The Submissive

by Erotic Romance

  Damn it. No release.

  We took the elevator downstairs to a private ballroom where the brunch would be held. I only recognized Linda, although I knew several of Nathaniel’s business associates would be in attendance.

  Felicia and Linda stood talking in a far corner. Elaina and Todd arrived shortly after we did.

  “We’re a bit early,” Nathaniel said, placing a hand on my lower back. “I need to go speak with a few people. Should I take you over to Felicia and Linda or are you okay here?”

  If I stayed where I was, maybe Elaina would come talk to me. “I’ll be fine here.”

  He brushed the top of my arm. “I won’t be long.”

  I watched as he moved into a crowd of people. Elaina slid to my side minutes later.

  “Come here,” she said, pulling me behind a tall vase.

  I glanced toward Nathaniel. He was deep in conversation with a handsome older couple.

  “Nathaniel came to our room last night,” she said. “Todd left with him shortly after he showed up.” She looked to where her husband stood. “He won’t tell me what’s going on, but I think you’re right, I think it’s about you.”

  Was that what the door sex was about? Proving a point to Todd? Or was he proving a point to himself?

  Proving a point to me?

  “I’m trying to take your advice,” I told her. “I’m being real careful with him. Sometimes—” I thought back to the library “—sometimes I think I’m breaking through and sometimes—” I thought back to the night before last “—sometimes I don’t even care.”

  “Todd was in a better mood when he came back,” she said. “I think whatever Nathaniel said calmed him down.”

  I chewed on my lip, trying to figure that one out.

  “My advice is, whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.” She squeezed my hand. “It’s working.”

  “How long was Todd gone last night?” I asked. I couldn’t remember what time I went to sleep, but it was pretty late.

  “A few hours,” she said. “Todd did say that Nathaniel stayed downstairs looking for a piano.”

  A piano made sense, he always seemed to feel better once he played. I thought about the time I rode him while he played—I knew I certainly felt better after. I looked back to the crowd. Nathaniel was still in conversation with the older couple.

  “Who are they? Business associates?” I asked, not wanting to think about the library and the piano with Elaina so close. After spending the day with her in the spa, I was certain she had a sixth sense about sex.

  “No,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Those are Melanie’s parents.”

  My jaw dropped. Melanie’s parents.

  “What are they doing here?” I asked.

  “Friends of the family.”

  “Where’s Melanie?” I glanced around, was she here?

  “Not invited,” Elaina said with a little grin on her face.

  Todd walked up to us. “Ladies.”

  Elaina took his hand. “Time to eat?”

  There was a buffet for brunch. I selected my normal breakfast items, throwing a few finger sandwiches on my plate as well. Todd and Elaina sat at our table along with Felicia.

  “How long have you worked at the library, Abby?” Todd asked at one point when the conversation drifted away from the upcoming game.

  “At the public library for seven years,” I said. “But I worked at one of the campus libraries before then.”

  “You did?” he asked. “I wonder if I ever saw you. I spent a lot of time in the campus libraries.”

  I squinted my eyes at him. He was handsome enough, although not as striking as Nathaniel. “I don’t know,” I said thinking back. “I’d probably remember you.”

  “One would think,” he said, almost under his breath.

  Elaina looked from Todd to Nathaniel and then back to me. What was going on? What was I missing? I glanced at Nathaniel. Nothing.

  “You like the public library better than the campus one?” Todd asked.

  “The people are a lot more diverse,” I said. “Plus college students can be a bit obnoxious.” I smiled, trying to lighten what had turned from a simple question into a tense conversation. “Did I ever have to tell you to tone it down or to stop ripping pages from the reference books?”

  Todd laughed. “No, I definitely would have remembered that.”

  The conversation went back to the upcoming game and maybe it was just me, but I was almost certain I felt Nathaniel give a sigh of relief when it did.

  We had a box booked at the stadium. The weather was still cold and I was thankful we’d be inside as opposed to watching the game outside in the frigid temperatures.

  New York were up by three right before the half. Nathaniel took my hand and led me to the door of the box, telling everyone we’d be back later. He picked up a duffle bag on the way out.

  “My plan?” he whispered in my ear. “Starts now.”

  Funny, I thought he already completed that plan—that night in his suite, when he had taken full possession of me, the night that everything had changed. My heart raced…what in the world could he have planned for the stadium?

  He gave me the bag. “Go change. I have an extra ticket in the bag, meet me there before the half starts.”

  I took the bag into the bathroom. Inside was a short skirt. In this weather? There were also two long blankets. Why were we changing seats? And why were we sitting outside? At least the box had heat.

  But then I thought back to the last few days. Anything. I’d do anything he asked. I changed into the skirt, folded my pants and put them in the bag. The blankets I shoved on top.

  I looked at the ticket—middle level if I guessed right.

  I had. My new seat was on the first row on the middle level. And it was crowded. No one said anything as I took my seat. They didn’t even look my way. Nathaniel joined me minutes later.

  He draped an arm over my shoulders and drew me close. Drew circles on my shoulder. My heart pounded at his nearness.

