Kyle’s Bargain (19 page)

“Ready to come?” Kyle asked as he set down the flogger.

“Dying for it,” Meg said on a series of harsh breaths.

“Good. But you’re going to have to work for it.”

She turned to stare at him.

“Stand up,” he said. “Now lie down. On the floor, on your
back. Spread your legs.”

Meg followed his directions, though it felt odd stretching
out naked on the carpet with him standing over her fully clad. She opened her
legs, exposing herself for him.

“Touch yourself,” he said. “Stroke your breasts and rub your
nipples.”

She stared at him, puzzled by the order.

“If you want that orgasm tonight, you’d better do as I tell
you.” His expression looked sterner than she’d ever seen, almost harsh. It sent
a sweet frisson of mingled fear and excitement down her spine.

She smoothed a palm across her breast, surprised that it
roused a similar pleasure as when he did it.

“Both hands.”

Meg nodded and brushed both hands over her nipples, shivering
at the blast of pleasure that surged through her from both the touches and the
way he watched her.

“Take your right hand down your stomach to your pussy.
Caress yourself. Play with yourself. Make yourself come for me.”

For a few moments, a sensation of dizzying unreality held
her in thrall as she fondled her own clit. The swelling tide of arousal and
pressure of impending orgasm drove it away until everything faded into the
background other than Kyle’s face, intent on her, and the ripples of pleasure
spreading through her.

Between the remaining sting in her bottom, the pleasure
beginning to show in Kyle’s expression and the sensations she roused in
herself, it didn’t take long for the tension to swell as her finger rubbed the
sweet spot. It pulled her muscles taut and strung nerves tight. Sweat trickled
down her temples into her hair.

Then the pressure exploded into release and pleasure
engulfed her in the tide of jolting spasms. Once they wore themselves out, she
settled back, eyes closed, reveling in the absolute joy of it, the total
submission she’d given to him. Yes.

Better yet, Kyle all but ripped off his shirt and shucked
the rest of his clothes in seconds before coming down to her.

Meg looked delicious on the floor beneath him, her hair
fanned out on the carpet, hazel eyes glinting, face flushed from the effort and
the orgasm. The way she’d responded to his Mastery expanded him, filled him
with something deeper than satisfaction, sharper than joy, heavier even than
the arousal swelling his cock to painful tightness. She was his, his sub, his
complement, his woman, his love.

Kyle knelt between her thighs while still shaking off his
pants and briefs. His hands shook as he tore open the condom pack and rolled it
on. Waiting a second longer than necessary wasn’t an option. He needed to be in
her, to join with her, to claim her, his other half.

Sinking into her hot, slick depths felt like heaven. Home.
Both. He withdrew and did it again and then again. Each time he pulled out a
bit less, pushed in harder and faster. Meg surrounded him, held his cock firmly
and jolted each time he rammed in all the way. It squeezed around him, sending
waves of pleasure out to every nerve end. His muscles hardened and locked as
the dam holding back the explosion wavered on the brink.

When he felt another orgasm shaking her, the barrier
collapsed in an explosion of thrilling force as his seed jetted from his cock.
The relief, the release was so great, all the air went out of him on a long
sigh and he let himself sink down to rest partly on her, most of his weight
held on his one elbow. He kissed her again and again, setting his seal more
firmly on her each time.

Several moments passed before he could even whisper, “Meg.
You’re amazing.”

Her arms went around him, drawing him more tightly around
her. “I had a lot of help. And inspiration.”

“You didn’t find it too…harsh? Or demeaning?”

“Just harsh enough to be fun and not at all demeaning. The
last part seemed a bit strange at first until I saw how much you enjoyed the
show.” He thought that was teasing but wasn’t entirely sure. After a few
minutes more spent lying together on the carpet, his joints started to ache.
Meg released him when he moved back and stood up. She accepted the hand he
offered to help her up.

“Dibs on the bathroom,” she said, and went up the stairs to
it.

After they’d both cleaned up, he drove her back to her
apartment.

“I hope Laurie won’t be too put out when you get back.”

Meg sighed. “She’s got to learn to deal with it. It’s not
healthy for her or for me to have her be the entire center and focus of my
life.”

“Sounds like a reasonable approach. Easier to say than to
do, though.”

“Especially when she’s having a full-on temper tantrum,” Meg
agreed. “Maybe it’s time we both learned to live with it, though.”

He opened his mouth to tell her he thought he could live
with it as well then decided not to. Wait and see how she dealt with his
family. If that went well he wanted to talk about getting more serious. Maybe
next week he could take Meg and her sister out to dinner.

Nothing appeared to be on fire or otherwise out of order
when he left Meg at the door, though he didn’t see Laurie. Before Meg went in
he reminded her of the dinner with his parents on Saturday. “Will you wear
this?” he asked, fingering the gold necklace around her neck.

