Trust

by Sherri Hayes

No? I was going to cry. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep my orgasm at bay. Every muscle in my body was shaking . . . begging for release.

  I felt him graze his teeth along my collarbone, and I almost lost it right then and there. “Don’t you dare, Brianna. Not until I say.”

  Shaking my head, I tried to find something else to think about other than what he was doing to me. It was the only way.

  Nothing worked, though. Everything that came to mind led straight back to Stephan and, consequently, what he was doing to me.

  There was a noise in the distance, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I was too lost in feeling.

  Without warning, Stephan picked up the pace and pinched my clit at the same time he tugged hard on my nipple. “Come. Come now.”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. I came. Hard. My voice echoed throughout the condo.

  When I could finally think clearly again, Stephan had one arm holding me up. His other hand was at his mouth as he sucked on his fingers. He had a huge grin on his face. “Feeling better?”

  “What?” I had no idea what he was talking about.

  He chuckled.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” He helped me rearrange my clothes. “Do you think you can stand on your own now?”

  I nodded.

  Stephan looked extremely amused for some reason.

  He leaned in and kissed me, plunging his tongue deep inside my mouth. I could taste myself on him and realized the fingers he’d had in his mouth must have been the ones he’d had inside me. He’d been licking himself clean.

  When he broke the kiss, that was when I heard it. The doorbell. My face flushed with heat as I realized that at least one of our guests had arrived. Had they heard anything? Would they know?

  As if he could read my mind, Stephan brought my forehead to rest against his. “I love you. Remember that.”

  Without uttering another word, he went to get the door.

  Chapter 30

  Stephan

  I had to admit, part of my reasoning for bringing Brianna to orgasm right as the doorbell rang announcing our guests was purely for my own sadistic pleasure. There was an added benefit in that she’d been wound tight with nerves over meeting Sarah, and I’d wanted to distract her. Nothing did that faster than arousing her. It was also a direct reminder to her that I was in control, and she needed to let go and allow me to guide her through tonight.

  Brianna was flustered and flushed. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I opened the door. All three of our guests stared back at me—Logan with a knowing smirk not unlike my own, and Lily and Sarah both with more cautious expressions. My soundproofing may have muffled the noise, but given the way Brianna had screamed, I doubted it had drowned out the sound entirely. From the looks on their faces, I was right.

  “You’re right on time. Come on in.”

  As I took their coats and put them in the closet, I glanced over at Brianna. She was busying herself with taking the food out of the oven. Not once had she looked this way.

  “Can I get everyone something to drink? We have iced tea, water, milk, and lemonade.”

  After taking everyone’s drink order, I strolled back into the kitchen. I removed the items I needed from the refrigerator and set them on the counter before pressing myself up against Brianna from behind. She stilled. I knew she could feel my still semihard cock pressing against her ass. “Later I will have you take care of this, but right now, I want you to remember what just happened. I am in control. Stop worrying about the unknown and enjoy the evening. Can you do that for me?”

  “I will try, Sir.”

  I slid my hand suggestively over her abdomen. “You’ll have to do better than that, Brianna, or I’ll have to take you into my bedroom and give you another reminder.”

  She swallowed hard but didn’t comment.

  “How long until dinner’s ready?”

  “About five minutes.” Her voice squeaked slightly, which only made me smile wider.

  Kissing her shoulder, I stepped away before I forgot we had company and took her right then and there. “Let me know when it’s done, and I’ll help you bring it into the dining room.”

  Carrying the glasses into the living room where everyone was waiting, I left Brianna to finish. Logan grinned as I handed him a glass of iced tea. “Misjudge the time earlier?”

  I smiled back at him. “Not at all.”

  He shook his head and took a drink.

  When I gave Lily her water, she looked concerned. “Should I go say something? I don’t want her to think we’re avoiding her.”

  “I think that’s a great idea. She’s a little frazzled.”

  Lily stood and smacked my arm playfully. “No wonder. She’s not used to the sadistic little games you Doms like to play.”

  Both Logan and I laughed, which caused Brianna to glance in our direction. She appeared to have calmed down some, but there was still too much tension in her shoulders for my liking. I’d give her some time, but if she was still tense by the end of dinner, I would be following through on my promise. Brianna needed to learn to let go. We were among friends tonight. Nothing was going to happen to her. There was no reason for her to be nervous.

  I watched from my chair as Lily hugged Brianna and asked if she could help with anything. Once I was sure Brianna was relatively fine, I turned my attention back to Logan and Sarah.

  “She’s not thrilled about my being here, is she?”

  I took a sip of my water and answered Sarah. “She’s nervous, but Brianna is always anxious about meeting new people. It doesn’t help that you and I have a history, though. Or that the two of us were recently splashed on the front page of the society section together.”

  Sarah frowned. “She sees me as a threat?”

  “In a way.”

  “I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable.”

  “Brianna will be fine. And besides, she wanted to meet you as well. End of discussion.”

  The frown didn’t leave Sarah’s face, but she didn’t say anything more.

  A few minutes later, Brianna tiptoed up beside me. “Dinner’s ready.”

