“You make everything in our lives so memorable, Drew,” she said, her fingers pulling—gently then—at his blond curls. “Even just the simple act of choosing a dress…”
“Little one, I was robbed of so many memories in my own life that it’s my greatest pleasure to create happiness for those I care about,” he said and touched his nose to hers. “Starting with you…”
“Department Store Sex. It’s right up there with Taxi Sex,” her tiny voice spoke out. “One suggestion? Will you bring the clamps next weekend?”
His chuckle tickled her face, but that time, she didn’t coil away from the feeling. “Awfully presumptuous of you to think that we’ll be playing at my parents’ house!”
“Well, you’ve proven your point tonight that you can create a dungeon anywhere with the goods available.”
Yes, she had indeed learned her lessons that evening. And he was about to tempt her with just one more…
“Sit for a minute for me? I need to get rid of this condom…and do a little prep work.”
“Another surprise?”
“Some would consider it a surprise,” he said as he settled her back down to the chair to which he’d tethered her earlier. “Others might consider it a punishment. But that’s up to you to choose, little one…”
Behind another mystery door in the salon, Drew disappeared once again. She could only guess that there was a bathroom for the private use of McKenzie’s most exclusive customers. While she thought she might take a few minutes to ponder every last detail of their evening in her mind, Drew called out, “I want you face down on the table, Maxine. And I want you to think about what you did while we were making love.”
Fuckballs. She knew he wasn’t going to let her off the hook for daring to let her climax rip without his permission. She sighed and stood up, ready to face her sentence. Oh, Drew…
“Good girl,” he said when he returned to find her just as he’d instructed. With a gentle pat to her ass, he smiled. Sometime soon—he hoped—she’d gain a bit more weight, enabling him to feel comfortable affording her that pain for which she’d begged. For now, though, a sliver of the cake for which she hungered would suffice. “Now…once again, Maxine…what did you do this evening?”
“I came without permission, Sir,” she said quickly. “And I know that’s very bad, Sir.”
“I manage to hold off on my pleasure, Maxine,” he continued. “I expect more of you. You’re getting lazy—letting the simple things slide. And I won’t tolerate that. Understand?”
“Yes, I do, Sir…”
Nose down to the once polished table that now bore the smudges of their heated frolicking, she could hear the hiss of what sounded like a whip, slicing through the air. Once he stopped in front of her eyes, though, he cracked the long, slim strip of a belt over his own hand, and smiled at her once more.
“You’ve been begging,” he noted casually with a nod toward the belt. He dressed in his boxer briefs, but not a stitch more. “I thought I’d incorporate this into your training tonight. Color?”
“Green, Sir!” she said without even a slight attempt to mask her excitement over the prospect. How many cracks would he dare give her? Oh, she couldn’t wait to find out! “Bright green!”
“You’re ready?” he questioned her, ever skeptical. “Right now?”
“Yes, please, Sir…”
As he continued to stroll around, waving the belt through the air and teasing her ears with the promise of its sting, Maxine braced herself upon the table, readying herself.
“You’ll have three counts to Red me, Maxine,” he said. “Starting with three…two…”
“One!” she shouted triumphantly as the strap lashed down, crossing her pale ass with the burn of its sting. “Fuckballs!”
His hands couldn’t smooth over her lovely, swatted bottom fast enough, and he rushed to ask her, “Are you…are you alright?”
“Ohhh…” she cried as she squiggled against the table. “Coming…again…Sir…ohhh!”
Those were quite possibly the sweetest sounds he’d heard Maxine utter yet. Bending over, he traced the sweltering stripe of his work with his lips, nibbling just a bit to intensify her ecstasy. Yes, she came again without his permission…but fuck—she loved it.
“Oh, another…please…again…” she continued to beg while he tried in vain to still her.
“No more, little one…not tonight…”
“Sir, please—please, please, please!”
“Shhh…” he soothed, massaging his fingers against her tight little tush. Punishment, perhaps, was in his denial. “Not tonight, Maxine.”
