Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 108905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
I motioned her inside and shut the door behind her. “Listen, this is the first time in a long time that I’ve felt remotely hot. Let me go all out.”
“I am not complaining.” She looked around the foyer and rocked on her heels. “So…”
“Yeah, so.” And then, I walked straight to her, pulling her into my arms. She held my face as our lips met, as our tongues slid together hungrily. My hands wandered down her back, over her butt, bunching up her skirt in my fists.
Were we going to make it out to the Pavillon?
I pulled back. “Wait, wait!”
“Oh, right,” she said, flushing from neckline to hairline. “I can’t believe I forgot.”
She fished around in her purse and pulled out a few folded sheets of paper. “This is from a month ago. I haven’t been with anyone since then, but I don’t know what kind of precautions you want to take.”
“Oh, um.” I hadn’t thought about this part. “To be honest, it’s been a while for me. I’ve been with Neil and with our lover, and neither of them have been with anyone else, but it’s really up to you.”
Was it weird and self-destructive of me to want to say “to hell with it” in regards to protection? Or did I just feel safer because she had a vagina, even though I knew that had nothing to do with it?
“Do you want to just be bad?” Gena asked, clearly on the same track that I was.
“I do. I trust you, and I trust myself.” I shrugged. “And, to be honest, this feels like a risk. A safe one, but still. Being a tiny bit reckless feels good, right now.”
She took a step toward me, clearly leaning in for another kiss. I put my hand on her chest to stop her. “Not yet. I had something special planned.”
“This is pretty special,” she breathed. Then, she squinted at me. “Oh, my god, your lipstick hasn’t budged.”
“Long-wear. It’s Maybelline, but don’t tell anyone or I’ll lose my rich fashionista cred.” I motioned to the door. “Do you mind driving? We’re not going far.”
She raised an eyebrow but nodded, and we headed to her car.
“Go that way,” I said, motioning that she should follow the circular drive around. “But don’t go all the way over to the main road. Take that smaller one to the left.”
“You have honest-to-god roads in your yard,” she marveled as we drove.
“Yeah, and all sorts of little hidden secrets,” I promised. A part of me hoped Gena wouldn’t think we were total freaks once she saw our playhouse. But it was hard to imagine that she would. She’d expressed interest when she’d found out Neil was into dominance and submission, so she had to know at least something about all of this.
After my mom had moved in, Neil had decided that the best course of action to discourage her from poking around the Pavillon was to put up a length of dark green chain-link fence and a motorized gate with a sign warning about electrical equipment.
“Pull in there,” I said, indicating the gate. “Hit the red button on the box.”
“I don’t really feel like getting electrocuted today,” Gena said, her eyes cutting to me before she rolled down her window. “But I’m going to trust you, just this once.”
The gate rolled back, and she put the car in gear, rolling us forward.
“I’m letting you in on our big secret,” I told her. “The only people who know about it are me, Neil, and our…boyfriend.” That was the only word I could think of to describe our relationship with him.
“I’m honored,” she said, distracted as we rounded the curve and the Pavillon came into view. “Is that it?”
“It is. Wait until you see inside.” I motioned to the front of the building. “Pull up there.”
She stopped us in front of the doors. “I thought it was a folly. There’s really an inside?”
“There is.” I pushed open my door and got out. I knelt beside one of the carefully trimmed hedges and found the “rock” that held the key. I pulled it free.
“So much secrecy,” Gena teased.
I hadn’t been in the Pavillon since before…well, since before my entire life had fallen apart. I didn’t know how I would react seeing it, now. I unlocked the door, stepped in.
During the day, the center room didn’t need any lights. The sunlight brightened the whole space in a clean white glow through the filmy curtains. The heavy drapes were pulled back, meaning our cleaning company—a discreet one that Neil assured me could be trusted to keep their mouths shut and our proclivities out of the press—had been in. That also meant the aftercare room would be well stocked, the bed made, and every surface immaculately dusted.
“Okay,” Gena said, nodding slowly as a smile grew on her face. “This is swank.”