Seth reddened and dropped his gaze. “Fuck, man. She’s your wife. I don’t love her.” That was a lie, and he knew it.

He just prayed Kaden didn’t know it.

“I’m not a moron. You’re not gay. You’ve got a hard-on right now. Admit it.”

Seth felt his face redden even deeper. They never talked about sex. There was one drunken night after high school graduation, before Kade went to college and he went into basic training. A bottle of tequila and a willing coed later, they’d had an incredible three-way, yet over the years they never talked about their sex lives.

“Fuck, you parade her around here dressed like that, and I’d have to be dead not to notice her.”

“She’s wearing a lot more than she normally wears.”

This couldn’t be real. Seth looked at Kaden, who wore a sly smile.

Kaden continued. “Normally she’s only got her collar on when we’re home alone. The hair and makeup aren’t normal when we’re home. That’s special for you tonight. I wanted her to look her best. Usually she wears a slightly longer skirt and shirt when we go to the club or private dungeon parties.”

“Club?” Dungeon parties?

“Yeah. There’s a private BDSM club we’re members of up in Sarasota. We usually go once a week. You’ll have fun.”

Seth sat back and held up his hands. “Whoa. Dude, I said I’d hear you out. I never promised I’d agree to this. I don’t think I can just…beat a woman.” The thought turned his stomach.

The thought of Kaden beating Leah damn near made him sick. And angry.

Kaden’s face hardened. “I do not beat my wife. I have never hit her.”

Okay, now he was confused. And more than just a little relieved. “Then what the fuck are we talking about? Isn’t that what BDSM is all about?”

“It’s one of those things I have to show you. Trust me, there’s a huge difference between what we do—which is carefully scripted and I’ve spent thousands of hours practicing so I don’t injure her—and some fucking peckerhead who takes a swing at his wife.”

He took another swallow from his beer. “As I was saying, Tony agreed that if worst comes to worst he can take her on as his slave, but there won’t be the emotional connection for her. I’m worried it wouldn’t be enough for her. If you agree to this, you can be there for her. I won’t have to worry about her after I’m gone.”

Kaden drained his beer. “I want you to move in with us. I want you to live with us, and I’ll teach you. We’ll teach you. She’s nearly an expert in shibari, so she can take over teaching my classes. She’s going to need your help taking care of me. After I’m gone, she’ll need you to take care of her.”

“I’ve got to eat, man. How am I supposed to do all this and go to school and work?” He was trying to find an excuse to get him out of this, one that Kaden would agree was valid.

One that wouldn’t make him look like a total chickenshit asshole.

Kaden’s dying.

“Quit your job. You’re only working part-time, for crying out loud. I’ll take care of everything. I’ll even draw up an agreement. You take at least a couple of semesters off. We’ll pay for your school, pay off your outstanding student loans, everything. You live here, help Leah, help me. Once…” His voice choked up. Seth felt something inside him die at the sound.

“Once I’m gone,” Kaden finally continued, “you marry Leah and stay with her for at least a year. I’ll draw up a prenup for you guys. After the year, if the two of you want to get divorced you can, as long as you promise you’ll still be her Master unless she falls in love with someone else who is capable of taking over. You can make sure he’ll take good care of her. If he meets your approval, then you can train him for her.”

As crazy as this situation was, the thought of someone else being with Leah spun a strange, cold thread inside Seth. It knotted around his gut, drawing tight.

“Dude,” he whispered, shocked, “you’re asking me to marry your wife?”

“Well, not until after I’m dead.” Kaden’s practical smile chilled Seth. “It’ll keep the government from taxing the hell out of you. You’ll be able to access the assets, as her husband. Hell of a lot easier than trying to leave it to you.”

Kaden was a control freak, meticulously planned everything, he always had. Probably one of the reasons he was such a damn good attorney.

This, however, stretched beyond the pale.

Apparently Kaden sensed Seth had reached his immediate limit for processing information. He went quiet and let his friend think things through. After a few minutes, Kaden quietly spoke. “She enjoys it. I didn’t force her into this. She craves it. It’s security for her. She knows I will always protect her. I promised.”

“This isn’t a cave where some other guy will drag her away by her hair, dude. Get real.”

Kaden glanced through the sliders to the lanai, where Leah tended the steaks on the grill.

