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  Another reason why she’d followed him for all these years.

  Fortunately, she didn’t have to go to the store today. If she had, she would’ve safeworded for the butt plug.

  When she arrived home, she hurried inside, hoping to make it to the bathroom before the sadist intercepted her. Then she could claim the call of nature and remove the damned butt plug.

  Except said sadist was sitting in the living room and reading something on his tablet.

  Damn.

  “Ah, there you are, sweetheart.”

  “Hello, Master.”

  “You don’t mean ‘asshole’?” But he smiled, so no, he wasn’t upset.

  If anything, he sometimes seemed to get off on aggravating the crap out of—

  Ohhh.

  Duh.

  It was something she knew, but she tended to forget. Anything she reacted mildly to rarely got repeated.

  She kicked off her sandals, set her purse on the couch, and pulled off her sundress, and the panties she’d been allowed to wear today.

  “I was trying to eat, Master.”

  “I take it that’s not a winner, then?”

  “Maybe if we were in a scene or something. Or if I was home and you weren’t. I could deal with it in the privacy of home. But you kept changing the pattern around and I couldn’t get used to it.”

  A slow grin emerged on his handsome face. “So it was working?”

  “Yes, it was working. May I please go take it out now?”

  “What will you trade me for it, baby?”

  So this was the bargaining part of the negotiation.

  Not unexpected.

  In fact, usually, he made her work harder for it than this, so he obviously realized she wasn’t in a mood for it.

  She straddled his lap and kissed him. “Since you already got the hole loosened up, you might as well fuck me there.”

  “Mmm.” He had gorgeous brown eyes that always sucked her in, no matter what he wanted to do to her.

  Well, no matter what he wanted to do at least once. Because she usually gave him one try to make her despise something.

  Oh, he was going to say yes to the trade, she could tell that already from the way his left eye was squinting a little more than his right. That was a tell he’d developed over the years, when he was trying not to smile too much in a way that would let her know he’d already decided, because he was trying to drag out the tension for her.

  She leaned in, brushing her nipples along the front of his shirt and sending a frisson of need through her. “Master,” she breathily whispered. “Please fuck my ass.”

  At least the damn butt plug would be out if he did.

  “Hmm.”

  She sighed. “And please give me five strokes with the cane for the asshole remark?”

  “There you go.” He kissed her. “Go take it out, clean up, and bring me the cane, baby. Meet me in the bedroom.”

  “Yes, Master.” She hustled, in case he decided to add a few more strokes. Because that would suck.

  Five strokes, and not serious punishment strokes? Because the non-punishment strokes were always lighter than the punishment strokes.

  No problem, because she’d be begging for the fucking by the time he finished with her.

  She always did.

  * * * *

  Ross struggled not to burst out laughing as Loren hurried down the hall to their bedroom. From the look of aggravation on her face when she’d walked through the door, he knew damn well she’d planned to zip right back to their bathroom and take the plug out.

  Why does she put up with me?

  Still, he smiled. Because now he had a new toy with which to aggravate her. Or, with which to threaten to aggravate her.

  And yes, he knew damn well how to ride that extremely fine line between aggravating her, and pissing her off and needing to issue an genuine apology to her.

  Honestly? He was shocked she’d lasted as long as she had this morning. He’d fully expected to receive a text or call from her safewording before she even reached the restaurant.

  Guess her stamina’s a lot better than I thought it was.

  Either that, or she was used to him.

  He finally let a soft giggle burp free. He’d hung up from their earlier phone call absolutely howling with laughter. It’d taken every last ounce of self-control he’d possessed not to start laughing during their call.

  Man, was she aggravated at me.

  He knew she wasn’t seriously upset, because she would have either shut off her phone’s Bluetooth, or taken the thing out and turned it off, or both, and then informed him later. There were safety valves in their relationship.

  That she chose to call him meant he’d only driven her to the aggravation plateau, not over the cliff into “that’s a red from now on.”

  Once he knew he could follow her without laughing, he set his tablet aside, rose from the couch, and followed her to their bedroom. There, he stripped, grabbed a few items he’d need, and sat on the end of their bed to await her. He’d been looking forward to this all morning.

  When she emerged from the bathroom, he was ready. She walked over to their closet, where Ross kept a couple of canes, selected one, and brought it back to him, kneeling in front of him and holding it up to him with both hands. “I’m ready, Master.”

  So was he, his cock already thick and hard and definitely looking forward to fulfilling this tradeoff with her.

  “Such a good girl.” He took the cane from her and crooked a finger at her to rise. She knew as well as he did that this wasn’t real “punishment.” They had a very strict ritual for punishment, and he hated doling it out. Usually when he did, it was because she wanted it for an infraction real or perceived she felt she needed it for.

  This was “funishment” and play.

  Her hazel eyes met his as she stood and leaned over the end of the bed, where she wiggled her ass at him with a playful smirk.

  He finally laughed. “You can be a brat, you know that?”

  “So says the man who made me add ‘markers’ and ‘Christmas trees’ to my hard-limits play list.”

  “Fair enough.” He kissed her, taking his time and savoring this.

