The Mistress
by Tiffany Reisz
Published by Mira Books
Book #4 in the Original Sinners: The Red Years series
The final book in The Original Sinners Series - The Red Years.
There's punishment-and then there's vengeance.
Nora Sutherlin is being held, bound and naked. Under different circumstances, she would enjoy the situation immensely, but her captor isn't interested in play. Or pity.
As the reality of her impending peril unfolds, Nora becomes Scheherazade, buying each hour of her life with stories-sensual tales of Søren, Kingsley and Wesley, each of whom has tempted and tested and tortured her in his own way. This, Nora realizes, is her life: nothing so simple, so vanilla, as a mere love triangle for her. It's a knot in a silken cord, a tangled mass of longings of the body and the heart and the mind. And it may unravel at any moment.
But in Nora's world, no one is ever truly powerless-a cadre of her friends, protectors and lovers stands ready to do anything to save her, even when the only certainty seems to be sacrifice and heartbreak...
Genre
Triggers
Kidnapping/Hostage, Violence, Murder, Descriptive sex with BDSM
The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz is the fourth book in the Original Sinners series, and the final book of The Red Years series. It begins right after the events of the last book, when Wesley and Nora were knocked out. The Mistress centers around Nora's abduction, and through five different narrators, get very different points of view on what transpires. Cleverly, the person who kidnaps Nora refers to it as a game she is playing, and Tiffany Reisz not only assigns each protagonist their own chess piece, but separates the book in parts labeled by chess moves. I really liked that.
This is a big book. Bare with me as I try to keep my review as spoiler-free and short as possible.
Originality: There is no denying that this book - hell, the entire series - is flawlessly unique in a genre overwhelmed with plot-less erotica and, BDSM erotica that borders on offensive with the sheer lack of ignorance. Tiffany Reisz has created a fictional world that feels real, and shows how much passion she has for her art form.
The Story: Holy. Shit. I was convinced before, but Tiffany Reisz has made me a lifelong fan. Do you know how much awful romance/erotica I have read? The genre can be brutal. The Mistress is action-packed, from the first, to the very end, while at the same time, carving out these characters in such intense detail, you feel like you know them. While I always love a steady plot, some of my favorite parts of the book were when time stood still for a little while, and we had two characters baring their souls to one another. In a lot of books, it usually feels like a stall tactic. A way to add more words to the word count, and not to the story as a whole. It doesn't feel like that in this book. Tiffany Reisz is truly an accomplished writer. My ONE issue: there were a couple things that happened that were predictable. The only thing that is keeping me from deducting half a star; she had just as much twists in the book as she did predictability.
Characters: This one will be a long one. Again, I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. As a whole, Tiffany Reisz writes some abso-fucking-lutly amazing characters. They are not perfect. There are things I love and hate about every one of her characters. They all have brilliantly written backgrounds, that have all contributed to who they are in this book. My ONLY issue in this book, is consistency with the characters. I will explain below with each main character.
The Queen/Nora
I have a love/hate thing going on for Nora's character. She is incredibly complicated though, which makes me appreciate her, even if I don't fully understand her. I love her wildness, her kick ass, take charge attitude (even when she is submissive to Søren). I love that she does everything her way. I love her capacity for love, and her faith in those she loves. I think the only thing I don't like about her is her indecisiveness, and the consequences it has on those around her. That being said, Nora was ... well, Nora in The Mistress. Tiffany Reisz stuck true to Nora's personality - all the good and bad. Her story ends just how I predicted.
The King/Kingsley
I have had a hard time liking Kingsley in this series, but I have to admit, The Mistress saved his character for me. Like all of her characters, Kingsley is complex. It wasn't just his parts of the story that made me like him, despite the truly terrible things he has done. After all, most of The Prince was narrated by his character. It was seeing him through Nora, in combination with his part of the story, that cemented it. He went from a rather 2D character, to someone with layers, and depth. He is human under all that swagger, and it was nice to see him gain some peace in a very troubled life.
The Knight/Wesley
I'm going to start this out by saying, I have always loved Wesley. His intense love for Nora, his desire for her safety, and happiness, his constant support of her, whether she was doing something he didn't like or not. I admit, I really wanted Wesley and Nora together ... until they were. The Prince showed us readers pretty clearly that Nora and Wesley, despite loving each other deeply, were not compatible. The Mistress further cements that with Nora's stories she tells to her captor, and choices she is forced to make. Which is fine. I've actually grown to kind of love Søren. My issue is this ... and this is a spoiler, so don't finish reading unless you want to know ... ready ... here it is ... it's inconsistant with Wesley's character to ... move on ... from Nora the way he did. Call it comfort from his broken heart at the realization that Nora and him were not meant to be if you want (Tiffany Reisz does), but for the last three books, Wesley has DEEPLY loved Nora. He saved himself for her, despite other women wanting him. Sex isn't just something you do. It's meaningful to him. He wouldn't jump into bed, literally minutes after ending things with Nora, with another woman. He wouldn't. I finished the book 12 hours ago and it's still bothering me. THAT BEING SAID, I am happy with the outcome. Wesley is an amazing guy. He deserves to have a woman that loves him with her whole heart, believes in monogamy, is "vanilla" like him, and wants to get married and have kids with him. Nora was never going to be that. He would have always had to share her heart with Søren. She would have never been happy sexually. And I knew there was a reason Wesley hadn't found out about Nora's past abortion until this book ... and I was right. It was the one thing that finally showed Wes that they weren't meant to be. So ultimately, while I am thrilled for his character growing, and walking away (and I love that HE was the one that walked away), I am not happy with how it happened, because that is not the Wesley we have grown to know and love.
