12

steven

After the bath fizzed with Foamy brand bubbles, I grabbed a loofah and dunked it underneath the water. Sierra pulled her legs to her chest and leaned forward, resting her head on her knees and humming softly.

I drew the loofah across her glistening bare back, my stress from managing the Radiant franchise, helping Michelle with her Plaything Co. sex toy brand, and finding suitable housing for low-income families today slowly dissipating.

Honestly, I didn’t know where it had come from, but I had told her that I wanted to breed her tonight. And the thought wasn’t leaving me alone. I wanted to shove so much of my cum into her tight little hole until she couldn’t physically fit any more of it inside her. Until her belly was swollen and she was pregnant with my child, walking around my place.

“Do you like baths?” she said.

A quiet chuckle escaped my mouth. “I haven’t been in a bath in years.”

“Will you let me give you one?”

“What?”

She giggled and shrugged her shoulders. “You know, aftercare.”

“That’s not how it works,” I said.

Even though that was exactly how it worked. Aftercare wasn’t just about me taking care of her and her needs after a scene, but it also could—and should—work the opposite way too sometimes. Yet I hadn’t been with anyone who asked about me.

Ever.

“Why not?” she murmured, leaning over the edge of the tub. “You have needs too.”

“Maybe some other time.”

She stuck out her pinkie. “Promise?”

“No.”

Giggling softly, she grasped my wrist and wrapped her pinkie around mine to force me to give her a pinkie swear. Then, she sank back in the tub. “Too bad. You already pinkie-promised. No take-backs.”

“I did no such thing.” I chuckled.

“No, but seriously,” she said, “will you let me? Please.”

“Not tonight,” I said nervously.

I didn’t know how to respond because nobody had cared about me like that. Nobody had asked to take care of me even though that was what I so desperately wanted from a partner. Which was one of the many reasons I had given up searching for a sub who fit my tastes.

“But sometime?”

“Sure,” I murmured, knowing that she would be gone by then. “Sometime.”

Sometime had never come with the submissives that I had met. Sometime came for other doms, like Hector and Michelle. But never with me. Ever since childhood, I had been disappointed and left with empty promises.

Her stomach rumbled under the water.

“Is someone hungry?” I asked.

Cheeks reddening, she placed a hand underneath the water and over her stomach. “I usually have a snack right after class, but I didn’t get much of a chance tonight. I’ll have something once I get back.”

When she stood up from the bath, the water and suds rolled down her body. I grabbed a towel from the closet and placed it around her shoulders to dry her off. Grasping the towel from me, she stepped out of the tub.

“Come with me,” I said once she was dry. “Let’s get you something to eat.”

She followed me to the kitchen, and I opened the fridge.

“I’m not much of a cook,” I admitted. “But I can have my chef make you something.”

“You have a chef?” she asked.

“He lives on the floor below,” I said, heading to my phone on the counter to call him.

“Don’t be silly. It’s almost midnight. I have snacks at home.”

“You’re hungry, Sierra. You’re going to eat.”

“No, I don’t need a full meal. Really.”

When she finally convinced me not to call Thornton, I opened the fridge and freezer to see if I had anything here that she’d want to eat. I rarely ate here anymore and spent most of my free time at Radiant or working on investing in startups.

“Oh my gosh!” she said, staring wide-eyed into the freezer. “You have so many boxes.”

I peered over her shoulder at the three empty boxes of Swirl Scoops Ice Cream that I had been meaning to throw out. These had been Mom’s favorites, and I had been sharing one with her—metaphorically—every night.

Scratching the back of my head, I pulled the empty boxes out of the freezer. “Yeah …”

“Are they that good?” she asked with a small smile.

“They’re pretty good,” I said.

She peered down into the freezer, spotting one last box. I folded the boxes and placed them in the recycle bin.

“If you’d like to, you can try one. There should be some left.”

She pulled out the last box and gazed down into it. “No, it’s fine.”

I took it from her and handed her the last ice cream cup. “Take it.”

“It’s your last one,” she said.

“I can buy more.”

After her stomach growled again, she finally took it from me. “Are you su—”

“Sierra,” I warned, wanting to feed her.

She was hungry and wanted one, and I was a shit cook.

“Fine,” she said, tearing open the top and sinking her spoon down into it. She took a big bite of the ice cream, pupils dilating. Before she could get another word out, she sank her spoon back into the cup. “Where do you get these?”

“Giant Eagle.”

Her eyes widened. “Giant Eagle Market District?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Which one? Shadyside or Robinson?”

“I think Thornton goes to Robinson.”

Somehow, her pupils dilated even more. “That’s my favorite place ever!”

“The grocery store?”

“Have you been?”

“No.”

“No?!” she exclaimed. “We’re going one day.”

“It’s a grocery store.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head for emphasis. “It’s an experience.”

My lips curled into a smile, and a low chuckle escaped my mouth. “An experience?”

“It’s like the size of a football field with a huge selection of everything imaginable—a bar, hot food, a second floor where you can eat,” she exclaimed, staring out the window and grinning. “I literally orgasm every time I walk into the store.”

“I’d go just to see that.”

She playfully smacked me. “You will love it.”