10. Henry
Chapter ten
Henry
B linking slowly, Henry greeted the invisible mantle of dominance settling across his shoulders with a slow-burning hunger. The stories of the day had been told, and Alice and Jay had nearly finished clearing the dinner table. The morning’s calendar card sat propped against the basket, the sketch of his own eyes facing Jay’s seat as it had throughout the meal.
Would his pets have guessed what this Friday night held for them? The magic of the holiday season may open us to new perspectives , he’d written. A message vague enough to have kept them preoccupied all day with discerning its meaning.
It was time.
Rising from the table, he deepened his voice to the tones they couldn’t mistake. “You may have ten minutes, my dear ones. Finish your tasks, use the powder room if you need to, and present yourselves at the bedroom door. You will knock and wait for permission to enter.”
An electric arc passed between them. Alice and Jay glanced at each other as delight revealed itself in myriad ways across their faces—the wider flare of their eyes, the lifting brows, the twitching lips. Though the kitchen island hid their lower bodies, Jay would almost certainly be tapping out his excitement through his feet as Alice curled her toes.
Alice pressed her hands to the counter behind her, stretching herself to greater height, her gaze following him as he crossed the room. “Not the playroom?”
The question almost provoked a spontaneous smile; he caught himself just in time. They’d been playing in their new dedicated space often, with the flogging horse proving a particularly popular choice. But his plan tonight required a change of venue.
He pinned her with a predatory stare, feasting on his vision for the end of the evening. “If I’d meant the playroom, sweet girl, I would have said so. Ten minutes. Knock for entry.”
Shivering, she exhaled on a whisper. “Yes, sir.”
He clamped hard on the growling desire to take four strides, strip her from the waist down, and bend her over the counter while Jay watched. An auspicious beginning.
Departing at a briskly confident pace, he steadied his thoughts on the climb to the bedroom. He had run through the positioning earlier in the day, but gathering and placing his tools could not have been accomplished before his spouses had completed their post-work ablutions. Regardless of whether doing so would have given the game away, the heat of Jay’s shower could have settled into the wood of the exquisite walnut cheval mirror. Damage to such a gorgeous antique—an unexpected gift from the former homeowners, who had left it for them—would have been unconscionable.
He selected his pieces from the playroom first, lest his spouses gallop through their ten minutes and arrive early enough to peek. The hint of mystery in their anticipation added to their intoxication; it wouldn’t do to spoil that for them. But he reached the bedroom, carrying his prizes, with no sound of footsteps on the stairs. Excellent. A great deal remained to be done in seven minutes.
A gentle twist tightened the mirror in its stand, locking it upright. He carried it into place and checked the position, ensuring perfection, before distributing other items where they would be needed.
Dressing next, and staging clothing for Alice and Jay as well. They wouldn’t know the scenario when they entered, but improvisational skills served well. He would cue them enough to allow a simple yes, and to carry them forward. And as he and Alice jointly relished a disheveled formalwear aesthetic, and Jay’s arousal relied little on fashion, he hung pieces suitable for the symphony on their valet stands. Yet another generous and thoughtful gift; the stands Emma had made available to them on their wedding day now served in their bedroom.
He donned deep navy suit pants, a different pair than he’d worn Monday for the tree decorating. These, and Jay’s matching pair, would coordinate beautifully with Alice’s outfit, the coloration blending—“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Two minutes remaining, and he tucked in his dress shirt, a simple lighter blue, and draped a darker necktie under the collar but left it undone. His watch and wedding band stayed. Dark socks, dress shoes, and a matching belt completed the look.
A firm knock came at the door.
“Wait,” he called. He’d no tasks left to complete, but thirty seconds ought to be enough to induce an adrenal response in his pets without converting their excitement into anxiety. He strode to the door with the metronome of seconds counting down in his head. His steps on the hardwood would certainly be audible. The smooth handle curved into his palm as he depressed the lever and ushered his spouses in with a sweeping arm. “You may enter. Hurry now; you’ve yet to dress, and we mustn’t be late for the symphony.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want us to be late!” Alice, clever girl, stepped into the game without pause. Perhaps she recalled the first scenario he’d crafted for her, their blanket picnic in the park. “But I haven’t picked out anything to wear.”