The Rook/Grace
I kid you not, I was shocked that we were getting Grace as narrator in The Mistress. And without Zach! I LOVED Zach's character, so I was bummed that he wasn't really in this book. But Grace! It was surprising ... but pleasantly so. I know some other readers don't like her. Probably because they, like me, loved Zach and Nora together. Her wildness and his seriousness, the insane sexual chemistry in infectious. But that's silly! In a way, it was nice to get to know Grace as more than Zach's wife. She is a true friend of Nora's. The friendship she strikes with Søren, and the resulting conversations they have, are my favorite part of The Mistress. Not only do we learn more about her (and I can see why Zach is smitten), but we learn so much more about Søren. And because I can't help myself, there is a BIG ... no HUGE ... spoiler coming up. Look away if you don't want to see it. Seriously. Now.
I have read other reviews ... and readers were NOT happy about what happens between Grace and Søren ... nor the result. Which I don't quite understand, other than some small inconsistencies. I'm going to tell you my thoughts on the matter. The first chapter from Grace's POV, shows she is interesting in the kink world, and like Zach, experience it for herself. Zach encourages her to do so. They both have faith in each others love for one another, that a night of sexual exploration with another person isn't a big deal. Now, I get it. I'm a monogamous person, so it's hard to wrap my head around. But there are many couples who have open relationships. So that doesn't bother me. I do, however, understand some other readers opinions that Søren wouldn't have had sex with Grace. Understand, but I don't agree with it. Why? Their instant connection. Søren and Grace had some intense moments, and became instant confidants. It's true that Søren had only previously been intimate with 3 people in his life (and one of them, she raped him, so I hardly count that.) He has only had sex with those he loved. Who is to say in those days, he didn't fall in love a little bit with Grace? Zach fell a bit for Nora. Nora loves Søren, Wesley, and even Kingsley to some degree. Why is it impossible for people to see that Søren may have fallen a little in love with Grace? Their conversations, his openness with her, certainly suggests he at least liked and respected her. I know people take issue with the fact that Nora essentially was promised a week with Zach in exchange for Grace to have one night with Soren, but, who are we to judge? Monogamy doesn't seem to exist in this world of kink. Grace knows that her husband still "carries a torch" for Nora. It's weird to most of us, but I actually think it was consistent with these characters. Proof he was intrigued by Grace:
Søren: "You speak of beautiful women as if you weren't one. I assure you, you are. The freckles are an especially nice touch."
Grace: "I'm not sure I agree with you. My husband would, but Zachary's a freckle fetishist, if there is such a thing."
Søren: "Your husband and I have excellent taste in women."
Søren: "I learned long ago that it was for the best that I erect a very high wall between myself and the rest of the world. She and Kingsley are the only two people I've ever met who simply ignored that wall as if it didn't exist."
Grace: "Kingsley and Nora ignored your wall. I have to ask ... what is the reward for getting past that wall of yours? Or is it a punishment?
Søren: "Both reward and punishment."
Grace: "How so?"
Søren: "I fucked them. Thank you, Grace. I no longer wish to kill Kingsley. No more than usual, anyway."
Grace: "You're welcome, Father.
Søren: "You're welcome to call me Søren. I'd prefer it if you did."
Grace: "Of course ... Søren. That's what Nora always calls you. She says she can't call you 'Father Stearns' without wanting to giggle. Søren's a Danish name, yes? What does it mean?"
Søren: "It means 'stern.' A good name for me, I've been told."
Grace: "I beg to differ. I don't think you're quite as stern as you're letting on."
Søren: "Careful Grace ... it's dangerous behind the wall"
Before moving on ... um ... that was quite an ending, eh? At first I was shocked, but looking back, there was some foreshadowing there. Nora telling Zach to dominate Grace in the bedroom to release more horomones to help with fertility back in The Angel. Grace told Søren Zach wanted to adopt, meaning a biological child for him wasn't important. Just a child, and family with Grace.
Who knew my longest character review was going to be about Grace of all people?
The Pawn/Laila
I can't help writing about Laila without spoilers, so don't read on if that bothers you.