  He leaned over and whispered, “Do you know that three out of four people fantasize about having sex in public?”

  Hot…

  His tongue swirled in my ear. “The way I see it, why fantasize when you can experience it instead?”

  Holy…

  “I’m going to fuck you during the Super Bowl, Abigail.” He bit down on my earlobe and I sucked in a breath. “As long as you’re quiet, no one will know.”

  Hell.

  I grew wet just thinking about what he said. Looked around to the people beside us. Everyone was wrapped in blankets. I was starting to understand his plan.

  Nathaniel was still drawing circles on my shoulder.

  “I want you to stand up and wrap a blanket around you. Open in the back,” he said. “Put one foot up on the railing in front of you.”

  I walked to the railing, my thighs growing slicker as I thought about what Nathaniel wanted to do. What Nathaniel would do. On the field below, someone intercepted a pass. The crowd around us cheered. I wrapped the blanket around me—it was longer than I’d thought earlier. I couldn’t even feel a draft.

  The seconds ticked down on the field clock. Ten, nine, eight—Nathaniel came and stood behind me—five, four, three—the people around us stood—one. Everyone cheered as the players ran off the field.

  Nathaniel wrapped another blanket around us. We were just any other couple snuggling. Nothing different going on. Except I could feel the difference pressed hot and hard against me.

  Below us, men worked frantically to set up the stage. Nathaniel’s hand shimmied its way up my shirt. I gasped as he rolled my nipple between his fingers.

  “You have to be quiet,” he warned.

  He worked me into a frenzy underneath the blankets, his slow hands roaming under my shirt and his erection, hard as nails, behind me. And the entire time he was murmuring in my ear, telling me how good I would feel, how he could barely wait, how hard I made him.

  I knew wh
at it was. It was payback for our tryst in the library when I made him play as I rode him. It was payback, and payback was hell. And heaven. It was hell and heaven pressed down, rolled together, and so intertwined you couldn’t tell the difference between them anymore.

  The lights dropped suddenly in the stadium. Nathaniel took a slight step backward and I felt his hands undoing his pants.

  “Lean over the rail just a little.” He stepped closer.

  I glanced to my right. Another couple was standing there at the rail, side by side. They weren’t paying us any attention.

  “No one knows,” Nathaniel said, lifting the hem of my skirt up under the blankets. “People are so caught up in their own little worlds they don’t notice what’s going on around them. The most life-altering event could be happening right next to them and they’d miss it entirely.” He slipped a finger inside me. “Of course, in this case, it’s a good thing.”

  Someone appeared on stage and the crowd erupted in a thunder of noise and applause. Nathaniel thrust into me. My little shriek was drowned by the shouts of the audience.

  Nathaniel moved in time with the music. We could have been dancing. I take that back—we were dancing. A slow, sultry, erotic dance. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close as he thrust inside again. I moved my legs apart further and he slipped even deeper with his next thrust.

  “All these people,” he whispered in my ear, “and no one knows what we’re doing.” He went even deeper. “You could probably scream.” He twisted a nipple and I bit my lip.

  The song changed and Nathaniel slowed down, taking his time, moving inconspicuously. But we were still connected and the feel of him inside me was divine. He slowed further, but it was enough. His speed didn’t matter, what mattered was that he was still there. Still claiming me.

  The next song was even slower. Again he was slow, but again he was there and that was his point. He could be slow or he could be fast. He could take me against the door or in a stadium filled with thousands of people. Whatever he decided, he would do, but he was still there.

  Finally the music picked up. Nathaniel dropped a hand and started circling my clit, his touch growing rougher with each pass. I feared for a second I’d fall over the rail. Or collapse in an incoherent blob. Around us, people swayed to the music, and under our blankets, his hand and body kept us dancing to our own beat.

  I pushed back as he thrust forward and he let out a small grunt. Faster and faster he worked me, thrusting and circling as the song reached its end. Lights flashed before me or it may have been fireworks. Hard call. Seven strong staccato beats played out punctuated by Nathaniel’s deep thrusts.

  “Come with me,” he whispered as he thrust one last time and we peaked together while the crowd roared with approval for the artist on stage.

  We stayed there, against the rails, while the people around us calmed down. While our hearts calmed down. He stayed pressed against me, as he never had before, and I felt his heartbeat against my back. Felt it racing.

  “Now that,” he said against my neck, “was an amazing half-time show.”

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-FIVE

  I sat on Nathaniel’s lap for the entire third quarter. We just sat there, watching the game, wrapped in blankets. Occasionally, he’d run his fingers through my hair or trace the outline of my ear.

  “We should head back to the box,” he said as the quarter drew to a close.

  Right, the game.

  Who was winning?

  I went to get up, but his arms wouldn’t let me go.

  “Do you know why we had to wait?” he asked.

  Because you like me sitting on your lap.

  Because you want to hold me.

  Because you are fascinated by the tiny little details of my ear.

  Because, as much as you try to deny it, you’re feeling something.

  Because, maybe, you love me.

  “Because your face shows absolutely everything,” he said. “You’re an open book.”

  I laughed. Okay, that too.

  We stood up. I still had a blanket wrapped around me.

