by Sherri Hayes
Beth groaned. “Don’t put more pressure on me than I already feel.”
Nicole laughed. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
It took Beth several minutes to walk through the lower level of her house and make sure everything was turned off and locked up for the night. As her day wound down and she got ready for bed, she couldn’t help remembering the previous night.
She slid beneath the covers and reached for the pillow Drew had used. A faint hint of his smell still lingered on her sheets. And if she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine him there, lying beside her again.
Beth was surprised how right it had felt for him to be in her bed. The first time Ben had spent the night with her, it had been awkward. He’d been restless, which in turn had caused her to be restless as well.
Drew, however, had no issues falling asleep in her bed. He’d rolled over, curled up against her back, and fallen asleep within minutes. His comfort had in turn made it easy for her to relax and drift off to sleep herself. She hadn’t been plagued by self-consciousness or uncertainty as she had with Ben. Then again, all her cards were on the table with Drew. He knew she was a Domme and liked to be the one calling the shots in their sexual relationship. She hadn’t tried to downplay her desires. Instead, she’d embraced them and so had he.
Tucking the pillow he’d used the night before under her chin, Beth turned onto her side, and closed her eyes. Drew would most likely spend the night tomorrow after their scene. While she realized it wasn’t good to be overly attached to him so soon, she already knew she was going to be helpless to stop it. Wise or not, her heart wanted Drew. She’d welcome him into her bed as often as she could have him.
***
“Any plans for your days off?” Baily asked to the room at large. The new shift had arrived so Drew and his crew were about to head home.
Romeo clasped the necklace he always wore around his neck when he wasn’t on duty. Once it was secured, he tucked the gold cross beneath his shirt. “I’m sure I have a ‘honey-do’ list waiting for me when I get home.”
All the guys laughed. Whenever Romeo had his four days off, his wife always had a new project . . . or two waiting for him.
Baily nodded toward Irwin. “What about you? Got any plans?”
“Nah. Not really. I might see if my brother-in-law needs some help at the restaurant.”
“Trouble in paradise?” Romeo asked.
Irwin shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
They strolled out of the locker room and headed toward the parking lot.
“What about you, Cap? Got a hot date with your café lady?” Baily asked.
Drew tossed his duffel bag into the backseat of his car and shut the door. He waited until he was opening the driver door and about to slide into the seat before answering. “As a matter of fact, I do. See you all bright and early Sunday morning.”
While they were still gaping wide-eyed back at him, he started the engine, and drove away. He knew there would be hell to pay during his next shift, but for the time being, he couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.
He was about to slip into bed an hour later when Shawn ambled through the door. “Hey.”
Drew leaned against the doorjamb outside his bedroom. “Hey.”
Shawn walked into the kitchen and reached into the refrigerator. He pulled out a beer and took a large swig.
“You all right?” Drew asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
He didn’t buy that for a second. “Something happen? Is it Jill?”
His friend took another long pull on his beer before turning around to face him. “I figured I’d go by the house this morning. See if maybe Jill and I could talk.”
“And?”
“I pulled up to the curb in time to see a guy I didn’t recognize stepping out to get the morning paper.”
“Oh, man. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. So am I.” Shawn stared down at the floor. “How could I have missed this? How could I not have known she was seeing another guy?” He looked at Drew as if hoping he had an answer for him.
“I don’t know.”
Shawn nodded as if he had expected Drew’s response.
Silence filled the air for several minutes before Drew cleared his throat. “I’m supposed to go over to Beth’s tonight. I can call her and cancel if—”
“Don’t you dare. Go. Spend time with your woman.”
“Are you sure?” Drew asked.
Shawn drained the rest of his beer and threw the bottle in the recycle bin. “Sure I am. No reason why we both have to spend the evening wallowing in self-pity.”
“That isn’t reassuring.”
“I’m fine. Really. Or, at least, I will be.” Shawn sighed and headed toward the bathroom. “Go get some rest. I’m sure you’ll need it for tonight.”
Drew stood there and watched his heartbroken friend disappear into the bathroom. He was torn. Tonight would be his and Beth’s first real foray into BDSM—and his first ever. It was something he’d dreamt about since laying eyes on her. But Shawn was one of his closest friends.
With a sigh, Drew stepped into his bedroom and closed the door. Aside from the call that woke them all up at five o’clock this morning, he’d gotten a decent amount of sleep during his shift. His anxiety over his upcoming evening with Beth had made it a bit difficult to fall asleep, but after that, he’d been out until the alarm sounded. He figured it was a good idea to try and get at least a couple more hours of sleep, given the evening they had planned. Shawn was right. If things went well with Beth later, he would need all the rest he could get.
He rolled out of bed a little before two in the afternoon. Although he was still concerned about Shawn, at least he felt rested.
Drew stretched, feeling the pull of his muscles. As he laced his fingers behind him to stretch his arms and back, a knowing grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. He wondered if Beth would tie him up again.
