Bound to be Dirty

by Savanna Fox

  “I can do most of the work myself and it’ll save a lot of money, though it’ll take some time. But in a couple of years, we could have a really nice house. We can come up with a design that lets us add whatever we need. Home office, more bedrooms, another bath, and—”

  “More bedrooms?” she broke in. Her heart skipped a beat. Why would they need more bedrooms? Did he mean a guest room or . . .

  “For”—he swallowed—“for kids, Lily. A couple, maybe three. I think this would be a great place to raise kids.”

  “You, you . . .” Her body trembled with nerves. Oh God, if she misunderstood again, let herself hope again, the disappointment would destroy her. “You’ve changed your mind about having children?”

  He frowned in apparent puzzlement. “Lily, sweetheart, I’d never have had an offer drawn up if I wasn’t thinking this place could be home for you and me and our children.” He stepped forward and framed her face with his big hands.

  “R-really?” Her heart was in her throat, making it hard to speak. Could she believe in this? “You do want to have children?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  If she was to believe that he’d gone from a flat-out no at New Year’s to truly wanting children, she needed more. “Tell me why you changed your mind.”

  He swallowed. “I realized that, when you and I fell in love and got married, I . . .” Another swallow. “I held something back. The way things were with my parents, it made me wary of trusting that I really mattered to someone. That I deserved love. And you were so focused on your career . . .”

  “I took you for granted and made you feel like you didn’t matter to me? Oh Dax, of course my work’s important to me, but I love you so much. I’m sorry I didn’t show you just how much.”

  “Your parents weren’t exactly a good example. They’re more like partners than spouses. The opposite of my folks, who were so dependent on each other that it was unhealthy. Anyhow, I guess I never totally trusted in us. I figured those dreams we spun when we were teenagers were foolish, and the best we’d share would be some good times together. I convinced myself it was enough, that I didn’t want more. I told myself I’d be a crappy dad, that I didn’t want kids. Like I said before, I assumed you’d chosen your career over having kids.”

  “And now?” She knew her eyes must reveal all the hope in her heart.

  “Now I’m tired of holding back. How can I achieve a dream if I don’t totally commit to it, and throw myself into achieving it?”

  “You can’t.” She blinked back tears of hope. “I can’t. Are you saying you’re really ready to commit to us, and to making a family together?”

  “That’s what this is about.” He gestured to the sun-filled bedroom. “This place may not be the right one, but I wanted to act. To take steps forward to show you I’m committed.”

  Dax, the man of action. It made total sense. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “When I saw the property listing,” she confessed softly, “I saw there was only one bedroom. I thought you’d decided you didn’t want children and hadn’t even told me.”

  “Shit, Lily.” He stared into her eyes. “And yet you came with me?”

  “I wanted to trust you. But I should have said something right away, not brooded.”

  “At least you trusted me enough to give me a chance. And I guess I should have told you as soon as I realized I did want to have kids with you. I promised to do that, but I didn’t.”

  “We both still have some work to do.” Reality was sinking in. “You really mean it?” Her voice rose with excitement. “You want children with me? You’re not just saying it to make me happy?”

  He clasped her hands. “To make me happy too.” He tugged her closer and bent to touch his lips to hers in a tender, loving kiss.

  She would have sunk deep into that kiss and stayed there forever, but he pulled away. “I need to check the fire. And I brought a picnic lunch. Let’s go back to the front room.” He sounded nervous, perhaps awaiting her verdict on this property.

  When he headed for the other room, she followed. He added wood to the fire, taking chunks from a battered wooden box. They could sit in front of the fire on winter evenings. Picnic in front of the fire. Make love in front of the fire.

  She gazed around the shabby room, imagining it with the paneling stripped off, hardwood floors, area rugs. Furniture. Not the formal furniture from the condo, but something more rustic and homey. “Dax, I think this place might work out.”

  He turned and gazed up at her. “Really? You like it? Do you think this could be part of our amazing solution?”

  “I can see the potential. You’re sure you want to do so much work?”

  A smile split his face as he came to his feet. “Finest work in the world, building a home for our family. I’d much rather do that than move into a place that’s all finished and perfect. This way, we can plan it out together, make it exactly the way we want it.”

  She’d never imagined doing anything like that. “Oh my, that sounds amazing.” She let out a bubbly laugh. “Dax, I think we’ve found our amazing solution!”

