wouldn’t be fair for me not to admit that a lot of my actions yesterday were because of Charlene. The fact is, I’m never going to be okay with her. And we both have to accept that.”
I recalled the decisions I’d reached in the early hours of the morning. “Charlene’s not going to be an issue anymore.”
“You can’t fire her because of me. And if you did it now, she could file a claim.”
“I’m not going to fire Charlene. She’s too good at her job. The nonprofit has never seen growth like it has under her direction.”
She wrinkled her forehead. “Then how is she not going to be an issue?”
“There’s no law that says the nonprofit’s headquarters has to be in Manhattan,” I said. “I’ve decided to move it to Boston. Charlene has family there. And I’m not going to have direct contact with her. I’m going to have her report in to one of my senior executives.”
“You don’t have to do that for me.”
“I’m not,” I said, and at her frown I added, “I’m doing it for us.”
I watched as the full meaning of what I’d said sank in, and I saw the relief slowly seep into her expression. The frown disappeared and the wrinkles in her forehead vanished. But they came back too quickly.
“What if she doesn’t want to move?”
It was my turn to squeeze her hand. “I spoke to her this morning. She’s thrilled. In fact, she’s already left and is taking a few days to look at real estate there.”
“What if…” she started, but shook her head. “Nah, it’s not important.”
I’d known her far too long not to know what her question was, and likewise, I knew it was very important.
“If she had said no, she would have been told to look elsewhere for a job,” I said. “There is no business or nonprofit or position or employee more important than you. Never doubt it.”
She didn’t have to say anything, but the tears in her eyes spoke volumes. I kicked myself for not doing something before now.
“We have to discuss last night,” I said, knowing there was more that had to be said.
“I thought we did.”
“Not everything.” I took her other hand. “What I did was seriously wrong and it’s not enough for me to simply say I’m sorry. I want you to flog me. Or cane me. Whatever you would prefer.”
She gasped. “I can’t do that.”
“You can.”
“I’ve never used a flogger or a cane.”
“First time for everything.”
I’d anticipated her response and I was glad she took some time to think before she spoke again, but I’d be the first to admit that I didn’t expect what she said next. “I can’t. For me to do that to you would be more of a punishment for me than one for you.”
Of course. That made sense. “I see,” I said. “I didn’t think of it like that.”
The wicked gleam I loved so much danced in her eyes. “I wouldn’t, however, have any problem with you writing two thousand times I was an ass to make assumptions and I’ll never do it again.”
I swallowed the wrong way, setting off a coughing spell. “Two thousand times?” I finally wheezed out.
“Do you think that’s not enough? I’m not a Dominant, so I don’t know. Would three thousand be better?”
“If you want me to do three thousand, I’ll do it.”
“Oh, I know,” she said, so animatedly I was afraid to ask.
“What?”
“How about you write the number of lines you think is appropriate to make up for what you did?”
“That is an evil way to set it up,” I said. She looked very, very pleased with herself, so I added, “But it’s so creative I’m going to have to remember it.”
I laughed at her look of shock and then pulled her close for a quick kiss.
“One more thing,” I added. “Playing in public. After last night, I want to put guidelines in place.”
“Like what?”
“I know you enjoyed the scene with Luke and the one months ago with Jeff. And you liked it when there was more than one man watching. I’m fine with scenes like that, but I think it would be wise, at least for the foreseeable future, if we only invited other people to participate in limited, nonsexual ways, when we’re at our house.”
“Anytime we play in a public setting, it’s just us,” she said.
“Yes.”
“I don’t have a problem with that.” She raised an eyebrow. “You are okay playing in public?”
“I am. I enjoy it, too.”
“I’m glad we’re in agreement.”
“I never want to experience another twelve hours like the last,” I said, growing serious. “You’re so much a part of me now, it’d be easier to lose a limb than to live without you.”
“I don’t even want to imagine life without you.”
I drew her to me and as our lips touched, I felt we had finally come full circle. We had hurt each other and hurt ourselves, but now we’d found each other again and we could heal. I didn’t know why I thought our journey would be easy. She had told me once before nothing worth anything was easy.