  I reached out to take her hand as I stood, pulling her against my side. “Brianna, this is Sarah Evans. Sarah, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Brianna Reeves.”

  Sarah offered her hand, and with only a slight hesitation, Brianna took it. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Brianna. Stephan talks about you all the time.”

  Brianna looked up at me, seemingly shocked at this information.

  I hugged her closer. “Don’t look so surprised. Why wouldn’t I tell my friends about the woman I love?”

  Instead of answering my question, she looked down at the floor, her cheeks turning a beautiful shade of pink. “Dinner’s ready.”

  “Thank you.” I kissed the top of her head before releasing her and addressing Logan and Sarah—Lily had already made her way into the dining room. “If you want to take your seats at the table, we’ll bring the food over.”

  Brianna walked back into the kitchen, and I followed her. We gathered the food and brought it to the dining room table. Pulling out Brianna’s chair for her, I waited for her to sit. She did so but not before looking up at me, questioning. When we were out in public, I always held her chair for her, but this was the first time I’d done so at home.

  Everyone piled food on their plates and began eating. I smiled when I heard the pleasantly surprised sounds coming from everyone. Brianna was a great cook, and I was blessed that she was all mine.

  Logan was the first to speak up. “This is amazing, Brianna. You’ll have to give me the recipe.”

  Everyone else hummed their agreement.

  Brianna kept her gaze on her plate. “Thank you.”

  Her shy response was to be expected. I was happy she’d answered him at all.

  Reaching over beneath the table, I squeezed her thigh. She looked up at me, unsure until she saw that I was smiling. Brianna smiled back and then went back to her food. />
  It seemed like it was up to me to get the conversation rolling. “How do you like your apartment, Sarah?”

  She glanced over at Brianna before answering. I was hoping as the evening wore on everyone would stop being so on edge. “I love it. In a lot of ways it’s like my apartment in St. Louis, only smaller.”

  Lily speared a piece of her chicken. “Any idea how long you’re staying in Minneapolis?”

  Brianna froze.

  “Not really. I need to decide soon, though. I’m already six months along, and in another month or so I doubt I’m going to feel like traveling.”

  Lily shook her head. “No, you probably won’t.”

  “Have you considered going back to California to have the baby? I’m sure your parents would love it.” As I spoke, I kept Brianna in my peripheral vision. Even though she had her head down, I knew she was paying attention to every word.

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t they be?” I knew I was being demanding, but Sarah’s parents were wonderful people. They’d been devastated when Sarah and I broke up. I still kept in touch with them, even after all these years. There was nothing in my knowledge of them that would make me think they wouldn’t be completely welcoming to Sarah.

  Sarah squirmed in her seat. “Um. Well . . . I haven’t exactly told them yet.”

  “Told them?” I paused, sure that I had to be misunderstanding. “You mean you haven’t told them you’re pregnant?”

  She shook her head.

  “Why not?”

  “Look, can we not talk about this?”

  “Not a chance. Why haven’t you told your parents, Sarah? You just said yourself you’re already six months along. Don’t you think they should know?”

  She threw down her napkin and stood. “Yes, they should, damn it, but I don’t know how to tell them. Derrick was the first boyfriend since you that they liked. What am I supposed to tell them, huh? They’re going to want to know where he is—why we aren’t together anymore. Am I supposed to tell them he dumped me because I’m a sick freak who likes to be dominated in the bedroom? Huh?”

  Before any of us could respond, Sarah bolted toward the door.

  I pushed my chair back, ready to go after her, but Lily stopped me. “Let me go. You stay here with Brianna.”

  This was certainly not how I saw dinner going. Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed it, but I couldn’t believe Sarah hadn’t told her parents. I understood everything she’d said and that it would be difficult, but I still knew her parents would stand by her no matter what. That was the kind of people they were.

  Brianna reached out to take hold of my hand. “Are you okay?”

  Logan excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen to refill his iced tea.

  Smiling, I squeezed her hand and laced our fingers together. “I’m fine, sweetheart. You?”

  “I’m okay.”

  “Good.”

  “Sir?”

  At the look in her eyes, I wanted to pull her closer, but I didn’t. “Yes?”

  “Sarah’s boyfriend left her because she’s a submissive?”

  I sighed. “Basically.”

  Moisture appeared in her eyes.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

  “If he loved her, why wouldn’t he love all of her?”

  Leaning in, I rested my free hand against the side of her face. “I don’t know. Sometimes it doesn’t work that way. Sometimes you find out things about a person that you can’t live with. I guess her being a submissive was one of those things for him.”

  A tear slid down her cheek. “That’s not fair.”

  I wiped the moisture away with the pad of my thumb. “No, it’s not, but remember that you didn’t think you could be what I needed either. Maybe it was the same for him. We don’t know what he was thinking.”

  Brianna

  How could someone do that? I mean, if he really loved her, then how could he have left her because of how she liked to have sex? I didn’t understand.

  Stephan said it wasn’t all that different than what I struggled with—not being enough for him—but I didn’t see it as the same thing at all. My issues were because of my past. My doubts lingered only because of that. It wasn’t the same.

  Stephan tried to comfort me as best he could, but my heart was breaking for a woman who not an hour ago I was jealous of.

