Chapter 52 Twenty-One #2
“Okay,” she whispered. She unhooked the bra and discarded it. She slid her panties to the floor and stepped out of them. She climbed onto the bed, heart pounding. She sat with her butt on her heels and her head and eyes down. “You know I’m yours. Always. You can do whatever you want with me.”
She heard him exhale. Moments ticked by, and she waited.
Finally, the bed sagged as he sat. “I would never do anything to cause you real harm, Em. You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“Come here. Come stand in front of me so I can look at you.”
She crawled off the bed and stood before him. He pushed her hair back, looking into her eyes, then at her mouth, her throat, her breasts, her belly, her pussy, and her legs. “Turn and put your arms over your head.”
She obeyed.
A fingertip traced the line of her spine from the nape of her neck down to the crease of her ass, making her shiver.
“On the bed now. On your back with your legs open.”
She complied, and he leaned forward, spreading her lower lips so he could look inside her. He exhaled warm breath, making her body tighten. When he finally let her go, he licked her cream from his thumbs.
“Is everything exactly the way you left it?” she asked with a hint of a smile.
He smirked and nodded, then he bent forward and kissed the top of her sex.
He crawled to the head of the bed and sat with his back against the headboard. She rolled on her side and unzipped his jeans.
He caught her hand and held it. “You don’t have to do anything except lie there and let me look at you.”
“I know,” she said, kissing his hand. “But it’s been a long week, and I think we’ll both feel better if I do a little more than lie here.” She slid his hand away and took him in her mouth.
As time ticked by, he closed his eyes and let her do the work. He was very quiet and nearly still. Only his breathing became ragged in the end. He stroked her hair and pressed deeper into the velvet of her mouth.
She swallowed, sucked, and swallowed until she’d consumed every drop of him.
He tipped his head back against the wall, taking deep breaths. Eventually, his muscles relaxed.
“Thank you for that,” he murmured.
“My pleasure,” she said, resting next to him.
“So it’s Christmas Eve in a house where I’ve had to confront myself before; it seems the right time and the right place to confess some things to the woman I love.”
“Go ahead,” she whispered, looking up at him.
He sat in the half light, a shadow playing across his face and chest.
“The first night we met, I fucked you in my office and later stripped you, tied you down, and spanked you in front of strangers. When you asked to see me outside the club, I should’ve said yes because after the things I’d done to you that night, you deserved more aftercare than I gave you.
Instead, I made it clear that you couldn’t have me without the club because I was banking on the fact that it would pull you back in.
You and Kate were kept apart for the same reason and because I didn’t want Kate and Rory’s devotion to each other to cause expectations I didn’t want you to have.
Keeping you guys apart was my idea, not Rory’s.
And finally, when someone we’ve invited to tour the club isn’t a good fit, but is early in their journey into this lifestyle, there are resources and advice the club provides to help them find what they need.
I didn’t give you any of that information when you left.
I wanted you to think the only way you could get what you needed was in the club with me.
Because I wanted you, completely on my own terms.”
“Well, Shay, you are dominant. You’re used to having subs on your own terms.”
“Yes, I am, but I’ve never manipulated a sub the way I manipulated you.” He rested his hands on the wall behind him and shook his head. “Math major. Chess player. Experienced Dom. You never stood a chance.”
“Hmm,” she said with a contemplative sigh. “Then, that was very wicked of you. Maybe you should be punished for it. No using your pet between the hours of three and six pm February twenty-ninth.”
“You’re too easy on me,” he said with a small smile that faded after a moment. “Do you want to leave the club?”
“You mean leave and take you with me?”
“Of course.”
She stretched thoughtfully. “I don’t think so, Sir.
Even in your house there isn’t room for that much bondage furniture and that many scene rooms. It wouldn’t be the same playing doctor on a bed with no stirrups.
And if we were going to play Kidnapped by Pirates, who would drag me to your cabin?
You wouldn’t have any crew. I’m kind of spoiled now. I have certain expectations.”
He laughed softly. He caught her hand and held it, then kissed the inside of her arm.
“You’re the best master in the world for offering to leave the club for me. I know how much that place means to you.”
He stroked her hair. “I’m sorry about tonight.
I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll tell you the whole story some other time, but it was hard bringing you here.
I care about my family and I love them, but they don’t understand me.
