The Submissive's Last Word (The Power to Please #4) (18 page)

“If you obey me,” he said, “you’ll be ready for me sooner.
You want to be ready for me, don’t you?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good.”

His fingers twisted inside me. His other hand closed over my
shoulder.

I was ready to soar. He had to let me come soon. He had to.
I couldn’t last much longer. And he was breathing so hard now, and fucking me
faster and faster. God, I couldn’t stop it. I had to.

He pushed a third finger inside me, pumped me hard. I cried
out.

“You can come now,” he said.

And I did. Gloriously, wildly. Loudly.

And not long after, so did he.

I woke in the wee hours of the morning, alone in our big
bed. I sat up, looked around the darkened room. No Gibson. I listened hard, thinking
he might be in the bathroom, but no. The door was open and it was just as dark
as the bedroom.

Gibson was gone.

He’d been wrapped around me when I fell asleep, I knew that
much. I was exhausted after spending several hours in his dungeon. He’d had to
prop me up in the shower to get me cleaned up afterward, my legs were so shaky
and unreliable.

The last thing I remembered, he’d been spooned against my
back. I fell asleep that way, our breath synchronized.

Maybe he got hungry and went to the kitchen for a snack. I
wouldn’t mind a bite myself, I decided, so I climbed out of bed, found my robe
and headed off on the long walk to the kitchen.

The mansion was shadowed and eerie at night. It made
creaking noises that I couldn’t get accustomed to. By the time I reached the
bottom of the big staircase, I was half jumpy from the real and imagined sounds
of the place.

Then I heard a loud clang down in the west wing and nearly
leapt up in alarm. I let out an embarrassing eep of surprise, embarrassing had
anyone been there to hear me.

What was that sound? It clanged again. The impact of metal
on metal. Another clang. I thought I knew what it was now, and headed down the
corridor to confirm it.

The closer I got to my destination, the more certain I
became. The sounds were coming from Gibson’s gym, from one of the weight
machines.

I peered around the open doorway. Sure enough. There was
Gibson, lying flat on the bench press machine, pushing up a pile of metal
weights that clanked together when he lowered them down. It was an
old-fashioned machine, originally owned by Gibson’s father, and still used by
Gibson for sentimental reasons, I presumed.

He couldn’t see me from where he lay, so I stood in the
doorway and watched him in silence. He drove himself hard, his arms straining
under the great weight, his grunts of effort echoing in the room.

I couldn’t imagine why he might be working out. It was
almost four in the morning. Who exercised at that time of night? And he seemed
like a possessed man, going harder and faster than I’d seen him go before.

I debated making myself known to him, and eventually decided
against it. I slipped back down the corridor and returned to the bedroom.

I dug out a bag of chips I kept stashed in my nightstand and
sat in bed, munching and contemplating the eccentricities of wealthy
businessmen. Maybe I’d ask him tomorrow what was up with the late night
workouts. Mostly, though, I thought about how we needed a mini fridge in the
bedroom, stocked with drinks that went well with chips.

I drifted off later, still alone in bed. When I woke in
mid-morning, Gibson was curled against me as if he’d never been gone.

I didn’t mention anything to him about the incident. At
first, it slipped my mind, and when I did recall it, it didn’t seem like a big
deal in the light of day.

That evening we went out to eat with the Hoytes. It amused
me to watch Gibson and Ron together, Ron being so loud and brash and Gibson so
polite and reserved. They seemed to like one another, though, in spite of their
differences.

Between courses, Elaine and I slipped off to the ladies
room, leaving Gibson and Ron to their discussion of civil war era firearms and
ammunition.

The restroom was one of those ornate types, complete with a
wall of vanity stations and velvet seats. There was no attendant, and no other
ladies, which left Elaine and I alone for the first time that evening. We sat
at side-by-side mirrors, more for the chance to chat than any real desire to
primp.

“I’ve missed you, honey,” Elaine said. “But I’m glad to hear
school and your new job are working out. You look happy for the first time in
forever.”

I smiled. “I am happy.”

“Mostly because of Gibson.”

“Yeah. That obvious, huh?”

“On both of you.”

