The Submissive's Last Word (The Power to Please, Book 4)

by Ward, Deena

I crested a small rise and stopped to wipe the sweat that had risen on my brow. Breathing hard, I searched across the lawn. There he was, walking toward the little gazebo next to the copse of maple trees. He was strolling with Lilly and Rose.

  I took off again and soon caught up to them. They heard me coming and turned.

  “Goodness!” said Rose. “What’s wrong?”

  I tried to catch my breath and flapped my hand in gestures which I intended to mean everything was fine.

  Lilly patted Rose’s hand. “It’s okay. I think she’d just excited about something.”

  I huffed and panted, nodded. Gibson’s hands were on his hips and he slowly shook his head at me.

  I managed to gather enough air to speak. “Stupid ... house ... too ... big.”

  “Oh my,” said Rose. “Is that what she’s excited about?”

  Gibson continued to give me his best “the-things-I-have-to-put-up-with” look. “No. She’s complaining about the size of the estate, and how far she had to run to get here. But what she should be thinking about is doing more cardio so she doesn’t lose her wind so easily.”

  “You’d better ... watch it,” I said.

  He grinned and took my arm. “Here. I’ll help you over to the gazebo and you can sit down.”

  “I don’t need ... to sit down.”

  “I think I do,” said Rose. “You’re right that this is a big place and we’ve been walking a long time.”

  Lilly linked arms with Rose and they headed to the gazebo, Gibson and I trailing behind.

  Lilly called back to me, “So, did something happen?”

  “Yes. I got the letter telling me that I won the scholarship I wanted, for the fall semester.”

  Lilly yayed me, clapped her hands and Rose congratulated me.

  Gibson smiled his approval and squeezed my arm. “I had no doubt you’d get it.”

  “Thanks,” I said to them all, happy with my success. “I’ll turn down the money, of course, so they can give it to someone who needs it. But it comes with that internship, where I get to work with one of the resident artists a few hours a week. That’s what I wanted. I already know I can keep the internship even if I turn down the money.”

  Lilly asked me a few questions, like if I knew the artist I’d be working with (I didn’t) and how many other students applied for the scholarship/internship (loads). She and Rose settled onto a comfortable bench in the gazebo.

  We chatted a few more minutes, then Gibson and I left them there together, Rose looking peaceful and calm, relaxed.

  “See you back inside later,” she called to us as we strolled away down the gravel path.

  I waved, as did Gibson, then we went on our way.

  “Rose looks great,” I said.

  “You and Lilly have been a good team. She’s been gone from the nursing home for,” he checked his watch, “three hours now and she hasn’t gotten antsy yet.”

  “That’s wonderful. Maybe she’ll last through dinner this time.”

  “If not, then next time perhaps. No hurry.”

  I agreed. No hurry. There was time to let Rose take it at her own pace. She’d already done much to be proud of.

  We took the path that meandered down by the lake.

  “Did I tell you that Isabel phoned me yesterday afternoon?” he asked. “She demanded that you come back to work for her, and that if you won’t, I have to hire two people to replace you, because the one she hired last winter isn’t enough.”

  I laughed. “What a load. You didn’t fall for it did you?”

  “I told her you insist on continuing to work at that health food store, so I okayed her to hire another assistant.”

  I laughed again. “You got played. She’s so good. She called me the other day and didn’t once try to hire me back.”

  “I’d better keep an eye on her. She may be after my job,” he said with a wry expression.

  “You’d better hope not.”

  The path turned and led us around the edge of the shoreline. I stuck my arm out and enjoyed the feel of the reeds tickling my hand as I passed.

  The sun’s rays bounced off the water, forming into lines of brilliance across the surface of the lake. I squinted to see across it and saw a boat bobbing out near the middle. I knew it could only be Ron and Xavier in that boat, fishing.

  I waved my arms to get their attention. Ron saw me first, then they both looked up and waved. Ron called out a loud and lengthy “hellooooo” that easily traveled across the distance between us.

