“I need to clean my teeth,” she muttered.
“No,” he said, instinctively knowing she’d start to think too hard if she left the bed. He slid his mouth over her silky cheek, taking nibbles out of her neck. He slid his hands down her body in a long, luxurious stroke. Damn, he wanted to wake like this every day. His hand halted at the dip of her waist, and he kissed his way down her body, sliding a leg between hers. She softened beneath him, her relaxation giving implicit permission to continue. Thank you. He touched. Stroked. Kissed until sensation roared through him.
Chills rippled across his flesh when he entered her, contrasting sharply with the heat surrounding his dick. Man that felt really good. Amazing. He rocked into her, taking it slowly at first, using every bit of his expertise until she shuddered against him, cried out.
Pushing deeply, he let go, giving in to a sweet orgasm. Afterward, he held her closely and wondered how he should play this. How did he demolish the wall he sensed between them? He wanted forever, and she wanted only what they had now. Connor recalled one of his ex-girlfriends crying when he’d broken things off with her because he hadn’t wanted serious and she did.
One day, she’d said. You’ll find a woman you want. I hope she doesn’t want you back because then you’ll know how it feels.
Connor knew how it felt. It felt like a kick in the guts.
Sex is good. Spanking is fun and makes me hot. Sometimes variety helps spice things up and gives our lovemaking a new edge.
I’ve been reading about bedtime stories. No, not the run-of-the-mill kids’ ones like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. That would be plain weird. I’ve been thinking about stories for grownups.
Imagine reading a story together. You and your partner are both naked. The book is open in front of you. There are pictures—explicit ones—and the words are even better, stimulating the imagination.
You’re in a private Turkish bath. The scent of fragrant oil lingers on the air. The air is moist and you lie on your stomach, sweat trickling down your face, your chest, between your breasts. Patiently, you wait for your massage, mind drifting away with the soft notes of birdsong, piped through an invisible sound system.
A door opens.
Footsteps pad closer.
Strong hands begin to work your back. Stroking and gliding across moist skin. Slowly, they move down your body, kneading and pushing your buttocks. A hand snakes between your legs, spreading them. The hand works even lower, tickling across the root of your balls. The hand slips lower, massaging and teasing until your penis fills with blood and becomes erect.
I’m sure you get the picture. Adult bedtime stories can be a lot of fun and are a novel way of building desire—a form of foreplay, if you will.
Another method of foreplay I wanted to mention is role-playing. We role-play when we’re kids, pretending we’re bus drivers, nurses or shopkeepers. It’s a fun way of playing, involving imagination and sometime props. Think about it. Extend the idea into the adult arena. I’m sure you’ve seen or talked about some of the corny porn movies available for viewing. There’s a reason doctors and nurses or teacher and the naughty schoolgirl scenario are popular.
What? You think we’re all sick in the head?
I hate to break it to you, but if you’re reading my blog now, you’re probably on the same page. You like things a bit different. Role-playing falls into kink for some people. I guess it depends how far you want to take it, but role-playing is great for spanking foreplay.
Get costumes. Dress as a school girl, a nurse, a disobedient servant or geisha girl. Have your lover dress as his or her chosen character, improvise a script and have fun together. As always, have a safe word in case things go a little far. Agree beforehand what’s acceptable, what strays out of bounds and use a pre-agreed safe word if boundaries are crossed. Play time should be enjoyable and not stray into torture.
And just so you know, I have an old school uniform that still fits me. Guess what I’ll be wearing for my next spanking…
Connor stared at the screen, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Damn, that was hot. His Maggie had hidden storytelling talents. He wanted her to read a Turkish bath story to him, tell him how it ended and, even better, show him.
Of course, he’d return the favor and tell her a story guaranteed to make her squirm. A story to make her hot and desperate for him. His brow wrinkled as he considered the possibilities. This weekend. After his game, they’d shoot away for the rest of the weekend. Waiheke Island, he decided. Close but not too close to home. They could walk on the beach, visit the World War Two gun placements and dine at the vineyards. And when they weren’t doing all that, they could make love. Some adult storytelling. A spanking for a manufactured infraction. Some traditional sex to balance things out. Yeah, he thought. A great plan. And if he could find out what was troubling her so much the better.
