The enticing aroma of garlic and thyme wafted out from the kitchen. I inhaled.

“Marj made coq au vin,” Talon said. “There’s plenty left if you want some.”

I hadn’t eaten, and at his words, I found that I was famished.

“Thanks. Don’t mind if I do.”

He went with me in the kitchen and pulled a plate out of the cupboard.

“Go and sit down. I can take care of this.” I fixed myself a plate of Marj’s masterpiece, warmed it up in the microwave, and poured myself a glass of red wine. “Do you want a glass of wine?” I asked Talon.

He shook his head.

I sat down at the table and gestured to the seat next to me. “Sit with me while I eat.”

Between bites, I told Talon about the conversation with my mom.

“How does that make you feel?” he asked.

I couldn’t help but smile. “You definitely have been in therapy, haven’t you?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I think that’s the first time you’ve ever asked me how something made me feel.”

His face was troubled for a moment. “Jade, I’ve been selfish.”

I swallowed the bite of delicious chicken I’d taken. “What do you mean? Where did that come from?”

“I’ve been so involved in my own problems, I’ve been blind to everything around me. And I’m…sorry for that.”

“Do you want to tell me? About your therapy?”

He visibly swallowed and shook his head. “I’m not quite ready for that yet. Please be patient with me.”

“I will be as patient as it takes. You mean everything to me, Talon. You go at this at your own pace, and just know that I will be here whenever you need me.”

“You have no idea how much that means to me.”

I smiled. “I think I do.”

Talon looked at me, his eyes serious. “You never answered my question.”

I finished the last of my plate full of delicious French cuisine and took the last sip of my wine. “What question was that?”

“I asked how the conversation with your mother made you feel.”

I smiled. He truly wanted to know. This was a huge leap for him. I had never thought of Talon as selfish, but truly, he had been encased in his own little world, and I still didn’t know the exact facts of that world. But I had told him I would be patient with him, and even though I wanted more than anything to know what was going on, I would wait until he was ready to talk to me.

“Honestly? I don’t know what to feel. I feel like my emotions have been on a roller coaster, like they’ve been stretched to their absolute maximum and then snapped back into place. This is a woman who basically abandoned me, who chose her career and her second husband over her small child. But she’s still my mother. And she’s the only mother I’ll ever have. So part of me truly wants to get to know her. But then I feel like she doesn’t deserve that.”

“Blue eyes, it sounds like you want to punish her.”

“Well, what if I do? She certainly deserves it.”

“Yes, she does deserve it. She should never have abandoned her child. But by punishing her, who are you hurting?”

“Well, her.”

“True. But you’re also punishing yourself. Denying yourself your mother.”

I couldn’t help a small laugh. “Therapy’s been good for you, Talon. You’ve gained a lot of insight.”

“Blue eyes…”

“Oh, come on. Don’t get testy. This is a good thing. I’m giving you a compliment. And you’re right. Punishing my mother will only result in negative feelings for me. I should give her another chance. It’s just that, she may end up leaving me again.”

“True. She may. But you’re a grown woman now, Jade. She can’t hurt you anymore the way she did. At least you’ll know you tried. You’ll never have to wonder what if.”

I’d always known Talon was brilliant, but this new insight amazed me. Whatever therapy was doing for him, I hoped it was helping him as much as he was helping me right now.

“You know what I’d like to do now, blue eyes?”

“What’s that?”

“I’d like to take you to my bed.”

I wasn’t about to argue with that. I stood, rinsed off my plate and glass in the sink, and turned to him. His dark eyes were ablaze with fire. He stalked toward me, like a wolf stalking his prey.

“Remember last time, when I blindfolded you?”

I nodded, trembling.

“Did you like that, blue eyes?”

Still trembling, I nodded again.

“Then I have a big surprise for you.” He grabbed me, lifted me in his strong arms, and carried me out of the kitchen, down the hallway, to his bedroom.

He put me down and then sat on his bed. “Undress for me, blue eyes.”

This wasn’t the first time he’d asked me to undress for him, and I wanted to give him a treat. But as usual, I was wearing a pullover top. My large chest negated button-up blouses, but right now, I would have loved to be able to provocatively unbutton each button at a time, baring just a tiny bit of warm skin, to drive him crazy. All I could do was pull my top over my head. So I did, trying to do it as slowly and provocatively as I could, but within a few seconds the top was off, and I tossed it to the floor. I stood in my bra and my black pencil skirt. I was wearing regular black pumps with no pantyhose. At that moment again, I wished for a front-clasp bra that I could tear open, and my breasts would fall gently of their own accord. But no, it was a back-clasp thirty-four double D, and unclasping it wasn’t sexy. But I did it, tossed it to the floor, and my breasts were bare.

He eyed me lasciviously. “God, Jade, you do have the most luscious tits in the universe.”

I smiled. Evidently my striptease was having the desired effect, even though I didn’t find it particularly provocative.

“Remember those nipple clamps, blue eyes?”

I gulped. He had only used them once before, and they had been such a turn-on. I heated all over, and my pussy started throbbing.

“I think we might be seeing them again tonight,” he said. “Along with some other things.”

Tingles shot across my skin.

“But first you have to get naked.”

I smiled as I kicked my pumps off. Then I slid my stretch pencil skirt over my narrow hips until it was a black puddle around my feet. I kicked it toward my shoes.