Knots (24 page)

He cupped the back of her neck with his free hand, pulled her into a kiss and then led her inside the store, smiling like an idiot.

“Get anything you want,” he said, grabbing a grocery cart.

She gave him a look of concern. “You know I already feel guilty about not paying for my portion, but I know it’ll earn me a bacon slap if I try to do that, so I won’t even try. But I don’t know how to get over stuff like this.”

“You’re thinking it’s unequal, but it’s not. Just having you in my home, at my side, is worth paying for a few measly groceries.” He moved them over to the first aisle. “And I’d do more than a bacon slap if you tried to pay for your food. I’d probably have to give you a few forced orgasms.”

She stiffened for a moment, then grabbed an item off the shelf and placed it in the basket.

The more she shopped, the more she relaxed.

It was interesting to see what she liked to eat. He wondered how many of these items she bought were more because Pono liked them, rather than herself.

He’d watch her during the week to see what she actually ate and didn’t from the items she picked out.

“Do you like stir fry?” he asked, motioning to some fresh chopped veggies.

“Love it.” Her shoulders moved down about an inch as she took a deep breath and blew it out like she was relieved they both had something in common.

He chuckled, grabbed the container and put it in the cart.

“I love orange chicken,” she said in passing.

He grabbed a box of that, too.

Since they’d agreed she wasn’t going to cook just yet, he figured he’d be doing it.

Something told him if he started ordering out every night, she’d feel even guiltier since that would cost more.

Besides, he didn’t mind cooking. Just enjoyed it more when he was cooking something he’d be able to share.

Always seemed kind of pointless to cook an entire meal for just himself.

There was something about the way she moved with ease through the store that spoke to him on a very basic level. She thrived on the day-to-day stuff—living together, working together in harmony.

Her shy, furtive glances she gave him earlier when they’d first started shopping were turning into heated stares.

Especially when he told her he was going to make her some barbecued ribs with some stuffed peppers and grilled tomatoes.

A few times, her hands grazed across his forearms, and she seemed to be hovering around him, standing much closer than usual.

“You smell terrific,” he whispered and leaned down to take a nip at her ear. “Makes me really hungry for some pussy.”

She smiled and blushed. “You smell better. Always . . .”

He laughed. “Not possible.” He kissed her ear, then let her go.

She wandered over to the bags of salad, grabbed one and tossed it into the cart.

Someone was smiling and watching them over by the deli.

He came up behind Jeanie, wrapped his arms around her waist and said in her ear, “We have an appreciative audience.”

She gasped, and then her head whipped around as she tried to figure out who it was.

The person at the counter laughed and kept watching.

Mark groped his girl’s ass and stepped away enough so he could watch Jeanie’s reaction.

It went from mortified to completely turned on in five seconds flat.

“You know what I’m doing to that ass when we get home.” He smirked.

She flushed, and her mouth dropped open.

“Yeah—
that
.” He gripped his belt, tugged on the buckle, and she really turned a lovely shade of pink.

A moment later, he picked up a cantaloupe she was eyeing, gave her the questioning eyebrow and put it in the cart since it was clear she wanted it but probably thought she’d already gone overboard, even though she really hadn’t put a whole lot in the cart for herself.

“Love you,” she mouthed, then turned away from him, grinning.

He walked over to her, gripped her by the shoulder, turned her around and said, “Hey, I get to say it, too.” He wrapped his arms around her, kissed her firmly and made a show of it by dipping her.

Their voyeur was laughing loud enough they could hear it really well. Mark’s tongue slid into Jeanie’s awaiting mouth.

She moaned on her exhale so quietly no one but him could hear it.

Instead of fighting him, like Mark expected, Jeanie relaxed into his hold, giving herself over to him.

He growled, brought her back to upright, then let her go with a smack on her behind. “Don’t ever turn away from me without letting me say it back. Got it?”

“Got it, Sir.” Jeanie smirked, and her steps lightened as she moved around him.

Bzzz . . . Bzzz . . .

She pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to him without missing a beat.

He checked the caller ID.

“It’s Marly,” he told her, then handed it back to her.

It was one of their agreements—he checked all her phone calls when they were together, and if he needed to intercept, he’d answer it for her. If it was someone he deemed safe, he gave it over to her.

Oddly enough, she never seemed to have a problem with that at all, or him having access to all her online accounts and emails. He kept waiting for her to grow upset about it and protest, but she never did. Somehow she must’ve known it was his way of having some control, getting to know what her life was like and a way to find out more about her.

They were building more trust daily, and it was incredible to see her smiling more and more, laughing and opening up to him.

“Hey, how’re you doing?” Jeanie greeted Marly when she answered the call.

Mark went about grabbing a few more items in the produce section, then braved dragging Jeanie with him over to the deli counter.

The lady that had been watching them smiled warmly, finished her order, then departed with a small wave.

Mark gave a small wave back along with a proud grin.

“Yeah, this is my woman, and I grope her whenever the fuck I feel like it,” he wanted to say but kept it to himself.

No one needed to know that shit except Jeanie. That was enough for him.

“I don’t know if I’m free to go dancing again this weekend . . .” Jeanie gave him a questioning look. “Yeah, I’m still staying at Mark’s place.”

