Safeword Quinacridone (35 page)

Tricia turned to Cara and said, “I’ve never seen him as needing a flogger before, but that pose just begs for leather, doesn’t it?”

Cara’s eyes goggled and she didn’t know how to respond. Travis saved her by chuckling and saying, “Funny, I never pictured you as thinking men standing over you should have a whip in their hands, so I guess we’re even. Now stop trying to stall for your friend and one of you tell me what’s going on.”

Tricia cocked her head in question at Cara, who responded with, “This’d be
easier if you had normal chairs
so he wasn’t towering over us.” She shifted to look up at Travis again. “The hell with it, Tricia knows we’re together and isn’t weirded out, come down here with us and I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to overreact.”

Travis took a few seconds to deliberate before squeezing beside her and maneuvering the two of them so she was sitting in front of him, leaning against his chest with his arms around her. “No promises my version of not overreacting will fit your definition, but I’ll make the attempt. Now, tell me Cara Mia.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. I was getting a bottle of water when Petra and Connie stepped into the conference room, so they didn’t see me, and I overheard them — well, one of them — speculating about me. I wanted to avoid the awkwardness of letting them know I heard, so I texted Trish to please show them the break
room and restroom.

“Speculating? Let me guess
...
Connie? I picked up on a weird vibe from her, almost as if she were dismissing your opinion without giving it consideration when we discussed how to best animate some of your textures.

“Yeah, I caught that too,” said Tricia, “but you’re smart enough to know you can’t fire someone for being mean to your girlfriend, right? If Connie’s shit-for-brains attitude causes problems in the team dynamic, that’s different, but—”

Travis interrupted. “But I’ll send the message that everyone has to treat Cara with kid gloves if I get rid of Connie at this point?” He arched his brow menacingly for a brief moment, then rolled his eyes and relaxed, giving a half grin as he said, “I respect your ability to cut through the crap and say what’s important, even when it annoys me. You’re right, of course. What advice did you give Cara?”

“I told her I’d keep my eye on Connie and if I think she’s a catty bitch I’ll have a talk with Timothy about protecting our great team dynamic. One of the best things about working here is the laid-back atmosphere. There’s no backstabbing, no competition that involves making other people look bad so you’ll look better.” She glanced at Cara and back up to Travis. “If I make someone else look good, it reflects on me. There’s none of the Survivor bullshit where people plot against each other. If Connie’s not a team player, we don’t need her — I don’t care what kind of
skilz
she may have.”

“Cara, what do you think?”

She rotated her upper body, twisting to look at him. “I don’t want her fired or moved for speculating about me when she didn’t think anyone would hear. If she can’t handle the team stuff then make whatever decision you feel appropriate, but base it on how she interacts with everyone, not on her saying shit about me.”

“Okay, sounds reasonable.” He smiled. “Now that I haven’t overreacted, will you tell me what she said?”

Cara turned back to Tricia, clos
ing
her eyes and groan
ing
as she leaned her head against his chest. “It’s not important, but if I don’t tell you it’ll bug you and you’ll imagine worse than she said.” She took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “She was assuming I wasn’t any good, and had the job only because of our relationship. I guess the idea I’d be over her especially rankled. Petra told her to give me a chance. Really, it’s not a big deal and probably normal for people who don’t know us to assume. When Timothy texted directions to the conference room he likely said I’d be bringing them up to speed, which must have given the impression I was in charge and set off Connie’s hackles. She knows I’m not at the helm now, so it’s all good, right?”

Tricia cocked her head to the side. “I’m willing to give her a chance, but I’m not convinced it’s all good. I respect your talent, and defer to your expertise when I’m coding your stuff into my gui. I can make the computer program do a zillion things but I trust you to tell me when I need to make a change. Like that stupid shadow thing last week, I knew something was off but couldn’t figure it out. After a half-second glance you explained the problem and how to fix it. We all know each other’s strong suits and we almost always defer to that person’s opinion. I’m not confident she’s gonna play nice.”

* * * *

Cara followed Travis home, dreading the conversation when they arrived. Much to her surprise, he didn’t mention it again. When she finally brought it up over steaks and a bottle of wine he seemed at peace with waiting to see what happened, saying, “The Connie situation will take care of itself. Tr
icia and Timothy are both aware
which should keep her from trying to undercut you and make you look bad to the rest of the team. If she tries it’ll only make her look stupid and it’ll be the end of her in this building. I’ll need to decide if she’s good enough for me to place her at another company where teamwork isn’t essential, or whether I’m comfortable with her working for the competition, but the decision doesn’t have to be made today. I have a proposition for you, for this weekend, if you’re interested.”

It’d been a month since New York, and while they’d had sex and played around a little, they hadn’t done anything intense and Cara was beginning to itch for it. “Yeah, I’m interested. I was starting to wonder if something happened at the Bed and Breakfast that made you not want me, like
that
, anymore.”

“Never, Cara. I want you more than ever, but I’ll admit to some soul searching.” He lifted his wineglass, but didn’t take a drink, as if uncertain what to do with his hands. “I love you so much, and sometimes those feelings make me feel like a teenager again, unsure of what happens next.”

“What did I do?”

He shook his head. “It’s not anything you did, it’s just the idea of...” he sighed
,
set the wine glass down, and reached for her hand. “I want to grow old with you and that means spending decades together. We’re moving pretty fast, which I love, but it made me wonder where we’ll be ten or twenty years from now. Will we be like the boiling frog and not realize we’ve gone too far because we’ve made each new step seem acceptable? How will we continue to push the envelope with objectification and not mess up what we have the rest of the time?”

