by Golden Angel
"Plus, she's definitely worried about disappointing you," Adam said, backing Olivia up. "Don't discount that. Angel will get bratty with me if I'm ticked at her about something, but if she thinks she's disappointing me she'll run in circles trying to find a way to either fix it or make it up to me."
"Right before bursting into tears if she thinks she's failed," Olivia murmured so softly that Rick barely heard her. Adam shot her an exasperated look. He must have been getting relationship advice from the outspoken Domme. Coughing, Rick hid his grin. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one dealing with issues that were out of his depth. He could only imagine how panicked Adam would be over Angel crying. Talk about feeling out of control. Part of him wanted to ask what had happened, but going by the closed expression on Adam's face, he doubted the man would answer. He knew the two were having some issues because Adam wanted her to move in and Angel wasn't ready to take that step yet. Another situation where Adam felt out of control, but he was working through it and doing whatever he needed to keep Angel happy.
The little trickles of doubt and insecurity were still inside of Rick, but he definitely felt much better already. After all, Maria was being brave just by wanting to try something that she had little knowledge and no experience with, especially when he'd mishandled her first introduction to the scene so badly. No wonder she wanted to try it before she committed to it, and he needed to remember that this was completely new to her and that she wasn't auditioning him. At least, he hoped she wasn't.
She was showing a great deal of trust in him, trust that he'd worried he'd completely broken. So he was going to man up and trust that she wasn't going to reject him outright, and that she wanted to try an Introductory Scene because she really wanted him and not just the kink that she now knew existed.
Chapter 13
Rick was coming up on the pool's wall when he saw two legs dangling down in front of him. Reaching out to grasp the ankle, he really hoped it was Maria's leg, as he used his other hand to tickle the sole. Rising up from the water, even with it filling his ears, he could hear her shriek and giggling.
Grinning, he raised his eyebrow at her. "Don't you know to keep your feet out of the lap lanes?
An expression that looked a lot like relief was on her face as she smiled back at him. Going by her body language, he could see that she felt a little awkward, her muscles were tensed as if she was ready to flee in case he wasn't happy to see her. But he'd responded playfully and she was taking her lead from him.
"What are you going to do, spank me?" She was half-defiant, half-anxious, and Rick couldn't help but laugh, seeing right through her brave front. Maria was probably going to be a bit of a bratty sub; right now she was acting out a bit because she didn't know exactly how to handle herself. On the other hand, she was completely honest with her emotions, and she wasn't going to avoid talking about the elephant in the room. Nope, it was going to come spilling out of her mouth and make her blush a bright red that matched her bathing suit. Rick eyed that bathing suit and the snug fit it had on her curves, wondering if one day he might be able to fulfill his reoccurring fantasying of sliding his fingers under that fabric and making her so wet that she'd have to get in the pool or give away her state.
Gripping her ankle tighter, he tickled her foot again as she shrieked, water splashing him in the face when she kicked out with her other foot.
"It seems to me that maybe you want the spanking," Rick said, teasingly. Keeping it light. Non-threatening. He had the feeling she was probably going to try and top from the bottom at first - she was too assertive and too untrained not to - and he was going to very gently show her that it wasn't going to happen. Sassiness was all well and good, he liked that, but he wasn’t going to allow her to take control of any scene between them. Just by basically daring him to spank her, she’d initiated a kind of scene and he was going to respond appropriately. "Tickling is probably a better punishment."
Maria gasped, trying to yank her ankle out of his hand. Even with the water making her soft skin slick, he had too tight a grip for that to work. Instead she just went slightly off balance, her breasts wobbling in an incredibly enticing way. "Tickling isn't a punishment."
The screech of the lifeguard's whistle from across the pool got both of their attention. The teen in the chair pointed at Rick and then jerked her thumb at the main part of the pool. He got the message - if you're not swimming laps, get out of the lap lane. Grinning, happy that Maria was there, he decided he didn't need to finish his workout. Giving her foot one last tickle, he laughed at her outraged shriek as he finally released her ankle and ducked under the rope to head to the main pool.
When he resurfaced, he saw Maria already sliding into the water, giving him a moment to reorganize his thoughts.
They'd been pretty flirtatious before he'd taken her to Stronghold, afterwards he hadn't been sure whether or not she'd show up again here. Now that she was here, he still didn't know whether or not she'd want to be with him after her Introductory Scene. He needed to revise how he was going to deal with her until after the scene. Not that he was going to stop flirting with her, but definitely nothing more than that.
Last night it had been instinct not to kiss her, to hold back, to take control of the situation. Denying her had, in some ways, been almost petty, but it had also been self-protective and had given him back the steering wheel in the situation. Something which, at that point, he'd needed. Right now he needed to stay in control and not let things go beyond where they already had, not until after next Thursday.
It soothed him to see that she was back to being nervous as she approached him. Rick smiled and started chatting with her, not reaching out to touch her, but keeping things friendly and just a bit flirty. Slowly, Maria relaxed as she told him about her week at work, including Leigh and Angel's visit. When he told her about assisting Angel for her class' final exam, she laughed so hard that she actually went underwater for a few seconds. Especially when he told her about Lexie's turn and the way she’d managed to get Patrick in the nuts, twice.