Taking her arm, he tipped his head at Jay to follow. Jay wore his glee across his face as a banner. Tonight would be a salve for the disappointments and distractions of the week behind, an opportunity for Henry’s spouses to slip into their submissive selves and give themselves over to their true natures, safe in his pleasure and control. “A problem already solved for you.”
As they rounded the corner into the dressing nook, Alice gasped, staring at the dress hanging from the stand and her wedding heels beneath it. “I get to wear that ?”
He hummed soft agreement, memorizing the sparkle in her eyes as he began unbuttoning her shirt. “You do if you can tell me your safeword and when you might employ it.”
“Pistachio,” she uttered, her eyes fixed on the outfit. “My safeword is pistachio.”
He’d done a fair job of displaying the dress, with the hanger facing front to show off the pencil-thin straps, the deep vee of the neckline, and the splendor of the lace flowers floating over a sheath lining. If they were truly going out, he would have insisted upon warmer underthings. Of course, if they were truly going out, he would have worn underwear himself.
The handkerchief-style points of the dress’s hemline would show even more detail when they swirled around her calves, when he lifted her—
“I would use it if I felt unsafe,” Alice solemnly intoned, as he dropped her shirt to the floor, “or if I had a muscle cramp, or if some other emergency meant I couldn’t fully participate.”
He ran his knuckles up the sides of her ribs, the vibration of her trembling an appetizer he devoured. “An excellent response.” Splaying his fingers, he unhooked her bra and caressed the bare canvas of her back. “Well done, Alice.”
The bra joined her shirt as he turned his gaze to Jay, though he slipped his fingers inside Alice’s waistband and teased as he unfastened her pants. “And my very good boy? Have you a safeword to use?”
“Always.” Jay nodded, his face momentarily serious. “I would never play without one, Master Henry.”
“Such lyrical answers gratify my ears,” he murmured. The round fullness of Alice’s ass filled his palms as he stepped in closer and pushed her pants and underwear toward the floor in a single motion. “Tell me yours, please, Jay.”
Shoulders squared, chin lifted, Jay spoke with confidence. “My safeword is potholes , and I’ll say it if something doesn’t feel right to me, even if I’m not sure what the something is.”
That merited more than simple praise. With a crooked finger, he beckoned Jay to him. His husband’s delightful disregard for clothes in the house did, regrettably, create fewer mechanisms for dragging him in for a kiss. Jay’s shaggy hair, however, proved a marvelous handle.
Fingers curled tight in the strands at the back of Jay’s neck, he delivered a seeking, hungry kiss. Jay yielded instantly, mouth open, whimpering for more with each thrust of Henry’s tongue.
Drawing away, Henry subtly guided the turn of Jay’s shoulder toward his clothing for the evening. “Sit and don your socks, please, Jay. I’ll have you help Alice with her shoes in a moment.”
Truthfully, he needed the moment to confer with Alice as his co-dominant rather than his submissive. It would be thoroughly inappropriate to use her implement without inquiring, and she’d done the miraculous work of attuning to Jay’s comfort level and aligning his experiences with their shared goals. Witnessing their latest room check had cemented Henry’s intentions.
As Jay dropped to the nearby rug, Henry maneuvered Alice a few steps away and nuzzled her ear. “A question for you alone; do not answer aloud. Smile for yes; shake your head for no.”
Her back stiffened slightly, and he soothed her with caresses and planted kisses along her neck. “May I use your deerskin flogger on Jay? Its familiarity will give the most advantageous result.”
His whisper faded. Jay had unrolled his socks and begun dressing with no obvious signs of noticing the exchange.
Alice, eyes widening, bit her lip and nodded.
He waited.
Her face pinched into the lines she’d shown during yesterday’s game night when she’d miscalculated a move. She rearranged her expression into a broad smile, almost cartoonish in its intensity.
