by Tara Sue Me
Nathaniel’s Gift
A Submissive Series Holiday Novella
Tara Sue Me
Copyright © 2020 by Tara Sue Me
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ISBN ebook 9781950017195
ISBN print 9781950017201
Cover image: Depositphotos.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Coming Soon
Don’t Miss
About the Author
Also by Tara Sue Me
“If I know what love is, it is because of you.”
Hermann Hesse
“There is madness in loving you, a lack of reason that makes it feel so flawless.”
Leo Christopher
1
Nathaniel
She thought I was joking the first time I told her.
“Really, Nathaniel?” Abby asked me with a roll of her eyes. She was in the middle of trying to get the stuck zipper on Henry’s coat to work so he could go play in the snow with his older sister. “That’s not even vaguely funny.”
She gave the zipper a hard tug, and it came unstuck.
“You did it, Mama!” Henry gave a little jump and zipped up his coat the rest of the way. “Can I go now?”
“Yes.” She laughed as he took off running to where Elizabeth stood, already working on a snowman. “I give him ten minutes before he has to pee and we get to do that all over again.”
I agreed with her, as the scenario had repeated itself almost daily.
With a resolved sigh, she turned to walk into the kitchen. “I’m going to get another cup of coffee. Do you want some?”
“I wasn’t kidding,” I placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from leaving.
“Christmas is in three weeks,” she said, spinning around to look me in the eye. “We can’t take off and fly to Switzerland next week.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” she repeated back to me as if I needed to verify what I’d asked. “Because it’s three weeks until Christmas.”
“And we’ll be back the week before, leaving us plenty of time to get anything last minute done. The kids are out of school, and Linda is overjoyed to have them stay with her.” I laid out my points as logically as possible, but there was no doubt in my mind, we would go to Switzerland before Christmas.
“Are you trying to stress me out?”
“Come here,” I said, taking her hand and leading us both to the kitchen table. I pulled out a chair and indicated for her to sit before I took a place beside her. “In the entire time we’ve been together, have I ever done anything to purposely cause you stress?”
“No.”
“Then why do you think I’d start now?” I asked. She didn’t have an answer to that question, so I continued. “How long has it been since you and I have gone away together without the kids for more than a night?”
I knew how long it’d been. Too damn long. Or to be more exact, two years, ten months, and twenty-eight days. That trip had been to England for Cole and Sasha’s collaring ceremony.
“A really long time, ”she admitted. “But why now?”
I stopped myself before asking her why not. Doubtless, she’d have a list of reasons for a mile and a half long. “Because,” I said, softly. “I want some alone time with my wife.”
She raised an eyebrow, guessing there was more to my answer.
“And my submissive,” I added.
With the kids as old as they were now, Elizabeth nine and Henry almost six, alone time for Abby and myself was at a premium. We hadn’t hired another nanny after Lynne completed her teaching degree and moved in with Simon. Around that same time, the media company Abby wrote for had been bought out, and the new management didn’t believe her posts and articles on sex and intimacy “embraced the message of their mission statement.”
She resigned shortly thereafter, uninterested in writing the watered down pieces they wanted. I have to admit, I was happy for something to have occurred so she’d slow down. Between the kids, her writing, the group of submissives she mentored, and wanting to help me with Partners, the BDSM club we co-owned and operated, I feared she was spreading herself too thin. In the weeks that followed her resignation, however, she didn’t seem to work any less.
We had learned early in our parenthood journey the importance of ensuring our relationship with each other wasn’t forgotten, and we both worked hard to that end. There were times we came together as Dom and sub, and times we were simply Nathaniel and Abby. But not for anything longer than a night for almost three years.
I knew it’d be difficult to be away so close to Christmas, but I also knew we had a strong support system of friends and relatives who would be more than happy to help make it happen.
We had moved back to our New York estate in late November so we could spend the holidays with family. When I mentioned in passing to my Aunt Linda I was thinking about taking Abby away for a week to our chalet in the Swiss Alps, she jumped at the chance to keep the kids before I could even ask. Elizabeth and Henry adored Linda and never passed up an opportunity to get together with their many cousins in the area.
All I had left to do was to convince Abby, but I didn’t think it would take much convincing on my part. Her eyes grew dark and her breath hitched at my use of the word submissive. But she could be a stubborn woman when she wanted, and obviously this was going to be one of those times.
She stood and turned, trying to prove to both of us, it seemed, that my words hadn’t turned her on. “I need to go work on what I’ll be going over at the meeting tomorrow. What time are we leaving this afternoon?”
