Bunny and the Beast(Divine Creek Ranch 22)(58)

“Unfaithful.”

She nodded. “Unfaithful.”

“Can Master Donald come back from where he is now?”

She shook her head.

“Then you are a widow, aren’t you? And you should be grieving. Only you’re not.”

His words sank in, and she flinched as if he’d struck her. Each breath came faster than the last until she was panting and her face was flushed. Her lovely face shattered, and her sobs came loud and broken, her face red and her nose running. “I want him back, Sir. I want him back!”

He stroked her trembling, chilled hands with his thumbs, wishing he could do just that. “You can’t, Jade, you can’t. And you can’t give up either. You have to go on, and you must receive the gift you have been given from him. The gift of searching without guilt for the One meant for you, for this chapter of your life. What if you deny Master Blake this chance and discover later you were meant to be his, only you wouldn’t because you missed a Master who is gone permanently?”

“That would be terrible. I wouldn’t want that.”

“I’m not telling you to swoon at Blake’s feet. I’m telling you that your view of the situation is clouded by pain and grief you won’t acknowledge. You can’t stay in the in-between anymore. You must live your life and please Master Donald in the only way you can now, by finding fulfillment while you’re still here on this Earth. He would want that for you. Did he ever enjoy seeing you crying or hurting for no good reason? I don’t recall him being much of a sadist.”

“No. He wasn’t that way.”

“How would he feel about his currently very stubborn, stiff-necked, procrastinating, argumentative submissive? Hmm?” he asked, using a tone that was purposefully resonant of Donald’s.

Goosebumps rippled over her skin, and she made a soft, shocked sound. “I wouldn’t be able to sit for a month.”

Joseph cleared his throat in a stern fashion, and Jade sat back, and her tearstained eyes were a little clearer.

“Sir.”

“There is a Dom sitting in my office, being kept waiting, and wondering where you are right now. Go. Spend time with him, here, tonight. But I have an assignment for you.”

“Sir?”

“You must sit down and tell him about yourself. Tell him about your parents and your upbringing. You will be honest with him, this time, and explain to him how you came to this lifestyle. You will tell him what you want in a Dom, and what you need. Once you have done these things, then you may engage in light play. I will let him know what your assignment is, and I will be displeased if I discover you have not been honest with him, and yourself.”

She blinked and wiped her cheeks on her shoulders again, not pulling her hands away because she hadn’t been released. Such a good sub.

“You will also go on a date with him, one night this week, Jade.”

Her posture straightened. He expected her to say a flat-out no, but she paused, another huffing breath on her lips, and then she said, “Yes, Sir. If you wish.”

Damn it. “This is for you, Jade, not me. I want for you to take it slow with him. He will accept that.” He’d already been over all of this with Blake, and the Dom had understood the need for patience. It was obvious he was quite taken with Jade and understood her prolonged grieving needed to be dealt with and that they would need to go slowly.

“I have also made appointments for you for grief counseling sessions.”

“But—” She looked around the grounds.

“Online sessions, Jade, with a counselor who is well-versed with our lifestyle. She will be able to help you. She will also visit you here at the mansion as her schedule allows. I want you to begin a journal devoted to thoughts about your time with Master Blake. He deserves the same consideration you gave to Master Donald in the early days.”

“Yes, Sir. I can do that.” She nodded. “I’ll start it tonight…afterward.”

“Good girl.”

“Mr. Hazelle?” Hughes called from the French doors.

Sighing at the interruption, he replied, “Yes, Hughes?”

“I’ve seen your guests to their suite, and Miss Carrigan is here to see you.”

“Thank you, Hughes. I’ll be right with her.”

Mr. Hughes nodded accommodatingly and smiled indulgently at the luscious redhead who stood in the shadows of the lounge, waiting her turn. He squeezed Jade’s hands and gazed down at her.

“Blake is waiting in my office. Now, I have to take a spunky sub on a dungeon tour, if you’ll excuse me.”

Jade let out a huffing breath and looked down, mutely.

Joseph chuckled. “Anything else you’d like to say? Or is her cheekiness rubbing off on you, too?”