Page 126 of Kneeling to Candy

Unbelievable. The fucking piece of shit was ready to teach her a lesson for talking back to him, and I reacted. All my woman could think about was saving the mission—not her safety or her emotional state. Here she is crying, thinking I’m upset with her for going domme on me in front of everyone instead of worrying about her own well-being.

Shaking my head at her ridiculous, though adorable, reasoning, I press my lips to hers. Candy kisses me back, grabbing hold of my lapels. I can feel her tension in her lips vibrating against mine. My actions have shown her I love her. Now it’s time for my words to set her at ease.

“No worries, Candy.”

Her eyebrows rise to her hairline. “No worries? How can you sweep what I did away like it was no big deal? Jesus, Butch. I held a knife to your throat…”

Candy pauses, briskly swiping away a rogue tear running down her round cheek.

“There’s no way what I did wasn’t triggering for you. It would have triggered me.”

“If you had snuck up behind me, it may have affected me. But you came at me head-on. It wasn’t the same—not by a mile. Did it surprise me? Yes. But not the way you imagined.”

I wipe away another errant tear from her soft cheek and bring it to my lips, sucking it into my mouth. Her tears are for me, and damn if I’m not going to hoard and savor them.

“Please, don’t worry about it.”

She releases a stuttering sigh. “Butch, I revealed our private relationship.”

Our personal life being exposed should bother me. And under any other scenario, I probably would be upset with her. But not this. Not with the way things played out.

“Sweetness, the situation was an exception to the rule. Everyone assumes you were improvising. No one is going to question if we have a domme/sub relationship. And if they do, we can say you wanted to show O’Conall you were on the same status as him, to prove he could no longer bring you under his command.”

“That was part of my reasoning, too. Cú Sidhe, I mean, O’Conall needed to see he no longer controls me,” Candy admits, biting her thumbnail. She quickly catches herself showing her nerves and drops her hand to her side, shaking out her hands like she’s attempting to shed the last of her worry.

“I know you were nervous—how you’re still nervous. But your performance was solid. And I think you did more than show him.” I smile, recalling how she shocked not only O’Conall, but everyone. “More like you showed him up.”

Candy shrugs, like it was no big deal. But she can’t help her smugness from shining through. The corners of her cupid lips turn upward a fraction, enough to show she’s proud of her fast thinking. “It felt good to take the power back.”

I kiss her forehead. “No doubt. Totally worth bending the knee to you in front of everyone.”

The dim lights in the suite brighten and dull a handful of times, indicating the start of the auction. Candy and I return to the group, placing our earpieces back in our ears.

Ziggy side-eyes the two of us. “You two good?”

I nod, giving my brother a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder.

“Good. ’Cause it’s going to get ugly here real soon.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

BUTCH

Duffy appears on stage at the microphone, pulling our attention back to the mission. An intercom in the room allows us to hear Duffy speak.

“Good evening, gents and ladies. Welcome to The Elite Auction, where you’ll find the finest flesh goods in the Western hemisphere. Tonight’s selection houses some of our premium finds to date. Hope you brought deep pockets—you’ll need them in order to win the rights to one of these beauties leaving with you today.”

“Disgusting,” Ziggy mutters beside us.

“Indeed,” Piero murmurs, his voice low and deadly.

The elevator door on the left opens, revealing a nearly naked woman dressed in purple lingerie.

“Our first auction item is this lovely redhead. And if you’re wondering, the answer is yes. The carpet matches the drapes.” The leprechaun-looking twat laughs at his own joke, snorting like a swine.

“I’m gonna gut that one,” Tank mutters, jutting his chin at Duffy on the stage. “Put him on a spit like the pig he is.”

“Only if you share with the rest of us. Over,” I hear Reaper rumble through the comms, always eager to torture those who have it coming.

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