Jack’s mother was making it her mission to make sure Cait felt welcome, and that meant bringing her friends to the studio. And weren’t they pistols. Stylish and connected, they knew everyone and everything going on in town and the surrounding area. And they weren’t afraid to talk about it.
It had been annoying when she’d been on the outside, fearing she was being talked about, but on the inside, it was enlightening. Far from being the mean girls she thought they were, they were genuinely concerned about the women in this town, and through their various community connections women in trouble knew they could reach out to them whether to discuss a problem, or help solve it.
Cait, and Sophie who had also been suddenly welcomed into the ladies who lunch group, sat quietly listening to the ladies discuss what they were going to do to ensure that the women’s shelter was welcoming to women and their children. The building was sound but the décor was Spartan.
“I’ve heard of some yoga studios offering something they call Karma classes,” Cait began.
“And how does that work dear?” Barbara Taylor asked, pushing her glasses back up her nose.
“Usually you would ask for a donation instead of a class fee and it would go toward a charity. You know, if you were raising funds for the food bank, you’d ask for food donations.” Cait was getting excited by the idea. The studio she used to practice at had done this once a month. “In the case of the shelter, we could ask our students to bring perhaps unused cans of paint they have hanging about their houses, or any children’s toys and furniture.”
“I love that idea,” squealed Hilary LaJoie. In her late fifties, she was still bleach-blonde, but it suited her. She was effervescent and her good spirits were contagious. “Most everyone has half used or unused cans of paint that are just going to waste. And so many of us have basements full of children’s toys from when our kids were young.”
“I can probably set that up for two weeks from now,” Cait told them. She would need time to get posters made and put up, though all the women agreed to assist with the distribution. Hilary’s husband ran the weekly community newspaper and she promised an article in next week’s issue.
Lunch broke up shortly thereafter, which was good because Sophie and Cait needed to getback to work. Rebecca joined Cait on the walk back.
“I can understand this must be an issue close to you,” Cait told her. “You were in a position to help Suzie but not all women have family who can or would support them.”
“We are a small town and with a small town you have all the issues of a big city but it seems magnified somehow,” Rebecca explained. “My father used to hit first and think later. I don’t think any woman should have to put with that, and their children shouldn’t have to see it.”
“Says the hippie.” Cait smiled.
“Sssh.” Rebecca looked around conspiratorially. “That was a secret.”
“As long as we are keeping secrets, can I ask you about something?”
“I have no idea where the pot growing in the backyard is from,” she said seriously, but her smile was broad.
Cait shook her head. How had she not known about these women? “That’s not it, but if you ever want to share, I could succumb to peer pressure. But seriously, I wanted to ask you about Logan.”
Rebecca sat down on the back step of the studio. She pulled Cait down next to her. “What do you want to know?”
“Suzie intimated that Logan was in love with her.”
“Wow, that’s news to me,” Rebecca told her. “You have to understand that Suzie was the kind of girl who was used to getting what she wanted. She was head cheerleader. She could date the captain of the football team if she wanted to, or the valedictorian. Whatever she wanted, she got. And she idolized her big brother and his best friend.”
“Did Logan take advantage of that adoration?”
Rebecca shook her head. “I can’t believe he would. She was pretty blatant about it at one point and he actually came to me asking me to put a stop to it. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings but he had no interest.”
Cait breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been afraid that perhaps Logan had let the adoration go to his head. Not that she was worried about their age difference. She was the same age as Suzie. But she was concerned that their leaving had hurt two people who didn’t deserve it.
“By the time you met Logan, she was long over him. This was at least two years before you even met him or Jackson.” Rebecca frowned, concern furrowing her brow. “Is she really saying Logan was in love with her?”
“Kind of, yeah, but she was upset too that I hurt her brother.”
“Jack was a big boy then, and is a big boy now. He can make his own decisions, as can you. I’m just happy you are both making the right ones this time around.” She patted Cait’s knee and caught a glimpse of her watch. “Damn it!” She flushed. “I have to teach a piano lesson in fifteen minutes.” Rebecca leaned in, her lips brushing across Cait’s cheek. She stepped back, “I know it’s none of my business, but was he good to you? Logan I mean.”
Cait took an uneasy breath. “Yes. I made the right decision for the time and he loved me with everything he had. We didn’t always get it right, but we always tried.”
Rebecca seemed to sigh with relief. “That’s good. I always wanted the best for him too, and both my boys found that with you.” She glanced back at her watch. “Be careful. I will talk to you later.”
* * * * *
It was a week before the glass in all the windows were finally replaced. Jack hated that tonight he was taking Cait home. To her house, where she would be staying alone. The last thought really irked him.
It felt as if they had been playing a grown-ups’ version of house for the past week. They got groceries together and cooked together. He or one of their friends picked her up after work but he took her to the studio each morning. In the evenings, she watched television on the couch with her feet tucked behind him while he worked on his laptop.
