Afterlife (41 page)

offer is crazy. You let me know if she

turns you down. We’l

help console you.”

While the women were obviously

pleased with him and

the whole situation, Rachel was

struggling to keep up, to

figure out how to feel about this.

Unlike those twenty-

somethings, these two women, who

had a regard for her, a

long-term acquaintance, obviously

felt this was a good

match. A
perfect
match. It left her

thoughts on al of it topsy-

turvy again.

As if he’d picked up on it, and of

course he would, Jon

bantered with them, a few easy and

complimentary

exchanges, and then he had her

moving down the sidewalk

again, though not before Sarah gave

her a hug, putting a

quick whisper in Rachel’s ear.

“You look
so
good together. You let

yourself have that

one, you hear me? You deserve

something that nice.” She

met Rachel’s eyes, and though she

didn’t say it, Rachel

heard it echo in her heart.

Someone so much a part of you, it’s

like talking about

yourself.

* * * * *

When they arrived at Jon’s house, she

was given even

more to think about. And to despair

about. His home was

not only perfectly suited to him, it

was the type of place

she’d love to cal home. Cedar siding,

and a custom

architecture that blended into a

forested twenty-acre lot.

The house had lots of screened-in

outdoor porch area on

al three levels, with a carport under

the pilings where he

parked the silver car. As they drove

up, she noted a

widow’s peak that would give an

even more vast view of the

surrounding woods.

“I have an infrared scope up there. At

night, you can

watch al sorts of wildlife. Deer, fox,

raccoons. I do my yoga

in the mornings on the top porch. The

bird cal s and swamp

frogs are so loud, sometimes I feel

like I’m in the middle of

a symphony. There are nature trails,

and several of them

lead to a manmade pond with a little

boat. I’ve got a

mooring buoy in the middle of the

pond, so I can tie the

boat to it on a long line and then lie

down in it, float and

think. Sometimes I’l even go to sleep,

and occasional y the

al igator that lives in the pond wil

bump against it, wake me

up.”

Delighted by his enthusiasm for his

home, the rapid-fire

list of things he thought would attract

her, and did, she

laughed. “That would wake me up,

for sure. I’d paddle back

to shore so fast, I’d set records.”

“I think he’s saying howdy, being

neighborly. He’s only

about six feet long, so he’s stil a

junior.”

“Oh wel , six feet. I feel much

better.”

He shepherded her up the stairs to the

second level. She

could tel from the variety of things on

the first-level porch,

as wel as the dust on the windows,

that must be where his

workshop was located. In contrast,

the front door on the

second level was flanked by clean

diamond-paned glass

that had a single
om
etched into either side, the powerful

yoga symbol that represented

everything, the unfolding or

expanding of the experience of life.

Seeing that somehow

underscored the significance of

crossing his threshold,

such that she hesitated, needing a

moment before taking

that step.

“Did you have this built after the

K&A offices moved from

New Orleans?”

“You’ve been doing your research.”

His quick look made

her cheeks flush. “No, I’ve had this

house awhile. Since it’s

a short trip from New Orleans, it was

my weekend

getaway.” Jon shrugged. “My parents

were from here, so I

wanted some roots in this area.

Fortunately, that meant I

had great contacts to help us switch

our main office after

Katrina. Matt liked it so much, we’ve

stayed longer than

expected. It helped that Savannah

also had a satel ite office

here she could transition into her

base.” He opened the

front door from a keypad, and then

swept his arm forward.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He’d been teasing her about the dirty

dishes of course,

but it was unexpected al the same, in

an amazing way. He

had a potted forest of delicate,

spidery Japanese maples

that accented the dark wood futons

and comfortable floor

pil ows. Several stone table fountains

and a large sculpture

fashioned of various curved metals

blended into the

environment. It gave the open area a

tropical, misty feel. To

the left, she saw a spacious silver

kitchen, and to the right,

a stairwel led up to a loft bedroom.

Skylights and tal rectangular

windows al owed light and

forest views at al angles. On either

side of the bed upstairs

were two tal plates of dark blue

textured glass, over which

water poured, lit from the bottom to

make the drops

sparkle. The bed was a canopy, but

like nothing she’d ever

seen before. The head posts were

two smooth and twisted

branches that arced over the mattress,

crossed and then

dove down to form the foot posts as

wel . She suppressed

a smile, noting a couple of silk ties

carelessly thrown over

the lower arc of one of them.

“Couldn’t decide yesterday?”

“Wel , I had a very important date. I

wanted to impress

her with my fashion sense.” He set

her bags on an entryway

table. “Want something to drink

before we head down to

the lower level, where I cut the

bodies into little pieces? I

have wine, beer, water, soda…pretty

much whatever you

want.”

“A lemonade?”

He smiled, that gesture that made his

breathtaking

features even more so. She expected

she could sigh like a

girl over them al day long. “I sure

do.”

