Safeword: Matte (12 page)

Still floating, trying to put his words into context, Sam felt him unclipping her wrist cuffs from the strap and moving her to the bed. He’d placed straps under her mattress a few weeks earlier, and now he tied her hands off to the straps, situating her flat on her back with her arms stretched out to the side. He moved below her, kneeling between her legs, and put her in heaven with his mouth. Sam lost all concept of time as he brought her to orgasm after orgasm after orgasm, moving between her pussy and her clit, using his tongue, the heat of his mouth. When he finally rose up, he released her wrist cuffs and turned her over, placing her on her hands and knees.

Sam felt his cock at the entrance to her pussy and felt him slowing sinking into her. She was amazed it didn’t hurt – she could feel him opening her up impossibly wide, but it felt good, no pain at all. He spent a little time going slow, and when he realized she was good he picked up the pace. He re-situated her without slowing down, so her chest was flat on the bed, her back arched. She felt the comforting warmth of his hands, one at the small of her back, the other holding her left hip in place. And his cock going in and out – not rough and not gentle, just in and out. She heard his voice, coming as if from a distance, “Come for me Samantha. Come on my cock.”

Her body obeyed him, like the finale in a fireworks display with colors shooting off all over the place in no particular rhythm, carrying her through all the colors of the rainbow, all of the notes of the musical scale. As her orgasm began ebbing she heard him belt out a primal yell and then he went in and held, his hands on both hips now, holding her firm as he emptied himself into her.

Chapter Seven

Sam awakened to the sound of a rooster crowing in her bedroom, bolting upright with a surge of adrenalin before remembering the alarm app on Ethan’s cellphone used the rooster sound. Ethan silenced it and sat up with her, rubbing her shoulders and neck instead of talking. He’d learned she needed time to wake up before she could handle civilized conversation.

Sam looked at her bedside clock – 6:30. They would have to be on the road around seven forty-five, she needed to get in the shower. She realized she must have fallen asleep last night after the scene, right after they had sex, because she couldn’t remember anything after that final orgasm.

“I fell asleep on you. Again. I’m sorry.”

“I’ve told you not to be sorry about that. I wore you out. It means I did my job. How are you this morning?”

“I’ll let you know after I’ve stood up and walked around a bit.” Suddenly, more of the evening came back to her, and she said, “Are we good this morning? Do we need to talk about… anything?”

Sam felt Ethan’s hands on her shoulders go still, then rub their way down her arms. He lifted and turned her, pulling her into his lap. “It’s not like you to beat around the bush. Are you wanting to know if I regret telling you I love you? I’ll say it again: I love you. I want you in my life, I want to be in your life. You don’t have to say it back, I know you well enough to know you won’t say it until you’re positive you mean it. I’m happy just knowing you’re headed in that direction. No hurry, no worries. We’re good.”

Sam twisted around, pulling one leg through and then wrapping both legs around him, sitting facing him so she could look him in the eye. “I meant what I said… about falling for you. There aren’t a lot of guys who could be fine with me hanging out with more guys than girls as friends, without being jealous of them. There also aren’t many guys who think riding a bike halfway up a mountain, going on a hike into and back out of a canyon, and then riding the bike the rest of the way up the mountain, is a fun way to spend a day off work. And the fact we mesh so well in the bedroom, too.” She paused before continuing. “But, it’s more than that. You’re kind, and responsible, and smart, and considerate, and fair. I’ve heard you on the phone with the people who work for you, and with customers, and you treat everyone with respect and fairness – not just me. It isn’t just that I’m falling for you. I really and truly like who you are.”

Sam leaned into him, taking the control, so she was the one kissing him this time. She was a bit surprised when he let her, but she took her time, teasing his lips open with her lips, meeting his tongue in the middle. When the kiss came to its natural end she pulled back and smiled before kissing the tip of his nose. “We need to get moving and get ready if we’re going to meet them in time.”

“You still haven’t told me how you’re doing this morning. You okay to ride?”

“Yes, I don’t think I’m sore at all. How’d you manage that?”

“You can handle me better doggie style, and I made it quick.”

She thought back to the evening and smiled as she swung her leg off of him to stand up. “Yes, definitely falling for you.”

Chapter Eight

Three months later Sam left work and walked to a nearby restaurant to meet Ethan. He'd dropped her off at work that morning and would be taking her back home tonight. She walked in and gave her name and the hostess took her to him. He'd dressed up for her, wearing a suit and tie so they matched. And damn, he could pull the suit and tie look off. She'd been a little concerned about it at first, but he fit in perfectly with her business associates at social functions – enough of a Dom to hold his own in a room full of legal types, and enough of a gentleman to do it without it turning it into a pissing contest.

He stood as she approached the table, the hostess leaving them as she neared him.

“You look good enough to eat.”

He smiled. “I could say the same about you. Appetizers should be here shortly though, so we should probably eat the food, for now. How was your day?”

“Not bad, I took on two new clients and filed what I hope will be final paperwork for an old case. How was yours?”

“The new manager is working out well, which gives me a foreman for each team and three managers capable of running the shop, with one of the foremen able to fill in for a manager in a pinch. I can have one of them working at all times we’re open, which means I've made myself expendable. They don't need me on a daily basis anymore.”

She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. “What are you saying?”

