Satisfaction Guaranteed (29 page)

Emma padded barefoot through the suite, making her way to the man who waited for her at a table for two.

"Very nice." Gage gave her an approving look, then stood up to hold out her chair for her. He seated her and placed an unhurried kiss on her cleavage before returning to his chair.

"I like your choices," Emma admitted. "Nothing I would have chosen for myself, but I like it all." Everything had fit comfortably and made her look better than she'd
realized she could. She'd always felt she was reasonably attractive, but she'd never really thought of herself as sexy. Gage's choices made her feel sensual and displayed her assets to advantage.

"You don't seem to see yourself the way I do." Gage poured coffee into her cup, then refilled his. "I'm not saying I want you to show off your beautiful breasts in public, because I'm a little too territorial to want other men drooling over them. But I like seeing you dressed like this for me. Showing me what a sexy woman you are, and showing off those full curves I love to fill my hands with."

"I guess maybe I see myself as a size twelve in a size six world," Emma said. "Have seen," she corrected as she added sugar to her coffee and stirred. "I have to admit that I look good in your naughty undies, and my weight isn't unhealthy. Curvy doesn't mean fat. Also, I've realized recently just how much time I've spent trying to lose ten pounds without any progress. Now I'm asking myself if I want to waste any more of my life dieting or if I'd rather enjoy myself at the weight my body wants to be."

"Hallelujah," Gage said. "You're beautiful, Em. No, you aren't thin as a rail, and since I don't see the appeal of that, I'm not sorry. I like to think I'd love the woman you are no matter your shape, but I'm very partial to the shape you have. And I hate seeing you unhappy. Every time you try a new diet, you're miserable."

"I've tried a lot of them in the last year," Emma said, thinking about it. Had she stepped up her efforts in an attempt to regain her husband's interest? And if so, why hadn't she known that all she really needed to do was start
wearing lower-cut things around the house and flashing a little bit? She'd assumed she didn't have the equipment to recapture his attention. She hadn't tried to seduce him. Maybe it was time she learned how.

"Your nipples are nice and hard," Gage said in a conversational tone as he lifted the covers off their plates. "I like to see them poking through the fabric of your dress like that. Are your legs spread, Emma?"

"No." She looked into his eyes and felt her heart skip. "Do you want them to be?"

"Yes."

Let the games begin, Emma thought, and opened her thighs under the table.

"Is the skirt keeping you from spreading your legs as far as possible?"

It was. She nodded and wondered what he'd say about that.

"Hmm." Gage considered her across the table. "We'll have to do something about that. In the meantime, keep your legs open. I want you to think about the fact that we're sitting here having breakfast together while you have your legs spread and you're wearing crotchless panties."

She dropped her fork with a clatter and nearly knocked over her cup retrieving it.

He smiled at her. "How's your breakfast, darling?"

Emma looked down at her plate as she realized she had no idea what was on it. Strawberry crepes. One of her favorite choices for a leisurely breakfast out. "Is there a hidden message in all these strawberries?" She gave him a curious look. "The strawberries last night. Crepes this morning. Just wondering."

"You love strawberry crepes. You love chocolate-dipped strawberries. And they go well with champagne." Gage reached over to touch her hand. "Maybe I'm hoping that if I offer you all the things you love, you'll associate them with me."

"Good strategy." Emma forked up a bite and let the blend of fruit, cream, and crepe delight her taste buds. "That shouldn't surprise me. You're very shrewd and an excellent strategist."

"You think so?" Gage looked genuinely surprised, and Emma blinked at him.

"Yes. You're always thinking ahead and looking for the advantage. You played football that way. Smart. Looking for your opening, thinking ahead of your opponents." She frowned. "Not that I want you to see me as an opponent."

"You thought I played smart." Gage rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand. "You didn't just think I looked sexy?"

"Well, that, too. Those tight pants. The shoulder pads." She grinned at him. "But I always knew you were smart, Gage. It doesn't surprise me at all that you've succeeded in
business. You know how to pick your opportunities, how to go after what you want and get it."

"I want you." His eyes turned dark.

She licked a stray dab of whipped cream off her lip and then realized what an invitation it would look like. She froze, her eyes wide, not sure what to do next.

"You look nervous, Emma." Gage's lips tilted just a little in an almost smile. "Like maybe you've realized you're alone with a very powerful man and I don't even have to get you naked to have you."

Her heart rate and respiration shot up, and Emma wondered if she was going to hyperventilate before he even touched her.

"I will have you," he added.

Her sex clenched in reaction, and she felt her breasts swelling in their lacy confines. Heat spread through her as she thought about how easily accessible she was to him.

"But not just now. Finish your breakfast."

He sat back and went on eating while Emma thought about pouring ice water down her dress to cool off.

"Right," she croaked, and drank her coffee to alleviate the dryness in her throat. "I'll just ignore the fact that you told me to sit with my legs spread as far as they could go and my crotch is bare and I have no idea what you plan to do to me next or whether it'll be in five minutes or five hours. No problem."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"If it's five hours, I'll be enjoying myself the manual way," Emma heard herself say, and it shocked them both. Him probably more than her, she decided.

Well, what did he expect? He'd gotten her hooked on
great sex at an impressionable age, gotten her accustomed to having it on a regular basis, and then expected her to not miss it when the last two years she'd been lucky if it happened once a month? She'd stopped waiting around for him after the first several months of frustration and started enjoying herself in the bathtub when she got home after a long day at work.

"Have you been pleasuring yourself while I worked late, Emma?" Gage asked.

