Safeword: Matte - In Training (11 page)

Sam stood and bowed, even though Tom wasn’t
big on those traditions with his upper level students. She wanted
to show she appreciated his knowledge and assistance.

When she stepped out, Ethan was leaned
against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting. He
opened his mouth to speak, but she held a hand up before he could
say anything.

“I’ll talk,” she said, “but give me a little
time to figure out what to say. I’m not up for a crowd right now,
but you’re welcome to follow me to my house, if you’d like.”

* * * *

Ethan took a second to look at her body
language before he gave a quick nod and answered. “I would. How
about I stop by the store and get some mint chocolate chip ice
cream and meet you at your house?”

Something had upset his fiancée, but
instinct told him he needed to give her some space and let her come
to him.

No sooner than he had the thought, Sam
stepped forward and leaned into him. Her arms wrapped around his
torso, and when he enfolded her into his embrace, her body relaxed.
Ethan felt some of his own tension unwind when she said, “How did I
get so lucky?”

Ethan kissed the top of her head. “I could
ask the same. Be careful driving home. I’ll see you soon.”

Sam was sitting on her bottom front step
when he pulled into her driveway. She stood and walked up the steps
just before he made it to her, and stayed far enough in front of
him he couldn’t reach for her hand until he made it to the door.
Since it appeared she wasn’t ready to be touched just yet, he went
in and let her follow him to the kitchen.

Sam heated the fudge in the microwave while
he dished the ice cream into bowls, and they worked together in
companionable silence as Ethan gave her time to figure out what to
say.

“I’ll let you read the public stuff once I
get it together, but this one has years of abuse.” She pulled the
microwave open with a little more muscle than necessary, but
stirred the topping without showing her agitation. “Broken bones,
black eyes, belt marks. She married him right out of high school,
and thinks the twenty grand she’s squirreled away in a box is going
to be enough to pay my fees and give her and her kids a nice
start.”

Sam was normally super-conscious of
respecting her clients’ privacy, and Ethan brushed his hand across
her back and pulled her towards him. “You’re telling me more than
you’re supposed to.” As much as he wanted to hear what she had to
say, he didn’t want her to feel guilty later for telling him more
than she should.

“I know, but…” Ethan let her go as she
pushed away and restarted the microwave. “I trust you, and if I
don’t talk about this…” She shook her head, unwilling to finish the
sentence.

Sam leaned forward onto the marble counter,
her back to Ethan as she braced herself with her palms flat, as if
making a conscious decision to keep from balling them into fists.
Ethan knew she was using a trick to fool her body into releasing
calming hormones, instead of the fight-or-flight hormones, and made
a mental note of how hard she was working to maintain control.

“This woman’s situation bothers me, and I
can’t shake it off like I usually do. Maybe it was the x-rays, or
the haunted look in her eyes, or, I don’t know. I find myself as
angry with her as I am with her asshole of a husband.” Her fingers
curled in, and she pushed down with her arms and her fingers slid
back out, straight. “Tom doesn’t know any details, but he said he
thought something had resonated with me, and that was why I’d lost
control.” She shook her head. “He’s usually right about that sort
of thing, but I have no idea why this case has me so emotional. I
haven’t carried this much frustration out of the office since I was
fresh out of law school.”

Ethan decided he’d given her all the time to
work through it without him that he was willing to give. He stepped
to her and barely touched her ribs, giving more of a suggestion she
should turn than an order.

Sam rotated towards him and Ethan pulled her
to him and kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then her
lips. He started slow, with a soft peck, and when she didn’t pull
away he bent back down for a longer kiss. Sometimes she needed his
overbearing caveman approach, other times she needed a partner who
understood her emotions.

When he finally felt her
body relax and flow towards him, he put his hand to the back of her
head, tilted it back, and pressed her mouth open with his —
capturing, invading,
possessing
her with the kiss.

When Ethan finally let her up, he noted her
quickened breath and flushed cheeks, but was careful not to look
too cocky as he kissed her forehead and turned to retrieve the
fudge syrup from the microwave.

