Mac grinned. “Yep. Why do you think he relaxed a few rules?”
“That doesn’t make sense. Why would he relax them instead of making them stricter?”
“Ah, the irony inherent in the lifestyle,” he joked. “Because you’ve seen us strict. You know what that’s like. But will you like us vanilla too?” He winked. “I told you, it’s not all about the kink. That’s just one part of it.”
“A big part of it.”
“Depends on who you ask. Some would call a lot of what we do nothing special. Some would think we’re total pervs. It’s all relative.”
They hit the road before nine the next morning. She’d slept well cuddled against Mac, but nothing sexual happened between them despite the new status of their relationship. Sully called them after he talked with the detective and the state attorney’s office. He also hired an attorney to coordinate things on that end for them. That evening, Sully was in New York and they were south of Atlanta. Mac had taken his time, frequently taking smaller roads.
“Not much longer, sugar,” Mac said. “We’re pushing home from this point.”
It would be good to be home. But the closer they got, the more her nervous tension increased. There was still time to back out, take her words back.
Not that she wanted to, if she was totally honest with herself.
They rolled into their driveway a little before two a.m. the next morning. Mac helped her carry Bart’s things inside and then headed straight for his bedroom. He didn’t close the door, but he didn’t ask her to sleep with him either.
She waited for any hint of an invitation, then went to her own room. Despite how sexually frustrating it had been for her to sleep next to Mac, she’d behaved herself. Although she suspected Sully’s commands to Mac would have kept him honest regardless.
Clarisse went to her bedroom, but she left her door wide open. An invitation if he wanted to take her up on it. Bart spent a few minutes sniffing around their new digs before curling up on his bed in his crate.
Upset and not quite sure why, she crawled beneath the covers and tried to sleep. When the house phone rang a few hours later, she rolled over and answered it without thinking. Sully.
“Did I wake you, pet?”
She glanced at the clock. Almost ten. “That’s okay. Want me to get Mac?”
“No, I wanted to talk to you anyway. I’ll be home in three days.
Have you thought more about what we talked about?”
Sleep evaporated from her system. “Yes.”
“And?”
“I still want to, Master.”
“Very good. Good girl. Tell slave to call me when he wakes up.
Love you.”
She swallowed hard. “I love you, too.”
He hung up. She couldn’t contain her smile.
She also couldn’t go back to sleep. So she made a pot of coffee and took Bart downstairs to the backyard to let him run around. It was a peaceful morning, a few boats in the bayou heading out for the day.
This could be her life forever.
That was a good thing, she realized. Why fight it?
The mental image of Sully playing with Doreen spoiled her perfect picture.
She heard the back sliders open a little later. “You down there, kiddo?”
“Yeah. Sully said to call him.”
“Okay.” He walked back into the house.
She called Bart to her and carried him upstairs. She was hungry.
Mac would probably want something. His bedroom door was closed and she heard him talking, too low for her to hear. She was cooking pancakes for them when he opened the door and walked into the kitchen. He wore shorts, but no shirt. The ID bracelet and necklace were gone, but his locking leather collar was in place. He carried something in his hand.
She couldn’t read his serious expression. Her heart skipped with fear. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I talked with Master. He wants me to work with you before his return. To give you a taste of what life will be like with us.
Are you ready?”
“Yes.” She hesitated. “Master?”
“No. You never call me Master. That title is reserved for him only. For the time being, when I’m topping, you can call me Sir, just like you called him Sir at the party.”
She nodded, too nervous to speak.
“I don’t know what he’s going to have you call me when he’s home and we’re together. For now, he said boat rules until he comes home. Except for one small thing.”
“What?”
He smiled. “I’m not allowed to fuck you. He gets the honor of being first.” He held up what was in his hand. A lightweight, silver chain collar with a small, silver decorative lock, similar to the discreet formal collar Mac wore when out in public with Sully. “But Master gave me the privilege of being the first to collar you. Among other things.”
This made it real. Her pulse thrummed.
He stepped across the kitchen. “Are you sure you want this? You can back out. You can live with us as long as you want without being involved with us, you know that.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off the length of silver chain and the heart-shaped silver lock. “I want it,” she whispered. “I love you.”
“I love you too, pet.” His face and voice grew stern again. “You have to abide by the rules I set down for you. Including punishment.
Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
He arched an eyebrow at her.
“Yes, Sir,” she corrected herself.
“Very good, baby. Hold up your hair.” She did while he fastened the collar around her neck. It felt cool at first, then quickly warmed to her skin.
“Strip.”
Her skin flushed. She waited for him to break into a smile or joke or something, but he stood there, watching, waiting.
Blushing, she did as commanded. He held out his hand for her clothes and once she stood totally naked, he carried them to her room.
Not sure what else to do, she continued cooking breakfast. It made her self-conscious, and she felt weird to be totally naked, but she also realized it made her more than a wee bit horny.
He returned a little while later and sat at the table with the paper and started reading. He still wore his shorts and sat where Sully usually sat.
Without any further direction, she fixed him a plate and placed it in front of him before fixing her own.
“Thank you, pet,” he said, but he didn’t look at her.
She sat in his normal seat, on the towel. After a few minutes, he glanced at her. “You okay?”
“This is weird.”
He grinned. “You’ll get used to it a lot faster than you think.” He shifted in his chair. “This fucking thing, however, is murder.”
“What thing?”
“The CB.” He stood and pulled down his shorts enough she could see the clear plastic cage-like device he wore over his cock and balls.
Padlocked shut. Then he sat and continued eating. “Master trusts me, but only so far.” He laughed. “It’s probably better this way,” he said with a wicked grin. “If I had half a chance, I’d be fucking you all day.
It’d be worth a hundred strokes from the cane. More, even.”
She gasped as a flood of heat pooled between her legs. She knew her face reddened.
From the look on Mac’s face, he noticed. “Babe, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” He grinned.
She gulped.
He returned her clothes after they finished breakfast and cleaned the kitchen. She followed him downstairs where they started unloading the truck’s contents into the downstairs storage room. An hour later, they’d both had showers and she rode with him to return the truck.
When they returned home, he stopped her inside the front door.
“Strip, sweetheart. When you’re inside the house, unless Master’s said otherwise or we have guests, you’ll be naked.”