Sweet Caroline

by Lissa Matthews

  Buck though, that had been different. Nothing ever felt odd or forced before or after they started fucking like a couple of horny teenagers. They were discovering each other and what they each enjoyed, but there was something to be said for being comfortable with someone, free to delve deeper into feelings and motivations. She’d had that with him, too. Sex added fun and intense pleasure, but they were able to talk beyond the bed and the spankings, and she’d really enjoyed that.

  And she had missed cooking for more than herself. Caring for someone other than her own person. She was meant for that, to be a caregiver, to do for others. It’s one of the reasons she picked baskets and gifts for her business. It was providing not only a product but a personal touch of service as well. She thrived on that most of all, knowing she was helping, giving, offering something of herself.

  The small gravel and rubber lined drive loomed on the left and she carefully turned in. She wasn’t sure what she’d do when there was snow piled high, but she’d figure it out. She planned on making a couple trips into town a week to mail off packages, but to also get out of the house, to talk to people, to become part of the place she’d chosen to live.

  The cabin came into view and as it had since she arrived, it made her smile. Big. Then she saw the truck. His truck. Buck’s truck. He was rocking in a chair on her front porch and stood as soon as she parked her Jeep. She turned off the ignition, and he walked down the three steps. She got out and he was there, his hands in her hair, his lips on hers, his hot solid body warming hers from the outside in.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered against his cheek as he held her head close.

  He looked down into her eyes and kissed the tip of her nose. “You forgot a few things when you left.”

  “I did?”

  “Uh huh. You did.”

  “Dare I ask what I forgot?” Not that she really cared. He was here. He’d brought whatever it was to her.

  “Me.”

  Okay, she cared. A lot. “I didn’t forget you.”

  “You left me there, and you didn’t ask me to come along.”

  “I didn’t know how.”

  “I kind of figured. So, I brought me here to you.”

  Caroline threw her arms around his neck and hugged him so tight he had to push her away so he could breathe again. “For how long?”

  “As long as you want me to stay. I won’t push, I won’t force my way into your life. I won’t take anything you aren’t willing to give, but I want to be part of your life. I don’t want to be part of your past, a memory of a fling you had for a few weeks with the handyman. I want to be part of your now, your tomorrow, and as many days after as you’ll let me be.”

  Well, she hadn’t expected that. Though considering Buck, maybe she should have. “But you’re not just any handyman. You’re not a handyman at all.”

  “I used to be. It’s how I started out.”

  “I didn’t know how to ask,” she said again, needing him to understand it wasn’t that she didn’t want to, or that she didn’t want him. God, she wanted him, needed him, but she couldn’t ask. She didn’t even know why other than her own lack of self-confidence which until she faced the moment of actually leaving, she hadn’t had a problem with. “I want you so much and started missing you before I ever left. I shouldn’t have to tell you I want you in my life and in my bed, but I guess you needed me to. I don’t know how to live with someone else since… I want to try with you. I do.”

  She wouldn’t mention Derek’s name again. He was her past. He had moved on, and so had she. Buck was her present and the stars willingly aligning right, her future. “Come on in. Wait until you see the view out the back.”

  She grabbed her bags from the grocery store and Buck pulled a few duffle bags from the cab of his truck.

  “You picked a beautiful place.”

  “It was a steal, I swear. It was cheap, considering it’s a cabin looking out at the mountains.” She told him what had happened with the previous owners while she put the items she’d purchased away.

  He came to stand at the back door, which was on the other side of the breakfast bar after putting his things in the master bedroom. He was no guest. He was her…what? Lover? Boyfriend? Everything? She had to smile at that last one. That didn’t seem to fit them. They were two different people who shared something special, who complimented one another in some very significant ways.

  “You can see for miles standing here.” He looked over at the fireplace. “Used it yet?”

  “No, but I have used the little one outside. Night is really chilly. Holy crap I hadn’t realized how chilly it would be in spring.”

