Accepting His Terms (17 page)

The next thing on Jill’s agenda was a visit with her parents. She assured them she was getting better.

Sally hugged her and said, “I’m so glad, baby girl. You had us so worried. Grace said you and she have had some long talks.”

“Yes, she understood what I was going through.”

“I know she did and I’m so happy you have her in your life. Grace and James are good people.”

“Yes, they are,” she agreed.

“They’ve raised a fine boy, too, I might add,” her dad chimed in. “Hang on to him, honey, he’s a keeper.”

“I know he is, Dad.”

“I’m not kidding, Jillie, you need someone like Jarrod. He will keep you grounded and happy.”

“Yes, he will. I know you and he talked a lot after we lost the baby. He said you helped him a lot.”

“Your husband and I understand what it means to love and care for our wives. Let’s just leave it at that, honey.”

She smiled and said, “Yes, he knows how to take care of me.”

“Are things better?” her mother asked.

“We aren’t completely okay, but yes, it’s better. I know he loves me and I know he’ll stand beside me and help me through whatever comes up along the way. And one day soon, I think things will be good again. Now I need to get going. I’m planning a special dinner for him tonight. I’m actually going to cook for a change.”

For the next several weeks, things progressed slowly. Jarrod and Jill were on good terms, but hadn’t moved forward into a complete reconciliation. He was true to his word about waiting and taking it slow. He courted her, he talked to her, and he gave her time alone when he felt she needed it.

As surely as their old bond had been severed, a new bond formed between the two of them and it was stronger than ever before. He knew what she needed, when she needed it and he gave her exactly what she needed - no more and no less.

One day, a few weeks later, Jill’s mother showed up at the office. She went in to see Jan first and afterward, she headed to Jill’s office.

“Mama, what are you doing here?” Jill asked when she looked up and saw her mother.

“I’m taking you to lunch and I won’t take no for an answer. You and I are going to have a little chat.”

“Did Jarrod or Jan put you up to this?”

“No, they didn’t, but I did have lunch with Grace yesterday.”

“The two of you are awfully chummy these days, aren’t you?”

“I happen to like Jarrod’s mother.”

“I know you do.”

“Now get your purse and let’s go. Tell your husband you might be late getting back.”

She phoned Jarrod and told him her plans.

“Have a good visit with your mother. I’ll see you when you get back,” was his reply.

Once they were seated in a nearby restaurant at a secluded corner table, Sally began the conversation. “Jillie, I know this has been hard on you, losing the baby. And you were right to grieve, but do you really want to lose Jarrod as well?”

“Wow, Mom, tell me how you really feel. I told you things were better.”

“Jill, we need to talk about this. Tell me what’s going on in that pretty red head of yours. Things may be better but how long are you going to drag this out? Jarrod may be the best husband in the world, but even the best of husbands won’t wait forever.”

“How much did Grace tell you?”

“She only told me that you and Jarrod were still not sleeping in the same bedroom.”

“He’s been sleeping in one of the guest rooms for several months. We’re taking things slow. I want him back, but we haven’t gotten that far yet. I blamed him for so long and now I can see it wasn’t his fault I went through it without him that day. We’ve discussed it. It’s really okay, Mom.”

“It’s not okay, Jill, can’t you see that? It’s gone on long enough. This has got to end soon. Tell me a little about your relationship before all this happened, if you feel comfortable talking about it.”

“I never thought I’d talk to you about it, of all people, but I want to.”

“Go on, take your time.” Sally patted her daughter’s hand.

Jill took a sip of water and said, “Jarrod and I had a different sort of relationship. Some people might think it was weird, but it worked for us. You know how high strung I can get.”

“Oh yes, you’re a lot like me in that respect.”

“Well, Jarrod had a way of helping me through that. I don’t know how to say this….”

“I think I know. Did the two of you share a bond, a special bond? Did he by chance, use a firm hand to keep you from getting too hyper at times?”