“But…oh, Drew…”
“Can you stand up? Would you like to see what Kind Sir has done to you?”
Although she wobbled a bit when he’d helped her down from the table, her feet raced over the carpet toward the bathroom. As Drew switched on the light, Maxine was already minding herself in the mirror, her own hand caressing over the red, swollen weal.
“My first…my first whipping…” she said, her voice quaking with every word.
Drew pursed his lips, waiting for her reaction to unfold. She was probably terrified now, seeing what he’d done to her body. He had to prepare himself for the worst possible scenario.
“It’s beautiful, Drew…”
“Yes…it is, Maxine…” he whispered, closing his eyes and wondering once again how the fuck he could have possibly deserved this woman in his life. “Yes…it’s beautiful…”
As he opened his arms, she puckered up for a kiss. She deserved that one…and so many more…
“Beautiful—just like the lady wearing it…” he said as her silky lips melted against his. “Now, come along and let’s fix up that wound.”
“Don’t tell me you brought diaper cream…”
“Nope—swiped a tube from the baby department! That I won’t mention to Dad in my list of purchases this evening.”
“James Andrew McKenzie…!”
“Hey, if you knew what trouble my brother caused in this store during his misspent youth,” Drew said, “you wouldn’t bat an eyelash.”
Drew spent quite a bit of time, attending to her entire body—with extra attention to her tummy, her wrists, and her nipples.
While they could have dared to catch a cat nap in the furniture department on a proper bed, they chose instead to just snuggle up on the couch in the salon. He’d even wrapped her in a velvety terry cloth robe before he’d covered them both with a luxurious blanket he’d picked up in housewares just to make sure that he kept her warm.
By the time dawn broke, Drew had actually managed to clean up that space, and even found her an outfit to wear home. It was a bit of a scramble. After some slight embarrassment with one of the security guards on their way through the front door, they made it outside and hailed a cab on that sleepy September Saturday morning…long before the store’s opening at ten.
Their plan for the day was to try to sleep a bit before the tailoring department called with the final alterations on her dress, and they figured Maxine’s apartment was closest to the store. However, both were wide awake by the time they’d pulled up in front of the townhouse.
“Well, look what the cat fucking dragged in last night to your place…” Drew said, his eyes widening with wonder and peculiar fascination as he ever so slowly climbed out of the taxi. With him, he lugged Maxine’s shopping bags filled with shoes, a crystal beaded Judith Lieber bag, and the gifts he’d bestowed just hours ago. He’d even chosen her lingerie for the evening, right down to her thigh-high stockings.
Squinting, Maxine couldn’t see what the hell seemed to catch Drew’s attention. “What are you talking…oh!” she stopped herself just at the edge of the seat and covered her mouth. “Fuckballs…”
“Fuckballs indeed, little one…” Drew muttered under his breath, but she could see his bemused smile sneaking upon his face. “Well, isn’t this a charming way to meet up?”
However, Maxine couldn’t utter one more word
. On the stoop stood a flustered Ben in a pair of sweatpants…and Jeffrey, who hurried to button up the shirt he was conspicuously wearing the day before at work.
“Uh, you should probably zip your fly, Jeff,” Drew tortured him, enjoying that ruddy hue spreading upon Jeffrey’s face. “Want me to stop that taxi?”
“You are such…I’ll get you back, Mack,” he promised, taking care of that little problem with his pants as he stumbled past the happy couple. “Ben, I’ll call you about tonight.”
Ben’s frozen Miss America smile never wavered as he stood upon the steps, above them all, watching the shit unfold on the sidewalk before his purple-contacted eyes.
“Broadway Boy is so very amused,” Drew said, carrying Maxine’s stash of McKenzie’s bags past Ben as he headed into the foyer. “I will commend you, though, Jeffrey is a great catch for the right man.”
“You fucked my boss?” was all Maxine could manage to say. When she repeated herself, though, Ben shoved her inside the door.