  “I’ll have to see about keeping you warm. It’s a gas fireplace too.” He winked, and she blushed by the heat in her cheeks. “I won’t need to chop wood for you.”

  “Whatever will you do to keep yourself occupied?”

  “Well, aside from seeing about starting up an off shoot of my business, I guess I’ll just have to keep myself occupied with you and getting to know this little area you’ve picked out for us.”

  Us. She loved that. She hadn’t thought about it until he actually said it. “This is really real, huh?”

  “About as real as it gets, I suppose. I’ve never done this before.”

  “Done what before? Lived with a woman?”

  “No, I’ve lived with a few girlfriends, but it’s not been anything like this with you is gonna be. More than my dick and my mind are involved this time around. My heart is too.”

  She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle. She was free to do that—free to touch him. Kiss him. He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled, melting her into a puddle.

  “What were your plans for today?”

  “I didn’t have any other than to set up my computer. I’d said on my website I would be out of touch for the weekend, so I have to get back to work tomorrow. I was gonna bake a cake today though.”

  “Cake?”

  “Yeah. Chocolate cheese cake.”

  “Well, damn, don’t let me stop you on that one. The computer thing can wait, however, until the cheese cake comes out of the oven. I have plans for you.”

  “You do?”

  He turned and pulled her close. “I do.” Lips nibbled, teeth nipped, tongues played. “You haven’t asked what else.”

  She was confused, but then his kisses had that power. “What else what?”

  “I said you’d left some things behind. Things, plural. I was one of them.”

  “Oh. Well, what else did I leave?”

  “Go look on the bed.”

  “O-kay.” With eyes narrowed in his direction, she turned slowly and went into their room. There it was again. Their. His and hers. Together. Like us. Happiness curled inside her even as her gaze lit on what he’d laid out. “Oh my.”

  Reaching around her, Buck picked up the silver chain with small clamps on the end. “This is made for nipple rings. The clamps fit inside the ring, add a little weight to them, and will help remind you of me.” He draped it around her neck.

  She wanted the chain attached. Right now.

  He then picked up the graduated glass butt plug in one hand and the quirt laying beside it in the other. “Think you can keep the plug in while I mark your backside?”

  No one had ever used a quirt on her. A crop, a flogger, but never a quirt. And the plug…oh God. “Only one way to find out, I guess.” Her voice was a whisper, and she couldn’t take her eyes off the new toys. “Did you make it? The quirt I mean.” The braided leather of the handle was a mix of black and brown. It was intricately woven together in a tight formation. She knew he’d made things to be used on her before, but she’d never gotten an up close and personal look at them save for the end that would be marking her. She’d always had to kiss it, pay homage to it, and it was something that while some might find bothersome or offensive, she loved.

  “I did. I’ve been working on it for a while. For you.”

  He dr
ew the ends of the leather up the front of her body, and it wasn’t at all close enough to what she wanted to feel it doing. And there was her name. Stamped, branded in the leather. Her name. It was true. He’d made it just for her. For himself to use on her. Her nipples tightened, and her pussy flooded as arousal slammed into her, rocking her back against his solid chest.

  “You want it, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she breathed. “I want it.” He kissed her neck in that way he had. It made her think of possession. It made her feel that way, too. Like she was being possessed by him, especially like this.

  “Good. The cheese cake can wait a bit. Strip.” He kissed her shoulder. “My.” He sucked her earlobe between his lips and bit. “Sweet.” He blew against her cheek and whispered in her ear, “Caroline.”

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  About the Author

  Coffee drinker extraordinaire, author Lissa Matthews lives and writes in North Carolina with her family and their six cats. Yes, you read that correctly. When not at the keyboard, she can be found in her backyard on the swing, in the kitchen trying a new recipe she found on Pinterest, watching sports, or perfecting her nap ninja skills.

  If you’d like to learn more about Lissa and her books, please visit her website lissamatthews.com, follow her on social media, and/or sign up for her newsletter.

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