I supposed that meant we were priceless.
We arrived back in Delaware stronger than we’d been when we left. We’d walked through the fire once again and instead of perishing in the flames, we’d been strengthened like tempered steel. With our lines clearly drawn concerning what we would and would not do in public, I discovered it was a lot of fun exploring the edges of those lines.
Tonight, three weeks after the conference, we were doing a medical scene role play for the group. I would no longer share her, even in a nonsexual way, in public, but she still got off on exhibitionism. That being the case, she had to be excited about the scene we were about to do. From where I stood, at one end of Daniel’s guesthouse garage, it appeared as if everyone in the group was watching.
I pushed the sleeves up on the white lab coat I wore and turned to Abby. She was on an examination table, naked and waiting.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Don’t you have it written down in the chart, Doctor?” she asked, and the gathering crowd laughed. “You’d think that’s one of the first things they teach you in medical school. I certainly hope you didn’t come in here to remove my gallbladder. I heard about that on TV once. All these medical mistakes.”
I smiled. I loved it when she acted like a brat during our role play. “Patient is noncooperative.” I acted as if I were writing it down. “And no, I’m not taking out your gallbladder. In case you didn’t notice when you walked in, I’m not a surgeon. Now, why don’t you tell me, in your own words, why you’re here today?”
We hadn’t rehearsed our answers, so I had no way of knowing what she would say. This should be interesting. Ad hoc role play was fun. With Abby’s limitless imagination, there was no telling what she’d come up with.
“My Master made me come here.”
“I see. And what was your Master’s reason for that?”
“Well, we were getting ready to have sex the other day. It was our first time and I refused to let him touch me after I saw how big his cock was. I said it wouldn’t fit. He said it would, and now I’m here. I told him I needed medical proof.”
“You need me to make sure your Master can fuck you?”
“Yes, but I’d sort of hoped he’d be the one here and not me.”
“Why would he be here?”
“So you could tell him his dick was too big. That’s what I thought the medical examination would prove.”
“That he had a big dick?”
“Not just big. Ginormous.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not how it’s going to work. Since we can’t do anything about his ginormous dick, we’ll just have to make sure you can take it. Let’s start by having you slide all the way down to the edge of the table. I want your ass almost off. Feet in the stirrups.”
She mumbled under her breath, but scooted down and adjusted her feet, giving me and our wat
ching audience a perfect view of her exposed pussy.
“Everything looks good from a visual standpoint,” I said. “But I can’t say with any certainty until I do a more thorough exam. Have you had sex before?”
“Yes.”
“First I’m going to see how responsive you are. You’re going to feel me touch you.” I ran a hand down her leg, and back up, teasing her. She wiggled, trying to get me closer to where she wanted to be touched. I smacked her inner thigh. “Stop.” She started to say something, but I cut her off. “Quiet. Let me concentrate.”
I resumed my slow stroking of her legs. I let my fingers trail up and down, arousing her, and making sure each one of her nerve endings was on edge.
“There you go. Feel how turned on you are?” I asked. “I’ve barely touched you and you’re desperate to be filled.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Aren’t you?” I asked.
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Not quite as mouthy as you were, are you?”
“No, Doctor.”
Satisfied with her answers, I ran a finger along her wet slit and circled her clit. Her hips jerked slightly.
“It appears you have no trouble getting aroused. That should make your Master happy.” I repeated my actions a few more times, never pushing into her and never touching her clit directly.
“I think it’s time for my next test,” I said. “Do you know what that is?”
She shook her head.
“Louder. My interns can’t hear you.”
“No, Doctor. I don’t know what you’re going to do next.”
Not letting her have very long to think about what it might be, I bent down and sucked her clit into my mouth. She bucked against me, and I forced her hips back to the table. I lifted my head long enough to say, “Move again and see what happens,” and then went back to torturing her sensitive flesh with my mouth.
I stayed there for several long minutes. I didn’t want her to fail in withholding her orgasm, but I wanted to push her to her limit. I licked and nibbled, and every once in a while, I’d suck her clit back into my mouth. I pulled back when her trembling legs indicated she probably wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer.