As she watched him cross the room

to the kitchen, she

could tel this was where he was

comfortable. This was

home
. It made him, and the place, al

the more appealing.

When he came back to her, she

wanted to touch, but she

wasn’t sure what the rules were here.

As usual, he

anticipated her. Wiping the top of the

bottle with a napkin,

he offered it to her. “What do you

want, sweet girl?”

“I want to touch you. I want…” Her

gaze went upstairs, to

that bed. She wanted to be straddling

him, wanted to feel

his hands on her hips, driving her

down onto his cock. She

wanted him to tie her wrists to those

curved posts with his

silk ties and make her crazy with

those clever lips and even

more clever hands.

Sliding a hand around her nape, he

drew her to his

mouth. Right before the distance

closed, he spoke. “Show

me what you want.”

The words broke it al open inside of

her. The blatant

though affable envy she’d seen in

Sarah and El en’s eyes.

Hours of shopping, fil ed with

conversation as wel as

casual or far more intimate touches,

keeping her body alert

to his. The way he’d gazed at her

selections with serious

eyes and firm mouth, evaluating her

choice not just as her

companion, but as her Master.

She slipped her arms over his

shoulders, digging into

muscle, and gave him every bit of

what she was wanting,

conscious or unconscious. Pressing

her breasts against

him, the aroused tips, she ground her

stomach hard against

his groin, her leg sliding to the inside

of his as his other arm

banded around her waist and closed

that nonexistent

distance even further. It took him less

than a second to take

over the kiss, cupping her head to

take it deeper, make it

even rougher, more demanding. She

moaned in her throat

as his other hand dropped to her

skirt, closed over her

buttock, that tender area she was

ready to have him make

even more so, if he felt she needed it.

He broke the spel first, lifting his

head to stare down at

her flushed features. While he was

obviously aroused, a

look entered his gaze she didn’t

expect. It worried her a

little bit, the considering speculation

in it. “I want you to test

something for me.”

* * * * *

His workshop was a stark contrast to

the simplicity and

open space above. It was a

conglomeration of parts,

electronic gizmos, computer screens

and open testing

areas that had shards of what

alarmingly looked like

charred, blasted metal and shattered

wood pieces swept

into corners.

In one section, however, there was a

cleared platform.

On it was a straight chair and an

adjustable podium, the

height set proportionate to the chair.

A copy of the
Kama

Sutra
was on the podium. She lifted

an eyebrow at that, but

he opened a utility closet, fished

around an array of clothes

to pul out a thin body suit in black.

“This is something I’ve

been working on. There’ve already

been a couple

prototypes at different adult trade

shows, but I wanted to

take the idea a little further.” He

straightened, his tone

changing. “Take off al your clothes,

Rachel. Here, in front of

me.”

Her hands were nervous, curling in

the fabric of her

dress. When she hesitated, he added,

“You want to be the

type of submissive who’s always

ready to obey her Master.

You’re not used to the way of it, but

it’s there in you. Give

yourself over to that. A smal test for

tonight.”

Tonight. That nebulous concept was

back, flitting around

in her stomach while al sorts of

provocative imaginings

darted through her mind.

She slid the dress off her shoulders,

pushing it down to

her waist. His gaze fol owed it, down

the slope of her bare

breasts, lingering on their heavy

weight, the jutting nipples.

She stepped out of her shoes before

she hooked the

waistband of the dress and shimmied

out of it, letting it pool

around her ankles.

“Turn around as you take off the

panties. Bend over,

show me your pussy as you do it.

Make me hard, Rachel.

Stay in that position.”

She pivoted on her foot, her hair

brushing her shoulders

as she complied, easing the cotton

lace down her thighs,

bending forward and balancing on

one foot as she took the

undergarment off, adjusting her

stance so he could see

what he demanded. When he

approached, she shivered in

anticipation as he parted the folds of

her cunt, and his

fingers slid inside of her. Along with

something else. It felt

like two quarter-sized pieces of

fabric being pressed

against her labia, and then they were

inside of her, as he

pushed them against the wal s of her

vagina. When he slid

free, he did the same thing to her

anus, using the lubrication

of her aroused pussy to slide the smal

pieces inside.

He stepped back. “Now straighten,

only do it in a way

your Master would like.”

She came up slowly, keeping the arch

in her back as

long as possible, then tossed her hair

back so it slithered in

waves over her shoulder blades.

Lifting her arm, she

gathered the silken strands and

looked over her shoulder at

him.

Any worries she had that her wanton

display was comical

at best were dissipated by his

reaction. He had his head

tilted, and she saw that intriguing

combination in his gaze

again, the man appreciating her

display with blatant lust,

the engineer making some type of

calculation based on

what he was seeing. Then he came

forward with the

garment in his hand. “Al right, step

into this. Hold into my

shoulder if you need to do so. It’s

tight.”

It certainly was, such that he helped

stretch the fabric

over every curve. It outlined her

pubic mound, her breasts

and nipples, the cleft of her ass, as if