He let her find her equilibrium as he
spooned the hot fudge over their bowls of ice cream, and then
grinned at her as he pulled a can of whipped cream from the grocery
store bag.

Her happy smile as he dispensed the whipped
cream told him he’d done well, and he gave her his cockiest smile
as he pulled a jar from his bag and topped her bowl with three
shiny red cherries.

Sam blew him a happy kiss as she accepted
the bowl, and he watched her ass as she made her way to the den.
Her steps were quick and light once again, and he was delighted
he’d been able to help pull her out of her funk.

When he made it to the den with his own
bowl, she was sitting in the middle of the sofa with her legs
crisscross and her bowl balanced on a large pillow in her lap.

Ethan watched as she arranged cold ice
cream, hot fudge, and a little whipped cream on her spoon in
preparation for her first bite. Her eyes drifted shut as her mouth
closed around the obviously heavenly concoction, and she moaned in
bliss as she slowly pulled the spoon from her mouth.

Ethan’s cock stirred and he said, “Should I
be jealous? I’m the only one who’s supposed to be able to get those
noises from you.”

Sam grinned. “Sorry, big guy, it’s hard to
compete with mint chocolate chip. Besides, you fixed it for me, so
in a way you’re responsible. Sort of.”

“Thanks for trying to boost my ego.” He
spooned a bite of his own and asked, “What else did Tom have to
say?”

“He gave me a homework assignment. Wants me
to be prepared to explain the difference between anger, righteous
indignation, revenge, and justice.” She took another bite and spent
a few moments savoring it before adding, “His questions usually
send me off in a different direction, and I have a feeling the
definitions will help me pigeonhole my emotions better. I feel a
sugar rush coming on, wanna go for a run before bed?”

“Sure, but it was getting a little chilly as
the sun went down.” He looked to the window, and back to Sam. She’d
get a better night’s sleep if she ran, but he’d been hoping to put
her to sleep with sex. Maybe he could make it a quick run by
choosing the course. “How about we stay warm by concentrating on
the hills and staying away from the flat areas?”

“Perfect.”

They finished their ice cream, checked
email, changed shoes, and headed out. They agreed on a three-mile
route with mostly hills, and by the time they returned Sam’s
emotions seemed to be under control.

“Head on up to the shower and I’ll turn the
lights off, lock up, and join you,” Ethan said as they walked in
the front door.

Sam nodded and headed towards the steps, and
Ethan began making plans for the rest of the evening as he set the
alarm and turned the lights out. He decided to stay away from
impact play, at least at first, because she’d said the belt marks
and bruises in the pictures had bothered her.

He decided to press her up against the
shower wall and make her stand still so he could wash her, front
and back. Maybe he’d make her wash him, when he finished. He’d dry
her off, perhaps restrain her arms behind her back and put the anal
ring in while he dried her hair, as she had one more insertion to
go this evening. Might be fun to make her wear some nipple clamps,
too. He’d have to watch her close to make sure he kept her in the
right headspace, but he thought he could mix gentle caring with
affectionate sadism and make her want the pain.

She was standing under the water with her
face lifted to the flow when he stepped into the shower. His cock
was already rock hard, just from thinking of the things he wanted
to do to her, and he let her feel it against her back as he turned
her towards the shower wall and reached for her hands to place them
over her head.

Her body tensed a microsecond before she
twisted, dropped, and shot back up to simultaneously knee him in
the nuts and elbow his ribs.

Ethan froze as every nerve in his groin,
thighs, hips, and lower abdomen went white hot with pain. He took a
step, and his ribs screamed as he tried to draw air into his lungs.
Sam took the opportunity to slide around him and out of the shower,
and was a half-dozen steps away before she slowed and turned to
look at him.

“Not tonight Ethan. I’m sorry.”

Ethan ignored the nausea threatening to
overtake him, stood up straight, and stepped out of the shower.
Neither bothered to dry off, and the two just stood and looked at
each other. Dripping. Silent.

