Anchor Line

by Dawne Walters

  Addie turned around to stir her hot tea. “Got this one here, check. Got that one there, check. Addie’s in Fort Bragg, check.”

  Conrad gave her a genuine smile now. “Writing is a wicked evil thing.” He paused. “Did you keep all of my emails Addie?” His smile brightened even more as he waited for her to turn around and answer.

  “No! I did not.” She looked Conrad in the eye and said quite matter of factly.

  It was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that she kept most of them. She decided to abandon her hot tea and walked out toward the bedroom with Conrad a few steps behind her. He followed her into his bedroom and leaned up against the doorjamb effectively blocking her way out. She walked to the closet and pulled out her bag, then opened it and started tossing her shoes in it first, and then she walked into the small bathroom and grabbed her toiletry bag and came back into the bedroom. She said nothing as she walked over to the dresser and put her folded clothes in her bag. She sat on the bed putting her sneakers on to tie them.

  As Addie was tying her sneakers, there was a strong knock at the front door.

  “Oh great.” She waived a hand toward the front door, “Maybe you didn’t tell all of your women that one was already visiting. Maybe you need a battle roster of women. Or maybe that was your plan all along. More than one at a time so that your hands were full. Isn’t that every guy’s fantasy?” Addie said meanly.

  “Addie, what are you doing?” Conrad asked softly. “Where are you going to go?”

  Another insistent knock on the door started and had Conrad ignoring that one too.

  She had calmed down only a little since she left the kitchen.

  “I’m going to a hotel.” Addie sighed. “I feel like I’m intruding on your lifestyle. You said yourself that I invited myself here. But then you agreed that I could stay here and you even took leave to go and explore with me. But hey, this is all my fault.”

  She zipped her bag, picked it up and stood in front of Conrad. “Excuse me for intruding.” She said as confidently as she could.

  Conrad’s phone started to ring now.

  “This is ridiculous Addie, you know that. You aren’t going to leave.” He said, still not moving from the door way. “Besides, you still have clothes in the closet.” He let his phone just ring.

  Addie just stood there. “Are you going to answer the door or your phone?”

  “I’m not moving until you put your bag down Addie.” He said smiling. “I give a shit who’s at the door. The ringtone says it’s Nathan Cale, a guy I work with. He’s a fellow platoon sergeant. I forgot he was supposed to come by. So that’s probably who’s at the door.”

  “Well, hell, let’s not be ungracious.” She dropped her bag in the middle of the floor and put one hand on her hip and the other motioning toward the door. “Answer the door.”

  Conrad sighed lightly. “Yeah hold on.” He yelled as he walked briskly to the front door and Addie walked to the kitchen.

  She pulled the teabag out of the mug and finished stirring it. She stayed rooted where she was, in the kitchen and moved to look out the little window above the sink. It was dark out now and she could see the lights of the town. She heard Conrad greet his friend and they walked in the small kitchen. She turned around just in time.

  “Addie, this is Nathan. Nathan, this is Addie.”

  Nathan was just as tall as Conrad, not as broad, fair with dirty blonde hair and steel blue eyes, and high cheekbones and nice lips. Good looking, not as rugged as Conrad she thought.

  “Pleasure.” Addie said shaking his hand.

  “Likewise. Conrad didn’t say you were this hot.” Nathan commented giving her his brightest smile. “No wonder he didn’t say anything. He didn’t want anyone to steal you.”

  “Thank you.” Addie said blushing slightly in her cheeks. “I probably got lost in the little black book.” Addie smiled back, and then took her mug and sipped her tea.

  Nathan looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow feeling the tension in the small kitchen. He’d also noticed that her bag was in the middle of the bedroom floor when Conrad led him to the kitchen. Maybe things weren’t going so well after all he thought to himself.

  “I can come back if this isn’t a…” Nathan started.

  “Oh please, stay.” Addie said. “You’re fine.“She waved her hand around.