  Gibson gave a short wave, and we walked on.

  When I’d been wagging my hands around in the air, the sun had glinted off the ring on my finger, distracting me. I held out my hand and admired it as we ambled along.

  “You do like it,” he said, but with something of a question in his voice.

  “Of course I do! What’s not to like? Look at it.” I shifted the diamond in the light, showing it off to best advantage, not that it needed any advantages. It was a gorgeous stone. And though it was large, it wasn’t overly so. It suited my hand and my disposition. He couldn’t have chosen better.

  “I’m glad. I’m more glad that you said yes, naturally.”

  I took his hand and swung it back and forth between us as we walked. “Like you thought I’d say no.”

  “I’ve learned not to predict what you might or might not do.”

  “Okay, but I don’t know a woman alive who’d turn down a handsome, sexy bajillionaire who’s on bended knee proposing to her. There is one thing, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We’re going to have to think of a story to tell our grandkids when they ask how we met. I can’t imagine myself saying, ‘Well, little Johnny, we were in a bar, and your grandpa seduced me in a hallway the first time we laid on eyes on each other.’”

  We laughed.

  We changed paths, turning and heading away from the lake, up a rise toward the orchards.

  Gibson’s demeanor changed with the terrain. “There was a time when I didn’t think I’d be having grandchildren.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but even if we have ten kids, there’s no guarantee you’ll get grandchildren out of them.”

  “Ten children? You’re not serious.”

  “Oh I don’t know. We’ve got the money to hire all the nannies we want. They can do all the hard parts, like the feeding and general care. We can just hang out with the kiddies a few hours a day if we feel like it. When they get irritating, we’ll send them back to dear Nanny.” I shot him a sideways glance, to see if he was buying it.

  He wasn’t. “If you’re going to put it like that, I wouldn’t mind making ten of them. You might mind birthing them, though.”

  “Typical man. All the pleasure, none of the pain.”

  “In more ways than one.”

  I grinned. Then I caught the sound of rumbling off in the distance, the crunch of wheels crushing gravel.

  I looked ahead, tried to see around the coming corner, but the line of sight was blocked by a grove of small trees. The sound grew louder.

  “Oh no,” I said, realizing what it was. I grabbed Gibson’s arm and jumped off the path, pulling him along with me. We put a good six, seven feet between us and the edge of the gravel line.

  It was none too soon, as a cart careened around the turn in the path and headed straight where we’d been walking.

  Paulina perched on the front seat, jostling up and down, thrown side to side with the gyrations of the cart. She was totally cool, not the least worried about being pitched to the ground. One lace-gloved hand gripped the reins and the other waved a crop in the air.

  She wore her usual summer, flowing style of dress, and a wide-brimmed ladies hat. Her smile was easy, her demeanor relaxed.

  On the seat beside her, of all people, sat Elaine Hoyte. Like Paulina, Elaine wore a flowing dress and a ladies hat. She also wore a pair of lacy gloves to protect her hands. But that’s where the similarities ended.

  Unlike Paulina, Elain
e clutched the side of the bench seat as if her life depended on it, and it probably did. It looked frighteningly precarious, being tossed around as she was, on a wooden bench with no seat belts and only a low back, scant little to hold onto.

  But this was nothing to what was pulling the cart at breakneck speed: Toy 2.

  Toy 1 had either been dismissed or moved on to a different domme-ly highness, I didn’t know which. Toy 2 was his replacement. Everyone else just called him Toy, as did I, to his face. But to myself, he was Toy 2. I felt like it was only right to give Paulina’s boys an individual identity, even if they, themselves, didn’t care about it.

  Toy 2 was a muscle-bound body-builder like Toy 1, but he was even bigger, stronger and faster. He adored playing pony and I couldn’t count how often I saw him and Paulina tearing across the grounds. The man could seriously move. You had to stay alert when they were out for a drive. Or a pull, as the case may have been.