Cara’s stomach dropped to her knees and her shoulders slumped as she looked at her plate. “I shouldn’t have said I was turned on by the whole peeing thing.”

“Oh no, I’m glad you told me, this will only work if we’re both honest about our desires.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach as she remembered him telling her what he wanted, and her inability to satisfy his needs. He hadn’t dared to tell her anything since, and it bothered her. She looked up. “You haven’t told me what you want. I mean, not since you tried the thing with Jonathan. Sometimes it feels as if I tell you what turns me on and you make it happen, but you aren’t telling me what you want. I don’t want to be the one driving the bus all the time; I want you doing things to me that flip
your
switch.”

He was quiet a moment as he absorbed her words, and his eyes serious as he said, “I’m sorry if it seems that way, but I have something planned for the weekend that’ll hopefully change your perception. I need to check with you on a few items, make sure I won’t hit any hard limits you aren’t aware of simply because you never considered the possibility.”

Cara smiled as her insides fluttered to life. “Really?”

“Yes, Really. First though, a strong meteor shower is forecast for Thursday night and early Friday morning. I’ve rented a mountain cabin near Fall Creek Falls to position us far enough away from the city lights for a good view. I thought we’d drive up after work Thursday, sleep in Friday,
and maybe
check out the falls before we head back home that evening?”

“Don’t forget, I bought us tickets to the Arts Council’s fundraising gala Friday night. Do you know what you’ll wear?”

“I haven’t forgotten,” he grinned, “and I think it’s cute you kn
ow I have to plan ahead of time
to figure out what to wear to these things. Jacob had something delivered yesterday and it’s all pressed and hanging up, just waiting for me. What about you?”

She nodded. “I’ve attended Arts Council functions for years. We had free tickets when we lived in the house, and you pretty much had to go unless hospitalized. The first year, one of the older girls let me borrow one of her gowns and showed me this consignment store for the rich so I could get something for the next gala. We all swapped dresses around and I’d buy a used formal for less than a hundred dollars, wear it once, and trade it for another, then swap that one for another.” She laughed, “I’ve been to probably ten or twelve of these things and only bought three dresses.”

Travis was starting to look horrified, so she rushed to add, “But I did it right this time and got something new. I’ve been thinking, for the gowns the paparazzi shoot me in and you say I shouldn’t wear again, maybe I can give them to the house, so the girls there can get some use out of them?”

He smiled. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I know how annoyed you are by my not wanting you in the same dress once you’ve been photographed in it.”

She rolled her eyes and he said, “Really Cara, you don’t want give the gossip rags a chance to show Travis Winslow’s girlfriend wearing the same clothes to different functions. Do you? We’re trying to convince them they won’t get anything by following you around, and that will give them a big something.”

She didn’t say anything, just gave him an emotionless stare, and he said, “Will giving the dresses to the other artists take some of the irritation away? Maybe?”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a half smile. “Yeah, a little. Sometimes being your girlfriend is a pain in the ass, but—”

He interrupted. “But you like a bit of anal pain with your sex.”

“You’re insufferable. I was going to say you’re worth it.” She smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Jerk.”

He blew her a kiss and returned to their weekend plans. “So, we have Thursday and Friday nights planned. You haven’t met Paul’s wife—”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to wonder if she’s real
, o
r if he keeps her in a tower like Rapunzel.”

He laughed. “In many ways, their relationship looks much like that of the couples in New York, but she helped come up with their rules and there’s a lot more give and take between them. He has the final decision on everything, but he adores her and — as long as she’s behaving — he frequently makes decisions with her wishes in mind. Still, she’s his property, more than his wife, and they both get off on him forcing her outside of her comfort zone.”

He was babbling, so she said, “What do you need to tell me but aren’t sure I’ll be okay with?”

He rolled his eyes, took a breath to regroup, and talked with more confidence. “I won’t tell you exactly what we’ve planned; I just need to make sure we don’t bump against a hard limit. Have you ever been with a woman?”

“Ummm, you mean, like,
with
a woman?”

He smiled. “Yes.”

She shook her head, her eyes wide.

“Are you opposed to trying?”

“What would you want me to do?” Her brow furrowed. “Is this something that turns you on?”

“I’m turned on by the idea of Paul and I objectifying the two of you as a unit, and by the thought of another woman bringing you to orgasm. I know you well enough to know you’ll need to be a passive participant, so I’m not planning to make you get her off. Not this time, anyway. It’ll be enough for me to see her bring you to a screaming climax.”

Cara took a bite, thinking it over. The idea of a woman touching her didn’t do anything, but the thoughts of Travis tying her up and forcing her to accept it, his cock rock hard while he watched, made her want to squirm in her chair. She swallowed and took a sip of her wine, trying not to show how much his words affected her. “If I don’t have a choice, and if I can see it making you hard, I think I’ll be good with it. I
w
on’t really know though, not until—”

“I’m not asking for guarantees, I just needed to make sure it’s not an immediate squick. Next question — piss games can go both ways. You’re very likely to see Paul pissing on and in Meg, but the notion of my forcing you to lose control and pee while I have you in bondage is growing on me. How do you feel about being tied, and not freed when you need to relieve yourself?”

Cara was immediately horrified, but also
...
dammit, how did he do that? She suddenly wanted him to force her, and her thoughts travelled back to the stocks at the Bed and Breakfast, but with a plastic tarp under her, with her neck and wrists imprisoned all day so she could be used anytime. She imagined them not letting her up to go to the bathroom, and her pee eventually flowing down her legs when she couldn’t hold it anymore. She wasn’t sure the reality wouldn’t be a turn-on, but the fantasy was certainly doing something.