Celebration (4 page)

“Bad Joanna,” he said in his deepest darkest voice. “You’re going to have a hard time sitting still on the plane.” Her eyes widened, but he could smell her desire. She was vibrating with need, and he was going to satisfy her.

Mike stalked back to her side and slid the blindfold back into place. “Helpless,” he whispered in her ear. She whimpered. “Mine to take.” She nodded agreement. He put his hand on the back of her waist to hold her in position. “Ten blows,” he told her. “If you arch your back to welcome each one, I’ll take you afterward hard and fast.”

Joanna arched her back immediately at that. Mike smiled. Her butt was so perfect, heart-shaped and smooth, and the indent of her waist invited his hand. He put his hand on the back of her waist, pushing her down into the leather. She strained to arch her back and push her butt into the air. “Good Joanna,” he murmured. “You’re learning.”

Then he began to spank her hard. He didn’t hold back but let the leather smack right across her ass. She cried out at the first blow, as if counting along. Mike loved how her butt turned bright and teased himself with the thought of her trying to sit still on the flight later tonight. She’d be marked as his possession for a couple of days, plus she’d remember this night every time she sat down. Mike liked that a lot.

She was his.

She would always be his.

Maybe ten blows wouldn’t be quite enough.

Mike smiled as he realized just how he’d ensure Joanna had more.

Chapter Two

Michelle toyed with her wine glass back at the house she’d shared with Leya. It seemed like a thousand years ago or another lifetime that she’d helped to decorate this kitchen.

It felt as if she were visiting a stranger.

There was no denying the pent-up frustration in Leya, her watchfulness and her uncharacteristic vulnerability. It made Michelle feel bad about what she’d come to say, but it didn’t really change anything.

There had been a time when she might have put her partner’s needs before her own, but she and Leya were no longer partners. She wouldn’t be doing Leya any favors by pretending that she was still in love and still wanted to spend their lives together. It would only be worse if she waited to tell Leya the news.

Sometimes a person did have to be cruel to be kind. Michelle turned her wine glass, knowing that Rex would understand that sentiment perfectly.

It had been Leya who had helped her to heal from her abusive past, and Leya who had introduced her to Rex. It had been Rex who had encouraged Michelle to take a step farther. She felt strong for the first time she could remember, and on the cusp of something new and wonderful. She didn’t know where she was destined, but she was on a journey and excited about the possibilities.

Living with Leya in this house wasn’t part of that journey, not anymore.

“You’re not coming back, are you?” Leya asked. She was dicing onions with her usual precision. She was dry-eyed as always, possibly the most pragmatic person Michelle had ever known. Michelle couldn’t imagine two women being more different than they were. Once that had been part of the appeal: now it made Leya incomprehensible to her.

“Not even onions make you cry,” she noted with a smile. “While a television commercial can make me weep.”

Leya smiled, just a little. “We’re opposites. That’s why it works.”

She put a bit of emphasis on the last word, just enough to make Michelle aware that she spoke in the present tense.

“You’re also the one who’s unafraid to face the truth.”

“While you’d rather sugar-coat it.” Leya put down the knife. “Be honest with me, Michelle. Just tell me. I don’t do well with suspense.”

Their gazes held across the width of the kitchen and Michelle knew she had to do it. She took a deep breath. “I can’t come back.”

“Not now or not ever?” Trust Leya to want it all spelled out.

Michelle swirled her wine, wishing this was easier. “I’m not sure...”

“Yes, you are.”

“Probably not ever.”

And there, it was said, filling the air between them and pushing them apart.

Leya turned back to her onions and if she diced a bit harder than before, Michelle wasn’t going to comment on it. “Your stuff?”

“I’ll pack what I need and have it shipped.”

“Where?”

“Storage, probably. I thought I’d travel for a while.”

“You still have some of that money from your mom’s estate.”

“Yes.”

Leya sighed. “I’ll buy out your half of the house, Michelle. You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not vindictive.”

Michelle bit back a laugh of surprise.

Leya cast her a smile that turned sad. “Not with you, anyway,” she added quietly.

Michelle didn’t know what to say. There was a lump in her throat and her mouth was dry. She felt shaken but still convinced of what she had to do.

Leya swept the onions off the cutting board into the skillet. “I suppose you’ll see Rex.” There was acid in her tone.

Michelle shook her head. “No. I don’t know where he is. And it doesn’t matter.”

Leya looked over her shoulder with obvious curiosity and surprise. Michelle held her gaze, not wanting her perceptive former lover to see how much it bothered her to not know where Rex was.

“That’s done,” she added with a conviction that surprised even herself. “I don’t know what’s next, just that it’s not this.”

The tension slid out of Leya’s shoulders and Michelle recognized that she’d been jealous of Rex. “If you have an idea where you’re going, just in terms of country or continent, I can get some banking set up for you on Monday.”

“England,” Michelle said on impulse. “I’ve always wanted to go there.” As she said the words, she knew they were true.

And she remembered the invitation that Rex had received.

Did she dare to crash that party?

She took a hasty sip of wine to cover the agitation she felt at that idea. She’d never crashed a party in her life, certainly not one that was probably a BDSM party. But Rex would be there, and she wanted to see him again.

Even enough to do something she’d never done before.

“What about the baby?” she asked abruptly, knowing she’d been silent too long.

“What
about
the baby?” There was a challenge in Leya’s tone. “You’ve seen him now, in the ultrasound.”

“He’s beautiful.” Michelle swallowed, then dared to ask what she most wanted to know. “Are you going to terminate, now that I’m leaving?”

“I can’t see that it matters to you.”

