Gilded Lily (5 page)

He opened the closet door and pulled two shirts off the plastic hangers. As he folded the shirts on the bed, he pictured the way Lily’s full curves would look wrapped in a silk ribbon binding. He’d seen the guys at the club bind their subs, but he’d been too scared to try it. The concept definitely intrigued him to the point of dreaming about it. Now, if he could just learn how to do it.

Chapter Three

When the doorbell rang, Lily tossed the kitchen towel onto the counter and almost sprinted to the front door. Today was Renee’s afternoon to visit, and Lily had been dying all night in anticipation of their playtime. She grabbed the pitcher of iced tea, and Renee picked up the two glasses on the counter. They walked out to one of Lily’s favorite places on all the property, her grandmother’s swing.

“Did they find the other driver?” Renee asked Lily as they sat down, each digging their toes into the grass to get the motion swaying.

“No, not that I’m aware of. Can we just play today? I don’t think I can—”

Renee turned Lily’s cheek with her slender fingers. “We know how much he meant to you. Tony and I both want you to know we’re here for you. If you need anything, all you have to do is call.”

The hot sting of tears welled up in Lily’s eyes. She missed Nicholas terribly, but the sentiment that she had friends who cared so deeply was comforting. “He was so young,” she whispered.

Renee kissed Lily’s forehead. “Yes, he was. Very handsome with a wonderful laugh too,” Renee said as she brushed Lily’s thigh with the back of her hand. “Tony always enjoyed their late-night talks. Do you want something to drink?”

“Yes, please,” Lily answered as she looked to the iced tea in the tall, clear glass. Renee put the cool glass to Lily’s lips and poured gently.

Lily readjusted her laced fingers. Renee had tied the leather band tight today. The slat she was attached to was wedged snugly between her wrists.

“How was the funeral?” Renee inquired as she poured the freezing amber liquid over Lily’s bare breasts. Lily shrilled as the frigid liquid cascaded over the stiffened peaks of her nipples.

Renee laughed before leaning over and taking a pert nub into her mouth, rolling the darkened flesh with her tongue. Lily extended her chest in a request for more of the warm, inquisitive mouth sucking on her taut flesh.

“You’re cruel!” Lily fired through clenched teeth.

“Yes, I am.” Renee laughed. “Now shut your mouth while I feast on these delicious things.” Renee took the pink pebble into her mouth again, flicking it with the tip of her tongue.

The wicked sensation sent a flash through Lily’s chest to rest between her legs. She began to spread her knees when Renee slapped her thigh. “Not yet, Lily.”

Renee raised her head and plunged her tongue into Lily’s waiting mouth. Their tongues teased each other as Lily mouth worshipped the sweet taste of Renee’s full lips.

Renee stood and untied Lily’s hands. Rubbing her wrists, Lily slid out of the swing onto the soft grass. Naturally, her head bowed, awaiting Renee’s command. She sat quietly as Renee slipped her legs free from her white shorts. Lily admired her dark feet and shins without looking up to see the expression on Renee’s face. The punishment would surely come, and Lily wanted to taste Renee’s sweet pussy first.

Lily sensed the tension in Renee. She knew when Renee and Tony had been quarreling. The punishments would seem exceptionally harsh, and Renee would withhold any carnal pleasures from Lily. Lily didn’t mind. She felt if Renee was happy, then it was pleasing Tony, and in turn that pleased Lily. The cycle was precious, necessary.

Lily wondered what they must look like, two women so different entwined with each other. Lily, so pale and her hips quite round, while Renee was so dark and slender with small, pert breasts. Lily looked down at her own breasts. They were heavy and laced with bluish veins. Renee was a beautiful Creole woman who’d inherited her mother’s petite frame and her father’s beautiful, dark, coiled hair. She was an exotic creature who fascinated Lily every time she touched Renee’s smooth skin. Fighting the urge to slide her hand up the side of Renee’s warm brown leg, Lily hid her arms behind her back.

Renee dropped her sleeveless blouse onto the swing. “Now, I can’t whip you today. Tony said you needed another couple of days to heal. So, we’ll compromise.”

Lily felt Renee’s slender fingers thread through the rich brown hair on the back of her head. The sensation lulled every tense muscle in her body.

Renee propped her left foot on the base of the swing and pushed Lily’s face into her hot mound. “Lick me, Lily. Make me come.”

