Matched for Keeps

by Stevie MacFarlane

  "I guess you're right," Ty said as he stood and bent to kiss Kelsey goodbye, lingering at her lips for a moment. Sue watched the expression on Shelly's face when his back was turned. It was pure jealousy.

  "Bye, Sue. Tell Marcus to give me a call later, will you?" Ty headed to the counter to pick up their order, with Shelly following close behind.

  "Sure, Ty," Sue replied sweetly. "Oh, Shelly," she called.

  Kelsey watched as the girl turned and sauntered back to the table.

  "What is that marvelous scent you're wearing?" Sue asked with a gush. "Dog Piss No. 5?"

  Shelly's mouth dropped as Kelsey's milk shot out of her nose.

  "Sue," she choked, "what are you…"

  "Shut up, Kels," Sue ordered, fixing the other girl with a glare. "I know what you're planning and I'm here to tell you it's a very bad idea. If you do anything, and I mean anything at all, to hurt my friend," she continued, indicating Kelsey, "Mrs. Lockwood's Doberman will seem like a newborn kitten next to me. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Are you threatening me?" Shelly demanded.

  "Yup," she snapped back. Picking up her shake, she snapped the straw between her teeth, her eyebrow raised in challenge.

  "Look, you redheaded bitch," Shelly ground out between her teeth. "I'll do whatever the hell I want. Until Ty has a wedding ring on his finger, he's free game, and maybe even after that," she sneered. "If a woman can't hang on to her man, it's not my fault" she tossed back over her shoulder, giving Kelsey a pitying look as she walked away.

  Sue almost dove out of the booth, but Kelsey pulled her back using all her strength.

  "I just want to talk to her," Sue growled, trying to break free.

  "No!" Kelsey insisted. "You need to talk to me," she pleaded, all of her earlier joy wiped from her eyes. "I don't know how to cope with this. Oh, Sue, I had a bad feeling about her the minute I met her, but I just couldn't explain it. At least now I know why. What am I going to do?" she asked with a sniffle.

  "Don't worry about it, Kels. If Ty loves you, everything will be all right," Sue promised, although she didn't believe a word of it. Oh, she believed Ty loved Kels, but he was no match for the manipulative threat Shelly presented. "I mean it," she repeated, "I don't want you worrying about this. I'll talk to Marcus and see what he thinks about it. Just don't get all sad on me; we were having so much fun today."

  "You're right, Ty loves me. Maybe he will let her go if I ask him to. I'm not going to be able to stand the thought of her rubbing up against him all day."

  "Don't do anything until I talk to Marcus, okay? He's a smart guy and he knows his brother better than anyone else. He'll know how to handle this," Sue assured her.

  The girls paid the check and headed out, stopping at several shops to check out the local wares. After Sue dropped Kelsey off at home, she thought about how to approach Marcus without sounding like she was sticking her nose in and tattling on his brother. No good ideas came to mind and she decided to just wing it. As it turned out, she needn't have worried. Marcus was yelling for her as soon as she walked in the door.

  "Red, get your butt in here," he shouted from his office.

  "You bellowed?" Sue replied dryly, flinging her purse on his desk and dropping into an over- stuffed chair.

  "I didn't know you were going into town for lunch today," he stated calmly, getting up from his chair and walking around to the front of his desk. He extended his long legs in front of him as he leaned against it, arms folded over his chest.

  "What, did the food police call?" she asked, draping one leg over the arm of the chair and swinging it. God she hated ugly flat shoes, she thought, trying to ignore Marcus's attitude.

  "No, Ty called," he growled.

  "How nice. Guess I don't have to ask you to call him later then," she smiled.

  "Red," Marcus asked, running his hand through his hair. "Did you threaten that girl?"

  "What girl?"

  "Don't play games with me, Red, you know what girl. Ty said his receptionist cried all afternoon after you scared her."

  "I'll just bet she did," Susan snorted.

  "You cannot go around threatening people," Marcus stated, his hands now on his hips as he scowled at her.

