The other person who had a key was Ethan. She’d left several messages for him after the incident, which he hadn’t answered, which told her he on his way from Silver Creek to Las Vegas. Why it had taken him so long she didn’t know.
“Where are you?” Ethan called out, his concern evident.
“Follow the storm,” she said. When he appeared in the bathroom doorway, she lifted a handful of bubbles and blew them in his direction. “Fancy meeting you here.”
The corner of his mouth ticked upward, but he quickly hid any humor he felt at her words.
“I thought I was coming to Silver Creek on Saturday,” she said.
“You are.” He put the lid down on the toilet and sat. “I just had to see for myself that you were okay, but I had some things I had to take care of at the resort, first.”
“You couldn’t have returned my texts? Or phone calls?” She didn’t want to sound angry, but she did feel a little slighted.
“That happens when you break your phone,” he said. “First thing on the agenda for tomorrow morning, get a new phone.”
“That sucks.” She flicked a bubble toward him. “Join me?”
“We’ve tried that before,” he said. This time his grin stayed on his face. “There’s not room for the two of us in there.”
Cecily giggled. “You really didn’t have to come. I’m fine, really.”
Ethan’s expression turned stony. “I care about you.”
“Nobody else takes your whippings like I do, right?”
“It’s more than that,” he said. “Listen, there’s something the two of us should have talked about a long time ago. After today, I know I can’t put it off any longer.”
Despite the hot water surrounding her, Cecily felt very cold. “Why do I think I’m about to get the it’s not you, it’s me speech?”
“I’m not dumping you,” he said. “In fact, it’s quite the opposite.”
The water felt very warm again. “That’s good to know.”
“Cee, I really want there to be a future for us.” He cleared his throat. “Randy told me I’ve strung you on long enough, and I need to let you inside me, not my body, but my emotions.” He cleared his throat again. “My past. The reason that I’m kinda an asshole at times.”
She wished he wasn’t talking so fast. She’d been up at first, then down, then up, and then even farther down. There was a part of her that worried that, once he’d told his story, which she was sure concerned the death of his wife, that he might decide he didn’t want her anymore. She’d lived with the fear that she wouldn’t live up to the woman’s memory.
A huge part of her wanted to tell him she didn’t want to hear it, that they should just stay lovers. But he wanted something more, and truthfully, she did, too. But sometimes when you moved things past where they were, disaster struck, and everything turned to mud.
“Is this going to be a long conversation?” She slipped her hand through the water. “Because if it is, I don’t want to sit here with the water getting colder. Maybe I should get out and put something on.”
“Probably a good idea,” he said. “I’ll work on the food while you get dressed.”
“You calling out for pizza?” she asked as she pulled the plug on the tub and stood.
“Chef sent food,” he said. “Some of those jalapeno poppers that we love, shrimp salad, broccoli and chicken pasta, and some cheesecake.”
“That’s what took you so long to get here?” she asked as she wrapped her towel around herself. “You were waiting for food?”
“That’s what he was putting out for guests at the resort,” he said. “He packed ours on ice for the trip. Meet me in the living room, and don’t come naked. I don’t want to be distracted.”
Cecily took her time. She dried off, slathered herself in lotion, then brushed her teeth. When she was dressed in loose jeans and a t-shirt, she went to the living room to find him sitting on the couch. He’d loaded down two plates, and poured a glass of wine for her, and a beer for him.
She sat down next to him and picked up her plate.
“I hope you haven’t eaten yet,” he said.
“I was going to order a pizza after my bath,” she said. She knew that meant she would be eating late, but she didn’t care. She’d eat pizza any time of the day, even if it did go straight to her hips.
“This is much better for you,” he said before he tucked a bite of shrimp salad in his mouth. Cecily went for the jalapeno poppers.
“Carbs in the pasta and sugar in the cheesecake,” she said. “Really good for me.”
They both chuckled. Then they ate in silence. Finally, he wiped his mouth and said, “Are you sure you’re okay after what happened?”
“A little shook up, but yes, I’m okay. I’ve never been part of a road rage incident before.”
Ethan put his plate back on the table and she watched as he drained his beer. He got up and took another one out of the fridge.
“Is this where you tell me I did something wrong? Something that caused what happened today?”
“Nope,” he said. “This is where I tell you my wife was killed in a similar incident.”
Cold snaked up her back, and Cecily carefully put her plate down next to his. Ethan’s words explained his rather strong reaction.
“Ethan, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s been six years,” he said. “I thought it would get easier, but it hasn’t.”
“Was it here in town?” Cecily wasn’t sure if she should be asking questions or not. Maybe it was better just to let him tell the story on his own.
“Yes,” he said. “At first the cops thought I killed her. She was hit by a car, and then someone came back and shot her.”
“What?” Surely, she hadn’t heard him right.
He hadn’t come back from the kitchen. From her place on the sofa she could see him staring at the counter, obviously lost in thought.
“Leah was a lawyer, too,” he said. “That’s how we met, when we were both hired by the same firm, as clerks while we were still in school. We fell for each other fast.”