  This was the first time I’d seen Elaine in the cart. Her added weight didn’t appear to be slowing down Toy 2. He smiled even as he sucked air like a car wash vacuum. His vast arms pumped and his knees rose swift and high. A helluva pace. One seriously proud pony.

  Elaine laughed and called out as they shot past us. “Hey there honeys! Coming through! Woohoo!”

  Paulina gave a small, dignified nod.

  And then they were gone, careening and lurching down the slope, picking up speed as they traveled downhill.

  We watched them go.

  “My God,” I said. “The woman is a terror.”

  “I assume you mean Paulina,” Gibson said in his driest tone.

  “It’s rolling super fast down that hill. I hope Toy can stay in front of the cart.”

  “Between the threat of those wheels and Paulina’s crop, he’s got more than enough incentive to succeed.”

  We stepped back onto the path and continued on our way.

  “Some things are going to have to change around here when we have a kid,” I said.

  “We’ll put up speed limit signs.”

  “Not a bad idea for right now. But what I meant was, Paulina’s going to have to get an actual, real, honest-to-God pony to pull her cart. Imagine what they’d think at school if our kid told them about getting rides from Nana Paulina’s boytoy pony.”

  He barked out a laugh. “I hadn’t thought about that. You’re right. And you’re going to have to —”

  “Not it.”

  “What?”

  “You were going to say that I’ll have to tell Paulina she has to switch Toy Pony for a real one. But I beat you to it and called not it.”

  “I wasn’t aware of the ‘not it’ dodge.”

  “Now you know. Too late to save you, though.”

  I stopped in the path, struck by a sudden thought. “Hey, I just thought of something about the Hoyte/Martin/Toy five-some.” I turned and looked back the way we’d come. “It’s not actually a five-some.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “It’s a three-some and a pair of buddies. Don’t look at me like that. Seriously. Think about it. Paulina, Elaine and Toy are the threesome, doing who knows what together when they’re alone, but we can be certain it’s not platonic. Ron and Xavier, meanwhile, are just buddies who hang out together while their women do whatever it is they do. Like right now, Ron and Xavier are fishing. Other times, I bet they watch ball games, or do other man stuff. They aren’t involved in the sexy goings-on of the threesome.”

  “And,” I continued, excited with my idea, “every once in a while, they break up into two threesomes, like the night we saw Patsy at Private Residence. We’ve seen them with other subs since then. The new subs go with Ron and Xavier, and they stay separate from the P-E-T threesome. I think that’s it. I’ve figured it out.”

  “You seem convinced of it,” Gibson said.

  “Are you saying I’m wrong?”

  “I’m not saying anything.”

  “Ugh! You’re acting like I’m wrong.”

  He shrugged, set off walking again at a brisk pace.

  I chased after him. “Come on. At least tell me if I’m on the right track. A hint. Anything.”

  “It’s none of my business.”

  “Quit saying that. It’s driving me crazy. Come on. Tell me.”

  “No.”

  “Tell me or I’m going to give in to her harassment and let Paulina plan our wedding.”

  He stopped dead in the path. “I don’t respond well to threats. Gives me a serious urge to spank the bottom of anyone who tries it.”

  “Oh, I see. What if the threats come from an ugly, warty old man?”

  “You’re pushing your luck.”

  “Fine. If you won’t cave in to a threat, how about a bribe?” I raised my eyebrows. “See anything you’d like?”

  He eyed me up and down and my body came to life the way it always did when he looked at me that way. “I can’t quit thinking about the spanking now.”

  Neither could I. “Okay then. We’ll make a deal.”

  “I like the way this is sounding.”

  “Good. We’ll race to the wildflower grotto in the north forest. If I win, you tell me how the five-some works. If you win, you get to spank me, right there on the spot.”

  “It pains me to say this, but it’s not much of a challenge. You just showed how little wind you have. You can’t win.”

  “That’s where the deal part comes in. The race won’t start until we’re at the edge of the forest. No one is ever around there. You’ll give me a thirty-second head start.”

  “That’s not much. It won’t do you any good.”

