“Does that make you telling me something seem less scary?”
She paused for a few moments and her breathing hitched in her chest.
He loved more than anything that she didn’t just tell him what she thought he wanted to hear. Her contemplating the answer made him so happy he could burst.
“Yeah. It does. Not a lot, but yes. And I’m hoping in time maybe it will get easier. Then I can really talk and know that it’s all gonna be okay and I don’t have to freak out and panic every time. And I want to put good things in there, too. Things that make me emotional. Not just the panic type, but the good kind. The kind where I want to crawl on top of you and stay a while. I want to be better and I think this will help me get there.”
“Us, baby. It’s gonna help us get there.”
“Us. I like that very much.”
“And the rule, baby. What do you want to change about the rule?”
“No running. Just seeing it makes me feel scared. It’s like taking away one of my lifelines. So, I want to change it to run to you. That’s what I want to do, what I want to stare at when I need to see something to remind me what I need to do. It’s not something I can’t do anymore. It’s something I very, very much want to do.”
“That is hands down the most amazing thing you’ve said to me. Ever. Nothing would make me happier than altering that rule for us.”
“Us,” she sighed. “Nothing makes me happier.”
Her smile? Like the first morning ray of sunshine. Warm, happy, thankful. Everything. Her happiness. That was what it was. Everything.
Picking her up, he then carried her to their bed. He laid her down and stared at her. With care, he took her journal from her and placed it on the nightstand. He treated it like the precious cargo it would carry. The vessel in which she would give herself to him again and again. He would help her finally find peace within herself. Within the amazing woman she’d become, and who he would be lucky enough to get to hold and touch and love.
Quickly he removed his clothes and climbed in bed with his Tabby.
She opened her arms to him, welcoming him home.
That was what she was to him. Home.
As he pushed inside her tight sheath, he sighed against her throat. His hands shook as he wrapped them around her. This consummation, meant more than maybe all the rest.
This time, he made love to the woman he owned. To his wife. To his best friend. It felt as if they were on hallowed ground and he would forever remember this joining together as the first of many.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, on top of her, between her thighs, loving her, taking her…he was exactly where he belonged.
Chapter Fifteen
Michael
A few weeks later, Michael leaned forward and inhaled Tabitha’s perfume as he wrapped her collar around her throat.
A friend of his across town, who he’d used several times on other projects at work, owned a machine shop. While shooting the shit one day, he’d found out the guy and his girl were kinky and he had a side business making leather goods for other kinksters in the Jacksonville area and surrounding cities.
Amazing how many kinky people lurked all over no one suspected.
He ran a finger along the leather, then latched onto the ring and brought her close. He tipped her chin up and captured her lips. Nipping them, biting them…he loved it when she moaned and her fingernails bit into the flesh of his abdomen.
The shiver that worked up her spine when he let her go fired his blood like only she could.
He released her collar and stared at the ring. Fuck. Another hole. A bonus hole he hadn’t even known he owned on her. He was going to be fingering that hole for decades to come.
To come.
Yes, she would.
So. Fucking. Sexy.
Tabitha purred when he kissed her neck and she curled her fingers into the seams of his jeans as she held him close.
Putting her collars on her for the first time had seemed so much like a renewal of their wedding vows. But somehow better.
Because it had been completely private. Just for them and no one else.
Tabitha had cried, her emotions spilling forth the night he’d collared her. She had blessed him with her acceptance and tears.
He’d made love to her for hours that night, and they’d both agreed it had almost seemed like the first time again. She overwhelmed him. That was what she did to him. On a daily basis. Simply overwhelmed.
“Nervous?” Michael asked as he tucked the end of her collar into the small rectangular metal loop to hold the tail secure.
“Excited,” she answered a little too quickly. Then she laughed and leaned in to him. “And a little nervous.”
With his hands on her shoulders, he turned her around and pulled her close, running his fingertips down her naked spine.
Standing in hotel room four-two-o, they waited for Duke to arrive.
“And why are you nervous?”
“Duke’s…intense.”
“Which is why you like playing with him,” he reminded her. He fisted her braid and firmly pulled her hair back until she looked up at him. “Isn’t that correct?”
She bit her lip and wrinkled her nose. “Yes, but he also makes me nervous.”
Michael stared down at her, wondering again how in the world he’d ever let his priorities get so backassward.
He pondered her comment for a second. “You feel differently playing with Duke than playing with Wes?”
“Very different. Duke’s tastes are more harsh, I guess. The last time we were together, he told me about a Valentine’s date he had at that club he belongs to back in Kansas. Bloodplay in The Library, needles, hardcore sex.”
“Damn. How did we miss talking about that?”
She lifted her lips to reveal her teeth and she laughed again. “Pretty sure your cock was in my throat two seconds after you walked into the room to see me tied to the bed. There wasn’t much talking that night.” Another smile. “Or the next morning.”