Jill’s eyes grew wide. “Jarrod said Dad hinted to him before we were married that he needed to do that. We already had… had a few run-ins. A lot of what we did was playful, but a few times he meant to make a point. It worked for us. We agreed to enter into a light form of a disciplined relationship, but only for as long as we both were comfortable with it and only doing what we both were comfortable doing.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Jill, as long as both of you agree and it works for you. I’ll bet your love life was exciting, too, wasn’t it?”

“Mama, you understand this.”

“Yes, baby, I do. And now you’ve lost that bond, that closeness. And you don’t know how to get it back. Jarrod is afraid to touch you and you’ve discouraged it.”

“Yes, after I lost the baby, I couldn’t even think about… that, any of it. I think we’re forming a new bond, though, now, a different kind of bond.”

“How so?” her mother asked softly as she sipped her iced tea.

“We talk more, he is sort of courting me. It’s kind of cute. He gives me space when he thinks I need it. I want it back, though, all of it. I want to try again. I want to go back to the way things were and keep the new things too. I want to have a baby.”

“Why haven’t you told your husband this, for heaven’s sake?”

“I’m afraid it’s too late. I don’t think he wants that anymore. What if I’ve pushed him away for so long, he’s done with that part of our relationship? Oh, I’m sure he wants to move back into our bed but the other… I just don’t know how to approach the subject now. It’s been so long. We didn’t start out in the traditional way either, Mama. We had a brief office affair before he asked me to marry him. I’m sorry. I know you raised me better than that.”

“I’m not here to judge you. I could tell the first time I saw the two of you together that there was some heat there. And let’s face it - your husband is one hot piece of work.”

“Mom!” she exclaimed in shock.

“Hey, I’m not blind. I may be married and older, but I’m not dead either. And I don’t think it’s too late. I think Jarrod is as confused as you are and he doesn’t know how to fix this either. Why don’t you talk to him?”

“Do you really think we can get it back?”

“You’ll never know until you try.”

The two women finished their lunch, and by the time Jill was back at the office, she knew what she had to do.

She knocked on Jarrod’s office door. When he asked who it was, she said in a timid voice, “Your wife.”

“Come on in.”

He was seated behind his desk. She hadn’t noticed the tired lines around his face until now. Had he been lying awake at night, as she had been? She wanted to caress his sweet face, but she was still afraid. Instead, she turned and locked the door.

She took a few steps, her eyes meeting his as she kicked off her shoes. She took a few more steps, her eyes never leaving his, stopping to take off her panties. She threw them aside. Walking toward him slowly, still keeping constant eye contact, she attempted to smile. When she reached him, she said, “I think it’s time for some maintenance.”

Jarrod sighed deeply. “Baby, are you sure?”

“Oh, yes, it’s long overdue.”

He reached out his hand and she took it as he gently laid her across his lap. He pulled up her skirt and gently caressed her cheeks. He gave a soft blow to the right side and waited to see if she flinched from his touch. She didn’t. She wiggled around on his lap. As his hand made contact with the left side, she moaned. She could feel his growing erection. He continued with pats to each cheek, and finally began putting more force to the blows, not enough to hurt, just enough to tantalize her.

Jill felt a rush of warmth. She began to cry softly.

“Baby, don’t cry. I’ll stop.”

“No, don’t,” she said. “Please don’t stop.”

He smacked her a few more times, until he couldn’t stand it any longer, then he picked her up and held her close. He brushed her hair aside and kissed her forehead. “I love you so much.”

“I’ve missed you,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too. Let’s go home.”

“Okay. And Jarrod?” she asked shyly.

“Yes, baby?”

“How would you feel about making another baby?”

He sighed again. “Let’s get the hell out of here before I go against our agreement and ravish you on this desk.”

“I really don’t think anyone would mind. They’d probably be standing outside the door, cheering us on.”

“You’re probably right about that, but when I make love to you, I don’t want an audience. I want you to scream at the top of your lungs.”

“You’re giving me permission to rock the house?”

He grinned and said, “As many times as you want.”

“Let’s go home. Our bed is calling us.”

“Our bed…that sounds good, baby.”

Chapter Twenty-One

As Jill went to her office to shut off her computer and retrieve her purse, Jarrod informed Susie they were leaving for the day. “We may not be in tomorrow, either.”