Tomorrow was Saturday, and the scheduled date for the Partner group submissives’ once a month meeting. The group was based in Delaware and the meeting would be held at our home there. I had a few things to take care of at the club as well. We planned to drive over today to ensure we arrived in time.
“I thought we’d leave around two. Hopefully, we’ll be able to miss most of traffic. I need to stop by the club tonight for a few hours so I can take the kids during your meeting. I think we’ll go Christmas shopping.”
Whatever she was going to say in reply was interrupted by Henry running back into the house.
“Mama,” he said. “I have to pee.”
I moved in quickly. “Go work on what you need for tomorrow, Abby. I’ll take care of Henry.” I reached for his hand. “Come on, big guy.”
We didn’t have a chance to talk again until we were on our way to Delaware later that day. Unfortunately, we hadn’t been able to leave at two and ended up caught in traffic. The good news was both kids were terrific travelers and were perfectly content in the back seat. Elizabeth was reading while Henry watched a movie.
I wasn’t sure the same could be said of their mother. Abby didn’t look content at all. She was restless and fidgety for the first hour and a half into our drive. At that point, I cut my eyes to her for a brief second while we were stopped.
“Is something wrong, Abby?” I asked. “Ants in your pants?”
“Am I distracting
you?” she asked. “If so, I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” I said. “I only wanted to make sure you were okay. I’m not sure I can remember you being so wiggly. At least in the car, anyway.” She’d definitely been wiggly in the playroom before.
“Nathaniel!” She glanced over her shoulder. “The kids are in the car.”
“And they both have headphones on and aren’t paying us a bit of mind.” I’d never had said anything if little ears had been listening. “Now tell me what’s bothering you so much.”
She sighed. “I’m still a bit thrown by your suggestion this morning. It was honestly the last thing I expected you to say.”
“In that case, it’s probably a good thing I suggested it.”
She looked at me a s if I’d lost every bit of sense I had. “What?”
“The fact it never occurred to you that the two of us needed to get away together for more than a night means we definitely need to do it.”
Her gaze dropped from the window to her hands in her lap. “I’m not sure I can.”
She wasn’t talking about making the time, but something altogether more personal. That was my assumption, at least. I glanced to the backseat to ensure the kids weren’t listening. They were both still involved with their separate pursuits and didn’t seem to be paying either Abby or myself any attention. Still, it was a discussion best saved until later.
“I don’t know why you would think anything of the sort,” I told her. “But we’ll talk about it when we get to the house. Agreed?”
She nodded, and I picked up her hand from where it rested in her lap and brought it to my lips for a quick kiss.
“Yuck,” Henry said from the backseat.
Abby and I just laughed.
The traffic picked up again soon after, and we made it to our Delaware house less than an hour later. After making a few calls in my home office, I went to find Abby. I found Henry down for a nap in his room, and Elizabeth curled up in the window seat in our living room, reading.
I finally found Abby in our bedroom, sorting through some clothes. “This closet is out of control, and I have to get rid of some of these. If I haven’t worn it in a year, I don’t see myself wearing it any time soon.”
“That’s a good plan,” I said. “But can you come sit with me for a minute?”
Our bedroom held a small sitting area, so I took her hand and led her in that direction. She looked as if she had more color in her cheeks than she did while we were driving.
Once we sat down, I turned to her. “Now tell me what you mean when you said you weren’t sure that you could.”
The years had taught us that failure to communicate with the other got us nowhere. Even if Abby didn’t want to talk about what she’d meant in the car, I knew she would.
“The way I said it probably made it sound worse than it is,” she said.
I supposed it was fair. I’d shocked her in the morning with my suggestion that we go off internationally for a week right before Christmas. She’d shocked me in the car with her suggestion that she didn’t think she could.
“At first I thought you meant you couldn’t make the time, but now I think there’s more to it,” I said. “What are you worried about not being able to do?”
“I don’t think I could be a submissive for an entire week,” she said. “Like you said, for the last few years, we’ve only played for an overnight. Then I think about the last time we tried the week thing and what an awful mess that turned out to be.”
She was silent for a long minute, but I had the feeling she wasn’t finished, so I waited.
“I love you more than anything,” she continued. “And I’d love nothing more than to spend a week with you, and only you, at our chalet. But I’m afraid I’ll mess it up royally, and I hate it when I disappoint you.”
She slayed me. “Is that what you’re afraid of?” I asked. “Disappointing me? How many years have we been married?”
She said nothing.
“Abby.” I take her hands in mine. “First of all, I don’t think I said a word about you wearing my collar for the entire week. That is not what I want. It never has been. Matter of fact, if I had the smallest thought I wanted something more twenty-four, seven, that one week all those years ago would have been enough to convince me otherwise. Secondly, you’ve never disappointed me. Now I’ll admit, you’ve made me mad as hell a time or two, but I’d never use the word disappoint.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “I guess I overreacted and over thought things.”
