Chapter 52 Twenty-One
Twenty-One
It snowed in New York. Emma who loved white Christmases was delighted. They’d originally planned to stay in Manhattan, but at the last minute, his parents had wanted to go to the Hamptons. Shay had rented a car to drive out.
“A lot of people close their summer houses, but they always keep it open. My dad likes to get away. We usually have Thanksgiving there. I’m not home for all the holidays anymore, so I’m not sure where they spent Thanksgiving.” There was a set to his jaw that worried her.
“It’s not work, is it, that’s had you on edge? It’s this trip. Meeting my family and having me meet yours?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because the launch is over, and it went well. Work is under control, and yet on the plane, you said you wished we were on our way to meet Rory and Kate in Hawaii for New Year’s Eve.
I assumed you wouldn’t care for dealing with my family.
They can be mean-spirited and loud. But I thought you liked yours. ”
“Just because I’m looking forward to New Year’s Eve sex with our best friends doesn’t mean I don’t like my family.”
“You don’t usually do that, Shay.”
“What?”
“Evade answering questions. You might tell me you don’t plan to answer something, but you don’t try to deceive me.
I know something is wrong. Last night you spanked me then tied me into a pretzel and had rough sex with me until almost sunrise.
I really like being your distraction, Sir, you know that.
And I was certainly rewarded for putting in the time. But I’m worried.”
“There’s nothing for you to be worried about, Em. I promise.” He rubbed her knee. “Are you sore?”
“That is not your problem.”
“Answer me.” His voice wasn’t angry or impatient. It was just that voice that meant she had better do what he said.
“Shay, you had my feet behind my head for almost two hours while you partook of what I’ve come to think of as circuit-training sex.
Starting with my mouth and working your way down, so there are drops of you in every opening that accommodates that gorgeous cock of yours.
Of course, I’m sore. It’s a Christmas miracle that I can walk. ”
“You should’ve said something. With the yoga, you’re so flexible. You don’t show the strain the way you used to of being stretched so far for so long. You have to speak up. I don’t want you injured.”
“I have a safeword. I know how to use it. Last night wasn’t too much for me.
I enjoy getting spanked and having pretzel, circuit sex with you.
You know I enjoyed it,” she said, running her fingers through his hair.
“You’re always aware of how I’m doing. Sometimes before I’m aware myself.
Last night was great. But some nights this trip we’ve barely slept.
You used to be so strict about making sure we got enough rest.” She traced her thumb along his jaw. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”
He sighed and nodded absently. “I have been keyed up, but I don’t want to talk about why. Not yet. I promise it’s nothing for you to worry about.”
She hesitated, but then said, “All right.”
The house was warm and spacious, but full of casual, comfortable furniture. His parents and his younger brothers, who were twenty and nineteen, had already trimmed the tree, and it sparkled with lights and tinsel when Shay and Emma arrived.
Hunter, his youngest brother, sat at the piano playing jazzed-up Christmas songs. His middle brother Jared grilled burgers on the deck, dressed in a winter coat and hat. His father poured wine, and his mother set rosemary-roasted potatoes and a Caesar salad on the table.
“Perfect timing!” his dad announced.
They all hustled over to meet her.
Shay and Jared looked like their mom. Dark hair, long eyelashes, perfect nose. Hunter had golden brown hair like Shay’s dad, but the mother’s smoky brown eyes rather than blue. They were all tall and fit with warm smiles and a bit of a devilish gleam in their eyes when they began telling stories.
Shay joined in the stories and laughed, but there was still a whisper of unease. Or maybe she just imagined it.
“Sorry about the burgers. It doesn’t exactly scream Christmas Eve,” Jared said.
“Don’t apologize! They were delicious,” Emma said.
“Well, it’s a tradition that on our first night here we always cook out, even in the dead of winter. We’re stubborn that way. I’m sure you’ve seen that quality in Shay?” his dad said.
“Shay stubborn?” she asked with mock curiosity. “You mean because a person would have an easier time moving Mt. Everest? You consider that stubborn?”
They laughed, and she winked at Shay.
He cocked a brow, which she knew meant she’d pay later for teasing him. Not that she thought he actually minded. He could play and tease as much as anyone, but he liked having excuses to dish out the punishments they both enjoyed for him to dish out.
“So tell us all about yourself,” Jared said. “The last time my brother had a girlfriend Clinton was in office.”