  I took his arm and pulled him down the path toward the forest. “Just listen. You’ll give me a thirty-second head start. When you catch up to me, which we know you will in no time, you’ll have the option of running on to the grotto, or giving me the option to pay a forfeit.”

  “A forfeit. Excellent.”

  “I thought you’d like it. If I want you to stop and give me another thirty-second lead, I have to hand over a piece of clothing.”

  “Hmm. Tempting.” He examined me. “You already aren’t wearing much.”

  “Exactly. I want to win, Gibson. I’m certain I’ll pay the forfeit for a chance to beat you.”

  “One piece of clothing for thirty seconds. That’s a lot of time. How about, one piece of clothing for twenty seconds?”

  “No deal. I’ll need every second I can get. I can’t budge on that figure.”

  “Okay, I’ve got to get something, though,” he said. “I can’t just accept your initial offer. I’ll agree to the thirty seconds if you agree that I get to choose the piece of clothing.”

  “That’s a tough one.”

  “Take it or leave it.”

  “You’re a wicked man.”

  “I know.”

  “Fine, it’s a deal,” I said.

  “I’ll give you an extra fifteen seconds at the start if you’ll remove one item of clothing before the race begins.”

  “No way.”

  “Twenty seconds.”

  “Do I look like a rube?”

  “You look like a sexy woman who’s soon to be getting a thorough spanking.”

  “That’s funny,” I said. “Because I feel like a woman who’s about to finally get an answer she’s been waiting for.”

  “Strange how that works.”

  We neared the edge of the forest. I calculated the distance between there and the grotto. It wasn’t all that far into the forest and the path was smoothly paved for easy running. I wore seven items, including my shoes. I’d run out of breath before I ran out of clothes.

  “Thirty seconds,” I said. “For a one piece forfeit at the beginning.”

  “That would give you a full minute head start. I don’t know.”

  We stopped at the tree line.

  He grabbed my waist and pulled me up close to him. “Fine. Thirty seconds for one piece of clothing ... and a kiss.”

  “Deal.”

&nbs
p; His lips met mine and I savored the taste and feel of him. He tasted of mint and home. The air was filled with the snap of pine resin and the gurgling of a meandering stream in the forest.

  When we pulled apart, he looked me over once more. Contemplating his choice of forfeit.

  Finally, he made his decision. “I’ll be taking those shorts.”

  I reached for the button on the waistband. “I thought for sure you’d take my shirt, or my bra.”

  “I thought about it. But I realized I’d be behind you most of the time. I want to see what I’m playing for.”

  A sexy heat climbed up my body and brought out a bead of sweat on my upper lip. I stepped out of my shorts and handed them to him. “You have to carry the clothes.”

  “That wasn’t part of the deal, but I don’t mind.”

  “You’re so gallant.”

  “Don’t fool yourself,” he said.

  I adjusted my panties over my rear end.

  He looked at his watch. “One minute, starting ... now!”

  I raced off into the forest, mashing pine needles underfoot, beams of sunlight slanting through the breaks in the canopy flashed past me, around me.

  When I approached the first curve in the path, I couldn’t resist glancing back to see what Gibson was up to. He stood in full sun, just outside the shaded forest. The light glittered on his hair, bounced off the bits of silver.

  He was smiling, a happy, sensual smile. A smile that said it was a good day to be alive. All was well in the world.

  I knew how he felt. I looked forward, sprinted down the path and around the curve, running as fast as I could.

  Soon, he’d be after me. And he’d catch me quickly, I had no doubt. Then I’d pay the forfeit, and off I’d go again. He’d catch me quicker the next time.

  It didn’t matter which of us made it to the grotto first. Knowing about the five-some or getting a spanking, either way. I loved him. He loved me.

  This was enchantment. A fantasy made real.

  Who cared about a race?

  I’d already won.

  About the Author

  Deena Ward writes erotic fantasies with a classic twist. She believes there could be nothing finer than having a job which demands she spend her days in worlds of her own creation.