"Ouch," she said, turning back to scowl at him.
"Inside now, young lady," he ordered, pointing to her front door.
She wrinkled her nose at him. "You really are going to be obnoxiously arrogant and make me agree to obey you in my wedding vows, aren't you?"
He gave a quick nod. "Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Then quickly ducking back into the car, he looked through the window and saw her sticking her tongue out at him. Not too cowed at all. Chuckling to himself, he gave her a brisk wave and drove off.
The following weekend, Kyle collected Tiffany around six P.M. and took her out in the country for a picnic under the stars. He brought wine, the de rigueur checkered table cloth, napkins, cheese and a lot of finger food. The only thing missing were the violins, so he propped up the small digital radio he'd packed and set it to the classical channel.
It was an especially warm and fragrant spring evening in mid-May, and definitely a night for lovers. The area they'd selected had received its first mowing of the season that morning, so they were surrounded by the sweet smell of freshly cut grass. A few insects chirped along with strains of Mozart as Kyle fed Tiffany bits of chicken and deviled egg. She responded by offering him much of the same. In between bites of food they sipped champagne and chatted easily with each other.
She told him how her sister, Chrissy, had actually climbed out of her bedroom window to meet with a boy. Chrissy was four years younger than Tiffany, and a lot more adventurous at age seventeen than Tiffany had ever dared to be, possibly because in addition to her father, Tiffany had Kyle watching over her very closely.
"Daddy caught her," Tiffany let him know with a smirk.
Kyle nearly choked on his champagne. "What did he do?"
She shrugged. Her father was inclined to be pretty lenient with both Tiffany and Chrissy. He would occasionally scold, but never spanked them. And, unfortunately, both of them knew it. "He gave her a stern lecture about sneaking around, then grounded her for a week."
Then she glanced over at him through lowered lids. "I have a feeling I know what you would have done, had she been your daughter."
"You do, do you?"
She nodded, and he could tell the champagne was making her just a little bit tipsy. "Yup." Then flopping down on her stomach like a little girl, she gazed at him with a slightly worried look. "I know you'd want your children to behave, and you'd never intentionally be mean to one of them, but you will take special care not to accidentally hurt any of them, won't you?"
He shook his head, then reached out to run a hand through her hair. "I would never harm a child, Tiff. Especially not one of ours. Although, if I were the sort to hurt children, you don't think I'd tell you the truth right now, do you?"
She shrugged, then shook her head and took another sip of her wine. "I guess not, though it does worry me sometimes."
Stretching out beside her, Kyle leaned up on one elbow. "What worries you, sweetheart?" he asked, enjoying the way her silky red hair flowed like water over his fingertips.
She gave a small lift to her shoulders. "That you'll forget yourself one day and lose your temper."
He drew his hand back and considered her expression seriously. "With you?"
"Yeah. Me, or one of our kids, when we have them."
He sat up. "That will never happen, Tiffany."
Swinging her lovely, long legs around, she slowly sat up to face him. "But how can you know that, Kyle? You're very strong, and you spank really hard sometimes. What makes you so sure you won't lose your temper with me one day?"
He placed his elbows on his thighs and gazed at her. "How angry do you think I was last week when you confessed you'd been lying to me for over a month?"
She rolled her eyes. "Angry enough that I was afraid you'd leave me."
"But when I didn't. When I reached out for your hand.... Were you afraid I'd physically hurt you?" He watched her having to actually think about that for a moment, and that worried him.
"I'm not sure. I mean I knew you were really, really mad at me, except you treated me with a cold determination rather than a hot anger. You seemed really in control."
"And when I pulled you over for speeding a few months back. What did you think then?"
She grimaced. "Somehow you seemed even angrier, then. The way you looked at me when you gave me that choice, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to sit for a week."
"And how sore were you afterwards?"
"Pretty sore," she confessed. "I had trouble sitting until the next day, and I had to sleep on my stomach."
"Do you think I lost my temper with you, then?"
She shook her head and looked down at her glass. "No. You were pretty much in control then, too."