“But it does.” Michelle got to her feet to make her appeal. “He was supposed to be our baby, and I know he’s not my baby, but I’ll come back for the birth. I’ll be here for you, just as we planned.”

“And what about after that?” Leya demanded, slamming down the knife. She spun around and there was hurt in her eyes. “It’ll only take him twenty years to grow up. First, I’m sicker than a dog, then I have to go through labor, who knows what will happen to my body after that, then I’m stuck raising a child for two decades because you thought you wanted one. I guess it’s true that no good deed goes unpunished.”

“You never wanted a child?”

“I did it for you,” Leya said, then turned back to her cutting board. She braced her hands on the counter and hung her head. “It’s hard, Michelle. I’m not sure I can do it alone. It might be better for him to never be born. Maybe I
should
terminate the pregnancy.”

“No!”

“Why? Because then Rex’s son will be dead?”

“Because it’s too risky. You’re too far along.” Michelle went to Leya’s side and touched her shoulder. “You could die, Leya. There could be complications. Don’t do it.”

Leya considered her for a long moment. “Is your concern really for me? More than the baby?”

Michelle exhaled and shook her head, seeing her own tears fall then. “Just because I can’t stay here doesn’t mean I hate you,” she whispered. “And it doesn’t mean I want you dead.” Her tears began to fall in earnest then, and she turned away, ashamed that she had so little control over her emotions.

“I’m supposed to be the one who’s emotionally unstable right now,” Leya said, sounding as wry as usual. She pulled Michelle into a hug, but Michelle was only aware of the curve of her belly. The bump was small, but it was new.

The baby.

Michelle closed her eyes against her tears. “I would take him,” she whispered, wanting that solution with all her heart.

“It was what you wanted all along, even before Rex,” Leya said. “Just to have a baby.”

Michelle nodded.

“Do you really think you could do it alone?”

“I’d find a way. We’re different.” Michelle gripped Leya’s hand. “Please, Leya, don’t take the chance with your own life. Finish what you’ve started and let me adopt the baby.”

Leya’s eyes narrowed. “So you can always have a little bit of Rex near you?”

Michelle gasped. She didn’t mean to, but she hadn’t really thought of that. Their son would probably look like Rex. He’d probably be strong and gentle at the same time, protective and powerful, just like Rex. Maybe he’d even have green eyes.

He would be the child she’d dreamed of having.

Leya, as always, saw too much.

“That’s what I thought,” she said sharply. “This isn’t about me. It’s about Rex. The answer is no.”

She spun back to her cooking, chopping decisively.

“That’s not what I was thinking...”

“I know what you were thinking,” Leya interrupted bitterly. “I saw the way you looked at him. I know what you really want, and as much as I once wanted to give it to you, no matter what the price was, that’s not true anymore.” She opened the fridge and practically threw a green pepper on the counter.

“I think you have to go now.” Leya jerked her head toward her bag in the foyer. “Go ahead and take the ultrasound image as a souvenir.”

Michelle couldn’t believe it, but Leya’s anger was daunting. She retreated and took the image from Leya’s bag with shaking hands, unable to believe that this perfect little boy would die. She folded it with care, her tears blurring her vision.

“Don’t worry about the money. I’ll still fix it for you. I’m not that much of a bitch. Leave your cell phone number on the pad and I’ll have the bank call you with the details.”

Michelle couldn’t part this way, not after all the time they’d spent together. “But, Leya.”

“Go,” Leya said, her tone fierce and final. “And don’t come back.” She didn’t even turn around for one last glance, didn’t wave or give Michelle a hug. Michelle was stunned by how cold Leya could be, but after a moment, she left the house.

She felt shaken and empty, yet curiously relieved. She sat for a few minutes in her rental car to compose herself, wondering if there was anything she could say to change things between them and knowing there wasn’t. It was done. Even if she went back and fought for the baby, Leya wouldn’t trust her. She had no legal status in this situation, as much as she wished otherwise.

It was done, for better or for worse.

She’d go to London, start again, work up the nerve to crash that party. She’d maybe see Rex and maybe not. He might be glad to see her and he might not. The only way to find out was to take a chance.

Michelle took a deep breath. Then she started the rental car and drove away, never looking back at the house that she’d once believed held her future.

* * *

Mike was incredible.

Joanna loved when he played the burglar, but on this night, he’d improvised and made the scene even more hot. She’d found it exciting before when he’d made her participate, by commanding her to gag herself or even to tie herself up. Being overwhelmed and claimed took her to new heights.

Once Joanna would have been afraid to have been overwhelmed like this, but now—and because it was Mike—she was thrilled.

He spanked her hard, as if intending to leave his mark on her for the next two weeks and Joanna loved it. She tried to scream into her gag. She tried to get away. Every effort was all futile. She was a helpless captive, one who was blindfolded and bound, and she adored it.

She arched her back, pushing her butt into the air and inviting every blow. She counted along with him, moaning into her gag with every slap of the leather on her ass, knowing that the moment he’d possess her was getting closer and closer.

When he’d pretended to agree with her earlier, he’d left her aching for him to finish what he’d started. Now Joanna was hungry and wet and desperate for Mike.

That had probably been his plan.

At the tenth blow, she nearly wept in relief. She prayed he’d take her hard and fast. Mike spread her butt cheeks with his gloved hands and drove inside her in one stroke. He filled her and stretched her in a way that was just perfect. Joanna moaned with delight and let him push her up to her toes.

He squeezed her buttocks in his hands, sending an exquisite pain even as he reached around and touched her clitoris. Joanna would have cried out in ecstasy if she could have. Mike leaned over her, the leather of his jacket against her back and his muscled strength pressing her into the leather chair. It was pure heaven to be trapped like this.