For the Roses

  She could do this all night with him. The way he watched her, studied her, focused on her. Damn, the man could kiss, too. Was there anything he couldn’t blow her mind with?

  I can’t wait until we play.

  After his balls settled against her ass he let out a long breath. “I am so glad I got you off already, baby, because I might not last long.”

  She hooked her legs around his waist. “Take your time.”

  It’d taken her and Peter several times together to finally start finding their groove.

  This felt like they’d been making love their entire lives.

  Perfection.

  * * * *

  Every breath he took he drew through his teeth in an attempt to hold back. Her pussy felt tight and hot and milked his cock even through the thin layer of latex separating them.

  Damn, she felt good. Best blowjob he’d ever received, for starters. So good and right he worried he might be way outclassed by her.

  Except the soft, needy noises she made as he slowly fucked her finished tangling himself in her aura. There was nowhere else he wanted to be, and no one else he wanted to be with but her.

  She brushed her fingers up the back of his scalp, from the base of his neck up, down, up again.

  Touch.

  Human touch.

  The best part of the past two weeks with her wasn’t this moment right here. It had been all the hugs and hand-holding and snuggling on the couch and watching TV together.

  The warmth of her body, her flesh touching his.

  And she didn’t make him feel like she was doing him a favor, either. She acted like she was just as eager for him as he felt for her.

  Her brow furrowed as she let out a gasp during one thrust in and he knew he had found the perfect spot, the right angle. Focusing on her allowed him to hold back more easily and he watched her, waiting as he fucked her, trying to get her over again.

  She rocked against him, harder, faster, and he matched her rhythm. When she came he felt it, her pussy squeezing his cock and her eyes falling closed. He picked up the pace, letting go, sweet release erupting from him as his balls emptied cum into the condom.

  She clung to him until he gently had to untangle from her so he could sit up and take care of the condom. But he returned to bed immediately, pulling her into his arms and holding her.

  “Well?” he asked.

  It was like she was trying to burrow against him, as tightly as she snuggled. “That’s was…” She sighed. “That was fucking fantastic.” Her hand trailed down, closing around his cock and balls. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll see if I can coax you into round two.”

  “You sound awfully confident.”

  Her gaze met his. “That’s because I am.”

  It’d been a while since he’d felt like getting off more than once in a week, much less in a day. But damned if ten minutes later she wasn’t between his thighs with his hard cock down her throat.

  Oh…fuck!

  He didn’t have to make comparisons to Keisha because Meri was blowing his ex-wife out of the water.

  Literally.

  Hell, he could barely get Keisha to touch his cock, much less suck on it.

  Unless she wanted something.

  This time when she got him hard and wrapped his cock in a condom, she rode him as he lay there, staring up into her eyes and wondering how he’d finally gotten so lucky. He kept his hands on her hips, a hint he took when she put her hands over his and squeezed them, the meaning clear.

  This had happened after he’d naturally started to reach up, to touch her.

  She wasn’t ready for that and he would be patient.

  Tonight was about them building something new, something for them without their exes’ voices blaring in their heads. If she needed him to be patient in other ways, he could do that.

  Absolutely and easily.

  Without hesitation.

  She was damn sure worth it, and for the first time in years, he was finally starting to feel like he’d maybe found the right path.

  Able to hold back this time, he watched, entranced, as she ground out another orgasm for herself while impaled on his cock before he finally let loose and let her milk another one from his cock. A few minutes later, spent and sated, she lay sprawled across his chest as he held her, legs entwined.

  “Told you,” she finally said.

  He laughed. “I’ll never doubt you again.”

  She lifted her head and stared into his eyes for a long, silent moment. “Thank you.”

  He brushed a hair out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear. “For what?”

  “For being…kind. Patient.”

  He cupped her cheek. “Baby, you’re beautiful. I wasn’t faking a bit of it, believe me. I hope I did right by you.”

  “Ooooh, yeah. Absolutely.”

  “Spend the night? Please?”

  She kissed him. “Absolutely, Sir.”

  After she texted Ron she was definitely staying over, they cuddled in his bed and he was struck once again with how…right this felt.

  There wasn’t a better word. That was the word.

  “How are you still single?” she mumbled.

  “I warned you I’m grouchy when I’m in pain.”

  “I don’t give a shit if you turn into a velociraptor. That was amazing.”

  His fingers trailed up her back. “Well, there was the whole thing about they weren’t submissive. Except I really wasn’t sure there was a name for it. I was pretty clueless and trying not to be who I was.”

  “My good luck.” She nuzzled his chin. “Sooo…question.”

  “Yes?”

  “I was thinking two weeks like this, then we try a little scene. Like maybe a spanking scene.”

  “I’d like that. If that’s what you want.”

  “Yeah.”

  Relief filled him. He knew that meant she trusted him, if she was looking toward the future.

  “Did you have a place in mind?” he asked.

  “Here. I trust you. You could have tried to sleep with me before tonight, and you didn’t. You never pressured me once.”

