Still (11 page)

“Let me kiss you,” he whispered, the hesitant brush of his lips over hers sending a fire raging through her blood.

“No making out in my kitchen,” Yuki said in a loud voice. “I don’t want pubes on the counter.”

Michelle jerked back, startled by how close she’d come to giving in. Wyatt coughed and turned his back on her, laughing deep in his chest. Curious as to his reaction, using it as something to distract herself, she ran a fingernail down his spine, hard enough to leave a faint red line.

“Something wrong, Callahan?”

Yuki giggled and poured the eggs into a skillet. “I think he’s afraid of offending my delicate sensibilities.”

“What?”

Yuki held her arm up in the universal signal for a hard cock.

“Ohhhhh…” She loved how the muscles in his back stood out in such sharp relief as he no doubt fought the urge to flee. “Wyatt, darling, turn around.”

The door to the mudroom slammed and a second later James came into the kitchen. He took one look at Michelle and his wife and began to laugh. “I don’t know what you two are up to, but leave the poor bastard alone.”

Ignoring Yuki’s glare, he walked over to Wyatt and handed him a couple pairs of sweats and some folded t-shirts. “Here, I doubt Michelle will let you wear a shirt in the house, especially with those pierced nipples of yours, but if she lets you outside you might need this. Bathroom is right down the hall, first door on the left.”

“Thanks.” Without saying another word Wyatt fled to the hallway.

Yuki took a mound of bacon out of the oven where it’d been staying warm and set it on the counter. “Don’t think you can protect him from us, James.”

He snagged a piece of bacon and gave his wife an insolent smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, oh beautiful Mistress of mine.”

“Brat,” Yuki muttered as she smacked his hand away with her spatula. “Unless you want Wyatt coming back to find you serving as our new center piece I suggest you behave.”

James coughed and backed away. “I’m pretty sure it’s an unspoken guy rule that you shouldn’t be naked while you eat breakfast with each other for the first time.”

Michelle helped Yuki set the table, grinning at their banter. In their relationship, Yuki enjoyed his antics, and let him get away with a great deal before taking her husband firmly in hand and giving him what he craved - discipline followed by amazing sex.

Speaking of amazing sex, Wyatt strolled back into the kitchen, his swagger now back in perfect form. Michelle allowed him to see her desire, to see how much she appreciated his body. He grinned at her and nodded at Yuki. “Anything I can help you with, ma’am?”

“No thanks. I enjoy feeding big guys with hearty appetites. If your plate is clean it makes me happy to know that I’ve filled the hole in your belly.” She heaped two omelets and a mess of bacon onto his plate.

As she put food on Michelle’s plate the two women exchanged a look. Yuki had noticed how thin Wyatt was as well, and Michelle appreciated her subtle way of making sure Wyatt ate everything on his plate. Sometimes honey worked better than vinegar and, by phrasing it in a way that made Wyatt think of it as pleasing her, Yuki had ensured he would clean his plate. With Yuki’s willowy and almost ethereal exotic looks it was easy to forget how bloody good she was at being a Mistress.

James and Wyatt ate in silence for a bit, each of them making incoherent noises of appreciation, while the women chatted.

“Ma’am, this is amazing,” Wyatt said around a mouthful of omelet. “Did you go to school for this?”

“No, cooking is my hobby. In exchange for using the old barn as my studio I cook and keep Michelle from trying to kill us with her attempts at anything culinary.”

“Hey now! I make a mean batch of chocolate chip cookies and I can order out with the best of them. Besides, who else is going to let you create gigantic statues of nude men in bondage in their barn?”

Wyatt gave Michelle a confused look but James spoke up, “Yuki is a sculptor, mostly in metal but she does some stonework now and again. We moved down here from Chicago so she could have enough room to do some really big pieces.”

“And not freeze my tits off,” Yuki added with a smile.

Wyatt chewed in silence then looked towards the direction of the foyer. “Did you do that fountain?”

Looking pleased, Yuki nodded. “Yep. It was my welcome home present to Michelle after she got back from overseas.” She glanced at Michelle then back at Wyatt. “She always loved horses growing up. We actually met when we were thirteen at a stables where we boarded our horses.”

