22. Reality Check
Reality Check
Sam
Sam: I can’t make it to dinner tonight, sorry!
Sending the text message sucked. The reason sucked even more. Sam hated not having money. Part of her was tempted to put dinner on a credit card, but she knew it was far too easy to start putting all sorts of things on the card, and she didn’t have the money to pay it off.
She’d been spending too much doing fun things as it was, and while she was a big believer in feeding her soul, at the end of the day, actually feeding herself had to take priority.
At least she’d been able to talk to Patrick, who had been happy to let her sign up for some shifts at Marquis and Stronghold, doing the serving/clean-up stuff in exchange for her membership.
To her surprise, it wasn’t even a discount.
He’d said she was completely covered with everything she was doing.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have any paying positions, or she would have jumped at the chance for a second job at the clubs.
She’d already spent her lunch hour sending out her resume in a fit of anger and angst.
If she couldn’t get a raise, she needed a new job that paid more, or she would have to start changing how she lived, which was already pretty frugal. Going out to eat at Marquis with Noelle and Morgan had basically been a splurge, and even then, she’d been getting the cheapest thing on the menu.
She could look into a new housing situation but moving cost money.
She wasn’t sure she could afford to move right now, even if it would save her money in the long run.
Sure, it was easy to think ‘oh I’ll find somewhere I can have a roommate and share expenses,’ but she’d also need a down payment and rent something to move all her stuff.
Even if she wanted to live with someone else, which she didn’t, that idea was out of her reach.
What about living with Q?
Yeah, she wasn’t going to let her brain go there, even for a moment. It was way, way too soon.
Besides, she didn’t want him to think she was using him for his house.
For a moment, her brain entertained a happy little fantasy of being his live-in sex slave before reality intruded.
For starters, definitely not her kink. Secondly, she loved her work.
She just didn’t love her paycheck. And thirdly, she was not going to bang for the roof, or whatever it was called. She wanted her own money.
Needed it, even.
She’d considered asking her dad for help, as a Christmas present, but with him going on a cruise, she didn’t want to ask him for anything extra. And heaven forbid he actually canceled the trip in order to help her out. She’d eat nothing but ramen for the month before she let that happen.
Thankfully, her phone buzzed with a responding text, halting her increasingly depressing thought spiral.
Noelle: Why not? Are you okay?
Taking a deep breath, she made herself type out the words. There was nothing wrong with not being able to afford it. She did not need to feel ashamed. Repeating the words like a mantra in her head only helped a little with the rising emotions.
Sam: I can’t afford it, low on funds right now and need to be smart with my money.
There. That was a good way to put it without making herself appear pathetic. Not that she was pathetic, but this was definitely bringing up all sorts of feelings she hadn’t had since high school. Feelings she’d been trying to avoid since high school.
Morgan: Aw, I totally get it hun. We can reschedule for later!
Sam pressed her lips together, relieved Morgan was so supportive but also dreading future conversations that she still couldn’t afford it. People tended to be pretty understanding about it around the holidays. Morgan probably assumed she was spending money on gifts or things.
If only.
She and her dad didn’t exchange gifts. Their present to each other was sitting and watching Christmas movies together while eating popcorn and ordering Chinese food for dinner, which was what they’d done every Christmas since she was a little girl.
As a child, she’d sometimes wished for more, but as she’d gotten older and understood their financial situation, she pretended to love it for her dad’s sake.
Then one day, she realized it really was all she wanted—time with her dad and a treasured memory from what could have been an even more depressing situation.
He'd really made the best of things for her, and now that she was an adult, it was her job to do the same for him, so he could enjoy his golden years.
Noelle: Aw, I really wanted to see you two! I can cover you for tonight.
Sam: Oh, you don’t have to do that.
Noelle: I know I don’t have to. I want to! I have extra money and want to see you. Don’t tell me no!
Morgan: I can go in half so it’s not all Noelle! I had a great weekend.
Which meant, in Morgan-speak, she’d raked in a bunch of money on her channel. A moment later, while Sam was still staring at her screen and trying to decide what to say, her phone buzzed again. Another text from Morgan, but this one was directly to Sam instead of to the group message.
Morgan: You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but you’ve done so much for me, and I’d like to do something in return for you! Think about what you would do if the situation was reversed.
If the situations were reversed and Morgan couldn’t afford to go out for dinner, and Sam had extra money, she would have paid for the other woman’s dinner in a heartbeat. Sam sighed. Dammit. When Morgan put it that way…
Sam responded to the group text.
Sam: Okay, I’ll let you two pay for me just this once! But next week, you’ll come over for dinner at my place.