The sultry command made Lily want to please. The nature that Tony had awoken inside her was impossible to deny. No longer holding the secret in, she grinned as she examined the neatly trimmed curls surrounding Renee’s core. As much as the forceful drive to touch Renee’s beautiful cunt was overwhelming, there was something missing—a lock without a key. Lily knew the joy of pleasure. Tony had taught her how to feel again, but what if it wasn’t enough? What if
this
wasn’t enough?

Today she could force the mysterious sensation aside. Today she would give her mind a rest from the agony of losing her friend and the reality that this—Tony, Renee, the training—wasn’t permanent. The feeling that it was all setting like the sun was ever present. This moment, with Renee, required her to focus. At least the pain of reality could sit at bay for a short while. The carnal desire of pleasure was at her doorstep, forcing her to take every opportunity to enjoy its company before emptiness crept in forever.

Lily took to Renee’s tender little space in a ferocious instant. Keeping her hands firmly locked behind her back, she used her mouth to spread Renee open and plunged her thick, wet tongue deep inside the warm hole.

Lily felt a sharp tug on the crown of her head when she bit Renee’s right labia and suckled the hot flesh. Renee writhed farther into Lily’s busy mouth. With each lash of her eager tongue, Renee’s movements grew more frantic.

“Suck it, Lily. Suck my clit.”

Lily didn’t keep her waiting as she spread the swollen lips wide to reveal the beating knot calling to be tended to.

“That’s it, take it.”

Lily lashed the tip of her tongue over the engorged pebble. The contact warmed the coolness that had settled in her mind over the last couple of days. Missing Nicholas was like a sharp barb plucking her skin at every turn. She needed something subtle, soft, and comforting. Renee’s supple skin was a balm to her prickly nerves.

Renee moaned with each flick of Lily’s tongue. She heard Tony’s voice ease through her mind, soothing her, reminding her how to please a woman and in turn find pleasure for herself. Lily lapped at the wetness, savoring the unique flavor. She frantically released her hands and slid three fingers into Renee’s body, Lily flicked her fingers forward, making Renee swoon and thrust her hips. Pride welled as she continued to move her fingers. She was doing this—bringing another person to such euphoric heights.

“Take it, Lily. Take all of my cum. Now!” Renee moved her pelvis back and forth as Lily took the first wave of Renee’s seizure.

Lily gently held Renee’s hips as she rocked to the unmistakable rhythm of a woman’s orgasm. As Renee’s body slowed, Lily murmured soft encouragements and nuzzled the inside of Renee’s quivering thigh.

Renee laughed before collapsing back onto the swing, taking a long, slow drink from the glass of tea. Lily perched between Renee’s knees, letting Renee lazily pet her hair. “You’ve been good today. It’s your turn. Let’s get you taken care of.”

Lily stood and looked down into Renee’s smooth, dark irises. “You taste so good,” Lily confessed as she took a deep breath, trying to slow the thundering cadence of her racing heart.
Alone.
Lily knew the sensation all too well, and once Renee left for the day, she’d know the feeling once again. Maybe Keith had been right. She was only good for one thing, and apparently, by the way he’d asked her to move out, she wasn’t all that great in that one department. He hadn’t really touched her for several months before she’d packed up and left. Sure, Lily thought, she was eloquent with words, adequate when teaching, competent at baking…sometimes. But since her relationship with Keith ended, she’d gotten much better at pleasing a man. And a woman, for that matter.

Renee extended her hands to Lily, who promptly accepted them. The contact was like a grounding rod, halting her negative thoughts and bringing her mind back to reality. In this little world, here with Renee for this moment, she was good. Her body was desirable, and her nerves calmed. She was commanding in her submissiveness. With the power she’d gained over the last three years with Tony, she had the courage to seek the goals she’d thought were impossible.

Renee stood. “Tony said I was to please you today. How do you wish to receive your pleasure?”

Lily did everything she could not to jump up and down and clap her hands. “I wish to have you brush my hair and take a nap with me on a blanket in the sun.”

“You
always
wish for that one,” Renee said through a smile.

Lily grinned. “I know, but it’s so nice.”

“Then it shall be. Get the blanket and brush. Make it quick. I’ll stay until you fall asleep, but I have to get back. Tony will be coming home soon, and we have dinner plans. It’s hard enough for me to get him out of the house these days. I have to take advantage of every date I can get.”