“Absolutely.”

Kyle slept well that night, but his good mood didn’t last
long once he got to the office the next morning. The mail brought another
rejection of more financing—no reasons specified. He still had a few more
applications out, but with each rejection his expectations that one might come
through diminished. He began to work out an alternate plan that involved
raiding his retirement account, a second mortgage, maxing out his credit cards
and a few prayers.

The only good news came from the construction site itself.
So far they’d hit no snags and were actually running slightly ahead of
schedule. He’d built some leeway into his original financing for the inevitable
problems, but so far they’d hit none. Keep his fingers crossed. That might give
him just enough margin to pull it off. Of course, it was still early in the
process. Lots of time left for problems to develop.

He spent Saturday on chores, mowing the lawn, putting down
fresh mulch around the shrubs, basic cleaning and thinking about expenses he
could eliminate.

Still angry at his father’s interference and lack of
confidence, he wasn’t in the best frame of mind for a dinner with the family,
but he tried not to let Meg know about it when he picked her up that evening.
She looked gorgeous as always in a deep blue dress that highlighted the sparkle
in her hazel eyes. The gold necklace glittered at her neck.

Her sister didn’t come out to greet him. “Is Laurie still
mad about you and me?”

“She’s gone from temper tantrums to sulking,” Meg answered
quietly. “She’ll get over it.”

He nodded, accepting her judgment. “Are you ready to go?”

Meg collected a flowering plant potted in what looked like a
mass of silver and blue foil before she called behind her, “I’m leaving now.
Mrs. Smith is next door. Leave the toaster set the way it is.”

No answer came but Meg didn’t seem surprised. “Pouting
still.” She shook her head and shrugged. “She’ll have to get over it.”

Once they were in the car, he asked, “Has she done this
before?”

“Occasionally, but never this bad. On the other hand, I’ve
never been gone so much. She needs to get used to it. There’s an element of
jealousy too.”

“I’m sorry.”

Meg shrugged again. “It’s life. She’s a teenager too, even
if she does have limitations others don’t. Same hormones, though, playing havoc
in her system.”

“Hadn’t even thought of that,” he admitted. “My sisters
weren’t always easy to live with in their teens.”

While he drove toward the very upscale suburb where his
parents lived, he regaled her with stories of his sisters’ issues.

“I wasn’t exactly a sweetheart at sixteen myself,” Meg
admitted.

“You weren’t an angel back then?”

“Anything but. I resented the fact that Laurie got so much
more time and attention from my parents than I did. They celebrated her
accomplishments to the max while everything I achieved was just expected.” She
stopped and went silent for a moment. “I sound like I still resent it. That’s
not really true. I understand why now. But when I was younger I sometimes went
off and did stupid things just to get attention.”

“Like?”

“Going out at night and hanging around with friends. Coming
in late. Dating a couple of guys my folks didn’t approve of. Cruising with
them… That sort of thing. A couple of times I even went out drinking. I’m lucky
I didn’t get into any serious trouble…or worse. I got over it, though. I didn’t
really like those guys much and getting drunk just made me sick. By my senior
year in high school I’d pretty much cleaned up my act.”

“No drinking games or wild parties in college?”

“Didn’t say that, but I was more careful.”

They compared wild parties they’d attended until he pulled
into the driveway of his parents’ home. He sat for a moment when he’d turned
off the engine, reluctant to leave the cocoon of Meg’s warmth and laughter
inside the car for the pressure cooker of his family home.

He got out, went around to open her door and pulled the
plant off the back seat for her. His mother answered the door. She greeted both
of them with her usual chilly graciousness. When he was younger, he would
sometimes wonder what he’d done to upset her, but as he grew older, he began to
recognize that was her normal manner. His father’s bluff heartiness was no more
genuine, but it was easier to recognize it for the façade it was.

“I tried to invite MaryAnn and Angela, but they were both
tied up with other things,” his mother said. He could hear genuine
disappointment beneath the casual words. She turned to Meg, and said, “You’re
Meg? I’m glad you could make it. We’re always pleased to meet Kyle’s friends.”

“Thank you. I appreciate the invitation.”

Meg handed over the plant, winning a small smile from his
mother as she set it carefully on a side table. “It’s lovely. Thank you.” Those
words sounded a bit more sincere than the previous ones.

He breathed out a small sigh and some of his tension
dissipated. It appeared civility would reign. They all made polite conversation
during the obligatory drinks before dinner and then during the meal, provided
by his mother’s favorite catering firm. Discussion ranged over the safe topics
of weather, sports, business and education. Surprise showed on both his
parents’ faces when Meg mentioned she had a business degree from the University
of Maryland.