  "Why not?" she shot back, inspecting her nails.

  "Because eventually someone is going to kick your beautiful little Irish ass," he growled, covering the distance between them quickly and plucking her out of the chair. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he gave her a small shake. "In case you've forgotten, that ass belongs to me, and the only one kicking it, in any way, better be me."

  "I can take care of myself," she insisted, struggling to get away and failing miserably.

  "So you say," he shot back with an evil grin as he pulled her towards the desk, his intentions clear.

  Sue tried to dig her heels in and stop her forward motion, to no avail.

  "See this is exactly why I need heels," she shouted in defiance.

  Marcus propelled her over the desk, picking up her hips and raising them until her feet dangled helplessly as she braced herself for the first stinging swat.

  "Ok, you can spank me if you want to," she yelled in anger, "but that's not going to help your brother or Kelsey."

  Marcus paused for a moment before lifting her back up and setting her on her feet in front of him.

  "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

  "I'm talking about that girl being after him as though he were the last piece of beef at an all-you-can-eat buffet," she spat out.

  "How do you know that?"

  Sue rolled her eyes so dramatically Marcus laughed and picked her up until they were eye to eye.

  "All right you have about twenty seconds to explain yourself," he ordered. "Spill it."

  It took about five minutes to give him all the information he needed, and by that time she was nestled on his lap in the chair.

  "How's Kelsey handling all this?" he asked, absently rubbing her ass.

  "Nervous and tearful," Sue replied, stroking his cheek as she sat up. "Oh, Marcus, you should have seen her this morning, so happy and hopeful. I wanted to slap that bitch just for stealing that joy away from her. It was the first time since I met her that she actually acted like she had a future. So," she demanded, crossing her arms and pinning him with her eyes, "what are you going to do about it?"

  "I don't know. What do you think?" he asked, stumped.

  "Well, I'd like to sneak into town, find out where she lives and at least flatten the tires on her car so she could beg a ride off someone else. After that I could key it with the word…"

  "No!" Marcus roared, half horrified and half admiring her bravado.

  "Well then, what do you suggest? Ty already bought the whole 'poor me,' story that she gave him this afternoon. Shortly he will be home questioning poor Kels who didn't have a thing to do with it, but will probably lie to save my butt, which will make everything worse."

  "I'm not sure you're giving Ty enough credit," Marcus told her thoughtfully.

  "You didn't see that girl in action. She's determined and didn't scare easily, which really pisses me off, now that I think about it," she replied with a frown.

  "And you're used to being able to intimidate people aren't you, Red?"

  "I have about a 98 percent success record," she admitted proudly.

  "Where do I fit in there?"

  "You? Well you're in the 2 percent," she snorted, "but don't go getting all puffed up with yourself, because I'm not giving up."

  "I wouldn't expect you to, baby," he smiled, tipping her lips up for a drugging kiss.

  Sue settled into his arms and teased his lips open with her tongue, forgetting everything but the need coursing through her. It surprised her when he broke the kiss and eased her to her feet.

  "I need to get some work done," he informed her, "and think about this thing with Ty." Turning her towards the door, he gave her a little push. "By the way, what did you have for lunch?" he asked, sorting through the papers on h
is desk.

  "Um… I had tuna salad on lettuce with…"

  Marcus fixed her firmly in his sights.

  "Don't lie to me, Red; it never turns out well for you."

  "Oh all right, I had a cheeseburger, loaded fries and a big fat chocolate shake," she answered, sticking her butt out in his direction and looking at him over her shoulder. "And you can spank me for it if you want to, but I'm not sorry."

  "I'm not going to spank you, honey," he smiled.

  "You're not?" she grinned in response.

  "No, I'm not, but you're having a salad for dinner tonight."

  "Hey. No fair. Tonight is turkey taco night and I like them," she huffed, planting her hands on her hips in frustration.

  "Tough, you should have thought of that before you ate all that crap for lunch."

  Sue stomped back over to him and tugged on his sleeve.

  "Bend down here," she ordered. "I need to see something."