  How close he came to never having her in his life, how horribly things could’ve gone all those years ago, to take her or him, to separate them.

  Ross stepped behind her and stroked her back, leaned in to kiss his way down her spine and making her shiver in good ways as he did. This was always perfection between them. Making love always held a little bit of spice, because it worked better for both of them that way. Neither of them would be happy with vanilla, and they both knew it.

  Whether it was rope, or impact play, or something else along the kinky spectrum to add a pinch of pain and a pound of pleasure to their sex, that’s what worked for them.

  “Did you lube that sweet little hole for me, baby?” he asked. “‘Or do I need to do that after I give you your strokes?”

  “You’re primed and ready to go, Master.”

  He grinned. “You know me so well, girl.”

  “I’d better.” She cast a sexy smile at him over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t be a very damn good slave if I didn’t.”

  A shadow washed through his soul and he leaned in to kiss her, a hand fisting her reddish blonde hair. “You’re a perfect slave,” he said, his voice suddenly thick with emotion.

  She scowled and drew back to look at him. “Red. What’s wrong?”

  He blinked, needing a moment to process she’d just safeworded on him. And, for a moment, he couldn’t answer her, because he was still trying to sort it out in his head.

  “I don’t know,” he finally said. “I guess I’m still processing the trip to Georgia a while back. Seeing Rom and Colton at the club last weekend made me think of it again. I really wanted to punch his parents that day. How could they discard two sons?”

  Loren turned and sat on the end of the bed, her expression gentling. “I spent a few minutes talking to them
. Rommy said Clay’s doing well in school and doing a lot better now. They’re just waiting for the adoption paperwork to go through.”

  Ross had a…contentious relationship with his own father, but had reconciled with him somewhat before the man’s death. And contentious for far different reasons than Colton and his little brother, Clay, with their parents.

  Still, knowing what a gentle sweetheart Colton was—having been at their wedding because they were friends and because Loren officiated it for them—and then seeing how heartbroken Colton’s little brother Clay had been at first when he’d arrived, it was still a gut-punch in some ways.

  “Clay was thirteen fucking years old,” Ross said, “and they lied to him his whole life and told him Colton was dead. They had no right to do that.”

  Loren arched an eyebrow at him. “Would you like for us to drive back to Georgia tomorrow and ask them yourself, Master?”

  He snorted. “No. Because the adoption paperwork isn’t finalized yet. Maybe once it is.”

  “The scary thing is, I know you’re not kidding.”

  “No, I’m not kidding. Those fucks should be in jail for throwing Clay out. That’s child endangerment. He could’ve been hurt or killed hitchhiking all the way here from fucking Georgia.”

  He sat next to her and ran a hand through his hair. “This is why I didn’t go into family law. The shitty things people can do to each other.”

  “And the money’s better in IP law.”

  “Well, yeah, duh. But Ed’s a better man than I am. I don’t understand people using kids as pawns like that.”

  She cupped his cheek with her hand and kissed him. “I’m okay, Ross,” she said. “I’m at peace with this. Hey, we get to be the cool adopted aunt and uncle to how many kids?” She smiled. “Then we can sugar them up and turn them loose on their parents.”

  He finally smiled, but then it faded again. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you that one thing, sweetheart.”

  “I know. But I am happy with you.” She poked him in the stomach. “Even when you’re an asshole, Master.” Her playful smirk was an attempt to lighten the mood and pull him back from the dark cloud he’d never evicted from his soul no matter how hard and often he’d tried.

  Then she stood, turned, and bent over again, wiggling her ass at him. “May I please have my five strokes, Master? Because you kind of have me all horny and wanting my fucking now because I’m staring at that damn Hitachi.”

  “That was my point, sweetheart.” He stood and stepped into position. “Ten it is.”

  “Wait, it was five.”

  He grinned. “That’s before you called me an asshole again.”

  “Goddammit,” she muttered. “Tease the sadist, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.”

  “Yes, it is fun,” he said. “For me. I’ll even be nice and won’t make you count.”

  “Thank you, Master.”

  “An extra five for the snark, then?” he asked.

  She laughed. “Sure, why not?”

  He quickly delivered fifteen strokes that were barely enough to sting, except for the last two, which made her yelp and were meant to remind her that fun and funishment weren’t always fluffy-bunny.

  Then he immediately wrapped his cock in a condom and slid home inside her ass, making both of them moan.

  He reached for the Hitachi vibrator and pressed it between her legs. “Enjoy, love.” He switched it on and her back rounded immediately as she moaned her way through the first orgasm. Her ass fisted and massaged his cock through every wave of pleasure rolling through her.

  With the sound of her moans sweetly ringing in his ears, he felt no need to rush. He occasionally took a few strokes, which only made her moan louder. When she finally raised a hand and started waving it, indicating she was close to calling a yellow, he really started fucking her, driving his cock deep inside her and pulling one more orgasm from her before he finally shut off the vibrator.

  She limply sprawled against the bed. “I think I need a shower and a nap now.”

