like? But yes, I’ve served. Retired SEAL.”
Hearing she’d guessed correctly restored some of her confidence. She was still steering the boat, her judgment engaged. It also terrified her a little, because if that was true, she might be headed toward whitewater rapids, too intrigued by the potential ride to turn back from the danger of her boat being overturned.
He’d effectively defused the moment, but she still felt like he’d spread heated wax over her exposed skin, especially when he met her gaze once more.
“I hope you won’t cancel, but if you do, Athena, I don’t require any explanations. Not at this stage of the game.”
The lazy threat behind those last words was clear. Clear enough to give her another shiver.
THREE
R oy, can you believe Mel Harper is still trying to get me to step down as board president?” Athena chuckled grimly as she pulled weeds from around the marble setting for his memorial statue. Watching Dale’s efforts had inspired her to plant a few new flowers. Though she had a landscaping crew to maintain the estate grounds, this quiet corner with its small hobby garden and a bench for reflection was hers to manage. At least once a week, she came here to talk to Roy, do some weeding and thinking, and make sure the area remained interesting. Experimental groupings of shrubs and flowers alternated with seasonal plantings and decorations. At Christmas, she’d put a small lit tree near the statue, along with a group of garden gnomes to represent elves. That would have made him laugh.
She didn’t believe the soul lingered with the body, but if Roy came by, she wanted him to see that she was thinking about him, remembering him with as much joy as sadness. The bronze had been fired with a handful of his ashes, the rest scattered in this section of the garden. In the statue, he was golfing, in midswing, his face crinkled with that good-humored look that said he expected a slice that would plunk the ball right into a sand trap. She’d never had any passion for the game, so it was one thing they rarely did together, but she’d clearly remembered that expression from the couple times she’d accompanied him. He was an abysmal golfer, so bad the club pro had given up on him. She’d wondered why he continued to play, when he succeeded at almost everything else he did. Roy had shrugged.
Ah well, life will knock you on your ass now and then. Gives you a reason to prove you can get up, right?
One night, she found a different use for his golf clubs he’d appreciated. She’d used one of the irons to tap his inner thighs while he was tied up, pressed the club end against his balls, lifted his chin with the shaft.
“You’d be proud of me. I met with Mel after the budget meeting and told him if he was so set on being president, he’d better plan my murder, because that would be far easier on both of us, versus all this wrangling in every meeting. I told him to let me know if he decided to go that route, so I could unleash my flying monkeys on him.”
After a startled moment, Mel had chuckled, with charming self-deprecation.
You called my bluff, Athena. Roy told me not to underestimate you. I guess I’ve been testing you. My apologies.
“Maybe we’ll have a little less passive-aggressive dart throwing now, at least from him. Larry’s still a pain in the ass, but that has more to do with his desire to get under my skirts than higher on the board. I wish he wasn’t such a damn good financial manager. Now, don’t get riled up.” She waved her hand at the statue. “I can handle him. You know I can.”
When it came to the advances of other men, Roy had been clearly protective.
My wife. My Mistress.
Jimmy had once told her that a lot of people new to the scene didn’t realize that men who needed to experience submission could be just as possessive of their significant other as any male.
You don’t turn in your man card just because you need to be tied up and spanked
, he’d
Hearing she’d guessed correctly restored some of her confidence. She was still steering the boat, her judgment engaged. It also terrified her a little, because if that was true, she might be headed toward whitewater rapids, too intrigued by the potential ride to turn back from the danger of her boat being overturned.
He’d effectively defused the moment, but she still felt like he’d spread heated wax over her exposed skin, especially when he met her gaze once more.
“I hope you won’t cancel, but if you do, Athena, I don’t require any explanations. Not at this stage of the game.”
The lazy threat behind those last words was clear. Clear enough to give her another shiver.
THREE
R oy, can you believe Mel Harper is still trying to get me to step down as board president?” Athena chuckled grimly as she pulled weeds from around the marble setting for his memorial statue. Watching Dale’s efforts had inspired her to plant a few new flowers. Though she had a landscaping crew to maintain the estate grounds, this quiet corner with its small hobby garden and a bench for reflection was hers to manage. At least once a week, she came here to talk to Roy, do some weeding and thinking, and make sure the area remained interesting. Experimental groupings of shrubs and flowers alternated with seasonal plantings and decorations. At Christmas, she’d put a small lit tree near the statue, along with a group of garden gnomes to represent elves. That would have made him laugh.
She didn’t believe the soul lingered with the body, but if Roy came by, she wanted him to see that she was thinking about him, remembering him with as much joy as sadness. The bronze had been fired with a handful of his ashes, the rest scattered in this section of the garden. In the statue, he was golfing, in midswing, his face crinkled with that good-humored look that said he expected a slice that would plunk the ball right into a sand trap. She’d never had any passion for the game, so it was one thing they rarely did together, but she’d clearly remembered that expression from the couple times she’d accompanied him. He was an abysmal golfer, so bad the club pro had given up on him. She’d wondered why he continued to play, when he succeeded at almost everything else he did. Roy had shrugged.
Ah well, life will knock you on your ass now and then. Gives you a reason to prove you can get up, right?
One night, she found a different use for his golf clubs he’d appreciated. She’d used one of the irons to tap his inner thighs while he was tied up, pressed the club end against his balls, lifted his chin with the shaft.
“You’d be proud of me. I met with Mel after the budget meeting and told him if he was so set on being president, he’d better plan my murder, because that would be far easier on both of us, versus all this wrangling in every meeting. I told him to let me know if he decided to go that route, so I could unleash my flying monkeys on him.”
After a startled moment, Mel had chuckled, with charming self-deprecation.
You called my bluff, Athena. Roy told me not to underestimate you. I guess I’ve been testing you. My apologies.
“Maybe we’ll have a little less passive-aggressive dart throwing now, at least from him. Larry’s still a pain in the ass, but that has more to do with his desire to get under my skirts than higher on the board. I wish he wasn’t such a damn good financial manager. Now, don’t get riled up.” She waved her hand at the statue. “I can handle him. You know I can.”
When it came to the advances of other men, Roy had been clearly protective.
My wife. My Mistress.
Jimmy had once told her that a lot of people new to the scene didn’t realize that men who needed to experience submission could be just as possessive of their significant other as any male.
You don’t turn in your man card just because you need to be tied up and spanked
, he’d
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