Knots (38 page)

He nodded. “There are two more lines, aren’t there?”

She closed her eyes and said it without looking, “Tell him this. Stop pretending to be a good person, and tell him!”

“Now you know. You told yourself I needed to know. That was the only part of that note that was right.”

When she opened her eyes, they sparkled with life. “This girl’s sorry, Sir. What can she do to make it up to you?”

He pulled the note off his forehead. “Where do you think this note belongs?”

“In the ocean?” She pleaded with him in her eyes like she was hopeful she got this part correct.

“I think that’s a good idea. Let it wash away from you. Think of it as a type of baptism—a renewal of sorts, because now you’re a different girl, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Sir. Th-this girl . . .” she swallowed “. . . knows she’s yours. She won’t mess up like this again.” She fumbled with her words a little, but her voice was growing in confidence.

“That’s right. Good girl.” He nodded. “You’ll write something else so this doesn’t happen again—a journal. Daily, you’ll write in it. I don’t care how much you write, but you will tell me exactly how you feel. We’ll read it every Sunday before we attend church with my mother.” He pointed at the ocean. “Now . . . I’ll let you do it.” He handed her the note, and then he went with her down to the shoreline.

She rolled up her pant legs, then stepped out into the waves, and instead of just dropping it in like he’d expected, she dunked it in the water, then wrung it out, turned it into a tight ball, and then flung it out as far as she could get it.

Admittedly, it wasn’t very far, but his heart was bouncing around in his chest.

Everything she did was spectacular when she was being honest with herself.

“I love you. Tell me you feel better from doing that than you did writing that note to yourself.” He walked up to her and looped his hands around her lower back.

“This girl feels a ton better. Thank you, Sir.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled—wide and free. “Now, tell me what I really want to hear so we can eat and then get home. I’ve gotta get to work.”

“This girl loves you, and you’re the best Dom ever.”

His heart pounded and shoved all the blood in his body into his groin.

Making love on the beach . . . Maybe there was time for that after breakfast?

Chapter 16

Jeanie was so high off Mark it was hard to walk straight.

And today he was being extra sweet.

He surprised her when she woke up with a bouquet of flowers from the Finaus’ garden.

How on earth could she breathe when she was this choked up?

She looked at him, and her eyes teared up when he wore that soft, adoring expression on his face.

“Okay, so you’ll pack us up today, and we’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning,” he said, keeping his eyes on her.

She nodded. “Yes, Sir. I’ll be happy to pack us both up.”

Oh, God, she was glad her punishment from a week ago was over. He had her do it for a few days since he liked it so much. She kept thinking about how difficult it was to refer to herself in the third person, and how it strangely turned her on beyond belief.

It would be too much today to deal with it. Her nerves were already fried.

“Are you ready to meet my parents?”

“You met my mother. It’s only fair.” He flashed her a grin.

“Yes, but your mom loves Jesus and thinks God’s good. My parents would probably burn the America flag at the pearly gates while smoking weed if they could. And that would only be after they said, ‘Jeanie who? We don’t know anyone by that name.’”

He cupped her cheeks. “It’s going to be fine. Breathe deep. I’ll text and call you a ton today to make sure you’re doing okay, and then I’ll distract you tonight. So take a nap. I want you alert when I’m fucking your brain into sedation.”

She nodded and smiled.

“Good. Girl.” He bopped the end of her nose with his. “I’ve handled everything. I’ve set up the U-Haul, contacted the people we need to so we can move you out of there and get you in here with me permanently.”

Those words filtered straight into her heart and made it squeeze hard.

“Sounds good. I’ll make sure we’re ready, Sir.” She made the bed, went about straightening up the room and then set out his toothbrush with the exact amount of toothpaste on it he always used.

He was getting dressed in the closet. They had a rhythm now. It was necessary for her to do as much for him as possible, since he liked to spend every spare moment of his morning loving on her, which left less time for getting dressed, grooming and the other mundane daily stuff life required.

They swapped places a moment later.

He was in the bathroom brushing his teeth while she got out his tie for the day.

She brought it and his shoes and joined him in there. He finished rinsing and spitting, then sat on the toilet seat.

Like clockwork, she set his shoes in front of his sock-clad feet, and while he slipped them on, she was knotting his tie for him.

He kissed her, checked his hair real quick and then he was out the door.

God, she loved mornings with him.

She had a role—she knew her purpose. And she fit in his life so effortlessly now, there was this all-encompassing sense of peace that remained with her all day long.

As soon as he was gone, she vacuumed, swept up the kitchen, unloaded the dishwasher and cleaned up from breakfast.

When that was over, she pulled their clothes out of the dryer. It wasn’t like her to let them sit in the dryer overnight, but last night he wanted to scene with her, so the laundry had to be switched right before bed, left to dry while they slept.

She folded it on the couch while she watched TV and then went to go pack them up.

What was she supposed to wear to see her parents? She hadn’t seen them in a few years.

Actually, not since the wedding three years ago.

Ugh—she was
not
looking forward to this.

But Mark would be there. Pono had no idea how to deal with her parents, and it was so uncomfortable around them, they just avoided her family. Her parents seemed oblivious to their existence anyway.

And here Mark had already talked to her mother on the phone.

Brave man.