He shrugged, completely unapologetic. “What can I say? You’re the sexiest little thing ever and sometimes I can’t control myself.”
Her sigh rumbled through her chest into him as he hugged her again. “You say the nicest things.”
They stood there for a second, just being together, and Tabitha added, “The way Duke talks to me while playing… That’s another reason it’s different from Wes.”
“How so?”
“It’s almost playful.”
“Wouldn’t that put you more at ease?”
“Well…no. It’s deceptive. He’s playful and funny and such a character with his spiky hair and inked sleeves and ears full of piercings. He doesn’t take anything too seriously, then all of a sudden, he strikes with a dragontail. The act of surprising me when I least expect it makes what he does even more devastating. And he knows you.”
“Of course he knows me. If he didn’t know me he sure as hell wouldn’t be touching you.”
“No. I mean, Wes absolutely knows you, too, but it’s different. I think just because he’s more private about it. When Duke plays with me, he talks about you. How you love me. How you look at me. It’s devastating and amazing because he knows that everything I do revolves around our relationship. Him playing into that when I’m high as a kite on pain or sex or both just wrecks me.”
“Remind me to thank him when we’re done today.”
This time she looked up at him on her own. “Have I told you how awesome things have been? How amazing we’ve been since we talked?”
“In the weeks since we wrote our rules, Tabby? Since then?” He knew full well what she meant and just wanted to hear her say it.
“That’s exactly when. It feels like I found you again. Us. Me, maybe. I need you and —” She shook her head. “That’s it, actually. It’s that simple. I just need you. You ground me and I am safe with you.”
Holding her cheeks, he kissed her lips, sipping at her mouth until she sighed into him. “You very mu
ch are.”
He’d planned the date between her and Duke, which coincided with Duke’s visit but also had given them time to find their stride again.
“You know what else I love?” she asked.
“What?”
“That you’re staying. That it’s us from the beginning, in the middle, with an extra bit of dirty fun, and then us at the end. I really like that. I like you here. Especially now.”
“Me, too. I like being a part of it. And there are all sorts of other things we could do in the future if you want to go back to playing alone. We can be on the phone during the date. Or Skype, even.”
“That’s amazingly perfect.”
“I’d had the thought the other day. I think we got stuck in a little bit of a rut and we just needed a shake-up to get back on track.” He kissed her again. “And just to make sure you know, I will never let us grow apart. You’re it for me.”
“You’re it for me,” she agreed. “We will never let us grow apart. I can’t live without you. Seriously. That might sound pathetic but you know what?” she asked. “I don’t care. I’m proudly and pathetically in love with you, my husband.”
“Ditto,” he added with a kiss, and thought about the room they were standing in. The same room she’d left him a sad face in. This was their way of taking it back. Not erasing it, because he never wanted to forget how he’d lost sight of them. But softening the edges maybe. Hurting her had devastated him, and he never wanted to do that ever again. “I love that you can tell me anything. Love that you want to. And the journal? It’s special. Incredibly so.” He glanced at the clock beside the table. “Anything else we need to cover? He’ll be here in just a minute.”
She rolled her lips in and rubbed them together.
“What, baby?”
Her wrinkled nose endeared her to him even more. “Will you tell me again what Wes said? I hate to think me breaking down had anything to do with him taking off. I know what he told me outside your office but something was definitely wrong.”
Michael moved to the bed and took her with him, settling her on his lap. “Nothing to do with it. He seemed genuinely happy that all was well with us and that I got my head out of my ass. He said something came up that he’d been avoiding as long as he could. Something to do with his family, which he normally avoids like a new strain of Ebola. Then he said something about knots or yachts under his breath. Totally odd for him to say, but when I asked him about it he said he had to go. Cut me off mid-sentence.”
“Very much not like him. I just don’t want it to affect your business relationship or your friendship.”
Her worried gaze twisted his insides. “You let me worry about all that. You just be the most wonderful wife ever and I’ll handle the details. Nothing that happened between us made Wes freak out. He’s just got something else going on. If it will make you feel better, I’ll give him a few days then invite him out for a drink. How’s that? Might even ask him if he has some time to come over and bring some rope. Thought I might like to learn a bit. Since my girl is a bit of a rope bunny.”
Tabitha froze. “You’d do that?”
“I love seeing that look of love in your eyes. I would love to tie together. You in my rope. Hell yes. It’ll take me a while to get great. If it’s something you’re interested in doing with me.”
The tension around her eyes eased and she hugged him tight. “More than anything.”
Knock, knock, knock.
Tabby looked toward the door, and Michael tugged her face back around. “All good, Tabby?”
“Perfect.” She stood and bounced up and down once.
Michael brushed her collar with his fingers. “Seems like you have something on your collar. Wonder what that could be?”
Reaching up, she touched it and tilted her head to the side. “My husband’s cum. He marked it last week when he put it on me for the first time.”
