Mutual Release (54 page)

“I knew you’d drag your feet until we started collecting retirement in my condo. I’m ready to move, to start our life together fresh. No big deal. Don’t get your back up.” He kept his voice even, as a mysterious breath of fresh fury blew through his brain. “It’s perfect. Now that we’re married.” He tried to bring back the buzz from earlier.

“Don’t get my back up?” She blew out a puff of air and paced around the room. Something about her was niggling at him, something was off, out of place, different. He put his fingers to his lips, and remembered it. “You have a lot of nerve, Evan Adams, if you think you can just haul off and – hey!”

Without warning, he lifted her skirt and touched her bare, moist sex. She glared at him as he put his fingers to his lips again. He frowned. “You taste different. A lot different. It’s too soon for your quarterly period. What’s going on with you?” He knew it, somehow, but refused to process it.

She jerked out of his grasp, ran her hand up and down her arm and glanced around the room. He could practically see her wheels turning. “Nothing. I don’t know. Jesus, I’m stressed out to the max getting this whole…,” she waved a finger in the air, “… this thing together. I haven’t had sex with you in like a month. Maybe I just taste neglected.” She stepped closer, put her arms around his neck. His cock started twitching in response and his lizard brain sent weird signals to him, ones he didn’t understand. “Which house is it? Am I allowed to know that much?” She bit his earlobe. He shivered, and his body got ready to fuck her again. That was nothing new; they’d done marathons before. But after all the booze he’d had today, it seemed a little odd.

“C’mon, you sex fiend. Let’s go back out to the party for a while. We have a reservation later down at The Suite. Then I’m carrying you over the threshold of the house tomorrow. You’ll just have to wait. But I’ll make the waiting part fun.” He cupped her ass, shoved his leg between hers, and was gratified to get clear signals that she wanted more – a lot more.

“Oh, all right,” she said, her face red. Ignoring a clanging warning in his head, something about her, her scent and taste and neediness, he ducked back into the room to loud applause and a round of fresh beers and teasing. She stayed near him the rest of the evening, her hands always touching him as if reassuring herself he was still there. Finally he took one and pressed it to his lips.

“What’s wrong baby?” he said, running the back of his finger down her face.

“Nothing. I’m just happy.” she insisted, before turning from him to chat with James.

He watched her a few minutes. He felt great, but an odd little fluttery something wouldn’t let him go. As she made her way around the room, his eyes trailed up and down her curvy, perfect figure, already anticipating the fun he had planned. It was gonna be a spanking night, for sure. He grinned into his beer and did a few more rounds of socializing before coming up behind her and sticking his nose into her neck. “Mmm… you smell like sex. That’s my favorite.”

“You better cut it out. My husband might catch you. He is one jealous hot-headed bastard.” She put her arms around his head, pressed back against his body.

“Okay, what do you say we get the hell out of here? Before he shows?” He turned her around, kissed her softly, and tugged her around behind the bar. “We need to stop by home and grab some overnight stuff.”

She sighed and put her head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes against the extreme perfection of this moment, right now. Standing in a bar he owned, surrounded by friends, holding his woman – his wife – in his arms. Her hands slid down his waist and cupped his ass.

“I am more than ready,” she said, already smiling and waving at the room full of people.

“I can tell,” he whispered. “Let’s go.”

* * * *

He pulled into the garage and leaned over to kiss her. “You stay here, I’ll get a bag packed.”

She nodded, her face content. He knew she’d likely snooze the whole way down to Detroit but he didn’t mind. He wanted her good and rested up for tonight. It had been nearly two months since they’d done any hard core playing, and he was way overdue for a little outlet of the spanking variety.

He grinned like a goofball at himself all the way up to the upper floor. Stopping on his way through the kitchen to get a drink of water and grab a bottle for Julie, he spotted her laptop. It was open on the counter. He stared at it, wondering if he should bring it for her, when it dinged and flickered to life with a message. He glanced over at the screen idly as he tossed a few apples and granola bars into a bag. Something made him look closer at the subject line – something he really wished he’d not heeded once he saw it.

Check Up Required
, it said. He squinted at the sender:
Dr. Gene Harrison, OB/Gyn

He turned the computer towards him, his face flushing red and his heart pounding
. Don’t read her email, stupid. That is a recipe for complete disaster.

But he did. And it was.

Chapter Six

Evan dropped the small bag in the trunk of the vintage Jaguar and climbed behind the wheel. Julie smiled at him as he handed her the water bottle. He steered the car out onto the street and pointed them in the direction of downtown Detroit in silence. She sipped, sighed, and leaned her seat back, putting her hand on his thigh. He glanced down at it. The brilliance of the perfect emerald-cut rock he’d bought for her mesmerized him as he waited at a red light to turn onto Interstate 94.

The words of the email he’d caught were burned into his brain. His whole body was taut, his thoughts a whirlwind of disbelief and confusion. So he kept quiet, and she slept as he drove into the city. While he parked, he reflected the fury slowly taking over in his psyche was likely a bad place to begin, considering what his body needed tonight. But he forced a smile to his lips and continued to stay silent as they got into the elevator and even as it dinged open at the top floor and Kyle’s manager welcomed them to their home away from home for the next couple of days.

“Can you send up dinner in about three hours?” he asked the woman who handled the residential suites. “And no disturbance before or after?” She nodded and handed him a key.

Julie shot him a strange look. “You okay?” she asked, putting a hand on his face. He stepped back from her touch, making her frown deepen.

“Of course. Everything is just great. Don’t you think?” He heard the false brightness of his voice, and knew he wasn’t fooling her for a second. This could go downhill fast, he mused. It was up to him to keep it on an even keel and get her to a position where she had to admit to him what she’d done.