  “I think we have.” He caught her by the waist, lifted her off her feet, and, as she gripped his shoulders in surprise, he swung her in a circle.

  When he set her down, laughing, a wicked gleam lit his eyes. “When we furnish that bedroom, we’ll need a four-poster bed.”

  “We will?”

  “So we can take turns tying each other to it.”

  She chuckled. “Be still my heart.”

  He bent to remove his boots then sat down on the spread rug. “Come on down here.”

  She slipped out of her own boots and sat beside him. “I’m getting addicted to picnics.”

  He opened the cooler and took out two chilled flute glasses, then a bottle of Dom Pérignon.

  “Oh my, Dax. To toast the cabin?” Had he been so sure she’d love it?

  He shook his head, deftly opened the wine, and poured two glasses. “To toast us, and the future.” He handed her a glass.

  She raised it high. “I’ll drink to that.”

  “Before you do”—he swallowed, again looking nervous—“there’s something I want to ask you.”

  “I’m not sure I can survive any more surprises today.”

  “I hope this is a good one. Will you marry me, Lily?”

  She gaped at him. A tentative smile tugged at her lips. “Didn’t we already do that?”

  “We did, as kids. Now we’re grown up, we’re stronger and smarter, and this feels to me like a fresh start. I want to say those vows to you again, Lily, with one hundred percent commitment. To love, honor, and cherish, from this day forward until death us do part. You, me, and the children we’ll bring into this world.”

  Those crazy tears of joy were falling again as a deep sense of contentment and belonging filled her. “Oh yes, Dax. I’ll say those vows happily, my love.” How about that? First George, then Kim, and now her, engaged to marry wonderful men.

  They clicked their glasses together, drank deeply. Then he took her glass and put both of them down. “We’ll do it our way this time,” he said. “Not a formal wedding to please your parents, but whatever the two of us want. Maybe here, when the spring flowers are up.”

  She nodded. “Yes.” Then her imp made her add, “Whatever you say, Falcon.”

  “You’re an impertinent woman, you know that?” he teased.

  “Perhaps I deserve to be punished?”

  “You certainly do.”

  “What do you have in mind, oh lord and master?” Sexy anticipation tingled through her body.

  “Let’s see. I think I’ll start by having you strip, then you’ll lie absolutely still while I drip champagne all over your body and lick it off. Very, very slowly. And if you disobey and move, I’ll start all over again.”

  She quivered at the thought. “I just might be very, very bad.” And then a thought struck her, and she started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  Trying to
speak between chuckles, she said, “Do you realize, we may well owe our marriage to Bound by Desire?”

  His eyes widened, and then he started to laugh too. “If I hadn’t read it and tried something different in bed . . .”

  “I might not have loosened up. You and I might not have connected, talked.”

  “It broke down some barriers, in more ways than one.”

  She smirked. “Book club’s supposed to be educational.”

  “Keep reading. I can’t wait for the next book. But for now . . .” He held up her scarf.

  “You’re blindfolding me?”

  He shook his head. “It’s my turn. Blindfold me. But wait a minute.” He stood and shucked off his clothes, then returned to sit beside her. “Now.”

  “You’re going to do the champagne thing blindfolded?”

  “That’s the idea.”

  “I’m not complaining, but why?”

  “So we’re both giving up a little control.”

  Just like in a true marriage, where two equal partners shared, compromised, and trusted. Oh yes, she and Dax were learning to do all those things. “Bend your head.” She wrapped the scarf around and around, firmly but not too tight. The feminine design made his tousled black hair, hawklike nose, and beard look even more masculine. “Can you see anything?”

  “Nope.”

  “Is it comfortable?”

  “The scarf is. Being unable to see is weird.”

  “Believe me, I know. But I’ll look after you.”

  “And I’ll look after you. Now, Lily, take off your clothes and lie down.”

  She complied quickly, glad of the fire’s warmth. “Ready.”

  He reached out, patting the rug. “Point—uh, I mean direct—me toward the champagne bottle.”

  “You’re not really going to waste expensive champagne on—”

  “Waste?” A wicked grin flashed. “Believe me, licking champagne off your body will be far better than drinking it from a glass.”

  Smiling, she said, “If you insist. The bottle’s a little more to your right.”