A quick inventory told Ethan nothing was
damaged, just tender, and it was safe to ignore the pain. Without
giving her a chance to run again, he stepped to her and wrapped his
arm around her, turned her so her back was to him, and pulled her
against the front of his body with her arms pressed to her side.
He’d managed to catch her off guard, and she was now securely
trapped, with no way to escape.

His Samantha didn’t give up so easily,
though, and lifted her foot and brought her heel down hard on the
front part of his foot, just behind his toes. She was lining up to
kick him in the knee when he dropped to the floor, taking her with
him.

He let her free fall with him until she was
close to the floor, when he slowed her descent and made sure she
had a gentle landing. She started fighting as soon as she was down
though, and he flipped her to her stomach, sat on the back of her
legs, and pulled her arms behind her back. He didn’t realize how
angry he was until he pulled her arms farther than he should, and
her body went totally still. He took a breath and let her arm back
down a half an inch, enough to relieve some of the tension, but not
so much she had a chance of escape.

Ethan had known weeks ago he needed to have
a talk with her about how it felt to have to be constantly on edge,
permanently ready to defend himself should she decide to lash out
because she didn’t feel like submitting at the moment. However, he
hadn’t talked with her about it, so he needed to stay calm as he
dealt with the current situation. She didn’t know it bothered him,
so he couldn’t hold her accountable. Yet.

Still, they’d agreed from the beginning his
nuts were off limits, so perhaps she was wanting more of a fight?
Or maybe she’d just acted on instinct and put together the moves
most likely to grant her freedom.

No matter the reason, she hadn’t safeworded,
which meant she needed him to be strong.

“Here’s what I think,
Samantha darling,” he growled in his most intimidating voice, with
his mouth a few inches from her ear. “If you truly didn’t want to
do anything, you’d have asked me nicely. But you chose to fight me,
to
taunt
me. We
agreed long ago to leave my nuts alone, and yet you went for them.
Why?”

“I’m sorry,” she practically yelped. “It was
just instinct; I didn’t think it through. You pinned me and my body
just used reflex to try to get away.”

He shifted his hands on her wrists, but only
to get a better grip. “You agreed I could have your body whenever I
want, and you can’t say no. You agreed you belong to me sexually,
and I want you.”

In reality, he’d gone soft with the punch to
the nuts, but he wasn’t about to admit it.

“But I don’t want you right now.”

She sounded like she meant it, but she
hadn’t safeworded. Of course, she’d never safeworded for this kind
of thing, when he wanted sex and she didn’t. Sam lived by a strong
ethical code, and so far she’d honored their contract saying he
could have her whenever and however he wanted.

Testing the waters, he said, “It’s not the
first time you haven’t been interested and I have. Are you going to
keep fighting me, or will you behave?”

Sam tried to buck him off as she bellowed,
“Fuck you! I told you I don’t want to do this tonight!”

Ethan stood and picked her up parallel with
the floor, holding her at his waist level, facing down. His right
hand supported her body while his left secured her hands behind her
back. She kicked with her legs, but couldn’t get enough leverage to
do any damage. She apparently wanted a fight, and he was of a mind
to give her one as he tossed her on the bed face down and promptly
sat on her legs again, holding her arms behind her back as he
leaned towards the nightstand and retrieved zip-ties from the top
drawer.

He’d considered backing off and
de-escalating the situation earlier, but now he realized they
needed to play this out, and he needed to re-affirm his dominance.
He didn’t intend to fuck her until she wanted him, but she didn’t
need to know that just yet. They both wanted a true power exchange,
which meant he needed to put his foot down and let her know he
could handle her, no matter how out of control she became.

She stilled under him and stopped fighting,
and he let go of her arms and flipped her over. Sam used the
opportunity to land a punch on his jaw with her left fist and grab
his ear with her right hand. Her nails dug into his ear, and she
used the leverage to pull her body up as she dragged his down.
Ethan ignored the pain, grabbed her other arm, and zip-tied it to
the headboard.