Barely stifling a laugh, he leaned in once more. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
The pounding of her heart practically thrummed through his hands. Her smile returned to a more natural state, certainly less likely to attract Jay’s notice. A fortunate change, as Jay, clad only in socks, arrived and knelt before them in his waiting pose.
Henry positioned the dress for Alice to step into it; she mussed Jay’s hair with affection as she used him for balance. The straps slid up her arms in swift silence. Henry skimmed her skin with his palms, creating just enough friction to raise the soft hairs. She quivered with attention. One at a time, he cupped her breasts and settled them into the built-in cups. The tiny bit of shaping emphasized the sleek curves of her cleavage and her silhouette under the A-line.
Arms embracing her, he slowly zipped the back of the dress to its endpoint in the vee below her shoulder blades. She would have extensive range of motion, as anticipated. At least until he finished her preparation.
She and Jay would be exquisite.
He stepped back, appreciating. The light through the dangling lace, the swaying patterns, would enhance the beauty of the scene. “You may help Alice with her shoes now, Jay.”
Balancing herself with Jay’s shoulders, she lifted each foot in turn as Jay secured the clasps. Glancing toward where the cheval mirror usually stood, she raised an eyebrow but kept her lips closed.
Good girl , he mouthed.
Soft pink bloomed across her cheeks and down her chest. Splendid. Dressing his spouses served as an intimate foreplay, awakening the body to the wonders of touch.
He called Jay to his side and dressed him with equal care—or added care, given that Jay’s arousal necessitated delicate handling to fasten his navy pants. Henry slipped the shirt up Jay’s arms, smoothing as he went, sending his breath across Jay’s ear.
Resting his hands on Jay’s shoulders, he snugged tight to Jay and allowed his own hardness to graze Jay’s backside. “You know, I don’t think we’ll make the symphony after all. The two of you are entirely too enticing to be allowed out in public. In fact—”
With a thrust that brought a sweet whine from Jay, he backed away and opened the drawer on his valet stand. The pieces he’d temporarily stashed inside claimed all of the available space. He lifted Jay’s harness in both hands, shaking the straps and rings into place. “I think we’ll amend these clothes a bit.”
Jay trembled, leaning forward as if propelled by an unseen force. Henry raised the harness high and lowered its walnut brown leather around Jay’s head and shoulders. Over the unbuttoned shirt, the effect was magnificently rakish and wild. The central ring of the Y coming down the front rested against Jay’s breastbone. He flashed a narrow strip of bare skin from throat to waist.
“Alice, if you’ll assist me with the buckles, please?” He faced her across Jay, the vibrating excitement as it had been on their wedding day, transmitting Jay’s energy through the three of them. His own body transmuted that power to a calming steadiness, a rightness that flowed and fed his hunger. Jay’s enthusiastic submission sharpened his focus and hardened his desires into a singular determination to make his visions a reality. A bassy growl crept into his voice. “Lovely.”
The buckles cinched nicely, the harness defining Jay’s muscular torso, the open shirt an intriguing tease. In ten days, Henry would add the crowning touch. But not yet. Seeing such gifts on his pets would inflame his passions even beyond what he intended tonight. He would save that joy for their one-month anniversary. “But we mustn’t leave Alice unadorned.”
The scrollwork bracers emerged from the drawer. Alice extended her arms before he asked, and he allowed a hint of laughter in his exhalation. “I do love my eager wife.”
“I love both of my husbands,” she whispered, tracking his motions as he encased her in soft leather from wrist to elbow. The D-rings he left alone; her movements would remain unrestricted, for now. “And their very different personalities.”
“Then I believe we’re ready for our evening.” He slipped his hand into the drawer for a final time. Jay’s leash dangled across his palm, the weight pleasing, Jay’s deeper breathing even more so. The snap of the hook against Jay’s central ring filled the silence. No music this evening. His pets would listen to him alone. He offered his bent arm to Alice and wrapped Jay’s leash in his other hand. “Come with me.”
Wonders awaited.