Taking His Hand (Under His Roof #2) (3 page)

“
Why didn’t she come with you?” Mom asks with an obvious look of disappointment on her face.

“
We’re still getting ready to have y’all over for dinner tomorrow night, Mom,” I explain, slipping into my North Carolinian accent as I tend to do around my parents.. “She’ll see you then. For a proper introduction.”

“
But we want to meet this girl of yours,” says Dad, relaxing in the front seat and eying the odometer as I merge onto the highway.

“
I know. You will.”

Mom leans forward between the two front seats and peppers me with questions. “What’s she like? Have you met her parents yet? She works in advertising, right? Will she advertise your life-coach business? Does she like Sparky?”

I do my best to answer her questions but finally get fed up. “Mom, put your seatbelt on. Tell me about California.”

That does the trick, and I get a full report from Mom, Dad chiming in on occasion with details or ridiculous anecdotes. I’m feel a twinge of envy when Dad describes the Redwood National Park, with the trees that ‘are so damned tall you could climb them right up to heaven’.

When we get to their place, Marilyn is there to greet us. We go inside for tea and more chatting before I excuse myself to get back home to Rachel.

Rachel. My Rachel. We’ve been together for such a short time but it feels like a lifetime. I can’t imagine not going home to her now. I’ve been practicing saying ‘our’ house instead of ‘my’ house. I have to admit, the plural rolls nicely off my tongue.

She’s been so accommodating and understanding of the work I do. Every time I think about it, I realize that our crazy decision—moving in together so quickly—was the right thing to do. I’d been anxious about her reaction to me hosting clients. I mean, I spank naked women literally fifty feet from where we sleep at night. I know on some level she must be struggling with that. She’s an open-minded woman, but she’s not without feelings. I’ve told her she has nothing to worry about, and I hope she believes me.

When I get home, she’s on the couch, napping with Sparky. I tuck a blanket around her, peck her on the forehead, and turn down the volume of the DIY projects show she was watching about wallpaper stripping. Was she imagining re-doing my bathrooms, making them “our” bathrooms already? I smiled, thinking of her cooking up plans. Checking in online, I confirm my appointment with Opal for tomorrow morning before scooting in next to Rachel and lifting her head to lay in my lap.

Stroking her neck makes her murmur something unintelligible before her eyelids flutter just slightly and she gazes up at me.

“
They arrived safe and sound?” she asks, reaching up to run her fingers through my hair.

“
They did. They’re excited to meet you tomorrow.”

“
I’m excited to meet them, too. I’m curious about the people who raised you.” She looks thoughtful. “Did they spank you, growing up?”

Laughing, I shake my head. “Nope. No one in my family believes in corporal punishment. For children, that is.” I scoop her up, then scootch under her so she’s laying across my lap. “And I don’t think any of them believe in it for adults, either. Except me. I’m unique.”

“
You’re a snowflake!” she says, giggling and half-heartedly squirming to get out of the way.

I give her a few playful swats before picking her up and heading to the bedroom. If I could, I’d spend all my time with her in the bedroom. Our bedroom.

As I undress her I think about spanking her. Not hard, not for punishment. Not for pain. I want to give her an erotic spanking, something sensual and fun. But not yet.

I don’t ever want to rush her. We have so much time for exploration. For experimentation. To find what’s right and fun and good.

I kiss her slowly, strip her slowly, enter her slowly. This isn’t fucking. It’s making love. I wonder if I even knew what that meant before Rachel. I listen to her moans of pleasure, the chorus of bliss that blows my mind. She is so deliciously hot, wearing her thin T-shirt with nothing else.

Sunday morning, I wake up before Rachel and make coffee for two. It’s still a little weird. I love it. She’s going out shopping with Samantha today so I can have a private session with Opal. I’m looking forward to seeing Opal, actually. I hadn’t heard from her in nearly four months, and she used to schedule weekly appointments with me. She mentioned in her e-mail that she would explain her absence. Mostly I just hope she’s doing okay.

Rachel appears in the kitchen, freshly showered and in her bathrobe, to get a cup of coffee. I grab her for a quick kiss, and I can’t help but run my hands over her body, warm and smelling like coconut from her shower gel. I take her coffee and set it on the counter beside us.

“
You are so sexy,” I breathe. While I’m happy to see Opal, I do wish I could just have Rachel to myself this morning.

“
Mmm, back atcha,” she says, kissing me and biting my lower lip playfully. “I gotta get ready.”

“
Sam’s stealing you away from me, right?”

“
Just for a few hours,” Rachel says, laughing. “Can’t wait for tonight. It’ll be so nice to meet your folks. And see everyone together. And…” she pauses, looking troubled.

“
What’s up, hun?”

She shakes her head. “Nothing. It’s just…you know my awful secretary I’m always whining about?”

“
Yeah.”
Of course I know her,
I think to myself. Her secretary, Aria, has been a client of mine for a while.

“
I finally fired her Friday afternoon. It was the right thing to do…just sucks, you know? She actually ended up getting transferred to a different department, which I guess is good for her.”

I pause for a moment. Nothing about my interactions with Aria nor Rachel have indicated that she should’ve been kept on staff. “Do you know why they moved her rather than just letting her go?”