  “Are you staying here or a hotel?” Nathan asked.

  “Yes. She is.” Conrad answered for her. “Want a beer?” He asked opening the fridge, deflecting the conversation.

  “Sure. Just thought I’d stop by and meet Addie and uh, see if you kids were still up for dinner tomorrow.” Nathan said taking the beer from Conrad. “Cal and Tracy want to meet you too Addie.”

  Conrad closed the fridge and stood there looking at Addie.

  “We’d love to.” He said. “I forgot to mention it earlier. You up hun?”

  Addie swallowed her tea and raised the mug in affirmation, plastering a smile on her face. “Hun, is up.” She said the word to remind Conrad of what he’d called the woman that had called him. He visibly cringed, remembering.

  Nathan gave Conrad a strange look deciding to move to the living room. Addie just turned around to stare out of the kitchen window again trying to ignore Nathan and Conrad’s conversation on where they were going for dinner, what to do afterwards, and what movie was playing on the TV just now.

  It was when Nathan asked if things were going alright that Conrad admitted that one of his hook-ups had phoned and Addie must have heard everything and he initially tried to hide the fact that it was a woman They were just hashing it out and Addie was ready to go to a hotel, but he wanted her to stay when Nathan had arrived. Nathan scolded Conrad on talking to any other girl when he had Addie. Conrad of course didn’t respond.

  Addie thought he sounded genuine, and really hoped that he was. She wasn’t sure how long she stood looking out the window lost in her own thoughts when she heard Nathan leaving.

  “See you tomorrow Addie.” He called from the living room.

  “Yes. Definitely.” Addie answered moving to the doorway of the kitchen to wave at him, and then moved back to the sink.

  “We’ll be there.” Conrad answered as he pulled the door open.

  Once Nathan left, Conrad turned back toward the kitchen and leaned up against the doorway.

  “Addie. Please stay. You can stay in the bedroom. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

  “Sure.” Addie said as she rinsed out her mug.

  Well that was easy. Conrad thought.

  Leaving the kitchen for the bedroom to unpack Addie’s bag, when he was finished, he grabbed a pillow on his way back out. Addie stayed in the kitchen until Conrad came back out. She was still looking out the window and saw a young couple holding hands walking down the sidewalk. She couldn’t help but smile. Conrad had held her hand when they left the train station, and then again when they walked to the little sandwich shop for a light bite to eat. She relished how Conrad was always touching her in some way while she was here. They always seemed to be touching. And she realized that it was the same way when they were together in Pittsburgh too. Really, what was she thinking? Did she really think that he would be interested in her for more than just friendship or just casual sex? Would things have been different if he hadn’t left Fort Bragg? She would call tomorrow and have to ask her aunt if she could stay longer with them and change her flight to go home early instead of spending ten days with Conrad exploring Italy. This certainly didn’t start off on the right foot. Maybe his plea to give him time was just his way of throwing her a bone.

  I’m not committed to anyone Addie. Rang though her skull over and over again.

  He claimed that she was jealous. She wasn’t jealous. She was envious of all the other women who had known Conrad intimately. Addie replayed the conversation in her head all over again and let out a deep heavy sigh when not two seconds after that, Conrad was behind her. His strong arms resting on either side of her on the counter. Close, but
not touching, although they could both feel the heat from one another.

  He looked out the window with her. He bent his head against her neck and took in a deep breath of her as he had earlier when they were waiting for dinner. She smelled of Irish Spring from her shower. He loved that he towered over her small frame of five feet, three inches. He would love to take her right here in the kitchen, looking out above the town. Hell, he was ready to take her at the train station when he hugged her and kissed her, then again when they stopped for sandwiches, and again when he got her to the apartment. Lying behind her on the sofa was excruciating. She was struggling to not fall asleep, he was struggling to keep his erection and passion under control. But he knew she was tired, and he really wanted to take his time when he felt her again. The time that they had in Fort Bragg seemed too short for him. He couldn’t deny that he wanted her again. He’d wanted her since that first day he’d seen her in her cubicle in Fort Bragg. That’s why he agreed happily to let her stay with him.