“Not the first time it’s happened,” I said with a grin, thankful she looked less tense.
“Doubt, it’ll be last either.”
I pulled her close for a quick kiss, wishing I didn’t have club business tonight. But I did, and if I wanted to be able to take Abby away for a week, I needed to get it finished.
Soon, I promised myself. I’ll have her all to myself for an extended period.
2
Abby
I sat in the kitchen the next afternoon once Nathaniel had taken the kids over to Daniel and Julie’s place. The couple had been at the club the night before and invited Nathaniel to bring the kids to their house for the meeting. Apparently, Jeff, another friend, would be there with his two kids, since Dena, his wife, would be with me. Nathaniel decided visiting with friends sounded better than going to the mall as a single parent this close to Christmas. He would have been fine, and he knew it as well as I did. But I couldn’t say I blamed him. If it’d been my decision, I’d have picked their house over the holiday shopping madness any day of the week.
They’d left earlier than they needed because Nathaniel wanted to give me plenty of time to prepare. I glanced at the clock and estimated I had about five to ten minutes before people started showing up. Which meant I had that same about of time to think about the proposal Nathaniel gave me the day before.
Not that I didn’t want to go away for a week with him. I’d love nothing more than to pack my bags and leave right this minute, pretending as if I didn’t have a care in the world. But the fact remained we both had cares. Specifically, Elizabeth and Henry. I told myself Linda wouldn’t mind keeping them at all while we were away, and the kids loved spending time with her. We would only be gone for a week, and once we returned there would still be another week before Christmas. So what was my problem?
Part of it was exactly what I’d told Nathaniel. The moment he mentioned getting away for a week, my mind went straight back to the time we attempted a week of play. It wasn’t an experience I was eager to do again. Nathaniel’s assurances yesterday that a week of play wasn’t his intention made me feel better.
And yet, I still wasn’t completely convinced we should go. I couldn’t verbalize the exact reason. I wasn’t sure there was one. It was more like a feeling of unease I got whenever I thought about leaving. Not that I thought it was wrong for Nathaniel and I to want to get away by ourselves. Nor was I worried about the kids.
Hell, how could I attempt to tell Nathaniel about my worries if I couldn’t explain them to myself? “I don’t think we should go to Switzerland because I get a strange feeling in my stomach whenever I think about going.” I snorted.
The sound of the doorbell brought me back to the task at hand. Glad to have something else to focus on, I walked to the front door. Julie and Dena waited on the other side, smiling once I had it opened.
“Hey guys,” I said, opening the door wider. “Come on in and make yourself at home. You know where everything is.”
“Thanks, Abby.” Dena took off her hat and shook her blonde hair out. “I think we might be slim today. Flu’s hit hard.” She rattled off a list of four people who were sick.
“That leaves, who? Lynne, Sasha, and a few others?” I asked, running down a list of the submissives who generally attended in my mind.
“I haven’t talked with Lynne this week,” Julie said. “But Sasha won’t be here either.”
“That’s right.” Dena walked into the liv
ing room and took a seat on the couch. “Today’s the day they’re leaving for Finland, isn’t it?”
“Finland?” I asked, taking a seat in the love seat at Dena’s side. “Why Finland?”
Julie rolled her eyes. “Cole found out she’d always wanted to see the Northern Lights, so he’s taking her to Finland. They’re staying in a cabin with an adjoining glass igloo, so they can sleep under the stars and not freeze to death.”
My phone buzzed with a text. I pulled it from my pocket to see who it was while Julie and Dena discussed how romantic a vacation to Finland sounded.
Lynne, I saw in the display, wouldn't make it either. “Lynne said she has a school function she forgot about and won’t be able to make it today,” I said to the other women. “With so many out, it’s probably best to hold off on discussing anything major.”
“I hate you guys had to drive all the way here only to have no one show up,” Julie said.
“Nathaniel had business at the club he needed to take care of,” I said. “We would have come, anyway.”
“And now we have some unexpected girlfriend time,” Dena said. Of the three of us, she was, more than likely, the one who needed girlfriend time the most. She was the mother of two young children and did some legal consultation from home. Her husband, Jeff, worked in the security industry. Though I knew he was both a great dad and husband, nothing in the world could ever take the place of girlfriends.
“Yes,” Julie said, with a glance my way. “But it’s boring as hell here. What’s happening in New York?”
I laughed. “You know we’re staying in the Hamptons and not Manhattan, right?”