Susie smiled. “Enjoy the time off. Both of you deserve it.”

Jarrod grinned as he held out his arm to Jill as she approached.

“Have a nice afternoon, Jill,” Susie said.

“I’m planning to.” She smiled up at her husband, catching her breath at the look of love in his eyes.

They walked hurriedly to their cars. They had still been driving in to work separately most days. “I’ll meet you there,” she said as she got into her car.

“Be careful, but hurry, baby,” he said with a grin.

They arrived at the same time. As they each got out of their cars and walked into the kitchen from the garage, he gently reached out and grabbed her arm the minute they were inside. Pulling her to him, he leaned down to kiss her.

She moaned as his lips touched hers ever so gently. The kiss was sweet, but it excited her as much as any of the hot ones they’d shared in the past. She hungered for his touch, for the feel of his hands on her body.

“Oh, my sweet baby, I’ve missed you so much,” he murmured as his lips grazed her neck.

“I’ve needed you so badly. You don’t know how many nights I almost came to you.”

“I wish you would have. I was awake, waiting.”

“I’m so sorry…” she began, but he silenced her with a kiss.

“None of that, no apologies, no guilt, that’s in the past. All that matters is right now, this moment, and all the moments for the rest of our lives,” he said as he looked into her eyes after the kiss.

“It’s like the saying, ‘this is the first day of the rest of our lives,’ isn’t it? But why didn’t you come to me?”

He sighed and said, “I know when we entered into this marriage, we both decided I would be the dominant partner. But in this situation, I just… couldn’t. You were hurting so deeply and I couldn’t risk making things any worse. I would have waited for you forever and I never would have let you leave me completely.”

“You would have waited forever?”

 “I told you a long time ago, you were mine. The day I said those words, I meant forever, although I may not have realized it then.”

“I put you through hell the past several months.”

“You were going through your own hell and I couldn’t help you. For the first time in our relationship, I felt totally helpless.”

“But I didn’t make it easy for you and for that I’m truly sorry. I should have accepted your help.”

He scooped her up into his strong arms and headed for the stairs. “Unless you want our reunion to take place on the kitchen table, I’d suggest you quit talking and go to bed with me.”

“Kitchen table, cherry desk - it doesn’t matter, as long as you love me again.”

“Baby, I never stopped,” he whispered as he laid her on the bed.

He gazed into her pretty blue eyes. Catching his breath as he drank in the sight of her perfect body, dressed in her form-fitting black dress that fell just below the knees, he said, “You really threw me for a loop when you walked into my office and locked the door. I didn’t know what to expect. And when you relived the scene we shared one other day by kicking off your shoes and losing your panties, I wondered if you wanted a replay of that. I wasn’t expecting you to ask for a maintenance spanking. Somehow, I thought that phase of our lives might be over.”

She grinned seductively. “How could you think that? Well, I guess maybe I can understand how you might get that impression, the way I’ve been lately. Actually, Mama and I had a chat over lunch. It made me realize how much I miss every aspect of the life we shared.”

“Sally and you talked about spanking?”

“Yes, we did. She was very enlightening. She said if we both want it and it works for us, there’s nothing wrong with it. She also mentioned something about it making our love life more exciting. Oh, and she said you were a hot piece of work, or something to that effect.”

He threw his head back and laughed heartily. “My mother-in-law thinks I’m hot?”

“She said she wasn’t dead.”

“I can see now why your dad told me you were just like your mother. Two hot red-haired women,” he said with a grin.

“Oh, brother,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

He started to loosen his tie.

Jill gasped. “Oh… the tie… oh… I’ve missed watching you do that.”

He laughed again, “Ah, yes, the tie loosening fetish you have. Let me see if I can make this sexy.”

“It’s already sexy,” she said in a low voice.

He loosened the gray silk tie slowly, sensuously. As she held out her arms with her wrists touching, he instinctively knew what she wanted; although this was not something they had ever tried before. Gently, he bound her wrists with the soft gray silk.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Um…yes…” she said as she licked her lips in anticipation of his next move.