He grabbed his cell phone off the kitchen counter and hit speed dial. Maggie answered almost straight away. “How do you feel about a gym session?”
“Sounds good. We haven’t been for a few days. I’d arranged to meet the girls, but I’ll ring them and let them know I’m going to be a bit late.”
“I’ll pick you up in ten minutes.” Smiling, Connor put the phone beside his laptop. He hit a search engine and a few minutes later had picked out a good place to stay.
Leaping to his feet, he jogged to his bedroom, changed for the gym and grabbed his car keys. He arrived at Maggie’s apartment just as she walked outside.
“Great timing,” she said, opening the passenger door.
“Do you have plans for the weekend?” he asked.
“Apart from going to rugby? No.”
“Would you like to go to Waiheke? After the game.”
“Just the two of us?”
He nodded, pulling up at a red traffic light. “Just us,” he confirmed.
“I’d love to.”
Connor let his breath ease out, a smile unfurling. He’d thought he’d have to persuade her to go away with him. All he’d needed to do was ask.
He thought about asking her to bring her old school uniform, but wimped out. He was good at improvisation. Hell, it was hard-wired into all Kiwis. It was a well-known fact New Zealanders thought outside the box, and as a good, red-blooded Kiwi male, he fit the profile.
Bring on the weekend.
Chapter Fifteen
“Damn, where is she?” Christina paced a corridor in Auckland hospital and slammed the cell phone closed.
The disinfectant scent made Susan’s head ache, while worry for Julia had her stomach roiling like the Hauraki Gulf during a storm. She opened her cell and dialed Connor. Nothing. His phone wasn’t turned on.
Christina stalked back to her, her runners squeaking on the faded tiles when she executed an abrupt turn.
“Stop pacing. It’s driving me nuts,” Susan snapped.
“Julia looked so pale. You don’t think she’s taken drugs, do you? They wouldn’t tell me anything because I’m not family.”
“It was lucky we went round to her flat,” Susan said. “At least we contacted her father. He said he’d be here as soon as he could get a flight from LA.”
Christina frowned. “Both Connor and Maggie were at rugby. That’s the last time I saw them.”
“Well, neither of them is answering their phones. I’ve rung them at home. Connor’s flatmate said he was away for the weekend with some woman.”
Christina’s frown deepened. “Do you think they’re together?”
Susan laughed. “Romantically?”
“Yeah. They’ve both been acting a bit strange recently.”
“Don’t be silly. Maggie isn’t Connor’s type. She’s not blonde, for a start. They’re friends, that’s all. Besides, we have a pact. We all promised not to become involved with Connor. Heck, the pact was Maggie’s idea. Remember?”
Christina started her pacing again, and Susan had to bite her lip to stop snapping at her. They were both worried about Julia. They didn’t nee
d to snarl at each other.
“I guess you’re right.” Susan bounded to her feet when she saw the doctor. “Let’s see if we can find out anything. Doctor, how is Julia?”
“Your friend is lucky you found her before it was too late. She’s lost a lot of blood, and unfortunately, she’s lost the baby, but she’ll be okay.”
Susan stopped listening when the doctor said baby.
“Baby?” Christina blurted. “I didn’t even know she was pregnant.”
Susan knew exactly how Christina felt. “How far along was she, Doctor?”
“About two months,” the doctor said.
“But she was drinking,” Susan said. “How could she? Why didn’t she tell us?”
“I can’t help you with that,” the doctor said.
“At least she’s going to be okay,” Christina said. “Now if only we could reach Maggie and Connor. They’ll know what to do. Connor and Julia are close. Maybe he knew about the baby.”
A nurse bustled out. “You can go in and see her for a moment. No longer than five minutes. She’s awake, but needs to rest.”