I couldn't like her. I wish I could have. And it's not because of her and Wesley. I couldn't like her because of her convenience and predictability to the story. By the end of the first chapter she was featured in, I KNEW she and Wes would end up together. Is she perfect for him? Totally. Not the point though. She listened to Wesley and Nora (a woman she considers her aunt) break up, KNOW he is hurting and in love with Nora still, and she goes to seduce him? What the heck? Tiffany Reisz is not known for filler characters ... but Laila felt like a filler character. She was thrown in there so Wesley has someone ... but it wasn't done right in my opinion. If her and Wes stayed in touch after these events, and ended up falling in love that way, I would have been overjoyed. Wesley and her having sex literally minutes after he broke up with a woman he has loved for three years? No. Just no!
And now for a rather important character, Søren himself. I hated him in The Siren. I warmed up to him a lot in The Angel and The Prince. I fell in love with him in The Mistress. Wonderfully complicated, deeply intellectual. Sure, he is a sadist ... but that's only a part of him. After reading the Mistress, you can't deny he is a good man. His conversations with Grace, Wesley, and Kingsley were beautifully written, and he is definitely on my list of favorite male characters now ... which I never thought would happen when I started the series.
Consistency: This is where the book loses half a star, and officially becomes the lowest rated of the series so far (the last three all got 5 stars). The inconsistency with Wesley's arc is kind of an insult to his character. It bums me out. If him moving on was just written a little bit differently, and stayed true to the Wesley we have gotten to know in the past 3 books, I wouldn't feel this way.
Honestly, this book, this series, is so, so good. I love romance books. I love a happy ending. I try to stay away from erotica, because it's usually just smut with no plot. Tiffany Reisz has put out an absolutely brilliant story, with, yes, lots of dirty details, that proves you can have your erotica and a fascinating, intelligently written story as well. If you like darker reads, complex human relationships, sex, BDSM, and have an open mind ... I 1000% recommend you pick up this series.
Memory
Eleanor: "And you'll go to all this trouble for me ... why?"
Søren: "Because there is nothing I wouldn't do to protect you, Eleanor. Nothing I wouldn't do to help you. And nothing I wouldn't do to save you. Nothing."
Memory
Eleanor: "Do you always talk like this?"
Søren: "You mean articulately?"
Eleanor: "Yes."
Søren: "Yes."
Eleanor: "Weird. So what price am I paying? Hope it's not my firstborn child. Don't want kids."
Søren: "My price is simply this - in exchange for my assistance, I only ask you do what I tell you to do from now on."
Eleanor: "Do what you tell me to do?"
Søren: "Yes. I want you to obey me."
Eleanor: "From now on? Like ... how long?"
Søren: "Forever."
Kingsley: "Did you ask her to marry you before or after your head injury?"
Wesley: "How do you know this person's willing to die?"
Kingsley: "Because, mon petit prince, she pissed me off. That is a good indicator she had a death wish."
Kingsley: "Le pretre was in love with someone else at the time. But your fiancee was not the bitch my sister meant."
Wesley: "Who was she, then? Maybe we should talk to her."
Kingsley: "You already are, mon ami. The bitch ... at your service."
Zach: "How's my Gracie?"
Grace: "Amazing..."
Zach: 'Are you going to tell me why you're amazing or are you leaving it to my imagination."
Grace: "I've been reading."
Zach: "Horrible idea. I hate books. Reading's for bellends."
Grace: "It's one of your writers."
Zach: "Writing's for bellends."
Grace: "What about editing? Do you recall editing one called All Hallows High?"
Zach: "Oh, God."
Grace: "What is that for? That 'oh, God'? It's fantastic."
Zach: "I think Nora wrote it to test me."
Grace: "It's a romance novel. Not a very hard test."
Zach: "It's an erotica novel between two teenage boys at a Catholic school."
Grace: "And?"
Zach: "And she's trying to get a rise out of me with it."
Grace: "She got one out of me. With my husband on the other side of the earth she'll probably get another one out of me before the night's over."
Zach: "I'm glad you find a book that includes illegal sexual acts so erotic. The underage boys fuck each other."
Grace: "You remember I'm a teacher. Teenagers, even the boys, do that sort of thing."
Zach: "Oh, yes, and the teacher fucks the boys, too."
Grace: "Dear Lord. Do the boys also - smoke marijuana?"
Zach: "You're mocking me."
Grace: "You do remember you lost your virginity at thirteen, and that I lost mine at eighteen to my own teacher, who happened to be you?"
Zach: "Please don't call me out on my hypocrisy when I'm trying to be hypocritical."
Grace: "Zachary."
Zach: "What?"
Grace: "Stop being so vanilla."
Zach: "Grace."
Grace: "Yes?"
Zach: "I love you."
Memory:
Grace: "A priest ... really?"
Nora: "My priest. He's been my priest since I was fifteen years old. I hope you're scandalized. It's no fun if you're not scandalized."
Grace: "Thoroughly scandalized. Is he handsome?"
Nora: "Is the pope Catholic?"
Memory:
Nora: "I thought you might want ... she might have wanted ..."
Søren: "No, she wouldn't. She gave it to you. She wanted you to have it. Unless it means nothing to you anymore."
