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. Thank you. It took everythinghe had not to call him sir.Staring down at the steaming liquid as if it held all the answers in the world was easierthan facing the situation before him.Unfortunately, there were no solutions hidden in the blackdepths of his coffee.When he finally convinced himself to look up, he felt just as clueless as hehad when he first saw Rawlings walk into the station that morning.Four days wasn t nearly enough time to get it all straightened out inside his head.Thetime he d spent with the dominant still seemed more like a fantasy than any of his dreams hadbeen. What happens now? he managed to ask, after a few more minutes of uncomfortablesilence. Now, you make a decision.Last weekend should have gone a little way toward helpingyou work out if this is what you really want, or if it was just something you were curious aboutand needed to get out of your system. Hadley wrapped his hands around the coffee mug and let the heat soak into his palms.Hehad a vague memory of doing the same thing while he sat in his kitchen the previous weekend,but that part of the night was even more confused in his head than the rest. You must think I man idiot. I think you re very young, very new, and standing right on the edge of it all.Everyonewho gives in to curiosity stood there once upon a time.Some leap in.Some don t. The olderman shrugged and took a sip of his own coffee. Some have no interest in leaping. You wanted to& you leapt, Hadley observed. Yes. And if I& if it wasn t it a onetime deal for curiosity or whatever? Hadley asked,trying not to stumble over his words. I think we suited each other very well, Rawlings said, perfectly calmly.Hadley nodded, afraid to lift his gaze from his coffee, just in case he saw amusement inthe other man s eyes.It was hard to believe he was anything less than a joke to the dominantafter the way he d acted that night. Look up. Hadley obeyed.There wasn t even a thought process just the order and the obedience ofit.Rawlings took a key out of his pocket and put it on the desk. For the playroom.Let meknow when you ve made up your mind about visiting it again. Reaching out, Hadley picked up the key.He held it so tightly, the jagged edge dug intohis palm.Rawlings continued to hold his gaze for several long seconds, as if he really could seestraight into his mind.He nodded once before he rose to his feet and walked away withoutanother word.* * * *I ve made up my mind, sir.The moment Hadley pressed send on his mobile, he was filled with a desperate desire toclaw it back.He pushed the phone back into his pocket, as if that would somehow stop themessage from escaping.Taking a deep breath, Hadley looked around the little hallway that led into the properplayroom, not sure what to do now.He was pretty sure that when Rawlings had given him thekey to the playroom, he hadn t included silent permission to go into the main room and play withhis toys.His gaze fell on the coat rack.Leaving his clothes by the door had been a damn sighteasier when there was someone there to see him stripping down.Getting undressed when anorder hadn t actually been issued didn t feel the same.Standing naked in the middle of the emptyroom quickly made him feel like a complete pillock.He didn t even know if Rawlings was at home.He d seen a light on when he snuck pastthe house and to the annex, but the other man could have left it on when he went out.Heprobably was out.He probably had plans.For all Hadley knew, the other man had plans to bringanother guy back to the playroom that very night.Staring at his mobile phone, where he d placed it on top of the pile of clothes, Hadleysilently begged for it to ring, for Rawlings to phone him back and tell him that& to order himto& Hadley sighed.Pushing his hand through his hair, be began to pace around the small spacethat bridged the gap between the playroom and the real world. Glaring at his phone every three seconds didn t make it ring.He was on the verge ofscrambling back into his clothes and running away when a noise on the other side of the roomcaught his attention.The door to the outside world swung open.Before Hadley had time to panic, Rawlingsstepped inside and calmly closed the door after him.He didn t even look surprised to see him.Hadley looked at his mobile.He hadn t told the other man where he was.The guy was ashrink, fair enough.He could probably predict behaviors and whatever but there was no way inhell he should be so far inside Hadley s head that he d know where he was right then. I knew you were here the moment you stepped into the room. The calm certainty in theother man s voice was reassuring.It was hard to believe that Rawlings wasn t in completecontrol of the situation.Hadley forced himself to think rationally about the possibilities for a few seconds.Helooked to the upper corners of the room. Closed Circuit TV, sir? Silent alarm on the door. Hadley frowned. You said you knew it was me. He dropped his gaze
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