Oh well, I decided, might as well know once and for all. “Does he know about our lifestyle?”
She laughed. “I wondered how long it would take you to ask.”
“And?”
“Yes, he knows. We were watching TV one night and they did a story on the increased public interest in BDSM. He looked over at me, I looked at him, and I finally said, ‘Yes, I know about them.’”
That Jackson knew really didn’t surprise me, I’d always assumed Nathaniel’s cousin knew. Honestly, he had spent enough time at the house. Nathaniel kept the playroom locked, but it was possible Jackson had been over a time or two when it wasn’t. Especially during the time he stayed over following my breakup with Nathaniel.
“And he knew you meant us?” I asked Felicia.
“Neither one of us came out and said it for a while. I guess for me it was that long talk you gave me on confidentiality. I didn’t want to be the one who told Jackson his cousin was kinky.”
Before I’d gone to see Nathaniel the first time, when I was talking with Felicia about what I was going to do, I’d pounded into her head how important confidentiality was. “Thank you for that, I really appreciate it.”
“You’re my dearest friend, I’d never betray your trust. I finally told Jackson I was your safety call. He nodded and said he figured I knew about Nathaniel since you and I were best friends.”
“How long has Jackson known?”
“He said he had a suspicion for a long time, but it wasn’t until after you guys broke up and got back together that he knew for sure. We really didn’t talk much about it after that.” She looked around the still empty church. “If you’re finished looking over this place, I think we should leave. All this kink talk in church has me afraid lightning’s going to strike me dead.”
***
It was amazing how quickly time passed. Of course it didn’t help that we were planning a wedding in less than three months. There were many times I wondered what we had been thinking when we selected our wedding date. How did we think it would be possible to set everything up so quickly?
I’ll admit, once in a while, we let the stress get between us. There was so much to do, to set up, to schedule, and there never seemed to be enough time. We had started spending weekends at Nathaniel’s penthouse in the city, just to be closer to everything and everyone we needed to meet with.
It wasn’t until the third weekend in the city that I realized how much I’d come to count on escaping the hurried pace of Manhattan for the tranquility of our country estate in the Hamptons. Granted, the penthouse was spacious enough, but you only had to look outside to see reality. As someone who had spent years living in the city, it surprised me how much I needed to step away from it on a regular basis.
“Next weekend, we’re staying home,” I said the third Sunday night in the penthouse.
Nathaniel looked up from his e-reader. “Can we do that? There’s nothing here we need to be doing?”
“I don’t care, I need some space, and room to think and breathe, and I want to walk outside and not bump into half the population of the United States.”
He’d let me do the majority of the planning. I appreciated the thought behind him doing so, but at times it grew overwhelming. I probably should have hired a planner, but I’d had the crazy idea I could handle it myself.
“Abby?” he asked, his forehead wrinkling.
“I’m just ready for it to be here already. For life to settle down.”
He set the reader down and walked over to where I sat. He put his hands on my shoulders and slid behind me. My eyes closed in pleasure when he started a soothing massage. He knew just how and where to push and stroke.
“You’re tense,” he said, working on a particularly tight spot.
I simply hummed in response. His hands felt so good.
He dipped his head to whisper in my ear, “I think this calls for drastic measures.”
We’d had a trying weekend. Between balancing wedding planning and playtime, I was exhausted.
“I don’t think I’m up for drastic at the moment. I think a glass of wine and bed is just about all I can handle.” I sighed. “Maybe just bed.”
His hands never stopped. “I was thinking a soak in the tub with a glass of wine, then bed.”
“I don’t even have the energy to run a bath.”
“You don’t have to,” he said. “Let me take care of you.”
My eyes drooped with every pass of his sensual hands. “If I can stay awake.”
“If you fall asleep, I’ll make sure you make it to bed.”
I yawned. “Deal.”
“Stay here and let me get everything ready.”
“Like I can move.” I felt all warm and relaxed after his massage. Like a puddle on the couch.
He brushed my cheek and left the room. I curled up in a ball and snuggled deeper into the soft leather.
“Abby,” he whispered some time later.
The shadows in the room had changed. I must have fallen asleep unknowingly. I stretched and my sore muscles reminded me of our weekend play.
“Bath time?” I asked.
“Unless you’d like to skip it and go on to bed.”
“Bath.”
I sat up, but he whispered softly, “No, you don’t,” and scooped me up in his arms to carry me down the hall to the master bath.
Like his bathroom at the estate, this one also held a massive soaker tub. Nathaniel had placed lit candles around the room and an opened bottle of wine that sat on the floor alongside a lone wineglass. The tub was filled with lemongrass-scented bubbles.
“I’m going to set you down,” he said and gently put me on my feet.
I tried to unbutton my shirt, but my fingers were clumsy.
He batted my hands away. “Let me.”
In almost no time, my clothes were on the floor and he was helping me into the tub.
The water was the exact right temperature and I sighed as I slipped in up to my shoulders in bubbles. Nathaniel grinned and poured a glass of wine.
I took the glass when he offered it to me. The sight of him standing there, watching me, perked me up. Maybe the nap had helped more than I realized. “You going to join me?”
“I was thinking about it.”
I scooted forward, all traces of fatigue gone. “Stop thinking and join me.”
He needed no further encouragement and within moments, he had stripped and was sliding behind me. I closed my eyes as his arms came around me.
I passed him the wineglass. “This is the best idea you’ve had all weekend,” I said just to tease him.
“Is that so?”
“Mmm,” I hummed when he started rubbing my shoulder. “That thing you did last night was good, but this is definitely better.”
He laughed. “That thing I did last night had you screaming my name as you climaxed for the third time.”
I stretched back against him with a knowing smile. “Third? Are you sure? I only remember two.”
The wineglass had somehow made it back into my hands and his fingers were inching down my sides. “Your memory is faulty because of the immense pleasure you were experiencing. It was definitely the third time you climaxed.”
“Nah. Can’t be. I’d have remembered that.”
“The first two times you came you were told to be silent. The third was when I finally allowed you to be vocal. I remember, because I had to threaten you with the gag right before the second and I said if I had to use it, there would be no third time.”
Of course I remembered the entire night. How was it possible anyone could have forgotten any of that?
His hands rested on my upper thighs and were slowly making their way further up between my legs. “In fact,” he said. “I believe I also told you that if you made a sound during the second, you couldn’t have my cock for a week.”
“Right,” I said as if I was just remembering. I sucked in a gasp of breath as his fingers started stroking and dipping ever so slightly int
o me. “And since it’s one month and one week before the wedding, I wasn’t about to disobey you.”
“Exactly.”