Nora: "It means as much to me as it always did. I only thought that since I left you, you might want to bury it with her."
Søren: "You might have left me, but I never left you. Keep it if you want it at all."
Nora: "At all? It's my most precious possession."
Søren: "As you are mine."
Marie-Laure: "I thought my husband was a man of refined tastes."
Nora: "In wine and books and music, he is. Terrible taste in women, though. Obviously."
Marie-Laure: "He must love beating you."
Nora: "He's a sadist. Of course he does."
Grace: "Nora's told me a great deal about you."
Søren: "No wonder you're so nervous."
Grace: "She only told me good things, I promise."
Søren: "I refuse to believe that. I know Eleanor too well."
Grace: "You call her Little One?"
Søren: "I always have. She was a teenager when we met. A very ill-mannered teenager. She demanded to know why I was so tall. She insinuated I had grown this tall simply for attention."
Grace: "Only Nora could be rude and flirtatious at the same time."
Søren: "You speak of beautiful women as if you weren't one. I assure you, you are. The freckles are an especially nice touch."
Grace: "I'm not sure I agree with you. My husband would, but Zachary's a freckle fetishist, if there is such a thing."
Søren: "Your husband and I have excellent taste in women."
Grace: "God knows I can't do anything to help this horrible situation at all. If at the very least I can be a sympathetic ear, then please, inflict whatever you need to on me."
Father Stearns raised his eyebrow at her.
Grace: "I didn't mean it like that."
Søren: "Are you sure about that?"
Grace: "You are terrible. Seriously. I'm going to take the handcuffs off you now, but I can tell I'm going to regret it."
Søren: "I learned long ago that it was for the best that I erect a very high wall between myself and the rest of the world. She and Kingsley are the only two people I've ever met who simply ignored that wall as if it didn't exist."
Grace: "Kingsley and Nora ignored your wall. I have to ask ... what is the reward for getting past that wall of yours? Or is it a punishment?
Søren: "Both reward and punishment."
Grace: "How so?"
Søren: "I fucked them. Thank you, Grace. I no longer wish to kill Kingsley. No more than usual, anyway."
Grace: "You're welcome, Father.
Søren: "You're welcome to call me Søren. I'd prefer it if you did."
Grace: "Of course ... Søren. That's w hat Nora always calls you. She says she can't call you 'Father Stearns' without wanting to giggle. Søren's a Danish name, yes? What does it mean?"
Søren: "It means 'stern.' A good name for me, I've been told."
Grace: "I beg to differ. I don't think you're quite as stern as you're letting on."
Søren: "Careful Grace ... it's dangerous behind the wall"
Wesley: "What? Are you the French James Bond or something?"
Kingsley: "Of course not. James Bond is vanilla."
Wesley: "I feel so much better now. Kinky James Bond is going to rescue Nora."
Wesley: "A nice and honorable family man? Then why are you friends with him?"
Kingsley: "Because he's kinky as hell, and I used to fuck his first wife."
Søren: "Kingsley, please."
Nora: "He is kind of gay for the bible."
Marie-Laure: "I want someone to die. I have seen you all - you and my husband and my brother - you're like a fabric all woven together. I want to pull one thread and see you all unravel. If you die, my husband will be destroyed. If my husband dies trying to save you, my brother will be destroyed. To kill one of you will kill all of you."
Kingsley: "Our Nora has a magic pussy. It's the opposite of the Bermuda Triangle. Lost men sail into it and then find themselves."
Søren: "Kingsley, that's enough."
Kingsley: "You were her first Lost Boy."
Memory
Griffin: "You're a sadistic bitch, Mistress."
Nora: "Flattery will get you everywhere."
Memory
Wesley: "Don't be depressed. You're only thirty -"
She covered his mouth to prevent him from announcing her age.
Nora: "Good boy."
Wesley: "Don't freak out, Nora. You've got at least a couple good years left."
Nora took the roses and smacked him on the ass with them.
Wesley: "Ow. Those have thorns."
Nora: "I know. That's why I hit you with them."
Memory
Nora: "I'll go change out of the fetish-wear first."
Wesley: "Thank you. And I'll change into mine."
Nora: "The assless chaps, please. It is my birthday, after all."
Wesley: "Anything for you."
Memory:
Søren: "If you choose, Little One ... I can own you. You would be my property, mine alone."
Nora: "Of course you own me, You always have ..."
Nora: "I knelt at his feet because I felt like that's where I belonged. An no, not because I was so unworthy of him, but because he was so utterly worthy of my devotion. Oh, and me submitting to pain gets him rock hard and the man fucks like a freight train when in the right mood. Not that you would know anything about that."
Daniel: "I know about Eleanor. I can't believe someone would kidnap her. I wouldn't even borrow a teacup from you two"
Søren: "Is that so?"
Daniel: "You let me borrow her, remember?"
Søren: "For one week. You're the one who attempted to convince her to stay."
Daniel: "Come on. You would have tried to keep her, too."
Søren: "Yes. Only I would have succeeded."