By the time Rick had to leave to get ready to head over to Andrew's, whom he was helping today, he was feeling a million times better. He and Maria weren't quite back to where they had been before, but that was okay. The biggest change was that the sexual tension between them was even higher than before. As well as their anxiety about the Introductory Scene next Thursday. When he told her that he'd scheduled the scene and gotten the okay from Patrick, she'd brightened and then immediately looked anxious again.
He didn't try to soothe her too much. A bit of anxiety, and even fear, was good for a scene.
"Don't forget to do your research," he said, tapping her on the nose with his finger before he left. The temptation to kiss her was incredible, especially because that bikini she wore made him want to put his hands all over her and he could tell that she wanted him to when she tilted her head up at him, but he held onto his self-control.
Maria narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, Professor."
Rick raised his eyebrow, letting his voice deepen to a more powerful and threatening tone. "I'll tell Patrick to make sure he reserves the school room for us."
Chuckling at Maria's dropped jaw, Rick considered that a fitting exit line.
******
Pushing away from her computer desk, Maria decided she needed a break.
Friday night... less than a week until her Introductory Scene. Excitement and tension fluttered in her belly in equal measure, the same way they always did every time she thought about Rick and Stronghold. It was still hard for her to reconcile the man she flirted with and chatted with in the mornings with the stuff she was reading online.
Granted, she knew that he wasn't going to be interested in everything that she was finding online, but still, she didn't know everything about him. And she didn't think his female friends possibly could either. Even if Jessica had slept with him at that school.
I really need to stop dwelling on that.
Going thro
ugh her fridge, Maria pulled out the bottle of sparkling red she had put in there to chill the night before. She wasn't really a white wine drinker, so over the summer she tended to drink a lot of rose and sparkling reds instead of the heavier cabernets she preferred in the winter.
Right now it felt like her head was swimming with information. Spankings. Whips. Golden showers. Pony girls. Chastity belts. Cuffs and chains. The differences between a submissive, a slave, a baby girl, etc.
She had to admit, the baby girl thing sounded kind of fun... Maybe just because she was the oldest of a large group of girls and had often felt a bit like a mother-figure in some ways, but the idea of being a brat and getting to just relax and play for a bit sounded great. But it definitely wasn’t something she'd want to do a lot, or even for very long. Some of the other parts of it didn't sound so great though... she wouldn't want to pretend to be anything younger than an eight-year old. And again, not for very long. Maybe it was just a repressed desire for a coloring book that she didn't have to share.
The chastity belt... was that something Rick would be interested in? One of the girls had said he was into orgasm control and that kind of seemed like the same thing. Taking a sip of wine, letting the bubbles pop and fizz on her tongue, she rolled the liquid around her mouth as she thought. The fantasy of it actually made her a little hot, the idea that he'd want her goodies locked up and he'd have the only key, so that she couldn't even play with herself without his say-so... It made her feel like a bit of a freak that it turned her on, but it really did.
Of course, then she started thinking about the actual logistics of such a thing. Things like, how would she go to the bathroom? And how comfortable were they actually? The ones she saw online did not look comfortable. Yes, she had looked them up. They didn't look anything like what she'd expected - she'd been picturing something along the lines of Maid Marion's belt in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The ones online had looked more practical, but still not comfortable.
"Oh my god... what am I even thinking?!"
Her voice echoed in the room.
Was she considering compromising what she wanted just because she really liked Rick? That didn't seem like her. But then again, she really liked Rick. And she was wondering why she'd never explored these kinds of things before, worrying that the only reason they were turning her on was because she was picturing Rick doing them to her. That it had more to do with him and her wanting him than it did with her wanting the kinks.
She was so worried about disappointing him, about not being what he wanted and needed... was she somehow forcing herself to be aroused by these things?
Or was it just that she'd never known anyone who was into this stuff and so she'd never had the opportunity to even think about it? After all, none of her sisters were. Jackie had been married for years and Maria had just found out that Daniel had a bit of a thing for her sister's feet. The whole not having a lot of close friends outside of her sisters, at any point in her life, was probably working against her. She'd drifted away from all of her female friends eventually, so maybe she'd just never been close enough to any of them to even know if they'd tried out bondage or role play or spanking.
So, was it that she was actually really kinky and just hadn't known it, or did it have everything to do with Rick?
******
"Sleeping Beauty!"
"No, Little Mermaid!"
"We can watch both," Maria shouted over both of her sisters while Ava cackled maniacally in the background. Good grief, it was just like when they were all kids. Jackie and Lara, the youngest, going at it while Maria had to play the arbitrator and Ava gleefully spectated. Although, Maria had to admit, she'd thought they'd long since moved past arguments about what Disney movie to put on. Talk about regression!
At least they were arguing over stupid stuff now, instead of grilling Maria about Rick. She'd told them as much as she could, about meeting him at the pool and hanging out with him in the mornings. Jackie had been winking at her throughout, since Lara and Ava were totally pro-Rick, but didn't know what Jackie knew. And Jackie didn't even know the whole of it. Finally she got them off her back by telling them that she had a date with him on Thursday. Which was kind of what the Introductory Scene was, right?
