No Safeword: Matte - Happily Ever After (Safewords) (15 page)

She was tired of him stopping his sentences before saying it, so she said, “Since I was shot. Yes, I know, and I’m not ready to stop.”

“So let’s do Natural Bridge and take the drive down Jump-off Mountain Road before we get back on the interstate. Maybe I don’t want you too exhausted, so we can play tonight?”

Her heart sped at his words, and she agreed maybe they should skip the second hike.

The drive back to Chattanooga may have only taken a little over an hour, but it felt like three, and Sam wondered what he had in mind the entire time.

However, he went the wrong way as he exited the interstate, and when she looked at him in question he said, “We need to pick up a few supplies.”

“And I’m supposed to play twenty questions to find out what they are, or be quiet and you’ll tell me when you’re ready?”

He smiled. “You’re smart, what do you think?”

“The latter.” She sighed, and he squeezed her leg and pulled into a dollar store.

“You want to wait out here, or come in? I’m just picking up a few things.”

“Are you kidding? Unless you order me to wait, I’m coming.”

“Mmmm, but it’s so much fun to order you to wait when you want to come.”

He smiled and motioned her out of the car, and she rolled her eyes and leaned into him as they walked in the door.

She looked at him in question as he put several cheap tablecloths into their shopping cart, but he only grinned. He made his way to the center of the store, and her heart sped as he removed half a dozen pillar candles from the shelf.

He also collected a large serving spoon, a ladle, and a flat wooden spoon before heading to the checkout counter.

Again, he drove the wrong direction, but she didn’t ask this time. He pulled into a big box store, and she mentioned a few things she needed to pick up while they were here.

As they were making their way from the sporting goods section to the socks, Ethan headed toward housewares. She followed, curious, and everything fell into place when he walked down the row of crock-pots.

As Ethan finally turned the car towards home, Sam said what she’d been wanting to tell him for a week. “I want our dynamic back during scenes. I want rules and consequences. I want to know you own me.”

He glanced at her and then back to the road. “I’ve stayed away from rules because I wasn’t prepared to enforce them. I don’t think you’re up to consequences.”

“Not the kind you gave me before, but surely you can come up with something? I don’t have the stamina or the same pain tolerance, but…” She took a breath. “You need to keep my physical and mental condition in mind, but I don’t think either should stop you from enforcing the rules.”

“Do you really think you can handle the stainless cane? Because I’m not so sure.”

“I’m pretty sure it isn’t fair to make me tell you I’m ready, but I guess it’s the only way you can know what I’m thinking.” Sam sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe you should start with one of the thicker rattan canes, see how I do, and decide where to go from there?”

“You don’t seem to hurt just from movement anymore. I can change lanes, brake, and speed up within reason without worrying about hurting you. I’m still careful about how much I jar you during sex, but you seem to do okay with it?”

Their policy was honesty, but Sam wasn’t sure he needed to hear the truth. Still, she couldn’t lie to him. “Sex might be too much if I wasn’t so horny. I know there’s no damage happening, so I can ignore it and just concentrate on what feels good. But, without the good…”

He glanced at her again, and looked back to the road. “You’ll tell me if the good isn’t enough to outweigh the bad, right? Is there anything I can do to—”

Sam interrupted. “I only told you because you asked, and because I can’t lie to you. Please don’t do anything different, okay? I need the intimacy; I need to belong to you. Don’t you dare go backwards on what little bit of progress we’ve made.”

Their conversation switched to more mundane topics, but as they pulled into the driveway she reiterated, “I need to belong to you. I need to be reminded you own me sexually. I know I can’t make demands, but I’ll beg if it will help.” She took a breath and added, “Master.”

* * * *

Ethan was torn. He’d agreed to be Sam’s Master, but he wasn’t sure he could follow through on a true punishment and was wary of putting himself in the position.

He’d finally managed to find a way to have sex with her, and thought he’d done a good job of pleasuring her, but was fully aware his mentality had been more of a Service Top, instead of Master. Of
course
Sam had picked up on it, but Ethan wasn’t sure what to do.

“Fake it till you make it,” he grumbled to himself as he pulled their suitcase from the trunk.

Sam unlocked the door and held it for him as he carried their things in.

“Leave the suitcase for now,” he said. “Put a bathing suit on and give yourself some rehab in the pool while I go down and put the wax in the crock pot so it’ll have time to melt. I’ll meet you in the pool when I’m finished.”

Sam’s smile told him he’d guessed correctly, and she said, “Great idea. I need to move my arm, but don’t want to overdo. Swimming in a warm pool is perfect.”

Ethan knew she had trouble with most of her one-piece bathing suits, but decided to go on downstairs and let her undress and dress by herself. Physically, she needed the help, but mentally she needed him to leave her alone so she could fend for herself. Also, she could always wear a two-piece, though she rarely did unless he asked her to.

He went online to double-check the temperature setting, as it’d been a long time since he’d played with wax and a crock pot. He also gave himself a mental pat on the back for his foresight in having an electrical outlet placed in the floor beside the bondage table. He rolled the metal cart to the center of the room, settled the crock pot in the center, turned it on, and chipped two of the large candles into the bowl. He spread a few of the cheap plastic tablecloths on the floor and bondage table, and placed the new ladle on the cart.

Blowing out a breath, he decided on rope, and chose some he wouldn’t mind throwing away, as he planned to get wax pretty much everywhere. His hand went towards the clover clamps, but he decided on the wooden clothespins instead. He checked on the wax, saw it was melting nicely where it touched the side, and made a mental note to bring down a large bowl of ice when it was time to play.