“I did…I…just…he…we had drinks…and you two left to probably do the same fucking thing…”
Maxine raised her hand and covered Ben’s mouth. Now he sounded just like she did when Drew left her sexually flustered. “I don’t talk about my sex life, and you shouldn’t talk about yours either,” she said.
“Really?” Drew turned first to Maxine then to Ben. “Really? She doesn’t? Not at all?”
“Nope!” Ben said. “I know only that you relieved her of her virginity, and beyond that, I am in the dark.” That was a tiny white lie. Technically, he did know that Drew had a thing for BDSM, but Maxine refused to say any more beyond the cherry pop.
“Little one, I’m touched…” Drew said and gave her elbow a squeeze.
“Little one…” Ben clutched his stomach as he pushed his way into the foyer, crowded with people and packages, then slammed the door. “Shit…you two kids just be on your way in blissful young love. I’ll be going now…”
“Oh, no you fucking don’t, buddy,” Drew said. “So…did he invite you to my mother’s party in the Hamptons? Just so you know, Maxine and I have dibs on the guest house…”
“Yes, Drew,” Ben said as he attempted to slip up the steps to retreat to his bedroom. “He did ask me to be his date.”
“What happened to Jillian last night?” Drew pounded on. “I hope you two loverboys at least had the sense to put her in a cab and make sure she got home in one piece…”
“She’s okay. She texted us from her apartment. And now I’m going back to bed.”
“But…wait!” Drew said and climbed the first two steps behind Ben. “Where are you guys going later?”
Suddenly, Ben turned around. He was pissed. But smirking. “We are having dinner, and possibly seeing a late movie.”
“And then…?”
All the while, Maxine loved every single excruciating second of Drew’s interrogation. This was nothing short of what Ben put her through for an entire seven days before she made love with Drew. The hilarity of this turn of irony just catapulted her into a fit of giggles. Perhaps this was payback for Ben telling Drew that she hated being tickled.
“You weren’t supposed to come back so soon, Captain,” Ben pointed his finger at Maxine. “You should still be in his apartment—doing the nasty yourself!”
“Or not…!” Drew shot back. “Maybe I don’t like morning sex…”
Maxine folded her lips together to stifle her laughter. “Or afternoon or evening sex either,” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
“Are we all actually standing around here, discussing our carnal livelihoods?” Ben wondered out loud.
“You started it when you slept with my boss!”
“And my best friend!”
“Maybe we didn’t sleep together,” Ben said. “How about that possibility?”
“Yeah, buddy, and Maxine loves being tickled…”
“And thanks for telling him, Uncle Benjy!”
“Oh, for crying out loud—you two are gonna stand here and argue about something so silly, and I’m fucking exhausted,” Ben turned to stomp up the steps.
“I knew it! You did it! You got laid last night!” Maxine cheered. “The eagle has landed!”
“Good night, Captain,” Ben saluted. “See you at the party next week, Broadway Boy!”
“You can run, but you can’t hide...” she hollered up the two flights between them.
Like a rat on a subway track, Ben scurried off to his bedroom, leaving Drew and Maxine, wrapped in each other’s arms and laughing their asses off.
“Well, I guess that leaves us alone, little one…”
“Oh, what can we do now?” She still wore her emerald earrings, and Drew adored the play of her eyes against the stones. And Uncle Benjy didn’t even notice them!
“Well…you can start by putting your things for next weekend away…in the nude. Followed by cleaning your room…”
Lips puckering in a pout, she put her hands on her hips. “How do you know my room needs to be cleaned?”
“Because your fucking room always needs to be cleaned!” he retorted. “Hmm…I’m kinda liking this whole fantasy of my naked maid…I know—breakfast in bed. You’ll cook in nothing but an apron.” He stopped suddenly and scratched his head in thought. “Um…if you do have an apron out there...”
“That we do,” she said as she looped her arm around his waist and followed Drew as he toted her shopping bags through the living room. “Leftover from Ben’s grandmother’s staff.”