Initially she’d been relieved when they’d started trying to decide what movie to watch.
"Fine," said Lara, glaring at Jackie. "But-"
"Little Mermaid first!" Jackie yelled over top of Lara.
Lara beaned a pillow right at Jackie's face and Maria reached out and expertly snagged it out of its trajectory.
"Rock, paper, scissors."
"What?!" Jackie looked outraged. "It's my house! I should get to choose which movie we watch first!"
"Rock, paper, scissors," Maria repeated firmly, trying to hide her smile.
Man, she loved her sisters. Even if they were being idiots. She could tell that they were enjoying dragging out this particular scene from their childhood.
"Oh whatever, just give the little brat what she wants," Jackie said, slumping dramatically back onto the couch. Maria was impressed that she managed a slump that could actually be considered dramatic. Unfortunately for Jackie, Lara wasn’t as impressed; squealing with delight at her win, Lara popped up to grab the DVD off the shelf and put it in the DVD player.
"You two are going to be a terrible example when you finally have kids," Ava said, grinning as she shook her head.
If Maria hadn't been looking right at Jackie, she wouldn't have noticed her sister's sudden stillness and blank expression.
"OH MY GOD!" Maria snatched up the glass that Jackie had been drinking and sniffed it. Not a single fume of alcohol wafted from what Jackie had claimed was a cranberry vodka. Jackie turned beet red. "You're pregnant!"
Lara squealed even louder than she had before, throwing the DVD up in the air just as all the sisters launched themselves at the couch Jackie was on. It was a squirming, writhing pile of sister hugging and shrieking with excitement while Jackie laughed and tried to push them off of her.
"You're smothering me!"
Still giggling, they all pulled back enough to let Jackie breathe, Ava and Maria on either side of her, with Lara kneeling and resting her arms on Jackie's knees, as they peppered her with questions.
“When did you know?”
“How far along are you?”
“Was it an accident?”
“How do you feel?”
“Who else knows?”
"One at a time!" Jackie laughed, waving her hands at them, but her eyes sparkled with happiness. "I'm only a month along, which is why I hadn't told any of you yet, thanks Maria." Maria just grinned and shrugged. "No, we weren't trying, but we aren’t upset, we’re ecstatic."
Her hand resting on her belly, Jackie was absolutely glowing. All of them were. After all, this was going to be the first kid in the family. God... their mom was going to explode with excitement. No wonder Jackie hadn't told any of them yet, she and David had probably wanted to just enjoy the news for themselves.
"Now... I'll tell Mom and Dad tomorrow, but no telling anyone else!" Jackie said, pointing her finger at each sister in turn and reiterating Maria's own thoughts. "Except your husbands," she said, adding the modification for Ava and Lara. "We're not announcing till the third month. Although, I guess I can tell Daniel he should tell his sister and parents now, too."
Baby talk eventually devolved into wedding talk for Lara, all of which Maria was both a part of and completely separate from. The strangest mix of delight, awe, and a little bit of melancholy filled her. Spending time with her sisters was wonderful. Finding out she was going to be an aunt was even more so. So why the melancholy?
Maybe it was just that her sisters all seemed so much farther ahead in their lives than she was, especially now that Jackie was pregnant. They'd spent a lot of time talking about Lara's wedding and even more time talking about Jackie's pregnancy. In the back of her head, as content as Maria was with her life, she'd always kind of figured tha
t she'd at least be engaged, if not married, by the time any of her sisters started having babies. It wasn't a competition, but it just bought up the question, why wasn't she further ahead in her life?
Not to mention, it also made her worry even more about her reactions to Rick and her upcoming introduction to kink. Would she be able to separate her multitude of desires? Her desire for him, her desire for what her sisters' had, and her already confused sexual desires? It just suddenly felt like there was a lot hinging on Thursday evening.
Fortunately, none of her sisters noticed anything strange about her behavior. They finally settled down enough to watch The Little Mermaid - although of course they spent half the time talking over the movie. When they weren't singing along.
In between movies, Maria went into Jackie's kitchen to reload the snacks and get another drink. After a minute, Jackie followed her in, leaving Ava and Lara chattering away about wedding stuff again in the other room.
"Hey! So... I want an update," Jackie said, poking Maria's side and nearly making her drop the bag of chips she was holding.
"An update?" Maria asked, momentarily confused.
"Yeah." Jackie hopped up onto the counter, watching Maria refill the tray of goodies. "An update on this date. So, you're gonna give the spanking thing a try?"
"I don't know," Maria said, averting her eyes as she felt a hot blush spreading up into her cheeks. She felt like a bad older sister, like she was setting a bad example, even though she knew that was kind of stupid. It was just habit to try and do everything correctly, to not let her sisters know when she was doing something that... well, wasn't on the straight and narrow. Which was why she still wasn't going to tell Jackie that she was going to a kinky sex club as her 'date.' "It's just a date to... you know, see if we're compatible."