Chapter Nineteen
Punishment Never Felt So Good
I looked at the calendar on my phone and sighed. It was April, and spring was upon us. You could hear birds chirping in the trees scattered around the city. The days were a little warmer. And Grant and I were wildly in love. We had been together since the beginning of February, and I couldn’t believe how well it was going.
True to his word, Grant had asked me at least once a week for the past month to move in with him. I was wavering in my response. He didn’t know it, but one of these days when he asked, yes was going to come out instead of no. We pretty much spent all of our free time together anyway. If he wasn’t staying at my place, I was at his.
Maya was still seeing her ‘Mr. Right.’ Luckily, with her being busy with her guy, I didn’t need to feel too guilty about being wrapped up so tightly with Grant. I had yet to find out who her mystery guy was. I had a feeling I was wearing her down on telling me though. Even I knew I could be annoying when I incessantly harassed her to find out who he was.
I set my phone down on the countertop at my client’s house and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Tonight I was scheduled to have dinner with Matt at our old haunt – a great Mexican place on the West side of Manhattan. Matt first brought me there about a year into our friendship when I was craving enchiladas. We visited it frequently after that. I loved when you discovered hidden gems buried in the city.
I had yet to tell Grant about my plans. Even though he didn’t know about my history with Matt, I felt it best not to give him any details if possible. Besides, my friendship with Matt was tentative at the moment. It was the first time I would be seeing him since he left. We had talked a time or two, but other than that, our interactions were at a minimum with text messages.
I fired off a text to Grant letting him know that I wasn’t going to be around until later that night due to having dinner with a friend. A little while later he replied and asked me where I was going and with whom. Like an idiot, I replied with the place, and that it was just an old friend. My phone immediately rang.
“An old friend?” He asked with a deceptively calm voice. If he stopped what he was doing to call me, I knew it meant more to him than he was letting on.
“Yes. He’s in town from Chicago and I told him I’d meet up for dinner.” I paced back and forth, still pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.
“What kind of old friend are we talking about here? The kind that braids your hair or the kind that pulls your hair when he’s inside you?”
I made a sound of disgust. “That’s crude, Grant. I’m not going to dignify it with a response. And not that it matters, but I’ve known him since college. He moved to Chicago last year and I’m looking forward to seeing him again and catching up.”
“Fine. I’m sorry.” He paused and then continued, “I don’t like the idea of another man sitting across from you and getting to share your time. Friend or not, most men want in your pants, Elizabeth. I should know, I’m one of them.”
“Grant,” I sighed. “Even if he wants in my pants, you are the only one I allow in them. I trust you. When you went to dinner with that Russian model you are representing, I didn’t give you a hard time. Now it’s your turn to trust me.”
His laughter filtered through the phone and made me smile. I couldn’t help it. I always did when he laughed. “You’re right. Although, you did meet me at the door wearing nothing but a pair of exceptionally high-heeled shoes. I think your point was made just the same.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled, knowing he had me there.
“I expect you to come to me tonight when you’re done with him. And while you’re sitting at dinner, I want you to try and imagine the things I’m going to do to you tonight. I promise I won’t stop until you’ve come so many times, you won’t be able to think about anything but me for days.”
That got a quiver in my nether regions that had me squeezing my thighs together.
“You’re on, G.Q.” That was my new nickname for him, ever since he walked out of his bedroom wearing a gorgeous new suit that was made to be worn by a man as handsome and masculine as Grant. He looked like he had just stepped off a runway, and my fingers had itched to rip it off him and show him how turned on the sight of him in it had made me.
“Love you,” he said softly into the phone.
“Love you too, baby. I’ll see you later,” I replied before hanging up the phone with a cheesy grin on my face.
That man was too good to be true.
I headed out of my client’s house and flagged a cab to take me to dinner. I fidgeted the whole way there. For as much as I was looking forward to seeing Matt tonight, my body hummed wanting to be home with Grant.
I walked into the restaurant and found Matt sitting at a booth in the back corner. He looked as good as ever with his tousled brown hair and green eyes. He gave me a gorgeous smile and stood to give me a big, bear hug.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered into my hair.
“I’ve missed you too,” I replied and smiled back at him.
We settled into the booth and ordered our food – enchiladas for me and chimichangas for him. We never needed time to decide what to get since we always got the same things and shared with each other.
“How long are you here for?” I asked while sipping my Rum and Diet Coke.
“Just for a few more days. What’s new with you? I know we haven’t really talked too much since I left.” He looked a little sheepish at that assessment. As he should seeing as how it was his doing, not mine. I wasn’t about to hold a grudge though, since he did tell me he was in love with me, and I didn’t reciprocate the feelings.
“Not too much. I’ve been focusing on work a lot lately and taking on new clients. My mom is doing better too. Maya told you about her heart attack right?” I didn’t tell him how deeply it cut when he didn’t call me after her heart attack. Hurt feelings aside, a friend should have called to make sure I was doing okay.