The only other thing marring her homecoming was that the police still had no idea who had smashed her windows. There had been no fingerprints on the door, and whatever had been used to break the glass had been taken away from the scene. The neighbors, most of whom were either senior citizens or summer renters, claimed not to have seen anything.
“Hey.” Jack tilted up her chin so she could look him in the eye. “It’s not the end of us. Just because I am dropping you off at home, doesn’t mean I’m leaving you.”
Rationally, he knew this was not the end. In fact, he hoped it was just the beginning. Just that morning he had asked her to stay. She said she wasn’t ready, and he was willing to giver her time, but he wasn’t willing to lose the momentum they had.
They stopped to pick up groceries and take-out on the way to her cottage. They got pizza and salad to go from Gino’s Family Diner and, after putting the groceries away, they grabbed some folding patio chairs and set up the dinner between them on TV tables on the back patio.
It was a lovely evening. The sky was blue with only a few puffy clouds passing by. At seventy-eight degrees this was considered a hot day in St. Augustin.
He again looked around her subdivision. There were at least six houses with a view into her yard. “You have too many neighbors,” Jack said around a bite of his pepperoni and roasted red pepper pizza.
“And yet when you want them to have seen something, they are all blind,” she reminded him.
“I say this not to take control, but because I like fucking you outside. We need to build a fence out here.”
She laughed. “And a hot tub out here would be nice for those cooler autumn evenings.”
“And,” he continued, “a screen room for yoga practice.”
She shook her head. “If you are going to go to all that trouble, then I need you to move the waterfront here too.”
“Oh yeah,” he mused, now rubbing his chin as if plotting world domination. “How do we get you waterfront?”
“It’s a dilemma,” she agreed. “If only we knew someone who had a house with all that? Maybe I could convince them to sell it to me.”
“Maybe they could convince you to move in with them.”
She ran her hands back through her hair. It was curling from the humidity. “I’m not saying no, just not yet.”
His jaw tightened. “I am trying, you know.” His gaze locked with hers. “I am trying not to make you feeltrapped or overpowered.”
“I don’t feeltrapped.” She slid off her chair and moved around the table to sit on his lap. “I feel cherished,” she told him as she ran a hand down his cheek, across his jaw. “I may not have known the difference then, but I do now.”
“I want you, Caitie. In every way I can have you. I want you in my life as my girlfriend, and as soon as you get around to saying yes, as my wife.”
“You may have mentioned that a time or two this week.”
“What I maybe failed to impress upon you was how much I need you as my sub too. I want to be your Master. I want you to know you can count on me to see to your needs, in our bedroom and out.” His hand slid into her hair, cupping the side of her face. His lips skimmed over hers on his way to her neck. He kissed the sensitive spot beneath her ear and felt her shiver. “I will always cherish you.”
“I want that, Sir,” she whispered. “I need you, Master.”
He lifted her off his lap. “Stay right here,” he told her then he looked around the neighbors’ yards and changed his mind.
He grabbed her hand and dragged her into the house with him. Sitting her down on the couch, he grabbed his overnight bag from the doorway where he’d left it. It was primarily his toy bag, but what he got from it now was much more than a toy.
He sat on the ottoman in front of her and lifted out of the bag a turquoise box. “I was hopeful I could convince you to wear my collar one day.” He opened it. “But when I saw this, I knew it was meant for you.”
The collar he pulled out was simple. It wasn’t a statement piece. There was no lock or leather bindings. That type of collar belonged in the bedroom, whereas this one she could wear everyday. It would look like a delicate vine encircling her neck.
“I think the people at Swarovski may be kinky because they make some lovely collars.” He winked. “Will you wear this, as a symbol that you give yourself to me as your lover, your Master?”
“Yes, Jackson,” she squealed and threw her arms around his neck. They toppled to the floor together as he held her and kissed her for a long time, pinned beneath him.
“Naked. Bedroom. Now.” He finally growled and rolled off her, unable to wait another minute.
She dashed to the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing like breadcrumbs in the hall for Jack to follow.
Jack grabbed his bag and the collar, and followed her. She was already in position, on her knees, head bowed, when he got to the bedroom. He was again awed by the trust she gave him.
“I want you up on the bed, same position,” he said, putting his kit on the dresser and pulling out the items he needed tonight. This was about making his girl feel good. No, he corrected himself, this was about making her feel owned. He pulled out a length of rope, lube and a pocket vibrator.
He turned back to her. She was positioned perfectly on the bed. “Look at me,” he commanded. She raised her gaze to his. “I take my responsibility as your Master very seriously. I will never try to hurt you in word or deed. You are my everything.”
He hoped she could read the sincerity in his eyes. She smiled, and bowed her head so he could secure the collar.
She reached up with one hand, holding it against her throat as he fastened the clasp. It fit perfectly.
Jack kept his hands on her shoulders even when she raised her head to look at him again.
“You honor me, Master.”
“Your trust honors me.” He kissed her hungrily. The need rising in him. It was a turn-on to see her accept his collar. “Now turn around for your Master. Headto the mattress, hands behind your back.”