“Tell me.” I walked away so she could see me and I unzipped my pants. “Is your Master any bigger than me?”
Her right eyebrow lifted. “No, Sir. I believe you’re bigger.”
“So if I can fit inside you, he should be able to?”
“I don’t think—”
I shoved my hand over her mouth. “You’re not here to think.”
She shook her head.
“Your Master called me,” I said. “He said I was to fuck you as part of my examination. But only with my fingers.” I zipped my pants back up. “Which means, you’ll just have to dream about having a cock as big as mine inside you.”
She hadn’t expected that and from the look on her face, she wanted to whine.
“Poor thing,” I said. “But don’t worry, I can make you feel good with only my fingers.” I teased her slit again. “But your Master said you weren’t to come and that if you did, I could punish you however I saw fit.”
She did let out a groan then.
“Yes, and I spent a long time finding the perfect finger of ginger. And I peeled it and made it nice and smooth. And it’s just waiting for you to mess up.”
“Won’t happen, Doctor.”
“We’ll see about that.” I hooked two fingers inside her. “That’s two. Should I go for three?” I started pumping slowly. “Yes, you’re tight, but stretching to take my fingers.”
Her eyelids fluttered closed.
“Feel good?” I asked. “This will feel better.” I slipped a third finger inside her and started moving them in and out. “Yes, you’ll be able to take your Master just fine.”
“Does that mean you’re finished, Doctor?” Her shallow pants told me she was getting close to her climax.
“Oh no, I’m not close to being finished.” I slipped my fingers out and held them to her mouth. “Clean them.”
She sucked them into her mouth and it took all my strength not to unzip my pants again and replace my fingers with my cock. Instead I commanded, “Enough,” and moved to the side of the table. “I forgot to check one thing.”
“I’m not sure I can handle one more thing,” she moaned.
“Oh, you can and you will.” I moved to the side of the table. Her eyes traveled with me. She was trying to anticipate what I was going to do now. I didn’t make her wait too long, but leaned down and sucked a nipple deep and hard before pulling back and slipping a clamp onto her.
“Holy shit,” she said.
“Does that make you more or less turned on?” I asked.
“Is this still part of the medical exam, Doctor?”
“No, this is just me enjoying your body.”
“I hardly think that’s fair.”
“I really don’t care. Answer the question.”
“More, Doctor.”
“Good girl.” I sucked the other one in my mouth and then bit and decorated it with a clamp, too. “More or less?”
“More, Doctor.”
She was just about where I wanted her. I moved back between her legs and blew on her clit, smiling when her hips jerked.
“Ready to come?” I asked.
“Yes, please, Master.”
She’d given up all pretense of the role play. Perfect. “Good. Now we’re going home.”
Her eyes had been half-closed, but at my statement, they flew open. “Wha—”
“Shh.” I placed my finger over her lips. “Quiet girls get rewarded.”
She whimpered.
“Get up and get dressed. As soon as you’re ready, we’ll head home.”
I wasn’t sure she’d ever gotten dressed so quickly. She even took the clamps off herself, which was something she normally asked me to do. I was talking with Daniel and Jeff, saying good-bye, and she was at my side, restlessly shifting from one side to the other. I slid my arm around her waist and let my fingers stroke her lower back.
“I’m not sure, but I think you’re purring,” I whispered in her ear.
“That’s me sending you a subliminal message saying I’m ready to leave, Master.”
Poor Abby, I’d really worked her into a hot mess. “Look, there’s Cole. I wanted to speak to him.”
She said something in German under her breath. I was pretty sure the English translation was something like, “For the love of all things holy, let’s just get the hell out of here.”
I slapped her butt. “I’m kidding. Let’s go.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Our house was about a twenty-minute drive from Daniel’s, and my plan was to work Abby into such a frenzy of lust she would damn near combust when I pulled into our driveway.
“Did you enjoy the scene?” I asked.
“Yes, Master. So much.”
“Good. What was your favorite part? I know for me, I particularly enjoyed the whimper you made when I sucked you.”
She lifted an eyebrow, as though she was onto me. She probably had a good idea I was going to play with her mind the entire way home. I would have laughed, but she chose that minute to take her