He stopped speaking once again, his gaze still fixed on the cabinet.
“Come and sit with me,” she said. When he didn’t move, she said, “Please.”
“There’s a big part of me that thinks it never happened,” he finally said. He still hadn’t moved out of the kitchen. She wasn’t sure what to say. It was as if they were in some sort of alternate universe. She’d never known anyone who was murdered before. She couldn’t imagine how Ethan felt, even after all these years. It was no wonder this afternoon’s near miss had affected him the way it did, why he’d sent the officers they knew to check on her.
After a few long moments he moved back to the sofa and sat next to her, their knees touching. “After Leah’s death, and after the cops cleared me, I withdrew from life. It wasn’t until I met Shawn and Randy that I started living again, and only because we started Silver Creek and I could have fun without commitment.”
He chuckled, and it felt as if the cloud that had shrouded the room was lifted.
“And then I met you.” He turned to her. “You are so beautiful, and we both seemed to want the same thing.”
“Sex without commitment?” she asked.
“Not just sex.” He trailed his finger up her thigh. “As you said, nobody takes my whippings like you do.”
Cecily laughed. “It was good, always, from the start.”
“We’re very well suited together, except for my lapse around the anniversary. Then Randy had a talk with me and told me to get my act together and not let you go. He’s right. I had planned on talking to you this weekend, to see if you felt the same.”
Now the room was filled with sunlight.
“Does that smile on your face indicate yes?”
Cicely nodded.
“When the road rage thing happened, I had flashbacks,” he said. “I remembered the cops calling me and telling me Leah had been hit by a car. That they’d found he
r in a parking garage. I hate to say that I worried something permanent would happen to you, that you’d be gone, too.”
“I’m still here,” Cecily said. She swallowed hard. “At the risk of being too forward, does this mean you want to collar me? Do you want me to be yours, exclusively?”
“Yes, it does,” he said. “I’ve put it off far too long.”
Cecily lost control of her senses. She climbed on top of Ethan and kissed him.
“Rather forward of you,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not just talking about a collar, Cee.”
Her heart raced as she looked into his eyes as his words sank in.
“I want you to marry me. We’re perfect together. I need you in my life.”
“I need you in mine, too,” she said.
“Is that a yes?”
Cecily wiped tears off her face, and then she laughed. “Yes, yes, yes!” She leaned over and kissed him.
“Being forward again,” he said.
“Well, I have to get all my brattery out of my system now, before the collaring.” She kissed him again. “I’ve never worn a collar before. Well, except for playtime. Now I get to wear it all the time, so people know we’re together.”
“Brattery?” he asked. “Is that even a word?”
“It is to me.” She placed her head on his shoulder.
“And you only wear the full collar at home,” he said. “I don’t want you scaring the straights with O-rings and leashes.”
“But what if I want to?”
Ethan chuckled. “Yeah, that would be you, trying to stir up trouble. I’ve picked out the perfect collar. It’s back at Silver Creek. You will know it marks you as mine, won’t you?”
“Yes, Master Ethan,” she said.
“Now, go get that paddle I bought for you to keep here. Someone needs her ass reddened.”
“Just the paddle?” Cecily pouted.
“Mind your manners, young lady,” he said. “And do as you’re told or face the consequences.”
Cecily made her way toward her bedroom. When she was near the hallway, she looked over her shoulder. “Sometimes the consequences are great fun. If you give me a choice, I might just select those.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Ethan said. “Now, do as I say before I change my mind.”
Cecily hurried down the hall. Today was ending far better than it had begun.
Chapter 2
The real problem with having sex at Cecily’s house were the walls—they were too thin. They’d found that out the hard way about six months into their relationship when he was flogging her ass and thighs and the cops showed up. It was hard to explain things to them until Cecily had said, “I’m a screamer, sue me.”
She’d been standing there in a silky robe, with her hair a mess around her head. One of the officers had put his hand in front of his face and pretended to clear his throat, while Ethan knew he’d been hiding a smile. The other one had said, “Wear a gag, then.”
Ethan didn’t have a problem with that suggestion. But it didn’t help with the noise that came from spankings, or floggings. The sound of wood, or leather, hitting her ass also produced too much noise. That meant they usually kept those activities for their time at Silver Creek.
But tonight was different. They were in the living room, since Cecily’s unit was an end one, and it was the farthest away from her neighbors. He could, as the cop had suggested, gag her. But he’d rather not. As a good sub, Cecily would be quiet when told to; but Ethan rather enjoyed hearing her scream, hearing her beg for more, hearing her whimper.
The actual spanking, of course, would produce quite a bit of noise, but he could control that, and it would drive Cecily crazy. Ethan smiled at the idea. She was over his lap now, her bare ass high in the air, waiting for the first strike.
He rubbed the paddle against her warm skin. In an effort to muffle the noise, or hide it more likely, she’d turned on music, some good blues with a heavy beat.
Ethan wasn’t the sort to ask questions of his sub or keep up conversation while a scene was going on. He relied more on silence to keep the tension. If anyone would talk it would be Cecily, and then the talking would turn to screaming. He continued to rub the wood against her bottom until she pounded her fist against the couch cushions and said, “Get on with it.”
