Safe Harbor (22 page)

* * * *

Clarisse needed time to process the new information. She spent a long sleepless night replaying the conversation in her mind.

Thought about Mac’s kiss.

Truth be told, she loved Mac, too.

And maybe even Sully.

The next morning, she headed to Uncle Tad’s. As soon as she

201

walked in, he nailed her. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know that look, little girl. You’ve got something percolating in your brain. What’s going on?”

How did she talk about
this
?

Tad surprised her again. “You’d better not be thinking about moving. You promised me.”

She laughed. No,
that
wasn’t the problem. “I know. I’m not thinking about moving.”

“Then what the hell is going on?”

She blushed, not sure how to approach it. Not sure he’d approve.

When she couldn’t admit it, Tad laughed. “Please tell me one or both of those boys made a pass at you?”

Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at him. “What?”

He grinned. “Oh, come on. They’re both crazy about you, admit it.”

Clarisse remained silent.

Tad leaned in close. “Listen to me. Life’s short. If they love you, then enjoy it and to hell with what anyone else thinks.”

He dropped the topic, to her immense relief. She stayed a little longer, but it was blatantly obvious from his pleased smile and twinkling gaze that he would absolutely be unable to render impartial advice.

Before she returned to the house, she detoured by Howard Park and drove all the way out to the beach. A windy, chilly, overcast weekday meant she had the place to herself. She found a bench facing the Gulf and stared out at the choppy, grey water.

A chance for her dreams to come true.

For her very own happily-ever-after.

Was she brave enough to take it? Could she live that way?

Voluntarily turn herself over to someone else when she’d struggled so hard to be free? What
was
freedom?

Was it fighting for every dollar she had to earn and living alone

202

and on her own, or was it allowing herself to be taken care of, albeit unconventionally, by two men who would no doubt make sure she never wanted for anything.

Why couldn’t it have just been one of them? Either of them…

She realized what she’d thought. Mac or Sully.

But they weren’t asking her to make a choice. Maybe Sully didn’t love her the way Mac did, but he still wanted her around. That was something, right?

Still confused and unsure what to do, she returned to the Bug and drove home.

203

Mac took her shopping on Friday afternoon, to an adult store in Clearwater that sold sexy club and dance clothes in addition to novelties and movies.

She stopped at the doorway. No prude that’s for sure, but she’d never been in one of those places before.

Mac noticed her discomfort. He laced his fingers through hers and squeezed. “Trust me?”

She nodded and let him lead her inside.

It took every ounce of will she had to fight the urge to turn around, walk out, and demand he take her home. There were a few mannequins dressed—to use the term loosely—in form-fitting and skimpy wear she knew would look horrible on her. Her body was too large and round to ever wear anything like that.

A friendly sales clerk walked up. Mac took the lead. As Clarisse could do little more than stare at the store’s offerings, Mac told the woman what he wanted and she showed them several racks of clothing.

Mac consulted with the woman and picked out several things, then handed them to Clarisse. “Go try them on. What shoe size are you?”

“What?”

“What shoe size?”

“Eight.”

He turned to the clerk. “Stiletto pump, black, basic.”

“I can’t walk in stilettos!”

“Have you ever tried?”

“Mac, look at me. I’m too—”

204

“If you say ‘fat,’ I’ll spank you right here, so help me I will.”

Her mouth snapped shut. That’s
exactly
what she was going to say, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “I was going to say clumsy. I’ve never worn tall heels before. I damn near kill myself in flats.”

“Then it’s time you learn how.”

The clerk returned with two shoe boxes and showed the contents to Mac. He pointed to one. “Perfect.”

Clarisse looked at the items he’d picked for her to try on. “I don’t know how to put these on,” she finally admitted.

The clerk smiled. “I’ll help you.” She ushered Clarisse into the changing room while Mac took a seat and waited for the show to start.

The first corset looked beautiful. The clerk laced the back for her.

It forced her to stand up straight. As she turned and looked at herself in the mirror…

Her mouth gaped. Not thin, but the garment gave her a shape she never realized she had. “Wow!”

“That looks gorgeous on you,” the clerk said. “You’ve got a perfect waist, an hourglass figure. I wish I had your hips.”

“I’ll give them to you. I wish I had less of them.”

The woman shook her head. “No, you wouldn’t look good skinny.

Your proportions are perfect.” She grinned. “Your man doesn’t seem to mind your figure. He practically drooled while he picked out those outfits for you.”

Clarisse’s blush deepened. The woman helped her into a leather skirt and the shoes. The shoes fit, but she nearly fell over on the five-inch heels. With the clerk offering a steadying arm, Clarisse tottered out to show Mac.

He stood at her appearance, his jaw gaped in shock.

She knew it. It’d been stupid to think she could pull this off.

She—

He covered the distance between them in two strides, pulled her into his arms, and deeply kissed her with an intense passion that not

205

only took her breath away, it felt like he’d sucked her soul out from the very ends of her toes. Stunned, she nearly fell over when he released her until he grabbed her to hold her steady.

The clerk laughed. “I take it you’ll want these?”

“Yeah,” Mac hoarsely said. “Probably the rest too, if she looks this good in them.”

Clarisse couldn’t pull her gaze from his. “How many strokes did that just cost you?” she whispered.

He grinned. “I don’t care.”

He kissed her again before sending her back to the dressing room.

