That gave Chloe a warm glow. Alex already regarded her as his…certainly that had to be a step towards love.
Finished with the dishes, Chloe looked around the apartment. It needed more work, but she wouldn’t try to furnish it with Alex’s card again. Unless she could get the strange guys from the television to come in, fixing up Alex’s home would take money. Nina had given her a small amount of cash so that she wouldn’t be entirely dependent on him, but she needed to save that for emergencies.
Alex worked as a museum guard for money. Maybe she could get a job, too? But doing what?
Still not tired, Chloe turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. The sex program came on, but Nina wasn’t there so Chloe moved on. That’s how Nina earned her money, working on shows like that. Maybe her sister could get her a job…
No. If she wanted Alex to love her, she’d have to avoid sex with other people. A man who didn’t want her taking money from others certainly wouldn’t want her having sex with someone else. Besides, the idea of being intimate with anyone other than Alex really didn’t appeal to her.
Another cooking show came on, this time one with two chefs battling to see who could create the best meals. Fascinated, Chloe sat to watch.
If only she could learn to cook like that.
Well, why not? She’d certainly mastered the dishes she’d made last night and tonight. Chloe observed the techniques the men used. It didn’t seem that difficult and the results were spectacular. Maybe if she learned to cook really well, she could get a job in a restaurant like the one Nina had taken her to yesterday for lunch.
Her eye fell on the syllabus from the university Alex attended. After her failure to understand the directions on the washer in the basement, it had become clear that the first thing Chloe had needed was to learn how to read. During their day together Nina had solved that problem by using a little of her magic to gift Chloe with the ability to understand written English. They’d used the class listings and television guide as practice.
Picking up the course book, she turned to the section on culinary arts, noting that there was a beginner’s class with a session starting tomorrow afternoon, while Alex would be at the university. Going to class would give her something to do and keep her from shopping.
All she needed to do was show up and register. Chloe grinned. This was definitely something she could do.
Chapter Nine
Two weeks later, Chloe sat on the couch in the mid-afternoon, planning her trip to the grocery for the next day. After some negotiating with Alex, promising that there’d be no repeat of her first solo shopping excursion, she’d wrangled a budget from him to buy food and necessities. After all, she’d argued, he’d spent the same amount on take-out food as she needed to run the household.
At first he’d seemed reluctant to give her money, doling it out a few dollars at a time. But when she’d managed to not spend more than he’d given her for several days running, he’d given her a full week’s allowance at a time.
That felt good, that she’d proved herself to him.
By careful management she’d stretched the money such that she’d been able to buy some inexpensive but nice dishes to replace the plastic plates they’d been using and a set of silverware where all the pieces matched. They even had new glassware, including a pair of real wineglasses.
None of it had cost much. Chloe had discovered the discount store and its periodic sales. She’d been a little surprised that simple household budgeting had come so easy for her. After all, there was very little call for a wood nymph to handle money. But one of the earliest lessons in her cooking classes had involved managing the books for a restaurant kitchen. Both a household and a restaurant had similar needs for handling expenses.
Even her professor had been impressed. He’d given her extra credit for several ideas she’d had about bargain hunting and wholesale prices on food and tableware. He’d told her she had the makings of a fine restauranteur. Unused to having someone praise her mental abilities, Chloe had been pleased at the man’s praise, telling Alex all about it that evening over dinner. While Alex hadn’t said much, he had seemed proud of her accomplishments.
Or maybe he was just happy he wouldn’t be stuck taking care of her forever. Since starting the class, Chloe knew she’d be able to make it on her own without him, once she’d gotten him to admit to loving her. She could leave then.
Trouble was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be without him and leaving wasn’t something she could even imagine.
Their weekdays together had become something of a routine. Alex worked night guard duty at the museum from eleven until six. He’d come home and join her in bed for a few hours…some of which were spent sleeping. Then he’d drive them to the university for their classes in the afternoon. When he had a class that went later than hers she took the public bus home, sometimes stopping in town at the grocery. Alex’s apartment was near enough that she could walk from there.
She loved the little city they lived in. It was small enough that someone used to walking—like her—could get almost anywhere without a car. The bus ran often enough that she took it when she needed to go someplace further away, like the university.
Once she was home, she would clean or cook, and sometimes watch television—to improve her English, she’d told Alex, but the truth was she enjoyed the silly and strange stories available there.
She always cooked dinner and they’d eat together, then Alex would sometimes get out his cameras and photograph her. That often led to them making love before he left for his job.
That was the one disappointment for her. They rarely got to stay in bed together. Seven nights a week he worked. Sometimes he talked about when he’d be able to quit working at the museum, after he got his big break as a photographer.
Chloe secretly hoped she could find a job before then so that he could concentrate on school and not work every night. She’d investigated and found out that even an assistant chef made as much as a museum guard.
Of course, all this depended on her earning Alex’s love.
