Better than anyone, I know.
For I was forced to endure much more than enough, and I’ll never hurt Ashley. Not Ashley or anyone.
I won’t give her any more pain, but I’ll give her so much pleasure that it will become pain.
Climax after climax after climax, until she’s begging me to stop.
I begin with ferocious strokes of my tongue around her clit while I slide two fingers easily into her wetness.
She’s usually coming within a minute of this treatment, but she lies there as if her body is in some kind of dormant state.
“Baby…?”
“Can’t,” she says. “Don’t want to feel good.”
“But you said—”
“No. I said I want to feel. Not to feel good.”
But the spanking clearly made her feel good. Her wetness proves that.
What does she want?
What does she desire?
“I won’t hurt you anymore,” I say with conviction. “I can’t.”
“I need it.”
“You don’t. I love you, and you’ve had enough.”
Her eyes narrow. “Who are you to say I’ve had enough?”
I don’t have to think how to answer. My reply is automatic. “I’m your husband.” At least for the time being.
She opens her eyes then, sniffling. Her gorgeous face is streaked with the tears she’s shed.
“I’m sorry, Dale.”
“For what?”
“For asking you to hurt me. It’s not fair.”
“Pain for pleasure is one thing,” I say. “Pain for pain is another, and I won’t do that to you.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. Now lie back. I’m not done with you.”
Chapter Forty
Ashley
He eats me ferociously.
And though it’s difficult, I break down the barrier in my head and let myself feel good.
One climax morphs into two, into three, into four…
Pleasure. Pure pleasure, and I let go.
I grab Dale’s head, pull on his long hair, push him closer to my pussy, to my core, and I come again.
After several more orgasms, I let go of his hair. “Enough,” I say. “Can’t take any more.”
“One more,” he growls between my legs. “Give me one more.”
“Can’t.”
“You can.” He slides his tongue over my clit and massages my G-spot with his fingers.
And I erupt once more.
This one is the culmination of all the others. It’s explosive. It’s transformational. It’s full of love.
While I’m still in the dreamy haze of the high, Dale crawls over me and thrusts into me.
He fucks me hard and fast, and when he releases, I close my eyes and feel every spurt of his cock inside me, so sensitive is my pussy.
When he rolls over, I close my eyes.
I close my eyes and allow myself not to think.
Darla brings food over for our dinner, promising to take care of meals while we take care of the funeral arrangements for Dennis. Dale, of course, has offered to pay for everything, which my mother balks at, but then she relents after I tell her it’s one less thing for her to worry about right now.
Three days pass in a haze, and then my mother and I drive back to LA in Dennis’s RV. An urn containing Dennis’s remains sits in the back. My mother hasn’t planned any memorial service yet, but she insisted on going back to LA. That’s where her friends are, where Dennis’s friends are, and I understand.
Dale stays in Colorado to keep an eye on the old-vine Syrah, which is fermenting. Though I wish he were with me, I understand, and so does Mom. Once a memorial is planned, he’ll fly out.
“I don’t know what to do next,” Mom says, once we’re at her small apartment in LA.
“Take a breath,” I tell her. “Then you and I will set up a memorial.”
“Dennis’s mother,” she says. “She wants to make the arrangements.”
“Let her, if you want to.”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Mom, it’s okay. You were married for less than three days. Let his mom take care of it. Whatever she wants. We’ll pay for it.”
“I shouldn’t let you.”
“You already told Dale yes. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you or she wants. Money doesn’t matter.”
She shakes her head. “Those aren’t words I know.”
“For this, they are. Let it be. For once, you don’t have to consider money.”
“I’ve spent my entire life watching every nickel and dime. This seems…”
“Seems what? Dennis was a pastry chef. Between you and him, you weren’t going to have to…”
Shit. Why did I say that?
Mom still hasn’t cried. I’m getting worried about her.
“Yes, he had plenty of money,” she says, “and I’ve managed to put a few dollars away over the years.”
I nod. I’m not sure what to say.
“We had so little time,” she says wistfully.
“I know. It’s not fair.”
“No. But at least you can be happy, Ashley. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“Mom, you deserve to be happy too.”
“I used to think so. Especially after I met Dennis. Seems the universe has other plans, though.”
“You can’t think that way. You’re a young woman. You can still—”
“No,” she says flatly. “I’m done. I had a shitty childhood, and then of course the way you came into the world…” She widens her eyes. “But I never blamed you for that, Ashley. Never. Not once.”