She swiped her loose hair out of her face and then tucked it behind her ears.

Okay, packing up Mark first would be easier. She knew what he wanted to wear.

She pulled out the luggage from his closet, and within twenty minutes had him all packed up.

Her heart warmed as she thought about how much easier her life was.

No guessing. No questioning if she was a good girlfriend to him because he told her she was constantly.

The interesting part was she didn’t think it was going to stop.

It didn’t seem like it was all about the early days of dating. This was him—Mark as a Dom.

He gave honest feedback on everything. And if she screwed up, it wasn’t a big deal. He’d correct her in a loving way—no condescension, and then her guilt was wiped away.

For the next several minutes, she rummaged through her drawers and her back heated, then grew sweaty.

Her head ached and spun as she considered what the hell to pack.

They were going to be there for a week. Hopefully that would be enough time to get the place all packed up, visit her parents and rearrange things at work.

The good news so far was they were fine with her moving to the California office. It was a thirty-minute drive from Mark’s place, so it wouldn’t be too bad.

After another ten minutes of huffing and sweating, she finally just picked the top five tee shirts and shorts in her drawer, then shoved them in their suitcase.

A text had her phone rattling in her pocket. Already?

Love you so much! Tomorrow you join the mile-high club.

“Yeah, right.” She snorted and smiled huge.

She texted back,
Remind me why we’re flying and why you wouldn’t let me pay for my ticket?

His reply was quick.
Don’t make me come home and spank you. ;D

You’re just looking for an excuse, Sir.
She giggled.

The texts stopped. She could imagine him laughing in his office.

Out of nowhere, she got the brilliant idea to go pay him a visit and give him his surprise now. She had something she planned to give him once they were in Phoenix. Something to let him know he meant more to her than anybody ever had.

She put her shoes on, brushed her hair, then put it into a ponytail and grabbed her purse and keys.

Her chores were done, and she could finish packing herself up when she got back.

What harm would it do?

Was this allowed? They hadn’t ever discussed her stopping by unannounced.

She knew the address. It was plugged in on her phone, so she got directions and hopped in her car.

He only worked five minutes away anyway. Why not?

When she pulled up to the guard shack, her nervousness spiked until she saw the big islander guard, smiling at her.

“Howzit?” he asked.

“Good. I’m here to see Mark Pierce.”

“He’s not here.”

“Do you know where he is?” She fought off a frown.

“He went to the studio. He’ll be back in a few hours.” The guard shook her hand and showed her where she could pull over and turn around.

She sighed and went back home.

That sinking feeling, the one in her gut, was frustrating. If Mark was with her, he’d find a way to get rid of it.

Oh well.

Once inside, she finished packing. The good part was now she wasn’t thinking about her parents and dreading the visit.

She was wishing Mark had been there and that she could’ve surprised him.

Why did her failure on this tiny thing hurt so bad?

The rest of the day, she busied herself, getting the house ready for being vacant for a week.

Mark may have handled everything in Phoenix, but she’d handle everything here at their home. He wouldn’t even have to throw out the trash. She’d let him focus on the things that mattered.

Handling
people. Her and her parents.

* * *

The flight was uneventful.

They both slept a lot of the way, her tucked into his side.

Thank God he’d only been teasing about the mile-high club. She might’ve had to safeword on him if he really had wanted to make love to her on the plane. Her bravery was growing daily, but she wasn’t quite at that level yet.

The idea of public sex still scared the shit out of her.

When they landed and had gathered their luggage, she about burst.

“Sir, I was going to wait until we got to my place, but I can’t wait any longer. I have something I want to give you.” Her voice shook harder than her hands.

It was amazing he hadn’t seen it earlier when they had to go through the metal detectors and they’d made her empty out her pockets.

But then he’d been putting his shoes back on while she was being scanned.

He’d seemed in a hurry when that had happened anyway, so he was less observant than usual.

Good thing, too.

“You have something for me?” He smiled so hard, his eyes squinted.

“Yeah. May I give it to you now?”

He nodded his head and watched her every move.

“Put out your hand and close your eyes, please,” she said.

He smirked but did it.

A moment later, she plopped it into his palm and then curled his hand around it.

“Open, Sir.”

His piercing blue eyes took her in for a moment, then shifted down to what he was holding. He gasped as he stared at it.

“Holy shit! Sweetheart, how much did this cost?”

“It doesn’t matter. I wanted you to know that I may have given Pono a wedding ring, but you have my heart—absolutely. And I know this seems kind of dumb, but there’s a heart engraved on the inside with my initials inside it.” She beamed at him.

The ring was black gold with five black diamonds inlaid in a row.

His eyes twitched and teared up. “Fuck, Jeanie, I . . .”

“It has five stones, representing the five ways you own me—body, heart, mind, soul, and my will, or my submission, as you would call it. I know it’s cheesy, but—”

He covered her mouth with his palm. “Shhh . . . I absolutely love it. There’s nothing cheesy about it.” He pulled her over to a bench, tugged her down into his lap as soon as he sat down, then wrapped his arms around her. “It’s perfect. And, actually, I have something for you, too. But I want to wait until we’re at your place.”

“Okay. I trust you, Sir.”

“I know you do, and it’s the best feeling in the world.” He kissed her nose, and they both giggled.