I guess I don’t completely understand myself, either, if I could spiral into such a dark place after so much time has passed. ”
“Shall I guess what happened?”
He paused. “Sure. Go ahead.”
“Because I acted quite normal through dinner, not arriving in lingerie and a dog collar or eating my burger from a dish on the floor, they decided I wasn’t into the lifestyle.
Hence, they presumed you’d outgrown your kinks or abandoned them.
And when they acted relieved that you’d given up being who you are, it pissed you off.
So you decided to set the record straight by showing them you haven’t changed at all.
You’re still as wild as ever. As proven by the comment implying that your suitcase is full of whips and chains and that whatever you order me to do, I will.
And once the dominant ball got rolling, screwing my brains out loudly enough for the whole house to hear seemed like it would have been another nice illustration of your point: you’ll do whatever the hell you want, particularly to a young woman who belongs to you, even in a house full of people. Sound about right?”
“Hole in one,” he murmured. “Remember the first night we met when I understood everything about you, and you knew nothing about me? How did that change?”
“I caught up. It was bound to happen. I am extremely smart, and I do study you more intently than my coursework.”
“Lucky master,” he said, leaning down to kiss her.
“Good morning,” Emma said, finding Shay’s mother huddled on the couch under a throw, looking like she hadn’t slept a wink.
“Let me guess. My son the king sent you down to fetch his coffee?”
Emma smiled and sat down. “No, but he certainly could have, and I would’ve happily fetched it for him.”
“For God’s sake, why? I know he’s handsome and can be charming, but honestly.”
“He is handsome and he can be charming, but that’s not why.”
Shay’s mom raised her brows expectantly.
“It’s because from the moment I met him, he worked so hard to figure out exactly what I would need to make me happy and to give me that.
And when the person you’re in love with treats you like you’re the most important thing in the world to him, it’s not really possible to give that up.
” Emma ran a hand through her hair. “I know you may never be reconciled to the way he is, but if it’s any consolation, I’m grateful that you were his mom for all the years before this came between you. ”
“You are? Why?”
“I definitely am,” Emma said with a soft smile. “Because no man turns out as wonderful as Shay without a really great mother.”
Shay’s mom looked like she might cry, and Emma wasn’t sure whether it was tears of relief from hearing that someone thought she’d done a good job or tears of horror at having the credit for him laid at her feet.
Footfalls on the stairs made them creak, and Shay strode into the family room, shirtless and wearing black sweats.
“I don’t like waking up to find you gone when I expect you to be there, Em.”
“Noted,” she said.
“Next time, wake me up before you leave. Or better yet, just stay in bed till I’m awake.” He slid a hand over her throat to hold her in place while he kissed the side of her face. “I missed you.”
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“What are you wearing?” he asked.
She brushed a finger over her white flannel pajamas with somersaulting pink cats. “Like them? These are my kitten pajamas.”
He tossed his head back and laughed.
“I got them for traveling. Don’t tell Randall. Merry Christmas, by the way.”
“Merry Christmas.” He let go of her and straightened. “Put your arms up over your head.”
Emma’s nipples tightened under her pajama top. Because he’d so often tied or pinned her arms over her head at very erotic moments, she couldn’t stop her body’s instinctive response to the command. Fortunately, the pajama top was thick enough that his mom didn’t seem to notice.
Emma swallowed and put her arms up, trusting that he wasn’t planning to tie her and leave her naked and bound under the tree for his brothers or anything crazy.
She felt the slide of cool metal over her knuckles.
“Don’t take that off,” he said and kissed her palm. Before she even lowered her arms, he walked away, undoubtedly seeking coffee.
She dropped her hands and stared at the huge emerald-cut diamond solitaire. Emma smiled. Shay’s mother leaned forward and lifted Emma’s hand.
“That’s a lovely ring,” she said, and then she called to the kitchen, “Shay, come out here.”
“Yes?” he asked, stepping into the doorway.
“Is the ring you gave Emma an engagement ring?”
“Yes.”
“Then you have to ask her to marry you. You may not use the words: “Don’t take that off” in conjunction with a proposal. She’ll think you’re a Neanderthal.”
Shay smiled. “Emma won’t think I’m a Neanderthal. She knows better than anyone what I am.” Shay disappeared back into the kitchen.