“Good to know.”

“You must see it.”

“You’re right. I do,” I said. “It might sound silly, but
it’s like I was always meant to be with him. It’s so ... I don’t know. It makes
sense. And living together has been so easy.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “I should think so. How many servants
have you got in that joint anyway?”

“Fewer than you’d think.”

“Come on, fess up. You never have to clean anything, do
you?”

“Well ... no, I don’t.”

She sighed, as if in bliss. “Do you know what I’d give to
never wash another pan? Oh, or scrubbing toilets. It would be the best ever if
I never did that again.”

“You have a cleaning service that comes once a week, as I
recall.”

“Yeah, but I bet your bathroom is spotless all the time and
you never even have to rinse out the bathtub, do you?”

“I don’t have to, but I do anyway. Old habits.”

“Servants to wait on you, a mansion with everything you’d
ever want, and a handsome hunk of a man to sleep with at night. You may have
had some troubles, honey, but it seems to me that the universe is seriously
payin’ off its debt to you.”

It was true. The cost of getting there may have been high,
but I would have paid it all over again for the wondrous reward of Gibson.

“I don’t care about the house,” I said, “or the servants.
Oh, don’t make that face. You know what I mean. Gibson’s what’s important. He’s
everything.”

Elaine smiled warmly, reached over and patted my hand.
“You’ve got your priorities in the right place. Good for you. I feel the same
way about Ron. I could be broke and on the streets, but as long as I have Ron,
I’ll be fine.”

I nodded.

“However,” she said, “he’s not perfect. It wouldn’t kill him
to mop a floor or do a load of laundry every once in a while.”

“I can’t see Ron pushing a mop.”

“Good thing, cause you sure never will.”

I laughed.

We futzed in the mirrors for a moment.

“So,” I said, “you and Ron been hanging out with anybody
lately?”

“You know us. Always busy.”

“Mmhmm. With who?”

“Friends. You know. The usual.”

“No one special, or anything like that?”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

I turned on my seat to face her. “Come on. Give it up. Have
you still got a thing going with Paulina and Xavier, or don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I didn’t mention it before, but I saw you and Ron doing the
walk of shame from Paulina’s house the morning after the picnic.”

She appeared genuinely surprised. “You did? Then all this
while you’ve been —”

“I’ve been patient, waiting for you to tell me what’s going
on.”

She glanced at me then turned back to the mirror, blowing
out a long breath. “I don’t know what’s going on. Paulina is ... difficult.”

“Well duh. She’s the bossiest person I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t mean that way. Maybe you didn’t notice, but there’s
certain situations where I’m pretty fond of being bossed around.”

“I know, but Paulina’s so, so, overbearing. A know-it-all.
And persnickety as hell.”

She raised her chin slightly. “Well, I think she’s
wonderful.”

“Aha! I knew it.” I grinned.

“You didn’t trick me into anything, missy. You already knew
I liked her.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know you thought she was wonderful.”

“Quit teasin’ me.”

“I think you’re blushing.”

“I am not.”

“You might have been.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I assume that Ron’s okay with it,” I said. “I mean, he was
walking the walk with you that morning.”

“Yes, Ron’s okay with it.”

Now to get to the gist of what I’d been itching to know. Of
course, I didn’t want to be crude about it. But if she were to be carefully led
into revealing certain particulars, well then, that would be exactly what I was
aiming for.

I fluffed my hair and tried to be casual. “So, you all get
together and ... do stuff. I guess with Toy, too. I mean, I figured Toy is
important to Paulina, so ... and then there’s Xavier. You never said how you
feel about Xavier. And it’s all kind of ... complicated, I’d think. Difficult,
you said.”

She revealed nothing while I flailed about, until I said
difficult. “She’s a complicated woman. It’s not easy to know where you stand
with her.”

“Really? She’s so mouthy, I mean, vocal, usually.” I glanced
to the side, to gauge her reaction. Nothing. “I’m surprised she hasn’t told you
in a million different ways exactly where you stand and how you could stand
better.”

Elaine smiled then, but it was short-lived. “Yeah, that’s
what you’d think. But it’s not so.”