Chloe sighed and put away her grocery list. She’d finish it later, after Alex left for work. Turning on the television, she tried to lose herself in a show about interior decorating. It was so different in this time than the one she’d last lived in. Such an array of colors and fabrics available and sometimes for such modest prices.
A commercial came on about a furniture store downtown. It was having a sale on couches. Chloe admired the clean lines of one with green leather upholstery.
That would look so good in her living room.
Quickly she caught herself. She meant Alex’s living room, of course, and it was far too much money for now. This was getting serious. Now she was decorating the man’s place as if she planned on being a permanent occupant.
How did one go about getting a man’s love? Cooking wasn’t doing it, nor was keeping the apartment clean. Sexy underwear had made his cock hard, but his heart hadn’t softened towards her.
Their sex was great, but no matter what she did, he still kept control. He never called her anything but Babe, or Honey. He rarely even used her name. The man said he’d never had better sex than what was between them but he didn’t act like it meant anything to him.
Resting her chin on one hand, she flipped through the channels again, looking for her sister’s sex program. Several times when she’d needed to talk to Nina, she’d been able to find her this way.
Maybe Nina would have some suggestions on driving a man wild in bed.
* * * * *
Chloe stared at the array of items on her bed, the result of her sister’s ransacking the TV studio’s prop department. Nina grinned at her as she lifted one item after the other in total bemusement. She had no idea what some of these things were even meant to do. As she examined each, she wondered what body parts they’d been used on before.
“Don’t worry about this stuff,” Nina said, “it’s all right out of the box. We did a show on toys
some time ago. They were donated by an online company I’d been working with so I got to keep everything we didn’t find a home for.”
One little item was shaped like a bunny with a long cord attached to a box that held batteries. She pressed the button and the bunny skittered around on the comforter top.
Nina’s grin grew bigger. “It’s a funny bunny vibrator. So small it will fit into the narrowest crack or crevice but delivers a real wallop to the nerve endings.”
Chloe stared at her sister. “What kind of crevice?”
“Oh the usual ones…guys like that sort of thing.”
Chloe wasn’t so sure Alex would enjoy something shoved into any of his cracks. Of course she could be wrong…
“Does he like to take baths with you? Here’s a vibrating rubber duck. Or maybe a dolphin? These little babies work underwater.”
Chloe laughed. “Do you have something less obvious in shape? Alex isn’t much of an animal lover.”
Nina grabbed another item, which looked like some sort of sculpture, all points and knobs of clear plastic. She flicked the switch at the bottom and held it against Chloe’s hand. It hummed and tingled across her skin.
Chloe smiled “I might want to keep that one for when Alex isn’t around.”
“It’s yours then,” Nina handed the toy over with a flourish. “Of course this isn’t answering what you need in the driving-a-man-wild department.”
Chloe stared at the other offerings on the bed. One was a package that had a collection of items, including a video, book, what looked like a belt, and a long, heavy replica of a man’s erect cock.
She pointed to it. “What is this?”
Nina picked it up and chuckled wickedly. “This is a kit for couples. It’s called ‘Spread ‘em wide, Lover-boy’.” She placed it to one side. “No offense, Chloe, but I think that might be something more to my taste than yours.”
“What are these for?” Chloe picked up a pair of what might be bracelets, except that they had a narrow chain connecting them.
“Those are some of the finest bondage handcuffs ever made. Perfect for a little master-slave action.” Nina pointed to the interior of each circlet with pride. “Notice how there’s rubber inside. That cushions the cuff against the skin so it doesn’t do too much damage when the slave gets to struggling…which they inevitably do.”
“Slave? Master?”
“It’s a game, Chloe. You take turns being in control, sometimes you’re the master and sometimes he is. The other person is the slave and gets tied up.”
She shrugged. “Some folks today call the master the ‘top’ and the slave the ‘bottom’, but I’m a bit old-fashioned.”
Alex was already the top most of the time. He was so strong that anything he wanted to do he simply did. How could she persuade him to play the role of the bottom? “Why would someone want to be a slave?”
Nina locked her hands together, obviously pleased with her role as instructor. “What being a slave does is make it possible for someone to give in to not having control. You fasten their arms to the bed and they can’t resist anything you do to them.”
“A man gives up control? Just by being handcuffed?”
“Sure. They use these things in law-enforcement to control prisoners. Of course those cuffs don’t have the rubber.”
Chloe smiled. She’d wanted Alex to give up control for a short time while making love. This could be just the thing she was looking for!
“So why would a slave struggle if they’ve given up control?”
Nina held up a couple of items, one a small rod with feathers on the tip, and the other a longer rod with several thin leather straps. “Because nobody can resist struggling when you tickle them with these little items. Both heighten the sensations of where and how you touch them.” She grinned. “I find guys really like this kind of thing.”
“Really?” Chloe took the feather-topped toy and ran it across the back of her hand. It felt heavenly.
Nina slapped the leather straps across her hand. “Mind though, you have to have a safe word. If he’s had enough he can use it and you stop.”
Collecting the handcuffs, feather tickler, and mini-whip, Chloe nodded fervently. “Of course, I’ll stop if he says the safe word.”
