she said, looking me up and down with new eyes. I prayed she wouldn't notice anything to incriminate me, hint at what we'd been doing before she showed up. At the very least, Rick's goodbye had left me more emotional than horny, so I wasn't in danger of showing off an unfortunate hard on right now. "So did you date or--?"

"Nobody dates Rick. He woos you, sweeps you off for a magical night, and then it's over. You will never see or hear from him ever again unless you run into him by accident at some event. He's only interested in passionate moments, nothing else," I said, because she did look tempted and if she did want to go down that path, I wanted her to have all the facts. Didn't want her to get hurt again. Rick wouldn't do it on purpose, he wasn't like that, he always made things clear and was kind hearted enough to do everything he could to leave his partners satisfied and comfortable, but still. She'd had enough. And plenty of people got hung up on him anyway. It wasn't his fault he was irresistible--that was a risk you took when you got intimate with him--a risk most people were happy to gamble on, even if they lost. "Usually, you only get one night, he loves the thrill of something new, but sometimes--" I grinned as I recalled how he came here tonight, just for me "--he'll bend the rule and come back."

"I suppose you were his only exception?" she teased.

"Make fun all you want, but that is a crowning achievement for me, okay? If you took him up on his offer, you'd understand what I meant. I've been around a long time and I'm not afraid to admit that some of my best times were with him."

"Hmm, you do have his contact information right? Maybe I was a little hasty turning him down."

She was just joking, yet it still made me ache just a little because maybe under the joke was a bit of truth. But I was her friend and nothing more, so whatever feelings I had, needed to be squashed and hidden away.

"I know you're probably kidding, but seriously? Think about it," I said, because this was the way it had to be. Maybe seeing her with someone else, even Rick, or any other stranger, might help hammer the point home that she was off-limits and not even interested if she was. Then I could move on.