“So you’ll make breakfast…then serve me in bed…and then, perhaps you’ll…”
As Maxine giggled her way along through Drew’s fantasy, she thought she’d get a head-start on her costume and began to unbutton her blouse. What a glorious autumn weekend this was certainly shaping up to be…
Chapter Nine
With most of a busy week behind her, Maxine was too tired to fight her laughter as she strolled along the sidewalk that early Thursday evening.
She was about to embark upon her first gynecological visit.
When she’d initially scheduled, Maxine automatically thought that Drew would go with her. That, however, wasn’t an option with his rehearsals. The only female she really knew in New York was Jillian. Maxine couldn’t quite bring herself to ask her own supervisor to escort her while she garnered some of that all-important birth control.
But where there was a Drew, there was a way…
Hand-selected by Mack himself, Ben had been chosen to sit with Maxine in the waiting room before her most important appointment. At that moment, though, she wasn’t sure of what she feared most—the examination or Ben’s playful torture before the nurse called her back.
Ben was there, though, once again with those damn jingle bells around his neck, trying perhaps a little too hard to relieve her nerves. He couldn’t fight that devious smile that played upon his lips, which warned her that they’d discuss this event for many years to follow. Avoiding his hug with a shrug, Maxine pushed on past him and reached for the door handle.
“The Captain does not appreciate my attempt at humor this evening?” he said, hurrying up to her side.
“The Captain,” Maxine began, “is rather frightened right now.”
“Oh, come on,” he said as they paused in the foyer. “You’ve had Drew’s big old cock up there. This can’t hurt much!”
As she covered her face with her hands, Maxine could literally feel the heat upon her cheeks. “It’s not pain that intimidates me,” she whispered. “It’s the embarrassment…”
As she stepped inside the doctor’s office, she brushed those thoughts to the side for just a bit. The receptionist—a rather burly older gentleman with a lovely Scottish brogue—took her name. Maxine mumbled softly, terrified that someone in this city of strangers might recognize her. On a subsequent visit, when she’d decided to brave it alone, she came to find out that the man was actually the doctor’s husband. Maxine just found that far too amusing.
; He’d continued on with the usual string of questions, but nothing could have possibly quelled her chagrin as she explained that Drew had spoken with the billing manager to cover the costs of her visit with his credit card.
Clearly, she was the youngest woman in the room as she glanced around at the other patients and attempted to discern their needs that day. Two women were very pregnant, and as Maxine looked at their engorged tummies with their belly buttons popping against their tight shirts, she realized how glad she was to have made this visit. The last thing she wanted was a baby—even Drew’s—anytime soon.
When she took her seat next to a beaming Ben, Maxine rolled her eyes. Judy would have reveled in the hilarity of the entire situation, and she so adored watching Ben tease her only child. The two of them together always made her giggle—when she wasn’t screaming at them to behave.
“You know what I used to really love?” Ben asked, then answered her before she had the chance to utter a single word. “When Judy used to tell you stories about how horrible and painful labor and delivery were—just to put the fear of God into you about the importance of birth control…”
Both Ben and Drew possessed the uncanny ability to read her mind. That made Maxine laugh out loud. As one woman shot her a glare, she sunk back in her chair and pulled a magazine not so discretely in front of her face.
“And every time she told that story, the hours got longer,” he continued. “First it was like ten hours…then by the time she passed, I think she was up to three days of labor. And girl, she did not want to be a grandmother. How many times did she say that? She’d be so happy that you’re here!”
“She would be,” Her fingers continued to page through the magazine as her eyes merely glossed over the words. “And I like to think that she’d be quite taken with Drew, too.”
“Oh, yes, she would have!” Ben agreed. “You know, I voiced my doubts and my concerns—and they still exist—but something keeps telling me that it’s all good. Curious to see what all unfolds over the weekend…”
“Ugh…” Maxine grumbled under her breath and clutched her stomach.
WRAPPED: The Manhattan Bound Series, Book Two Page 15