She shrugs. “Not really. Something about her having too much potential to fire. I don’t know…when it happened, she just seemed like she was taking it way too personally. Anyway, I’m looking forward to having a distraction tonight.”

“
Oh, sweetie,” I say, grabbing her and bundling her up in my arms. She relaxes into me and I hold her for a long moment, thinking both of her plight and poor Aria. She must be devastated. She’d always tried to impress Rachel, and really loved working for her. Their conflicts had been the emphasis of many of my sessions with Aria. I figured her boss was kind of a bitch until I realized it was Rachel.

“
So, tonight will take my mind off work. I mean, I’m happy to be done struggling with her. She just looked so sad when I told her…”

Pulling away from the hug, I hold her at an arm’s length and study her.

“
Rachel, do you remember how irritable you were yesterday morning?”

She nods, and then a look of realization crosses her face.

“
When you’re upset about something, anything at all, I need you to come to me. I would have dealt with your behavior differently yesterday had I known what was going on in your head.”

“
I didn’t know…” she whispers.

“
I understand, sweetie. We’ll work on your self-awareness.” I pull her in for another big hug and kiss her forehead. Then, abruptly, I grab the belt on her robe and untie it, pushing it to the side to expose her ass.

“
Hey!” She moves her hand back to protect herself.

I grab her wrist, holding her tight so she realizes that she’s powerless to fight what’s coming. Then I deliver fifteen quick, sharp spanks to her ass. When I let her up, her face is flushed. I hold her until she’s steady on her feet.

“
Whoa,” she says.

I raise my eyebrows and point to the bedroom. “Go get ready. You’re meeting Sam in less than an hour.”

“
Okay.”

Opal arrives right on time at eleven. She’s lost some weight in the last four months, and I try not to appear concerned as I study her body while she walks past me, straight toward the dining room where we’ll have our pre-session talk. She’s always been slender and certainly didn’t need to lose any weight. I hope she’s been taking care of herself.

She’s wearing a black skirt with black stockings. I know from experience they’re thigh-highs, and I push aside the mental picture of what I’ll see when I lift her skirt. Before Rachel, I usually allowed myself those brief moments of pleasure when I have attractive clients. Now that I’m with Rachel, though, I really try hard to keep my imagination under control.

“
I was happy to hear from you,” I say, taking the chair adjacent to Opal’s. I’d sent her an email two months ago, just checking to be sure she was okay, and she responded with a quick note saying everything was fine. Like all my clients, Opal and I have a professional relationship. But since I’ve known her for so long, I do care for her like I would a friend.

“
Honestly, I’m really happy to be back,” she says, staring straight into my eyes. Her black hair is shorter now. It used to be long, always in a braid. Now it falls just below her chin, framing her face nicely. She looks good. Older than her twenty-five years.

“
I like your new hair-do,” I say, deciding to let her lead the spanking discussion when she feels comfortable. She’d warned me she wanted a pretty hard session. I can always count on Opal to let me know exactly what she needs. I love that about her. She’s one of my easiest clients. No mind-reading is ever expected or required.

Her face brightens. “Thanks! I just got it cut last week. Sort of a post-break-up requisite, I think. Get new clothes, get a new hair cut…”

“
So you were dating someone?” That explains the absence. “He took care of spanking you?”

“
She, actually. She took care of spanking me.”

I feel a little blush rise in my cheeks and inwardly scold myself for assuming Opal was straight. “Sorry,” I say, sheepish.

“
Don’t be. So, anyway. We broke up a couple weeks ago. I’m okay with it. I am. It’s just been a big change. I wouldn’t say I’m depressed…just down. Sometimes I feel like I’m dragging myself through the days, you know? And, I’m trying to kick the habits I picked up with her. Well, the one habit, really…”

I raise my eyebrows, and now Opal looks sheepish.

“
I started smoking again,” she admits.

That explains the weight loss. Come to think of it, Opal was around this weight when I first met her. I’d spanked her out of being a smoker once and I’m happy to do it again.

“
Christy—that’s her name—she’s a big partier. I became friends with a lot of her friends, and they’re a different crowd, you know? A couple years younger than me…they stay up later, party, smoke pot. I don’t know. I don’t mind doing that stuff on occasion, but I need to stop doing it all the time. It’s part of why we broke up. Why I broke up with her.”

Opal pauses, thoughtful, staring at her hands. Her fingernails are painted black. I wish she would paint them pink, or red. It would suit her.

“
I really think I can get ahead this year. I’ve got some regular clients, and a few of them have started sending me their friends. I’m actually looking into hiring an assistant. I just need to focus. I’m not a young party girl anymore.”

“
I understand,” I say, making my smile warm. Opal is a fantastic graphic designer. She really does have a keen sense of style—I’ve seen her portfolio. In fact, she designed the newest menu for my brother Mitchell’s restaurant, Maddy’s Place.

She looks up, meeting my eyes. “The spankings with Christy were more for fun. What I need from you today is strictness. I really need this. Motivation, or something. I don’t know. I need it to focus myself. To be centered again.”

“
I understand completely. Is it okay if I leave marks?”

“
I want marks,” she whispers, betraying her nervousness, which she then tries to cancel by looking me straight in the eye. Opal is nothing if not direct.

“
If you say ‘red’, I’ll stop,” I remind her, getting up and holding my arm out to help her to her feet.

“
I remember.”