  “Addie.” He said softly.

  “I’m sorry Conrad.” She whispered. “This really wasn’t the way I wanted things to go. I have no right to act the way I did or say the things that I said. I seem to provoke you don’t I?”

  “Kinda. Yeah. It’s okay though.” He chuckled lightly and continued. “Addie, I want you to understand that while I have a lot of female friends, I haven’t had sex with all of them. We always seem to have this conversation. I want you, but I’m not ready for…more just yet.” Conrad explained, while he moved her hair back behind her right shoulder. He rested his chin on that same shoulder. “I just don’t know what to tell you. When I’m with you, things are different. I don’t want anyone else.”

  Addie didn’t move. “But when I’m gone, you just can’t seem to keep your dick in your pants? Is that it?” She paused and started again, “I feel like I’m on a carnival ride that makes me sick and I want off.”

  “Do you want a relationship with me Addie?” He asked as his hands lightly brushed her arms up and down slowly. His lips started kissing her neck lighter than his hands rubbing her arms.

  “I think that everything changed for me in Pittsburgh. Coming here was never about asking you to commit to me. I still want a relationship with you, but you said that you don’t do relationships, so I settled for what I could get. You told me that you wanted me to give you time. How much time do you need? How far are you going to string me along? In retrospect…coming here? I was foolish to think that you wouldn’t be without female company. I’ve said before, if we did date Conrad, I’d want exclusivity, I don’t share with others. I don’t think you could do that for me.” Addie whispered. She fully expected him to disagree. She fully expected him to pull away and freak-out. He did neither.

  He kept kissing her neck and then his tongue lightly traced the contours of the outer part of her ear. His hands felt the goose bumps on her arms, more pronounced now from how he was affecting her. He went back to kissing her neck.

  “I want to try with you Addie, I really do. After the incident at the Messo, it was just you and me.”

  “I’m serious Conrad.” She swallowed trying to focus from the things his lips and hands were doing to her body. “I don’t want to feel stupid because I trusted you.”

  She didn’t move; she couldn’t move until he said something. It was a lot to ask.

  “I wasn’t expecting sex, although I knew it would happen. I just wanted to spend time with you and have fun. I wanted to see if we could do the regular stuff that friends do and not end up kissing and having sex. Your kissing me at the train station…it complicated things for me. It brought back all of the things we did in Pittsburgh. And although, we’ve kept in touch this whole long time, I can’t just have meaningless sex with you anymore. You’ve made it feel meaningless because I finally heard you on the phone with another woman when you thought I was out of the room.”

  Still, he said nothing. So she continued. “I think we have a connection and you discounted it or ignored it.”

  “No I didn’t. I enjoyed it…very much. But…” He stopped. “I’m still in doubt Addie. Please understand that.” He continued his assault on her neck and ear with his mouth. Kissing and licking and murmuring unintelligible things. Addie still didn’t move trying not to cave in to him.

  “Conrad.” She whispered, watching their reflection in the glass.

  “Addie.” He whispered in her ear.

  Through the reflection, the look on Conrad’s face was one of passion when he looked up at her. She watched in the window as he took her right arm and kissed from her hand up to her short sleeve and then he rubbed his cheek up her t-shirt until he met skin again and started kissing again. His left hand massaged up her back as he met her gaze in the window again and slid his hand up into her hair at the nape of her neck and grabbed a handful, lightly pulling her head back.

  “You want exclusivity?”

  She nodded her head whispering, “Yes.”

  “Fine.” Was all he said and his mouth took hers in an outright passionate assault on her senses.

  Addie’s eyes closed and she twisted her body and turned around so that she was pressed up against his as they kissed. Her hands moved up under his t-shirt and her short nails brushed up and down his back lightly, teasing his skin. Somehow this kiss was different. Conrad assaulted her senses. He was going to have her. She knew that she would submit to him. She certainly wanted to.