  "What?" Marcus asked as he bent over and her fingers slipped through the hair on the top of his head, parting it this way and that.

  "Humph," she said, stomping back to the door.

  "What were you looking for?" he asked curiously.

  "I was checking your head to see if there was a slit in it, you being such a big prick and all," she replied sweetly before she slammed the door closed with a bang. She could hear him roaring with laughter until she got to the kitchen.

  Picking at her salad, Sue watched Marcus out of the corner of her eye. The big jerk was certainly enjoying the fruits of her labors, she thought sourly, as he made short work of his tacos. Getting up, she scraped her plate into the sink and turned on the garbage disposal just as he opened his mouth to speak. When she judged he was sufficiently annoyed, she flipped the switch. Going to the cupboard, she got out a wine glass and filled it with wine.

  "Not hungry tonight, Red?" he asked with a grin

  "Not for rabbit food," she tossed her head back, tipping her glass and taking a big gulp as she leaned against the island.

  "Did you eat tacos while you were cooking?" he asked suspiciously

  "Would I ever go against your orders and risk your wrath deliberately?" she asked sarcastically. "That would clearly put you within your rights, under our contract, to punish me."

  "It would and you would if you thought you could get away with it," he replied, getting up to take care of his dishes. "Speaking of which, I'd like to see you in my office around 9:30. We have some unfinished business to take care of from last night and regarding your behavior this afternoon."

  "Listen, Bluebeard, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a horrible migraine at 9:25, so let's just forget the whole thing."

  Marcus laughed as he picked her up and sat her down hard on the island. Wrapping an arm around her butt, he pulled her to him, her legs spread wide to accommodate his hips as he nuzzled her neck. Slipping his hand under her top, he grasped her bare breast, stroking his thumb over her nipple.

  "I'm pretty sure that if I have to come and find you, what was supposed to be fun will turn into something else entirely, at least for you," he growled, nipping her ear as he lightly pinched her tender bud.

  "Fun, you say?" Sue sighed, tilting her head to give him better access. "No one said anything about fun," she moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist and arching against him.

  "It all depends on you, baby. I want you naked in my office at exactly 9:30. One minute late and everything changes," he ordered.

  "You can't expect me to parade around naked with all these windows," she gasped, humping her hips slightly.

  "You may wear a robe, but you must be naked underneath," he told her as his lips strayed down to her collarbone. "I left a couple of things in my top dresser drawer. Bring them with you."

  "Okay," she whispered, threading her hands through his hair and trying to move his lower. "But if you would just unzip your pants, I could give you a little fun right now."

  Marcus laughed and lifted her, slapping her ass before he set her on the floor.

  "No, I have things to do and I think it may benefit you to have to wait a little while, sort of give you something to think about."

  "I'm already thinking about it," she griped, rubbing her bottom.

  "I know," he replied, cupping her firmly between her thighs. "I feel it."

  "Stop that, you jerk," she squealed, slapping his hand. "It's not nice."

  "A minute ago I could have fucked you on the counter," he laughed. "Now I can't touch you."

  "A minute ago there was a chance of me coming in the near future. Now you want me on a slow burn for the next two and half hours," she shot back, pushing him away. "I thought you had some work to do?"

  "I do," he grinned.

  "Then go," she said, waving him away with her hand as she picked up her wine. Sue watched his tight ass as he walked away whistling. Damn.

  As soon as she heard his office door close she went to the cupboard in the pantry that held the cleaning supplies. Moving things aside, she snagged a bag of rags and dug through the things on the top until she found her stash. Taking the snack size bag of Cheetos, she grabbed her wine on her way through the kitchen and headed quietly upstairs. Her first order of business was to see what he had in his top dresser drawer. After that she was going to call Kelsey and see how things were going.