“She did,” he reached out and covered my hand with his. “I’m really sorry, honey. I was in such a bad place last year and I was being selfish when I didn’t contact you. Please know that I’ll never act that way again. I’ll take you in my life however I can get you.”
“Thank you. I want to be friends with you again. I hated the gap between us. And I’m sorry too for leading you on. I didn’t realize how you felt about me. I–”
“Elizabeth, love.” Grant’s booming voice made me stop mid-sentence.
Matt’s hand left mine just as Grant stopped at our table and leaned down and kissed my opened mouth, taking the opportunity to slide his tongue inside in a clear claiming gesture.
Across the table, Matt choked on his beer. I turned my head to see his red face and his eyes pinning a glare on Grant.
“Grant, what are you doing here?”
“My night ended earlier than I expected and I didn’t want to wait until you got home tonight to see you, so I thought I’d surprise you and meet your friend.” He emphasized the word friend, and I had to fight the urge to hide under the table.
“Home?” Matt asked in a strangled voice. “You two live together?”
“No!” I exclaimed at the same time Grant said, “Not yet.”
He scooted into the booth, forcing me to move over. “You don’t mind if I join you, do you? By the way, I’m Grant Morgan. And you are?”
“Matt Evans.” They shook hands, and Grant flagged down the waitress and ordered a beer and steak fajitas.
“So, Matt. How do you know Elizabeth?” Grant asked as he settled in with his drink. He draped an arm along the back of the booth and angled his body towards mine.
“We met at NYU, what was it? Our senior year?” I nodded my head in agreement, afraid of where this might go.
“And you’ve been friends ever since?” Grant continued his line of questioning.
“Yeah. Really good friends,” Matt hinted not so subtly and gave me a knowing and lascivious smile.
I saw Grant’s hand resting on the table tighten into a fist. “Oh really?” He turned towards me and quirked his eyebrow.
I was effectively backed into a corner by these two posturing males. If I admitted to having fun with Matt, Grant would be more pissed than he already was at the fact that I lied. And if I said it was nothing, I’d be verbally slapping Matt in the face.
Instead of answering, I took a deep sip of my drink and exclaimed, “Oh look! Our food!”
As soon as the waitress served our meals, I quickly dug in and began eating. If my mouth was full, I wouldn’t be able to answer any damning questions.
“Hey, E. I was thinking that we could go dancing down at the White Rabbit like old times,” Matt eventually broke the uncomfortable silence. “What do you say?”
“She has to get home,” Grant answered for me. I had a feeling he remembered the fact that Matt was the one I was dancing with that night. Oops. This night was definitely not going as planned.
“She can answer for herself,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. I did not care to be spoken for. “I’d love to go out Matt.”
“Are you serious?” Grant asked with a low and dark voice.
“I’ll just leave you two for a moment. I’m going to the restroom,” Matt announced before leaving us to sort out our disagreement.
“I can’t believe you,” I hissed and crossed my arms.
“Me? You’ve slept with him, Elizabeth. You failed to mention that earlier. You also forgot to tell me he was the man you were letting feel you up in the club that night we saw each other. I wonder why that is.”
“If you hadn’t been so rude and crashed my dinner, it wouldn’t have mattered. Matt and I are just friends.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes!” I practically shouted in his face. “He wanted more and I turned him down.”
The air shifted out of the space and Grant’s eyes burned into mine. Uh oh. That was definitely the wrong thing to say. I leaned back away from him and mentally crossed my fingers that I would get out of this unscathed.
“When was this?” When I didn’t answer, he pressed on. “When?”
“Last year. Not long before our first time,” I reluctantly admitted.
“I see. Well, you clearly know what you’re doing.” He reached into his pants and pulled out his wallet. He threw a couple bills on the table and stood. “I expect you back at my house by eleven o’clock.”
I was confused by his about face. It wasn’t like Grant to just give up when he wanted something. A pang pierced my chest thinking maybe he was giving up on me because of this.
He started to walk away, but turned back to me and cleared up my confusion when he said, “Don’t make your punishment worse by being late.”
And with that he was gone. I was both filled with trepidation about what he meant by punishment and turned on by the prospect of what he meant by punishment.
I squirmed in my seat while I waited for Matt to return. My imagination was running wild with the different wonderful possibilities. It was going to be a long night.
?????
I tiptoed into the dark house and prayed that Grant fell asleep. It was nearly one o’clock in the morning, and I was late. It wasn’t my fault though. Tina and the girls were at the club tonight, and we were having so much fun that we all lost track of time. Not a single soul reminded me that it was time to leave.
Grant’s imposed curfew was dumb anyway.
I walked into the master bedroom and into the walk-in closet. I stripped out of my dress and shoes before quietly walking into the bedroom, so I could go to the bathroom and wash my face.