He held the door open for her, dropped their bag onto the floor, and took note of the furnishings. A giant bed dominated the room, draped with billowy sheer curtains and outfitted with restraints at all four corners. On the silk cover lay a leather blindfold, a flogger, a bowl of strawberries, and a glass dildo.

Julie sighed and kicked her shoes off. “Mind if I shower first?” she asked, keeping her eyes down. Now that they were here, in this place where he was completely in charge, she was slipping into her role.

“Sure,” he said, as non-committal as he could manage. He took the stuff off the bed, lit some of the candles, and turned on music – loud, pounding rock poured from the hidden speakers. Breaking Benjamin, one of his favorites. He dropped into a chair, put his hand over his now very erect cock. “
After
you come over here on your hands and knees and suck me. Wife,” he said, popping a strawberry into his mouth and eyeing her reaction. Anger rose, but he tamped it down. She dropped to the floor but he held up a hand. “No, you have on too many clothes.”

She stood, wiggled out of the remains of the wedding dress and lifted the brewery tee off. He marveled at the magnificent hourglass perfection of her. She was full, voluptuous, not stick-thin like so many women these days. Her fitness regimen kept her toned and strong. But he loved her curves, the contrast between her waist and hips, as he dragged his eyes along her front. And those tits – had he ever hit the jackpot there. As a dyed-in-the-wool breast man, his wife had all he needed in that department, with some to spare.

The music blasted into his skull, harsh and chest-pounding, as she got to her knees and crawled over, licking her lips. He unzipped his trousers, fisted himself and grabbed her hair, twisting his fingers in it hard. “You need to make me come again, Julie. So I can service you properly tonight.” She nodded, ran her tongue along the edge of his head, making him shudder.

She tugged his pants down and he kicked them to the side, spreading his legs and groaning as she deep-throated him right away, swallowing his cock down so he could fuck the tight back of her throat. He fisted her hair with both hands and let himself come, hard and fast, grunting with the effort. He sat back, his head fuzzy, and watched her wipe her lips. He ran a finger across them as he pondered just how he was going to handle what she’d done – gone off her birth control for nearly two months without a single word to him.

How in fuck’s sake did she think there was any measure of trust between them if she did something so drastic without telling him? After they had agreed on that very important point? Her self-righteous words about his impromptu purchase of their house floated across his brain, making him clench his fists.

“Go shower,” he said, unable to keep the brusque tone out of his voice. He stared at her retreating ass, attempting to square his feelings about this turn of events. He had solid reasons for not wanting kids. And he had no intention of changing his mind. But Julie was his wife, the woman he loved beyond reason, and suddenly he was at a loss – had no idea how to proceed tonight, what he wanted from her, for her, and out of this weekend of play. Groaning at himself, he put a hand over his eyes.

When he sensed she was nearly done in the shower, he went in, handed her a towel, and switched places with her without a word.

It was very tempting to withdraw. To just get showered, dressed, and leave her here alone for the weekend. When it came to real punishment for Julie, taking away was much more effective than adding anything. The more he did to her – binding, blindfolds, gags, clamps on her nipples, wax – it all ended up making him so horny he’d bring her to a screaming orgasm before taking his own release. He washed his hair, and thought for a long time about it. He dried off, noting his damn dick was at attention again just from thinking about what he wanted to do to her. He was a hopeless case, a lost cause, at least when it came to Julie. But he was damned if she was going to sneak a pregnancy in on him, not after telling him she agreed about the “no kids” rule.

He pulled on jeans and a button-down shirt, then walked back out into the main room. Nine Inch Nails now blasted through the speakers. Julie sat, naked, on the chair where he’d been, popping strawberries into her mouth. “Perfect. Stay right there,” he said, pulling soft ropes from the closet. He found a long string of fake pearls and held them in his hands, gazing at his wife as she sucked another fat juicy berry between her wet lips. He tugged the ceiling restraints over so they dangled above her head and noted the swing behind her. She lifted her arms, making her mouth-watering breasts lift, teasing his aching libido.

He ran his hands along them, holding them, relishing their curve and weight in his hands, then reached up and wrapped the soft leather around her wrists.

“Now,” he said, “no peeking.” He fastened the blindfold. “But I won’t gag you. I need you to answer a few questions I have.”

She frowned, but her lips were so full, so red and ripe-looking, he had to lean over and run his tongue along them both, tasting berry and toothpaste. That smell was back – the new one. He ran his lips down her neck, suckled at a nipple, noting it too had a different sort of flavor. Her skin pebbled as he licked down her torso, stopping to nuzzle the light bit of hair he insisted she keep. He liked her to look like a woman, not a bare adolescent. Everything beneath was waxed clean, but he loved that small bit of fuzz at the top.

Gritting his teeth, he realized the ancient urge to plow into her to fill her again and again was truly primal. Her body was ripe, ready, and had a specific requirement of him. But they had to have a little chat first.

He picked a strawberry from the bowl, put it in his teeth and leaned over her. She bit her half, and they shared the rest. Her hips moved, and that spine-tingling scent of ripe fertile woman filled his nose, making him dizzy. He spent a few more minutes teasing her flesh with his lips and teeth, pulling her to the edge of orgasm more than once before ordering her to retreat from it. He loved this, loved her.

“I love you,” he whispered into her thigh as he gave in and unzipped his jeans, no longer able to tolerate the bite of the zipper. Reaching back, he pulled the swing around and shoved the chair out from under her. He settled her in the seat, using his fingers against her clit but not penetrating her like he knew she wanted. “I need to be inside you, Julie. I want to come and come and come again. Why is that, do you think?” He ran his fingertips down her face, let her taste herself on them, kept moving down her front. “Why would this be any different than any other playdate? I can usually wait, make you come with this.”