“Really?” Wyatt’s obvious interest in Michelle’s past both pleased and irritated her. There were some things she wasn’t ready to share with him yet. While she was sure he knew that her father was a Senator and her mother a well-known actress she wanted to know that he liked her for who she was, not just because she was some celeb’s daughter.

Michelle kicked Yuki beneath the table. “I’m going to take him on a tour of the grounds as soon as we’re done with breakfast. Callahan, can you ride?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Good. Then you can take Fancy Pants. “

“You have a horse named Fancy Pants?”

James laughed. “Don’t let the name fool you. That horse will throw you the second he smells weakness. Kinda like some women I know.”

Yuki slowly shook her head. “You just earned yourself some time in the cradle, my dear.”

Her husband swallowed hard and plastered a smile on his face that wasn’t fooling anyone. “I live to serve.”

Wyatt looked over at Michelle and she saw a thousand questions in his gaze, along with speculation, anger, pain, desire, and a tiny trace of hope. He had the most expressive eyes she’d ever seen and their power hadn’t dimmed over the past year. If anything, she was more attuned to him now than ever before. Was it because there were no longer any restrictions between them? There were no superior officers watching them now, no boots that would run their mouths. Now it was just Michelle and Wyatt and she marveled at how natural it felt to be with him.

Having the right to touch him as she wished, she leaned over and slipped her hand into Wyatt’s. As their fingers curled together, something deep inside of her soul shifted, a hidden pain roaring momentarily to the surface before she ruthlessly pushed it down. No, she would not think of the last man she’d loved and lost.

Wyatt turned his hand so that their fingers laced tighter together. He gave her a gentle squeeze, bringing her back to the warmth of the breakfast table on a beautiful, sunny morning and away from the ice of her memories. She could see his concern and smiled. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed both Yuki and James observing them.

She straightened, but didn’t release Wyatt’s hand. “If you want you can ride my horse, Bitch Goddess.”

He laughed, a surprised and deep bass rumble. “No, I think one bitch goddess is enou...er...um... Aw, shit.”

Michelle had to press her lips together to keep from laughing. Thankfully, Yuki stepped in and saved him by suggesting, “Stop by my studio. I’d love to get some sketches of Wyatt, if that’s okay with him. He has a very interesting face. Not pretty boy handsome, but a face you’d remember nonetheless.”

“By the way, my wife likes to sculpt nude men.” James grinned. “So don’t worry if she asks you to strip. Once she’s in her artistic mindset you cease to be male and become a set of interesting angles and planes to shape.”

Yuki smiled and sat back with a sigh. “That’s why James doesn’t have a problem with me staring at naked men for hours at a time.”

Wyatt toyed with his last piece of bacon. “Can I ask you a question? And I’m not being offensive or anything, I’m just curious.”

Yuki and James exchanged a look. “Sure.”

“Since James is your submissive, would you really not do something if he asked you not to? Like, what if he didn’t want you to sketch nude men. I mean you’re a Mistress, shouldn’t you do whatever you want?”

James shook his head. “She might be my Mistress, but she is also my wife. Man, you really are new to this, aren’t you?”

Wyatt shrugged uncomfortably and Yuki gave him an understanding look. “I would never hurt James by doing something that we’ve both agreed is a hard limit.”

James gave his wife a fond smile which she returned. “Just like I would never betray Yuki’s trust.”

Yuki stood and James followed suit, each clearing their plates. “You guys have fun today. If you need me give me a ring.”

After pulling her hand away from Wyatt’s delicious grip she stood as well. Stretching her arms overhead, liking the way Wyatt’s gaze fastened onto her breasts, Michelle nodded. “We should be by the studio in a couple hours.”

The door shut behind the departing couple, leaving her alone with a very sexy man who smelled wonderful, like her soap cut with a trace of his natural masculine scent.

Wyatt glanced down at his feet. “Can I go upstairs and grab my boots?”

“Sure.”

He turned to leave and she suddenly didn’t want to be alone. Unable to help herself, she moved quickly to stand in front of him, her breasts pressing into his chest. Despite having used the local BDSM club three months ago to relieve some tension, and only oral sex at that, she craved his touch, yearned for the feeling of a strong man wrapping his arms around her. “Wyatt, please hold me.”

He made a low sound deep in his chest and gently drew her to him as if she were made of glass. Instantly her whole body relaxed and woke up, the need that never seemed to sleep roaring back to life. She felt his cock stir against her belly but she only snuggled closer, loving the smell of her soap on his skin. He began to slowly stroke her hair and she smiled against him.