"Yes."
You're not going to feel guilty about that
, she told herself sternly. "You were busy. I had needs." Beyond not feeling guilty, she needed to work on not feeling stupid. Why hadn't she demanded that he meet those needs a little more often? Why had she assumed a lack of interest on his part instead of something else, like market pressures and downsizing and increased workload?

"I'm sorry," she said a minute later.

"For masturbating? Why?"

"Not for masturbating." Emma felt herself blushing as she said the word and thought, This is one unforgettable breakfast conversation. "For assuming you had lost interest. For not saying something. For not meeting you at the door stark naked and demanding to be taken."

"You would have been," Gage assured her. "Right in the foyer. Possibly even before I got the door shut."

She thought about what that would have felt like, greeting him naked and demanding her conjugal rights, then getting thoroughly fucked in the entryway as a result. He probably wouldn't have even undressed, just unzipped his pants and bent her over that little table before giving it to her without any preliminaries. . . .

She dropped her fork again.

"Emma?"

She waved a hand in reassurance. "I'm okay. Just a little, you know, hot." And dumb, but wasn't hindsight twenty-twenty? She could wise up. It wasn't too late. At least, she didn't think it was. They were talking, really talking. If they could do that, if they could learn from their mistakes and not repeat them, she might find herself meeting him naked at the door in the not too distant future and getting a glorious Gage-induced orgasm as a result.

"I like you hot." Gage smiled at her and Emma thought, So do I.

She was beginning to realize that she had more than she'd credited herself with. Wasn't sexy mostly in the mind? It was that sense of confidence and knowing you had a man's eye that put a swing in your step. Her body hadn't changed in the last twenty-four hours, but the way she thought about it and saw it was changing. With the change in perspective came the recognition that she had feminine wiles and the power to use them.

When they finished eating, Gage picked up a small box she hadn't noticed sitting on the table. Given the distractions he'd provided, that wasn't surprising, Emma thought. She would probably have overlooked anything short of a three-ring circus.

"I have a present for you," he informed her.

His last present had been crotchless panties. She remembered that he'd mentioned playing with toys. What exactly did he have planned for their mutual pleasure?

He opened the box and lifted out what looked like two balls about the size of Ping-Pong balls on a string. They
made a rolling sound when he moved them. Emma was intrigued. "What are those?"

"Pleasure balls." He smiled at her. "A ball bearing inside each ball rolls with movement. Which produces vibrations."

Oh. My
. Emma could feel her eyes widening as she imagined the sensation deep inside from the two balls rubbing against each other, rotating, vibrating.

Gage came around to her chair, pulled it back from the table, and turned it a little to the side so it faced away from the table. Then he knelt in front of her and lifted her skirt with one hand, sliding it up her thighs until her lacy almost panties were visible. She held her breath as she watched him put his hand between her legs, exploring the area open to him.

"You'll have to wear these more often," he said, stroking her sex. "Especially with dresses."

"Something to think about," Emma said. Her voice sounded hoarse. His touch felt so incredibly good. He teased her with light touches, gentle petting, indirect stimulation, making her want more. Then he pressed one of the balls against her opening, pushing it slowly inside her.

It felt surprisingly good. She'd thought it might be cold or hard, but it wasn't. The second ball followed the first until just the end of the string remained visible. For retrieval, Emma thought. She tightened her inner muscles around the balls and felt a very pleasurable sensation as they rubbed together.

"Do you like your present?" Gage asked. He kept his hand cupped over her sex, stroking her intimately.

"It's certainly novel." She tightened her muscles again and smiled at him. "If doctors handed these out during
annual physicals, women everywhere would start finding time to do their Kegel exercises."

"Your health is important," Gage said with a solemn expression. Emma bit her lip to keep from laughing, then almost moaned as another jolt of sensation hit her when she shifted in her seat.

"Thank you," she said when she trusted herself to speak. "I'm glad my husband is so concerned about my health."

"I do actually have a purpose for this beyond pleasure," Gage said. "Although I'm not sure this is the time to talk about it."

His face blanked, and Emma wondered what he was thinking. Tension crept under her skin, and her first reaction was to say nothing. But that was the old trap she was determined to break out of. Not saying anything, waiting, had led to misery and finally a total breakdown of all communication between them.

Well, you have a pair of balls now, Emma. Speak up
. "I'd like to know what you had in mind."

"I know now isn't the time, and I'm not going to pressure you about this." His expression was serious, his hand on her gentle. "But you do know that keeping those muscles in tone can help prevent problems in labor and delivery?"

Her breath stopped. Her heart nearly stopped. "I thought you didn't want children, Gage. Every time I brought it up—"

"I want children, Emma. I just didn't want them too soon." He stood up and smoothed her skirt down over her thighs and held out his hand to her. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. The balls inside her shifted as her
position changed, producing a very enjoyable inner massage. He drew her hand to his chest and placed it there with his covering it. "I had a fifteen-year plan when we got married."

"And they were on it? And you never mentioned this? Why?"

"It seemed like the right thing at the time." He gave her a half-smile. "I felt like I had to prove myself to you, and to your family. I was the guy from the wrong side of the tracks. My father was a dockworker. Yours was a doctor. It was important to me to be able to take care of you and our future children, that they would have everything you had. And before you say it doesn't matter, I grew up without those advantages, Emma. I know what it's like. I wanted a better life for my family. For myself. And I didn't want you to ever regret marrying me, to wake up some morning and realize what you'd given up by choosing me instead of a guy from your country club."

For a moment, Emma could only stare at him in dumbstruck silence. When she found her voice, she said, "And this is why you wanted to wait to start a family? Why you've been working all these evenings and weekends and acting like you were either having an affair or married to your career?"