Mark ordered some lunch meat for sandwiches, and as it was being sliced, he motioned for Jeanie to give the call to him.

She did it without hesitation. His insides warmed at an alarming rate over such a small gesture of trust.

“Hi, Marly, it’s Mark,” he began.

“Oh . . . Uh, hi. Sorry about last weekend. I didn’t mean to disappear on you guys like that, but—”

“Don’t apologize to us—do that with your parents. They should know you left with strangers,” he said.

“I did tell them. They were fine with it.”

He doubted that was the case, but regardless, this conversation was about Jeanie.

“So, you wanna go dancing again? Same club?” He motioned for Jeanie to deal with the guy behind the counter.

She did, and he moved away a few feet so the man helping them didn’t have to overhear the conversation. Mark always hated it when people were that rude to be talking on the phone while they were dealing with someone at a cash register.

“A different one. I’m gonna text her the address,” Marly replied.

“We’ll be there, but text it to me instead. I do expect you tell us, though, before you take off this time. If you do that again, Jeanie won’t be going dancing with you anymore while she’s here for the entire month.”

“But I . . .
Month
? Did you say she’s staying for a whole month? I mean, you guys seemed great together at the club, but—” Marly stumbled over her words.

“Yeah, she’ll be staying with me during that time. We’ve got some things to attend to in order to help her make some decisions.”

Jeanie was done, setting the sliced meat in the baggie into the cart.

She grabbed some bolillo rolls nearby and smiled as she waited for him.

He smiled back.

“Okay, gotta go. We’re about to leave the store. Text me the address, and we’ll be there at seven. Bye.” He ended the call, and instead of giving Jeanie her phone back, he slipped it in his pocket.

Marly might decide to be obnoxious and text the address to Jeanie instead. If that was the case, he wanted to know.

His chest loosened up at the way Marly said they were great together.

If she could accept that and she was the family’s worse critic, maybe this weekend would be a good time to break it to the rest of this family that he planned to be in Jeanie’s life permanently. She needed them, and he did, too, in some way.

***

Two nights later, Jeanie nuzzled into his side, and he picked up the other book off his nightstand. “I know I’ve been reading to you from
The Loving Dominant
, but I wanted to share this with you as well,” he began. “It has more of a spiritual nature to it.”

“Sounds nice,” she said, stifling a yawn with her hand.

Of course she was tired—he’d just pinned her down and fucked her until she was screaming out his name. He’d pinched her nipples, her clit and bit her all over.

Damn, he loved it when she got hoarse like that from yelling.

No toys this time. He didn’t get that far. But she seemed to love it when he slapped her pussy.

His plans had been to introduce her to wax play tonight, but his body had another agenda.

After dinner, all he could do was throw her over his shoulder, tell her to strip and then he was on top of her, pulling a condom on.

“If you get sleepy, feel free to drift off. It’s just something that moves me and reminds me of you every time I read it.”

She made this throaty, worked up sound.

“Love it when you get excited,” he said.

“You don’t think it’s stupid?”

He set the book next to him and looked down at her, lying on his chest. “If I thought it was stupid, then I should be whipped soundly. No man that knows you would wish for you to repress that side of you. It’s the highlight of my day—that is when you’re not kissing me or letting me tie you up and hose you down with my come.”

She chuckled. “Good Lord, you better read, Sir, before I pass out from the naughty things you say.”

“Only if you make that excited sound again,” he said, cupping his ear and leaning it closer to her mouth.

She shook her head, and her hair flew all over the place.

He tickled her side, and that sound doubled in intensity. “Uuuuuhhhhhahhhh,” he breathed in relief. “Better.”

“Cheater.”

“Always. Have to get my way—spoiled bastard, remember?” He rumbled a laugh deep in his chest.

She shook on top of him, and her taut nipples grazed his pecs.

“Okay, reading now,” he said, taking one more deep inhale before starting.

“I love your voice—always have. It’s very soothing, so thank you ahead of time for reading to me,” she said.

“You’re welcome.” He settled one hand on her back and picked up the book with the other. “This is a line I highlighted forever ago, and it always spoke to me—‘a
ccording to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don't bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous.’” He paused, soaking in the way her breathing picked up.

“What’s that from?” she asked.

He picked his chin back up so he wasn’t hurting her.

“It’s from
Synchrodestiny: Harness the Infinite Power of Coincidence to Create Miracles
by Deepak Chopra.” He rested his chin on top of her head for a second. “Does it bother you if I read something to you with a religious context?”

“No.” She lifted her head and looked at him, her eyes brimming with untold of emotions. “I respect all religious denominations, and I find solace in these types of reflections. Pono never wanted to talk about or even think about this type of stuff. Do you read stuff like this often?” She set her palm on his chest and then propped her chin on top of her hand while she studied his facial reactions.

“Did you think because I’m a Dom, I don’t have a religious, sensitive side?”

“I don’t know what I thought, but this shocks me. Not because it doesn’t fit what I know about you, but because you’re too good to be true. My heart’s pounding furiously for you. Somehow you find a way to unravel me as a person. It’s incredible how you do it with such ease. Sometimes I think it’s reflexive, like breathing for you.” She blinked and shifted closer to him.