“Doc, what made you so sad back at the table?”

Tears stung her eyes and she shoved away from him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He tilted his head, calling her on her bullshit without saying a word. Unable to face the understanding in his expression she spun on her heel and walked to the mudroom. “Meet me out in the stables. I have a bunch of sports team t-shirts I sleep in. There should be one big enough for you to wear if the shirts James gave you don’t fit.”

Yeah, it felt like running, but she didn’t care. She needed to get her shit together. This wasn’t about her, it was about him. He needed her to be strong, he needed her. So, while she couldn’t seem to manage to let go of her grief for herself, she would let it go for him. Or at the very least, hold it at bay.

When she walked into the barn both horses trilled a greeting, their feet stamping on the earth. Goddess popped her head out first, a beautiful cream colored Arabian mare with a rather bitchy temperament. Michelle got her as a gift from her father for her twenty-first birthday, and she loved that horse more than just about anything in the world. One of the few things that had helped her wash away the horrors she’d seen overseas had been taking long rides on Goddess.

In the stall across the way she could see the white and black nose of Pants, her four year old pinto Tennessee Walker gelding. She’d named him Fancy Pants because his black and white pattern left his hind legs and rear end solid black, as if he’d been dipped in black ink while the rest of him resembled a Dalmatian’s coat. Sweet as the day was long, he lifted his lip in greeting to her.

Both horses were eager to get out of the barn and she had to laugh at their high spirited antics. One of the barn cats, an orange marmalade tabby named Butter, watched them from her perch in the rafters. Growing up Michelle had never been allowed to have a pet other than her horse which was kept at a separate location from her parents' penthouse condo in the heart of Chicago. So when she’d moved here and finally had the space for animals, she’d become a bit of a crazy cat lady. Right now, there were four cats on the property who kept it clear of rodents and kept the horses company. It wasn’t unusual to come into the barn and see one of the cats sleeping contentedly on one of the horses’ backs. Cats only had respect for themselves, so if they chose to gift you with their presence they expected you to worship them accordingly. This included horses. A few stalls down, sitting on a bale of hay, Murphy, her former tom-now-eunuch cat, sat regarding her with profound disdain for interrupting his nap.

She was coming back from the tack room with her saddle when Wyatt wandered in, a huge smile filling his face when he saw her and then looked at the horses.

“Doc, you have some beautiful horseflesh.”

Pleasure warmed her heart and she smiled back. It almost felt like he’d complimented her children, as sad as that was. “Fancy Pants, or Pants for short, is the big pinto. He’ll be your mount so why don’t you say hello.”

He pulled two carrots out from the waistband of his pants. “Am I allowed to bribe?”

She swung her saddle up, moving with Goddess as she shifted. “Sure. Just don’t be offended if Goddess plays hard to get. She’s a high maintenance bitch.”

Wyatt’s lips turned white as he pressed them together and turned his back at her narrow-eyed look, speaking softly to Pants. Of course, the horse turned on the charm as soon as he saw the carrot, arching his neck and nibbling at the edge of Wyatt’s shirt. Actually it was her Chicago Bears shirt, but damn, it did look good on him. He had such broad shoulders and the light dusting of dark hair on his arms practically begged to be touched. Her gaze fastened on his wrists and she imagined what he’d look like in leather cuffs. Not the shiny black leather that most people preferred, but rather a rugged brown set of cuffs with bronze metal rings instead of silver. She’d have to contact one of her old friends in Chicago to see if she could have a pair custom made.

Keeping her mind on task was harder than she thought, but they were soon saddled up and headed off to tour her property. They followed the trail she’d made over the past couple months, one that would eventually take them to the edge of the good sized lake that sat to the west of the house. Overhead the sun blazed down, but the trees on either side of the trail kept them shaded.

She tugged the brim of her cream-colored cowboy hat down a bit lower and felt a twinge of guilt that she hadn’t gotten a hat for Wyatt. After they got back she’d find a men’s store in Austin that would deliver and order him some clothes. He might bitch about it, but if he threw too big a fit she’d take away his privilege to wear clothing altogether. Part of her hoped he would throw a fit just for the excuse to see him naked.