Trust by Sherri Hayes Read Free Book Online

was doing the same, and that Cal and Jade were encouraging her to eat. The thought that she might not be taking care of herself caused the food I’d just eaten to churn in my stomach.
    Hearing Sarah coming down the stairs, I pushed my discomfort aside and walked back into the dining room to meet her. She had a somewhat serious expression on her face.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    Sarah turned away from me and headed into the living room. I followed. She reached the couch, paused as if she were going to sit down, then walked to the large window overlooking the city, and started pacing. After several moments, I took a seat in my chair and decided to wait her out. It wasn’t as if I had anything better to do with my evening.
    Even so, I was grateful she didn’t make me wait long. She didn’t look at me when she spoke, which made me uneasy. Sarah didn’t have trouble looking people in the eye. Ever.
    “I wasn’t completely honest with you about why I’m here.”
    Instead of acknowledging her comment, I remained silent.
    “I mean, I did come here because I want to be here for you. That wasn’t a lie, but . . .” She took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her middle, hugging herself. “That wasn’t the only reason.”
    Pain was etched across her face, and I debated whether to go comfort her.
    I was about to cross the room when she continued. “I met a guy. We were together for about six months. He . . . he wasn’t a Dom, but I liked him. I thought. I thought maybe in time I could introduce him to the lifestyle.”
    It didn’t take a genius to see where this was going. To many, BDSM was taboo. Some people felt that in order to be involved in the lifestyle, one had to be sick or twisted in some way. It was far from the truth, but to some that didn’t matter.
    “One night, I pulled out some of my toys and asked him to use them on me. At first, he just looked at me with this blank stare. I thought he didn’t understand what I was asking, so I explained.”
    She held herself tighter, and I couldn’t stay seated any longer. I knew what it was like to be rejected because of what I enjoyed, to have someone you cared about treat you as if you were a freak of nature for your desires. Taking hold of her shoulders, I pulled her against me, and she buried her face in my neck.
    “He said I was disgusting. Tha-that he never wanted to see me again.”
    “I’m sorry, Sarah.” I felt moisture seep through my shirt and knew she was crying.
    We stood there as the sun began to set over the city. “There’s something else I have to tell you.”
    Leaning back so that I could look at her face, I watched as she brushed the tears from her cheeks and tried to compose herself. “You can tell me anything. You know that.”
    She glanced down, her dark brown hair obstructing her face. A flash of Brianna standing before me, head bowed and about to confess something, caused me to suck in a deep breath. My chest clenched painfully.
    I almost welcomed it when Sarah looked back up and I could see her face. It didn’t make the ache go away, nothing ever did, but I would take what small reprieve I could get.
    “Two weeks later, I realized I was late.”
    Blinking, I stared into her eyes. I wanted to make sure I understood. “You’re pregnant?”
    She nodded.
    “Does he know?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t know how to tell him. Not after what he said. What if he . . . tries to take the baby away from me?”
    Tears returned, and I held her close. “We’ll figure it out.”
    “Stephan, you don’t have to. You have enough to deal with right now. I wasn’t even going tell you.”
    “I’m glad you did.”
    When her tears began to ebb, Sarah laughed, but there was little humor in it. “I cry at the drop of a hat now.”
    I laughed. “I think that’s normal.”
    She nodded.
    “Do you know how far along you are?”
    “About eight weeks.”
    It was my turn to nod. Even though she couldn’t see me, I knew she