Page 71 of Key of Kink

“Thirteen years,” Alex replied, his voice warm.

I blinked. “And have you always been this good a match?”

He laughed. “No. That took time.”

“You’re married to your Dom. Doesn’t that get complicated?”

Alex considered for a moment. “It would, if we thought submission meant I stopped being a person.”

“What does it mean for you two, then?”

“I choose to give him authority in specific spaces. Scenes. Rituals. The way we play.” He grinned. “It doesn’t mean he chooses what we have for dinner.”

I laughed. “So he doesn’t run your life?”

“He runs scenes,” Alex corrected. “And sometimes he runs me.” His smile deepened. “Marriage is mutual.”

I hesitated. “Does it ever get heavy?”

“Only when we stop talking,” Alex said simply. “Long-term power exchange only works if the Dom is allowed to be human.”

“Meaning?”

“If you treat him like a machine, he’ll burn out. If you treat him like a man, he’ll stay.”

I looked toward Max without meaning to.

Alex followed my gaze. “Ah,” he said softly.

“It’s not like that,” I muttered.

“Sure it isn’t.”

I ignored that. “Does Leo ever… lose it?”

Alex laughed outright. “Of course. He’s not marble.” There was so much affection in that word. “And sometimes,” he added, lowering his voice conspiratorially, “I work very hard to make sure he loses it.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You destabilise your Dom?”

“I flirt,” he corrected. “I provoke. And after thirteen years, I’m pretty expert at that.” He chuckled. “He knows he’s in trouble when I call him Daddy. I remind him he’s not carved out of stone.” His eyes gleamed. “It’s fun.”

“That sounds risky.”

“It is,” he said cheerfully. “But only because he trusts me.”

I shifted my weight. “You said he knows he’s in trouble when you call him Daddy. What does that mean?”

“It means that I’m not just submitting. I’m inviting him to care.”

That wasn’t what I expected.

“Daddy isn’t about me being small,” Alex continued. “It’s about letting Leo protect. Call it… affectionate authority.”

“Isn’t that intense?” I asked.

“It’s intimate. It’s saying, I trust you with the parts of me that aren’t polished.”

I swallowed. “And he likes that?”