“I guess…I guess it’s better than what I thought, though.”
I twist to look at her, cradling her wet face in one hand. “Listen, baby. You need to know that I broke rules by telling you that. You shouldn’t know anything, okay? Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She blinks. Doesn’t answer.
“Soph? This is really important.”
“Who was it?” she whispers.
I shake my head. “I’m not telling you that.”
“But it was someone at the barbecue?”
“Stop. Please. Don’t ask me these things.”
“When I asked, you hesitated. Itwassomeone at the barbecue, wasn’t it?”
“Please stop.”
ChapterTen
Joey
I show up at Sophie’s with a dozen calla lilies a few days later. She texted me that her toys arrived, and she wants to play with them, which means my need to see her is at an emergency level.
I knock on the door then test the knob, happy to find it locked.
When she answers, the aroma of something delicious greets me–garlic and red sauce. Some kind of pasta. I pull her against my body, squeezing her ass as I give her a kiss. “Hey, when are you going to give me a key?”
She looks askance. “A key?”
Fanculo.Not the reaction I was looking for.
“Yeah. A key,” I press. “So I can let myself in.”
Her eyes dart to the side, and she swallows. “Well, let’s take it one step at a time, okay?”
Ouch. Her rejection hurts more than it should. Clearly, she doesn’t think we’re as far along in this relationship as I do. All my efforts to steer her into something committed have been met with solid resistance. “Yeah, okay.” I try to sound casual. “So where are these toys?”
She leads me to the kitchen where a brown box stands open on the table. I peer inside. “That’s for you. Well, sort of.” She flushes.
I reach in and pull out a cellophane-wrapped object. Inside are two stainless steel objects in different sizes with pink round jewels on one end and a bulb tapering to a point on the other.
“They’re butt plugs,” she provides.
My dick instantly becomes as hard as marble. “Oh yeah?”
“There’s something else, too.”
I reach into the box and remove a long wooden paddle. “Oh sweetheart, I don’t think you’re going to like this as much as you think you are.”
She puts her hands on her hips like she’s offended. “What do you mean?”
I turn the paddle over in my hands. It has holes in it to decrease wind resistance and is ¾ inch thick, 6 inches wide and at least 20 inches long. Definitely not a slap-and-tickle toy. “Baby, this willhurt.”
Disappointment shadows her pale green eyes.
“We’ll save this for when you’re really bad.” I wink, enjoying the blush that colors her chest and ears “And these,” I say, tossing the package of butt plugs in the air and catching them, “I can’t wait to play with.”