It’s been a long, hard day that ended with an emergency C-section that came so heartbreakingly close to tragedy. And all I want when I get home is a long, hot bath with a glass of wine and a good book with a happy ending.

Bas leans over the bar and gives me a toe curling kiss. “Looks like you’ve had a rough day.”

“Little bit.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“I was thinking of taking a hot bath and forgetting it,” I admit.

He grins. “Fair enough. Did you get my text?”

I shake my head and pull out my phone, which I’d shoved in my bag when I left the hospital. I read the message in front of him.

I lift my head, suddenly less weary. Playtime sounds like an even better distraction. “Yes, please.”

He brushes his fingers over my jaw. “Good girl. I’ll make sure you get a bath at the end of the night, don’t worry. Head on up and get changed. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

When I walk into our bedroom, I see my Halloween costume lying on the bed—without the leotard this time—with a big note pinned to it that says Put this on, then go immediately to the playroom.

The playroom. I giggle and do a happy dance.

Our apartment is really both of the apartments above the bar, with the wall knocked out in between. My old bedroom is at one end, this room is at the other—and since Bas had the bigger bed, this is the one we kept as a sleeping space.

The other room is now kink-central, a glorious space I love spending time in.

And it’s soundproof, because my man is as practical as he is sexy.

I quickly strip out of my clothes, and only when I'm fully naked, do I start dressing. First with the garter belt, then I roll on each black fishnet stocking. Once they’re attached, I step into the short tulle skirt then fasten myself in the corset, adjusting my boobs so my nipples poke out the top. Finally, I slide my feet into the ballet boots and lace them up.

So cute.

I try not to think about what Bas could have in mind for tonight beyond the fact that it will result in me being reduced to a puddle of thoroughly satisfied woman in his arms.

Bas is waiting for me in the playroom when I arrive. He’s wearing well-worn distressed blue jeans, my favourite, a black t-shirt that shows off every muscle, and an evil grin.

“You look lovely, little one. I want you over there,” he says pointing to my right. There on the wall is a full-length mirror and what appears to be a barre. When did he install that?

“Today,” he answers. Of course he knew exactly what I was thinking.

Am I that predictable?

“Why?”

“Because a long time ago, you loved dance. And the thought of watching you practice turns me on. Win-win.” He cocks an eyebrow and nods his head towards the barre. “Stretch and warm up like you would at a ballet class.”

Oh. Okay, that’s hot. Yes, please. But as a point of order, I’m totally in the wrong shoes. “To do that, I’d need to change into proper footwear. If you prefer the boots, I can make them work.”

“I prefer the boots, but not if they could cause you injury, little one.”

I wink. “I can make the boots work. Tomorrow, though, I’m totally ordering slippers.”

His eyes darken in appreciation. “Please do.”

I approach the barre solemnly, everything coming back. It doesn’t matter that I’m no longer a hundred pounds soaking wet and I’ve got more curves than I used to for all of these poses.

Tonight, those curves are not going to be a problem. I don’t need to push myself to the limit, I don’t need to break my body to get this right. A shiver runs through me. I can just do what I want, and Bas is going to watch. It is a win-win, he’s right.

I choose a combination of positions to both stretch and warm up my muscles. I like this a lot. It’s fun to have his eyes on me, and it has the bonus of actually getting my body ready for whatever it is that Bas has planned. It’s also surprisingly relaxing to move my body like this after a long day of tight, controlled work. And I get to tease him mercilessly by not quite showing off my assets.

I know that’s working from the not-quite-silent sounds he makes as I stretch my limbs long and tall and low, giving him peeks that don’t last nearly long enough.

On the third low sweep of my hand, his growl is a warning. I lift my head and smile angelically. His jaw flexes and he crooks his finger. “I think that’s quite enough, little one. Come over here and bend over, legs spread as wide as you can with your palms on the floor.”

I straighten up and walk as delicately as I can manage.

Once I’m in position, he circles around me and trails a finger down my spine. “Beautiful.”

I tremble as his touch pauses at the tulle skirt, then lifts. When it returns, it’s between my legs. Rude and promising at the same time. I gasp as his fingers dip into my slippery heat. Already wet. Already aching.

Then he slides one digit back to my tiniest hole and circles it. I shiver. Yes, please.

But it’s not going to be that easy.