She’ll make the safe word something easy to remember. Like “love”.
Chapter Ten
Something was definitely up. Chloe had looked like a cat who’d been into the cream all through dinner. Alex wasn’t sure what the story was, but her eyes were brighter and her smile more satisfied than he’d seen in days.
Outside of bed, that is. She always looked satisfied when he got through with her.
Since she’d come to live with him, he’d felt like a cat in the cream, too. Food was great, apartment clean, clothes were washed…and the sex was great. He couldn’t remember being happier, not even in the early days when Melody had been around. Of course, he remembered how that had panned out. Bad, real bad.
Good thing Chloe behaved nothing like Melody had. She didn’t ask for anything, outside of money to get food. There were no trips to the mall or manicurist. She’d never had that gorgeous head of hers in a beauty salon.
Not that Chloe needed to go to a beauty salon. If she got any lovelier he’d probably stop breathing when he looked at her.
She’d even paid for her own classes, saying she had some money from her sister. Yep, Chloe was a very self-sufficient woman.
Maybe a little too self-sufficient. Outside of the bedroom she didn’t ask him to do anything but give her the housekeeping money. He just wasn’t used to a woman who didn’t beg or plead for something. Melody had really spoiled him on women.
And not in a good way.
“Would you like more bread?” The look on Chloe’s face was pure innocence, a sure sign she was up to something. He took a piece. Excellent, as always. Probably home-baked today.
“What did you do this afternoon?” He asked the question casually, as if the answer didn’t matter to him.
“Oh, this and that. Baked some bread.”
He’d guessed that. She knew that he loved home-baked bread. She’d probably made it just to put him in a good mood. It was working because he was in a good mood, maybe in part because she was.
But something was definitely up.
“Anything else?”
She shrugged. “My sister came to visit.”
Oh, oh. He’d better keep this casual. He didn’t trust the infamous Nina. “That’s nice. When are you going to let me meet her?”
“Oh, sometime,” Chloe said vaguely. “She gave me something I’d like to show you—later.”
Later? The hackles on the back of his neck went up with suspicion. Alex took another piece of bread and chewed it slowly.
Chloe winked at him. Chloe winked at him—that wasn’t like her! Alex tried to relax. Maybe it was just another set of fancy underwear. Nothing wrong with that. One thing Nina had excellent taste in was underwear.
He forced a smile at her. “I’ll look forward to it.”
* * * * *
Alex was still forcing his smile two hours later, after he’d gotten the best photos to date of Chloe. He put away the camera while Chloe finished up the dishes and headed for the bedroom.
Everything in her attitude told him that something was still very much up…but she’d been totally responsive during their photo shoot and he’d done close to a week’s work just in the few hours.
His portfolio was shaping up nicely. He needed some outdoor shots still. Maybe he and Chloe could head out to the country this weekend and he’d photograph her there. It was too bad it was winter. He could just imagine her under a tree, wearing just a thin garment, all that creamy skin of hers contrasting with the green grass. Maybe some flowers in the right places giving her modesty. He was going for artistic shots of her, not porn.
She’d seen some of his pictures and had been nothing but complimentary, not minding at all the occasional bare breast or ass shot. She’d never
learned to be embarrassed by her body—one of the reasons she was such an excellent model.
Her praise had made him feel better than that of his senior professor, who’d also exclaimed enthusiastically over his photos, saying if Alex kept this quality of work up, he’d be sure to get one of the positions he was applying for.
His professor has also asked pointed questions about Alex’s model, probably wanting to hire her himself, and had been disappointed when Alex had told him it was his girlfriend and she didn’t model professionally.
Not that she couldn’t be a model, but Alex didn’t like the idea of another man photographing Chloe. She was…his…well, girlfriend said it close enough for now. Anyway, she wanted to be a professional cook and that was fine with him.
“Alex, could I talk to you a moment?”
Something in her tone was warm and inviting. A grin crossed his face as he headed for the bedroom. Maybe now he’d find out what she’d been so secretive about.
He stepped through the door before he realized that the lights were out. Instead he saw lit candles by the down-turned bed, casting a warm, romantic glow. Nice! He’d always been a sucker for good lighting.
Alex stepped further into the room, expecting to see Chloe near the bed. Instead she came up from behind the door and snapped something down on his wrist.
“Hey! What’s this?” Alex tugged on the narrow circlet locked tight around his wrist. A second one dangled from the short chain that attached them. Alex stared at the pair. Handcuffs?
Chloe danced to a few feet away and turned to grin at him. She was wearing some sort of little black lace teddy that pushed up her breasts and outlined her pubic triangle in an audacious display. Covering her long legs were black lace stockings held up by garters, and her feet wore what had to be six-inch heels. Alex wondered how she could stay balanced in them.
She wielded what looked like a tiny whip and slapped it against the palm of her hand. It made a puny sound like a wet noodle on a kitchen counter.
Echo in the Hall Page 8