* * * *

Sam thought Ethan looked terribly solemn as he stepped out of the house in his swim trunks. Her big, strong man didn’t know how to proceed when she wasn’t at one hundred percent, and it drove her to want to get better, faster. Unfortunately, her body would only heal so fast, and she was already doing everything she could to speed the process.

She met him in the shallow end, and Ethan reached for her and pulled her into a kiss. At first, she thought it’d just be a peck, but it quickly turned into something more, until his arms were around her and she melted into him, compliant and willing and needy as his mouth claimed her.

When he finally let her up, he kissed her forehead and said, “I’ll grab some noodles and go through some of your exercises with you, if you want.”

No, she wanted him to sit her on his cock and fuck her, but…if he wanted to tease her, she’d comply.

“Thanks. I’ve already gone through the things I could do solo, but if you can help with the resistance stuff?”

“Of course.”

Ethan didn’t push her or hold her back, he just offered the resistance she needed, and asked her questions so she could better decide when to push, and when to back off.

“If you ever decide on a career change you’d make a great physical therapist.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. I’d be fine if everyone were like you, but the ones who refuse to do anything because it hurts?” He shook his head. “I’m afraid I’d lose patience with them right off the bat.”

He had a point, but, “You sound as if you’re speaking from experience?”

“Have I told you about the summer I decided to take on a second job as a personal trainer at the gym?” His smile told her this was probably going to be good.

She shook her head and he said, “A guy I’d seen around, but didn’t know, asked for me specifically. He drove a Corvette, dressed in the best workout clothes, and I guess wanted the biggest personal trainer.” Ethan shook his head. “He only wanted to look good working out, and he’d stop before he hit true muscle burn. He was totally wasting his time, so I thought I’d push him a little. You know, irritate him enough so he’d do it just to prove something?”

He was silent a few moments and Sam prodded. “And?”

Ethan’s eyes twinkled. “Apparently, calling him a girly-man wasn’t the right way to push him.”

Sam let go of the long noodle and reached for the two short, fat ones. She transitioned to underwater reverse curls as she asked, “What did he do?”

“Took a swing at me, but I caught his fist and told him he wasn’t even man enough to hit me.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t get a tip?”

He shook his head. “No, and I decided to stick to the moving business. Furniture doesn’t talk back.”

“Too bad, really. Maybe if you hadn’t had such an asshole you’d have discovered you loved it.”

“I’m more than happy with the way my life has turned out. It’s you I love.”

She abandoned the noodles and took the two steps to him so she could hug him. Again, her right hand went around his torso, and her left hand touched his leg as it rested at her side.

“Can you be still a second, please? Promise you won’t move?”

Ethan froze as his hands touched her back. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I want to try something.”

She knew she had the range of motion to hug him; she was just scared. Afraid he’d move and pull it the wrong way, or would lift her up and it would get trapped.

“Okay, I’ll stay put until you tell me I can move.”

She wrapped her left arm around his torso, rested her head on his chest, and wanted to
cry
. It’d been so long since she’d had him in both of her arms, she felt as if she were in heaven.

“Oh Darlin’. That feels so good.” His hand stroked her back, but his arms didn’t move.

“You can move your arms, but keep your body still. Okay?”

He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

She laughed back. “You’re such a smart ass.”

His hand went to the side of her head and cradled it against his chest. “Guilty as charged. God, I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.”  

She let her arm fall back to her side, squeezed him with her other, and stepped back. “I have the range of motion to hug you if I don’t have to raise my arm, but I’m scared you’ll move and my shoulder won’t be able to move with you.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I figured it out. I’ll be still for you so you can hug me, as long and as often as you want.” He leaned down, kissed her forehead, her nose, her lips. “I have a few ground rules for our scene tonight.”

Sam’s heart sped. “Yes, Sir?”

“If I do something that hurts your shoulder, you’re to say
shoulder
. This isn’t a safeword; it won’t necessarily stop the scene, it will just make me aware there’s a problem so I can fix it.”

Disappointed, Sam nodded her agreement. She’d wanted scene
rules
, not ways to control the scene.

“Because I’m not sure your body is cataloging pain the way it did before, I need you tell me if I’m giving you bad pain instead of good pain. If you tell me it hurts, I’ll assume good pain. If it’s bad, you need to say
bad pain
.”

Sam nodded again, and dropped her head to look at the water’s surface so he wouldn’t see the disappointment in her face.

She felt his finger under her chin, and she schooled her expression as she allowed him to lift her chin until their gazes met.

“This isn’t about allowing you control. It’s about my need to be sure I know where you are. You give me the information; I decide what to do with it. Understand?”

Sam nodded again and he removed his finger. “Don’t drop your face again. I want to see your eyes.”

Finally, an order. Sam’s insides heated and she had to draw in a shaky breath to say, “Yes, Sir.”

“Tonight is about sensation more than pain, but we’ll see how things go and I may branch out. If you want pain, you’ll ask for it. Again, there are no guarantees, but I want to know where your head is.”

He caressed her cheek. “I’m going to restrain your arms and legs. I’ll tie your left arm so you can move it a little, because I know it hurts to keep it in the same place too long. If it bothers you, let me know and we’ll come up with something else.” He smiled and pulled her into a hug. “This is a work in progress. We’ll have to figure it out as we go. We should probably wait another couple of weeks before we try to live by our former rules but I know you’re impatient. I’m willing to indulge you, but you have to promise you’ll let me know of any problems. Okay?”

He maneuvered them back as they were before the hug, and Sam resumed eye contact. “Yes, Sir. I promise.”

“I know you want more rules, but your most important instructions for the evening are to alert me of any issues involving your shoulder or any other bad pain, and to let me know the level of good pain, as well as what you want more of and what you wish I’d stop doing. You’ll have to keep your voice and syntax respectful but I want you to keep a running commentary for me.”