  “You can invite Ron over if you want. For backup.”

  Her head popped up. “Ew! Okay, hard limit, Sir. I am not having Ron watch us scene. Just like I don’t want to watch him scene, either.”

  He laughed. “Okay, okay. Point taken. It was just a suggestion. Invite Eliza or someone.”

  She laid her head down again. “I don’t need backup. If I felt I did, I would have said so already.”

  “And we wouldn’t be doing this?”

  “Not yet.” She shifted position a little, and there wasn’t a hair’s width of space between them. “You keep this up, you’re going to be stuck with a submissive. You realize that, right?”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You keep this up, you’ll be stuck with a lot more than that.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Over the next two weeks they saw each other almost every night—meaning even if they didn’t spend the night together, they usually wore each other nearly to exhaustion.

  And Meredith loved every second of it.

  The second Saturday after they’d taken their relationship to this level, she’d come home that morning from grocery shopping to find a large, white box with a lid sitting on the dining room table.

  “What’s that?” It was held closed by a large red satin ribbon tied in a bow on top.

  Ron lounged in the kitchen doorway and wore a playful smirk. “Oh, a special someone might have conspired with me—or is that I conspired with him? Anyway, that’s for you, for tonight.”

  She was supposed to meet Elvin at his house tonight and spend the whole night. They’d also talked more about having their first play scene tonight, starting with spanking, but not going to the club.

  He wasn’t going to push her for that, and she could tell he meant it. One thing she had asked for was to stop using condoms. They were monogamous, and she had an IUD. He’d agreed to that,
and it’d made the sex between them even hotter.

  “Aren’t you going to open it?” he asked.

  She picked it up. “You look entirely too smug. I think I want to do it in private.”

  “Suit yourself.” He grinned. “Can I plan your wedding yet?”

  She carried it to her bedroom where she put it on her bed and stared at it after closing and locking the door behind her. Their deal, made last night when Elvin took her out to dinner, was that she could safeword—for anything.

  Absolutely anything, no matter what.

  That was one of Elvin’s hard limits, that she have that safety net in place.

  Beyond that, she would let him worry about the details of tonight’s play, unless he specifically asked her for her input—or she safeworded.

  They’d done a lot of talking. Even though they hadn’t played yet, she sensed his Dominant slowly taking shape just under the surface, especially when they were in bed together.

  He had asked her if she had a trench coat she could wear tonight, which she did, and had located already.

  She supposed whatever was in that box would need to be hidden under said coat.

  Meredith stared at the box—still unopened—sitting on her bed.

  She almost dreaded seeing what was inside it.

  No doubt something slinky and sexy.

  Except…

  She wanted to trust him. Wanted to…submit.

  Yes, she could safeword, but…for clothes?

  Over the years she’d taken personal pride in being able to take a lot.

  A lot.

  The old her never would have safeworded for clothes, unless it jeopardized her job or could expose vanillas to what was happening. Hell, some of the shit Peter had dressed her in before a trip to a club was downright X-rated.

  Whatever Elvin had planned for tonight, it wasn’t like she had to go parading around in public in them. Hence why he’d made sure she had a trench coat.

  After checking one more time that her bedroom door was locked, she took a deep breath and slipped the ribbon off the box.

  He earned points for style, she’d give him that.

  She lifted the lid off and set it aside. On top of the pink tissue paper shrouding the contents lay a handwritten note.

  Miss Dutton,

  Other than your coat, wear ONLY the items in this box for your teacher conference tonight. You may wear different shoes for driving, or drive barefoot, but these shoes will be on your feet when you ring my doorbell no later than 7PM sharp.

  You will NOT enjoy the punishment for being late to our conference, nor will you enjoy your punishment if I find your uniform not exactly as I have provided.

  Mister Wynn

  Okay, yeah, maybe it made her weird, but that was kind of panty-dampening.

  Or would she even be allowed panties tonight?

  She opened the tissue paper and was a little confused by what she was looking at. Only after she reached in and removed it, shaking it out, did she realize it was a blue Sorrellson Academy student uniform polo shirt, short-sleeved. She checked the tag and found it a size smaller than she’d normally wear.

  But maybe that’s the point.

  Under that she discovered a short, pleated skirt, black plaid with white and grey stripes.

  That definitely wasn’t Sorrellson attire.

  When she held it up to herself, she realized if she bent over, her ass would be exposed, but it wasn’t obscenely short if she was standing. Almost—especially if it was windy—but just on that razor’s edge.

  The four-inch strappy heels also weren’t school-issued uniform attire. Black patent-leather, and with a buckled strap around the ankle…

  Is that for a lock?

  A small metal loop protruded from the strap, and yeah, she realized that’s exactly what it was for. But he hadn’t included locks with them.

  No underwear, no bra, nothing else.

