Page 40 of Hidden

“Red,” she croaked out. The cane landed in the grass with a soft thud, and Reggie moved in close with a blanket he’d grabbed from a nearby chair. Reaching up, he pulled the quick release on the ropes that held her in place, and he draped the blanket around her shoulders as he worked to pull the rope off her wrists.

In the far corner of the backyard, just a few feet from where they had been playing was a small seating area with patio furniture. The onlookers sitting there cleared out without having to be asked, and Reggie led her to the vacated couch, pulling her down with him as he sat.

“Did I push you too far, or did something else happen? I lost you damn fast.”

Carrie shook her head. “Sorry. I just hit my limit faster than usual.”

Reggie offered her a smile with concern in his eyes. “Don’t apologize. That’s what safewords are for. It just happened fast and I want to make sure you’re OK. I was pretty rough on you for our first time playing together.”

Carrie settled back on the couch and winced. She was going to have welts and bruises for days. Normally, that would give her a reason to smile, but right now she was too shaken over seeing Peter. Had he followed her? If so, how had he gotten in? The new club they were opening was called Exposure because everyone was taking a risk by being part of it. But they’d put policies in place to reduce that risk as much as possible.

Edith had assured her that Gage was just as anal about privacy at his house as he was about privacy at the new club. But that clearly wasn’t the case if Peter could just walk in off the street and gawk. Feeling vulnerable, she pulled the blanket tighter around her.

Sitting up straighter, she smiled at Reggie. Inside, she was picturing all the ways she wanted to murder Peter. “I promise I’m fine. That was wonderful. I’m sorry I had to end it so abruptly. I would love to do it again sometime.”

The man grinned at her. “Great. Can I get you anything? We didn’t talk about aftercare much, which was a mistake on my part.”

Carrie patted his arm. “Don’t worry about it. If you could get me my dress and heels, I’ll be perfect again.”

Reggie squeezed her shoulder and sprinted back to the frame to pick up her clothes. Most of the crowd had dispersed and were back inside or setting up to play themselves. When Reggie came back, she tugged on her dress and offered him a hug. Once he had walked away, she took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. She wasn’t looking forward to confronting Peter.

She found him standing in the living room. Grabbing his hand, she marched him to the front of the house where the quiet social area was. Thankfully, nobody else was there.

She jabbed a finger into his chest.

“Are you fucking following me?” she hissed.

His eyebrows rose. “What? No! Of course not. I’m just as surprised to see you as you are to see me.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not buying it Mercer.”

He placed a finger over her lips. “Don’t use my last name, please.”

Shoving his hand away, she glared. “How did you get in here?”

Peter seemed genuinely confused. “Same way you did I would imagine.”

“I mean this is a private fucking party. You can’t just walk through the God damned door.”

Peter’s hands gripped her shoulders, and she struggled to step away. “Whoa. You need to calm down and explain yourself.”

Edith walked in, preventing her from exploding on him. “Oh Carrie, there you are. You OK? I see you found Peter. He was babbling about you not being safe.”

Carrie stepped back. “Wait, a minute. Youknowhim?”

Edith chuckled. “Yes honey. He’s been coming to Gage’s parties for as long as I can remember. How do you know him?”

Peter grinned at her like a cocky bastard and Carrie wanted to punch him in the face. Edith tossed a glance between them and cleared her throat. “I’m interrupting, so I’ll talk to you later.” She slipped out of the room and back down the hall.

Carrie was overcome with the need to sit down, so she lowered herself to a nearby couch.

“Care to tell me why the fuck you lied to me and came here tonight?” Peter sat next to her.

“Oh, bite me. I’m processing here.”

Peter nodded. “I think we both have some processing to do.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

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