She’d find a way to scrounge some money for extra groceries and get everything on sale. That would make two weeks she didn’t have to pay for dinner at Marquis. Even though she would be buying more groceries than usual, it would actually be cheaper. Yeah, she could do that.
A rush of warmth and gratitude went through her. She was lucky to have such good friends. Sure, she still needed to figure out the job and money thing, but at least the relationship parts of her life were going well.
Q
Something was up with Sam during class, though Q wasn’t sure what.
Thankfully, the part of class in the main room didn’t last long, then they were sent back to the private rooms for some ‘hands-on’ practice.
Something he’d been looking forward to for a while, though he wasn’t sure how he felt about the room they’d been assigned.
He’d never been in the ‘shoe room’ before.
It was also known as the foot fetish room.
Not something he would think himself into, but as he stood in the center of the room watching Sam—or Mistress Sam, as she was right now—perusing the options lining the walls, he had to admit he didn’t hate the idea of seeing her in sexy heels.
“I think… these.” Sam picked up a pair of incredibly strappy black high heels and turned around, walking toward him.
Her eyes were alight, her chin up, every inch of her screaming that she could take on the world and win.
Just holding the shoes had done a complete change in her attitude, and it was one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen, even if he didn’t completely understand the why behind the transformation. “On your knees, Q.”
Fuck, yes.
Whatever had been on her mind was gone now, and she was completely in the moment.
So was he.
Dropping to his knees, his cock rose as he was going down. He automatically assumed the ‘subbie’ position—knees apart, spine straight, head dropped. He was a bad sub, though. He peeked to watch her coming closer, his body reacting to the confidence shooting through her.
Stopping in front of him, she paused and slid her feet out of her own shoes—a pair of sensible high heels that were sexy but not in the way that the ones she was holding were. A moment later, she put one bare foot on his thigh and dangled the strappy heels in front of him.
“Put these on me.” Excitement tinged her voice, which excited him, too.
Wordlessly, Q took the correct shoe for the foot residing on his leg and helped her into them.
While he’d never thought there was anything particularly sexy about helping a woman into her shoes, he’d seen it done before in movies and tv shows.
There still might not be something inherently sexy about it, at least not to him, but putting these shoes on Sam was different.
Maybe because she was so clearly enthusiastic about them.
Maybe because touching her was always going to be a turn-on for him.
Maybe because when she lifted her leg to put her foot up on his thigh, he could see straight up her skirt, almost to her pussy.
It was a tantalizing tease and one he greatly appreciated.
His fingers lingered over her skin as he secured the straps. From his position, he had a fantastic view of her legs when they were both on and she stood before him, looking down at her feet and admiring the turn of her calves. Q grinned as he realized something.
Sam raised her eyebrows.
“What?” she asked, a little defensively, and he realized she thought he was laughing at her, which couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“I was just thinking, you’re now at the perfect height to straddle my face. I could eat your pussy kneeling right here,” he responded truthfully.
He loved seeing the way her cheeks went pink and how her eyes went hot and distracted whenever he said something filthy to her. It only took her a moment to recover. Giving herself a little shake, she looked down at him, hot need in her eyes.
“I think that sounds like the perfect idea.” Reaching down to her skirt, she lifted it high enough to confirm what Q had guessed when he’d caught the little glimpses under her skirt.
Mistress Samantha wasn’t wearing any underwear.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said eagerly, sinking down a little lower on his knees and tipping his head back as she moved forward, one leg on either side of him. She was the exact height for her pussy to end up on his mouth.
Sliding his hands up to hold her steady, Q wrapped his arms around the backs of her thighs, his hands curving over the front while his tongue slid between her sweet folds.
Sam moaned as her hands went down to rest on the back of his head, pushing him further into her pussy at the same time she gave herself a bit of extra support and balance.
Sam
Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck…
Q’s tongue could literally make her forget all her worries and cares.
Once he’d put the image of her riding his face in her head, she’d had to make it a reality…
and it was even better than she’d imagined it would be.
With his arms cradling her lower body, holding her in place and helping keep her upright when her knees went weak from pleasure, she was free to lose herself in ecstasy.
Moving her hips, she let herself fly free, taking everything he offered until she couldn’t bear it anymore. Splintering apart against his mouth, she shuddered with the waves of ecstasy.
When she was able to stand on her own, she rewarded him with a nice, thuddy flogging while he was bent over the shoe bench before turning him over and riding him to mutual climaxes.
With his freshly flogged back pressed against the leather bench, she was able to watch the heat in his eyes grow while he was caught between erotic pain and pleasure.
His cock throbbed inside her, his hips thrusting up to fill her while she used his hands to help balance herself.
They didn’t do much with the shoes or her feet, but neither of them minded.