Rather than chastise her for telling him what to do, he lightly tapped the paddle against her ass.
“I’m sorry,” she said immediately.
He did the same thing.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” she whispered.
One more light tap.
“I’ll keep my mouth closed, I swear.”
Another light tap.
When she didn’t respond he knew it was time to get going. One swift swat, then another, then another. He perfectly timed ten swats, hitting the same spot each time. Her ass reddened nicely, although it wasn’t as red as he’d like.
Cecily pounded her fist against the cushion once more, which translated to him as, “More, more, more!”
Part of him wondered where the remote was, so he could turn up the music and give her a proper spanking. The other told him to stop, to leave her wanting more. If he did that it would hopefully send her soaring this weekend.
But then he decided he didn’t want to wait. He delivered ten swift, hard swats. Her groans and grunts were satisfying to him, so much so that he took a chance and delivered ten more. He ran his hand over her hot, reddened bottom, and she moaned in pleasure.
Then, against his better judgment, he gave her ten more. He hid a smile when he realized she was gently moving her hips, which meant she was trying to rub her thighs together, putting pressure on her clit and her slave ring, which would make her come.
Ethan bit back a laugh. While she was generally very noisy during sex, Cee was the only woman he had ever known who could come and remain silent, when needs be. That meant she could ignore the ‘don’t come without permission’ rule very easily.
“Up.”
She scrambled to obey his order.
“You know the drill,” he said.
The sheepish look on her face told him he’d been right about his assessment. She spread her legs and put her hands behind her back.
“I mean… well, it’s only fair that I get to come,” she said. “After all, I faced great danger today.”
“Not according to what you said earlier,” he said. “Didn’t you say it was no big deal, just a little road rage?” When she didn’t answer he said, “You know road rage incidents can turn deadly.”
“Are we back to scolding me now? Or are we going to fuck?”
“Not every spanking has to end in sex,” he said. “We’ve had this discussion.”
“Today’s different.”
Ethan took a few deep breaths to keep hold of his temper. The two of them clashed sometimes, which they had been working on. He’d like to blame it all on her, but it was the two of them together. When they were good, they were very good; when they collided, there were fireworks. He could tell by the tone of her voice that her fuse was dangerously close to exploding.
There was only one way out of this situation, and that was to take control of it and her. Ethan half stood and bumped his shoulder into her midsection and took her over his shoulder as he stood fully.
“What are you…” she blustered and fussed and slapped her hands against his back as he calmly walked toward the bedroom. He tossed her on the bed and glared down at her as he undid his belt and pulled it from his loops.
“Screw you!” she yelled. “I’m done for the day.”
She tried to jump from the bed, but Ethan predicted her move. He pushed her back down, then in one fluid movement flipped her onto her stomach. It was easy work to wrap his belt around her wrists and secure them behind her back.
“Let me go!”
He left her long enough to grab one of the gags they used to keep the cops from showing up. She kept them in her night table drawer. Once he’d stuffed it in her mouth, he
grabbed the long, gold chain she kept attached to her nightstand.
“No, no,” she mumbled.
Ethan ignored her muffled cries. He took the chain under her and skillfully clipped it onto her slave ring. Then he pulled her as far back as the chain would allow, pulling tight on the ring. Her cry of pain told him she was in the right spot. He lifted her onto her knees, undid his jeans and slammed his cock inside her as he grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked. His sweet Cee cried out against her gag, but it wasn’t difficult for him to understand what she said, “Harder, you prick! Harder!”
He yanked again and rode her, driving in and out of her pussy in a way he was sure would cause her discomfort tomorrow. But that didn’t stop him. When he was on the edge of coming, he stopped and pulled out. When he placed the head of his cock at her anus she stiffened. His baby Cee might like to be dominated, and fucked hard, but she didn’t really like to take it up the ass. He usually did it to remind her who was in charge, and that needed to be done tonight.
Ethan pushed inside her, and the gag captured her cry of pain and dismay. He took her butt slowly, inch by inch, which, he knew, was agonizing to her. He pulled out long enough to reposition them so that they were on their sides.
Her muffle of discomfort was not something he liked to hear, so he undid her hands and told her to throw her arm up. When she did, he slipped behind her, put his cock in her ass again and started to ride, slowly. He savored the feel of her tight ass around him, but her silence told him she wasn’t enjoying the activity.
Ethan nuzzled against her neck as he moved his hand down her side. He took control of the chain, pulling on it gently while his cock was in, and letting go of the pressure when his cock was out. Soon her murmurs of dismay turned to pleasure, and when she mumbled, “Please,” he said, “Go.”
Her body shuddered, and it set him off and he shot off inside her. He kissed her shoulder right before he pulled the gag from her mouth.
She moaned softly and he stroked her thigh. His softening cock was still inside her, and she pushed, and he was sure it was her way to non-verbally say, “Please get out of my butt.”
Ethan’s NaughtySubmissive: Silver Creek Resort Book Three Page 2