By the time they finished an hour later, he’d bought her seven different outfits she could mix and match, and two pairs of shoes. He smiled as he produced a credit card for the clerk to ring up the sale.

When they were back in the car, he couldn’t stop grinning. “You looked positively miserable in there, sweetie.” He leaned in and kissed her again. “But you also looked drop-dead gorgeous.”

Clarisse couldn’t stop thinking about the first kiss. Especially since her panties had grown considerably damp as a result. “Three kisses. He’ll beat you black-and-blue for that, won’t he?”

“I sure hope so.”

* * * *

Sully insisted on a modeling session when they returned. He sat on the couch and Mac helped her negotiate the walk from her bedroom to the living room in her heels. She wasn’t sure if Sully’s expression meant he liked them or not until she modeled the final outfit. Then he stood and walked over to her.

“They’re all gorgeous. I think you should wear this one at the party tomorrow.”

She blushed. “Why this one?”

“I think you’ll be most comfortable in it.” While the least restrictive of the outfits, she felt practically naked in the short

206

Spandex skirt that barely covered her ass and the leather halter top that pushed her breasts up and made them look two cup sizes larger.

“Comfortable?”

The corner of his mouth curled in a smile. “Unrestricted. But wear the first corset and the leather skirt in the car on the way there.

They’re street legal, so to speak. You can change into this after we get there.” Then he leaned in and gently kissed her on the lips. Not in the same deeply passionate way Mac had, but it still lit fires inside her.

Mac had another surprise for Clarisse. He made her sit on the couch and gave her a long, sensual foot massage before he painted her toenails.

He wore shorts, yet she didn’t miss the firm bulge poking out in front.

“I think this color looks sexy on you,” he said as he painstakingly painted her toes.

The deep metallic red did look pretty. When she didn’t reply, he looked up, worried. “You like the color, don’t you?”

She managed a smile. “Yes, I like the color.”

That relieved him. “Master said this could be a special little routine between you and me, before play parties.”

Fine with her, the foot rub had made her exceptionally horny while also nearly putting her to sleep.

When Sully said goodnight to Clarisse that evening, he cautioned her to get a good night’s sleep. In their bedroom, Mac was already kneeling, the punishment cane on the floor in front of him.

“How many?”

Mac didn’t raise his head. “I kissed her three times. Twice in the store and once in the car. I’m sorry, Master. She came out of the dressing room and… I’m sorry. There’s no excuse.” He sighed. “But it’s worth it.”

Sully smiled as he unbuttoned his shirt. Had he been there, no doubt he probably would have done the same thing, if not taking her

207

against the wall the dressing room.

“I’m going to do something I haven’t done before, slave.”

“Master?”

“You get three strokes tonight. One for each kiss. I don’t want to stripe you and then waste a good play party because you’re too sore to play. I’ll take the rest out of you tomorrow night.” He dropped his shirt into the hamper. “Or, you can take them all tonight and you don’t play tomorrow night. Your choice.”

Mac blinked in confusion. “Master?”

“Your choice,” Sully repeated.

After a moment, Mac said, “May I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“I thought you were going to play with me hard at the party anyway.”

Sully sat on the bed after stripping off his slacks. “That’s not a question, but you’re right.” Sully watched Mac ponder that.

“Not that I’m complaining, and yes, I’ll take the strokes at the party, but why?”

“Have I ever deliberately set you up to fail, slave?”

“No, Master.”

“Have I ever put you in a situation where you couldn’t help but earn punishment?”

“No, Master.”

“I told you to take her shopping. I should have gone too, but I wanted to work since tomorrow will be a lost day. Had I thought it out a little more, I probably would have anticipated this. Therefore, I don’t feel like punishing you for something that was ultimately my responsibility. Understand?”

“I understand, but I don’t agree. I could have not kissed her.”

Sully grinned. “Yeah, like
that
could have happened.” He pointed to his cock, which had grown stiff. “Get over here and take care of me. I’ll give you your stripes after you’re done.”

Mac eagerly complied as Sully relaxed on the bed. Mac knelt on

208

the floor between Sully’s legs and slowly laved his tongue along Sully’s cock. Sully reached down and tightly gripped Mac’s hair.

“That’s it, slave. Suck my cock.”

Mac’s efforts increased. He worked his lips over the shaft, slowly, drawing it out for Sully the way he knew he liked. Over the years, he’d become an expert at reading Sully’s body, knowing where to lick, when to suck, how to time his efforts just right to maximize the man’s pleasure.

He took pride in his work.

He palmed Sully’s sac, gently stroked his balls, licked them, felt the tension of impending climax build in Sully. He backed off a little, just enough to prolong the pleasure before deep throating him, triggering his release.

His hips bucked against Mac’s face as he came, moaning as his hot juices pumped down Mac’s throat. After a few moments, Sully’s grip on his hair relaxed. Mac released his cock, rested his face against Sully’s thigh, and waited for him to recover.

Sully eventually patted his head. “Very good, slave. Excellent.

Get the cane. Ass over the bed.”

Mac complied as Sully sat up and took the cane from him. Then without fanfare, he quickly laid three strokes across his ass, stingy blows that didn’t break the skin. He put the cane away and got the lotion. Mac didn’t always need it, but the aftercare had become a familiar and comfortable part of their routine.

Mac’s stiff cock brushed against Sully’s thigh as they curled together in bed.

“Are you horny, slave?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Good. I want you good and horny for tomorrow night. Go to sleep.”

“Yes, Master.”