“I understand,” Lily said as she stretched and yawned. Knowing she wasn’t a part of their personal life hadn’t bothered Lily before. After all, she’d been with Tony over a year before he’d brought Renee home. While she envied what they shared, she didn’t understand it. Renee was far from a submissive, often making Lily wonder why Tony had formed the relationship with her in the first place.

Tony’s private life was just that—private. Whenever, on rare occasions, she did pry, Tony would give her very simple answers and change the subject. Lily didn’t question the choices he made outside their relationship. The submissive dwelling inside her knew it wasn’t customary to question her trainer, but her instinct as a woman was to ask. Tony’s continual assurance that his life was fulfilling left her wondering whom he was trying to convince. If there was a vulnerable side to her trainer, Lily had never witnessed it. The wall had been built almost immediately after Lily’s training began. She only hoped Renee had the strength Tony needed when the day came for him to reveal the shadows he kept hidden.

No matter how Tony found his happiness, Lily would be supportive. Even if it meant she would never know the true extent of his feelings. Lily began to wonder if anyone ever would.

Lily ran across the back lawn and into the kitchen. She took the blanket from the chest in the mud room and a brush from the downstairs bathroom. Quickly, she ran back across the lawn and flipped the blanket out on the grass and handed Renee the brush.

Lily crawled onto her belly and crooked her knee out to the side. Renee rested beside her and glided the brush through her long hair. Lily moaned at the sheer bliss of the feeling. Soon enough she drifted into a restful slumber, where her thoughts calmed, and the vision of Nicholas’s brother slipped inside her sleepy dream.

* * * *

“Ms. Desclose?”

The deep voice came through the phone, making Lily shiver. “Yes?”

“This is Adam Stark—Nicholas’s brother.”

Lily shifted the phone to her other ear. “Oh, yes. Have you decided to come?”

“My flight leaves tomorrow at eight in the morning. I should get in town by the afternoon. I’m going to rent a car and—”

“I can pick you up from the airport,” Lily offered, thinking she sounded a little bit too eager to get him to her house.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t want to trouble you.”

“It wouldn’t be trouble at all.” Lily smiled. Adam’s voice was deeper than she remembered. Much deeper than Nicholas’s. “I don’t have any plans. What time does your plane land?”

“Around eleven.”

“I’ll be there by ten thirty then. You know, Mr. Stark, the South is much different than New York City. Are you sure you’ll be able to handle it out here for a couple of days?”

“I’ve been all over the world, Ms. Desclose.” Lily could sense a bit of that brooding temper Nicholas was so fond of. “I think I can handle the South.”

“Yes, I’m sure you can.” Lily covered her mouth to muffle her snicker. “It’s just that it took Nicholas a little bit to settle in. But I’m sure you can withstand it for a few days.”

“Do you mind if I stay at Nicholas’s place while I’m there? I can pay you.”

“You can stay as long as you need, and I won’t take your money.”

“If you change your mind—”

“I won’t,” she said.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you then.”

NICK WAS RIGHT, Adam thought as he watched Lily drive. She did look like a little girl in the right light. He studied the way the loose hairs had fallen from the bun fixed on the back of her head. She looked at peace, such a stark contrast to when they’d first met at his brother’s funeral. He’d watched her enter through the side of the parlor room, looking so nervous and out of place. He’d been unable to concentrate on his aunt’s comforting words as he watched Lily sit down in the chair at the back of the funeral hall.

“Nicholas really liked the stable house,” Lily said, breaking his thoughts. “He suggested having the large windows placed on the west wall. Watching the sun set was one of his favorite ways to spend the evening. He’d always mention the colors, the way the simplest things were the most beautiful.”

“I’m eager to see what he was working on,” Adam said as he watched the cars go by.

“Nick wouldn’t let me see. He said it wasn’t ready yet.”

Adam looked over. He couldn’t help but notice the delicate slope of her pouty lips and how they were shaped perfectly for smiling—or kissing.

“Nicholas was such a perfectionist,” she said.

Adam turned to look out the window again. The last thing he needed was for her to notice him staring at her mouth. Nicholas had definitely picked the perfect muse. “You noticed that, did you?” He rubbed his hand against his forehead, feeling the scarred flesh as he tried to rub the memories away. The ache in his chest spiked every time he envisioned his brother’s face.