“Maybe she’s playing hard to get.”

“I don’t think that’s it. She’s gettable.”

“Er, okay, then she’s playing the hot and cold game. She’s a
woman. She’d know how that makes us crazy.”

“Possibly. I don’t think she plays games, though.”

I actually couldn’t see Paulina doing that either, but I had
no other ideas. Too bad. Elaine appeared concerned about the situation, and I
wished I could help her the way she’d helped me so many times. “I can talk to
her, on the down-low, of course. Grill her for info about her feelings for
you.”

Elaine’s head whipped around to face me. “Don’t you dare!
She’d see through it in a second and think I put you up to it. You’re about as
subtle as a crow cawin’ in a bullhorn.”

“Okay, okay.” I added in a mumble, “I’m not that bad.”

Her phone buzzed. She picked it up, checked it quickly then
turned the screen to face me. It was a text from Ron: “Did u fall in?”

Elaine smiled as she stood up. “If they’ve talked themselves
out of guns and ammo stories enough to notice we’re still gone, then we’ve been
in here way too long.”

I stood up and followed her to the door.

She chuckled under her breath. “‘Did you fall in.’ That man.
He’s been telling the same dumb joke for twenty years.”

I thought about Gibson, and saw into a distant future where
one day, it would be me shaking my head because I’d heard some story of his for
the millionth time, or groaning because he told an ancient joke.

A rush of pleasure surged inside me. It happened often of
late, those surges. One of many delightful side effects of happiness.

We went to Private Residence after dinner for some drinks
and to watch a couple of the Hoytes’ friends put on a show in one of the
display rooms.

I wasn’t particularly surprised when Xavier and Paulina
showed up, playing the, “Oh, my, imagine meeting you here,” story. I didn’t buy
it for a second. Toy followed behind them, leashed up and smiling as usual.

So, what began as a small party turned into the seven of us
watching a small man drip hot wax all over a large woman. The real show,
however, was the flirtation between Paulina and Elaine.

They sat next to one another. Elaine tittered at Paulina’s
dry, running commentary about the exhibition, and actually batted her eyelashes
a few times. Paulina was so puffed up I was amazed her butt was still in
contact with the seat of her chair. It was completely disgusting, and cute as
hell.

Xavier and Ron were deep in conversation about the melting
temperature of different types of wax, while Toy sat on the floor at Paulina’s
feet, gazing up at her adoringly.

Not long into the demonstration, I turned to Gibson. “I
don’t know about you, but I get the feeling we’re the sixth and seventh wheels
on a five-wheeled kink-mobile.”

He grinned. “What do you say we roll on out of here, then?”

“You’re so sexy.”

“Sexy enough that I should tell Lawson to take the long way
home?”

“Definitely.”

We made our excuses to everyone and left without any real
argument from any of them.

We passed Patsy in the hall. I hadn’t seen her often since
we did Elaine’s doctor show together. We hugged, spoke briefly, then parted.

I turned and watched where she went. Sure enough, she knocked
on the door of the room Gibson and I had just left. When the door opened, and
before it shut behind her, I heard Ron call out, “Patsy! At last!”

“Unbelievable,” I said. “Make that a six-wheeled
kink-mobile.”

“You should be happy. Weren’t you concerned that there was
no one for Xavier and Ron?”

“True. But I wouldn’t put it past Paulina to suck Patsy into
her domme-y gravitational pull. Her head’s big enough to do it.”

Gibson laughed. “Believe me, Xavier and Ron aren’t hurting
in any way.”

“Is that so? Do tell.”

“You’re nosy.”

“Who wouldn’t be?”

He just kept smiling and wouldn’t tell me anything more than
what I already knew, darn him.

On our way to the car, I sent Elaine a text: “U r nuts. P
crazy bout u.” I didn’t get a response. I hadn’t expected one since she was too
enthralled with the “wonderful” Paulina to check her phone.

Gibson and I did, indeed, take the long way home. And once
we were back at the estate, we spent the remainder of the evening watching old
movies, talking and snuggling. No trips to the dungeon that night. In the
morning, he was asleep beside me, and as far as I knew, hadn’t budged all
night.