They hurried into the hospital room and up to the bed.
“Man, I hate the smell of hospitals,” Susan muttered.
A hoarse laugh came from the bed. “Me too.”
“Julia, how are you feeling?” Christina smoothed the tangled hair from Julia’s face.
“Like I’ve been run over by a bus.” A tear tracked down her cheek.
Susan swallowed. Although she’d known Julia for several years, she’d never seen the other woman cry. She was all about good times and parties, popular with men and sometimes a bit aloof with other women. Susan had held reservations about Julia at first, but once she’d come to know the other woman, she’d realized what a big heart she had. She’d do anything for her friends.
“Can we call anyone for you?” she asked, knowing their five minutes were almost up.
“Connor. I want Connor,” she said and started crying in earnest.
The nurse bustled into the room, her pale blue uniform rustling with each brisk step. She made shooing motions with her hands.
“We’ll pop in and visit you after work tomorrow,” Christina said.
Susan sent Julia a bright smile and followed Christina from the hospital room. Neither of them spoke until they were inside the elevator.
“Do you think Connor is the father?”
Susan shook her head. “I don’t know, but why else would she want Connor?”
“I don’t know. We’d better keep trying to contact him,” Christina said. “You saw how upset she was.”
“I wonder if Greg knows where Maggie is. I’ve tried everywhere else.” As she spoke, Susan pulled out her cell phone and rang directory service. A few minutes later, her call connected.
“Greg, it’s Susan,” she said and explained the circumstances. “Is Maggie with you?”
“No. Try Connor,” he said and disconnected abruptly.
Susan frowned, her confusion giving way to anger.
“What did he say?”
“He told me to try Connor. I don’t understand what’s going on,” Susan snapped.
“Don’t snarl at me.” Christina stomped out of the hospital entrance and made for her car.
“Well, something’s going on. I don’t know what Maggie and Julia are playing at, but it’s clear there’s something stinky here. What happened to trust? And what about our pact?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. It might be nothing.”
“Huh! You know it takes a fire to make smoke, right? What we have here is lots of smoke, so I know there’s a fire there somewhere. I just can’t see it yet.”
Maggie cuddled up to Connor. Her bottom smarted, but she’d never felt so close to another person before. Intimate. That was the word for it. There was a new intimacy and trust between them that hadn’t been present before.
“How did you know I’d like a good spanking?”
Connor’s breath tickled her neck, and she pressed even closer so it didn’t distract her quite as much.
“You know the blog everyone is talking about at work?”
“Yes,” Maggie said, suddenly glad her back was pressed to his chest and he couldn’t see her guilty face.
“I guess you could say the blog gave me the idea.”
“Oh. I thought you’d want to stay away from anything like that because of what happened with your mother.”
“It did worry me,” he said gruffly. “Which is why I want you to tell me exactly how far you want me to go. I never want to hurt you. Never.”
Maggie pulled away and turned to face him. She cupped his face, his jaw bristly beneath her fingertips. “I feel safe with you. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve hardly ever lost your temper. Please don’t tell me you’re worried you might take after your father?”
“His blood runs through my veins,” Connor said. “I worry.”
Maggie smiled. “You’ve been brought up to respect women. I bet you take after your stepfather, Frank. I’ve never seen you brawl at the pub or get into a fist fight at rugby. Oh, apart from you and Greg. What’s up with you two?”
“Greg and I didn’t hit it off the first time we met. There’s no love lost between us, and that hasn’t changed.”
“I trust you. I feel safe with you, but I know how you feel. My mother—my real one—is Elle Walker.”
“Elle—the one dating the rugby player?”
“The same. My father is convinced I take after her and is always lecturing me on proper behavior.”
Connor stroked his hand over her cheek and the corners of his mouth kicked up in a faint smile. “You have nothing to worry about, babe. Your behavior is exemplary.”