Daniel: "You get more arrogant with age. Aren't priests supposed to be humble?"
Søren: "We're also supposed to be celibate."
Daniel: "Who's the guy with her? Boyfriend?""
Søren: "He most certainly is not."
Daniel: "Sorry. Jesus. I said 'boyfriend' not 'pimp.'"
Daniel: "So that boy ... one of Nora's conquests?"
Kingsley: "Worse. He's her fiance. Supposedly. He asked her to marry him right before he was knocked unconscious and she was taken."
Daniel: "Are we sure he asked her before he received the head injury?"
Kingsley: "I knew I liked you for a reason."
Kingsley: "Go, Daniel. Go and fuck your wife for me."
Daniel: "Happily. After I fuck her for me."
Daniel: "I'm going. You'll call when this is over."
Kingsley: "Non. She will call."
Daniel: "She better."
Kingsley: "And knowing her, she'll demand phone sex."
Daniel: "If she insists."
Memory
Søren: "You'll need a safe word, Eleanor."
Eleanor: "I trust you."
Søren: "That's all well and good but I don't entirely trust myself with you. Choose a word and I'll carve it onto my hear and when you say it, I'll know I have to stop. Otherwise, there is a very good chance I won't, not even if you struggle, especially if you struggle."
Eleanor: "Jabberwocky. I always loved that monster."
Søren: "He was always my favorite monster."
Nora: "You're my favorite monster."
Laila: "She said I shouldn't judge him for not leaving the church and marrying her. He'd offered once and she said no."
Wesley: "He asked her to marry him and she said no."
Laila: "Yes, and that;s when she left him. She said she was scared she'd change her mind and say yes and he would leave the church for her. She said it was like hearing someone offer to commit suicide to prove their love. She left so he wouldn't destroy the man she fell in love with."
Marie-Laure: "Was he attracted to you? My brother?"
Nora: "You sound skeptical."
Marie-Laure: "I am. I suppose I was wrong thinking my brother had good taste in women."
Nora: "He has amazing taste in women. He's probably fucked the thousand most beautiful women on earth."
Marie-Laure: "And you."
Nora laughed.
Søren: "Eleanor told me. She wasn't spreading gossip, you should know. She asked me to pray a novena for you."
Grace: "She did?"
Søren: "Eleanor is convinced I make God nervous and that He's more likely to take my calls than hers, as she says."
Søren: "My heart is outside myself tonight and far away."
Grace: "How far away?"
Søren: "Ten miles between here and Elizabeth's house. I could run it in an hour."
Grace: "I could run it in fifty-five minutes."
Søren: "Behave yourself. You're seventeen years younger than I am. Respect your elders.
Grace: "That is quite a mouthful."
Søren: "Not unlike the man himself."
Grace nearly dropped the glass, but she saw the glint of wicked amusement in Søren's eyes.
Grace: "You're doing it again. You're trying to play with my mind."
Søren: "I am and entirely without remorse."
Søren: "She's rarely used her safe word with me. Almost never. But if she needs me to stop for a moment she'll tell me. If something is starting to go too far, she'll pull me, pull us both, back from the edge. But not Kingsley. It's far too easy to forget myself with Kingsley, far too easy to go to the edge with him and fall over. And since I love him and would rather not be the architect of his destruction and therefore mine ..."
Grace: "You don't touch him because you love him."
Memory
Kingsley: "I told you that's no submissive you found for yourself. Your little kitten is going to grow up to be a tiger."
Søren: "Even more reason to tame her now."
Memory
Søren: "Jeg elsker dig, min lille en"
Nora: "You have no idea how much it turns me on when you speak Danish."
Søren: "Of course I do."
Wesley: "She does have an amazing laugh."
Søren: "That she does. It's my favorite music."
Søren: "Eleanor would never forgive me if I broke one of her favorite toys."
Wesley: "You do that on purpose, don't you? Goad people?"
Søren: "Only worthy adversaries."
Wesley: "Then I'll take it as a compliment."
Søren: "Telling him that I still love him and then refusing to be with him? That's a sort of sadism even I won't touch."
Marie-Laure: "Sounds as if I should be grateful that my husband didn't want me. Otherwise, I might have been subjected to your fate."
Nora: "Oh, yes, poor little me. Had to gave sex with the two most beautiful men on the planet in the same night. It was torture by orgasm. All, I don't know, five or sex of them."
Nora: "You know Søren's not a vampire, right? He's a sadist. You don't turn kinky just because he bites you."
Nora: "After I left Søren and became a Dominatrix, I started playing with Kingsley. Off the clock and without getting paid, I played. And I played hard. I had a whole stable of pony-boys, I did medical play with the sexiest little girl sub you've ever dreamed of, I adored having my feet worshiped. I did every kind of edge-play you can name and then I even invented a few of my own. I had a harem, I had orgies. I did the sort of shit Søren never even dreamed of, I fantasized about kink before I met him. I still did it after I left him. I did with him, without him, by land and by sea and by air. I did it every chance I got and with everyone I could. I did it for money, for pleasure, for pain and for the pain of pleasure. He does kink because he has to. I do it because I want to. And every time I did it I did it for me. You think Søren turned me into this?"