He quickly wove a double column tie around her wrists using his favorite hemp rope. The advantage of a double column tie was how quickly it could be done, even though he considered himself woefully out of practice. “You okay.”
Her cheek to the mattress, she whispered, “Yes Sir.”
The sight of her bound wrists against her lower back made his cock twitch. He could smell the sweet aroma of her arousal. She was ready. She had given herself to him in every way except marriage, and he knew one day she would give him that too.
His hand slid down the crease of her ass, pausing on the starburst that he wanted. He had warned her that he going to take her ass. He’d been the first, and he would be the last. He had spent the last few weeks teasing her, retraining her. He needed to be inside her.
She wiggled her ass back at him. A little tease. He rewarded the wiggle with a hard wallop. She groaned, arching into him even more.
He walked away from the bed, standing to the side where she could see him. He stripped off his clothes. He slid one hand smoothly over his torso to his hard cock. It stood straight out from him. He ran a hand down it and palmed his balls, squeezing them together. They felt full and needy too.
He watched her bite her lower lip as he pulled the condom over his aching shaft. He headed to the dresser to get the rest of the toys, then knelt on the bed behind her. “You know what I want tonight.” He felt the dark edge of his desire clawing at him, telling him to take her. Possess her.
He watched a shiver ripple through her body as he eased a little lube between the crease of her ass. He watched it slide down to her pussy.
“It’s cold,” she murmured.
It would be, he thought, since the room felt as if it were one-hundred degrees. He added some more, two fingers working it inside her. “I am going to be so deep inside you, you will never let me out.”
“Jackson.” She pushed back against his hands. “Master, please. Fuck me.”
He rimmed her with the plug, teasing her, before sliding it inside. He watched the plug sink into her. Its girth readying her ass for him. He was a lot wider than anything she’d taken so far, and longer. He couldn’t wait to be balls-deep inside her.
The vibrator buzzed as it came to life in his other hand. He slid it between her legs, teasing her pussy, rubbing it over her mons, but not giving it where she wanted it. Where she needed it, against her clit, tapping that steel barbell. He continued to slide the plug in and out, fucking her with it.
She started grinding down, as much as her position would allow her, searching for the vibe in his palm. Her actions became more feverish, rocking back on the plug, then arching forward for the vibe. “Please.”
“You needed this baby.” He rolled the vibe over her clit, from side to side. “You need to come.”
She moaned and thrashed and screamed her need to him. Begging for release. He gave it to her. Releasing the column tie, he brought one of her hands down to her pussy, giving her the vibe so she could press it just where she needed it. “Come as much as you need,” he whispered to her before releasing her hand. He wanted her relaxed and ready for him.
He felt her body shiver as she came, and he slid the plug out, replacing it with his own cock. He felt her body yield to accept him. He heard the catch in her breath when her body stopped fighting him and let him in. He held himself there a moment before he began to gently rock in and out. She took a little more of him each time.
“Please,” she begged as he tortured her with a slow, gentle fuck.
“Please what?” He smacked her hip.
“Master.” She hummed. “Please, Master. Fuck me.”
“That’s what I’m doing, Caitie-girl,” he assured her. “You just have to trust me. You feel so amazing. I’ve missed this so much.” He was at the edge of his control but he wouldn’t hurt her. He wanted to be deep inside her but he wasn’t there yet. He added a bit more lube and pulled her hips back. He watched her body stretch to take him. “That’s it, baby. Take all of me, just like that.”
She melted against him. Opening herself up, body and soul, and he cherished the gift she was giving him. He covered her back. One hand holding the wrist that supported her on the mattress, the other gripping her hip, as he began to quicken his pace, sliding easily now.
He heard her drop the vibe, it buzzing against the mattress. She braced herself with both hands as he took her, harder and faster. He felt his orgasm rushing up his cock. “Again, Cait, come again.” His fingers dug into her hip as she clenched down on him, crying out as she fell over the edge with him.
Time passed as he cuddled her to him, his cock softening inside her. “Stay. I need to clean us up.” He kissed the top of her head and rolled off the bed.
He washed his hands in the bathroom, caught off guard by the face that looked back at him from the mirror. He wasn’t young and arrogant as he had been when he first took her. He liked to think that the gray in his hair and the lines around his eyes meant he maybe had learned a thing or two.
Like what a precious gift her trust and submission was. It wasn’t something he could demand because he knew better. It was something he had to earn. He had to prove, and continue to prove to her that he could give her what she needed.
He liked to think he was a kind Master who always had his sub’s best interest at heart. But no one tested him like Cait. And no one made him feel like a hero with just a smile. He would test her, push her boundaries, give her rules that she would hate and relish at the same time. He would earn the submission she yielded so sweetly.
He braced his hands against the sink and took a deep breath as it sank in that she had said yes. His collar was resting against her throat. She was giving him—giving them—a real chance to do it right this time. He swallowed hard against the rising emotion in his chest. He wasn’t going to fuck it up.