"Have I ever lost my temper with you?"
He could see her seriously considering that for a moment, so he waited.
"No. I guess not," she said finally. "However, there's always a first time."
"True.... I could haul off and punch you in the face right now."
She actually scowled back at him. "I know you wouldn't do that," she answered with great certainty.
"Why not? I mean how can you know that?"
"Because that's not your style. It's never been your style to hit me any place other than where I sit. You even told me that physically hurting me has never been your objective. And I believe you, though I'm still not sure I fully understand the difference, between spanking and hitting. Even so, when given the opportunity you didn't even take that switch to me last week, and I think that's because you were afraid it might hurt me too much. Is that right?"
"Yes, it is."
"All the same, I want to be truthful with you, Kyle. I've occasionally had bad dreams where you've tied me down and taken a whip to my backside."
That caused him to draw back. He never expected his actions would actually cause her nightmares. "I'm sorry to hear that, Tiff. I never want you to think that I'd ever hurt you, or do anything more than spank your butt until you had trouble sitting for a day or two."
"Yeah, I know that. And yet it still scares me sometimes."
Nodding, he put his glass down, then said, "Well, I think we need to do something about that. Don't you?"
She shrugged. "What can we do?"
"Several things, honey. First of all, I want to give you a safe word. That's a word you can use if anything I do scares or hurts you so much that you need me to stop immediately. No questions asked."
"Okay, but why now? Why haven't you given me one of those before?"
"Frankly, because I never thought you needed one. However, if you're having bad dreams like that, I guess you do."
She frowned. "So, how does it work?"
"You say the word, and everything stops. However, it is not to be used lightly. If I suspect you aren't really scared or hurt when you use it, I won't be able to trust you, which, I think you'll agree, would be a very bad thing."
She nodded slowly. "So, what's the word?"
"It needs to be something you wouldn't normally say under the given circumstance. So it can't be 'stop', or 'don't,' or 'please,' or any sort of expression of pain, like 'ouch.' It could be your favorite color, dessert, fruit, anything you want, but it needs to be short and easily said."
"Apple?" she suggested.
"Apple would work just fine. Though it has two syllables, they are easy to get out, even if you're crying."
"That doesn't sound very reassuring, Kyle."
"Perhaps not, but that's one of your fears, isn't it? That you are crying so hard you can't tell me how much pain you're in?"
"I guess. Actually, it's more that I'm afraid you'll get carried away to the point that you won't stop, no matter what I say."
He nodded. "Okay. Even though I think I've shown that won't happen, let's do this. For the next two weeks you can say 'apple' anytime you want, and I promise to stop whatever I'm doing, then we'll talk about it. When you're convinced your safe word will provide you with the security you're seeking, I'll want you to agree that you'll only use it as it's intended to be used. Is that a deal?"
She gave a halfhearted nod. "Yeah. I'm not quite sure what it will prove, but I'm willing to give it a try."
He smiled, then bent forward to kiss her. "Good girl."
Then, moving very slowly in order not to scare her, he eased her down to the checkered cloth, then whispered. "I would very much like to make love with you, Tiffany Anne Morgan. Would you like that as well?"
Giving him a soft, sexy smile, she nodded then pulled his head down to kiss him.
Careful to take his time to bring her the most pleasure, he began by kissing the most sensitive spots on her body as he undressed her, pleased when she responded with soft murmurs of consent as she worked to undress him. He wanted her to enjoy touching and looking at him, so he encouraged her to do both as much as she wanted.
When his shirt was off, she slipped her hands along his ribs, then ran her tongue over his nipples. He groaned as the pleasure from her hot little tongue shot straight to his groin, and raised his hips to ease the discomfort caused by the confinement of his trousers.
"Did I hurt you?" she asked anxiously, and he smiled at her innocence.
"Oh, no, sweetheart. Just the opposite in fact. Having you touch me is very, very pleasurable. Just like this," he murmured then lightly sucked on her breasts. Her hips instantly jerked in response and she moaned. Without her asking, he knew she wanted him to kiss her between her legs as he had before.