  Logan rejoined us at the table, but I hardly noticed as the door opened and Sarah and Lily reentered the condo. Sarah looked as if she’d been crying.

  They came back to the table and took their seats. I knew I had to say something. “Sarah?”

  She looked in my direction.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Sarah looked confused.

  “Your boyfriend shouldn’t have left you. He was wrong to do that.”

  “That’s sweet of you.” She smiled, but there was a sad quality to it. “I’ll be okay. It’s just an adjustment.”

  This time, Logan spoke up. “I’m with Brianna on this one. What he did was harsh. I get this lifestyle isn’t for everyone, but leaving you high and dry after finding out you’re pregnant? That’s a special kind of low.”

  “He doesn’t know.”

  Everyone at the table seemed startled by this news except Stephan. He must have already known.

  Lily was the one to voice what was on all of our minds. “You haven’t told him?”

  Sarah shook her head. “No. He stormed out two weeks before I found out, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. I was afraid he would think it was some kind of a ploy to get him back, but it’s not . . . it wasn’t. We were using protection. I’m not sure what happened.” She took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter at this point. What’s done is done. I can’t change it.”

  “You should still tell him. I know I’d want to know if it were mine.”

  She gave Logan a hard stare. “Even if you thought the woman carrying your child was disgusting?”

  He nodded. “Even then. He has a right to know.”

  Sarah sighed, deflated. “I know he does. And I’ll tell him. Eventually. Not until after the baby is born, though. I don’t think I could take another blowout with him while my hormones are such a mess.”

  Stephan squeezed my hand to get my attention. “Didn’t you bake a cake earlier?”

  I nodded. “Should I get it now?”

  He smiled, and turned to address the rest of the table. “Excuse us.”

  Standing, Stephan helped me from my chair and led me into the kitchen. He removed the cake from the refrigerator and placed it gently on the counter before retrieving five plates from the cabinet. Following his prompt, I took the cake knife, along with five forks from the drawer. Before I could start cutting the cake, however, Stephan halted my movement. I met his gaze. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  Smiling, he bent down to place a chaste kiss on my lips. “You are amazing, Brianna. I love you.”

  I smiled up at him. “I love you, too.”

  We worked together to cut and plate the cake and then to serve it. Everyone raved about it just as they had the baked pasta I’d made. It was embarrassing, but it made me feel good at the same time.

  After dessert, Sarah politely thanked me for dinner and then said she needed to get back to her apartment before it got too late. It wasn’t much after eight, but I think she was still feeling awkward about the earlier conversation. I understood why everyone felt she should tell the guy, but opening yourself up like that was scary. The only one I felt comfortable doing that with was Stephan, and that was because I trusted him completely. It didn’t sound as if this guy had earned Sarah’s trust.

  “Thank you for allowing me to meet you, Brianna. You have a great man, and he loves you very much.”

  I shifted my weight, a little uncomfortable with her comment.

  She smiled. “You’re shy, too. I’m sure Stephan likes that as well. He was never big on my bratty nature.”

&nbs
p; Stephan wrapped his arm around my waist as he came up beside me. “No, I wasn’t.”

  Sarah looked behind us to where Logan and Lily were sitting in the living room. “It was nice to see you both again as well. Hopefully we can all get together again before I leave.”

  A few minutes later, Sarah left, and Stephan and I joined Lily and Logan in the living room. I sat in Stephan’s lap as I usually did, while they sat side by side on the couch. Logan had his arm around Lily’s shoulders as she leaned into him. They looked like any other couple.

  “Do they still have you traveling?”

  Logan whispered something in Lily’s ear before he responded to Stephan’s question. “Unfortunately. The only upside is that I’ve been able to rearrange my schedule to where I’m home most weekends.”

  “I finally get to see him.” Lily placed her left hand on his chest and rubbed suggestively along the buttons. I shuddered, remembering the last time I’d seen them together at their apartment.

  “You okay?” Stephan’s voice was soft in my ear.

  “Yes.”

  He ran the back of his hand down the side of my face. “What is it?”

  “I’m just . . . remembering. The last time.”

  Stephan paused for a long moment and then nodded. He tightened his hold on me and kissed my temple. “It’s the four of us talking tonight, Brianna. Nothing else.”

  I nodded and cuddled closer to him.

  We talked for another two hours . . . or they talked. I said a few things here and there, but most of their conversation was about work and the upcoming holidays. It was hard to believe Thanksgiving was just around the corner. I felt almost certain Stephan and I would be spending the day with his aunt and uncle. They were Stephan’s family, so it only made sense.

  At ten thirty, Logan and Lily said their good-byes. As they were leaving, I noticed Lily slipped Stephan what looked to be a book from her purse. He glanced down at it and smiled, thanking them. I’d hugged Lily good-bye before they walked to the door and went to clean up the kitchen. Being close to Logan still made me nervous, even though I didn’t think he’d do anything.

  Stephan closed the door. He lay whatever Lily had given him on the table where he kept his keys and walked over to where I was standing. Taking both my hands in his, he pulled me to him until my chest was touching his. “You did well tonight. I’m very proud of you.”