Nora shot her hand out as fast as a striking cobra and grabbed Marie-Laure by the neck.
Nora: "Bitch, please - I'm kinkier than he is."
Memory
Søren: "If she is, she'll figure it out for herself."
Kingsley: "There is no "if," mon ami. It does take one to know one, and I know what she is. Your pet is no submissive, and you're lying to yourself if you think she is."
Søren: "You're trying to define the undefinable. She is who she is."
Kingsley: "You're trying to put a collar on a tiger. It won't turn it into a house cat."
Søren: "Why do you think I love her so much?"
Kingsley: "And you call me a masochist."
Søren: "If she is what you say she is ... we'll cross the bridge when we come to it."
Kingsley: "She'll cross that bridge when she runs from you. Then she'll burn the bridge behind her and leave you on the other side."
Søren: "Then it's a good thing I know how to swim."
Kingsley: "Swim? As far as she'll run from you and as fast, pray you learn to fly."
Memory
Nora: "My mother has terrible taste in men. She loved my father. She hated you."
Søren: "You left me. What does that say about your taste in men?"
Nora: "It could use some work."
Memory
Søren: "You promised me forever."
Nora: "I was fifteen when I promised you forever. And you promised me everything the same day. I can no more keep my promise than you can keep yours."
Søren: "You won't let me keep it."
Nora: "Because I love you too much. You stupid, infuriating man, why do I love you this much?"
How could God create two people so perfect for each other and then force them to stay apart? God was a sadist. No doubt in her mind. No wonder her uncle loved Him so much. - Laila
Laila: "I think I learned what sex was that night. I mean, I learned what it should be."
Wesley: "And what is that?"
Laila: "A gift. A gift you give someone you care about. A consolation, a comfort, even a distraction, but always a gift. I didn't listen after that. I made sure I didn't hear any more. I read her books. I know what happens with people like them in private. I didn't need to hear. But I'm glad I heard that much so I know ... I know that love is giving yourself to someone else. Giving yourself to someone without losing yourself."
Nora: "Don't try to mindfuck a mindfucker. Either they don't know where I am and you're lying, or they do and they're coming. Two and two is four. I know Søren."
Marie-Laure: "You're so certain of his love?"
Nora: "Two and two is four."
Memory
Søren: "Jeg elsker deg, min lille en. Du tilhorer mig." I love you, Little One. You belong to me.
Nora: "Tonight, I do."
Grace: "I have to tell you something."
Søren: "Last call for confessions."
Grace: "I love my husband more than life itself. And there's no one in the world other than Zachary who I want to grow old with. I want to have his children and be his wife and stay with him for the rest of my days. But the truth it ... I would have sold my soul for one night with you."
Søren: "Beautiful Grace, I wouldn't have charged you nearly so much."
Grace: "She said you were the best man on earth."
Søren: "She says that all the time. No one ever believes her."
Grace: "I did."
Wesley: "She told me ... She told me once why she trusted you. I didn't trust you. You sent her on all those jobs. Sent this five-foot-three woman to strange houses and hotels with nothing but a riding crop to protect her. You sent her into the bedrooms of these rich and dangerous men. I told her she shouldn't do it, it was dangerous, she could get killed. You two fought on the phone all the time. Fought and flirted and plotted and schemed. I asked her why she trusted you. You know what she said?"
Kingsley: "Enlighten me."
Wesley: "She said that you were like the brother she never had. She said that yes, you two fought all the time, but only in the way siblings fight. She said that at the end of the day she knew you would never put her into real danger. You could punch her in the arm and pull her hair because you were her big brother but if anyone else tried it -"
Kingsley: "I would destroy them."
Nora: "You shouldn't have come. You should have let them kill me."
Søren: "You know I couldn't do that. I told you there was nothing I wouldn't do to protect you."
Nora: "Goddammit. Why do you love me so much, you stupid man?"
Nora: "Oh, no. He bit you. Now you'll turn kinky, too."
Marie-Laure slapped Nora so hard blood came out of her nose.
Nora: "See? Told you so. You're one of us."
Nora: "Søren ... I'm so sorry -"
Søren: "Don't you dare. We only have a few minutes left on this earth together and do not waste a moment of this time apologizing to me for your imagined sins."
Nora: "You know I didn't imagine them."
Søren: "You had every right to leave me. My God, Eleanor, the tests I put you through, the trials..."
Nora: "Don't forget that stick you made me water for six months."
Søren: "I remember. I was never shocked that you left me. Only shocked you didn't leave me sooner."
Nora: "You were kind of a hard-ass."
Søren: "You're being too kind."
Nora: "Okay, you were an unbelievable hard-ass."
Søren: "That's better."
Nora: "I loved it, though. I loved being yours. Even when I carried that stupid watering can out to water that fucking stick, I loved it. I knew you tortured me like that because you loved me, because you wanted me to be strong."