The thought of Beth caused him to look over at his phone. It was showing he had a voice mail message.
Holding the phone up to his ear, he checked his messages.
It was Beth.
“Good morning. I hope you’re ready for tonight.” There was a level of seduction in her voice, and he felt his pulse quicken in anticipation. “Be at my house at five. Bring an overnight bag. I don’t plan on letting you out of my bed before morning.”
He swallowed and instinctively reached down to cup his groin.
She lowered her voice, but instead of lessening the effect, it did the opposite. “No touching yourself until I say.”
There was a long pause in her message, and he could feel the blood pumping through his veins. He removed his hand from his growing erection even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. This was what he’d signed up for. This was what he’d wanted.
After several moments of silence, she finished her message in a lighter tone. “I’m looking forward to tonight. See you at five.”
Beth’s message ended, and the automated voice came on asking if he wanted to save or delete the message. He hovered over the delete button, but then changed his mind and saved it instead. There was no real reason to. She hadn’t left a list of instructions he was unlikely to remember. If he was being honest with himself, it had more to do with having access to her voice whenever he wanted it. And the best part about the message was that she showed both sides of herself—the Domme and his girlfriend.
He chuckled as he laid the phone back on his dresser and went to get some coffee and a light lunch. Drew was still grinning when he strolled into the kitchen. He stopped short, however, when he saw Shawn sitting dejectedly on the couch.
Shawn opened his eyes and sent Drew a weak smile. “Sleep well?”
“Yeah.” Drew walked over to the coffeemaker and flipped it on. “You?”
His friend shrugged.
“You need your sleep. You have a shift tomorrow.”
“I’ll be fine,” Shawn said, waving hi
m off. “We weren’t that busy last night, so I got a good four hours at least. That’s enough.”
While Drew wasn’t convinced, he wasn’t Shawn’s babysitter either, so he let it go. Instead, Drew moved about the kitchen gathering what he’d need to make scrambled eggs and bacon. He somehow figured he’d need the extra protein later.
Shawn folded the blanket he was using and placed it, along with his pillow, at one end of the couch before joining Drew in the kitchen. Falling into the same routine they were used to at work, Shawn gathered what was needed to set the table. Drew carried the food over when it was ready, and they dug in.
“What time are you supposed to meet your girl?” Shawn asked.
Drew was still unsure if he should leave his buddy alone, but if Shawn didn’t want him there, he wasn’t going to push. “Five.”
Shawn shoveled in a few more bites. “Want to head over to the gym before you go? I feel the need to pummel something.”
“Sure.” Drew lowered his head so Shawn couldn’t see the smirk on his face. There was no doubt in Drew’s mind whose face his friend would be picturing as he planted his fist in the gym’s punching bag.
Chapter 19
Beth had everything ready for Drew’s arrival, even the food. She wondered if he’d gotten her voice mail, and how he’d reacted. They’d discussed orgasm control as they lay in her bed on Monday night. Although their arrangement was bedroom only, he’d liked the idea of her deciding when he would be allowed to come. If it came to their sex life, he wanted her to be the one in charge. She’d experimented some regarding that aspect of domination with Ben. He didn’t much care for it, so it was put in the strongly dislike column.
A knock sounded on her front door and she shook off the memory of her ex. Tonight was about the future—hers with Drew. The rest was water under the bridge.
Butterflies began swirling in her stomach when she drew closer to the entry. She paused for a moment with her hand on the knob to steady herself before opening the door.
Drew stood on the porch smiling at her—a duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a single daisy in the other. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said, moving out of the way so he could come in.
He brushed past her into the foyer. She shut the door and turned around to find him close.
“I brought you a daisy.”
Beth could feel his breath on her face and it had her head whirling. Drew was all man. There was no doubt about that. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“It means loyalty. Commitment. I thought it was fitting given our plans for tonight.”
“You seem to know a lot about flowers. Are you trying to impress me?” Beth didn’t know if she wanted him to say yes or no. She didn’t need frills, but she had to admit it was nice.
Drew’s lips curled up into a sheepish grin. “Maybe a little. My mom loves flowers. She has a wide variety growing around the farm. I used to help her weed the beds when I was younger and she would tell me all their different meanings.”
“Does she still have them? The flowers, I mean?” Beth asked.
“Yes. When she’s not in the house cooking, you can usually find her in her flower beds.”
Hearing this new insight into his family relaxed Beth even more. Drew was sharing things with her about himself and his childhood. Taking the offered flower, she raised it to her noise, and inhaled its fragrance. “Does your mom have any daisies?”
“She does. Daisies are one of her favorites.”
Beth went up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his before giving him a soft kiss. “I can’t wait to see them, then.”
He blinked. “Does that mean you’re going to the barbecue with me?”
She nodded.
Before Beth knew what was happening, he had dropped his duffel bag to the floor and picked her up. She laughed as he twirled her around.
When he finally set her feet back down on solid ground, he was grinning from ear to ear.
“I’ll make sure you’re not back too late. I know you have to work the next day,” he vowed.