He looked at her and leaned forward, holding her hand. “I have five weeks left on my lease for the cabin. I gave myself a goal, and I've reached it. The original goal was to make this office able to function without me so I could move onto another city. I don't want to do that anymore, but I do need to decide what the new plan is –– what I'll be doing now instead of what I thought I'd be doing. The cabin is nice, but it's not a long term solution. Its purpose was for me to live simply for the six to nine months I planned to be here, and it worked well for that, but now I need to find another place to live. First decision is whether I’ll rent or buy. Also, since it looks like I'll be staying on and working here permanently, should I consider adding onto the services we offer? We've got a professional design team at one of the locations in Atlanta who works with the homeowners to get the rooms painted ahead of time, tell them where their furniture should go, put their knick knacks out in a way that feels comfortable based on where they were in the old house... that kind of thing. Do I want to do that here? Do I think there is a market for it?”

Sam felt her stomach settling back into place as she said, “So, the decision isn't about whether you'll stay in Chattanooga, but what you're going to do since you've decided to stay?”

“Yes. Of course. I'm sorry if you thought for even a second I might be leaving. Sam, I love you. It would tear my heart out to leave you.”

She smiled. “I love you, too.” It still made her giddy to say it, though she’d been saying it for a few weeks. She took a breath and plunged on. “With all these decisions you need to make, should we talk about the pros and cons of you moving in with me?”

The waitress arrived with their drinks and appetizers, and they went ahead and ordered their food. Once she was gone he said, “I note you didn't invite me to move in, but asked if we should debate the idea.”

She shrugged. “It’s never that cut and dried with either of us. We always have to discuss and negotiate, don’t we? If you need me to invite you before we debate it, consider yourself invited. We've stayed at each other’s places four or five nights a week for months, and I miss you on the nights we aren’t together. I think we'll be fine living with each other, and my house is big so it's not like we'll be underfoot if we don't want to be. I worried at first how you'd manage the whole twenty-four seven sexual submissive thing, if it were really something I could handle. But so far you haven't made demands on me when it was impossible for me to fulfill them because of work or family obligations. There’ve been times I haven't wanted to do what you wanted, but that's part of it and it's a turn on for me when you can demand sex from me at any time, and unless there is something wrong, some reason I can’t, then I can't really say no.” She tilted her head a bit, considering, then straightened it back. “And it's never leaked over into the other parts of our lives. You’re my partner and boyfriend when it comes to everything else. I love you. Will you move in with me? I mean, I'm an attorney so I'm going to want to be clear on stuff, make sure we're both on the same page and there are no misunderstandings but...”

He put his hands in the universal 'time out' sign and she stopped talking, realizing she was rambling.

He took a deep breath and reached into his shirt, pulling a chain out over his head. It had something on it and he unclasped the chain and pulled it off, setting the chain aside and holding out his hand. “I won't move in with you unless you marry me.”

She looked down to see a ring and her heart skipped a few beats. Marry him? Seriously?

“You… you bought a ring?”

She saw him get his 'patient look' and realized she'd just asked a stupid question. Grinning, she said, “Yeah, okay. Of course you bought it. But were you waiting for me to ask you to move in before you asked me? Or was this the plan for tonight anyway?”

“I was going to ask you later tonight, but this seemed like a better time. I'm serious, Sam. I want the dream. We'll officially live together once we're married.”

She didn't know what to say. There was so much to talk about. “Do you want kids? I mean, I know you said you thought you might once you found your soul mate, but am I her? Do you want kids with me?”

“I want to wait several years before making that decision – unless you have the urge before then, that is. I'm pretty sure I’ll want them eventually, but not yet. I want time for it to be just us.”

Well, they were in agreement there, but there were other potential sticking points. “I don't want to give up my last name. I might add your name onto it, but I won't give mine up.”

He smiled. “Okay. I want mine added on, but I'm good with you keeping what you've already got.”

“We need to see each other's portfolios, understand both of our financial positions and come up with a prenup. Yes, I know, it's forever, but can you just humor me on this one?”

She saw one corner of his mouth almost smile as he said, “No problem. We can compare tax statements, bank accounts, real estate, and whatever else you want to compare. Other than my retirement account, my assets are mostly in my business, so it's not really a portfolio. If you weren't a divorce attorney I'd say no to a prenup, but I know you well enough to know how your mind works. Write something up and if I feel the need to negotiate it I will, but I know you'll be fair.”

“You're saying yes to everything?”

He smiled. “So far, yes. I knew you’d want to clarify things before giving me an answer. You have to get the logistics, the legal stuff, out of the way before you can let your emotions make a decision. I understand you, so I’m good with it. While we’re talking about stipulations, I have a few things I want to put forward, too.”

She raised one eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate.

“I want to start training you now for anal, and I want to fuck your ass on our honeymoon night.”

Her insides flamed into arousal. Zero to sixty in less than a second. Anal with him would be... Shit. How long did he think he would need to get her ready? “When were you thinking we'd get married?”

“Isn’t June the month all brides aim for? That gives us a little over four months to set the date and prepare for it. I want to watch you walk down the aisle in a beautiful dress, and I’ll be paying for the wedding and the honeymoon. All the other decisions and choices are yours to make. If you want to plan the minutia that’s fine, if you want someone else to handle it I know someone who’ll do it for us. But you haven’t given me an answer yet.”

“I thought you only had five weeks left in your cabin?”

“The owner will give me a three month extension at the same monthly price.”

“This is crazy – we haven’t known each other long enough for this yet.”

“I know you inside and out, Samantha, and I think you know me inside and out, too. I've never opened up to anyone else the way I've opened up to you. I trust you, and I know you trust me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. The rest of our lives together. Please, Sam, marry me.”

She looked at the ring again, understated but with a simple elegance. Exactly the type of thing she would have bought for herself. Yes, this man knew her inside and out, and accepted all of her. Loved all of her.