Søren: "You were always strong, Little One. I only ever wanted you to be mine."
Nora: "I am yours. I always was. Even when I was with someone else ... I was always yours."
Søren: "I know."
Søren: "I told you that you weren't allowed to write about me."
Nora: "You'll be dead. What do you care?"
Søren: "My ghost will be most put out with you."
Nora: "But will your ghost put out?"
Søren: "If you're good."
Nora: "I promised you forever. Forever isn't long enough."
Søren: "And I promised you everything in return. I meant it."
Søren: "Don't be afraid. This life is nothing but one blink of God's eyes. He'll blink again, and we'll be back together."
Nora: "Are you sure I'll go to heaven?"
Søren: "Of course. It wouldn't be heaven without you."
Kingsley: "You always were one for temper tantrums. One tantrum too many."
Laila: "I shouldn't say this. But I will."
Wesley: "Say anything you want, Laila."
Laila: "If I were her ... I would have picked you."
Grace: "Your priest has ordered all of us to leave you alone. I don't think any of us are brave enough to counterman his orders."
Nora: "Countermand away. He went for another run."
Grace: "Another one? Didn't he go running this morning?"
Nora: "Yeah. He's feeling a bit pent-up."
Grace: "Pent-up?"
Nora: "I mean, he's horny."
Grace nearly choked on her tea. She coughed to clear her throat.
Nora: "What? Priests get horny, too."
Nora: "We need to get him a sub."
Grace: "A sub? You mean -"
Nora: "A submissive. Kink is like Søren's lithium. It's a mood stabilizer for a lot of people. Half my clients came to me for medical reasons - not sexual. Without kink Søren gets ... difficult."
Grace: "Difficult?"
Nora: "Cranky. Grumpy. Surly. Pick a synonym for bitchy."
Grace: "Fascinating. So he needs a submissive to play with?"
Nora: "If by 'play with' you mean 'beat the shit out of,' yes."
Grace: "You're playing the 'I was kidnapped' card?"
Nora: "Yes, and I will keep playing it as long as I can."
Grace: "That's not fair."
Nora: "Do you want to see the soccer-ball-size bruise on my side from where I got kicked?"
Nora: "Don't let go."
Wesley: "I'll hold you as long as you want me to."
Nora: "Wes ... you're dumping me, aren't you?"
Wesley: "It's not that. I love you. You have no idea how much. And I love you enough to know you'll be happier with him. As much as that hurts to admit, it would hurt worse keeping you and knowing the whole time you belong somewhere else. I was ... I was going to pay every penny I had to get you back. Every penny my parents had. Every penny I could beg, borrow, or steal. And he ... he went to pay with his life. I know you love him and you always will."
Nora: "I know I love you ... and I always will.:
Wesley: "I love you, too. You crazy, weird, wild woman. I love you."
Nora: "So what now?"
Wesley: "We let go. And we get on with our lives."
Nora: "You let go first."
She inhaled deeply, wanting to take in as much as his scent as she could. Summer. Warmth. Clean laundry hanging out to dry. Wesley.
Wesley: "I can't."
Nora: "I can't either."
Wesley: "Same time, then?"
Nora: "Okay. On the count of three. Ready?"
Wesley: "No, but we better do it anyway."
Nora: "All right. One ..."
Wesley: "Two."
They met each other's eyes and together spoke the final count.
Nora and Wesley: "Three."
They let each other go.
Nora: "We can still be friends, right?"
Wesley: "Forever."
Søren: "You think I won't punish you because you're already bruised?"
Nora: "I'm willing to take that risk. Speaking of risks ..."
Søren: "Eleanor ..."
Nora: "Catch me."
She swung her bottom up onto the banister and without any further warning slide down it toward Soren.
Søren: "Eleanor, how old are you?"
Nora: "Fifteen."
Søren: "You're too young for me."
He moved as if to drop her.
Nora: "I'm thirty-four, I'm thirty-four, I swear."
Søren: "Are you going to act like it?"
Nora: "Do I have to?"
Søren: "No."
Nora: "Then no."
Wesley: "English lesson, little Danish girl. I'm a guy. Guys aren't pretty. I am not pretty."
Laila: "So my English isn't perfect. What are you, then?"
Wesley: "I'm stunning."
Grace: "Nora said I wasn't supposed to speak until you spoke to me."
Søren: "You're doing a wonderful job at it."
Grace burst into nervous laughter.
Grace: "I have no idea what I'm doing."
Søren: "Obviously."
Søren: "Grace ... You don't have to do this."
Grace: "I know. But I want to. Please."
Søren: "Saying 'please' is a good start."
He smiled and laughed a little.
Søren: "Are you sure?"
Grace: "Absolutely. Are you?"
Søren: "Not even remotely."
Grace: "Thank God. I can't recall ever being so nervous or wanting something so much."
Søren: "I won't even charge you your soul for it."
Grace: "Good. I'm a poet. I need my soul."