As soon as my foot stepped into the room, the light turned on, and I screeched.
Grant was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. His suit coat and tie were no longer on and his white shirt had the top few buttons undone. His leg was crossed over his knee in a masculine pose and there was a drink of Scotch on the table next to him.
“I warned you, Elizabeth.” His tone was ominous and a thrill of fear went down my spine.
“I know. I’m sorry.” I tried to sound contrite in hopes that he would loosen up.
“Strip. Now.” His tenor left no room for arguing.
I rested my feet on the bed, one at a time and rolled my stockings down my legs. If this was how he wanted to play it, I was going to make him suffer too. I stood and hooked my fingers in my panties, shimmying them down my legs. Then I reached behind my back and undid the clasp on my bra, slowly drawing it down my arms.
“You’ll pay for that little show too. I see you’re defiant tonight and feel like testing my patience.” He stood and walked towards me. “Hands on the window, Elizabeth.”
He turned my body, and I braced my hands on the window of his bedroom looking out over the Manhattan night. I could feel myself getting wet when he pressed his clothed body against my back and nuzzled my neck.
His hand hooked in my hair and yanked my head to the side so that I was looking at him over my shoulder. “Apparently I need to remind you who you belong to.”
His feet kicked my legs open wider, and his hand released my hair so that he could pull my hips back. I heard the zipper on his pants followed by the crinkling of a condom wrapper. And then he was in me – hard, fast, and so rough that I screamed out at the invasion.
Each thrust of his hips pounded into me and jolted my body. Being taken this rough and quickly was bringing my orgasm on at lightning speed.
“Don’t move your hands,” he ground out. The sound of skin on skin rippled through the air when his hand swatted my ass hard.
“Oh God,” I whimpered. Before I could think his hand landed on my other cheek, stinging it.
He f*cked me relentlessly for what felt like hours. My legs were like Jello, and I was thankful for the glass holding me up.
Whenever I was ready to come, he pulled out and spanked me again. Each time I whimpered, caught in a strange place of both pleasure and pain. It was like my typical Grant fog, but headier.
“Make no mistake. I’m always the one in control, Elizabeth. Always.”
My whimpers continued to fill the air as he slammed into me with reckless abandon. My stomach coiled in both need and anticipation. I knew when it came over me, my release would be the most overwhelming thing I had ever experienced.
I could feel his suit pants against my bare skin with each of his movements. It made me feel all kinds of dirty knowing he was fully dressed behind me. Taking me the way he wanted. And that I was at his complete and total mercy.
“And naughty girls…” He fisted his hand in my hair and pulled it roughly, sending a delectable tremor throughout my body. “Get punished for not doing what I say.”
I focused on our reflection in the window and gasped at the raw carnality on his face. He had never looked this way before. It was enough to make me come right then and there.
“Grant,” I gasped when he circled his hips. “Please, baby. I don’t know how much more I can take.”
And I didn’t. I was on the verge of losing my sanity. His denial of my orgasms was pushing me to a breaking point. I was coming out of my skin with need.
“I have half a mind to not let you come. I can do that, Elizabeth. You want to know why?”
When I didn’t answer, he ground into me again and the friction from his pants made my p-ssy convulse.
“I asked you a question,” he said firmly.
“Why?” I whispered. My head dropped between my arms, and I tried to turn my mind off so that I wouldn’t go completely insane.
“Because you are mine.” In between each word, he pounded into me with a strength that was amazing considering we had been going at it for some time. “Tell me you’re mine, Elizabeth. That no other man will ever be able to touch you. To taste you. To love you. Say it and I’ll let you come.”
“I’m yours. Only yours. Forever, Grant,” I yelled at him, needing him to push me over the edge already.
His hand wrapped around my body and went right between my legs. Within seconds, I could feel the beginning of a freight train crashing into my body. My breath seized, and my muscles tensed.
“That’s it, love. Come on my cock. Show me who it belongs to.” And I did. I came so long and hard, I thought my body was splintering into a million pieces.
Grant’s release quickly followed mine. When he pulled out, I slumped towards the floor. Before I could hit it, his arms picked me up and carried me to the bed. He disappeared into the bathroom and joined me in the bed after he disposed of the condom and took off his clothes. He wrapped me in his arms and held me like I was glass. His hands roamed my body, and his mouth placed soft, tender kisses on my head and forehead.
My mind was still fogged over in a haze. I never understood the sayings about dying during sex. At that moment, though, I was seriously surprised I was still alive.
His hand wrapped around my jaw and tilted my head towards him. He gingerly kissed the tip of my nose and whispered, “I love you, Elizabeth.”
I knew he loved me. This was his way of showing me how important I was to him. Grant wasn’t the type of man to handle jealousy well. Or being lied to for that matter. I took my punishment, and I’d do it again. Gladly. For him, I would do anything.
Not able to speak yet, I burrowed into his body and began to drift off to sleep.