Beth gave him another hard kiss, and then began walking toward the kitchen. “Don’t you have to work as well?”
“Well, yes, but I’m not worried about that.”
She glanced back at him. “I just don’t want you getting hurt because you’re dead on your feet.”
He chuckled and took the plate she’d picked up off the counter out of her hand. “Not to worry. I once pulled a twenty-four-hour shift with zero sleep.”
When she gave him a questioning look, he continued. “Right when things were beginning to settle down for the evening, we got a call for a possible injury accident. Took us about an hour to get that all cleaned up and head back to the station. We were about ready to head up to our bunks when the next call came in. It pretty much kept up like that all night. I think we rolled into the station at around six in the morning. By that time, there was no point in going to bed. We all chipped in to get things prepped for the next shift, and then started on breakfast.”
“Wow,” she said, taking the food out of the oven and placing it in the center of the table.
“Luckily, that doesn’t happen often. It was a rare night.”
Beth grabbed the pitcher of ice water and sat down.
Drew followed. “It smells great.”
“Thank you.” She motioned that Drew should help himself while she filled both their glasses. “Are you ready for tonight?”
“I think so. I’m more anxious than anything.”
“Anything in particular you’re anxious about?” she asked.
He shrugged. “The usual, I suppose. I don’t want to mess up.”
“If you mess up, then we’ll deal with it. You’re learning. It’s to be expected. Who knows? I could be the one to mess things up.”
Drew snorted before taking a bite of his food. “I doubt that.”
“It could happen.”
He watched her for several moments. At first, he looked as if he was going to comment, but then he must have changed his mind.
Beth decided to jump on her chance to change the subject. The last thing she wanted to do was get into the self-doubt Ben had left in his wake. “Do you have any questions before we get started?”
“When will we start?”
It was a good question. “When we’ve finished eating, I’ll show you to the guest room. You can put your stuff in there and do anything else you need to do. Once you’re done and ready to get the evening underway, I want you to meet me in my bedroom.”
Drew blew out a heavy breath. “Okay. Anything else?”
She reached over and ran her hand up the inside of his thigh. “When you come to me, I want you naked. You will enter the room with your gaze on the floor. After that, you just need to do what you’re told.”
The muscles in his throat contracted as he swallowed.
“Drew?”
He looked up to meet her gaze.
“We’re going to have fun tonight.”
“We haven’t started yet, right?” he asked.
“Right.”
Without warning, Drew placed his hands on either side of her face and brought his mouth down on hers. She moaned as her body reacted to the feel of his lips, and heat spread throughout her body.
Just as suddenly as he began the kiss, he ended it. They were both panting, and Beth was tempted to say forget about the scene and take him in the kitchen chair as she’d done before. The only thing that stopped her was a curiosity to see just how powerful their connection could be in a full scene. “I’m going to make you pay for that, you know.”
He chuckled. “I can’t wait.”
Beth glanced over at his empty plate. “Finished?”
“With food.”
She felt her body temperature rise a few degrees more. “Follow me. I’ll show you to the guest room.”
Not waiting for a response, Beth stood, and made her way to the stairs. She knew he was behind her even though she didn�
�t look back.
At the top of the stairs, she made a left. When she’d bought the house, there had been four bedrooms. The master, of course, had its own bathroom, but the other three shared a communal bathroom at the end of the hall. That was why one of the first things she did after buying the house was to renovate the upstairs. She lost a bedroom in the deal, but gained two additional bathrooms. It was a fair trade, and given the nature of their relationship, Beth had felt Ben needed to have his own space—including his own bathroom.
Beth strolled into the guest room. She stopped a few feet inside the door and waited for Drew to enter.
He threw his bag on the bed and took in his surroundings. “Nice. But I think I like your room better.”
His cocky smile was back. She was going to have some fun with that attitude of his. “If you’re good, I promise you’ll be seeing the inside of my bedroom a lot.”
“Promises, promises.”
She shook her head and turned toward the door. “You have ten minutes. Don’t be late or I’ll have to punish you.”
Drew’s smile grew bigger. “I’d better hurry, then.”
Beth rolled her eyes and walked to her bedroom where the night’s activities would take place. She removed her shirt and skirt, leaving her in a purple corset with a matching set of panties. Going to her closet, she retrieved the black boots she’d worn to the club a few weeks ago. They were her favorites. Satisfied with her attire, Beth took a final look around to make sure everything was in place.
She was closing the lid on the small cooler filled with ice that she’d brought upstairs earlier when she heard Drew enter the room. Beth looked in his direction and saw he had followed her instructions. The erection he was already sporting told her how excited he was. Heat flared in the area between her legs. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on him.
***
Drew wanted to look up and feast his eyes on Beth. He’d only gotten a peek at what she’d been wearing as he’d entered the room and then dutifully lowered his gaze. Even that small glimpse was enough to have his cock standing at attention.
“Come over here,” she ordered.
He obeyed, keeping his head down.