  For Conrad, this kiss was to prove to Addie that he could commit to her without saying it out loud. He’d show her in more ways than one that he could commit to her and only her and he was going to start by kissing her, then he was going to fuck her, and making sure that she was his alone. He was going to erase every other man that had ever touched her.

  When he saw her in front of the train station, he was excited to have people see him with Addie on his arm, and the restaurant as well. He saw the looks of the passersby when they saw that he was with Addie. She was attractive, sexy, and soon, she’d be all his. He had wanted her and finally admitted when she provoked him with her anger earlier that he would rather have her anger, than be with any other woman any other way.

  This was his submission to Addie. He couldn’t say it, but he could sure as hell show it. For the next ten days, Conrad told himself, she would get whatever she wanted…including him.

  Anywhere.

  Any way.

  Any time.

  Chapter Thirty

  Conrad led Addie to the bedroom and when he let go of her hand, she dropped onto her knees leaning back on her feet, her back ramrod straight, head down and hands behind her back thrusting her breasts forward. This, she knew was the submissive pose that Conrad had wanted her in.

  Conrad was shocked. To see Addie on the floor on her knees in front of him like this, his dick got hard instantaneously. Leaving her on the floor, Conrad went to the closet slid off his shoes and socks then pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into the laundry basket. Unbuttoning his jeans and sliding down the zipper his pants hung just on his hips, he walked over to stand in front of Addie.

  “You want to start your training now?” Conrad asked.

  “I knew it would please sir, so the first day I was home from Pittsburgh I consulted with Mistress Sheila and she taught me how to please you.” Addie answer was timid.

  “Mistress Sheila knows me well. I can’t wait to see what she’s taught you.”

  Trained to slow her breathing Addie stayed in position looking down at the floor at Conrad’s feet, her anticipation of his touch brought her through the roof.

  “What was it that you liked most that Mistress Sheila taught you?”

  “She has taught me that I love the feeling of a flogger, sir.” Addie answered. “She has also taught me that my ass was made for spankings and that would please my sir.”

  “And what other toys has Mistress Sheila taught you to play with?”

  “She’s given me three sizes of butt plugs to prepare myself for you.”<
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  If Conrad’s cock could have gotten any bigger it would’ve exploded. Knowing that Addie had sought out one of the best Dommes at the Messo pleased him greatly. He was itching to smack her ass and to take the flogger to her pale skin and see the pink marks on her. He wanted to fuck her from behind as his hand print made her ass red. He wanted to know just how wet she got when she got spanked. He wanted to hear her cries of pleasure as the flogger kissed her skin. He wanted to see her tied to his bed as he ate her pussy and then fucked her.

  “And have you been using these plugs?”

  “Yes sir I have but I didn’t bring them with me.” Addie answered.

  “Why did you not bring them with you?”

  “Because of airport security.”

  “Were you afraid the naughty dirty men that inspected your bag would think poorly of you?”

  Addie thought for a moment of her answer and then replied. “Yes, sir. I was embarrassed.”

  “Were these silicone, glass, or metal plugs?”

  “They were silicone.”

  “And you are free to wear white on the aircraft?”

  “More like embarrassed… Sir.”

  Conrad chuckled. “I could see where that would cause embarrassment. But for now, what would you like Sir to start with first?” Conrad circled Addie.

  “If it would please sir, he can start with anything he likes.”

  The anticipation and the room was palpable. Addie kneeling on the floor before Conrad. Conrad circling Addie thinking of what he wanted to start with first. He walked over to the foot of the bed and pulled the bench that he had bought just a month ago away from the bed. He then walked to his dresser and pulled out four cuffs that had a smaller Velcro strap attached to them. Then he walked over and pulled the bench at the end of the bed so that he could walk around it and told Addie to lie on her stomach on the bench.