Free Finding Their Balance by M.Q. Barber Page A

“You had been steered down the wrong road.”
    “I like your map better.” With his spreading grin, Jay proclaimed like an understatement. “Even if the trails are all named ‘Trust’ this and ‘Safety’ that. I memorized them so I can recite ’em in my sleep.”
    “I wanted you safe even if you chose another dominant.” Henry smoothed the wrinkles from Jay’s shirt.
    “That’s why this class will succeed.” Her steps brisk, Emma waved them past the first three doors. “You’re an exceptionally ethical man, and your pets come from either end of the trust spectrum. Look at their balance now.”
    Exposure rankled. Jay, sure, he’d been hard-wired with an inability to withhold trust. And, yeah, she’d gone into this unwilling to trust people with her emotions. Extending trust to Henry and Jay had been slow and scary. Adding Emma—knowledgeable, overly insightful Emma—she’d get there. When she had more data.
    Emma opened a door and flipped on the lights. Illuminating her face, they captured porcelain translucence. A thin surface of delicate perfection rested on a wistful hollow beneath. “They’ll make excellent assistants.”
    Not the same, though. Had Emma’s husband been alive, five’d getcha ten the two of them would take on prized pupils for further study. Handing the job to Henry smacked of passing the torch. So long as Emma refused to grapple with the problem, no one supplanted Victor. But once she’d gotten up the courage to ask, Henry’s initial rejection must’ve stung.
    What the hell. Some premenstrual surging hormonal solidarity shit had to be causing her uncomfortable sympathizing. Worse than cramps.
    “Well?” Emma ushered them into the space, her gaze on Henry. “Will this do?”
    The setup mimicked a high-school classroom, right down to the old-fashioned, one-armed desks. Jay swung into a front-row seat, slouched low, and raised his hand insistently.
    Unbuttoning his coat, Henry leaned his ass against the teacher’s desk. His crossed arms tightened his dress shirt. Gravity turned his pants into showpieces outlining his extended legs.
    Fucking delicious.
    “You have a question?” Henry smoldered, his gaze low and intense as coals waiting for the prod to stir him into flames. “Speak.”
    Arching his hips, Jay almost managed to pull off casual resettling. Gave himself away wetting his parted lips. “I wanna show how well I perform in this subject.” His impish undertone disappeared under Henry’s unbroken stare. “Do you allow oral presentations for extra credit, sir?”
    Their heat throbbed in her chest and rooted her to the floor. In her imagination, Henry lowered his zipper, stood his cock upright, and ordered Jay to his knees. Her lovers sang with muffled whimpers and low-toned growls.
    “See me after class.” Stern-voiced, Henry lifted his chin. “Be prepared to show your work.”
    In a full-body shudder, Jay dropped his head back. “Oh yeah. This room works for me.”
    “Show-off.” She teased through her laughter. In the contest for her favorite Jay, happy, sexy, confident Jay won hands-down. He’d challenged some insecurities Wednesday at tea. Henry’s presence today made boundary-pushing safer. Still, he surprised the hell out of her, giving his playfulness a sexual charge in front of their hostess.
    “The room ought to do fine, Emma, thank you.” Henry patted the teacher’s desk and left it behind, striding down the aisle with a disciplinarian’s focus. “The atmosphere might encourage our pupils to be attentive.”
    The blackboard at the front held chalk in the tray. She battled the perverse urge to write Master Henry in elegant script and claim the seat beside Jay. Not their purpose today. Maybe another time. Leaving the chalk, she wiped dust from her fingers.
    “I can have the staff bring in a whiteboard setup if you’d prefer.” As Henry measured the space, Emma tracked him with a subtle swivel. “Though the old-school blackboard seems more