Grace: "Are you afraid I won't respect you in the morning?"
Søren: "Morning?"
He laughed as if she'd told the most hilarious joke.
Søren: "You'll be lucky to last an hour."
Grace: "Is that a challenge?"
Søren: "Are you accepting?"
Grace: "I'm here. I've already accepted."
Grace: "I've walked with you to your death. You knew you were going to have to die for Nora and you went, anyway. I saw you do it. There is nothing I wouldn't trust you to do to me. I don't care if that's the wrong answer. It's the truth. And it's the only answer I have."
Grace: "You have your ... equipment with you?"
Søren: "I'm a man. I always have my equipment with me."
Grace: "Ready."
Before she could prepare herself, the first blow landed on the center of her back. She gasped from the sudden shock of pain. From behind her she head Søren laughing.
Søren: "I told you so."
Grace: "I didn't say 'stop.'"
Søren: "No. No, you did not."
Søren: "Good girl. I'm proud of you."
Grace: "You are?"
Søren: "For someone who has never done this before, you take pain beautifully."
Grace: "Thank you. I want to please you."
Søren: "You do."
Nora: "Oh, good. Someone in this house is in worse shape than I am."
Kingsley: "I don't know about that, Maitresse. You look like merde yourself."
Nora: "I know you said I look like shit but it still sounded sexy. Why does everything sound better in French?"
Nora: "Jesus, King, you got beat to hell. Some of these bruises look old."
He raised an eyebrow at her. Nora rolled her eyes.
Nora: "That horny priest. I leave to go fuck somebody else for one week, and he jumps you the second my back it turned."
Kingsley: "Not true. I seduced him, and he did make me wait a few days."
Nora: "He's such a sadist."
Nora: "Have you possibly maybe once considered using, I don't know, a safe word or something?"
Kingsley: "Don't insult me."
Nora: "Or maybe the green light, yellow light, red light system?"
Kingsley: "You might as well turn me vanilla."
Nora: "Envied it? I have to obey him. That's how it works. How many orders has he given you this week?"
Kingsley: "Dozens."
Nora: "How many have you disobeyed?"
Kingsley: "All but one."
Nora: "You want to take my place? You want to sit at his feet and water sticks and do everything he tells you?"
Kingsley: "He'd be dead in a week."
Nora: "Thought so."
Søren: "Don't get into a scriptural pissing contest with a Jesuit priest, Kingsley. You'll lose every time."
Søren: "You aren't. I am. So help me God, Eleanor, she is only eighteen -"
Nora: "So the fuck what? I was seventeen when you and I fooled around the first time. Remember that night? You didn't seem to mind I was a seventeen-year-old virgin. And you also didn't mind you were a thirty-one year-old Catholic priest. My priest. You remember that?"
Søren: "This is an entirely different situation."
Nora: "Why? Because she's your niece? Fuck you, I'm somebody's daughter. I know Mom would love to come do what you want to do to Wesley right now."
Søren: "I'm not having this conversation with you."
Søren started to push past her and Nora put her hand out, grasping the door frame.
Nora: "You go another step past me and you will never see me again. If you dare interfere with Wes's chance at happiness, even for a few more minutes of it, I will run so fast and so far from you even God and all His angels won't be able to hunt me down. You and I have been playing this game by our rules for twenty fucking years and it is way too late for you to be pulling this vanilla bullshit on any of us right now. We know who you are. We know what you do. Every single one of us in this room has the bruises to prove it. So unless you want to lose me and lose me for good this time, you will sit your ass down and eat your goddamn breakfast and you will leave Wes and Laila alone. Otherwise, I will disappear from this life and the next life. I will make sure I die first and whether I'm in heaven or hell, I will bar the gates behind me so you can't even touch me in the afterlife. Say, 'Yes, Mistress," if you understand."
Søren: "Eleanor..."
Nora: "Say it. Say it if you ever want to see me again. I left you before. By God, I will do it again. This time I won't come back. I mean it. You know I mean it."
Søren: "Yes, Mistress."
Nora: "Good boy. Oh, one more thing."
Søren: "What?"
Nora slapped Søren so hard that he gasped from the pain of it. Søren looked at her in pure unadulterated shock.
Nora: "I have wanted to do that for nineteen years, you pretentious, overbearing, self-important hypocrite. You made me water a goddamn stick for six fucking months. Kingsley, I'm leaving. If he tries anything before Wes and Laila come up for air, shoot him."
She couldn't remember the last time Kingsley looked so delighted.
Kingsley: "With pleasure, Maitresse."
Søren: "Very good work on the tree. I see you managed to avoid any inappropriate ornaments this year."
Nora: "I'm still putting the Christmas shark up on the tree when I find it. What is Christmas without the Christmas shark?"
Søren: "I can't even begin to answer a question of such theological import without at least a week of prayer and fasting first."
Nora: "Zach, I hope you finally have my synonym for thrust, noun form. Otherwise, I'm hanging up on you."
Check out the Original Sinners Main Series
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