  Chapter Eight

  Smiling, Susan tossed the slim anal plug and a bottle of lube on the bed. A shiver coursed through her body that had nothing to do with fear and plenty to do with anticipation. She found the toy exactly where he said it would be, but she also noticed the interesting case it was lying on and opened it. Inside was an assortment of similar plugs in graduated sizes. Obviously this wasn't a new concept to him because he sure hadn't been anywhere to purchase these things today. Feeling her tummy clench she wondered how many other women he'd played with? Even though she realized that she was better off having an experienced teacher, it still bothered her. For some reason, anything to do with her bottom, whether it was taking a spanking or having someone actually penetrate her there, seemed so much more intimate than just sex. That area of her body had remained relatively untouched and so had her heart. Now she was involved with a man who had no qualms about pushing her limits. She prayed she would be able to protect her heart better than she did other areas of her body.

  Flopping on the bed, she absently stroked the phallic toy, feeling its smooth surface and noting the flared base as she waited for Kelsey to answer her cell phone.

  "Hey, Sue, what's up?" Kelsey asked as she pulled the chicken casserole from the oven, balancing her phone between her ear and cheek

  "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Sue replied, wrapping her fist around the item in her hand and measuring the weight of it. "What's going on there?"

  "Nothing. Ty's not home yet, which is unusual. I was just thinking about calling him."

  "Have you heard from him since we saw him at lunch?" Sue asked casually.

  "No, I haven't, which is also strange. He usually calls me several times a day. I guess he must be really busy," Kelsey said, as she sat the hot dish on a trivet and turned off the oven.

  "Well I'm glad he's late because I wanted to give you a heads up anyway. Ty called Marcus this afternoon and he was armed and dangerous when I got home."

  "Oh no," Kelsey breathed. "What happened?"

  "It seems that little Miss Shelly told Ty all about how I threatened her and she conveniently left out the horrible things she said to you. The poor little darling cried all afternoon she was so upset."

  "What did Marcus do? Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine, but Lucy had some 'splaining' to do to Ricky to save her ass, let me tell you," Sue laughed, squeezing the toy in her hand and admiring its firm yet spongy weight.

  "Did he believe you?" Kelsey asked hopefully.

  "He did and he said he was going to talk to Ty about it. I told him Ty needs to fire that witch."

  "But Sue, what if she really needs that job? What if she en
ds up living in poverty because we got her fired?"

  "Kelsey, get a grip," Sue shouted into the phone. "That man trap is after your man."

  "Oh yeah, right," Kelsey agreed, watching the lights of a vehicle come up the drive. "He's here now, Sue. I better go. Thanks for letting me know."

  "One more thing, Kelsey: I don't know if Marcus has spoken with Ty or not, but no matter what happens, don't you take the blame for anything. If Ty tries to lay any of this on you, call me and I'll row across the damn lake."

  "I'm sure it will be fine, Sue; Ty's a reasonable man," Kelsey replied, crossing her fingers and plastering a smile on her face. "I'll talk to you later if I get the chance."

  "Um, don't call after 9:30, I'm going to be busy," Sue advised, reading the ingredients on the lube.

  "Okay bye."

  It had been a stressful afternoon for Kelsey as she replayed the ugly scene over and over in her mind. She managed to keep busy cleaning and tried a new recipe for chicken broccoli casserole. One part of her wished Ty would hurry up and come home, and the other dreaded his reaction to what happened in the diner. She'd had no doubt that Shelly would find a way to make her look bad, and she just hoped Ty knew her well enough by now that he would not believe Shelly's lies.

  The tall man who walked through the door looked tired and Kelsey waited for him to hang up his jacket before she inched closer. Ty smiled and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head before tipping her chin up and claiming her lips.

  "Something smells good," he sighed, sniffing the air.

  "Are you hungry?" Kelsey asked, resting her head on his chest and sighing in relief.

  "I'm starving," he admitted, putting his hands on her shoulders and backing up a step. "By the time I got to my lunch this afternoon it was stone cold and I had to throw it out, but we'll talk about that later, Sweet Pea. Right now I need to wash up. Will you make me a drink?"

  "Of course," Kelsey replied, heading to the bar in the family room while Ty used the downstairs powder room.

  When he joined her, she pushed him gently into a chair and handed him his neat whiskey.