She grinned. “I take it you’re exaggerating.”
“I don’t think I am. If so, not by much,” Jared said with a smirk. “I started to worry he’d never find anyone to put up with his idiosyncrasies.”
She saw a look pass between Shay’s parents that was unmistakable. Despite the shiny happy faces, all was not well.
Emma rallied and gave the particulars of her life story including where she’d grown up, her college, and her future plans.
“Where did you guys meet?” Hunter asked.
“I went to a night club near campus with a friend,” Emma said. “Shay and I met and hit it off immediately.” She glanced at him, but he’d walked to the sliding glass door and was looking out at the darkness.
“Cool,” Jared said. “Now for the really important question. Do you have any sisters as pretty as you?”
She grinned. “You might think they were prettier.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” Shay said with his back still to the room. “He’s not blind.”
This made his brothers crack up.
“So how about fixing a guy up?” Jared asked.
“You didn’t let me finish. One’s married and one’s engaged.”
“Aw,” Jared said, clutching his heart and falling back onto the couch. “How do you get a guy’s hopes up like that and then crush them? This is Christmas!”
“So,” Shay said, turning back. “Dinner was great. Hunter, give me a hand getting the suitcases and gifts.”
“Oh,” his dad said, getting up. “Sure, you’re tired. Well, we’ve got the room down here set up for Emma. It’s small—”
“I don’t mind,” Emma said quickly.
Shay said nothing, which was a relief. She’d thought he might try to argue about the sleeping arrangements.
“I’ll give you a hand, Shay. My coat’s here,” Jared said.
They went out and came back a few minutes later. Jared set Emma’s suitcase in the small room off the kitchen and then put the gifts under the tree.
“The good news is,” Jared said with a smirk, “no foot locker.”
Shay’s head turned toward his brother, and she recognized the look on Shay’s face. Dark and dangerous.
“I don’t need a foot locker, kid. I’m not living here. Suitcase,” Shay said, rapping his knuckles against the hard shell of his case.
Jared’s smile faltered. Shay’s father’s smile froze, and his mother’s face was stone.
“I don’t get it,” Hunter said.
“Just a bad joke,” Jared said quickly.
Shay set his suitcase down, detoured into the small bedroom and got Emma’s suitcase and walked back into the living room. He grabbed his suitcase and started up the stairs. “Emma, come upstairs. I want you. Good night, everyone. We’ll see you in the morning.”
She knew better than to argue with that tone. She smiled at everyone. “It was so great to meet you. We’re a little exhausted, so we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Emma held her breath. Were his parents religious? Strict? Would they object and throw her and Shay out of the house for insisting on sleeping together?
Shay’s dad murmured something about a late breakfast and nodded at her with a forced smile. Shay’s mother poured herself another glass of wine without making eye contact. His brother Jared filled the silence with a cheerful goodnight.
Upstairs, she had to glance into two rooms to find Shay’s. He was standing just inside the doorway, waiting for her. As soon as she entered, he closed the door. Then he picked her up and dropped her on the bed, making the floor creak.
“Strip.”
“No.”
Shay had his shirt halfway over his head and paused. Then he finished removing it and pinned her with a look. “Did you say no?”
She rolled off the mattress and stood with the bed between them. “May I talk to you for a minute?”
“No,” he said. “Strip.”
“Please?”
“Emma, if you haven’t started undressing by the time I finish talking, I will do things to you that make you scream. Do you want my entire family in this bedroom with us? Because they’ll come if they think I’m hurting you.”
She jerked her shoe off to prove she was undressing. She set it quietly on the floor. Then the next. She slid her red silk blouse out of her skirt, unbuttoned it, and removed it. She let it flutter down on top of a chest of drawers. She unzipped her skirt.
He’d stopped undressing to watch her. When she stood before him in a teal bra and matching panties, she paused.
“All the way.”
“Sir, red.”
His brows rose. “You’re using your safeword so you don’t have to get undressed in front of me? Not appropriate, Emma.”
“I’m using my safeword because you’re scaring me. You’re threatening to punish me in a way that will cause your family pain and embarrassment. This is not the club. I won’t enjoy doing a public scene with you in your parents’ house.”
“It doesn’t need to be a public scene if you do as you’re told and strip.”
He was in the grips of something she didn’t understand. Challenging him for control of her body would never work. It would only make him want to dominate her more.