Maggie let out a loud huff that came close to a snort. “My spanking blog isn’t the worst of it. I have a worse sin. When I was twenty, I ran with a fast crowd. They were the sons and daughters of my father’s workmates. I thought I was so special, going out with one of the most popular guys. There were eight of us and we’d decided to spend the weekend at the beach. We stopped at a pub for lunch and I drank quite a bit. I got…um…a bit frisky.” Maggie paused to draw a breath, her face heating with shame. So many times she’d wished she had refused Jason. She’d liked him so much and wanted to belong to the crowd of popular kids. “Oh, heck. This is so embarrassing.” She hid her face in her hands before peeking at Connor.
“You don’t have to tell me,” he said.
“But I do. You were honest with me about your past, and I want to do the same.” No matter what he thought about the subject. In this, at least, she intended honesty.
“We all have history, babe. You can tell me anything. I won’t judge you.”
She swallowed, started to talk and swallowed again, concentrating on her clenched hands. This was harder than she’d imagined. “I…Jason asked me to suck him off while he was driving. It was okay for a while, until he drove off the road and went into a ditch. I bit him,” she muttered, talking faster and faster to get out the story. “He had to go to hospital and have surgery.” Maggie risked a glance at Connor. His face contorted in a weird expression. Disgust, she thought. Figured. Her father and stepmother had borne similar expressions on their faces.
A muffled snort sounded, and she gaped at him. “You’re laughing at me.”
He roared then, laughing so hard tears streamed down his face. Anger stiffened Maggie’s spine and she jumped to her feet. He grabbed her hand and hauled her right back. She glared at him while he attempted to control his hilarity.
“I’m sorry, babe,” he said, wiping his eyes with his free hand. The other banded her wrist, halting her escape. “Tell me what happened.”
“So you have more to laugh about?”
“No, so I can understand.” This time sincerity emblazoned his face, and some of her pique faded.
“The press got hold of the story and some of my so-called friends leaked my identity. Everyone was talking about Penisgate. They made my life
hell. They made my family’s life hell, and my father lost his job over it because he worked with the same firm as Jason’s father.”
“And?” Connor prompted.
“Isn’t that enough? My father blamed me. He said if I’d managed to control my sinful urges, none of it would have happened. He said I took after my mother and I seek attention to make myself feel better.”
“Bullshit,” Connor said. “None of that is true. You were young. You made a mistake. Hell, we all make mistakes. It’s part of learning and growing up.” He crushed her to his chest, hugging her so tight she could scarcely breathe. Then his mouth settled on hers, his hands touching her everywhere until all she could think about was his next touch. He nuzzled the hollow at her throat and pulled away, caressing every part of her with his gaze.
“We’re a pair,” he said. “Neither of us takes after our parents. Okay?”
She smiled, warmed by his acceptance. “Okay.” At least Connor really understood her feelings because of his family situation.
He ran his lips down her neck, gently biting, tormenting her until she clung to him, her heart thudding in an erratic manner, her fingers entwined in his dark hair. He pulled away, his blue eyes twinkling down at her.
“Are you tired?”
“Of you? Never,” she said, and she pushed at his chest.
Confusion covered his face until she shoved him back on the bed and straddled his chest.
“It’s my turn to play,” she said.
“I’m ticklish.”
“Only when it suits you,” she said tartly. “Man up and deal with it.”
He chuckled. “Do your worst. Let me prove I can take it—like a man.”
Maggie grinned and splayed a hand over his chest. She could feel the rapid beat of his heart and knew he wanted her. Heck, his cock prodding her backside gave her a big clue.
Her finger lightly circled a flat masculine nipple. Fascinated, she watched it harden and leaned over to repeat the move with the slow slide of her tongue. A faint saltiness hit her taste buds.
Gradually, she moved down his body, lingering over hard pectoral muscles, tracing her fingers over his biceps, his ribs. He didn’t say a word or try to take control, letting her explore at will. Violent? Connor Grey? She didn’t think so. At the moment, the man was like a big pussy cat.
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