  He leaned over her, his hands braced on either side of her on the bed. “Then let’s take care of both of those, baby.” He kissed her. “Love you.”

  She smiled. “Love you, too, Master asshole.”

  Ross laughed.

  Chapter Seven

  Leah headed home after their breakfast, her mind swirling with thoughts and memories. At least the mention of Kaden didn’t drive her heart into her feet and threaten to send her to dark places like it had in those early days.

  Now, she could talk about him with others and smile and not have to fake her way through it. Sure, sometimes she needed to ask Seth for a little help dealing with it when they were alone again, but today, no.

  Yesterday, she’d sat with him on the front porch, her arm around his shoulders as he broke down crying after he’d loaded the last storage tub. Only now, over the last few months, was he more comfortable letting go with her like this, no longer afraid to show weakness in front of her.

  He had a lot of built-up grief of his own he’d kept tightly in check on her behalf early on.

  It was her turn to comfort him, her Sir.

  Kaden’s best friend.

  As she’d told friends before, she was lucky, because she still had Seth, and she’d deeply loved him for years, and he was her husband and Master.

  But Seth would likely never have another friend like Kaden, a man he’d known since they were literal babies.

  The winter holidays were hard enough already to contend with. Seth would faithfully put up Kaden’s display, adding things to it but always using his last plan as the starting point. It was Seth’s way of coping.

  Then there was the matter of they, and friends of theirs, had some experiences that led them to wonder if maybe Kaden wasn’t as “gone” as they’d thought.

  That perhaps his spirit was literally still with them. Things they’d seen, heard.

  Considering their friends had been afraid to tell them, at first, out of fear of upsetting them, it led Leah to believe they truly thought they’d had supernatural experiences.

  Whether or not Kaden’s ghost really was in residence in their home, Leah hoped he knew how much they loved and missed him, and that maybe he could send Seth some energy from beyond to help him through these rough times.

  I miss you, Master. I always will.

  But she’d finally hit a point in her recovery where she knew she wouldn’t kill herself now. She had Seth to live for, if nothing and no one else. He was her connection to Kaden, could tell her stories about when they were kids. When they read through Kaden’s old journals, Seth could add to the stories things Kaden no longer could.

  And sometimes, late at night, when Seth was sound asleep, she’d slip out of bed, walk out to the living room, and kneel in front of Kaden’s urn and silently talk to him.

  * * * *

  The garage door stood open and the Ridgeline was backed up to it when she pulled into the driveway. And the garage was rapidly filling with Christmas stuff. Because the truck was empty and Seth wasn’t around, she assumed he’d just finished unloading that load and was inside.

  “I’m home,” she called out when she walked in. Just inside the front door, she stripped and put on her formal collar.

  “Back here,” she faintly heard him, tracking it to their master bathroom. Clothes in hand, she walked in there and stopped outside the door, but she didn’t peek her head inside, no idiot.

  “How many more loads, Sir?” she asked.

  He laughed. “You mean besides this one?” She heard a fart, followed by a courtesy flush.

  “Fool me once, Sir.” But she smiled. He sounded like he was in a better headspace today. “Yes, besides that one.”

  “At least five more,” he said. “Not sure if I’m going to get more today or not. Still trying to decide. Did you want to go to the club tonight?”

  She thought about it. They weren’t on the schedule for tonight, and they were teaching a whip class next Saturday.
“Not unless you want to.”

  “Then I’ll probably go get another couple of loads. Want to come with?”

  She stuck a foot into the doorway. “I’ll have to put on clothes.”

  He snickered. “Good plan. Ooh, you might want to vacate the premises for a few minutes.”

  She reached around the doorjamb, into the bathroom, and felt around for the fan switch and flipped it on.

  “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  “You’re welcome, Sir. I’ll get dressed.” She put her clothes in the hamper and went to get a T-shirt and old jeans from her dresser. The slacks and blouse she’d worn earlier wouldn’t have been good for moving stuff from storage. Then she donned comfy sneakers and made them both travel tumblers of ice water to take with them, and packed a small cooler with chilled bottles of water.

  Let’s put up Christmas lights, Kaden said. It’ll be fun, he said.

  She turned and looked at the large picture hanging on the living room wall, a picture of the three of them, taken during a trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

  Kaden, I love you, but did you have to get so crazy and then make him go so crazy over putting up lights?

  Not that she resented it. It was Seth’s healing path, and she knew it.

  Feeling guilty, she walked over to the picture, kissed her finger, and touched it to Kaden’s lips. “Love you, Master,” she whispered.

  Seth emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later in a cloud of air freshener spray. “Sorry about that.” He leaned in for a kiss.

  “I’m a fast-learning pet,” she teased. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

  He glanced at her clothes. “You look like you’re in work mode.”

  “I am.” She’d even leave her leather collar on, as long as they weren’t going into any stores. “I’ll help you get everything moved today. Then we can start the testing.”

  He pulled her in for a long, sweet kiss. “How are you feeling today?”

  That was Seth code for, “Do you need me to take care of you?”

  She offered him a smile that wasn’t forced in the slightest. “I’m good, Sir. I promise.”