  This put her off-balance already. Peter had taken great pains to slut her up as much as possible for a night at the local dungeon or a private party. She wasn’t sure what tonight’s “scene” was supposed to be, exactly, but she was starting to get an idea.

  Game on, then.

  She showered, shaved evvvverything, and decided on very light make-up, no mascara or eye-liner.

  If she was lucky, she’d be shedding tears either from a good, hard spanking or throat-fucking—or maybe both if she was very lucky—and she didn’t want raccoon eyes.

  An evil thought hit her. She opted to dig out two elastic bands and put her hair up in pigtails.

  Well, he wants a schoolgirl tonight, he’ll get one.

  She’d donned the clothes and had the trench coat on but not tied closed when Ron knocked on her door.

  “How you doing? Do I get to see what he sent or are you going to keep it hidden?”

  She opened the door and his eyes widened. “Holy shit,” he muttered. “If I was straight and not your brother, I’d do you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, that’s hot. Especially with the heels and the pigtails.”

  “Don’t wait up.”

  “I wasn’t planning to. I might not even be home tonight, if I get lucky. But please send me a text by midnight if you definitely aren’t coming home so I know not to worry and don’t come over to knock on his door for a proof-of-life check.”

  “I will.” She closed the coat. “This isn’t creepy, right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She indicated her outfit. “Him sending me this?”

  “Nah. That’s like number one het dude fantasy right there. Now if he’d dressed you in exactly the uniform, maaaaybe that’d be edging close to a line.” His expression softened, serious Ron in the house. “I strongly suspect he opted for something that was a mix of sexy and offering you a little…comfort.”

  “Comfort?”

  “Bra?”

  “No, but no panties either.”

  “Comfort. Not just physically, but emotionally.” He held out his hands, indicating her chest. “Comfort.”

  “Was that your idea?”

  Elvin had taken his time in that way, too, slowly exploring her body, slowing up in those times she wasn’t feeling very secure, sometimes letting her steal his shirt and pull it on while he joked that he loved watching her wear it.

  But both of them knowing he was letting her hide.

  He hadn’t pushed her to a head on that, either, even though it was starting to get easier for her to relax around him like that.

  Because he felt…real.

  Authentic.

  Honest.

  “Nope,” Ron said. “All he asked me for was your shirt, skirt, and shoe sizes.”

  “Still don’t know if I should be creeped out by you conspiring with him.”

  “I’d say it speaks to him being damned smart. He’s won me over. That was the hard battle. Now he’s trying to win you over.”

  “He was my teacher.”

  “Was he ever inappropriate with you when you were his student?”

  “No, never!”

  “Ever hear rumors of him being inappropriate with a student? Because I know I didn’t.”

  “No. He was married, I remember that. He wore a wedding ring. He was funny and nice, and young, when I think back, but he was never…creepy. If anything, we all trusted him. He wasn’t trying to be our friend, but he wasn’t a hard-ass, either. He was…firm but nice.”

  “Okay, then. Enjoy tonight and let it go wherever it goes. You want to trust him, right? He’s still new to all of this and probably has a whole head full of things to work through now that he has a willing and trustworthy partner. He knows you’re the experienced one here. Maybe your comfort isn’t all he’s thinking about. Maybe this is partly his comfort zone, too. Maybe he doesn’t want to make you shoulder the burden of teaching him and he’s trying to figure this out.”

  She hadn’t thought about it like that. “Yeah, maybe.”

  “You don’t like somethi
ng, then safeword.” His expression darkened, brow furrowing. “If he doesn’t stop when you safeword, you’d damn well better tell me.”

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t violate a safeword.”

  He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Have fun tonight, okay? Talk to him if you find yourself stumbling around. Let him into that stubborn head of yours.”

  “Thanks.”

  He left her alone, and she turned to study herself in the mirror.

  Yeah, this was kinda hot, when she thought about it. The extra safety net of being able to safeword for anything lay beneath her, an invisible comfort.

  She had no doubts he’d stop if she safeworded. That was the kind of guy he was. If for no other reason than she knew he wouldn’t want there to be any repercussions to impact his job. Except it was way more than that. He was a stand-up guy.

  As they’d discussed last night, she brought a change of clothes, since she’d be spending the night.

  At least, she hoped she’d be spending the night. Maybe it would depend on how their scene went. As far as sex went, she knew they’d be compatible long-term.

  He was fucking awesome in that department. Zero complaints from her. Way better than Peter, that was for damn sure.

  If Elvin could wrap his head and hands around the kinky aspects, then yeah, she’d definitely want that.

  He was smart, handsome, nice—employed.

  He’d been through his own trials and seemed to understand hers.

  I want to give this a chance.

  * * * *

  Meredith timed it so she arrived at Elvin’s house ten minutes early. She’d driven barefoot and slipped the heels on in the car, buckling the ankle straps before getting out with her overnight bag and purse over her shoulder. She locked the car and nervously headed up his walk to the front porch.

  They were both adults. He was only nine years older than her, so it wasn’t a huge age gap.