“I’m not going to tell you everything tonight. I will, however, give you a little insight. Leah grew up in foster care, spent most of her childhood there.”

Well that made things clear as mud. “So?”

“Her biological father was sent to jail. Her mom died when she was two.”

If Kade had a point, Seth wished he’d hurry the hell up and make it. “Again, so?”

Kaden took a deep breath. “He went to jail for raping Leah when she was seven.”

Seth felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. “Holy fuck,” he whispered.

Kaden nodded. “Her life went downhill from there, if you can imagine that.” He walked to the fridge and got another beer. He held up one for Seth, who shook his head.

Maybe he shouldn’t have a lot of alcohol tonight.

“That’s why we’ve never had kids,” Kaden explained. “Why she can’t have kids. Between that and…other things that happened to her over the years. She didn’t want to go through the surgeries and IVF and all that crap. I respected her decision.”

Seth reeled. Leah seemed to be the most put-together person, besides Kaden, that he’d ever known. He’d never heard her talk about her past or her family beyond meeting Kaden. He just assumed she was estranged from them. He never would have guessed…

Holy fuck.

Kaden leaned over the counter and dropped his voice. “She needs things. It helps her cope. She doesn’t feel or express emotional pain like you and me. She needs safety and security. She needs someone who will care for and about her and understand why she needs…things. Someone she can put her full trust in. It’s how she’s made it all these years.”

Seth could barely stand the intensity in Kaden’s grey eyes.

“Seth, I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t think you could take good care of her.”

“What ‘things’ are you talking about?”

“I’ll show you after dinner.”

* * *

When Leah returned with the steaks and vegetables—Seth’s steak cooked exactly the way he liked it, as always—he couldn’t help but stare at her.

She managed a wan smile and looked at Kaden.

He nodded. “Tonight, that’s one you don’t have to worry about. Okay, love?”

Seth couldn’t help himself. “One what?”

“Rule,” Kaden replied, as if it was nothing. “Normally when we’re formal she must ask for permission before speaking to someone unless I’ve already said it’s okay.”

Seth didn’t know if it was his friend’s words or the matter-of-fact tone that threw him. “Permission?”

Leah nodded. “Master takes very good care of me. He wants to make sure I don’t talk with someone I shouldn’t. I prefer it that way.”

He’d seen this woman work a room full of hundreds of people at a fundraising banquet, Sarasota’s movers and shakers, greeting guests and organizing the caterer and servers.

And she was asking permission to speak to him?

As if reading his thoughts, she smiled again. “I know it’s sort of a lot to get used to.”

“Get used to?” He stared at them. “I mean, I thought I knew you two! You’re my best friends. How could I not know this was going on?”

“What was I supposed to say?” Kaden asked. “Hey, Seth, guess what? Want to hear what Leah and I do when the door’s locked and the blinds are drawn?”

“You weren’t doing this when I stayed with you after my surgery.”

Leah nodded. “Yes, we were. We just weren’t formal while you were with us, but we were still doing this.”

“But…but you’re so normal!”

Finally, a genuine, sly smile from Leah. “You’ll be surprised who’s into the lifestyle.”

Kaden took over. “That’s the whole point. It’s not like what you see on the Internet. A majority of the people who are into some sort of kink, you’d never know it unless you ran into them doing it somewhere. It’s not a bunch of horny freaks fucking anything that moves and wearing masks. I mean, yeah, there are some people like that. Most people are like us.” He gently stroked Leah’s cheek. Something about the tender gesture saddened Seth. “Well, maybe not like us. A lot of people aren’t into it twenty-four/seven like we are.”

Seth studied them. They both watched him. “Leah, are you telling me you’re willingly his slave?” He already knew her answer. How many times had he envied her devotion to Kaden over the years?

A lot.

“Master takes very good care of me.” Her voice choked up a little at the end as Kaden’s eyes met hers. “He’s always taken very good care of me,” she whispered, nuzzling his hand when he stroked her cheek again.

“Let’s eat before it gets cold,” Kaden said as he removed his glasses and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

* * *

After dinner, Leah cleared the table while Kaden led Seth to the back of the house, to a room he’d always assumed was Kaden’s private home office. He hadn’t been in there since construction was completed. Normally it stayed locked, a small electronic number combination pad just above the knob.