Helping her remove the rest of her clothing, he gave her what she wanted, loving the sweet taste that was uniquely hers. She clenched her fingers in his hair with a grip that was nearly painful as he paid special attention to the small sensitive pearl that beckoned for his kiss. After his tongue paid proper court to the small morsel, he used his teeth to gently coax her to a climax, which he tasted almost immediately afterwards as she screamed his name.
Immediately gentling his touch, he lightly lapped her with his tongue until he felt the tiny spasms of her orgasms fade off and she sighed. Then looking up at her, he grinned at the expression of pure bliss on her face.
While she lay on the cloth, with every muscle relaxed, he finished undressing himself. He was lowering his jockey shorts when she opened her eyes and gasped.
"Kyle...," she murmured uneasily.
"Yes, darling?" he answered, getting back down on his knees between her legs, surprised when she scooted back from him.
"Um.... I didn't know. I mean I never realized.... I imagined you were big, but.... Oh, God. You'll never fit inside me without tearing something. I know it."
Chuckling at her innocence, he gave her a warm, reassuring smile. "Honey, you're just going to have to trust me on this. If that isn't sufficient, remember you have a safe word now that I've given you permission to use if--"
"Apple!" she called out instantly.
He could see she was really scared, so he sat back on his heels. "You want to talk about this?" When she gave a negative reply by moving her head from side to side, he posed his next question very gently. "Do you want me to stop?"
"Would you?" she asked, and he could hear the fear in her voice.
"Most definitely. If that is what you need me to do."
"And you wouldn't be angry with me?"
"No, Tiff. I wouldn't be angry. I might groan and whine a little, but I'd never be angry with you for being afraid or uncertain about something."
She nodded, then with a wince asked. "Can I touch it?"
Though wanting to laugh, he managed to keep a straight face. "Yes, you may, darling. As a matter of fact, I would like it very much if you did."
Her fingers tentatively reached out to lightly stroke him, and he bit back a groan. Her soft green eyes immediately shifted upwards to gaze into his. "Pleasure?" she asked.
"Most definitely, pleasure," he answered.
"You're very smooth. Especially here," she said, stroking the tip of his penis.
It was everything Kyle could do just to hold still under her uncertain exploration. A little braver, she ran her fingers along his length, then tried to close her hand about him.
"I can't do it. My fingers aren't long enough," she admitted with a trace of disappointment.
When he didn't answer, she slowly removed her hand. He held his breath as he waited for her decision. "Promise you'll stop if it hurts too much?"
He took a deep breath. "Just say your word, darling, and everything stops. I promise."
Giving a tentative nod, she said, "Okay. I mean I really want to make love with you, Kyle, but I'm a little scared right now."
"It's my job to make sure you find this as pleasurable as I will, little one."
She nodded again, then closed her eyes.
"Tiff, I have one more question to ask before we go any further." Opening her eyes, she gazed back at him inquiringly. "Do you want me to use protection?"
Her brow furrowed uncertainly. "Do you think there's a chance I could get pregnant tonight?"
"There's always a chance, sweetie. I know you don't want to have children right away, however, a condom could make things a little more uncomfortable for you, and I don't want that."
"Isn't there something you can do that might make it less painful?"
"Yes. I can use a lubricating jelly to help ease my way inside you. Is that what you want me to do?"
She thought hard about that for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think I'd like to have anything between us this first time, so I'm willing to take the chance if you are. We can use protection next time."
"If you're sure...." He let his voice trail off, letting her know it was her decision. He wasn't worried about giving or catching a STD, though he did worry about getting her pregnant before she was ready to have kids." He waited for her to tell him what she wanted.
"I'm sure," she answered finally.
Giving her a smile of reassurance, he lowered his mouth to her again. It didn't take long for her hips to begin jerking upwards in an effort to grasp hold of something just beyond her reach. This time, he was careful to bring her right to the brink, so that she was moaning with need when he held her hips and began to enter her very gently.