“Damn right he did. Must be a smart guy to know exactly what he has wrapped inside it.”
“Possessive, my husband?” she asked as he unlocked the door.
“Incredibly, my hot wife.” Opening the door, Michael stared at his wife a moment longer until his cock pulsed. Luckiest. Man. Ever.
“Can I come in and play?” Duke asked as he stepped inside.
“By all means.” Michael stood aside and hugged his other best friend as he moved past. “I believe the real welcoming committee is by the bed.”
“Fuck. Best friend’s naked wife. Mmm… Best friend’s collared naked wife.” Duke mock glared at Michael then tossed a small bag onto the office desk. “About damn time.”
Michael closed the door and locked it. “What can I say? Good things come to those who wait.”
Heading straight for her, Duke didn’t pause as he lifted Tabitha up and took her down on the bed.
Tabitha yelped in surprise and Michael came toward them but sat on the opposite bed. Watching her shift and twitch beneath Duke as he tongued his way south was definitely a sight to see. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away from her for long, not when he already ached to taste her, to take her.
But he wanted to watch her, to gaze on her being touched. Tasted.
Hottest wife on the planet.
“Fuck, I’ve missed this beautiful sight.” Duke put his hands behind her knees, forcing her legs up and out to the side. He settled between her thighs and licked her from her asshole to her clit. Gentle, teasing.
“Oh. God.” Tabitha grunted as her eyes rolled back.
“No, no, no,” Duke admonished with a shake of his head between licks to her clit. “Me, Duke. You, Tabby.”
Tabitha laughed then whimpered as she put her hands behind her to latch on to the edge of one of the hotel pillows. Her nipples were hard, rosy, begging to be tasted. She seemed to struggle to lift her head and stare between her thighs. “New piercing?”
Duke licked up her juicy slit again, and a tongue stud flicked into view just as Tabitha jumped. Her head fell back on the bed and she shivered as Duke licked her again.
“You’re already shaking, my wife.” Unable to stand it any longer, Michael edged toward her. On his knees beside her, he peered down at her splayed open for his best friend. Deliciously vulnerable with his collar around her throat. “Already that turned on, are you?”
“Duke. Fingers. Tongue. Teeth.” She said more through a locked jaw but that was all he could make out.
It was all he needed.
No. That was a lie.
She was all he needed. Her pleasure. Greatest gift in the world.
He leaned over and he licked her closest nipple, then the other one. “And where are those fingers?” Licking her again, he added the edge of his teeth before switching back to the first rosy tip.
“Pussy, my husband. And ass,” she added on a sigh. In the next breath, she clamped her teeth together again and tried to stifle a scream.
He chuckled as she thrashed beneath him. To keep her in place, he reached up and grabbed a fistful of her hair. “Duke adding a little something extra to say hello?”
“Teeth,” she bit out, rubbing her feet on the bed. “Biting. Clit.”
Michael loved it when all she could process were single words. Knowing her brain was completely off and all she could do was feel what he was letting someone else do to her turned him on so hard. His dick jerked and he was pretty certain pre-cum leaked. That was what she did to him. All the time.
Fuck, she turns me on.
“Let’s play a game,” Duke announced. He latched on to Tabitha’s clit and worked her holes until her abdomen contracted. Looked as if she was almost ready to come. He pulled his fingers free and sucked both into his mouth. “Holy shit, you taste good, Tabby. I’m going to have to fuck you soon, but have some fun first.”
“What kind? Game?” she asked as she jerked again.
Michael would have bet money she was no more than thirty seconds from coming. And he was quite familiar with Duke. The man definitely knew his way around a pussy. He appreciat
ed exactly the state he left her in, which made him getting up to grab his bag that much more delicious.
“The best kind, a dirty one.” Duke grinned over his shoulder and gave her a wink. “You pick a number between one and five.”
Tabitha bit her lip and thought about it for a few seconds. “Four.”
Duke pulled out one of his dragontails—a modified short-handled whip with a long piece of wrapped leather attached to the end resembling an arrow that terminated into a very distinct point.
It had a vicious bite with a short striking distance and Duke knew exactly how to use it.
Tabitha closed her legs slowly, as if Duke or Michael wouldn’t notice.
“Oh, no, no, no, pretty Tabby.” Duke stepped up and opened her legs again. “You’ll definitely want to be available for this game. Michael’s going to get naked and you’re going to suck his cock. He’s going to pinch your nipples, hard. When you can’t take any more then you say, please, Michael. If you say it really sweetly he’s going to let go, and I’ll give you a kiss.”
Duke snapped the whip in the air, which made the hair on Michael’s arms stand up.
“With this. Sound fun?” Duke asked with all sorts of enthusiasm.
Michael stood up and shucked his clothes. His cock sprang out of his slacks as if it was the first time he’d ever been with a woman. He climbed back onto the bed and fisted his shaft twice, then cupped his own balls. They were heavy, full. He needed to come and soon.
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