  “You better change,” he said. “Felicia will have my head if she sees you in that skirt.”

  I had a feeling Felicia was going to have both of our heads anyway, but that hardly mattered at the moment.

  After I changed, we walked back to the box. I overheard several ladies in the bathroom while I was changing—the Giants were winning. Good to know, since I’d be spending the rest of the game with people who’d probably watched the last quarter.

  Felicia came right up to me as we re-entered the box and drew me to the side. “Where have you been?” she asked quietly.

  “We were busy.” I tried to say it with a straight face, but apparently my expression gave me away.

  “Damn, Abby. At the Super Bowl? Isn’t that illegal?”

  “Felicia,” I said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “it should be illegal not to do what I’ve been up to.”

  “You are so going to get arrested one day.”

  “Prude.”

  “Perv.”

  The Giants won. After the clock wound down, Jackson ran to the middle of the field and looked up at our box. He blew a kiss in our direction. Everyone oohed and ahhed.

  Everyone except Nathaniel. He just shook his head and mumbled again about how much his cousin owed him. But I could tell he was happy for Jackson. Just the same way I was happy for Felicia.

  We left the stadium after the trophy presentation. Nathaniel and Todd gave each other wary glances, but they finally came together in a friendly hug.

  “Three weeks,” I thought I heard Nathaniel whisper, but couldn’t be sure.

  Elaina pulled me into her arms. “If I find anything out, I’ll call you.”

  Felicia was staying in Tampa with Jackson, but Nathaniel had to fly back so I headed to the airport with him. The flight back home was much more subdued than our trip to Tampa. We spent our time in the leather captain’s chairs.

  “Did you make me an appointment for Wednesday?” Nathaniel asked. “Or were you just saying that to Linda?”

  “I was hoping you would want to stop by,” I said. Didn’t he know by now I’d never lie to him?

  “Wednesday, then.” He smiled. “Research?”

  “You do need help with your literature. If you try really hard, I’m sure you can do better than Mark Twain and Jane Austen next time.”

  “Really? Who would you suggest?”

  “Shakespeare,” I said, leaning back and closing my eyes.

  I called and set up an appointment for waxing on Wednesday afternoon after work. I could have made it earlier, but I wanted to see if Nathaniel would say anything else about it when he showed up at one o’clock on Wednesday.

  He didn’t.

  And let me say one word about being waxed.

  Ohmygodithurtsofuckingbad.

  But afterward—way, way, way afterward—I decided I rather liked it. It was neat, clean, and I could only imagine how sex would feel. It might actually make sex better, if such a thing were possible.

  I also decided to give some thought to Nathaniel’s idea of getting a car. On my own, of course. I talked Felicia into letting me borrow hers for the weekend. She rarely used it anyway.

  Six o’clock Friday evening found me in the foyer of Nathaniel’s house.

  He pointed to my clothes. “Take them off. You’ll get them back on Sunday.”

  I took my time undressing. I’d thought about the weekend all week, just as Nathaniel planned, I’m sure. Wondered how I’d feel walking around completely naked. Crazy Abby was all for it and promised to keep Rational Abby occupied with new tax regulations or some such nonsense.

  I hadn’t forgotten what he’d said about Friday night, and when I stepped out of my pants—look, Nathaniel, no panties—the look in his eyes told me he wasn’t joking about the Friday-night fiver. Matter of fact, he took me the first time right in the foyer.

  And, uh, yeah. Sex w
as better.

  I felt self-conscious at first, walking around without clothes, especially when doing something mundane like cooking. But as the weekend went on, I found myself growing confident. The way Nathaniel looked at me, the way his eyes followed my movements, it made me feel powerful. Again, probably his plan the entire time.

  He was sitting at the kitchen table when I came down to cook breakfast Sunday.

  “Go upstairs and put some clothes on,” he said, very no-nonsense.

  What was going on? I was so flustered, I didn’t ask. I left the kitchen and went back to my room, where I fumbled my way into some jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt before making my way back down the stairs.

  “Have a seat,” he said.

  “Is everything okay?” I sat down, trying to figure out what would put such a…guilty look on his face.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, looking at me finally. His eyes were troubled. “I should have done a better job. Paid more attention.”

  “You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

  He waved toward the window.

  Shit.

  Snow reached halfway up the glass pane, about four feet, and was still falling.

  “I should have listened to the weather,” he said. “Watched the news. Something.”

  “So what’s the verdict?” I asked, still watching the snow. “How bad is it?”

  He shook his head. “No one knows with any certainty. It could be days before you’re able to leave. I’m sorry. I should have sent you home yesterday.”

  So I was stuck with Nathaniel for a few extra days. It beat being stuck inside the apartment—

  “Felicia,” I whispered. I had her car!

  “She’s with Jackson,” Nathaniel said. “I talked with him not long ago—he picked her up yesterday. She’ll be okay.”

  I nodded. Felicia was perfectly fine with Jackson, and I liked the idea of her being with him instead of holed up at the apartment.

  “We need to discuss guidelines for the week,” Nathaniel said. “I thought it would be easier to talk if you had clothes on.”