  Cautiously he stretched out his fingers, located the bottle, and grasped it firmly. Then he slid across the rug and reached out with his other hand to brush her bare thigh. “There you are.” His fingers explored down her leg, then up. “All naked. And I don’t need to see to know you’re lovely. Warm enough, sweetheart?”

  “Plenty warm.” And getting warmer as his hand reached the top of her thigh.

  He cupped her briefly between her legs, but before she could press against him and ask for more, he moved upward. He caressed her tummy, rib cage, breasts, chest, then framed the side of her face. With his other hand, he lifted the bottle and took a drink, then he put the bottle down carefully on the floor by her head.

  Bending over her, he brought his lips to hers and kissed her slowly and deeply, parting her lips with his tongue and delving inside. Kissing him back, she tasted champagne and Dax, a heady combination that made her pulse race.

  He eased away. “Now lie still, Lily. I can’t see you, so I have to trust you.”

  “I won’t move.” She held still, watching as he retrieved the bottle.

  Again he bent over her, running his free hand questingly across her shoulder, her chest, her right breast. As if he’d marked the spot, he tipped the bottle as he removed his hand. Chilly liquid dribbled over her breast and she gave an involuntary shiver of reaction and anticipation.

  He put the bottle aside, lowered himself, and found her damp flesh with his tongue. He licked in long, firm swipes that made her nipple pucker and resonated all through her body. Then he carried on, surprisingly coordinated as he adjusted to being blind, dripping champagne across her belly and into her navel, following it with licks, sucks, the occasional nip.

  Sensation built, her skin tingling with it, arousal growing inside her. Her voluntary immobility enhanced her awareness of every touch. Watching Dax and knowing he couldn’t see her doing it, noting how his cock had swollen to rise up his belly, made her even more turned on. When, finally, he put an arm under her butt to lift her and sent a trickle of champagne between her legs, she tensed, desperate for the touch of his tongue.

  And then he was there, where she most needed him, tasting her until she stifled a moan. But wait, he’d only told her to stay still, not to keep quiet. So she let the moan escape, followed by, “Oh God, that feels so good.”

  “Tastes damned good too. So good I want seconds.”

  More chilly liquid trickled across her heated flesh. His tongue followed it, relentlessly teasing her until she let out breathy whimpers. “Please, Dax, I need to come. And then I need you inside me.”

  “Sweetheart, your wish is my command.” He slid two fingers inside her, pumped them gently, sucked her swollen clit into his mouth.

  Sweet release flooded through her. “Yes, oh yes!”

  He kept her at the peak, pumping slowly, pressing lightly on her clit, until finally she groaned. “Enough. I can’t take any more.”

  He lowered her butt down on the rug and slid up her body to blanket her.

  “I want to move now,” she said. “Can I please move? And I want to take off your blindfold so we can see each other when you come into me.”

  “You can move, Lily. Move as much as you want. And yes, I want to see your beautiful face when we make love.”

  She reached behind his head and fumbled with the knot she’d tied earlier. The silk fell away.

  He blinked a couple of times, then focused on her face and smiled. “I like playing sex games by the fire.”

  “Me too.” A thought struck her. “We won’t be able to do this when we have kids.”

  “Sure we can. I’ll build us a new bedroom with our very own fireplace.”

  She grinned up at him. “I should have known you’d come up with an amazing solution.”

  “You motivate me. I love you, Lily.”

  “I love you too, Dax, my past, present, and future husband.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Savanna Fox is the new pen name for Susan Lyons, who also writes as Susan Fox. Publishers Weekly refers to her writing as “emotionally compelling, sexy contemporary romance.”

  Writing as Susan Lyons and Susan Fox, her books have won the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, the Book Buyers Best, the Booksellers Best, the Aspen Gold, the Golden Quill, the Write Touch, the More Than Magic, the Lories, the Beacon, and the Laurel Wreath, and she has been nominated for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award. Her book Sex Drive was a Cosmopolitan Red-Hot Read.

  Savanna/Susan is a Pacific Northwesterner with homes in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. She has degrees in law and psychology, and has had a variety of careers, including perennial student, computer consultant, and legal editor. Fiction writer is by far her favorite, giving her an outlet to demonstrate her belief in the power of love, friendship, and a sense of humor.

  Visit her website at savannafox.com for excerpts, discussion guides, behind-the-scenes notes, recipes, giveaways, and more. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted through her website.