“Yet you work at a used bookstore?” his mother asked.

Meg shrugged. “I also do database analysis on a contract
basis. That’s what really supports us. The used bookstore is more of a
sideline. And more for my sister, in truth. She can help out there and feel
like she’s being useful. It’s close to where we live and to her school, so she
can walk to it from either. And, really… It’s fun.”

His father frowned. “This bookstore is fun? A hobby? My son
is risking his entire career for your
hobby
?”

“Dad,” he said. “It’s not your—”

Meg stopped him. “I hope he’s not risking his entire career.
But that store is much more than a hobby, though it is basically a sideline
relative to my making a living. It’s an investment in my sister’s future. She’s
learning to work there. To unpack and shelve the books. To help customers and
count money. And it’s not just my store that he’s helping. There are several
other people in that strip of stores who are in much worse circumstances. For
some it really is their only way to make a living.”

His mother looked puzzled. “Why does your sister need to
learn how to unpack books and count money. I thought Kyle said she’s fifteen?”

“She is.” Meg looked his way. “You didn’t tell them?”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.”

“I’m not ashamed of it. It’s not like it’s her fault, or anyone
else’s.” She looked at his father and then at his mother. “My sister isn’t a
normal teenager. She has Down’s Syndrome.”

“Oh. So she’s…handicapped? And you have responsibility for
her now?” his mother asked.

“Since both my parents died.”

“You honestly think she’ll be able to run a business like a
bookstore all by herself, someday?”

Meg sighed. “Not all by herself. She’ll always need
supervision and help. But I hope it will let her have something useful and
productive she can do with her life and also let her earn a basic living as
well.”

“And any man you marry would have to be willing to put— Take
on that burden as well.” His mother gave him a questioning look.

Kyle stared back at her.

“Yes, he would,” Meg agreed. “Fortunately I’m pretty sure
there are men big enough and strong enough to accept the responsibility. And
creating family is part of the point of marriage anyway, isn’t it?”

“I suppose.” His mother’s tone didn’t try to hide her doubt.

Meg apparently decided that topic had gone far enough and
steered the conversation away by asking his father about his business—former
business since he’d officially retired two years ago. Of course he still spent
most of his days closeted in the office he’d added at the back of the house.
“Managing his assets,” he claimed. He responded to her inquiries initially with
his usual dumbed-down explanation of his career as a commodities broker,
specializing in industrial minerals and metals. Most people struggled to grasp
even the simplified version of the job. Meg’s questions made clear she not only
understood what he was saying, but she also recognized some of the challenges
and complications of the profession. Kyle wondered if she’d learned about it as
part of her education or if she’d done her homework before she’d come. His
father responded to her comments and queries with more enthusiasm than he’d
seen from the old man in quite a while.

Kyle caught his mother’s eye as she watched the interchange
between his father and Meg. She looked surprised and delighted. That grew when
the conversation on his father’s business finally wore out and Meg began to
question her about her activities and drew her out about her work with the
local branch of the Republican Party. He doubted Meg shared many of his
parents’ political views but she skirted that issue by focusing on what his
mother actually did rather than what she fought for.

Because the effects stunned him so, it took him a while to
realize how deliberately she’d set out to win over his mother and father. It
seemed to be working, though he realized it would take more than one dinner to
convince them Meg wasn’t a rerun of Rita. As starts went, though, he couldn’t
have asked for much better.

The whole evening was far more successful than he could have
hoped.

Afterward, when they’d said their goodbyes and driven back
to his home, he broke out the Cointreau to celebrate.

As they toasted the dinner with family, he suggested, “Do
you want to skip the punishment installment tonight? My thanks for your
effort?”

Meg drew a breath and frowned as she thought about it.
Finally she shook her head. “No. I want it.”

It thrilled him.

They went back to the guest room. “Strip and lie down,” he
told her. While she complied, he went to the closet where he’d moved some of
his collection from the basement and selected a light switch. Unlike the
paddle, it was all light sting with no thud or pounding weight behind it. A
different experience for her.

By the time he turned around and crossed the room, she lay
on the bed, waiting for him. The slight tremble didn’t detract from how
spectacularly gorgeous she looked, all soft skin, graceful curves and
intriguing hollows, topped with honey-colored hair falling over her shoulders.

Her face was turned toward him and she watched him approach
with a small, wry smile. It dug into him like an arrow, a bowshot to the heart.
Maybe he
was
pussy whipped, an ironic contrast with what he held in his
hand and was about to do. Maybe she even could lead him around by the balls. To
some extent. So far, other than the shopping center, she hadn’t done it. She
wouldn’t. Her sense of honor and responsibility were too strong. Wasn’t he
punishing her right now for the one time she had forced him to do something?