“On second thoughts…” His touch disappears. “Put your ankle up on the barre and bend over and rest your wrist on it.”

After I return to the barre, he pulls a long pink ribbon from his back pocket, because he was prepared for this, clearly, and binds my wrist and ankle to the wood, tying the ribbon off in a big bow.

“Don’t move.”

As if.

I watch him in the mirror as he opens the middle drawer of the cabinet against the adjacent wall and pulls out lube and his favourite buttplug. The one that has four bulges, each bigger than the last. The one that I have a love-hate relationship with. I hate it because it’s always so hard to take that last bulge, but love it because it means Bas is going make my world explode in the best possible way.

Flipping open the lid on the lube, he squirts a generous amount on the top of the plug, then swirls it down and around until he reaches the third bulge, then sets the bottle on top of the cabinet.

He catches me watching in the mirror and smiles. “Do you want to come, little one?”

“Yes, please.”

He doesn’t respond until he’s behind me again.

“You’re going to have to work for it,” he says as he presses the tip of the plug against my back hole.

That first bulge always slides in so easily.

Deceitful little fucker.

The second is only a little stretch.

Number three creates a bit of a burn, but Bas is a firm believer in too much lube is almost enough, so it’s bearable.

Sucking in a deep breath, I close my eyes and prepare to take the last one. As the pressure increases, I exhale slowly. Normally, I’d push into it, but my current predicament makes that impossible. I can’t hold back the groan when the last bulge finally pops through.

Bas leans over my back, grinding his erection against the base of the plug as he pinches one of my nipples and tugs that breast further out of the corset. My clit throbs.

“Good girl,” he whispers against my ear, repeating the gesture on the other breast before cupping both of them and giving me a good, hard squeeze.

Those words always send a warm shiver down my spine. The added nip at my earlobe along with another hard tweak of my nipples send me straight to my happy place.

I take a deep breath and focus the last bit of my non-buzzy conscious thoughts on staying upright. My standing leg is shaking. All of me is shaking.

The tell-tale buzz of a vibrator penetrates my consciousness just before it touches my clit. But it doesn’t stay there long. Bas takes the vibe away just as I think I could come like this. Apparently, when he said I have to work for it, he meant more than just the battle of the bulges.

I don’t know how much I’m going to be able to withstand. Normally, when he edges me, I’m not so precariously situated.

Breathe, Meadow. Stay standing.

The vibrator returns, and I want nothing more than to come, even though I know that’s not going to happen. Which probably makes me want it even more.

I whine when he takes it away again. It’s such evil torture.

“Patience, little one.”

Translation: Whine again and I’ll take even longer to make you come. So I quiet my mind and my mouth and let him torture me because it makes us both happy.

It feels like forever and a million lost orgasms when Bas finally unties my ankle and wrist. I’m buzzing hard and a lovely mess of scrambled feelings. He drapes the ribbons over the barre, then turns to me. Cupping my chin, he kisses me long and slow, stoking my already burning need. “Very good. You took that beautifully. Thank you.”

I smile as he strokes his hands over my outfit. “This was a fun surprise.”

“I like to remember that night.”

“Me, too,” I say softly.

He stops in front of me and strokes my cheek. “But it’s time for us to be naked now, yes?”

I nod. “Please.”

He strips me out of the corset first, then the skirt. He stops there and looks down at my fishnet clad legs. Through his jeans, I can see his erection straining. “Leave the stockings and boots on. Go lie on the bed on your back, arms above your head.”

I hurry across the room, not bothering to hide my eagerness. I don’t think I could ever play it cool, but definitely not with a giant plug in my ass and my thighs slick with anticipation. I want every orgasm Bas has to offer, and I want them as soon as he’s willing to give them.

As soon as I’m still on the bed, Bas approaches. “You were very patient,” he says with a warm smile. “Are you ready to come for me?”

“Yes,” I whisper.

He pulls the ribbon from behind his back—when did he grab it?—and the vibrator, too. “Catch,” he says, lobbing the latter gently beside me on the bed.

I don’t move, and he chuckles.

“So well behaved,” he murmurs, leaning over me. He sears my mouth with a kiss before picking up the vibrator and pressing it into my hand. “I was going to tie you up again here, but now I have a better idea. Use this on yourself. Don’t come, just get close.”

I’m already close, but he’s taught me a lot about riding that edge. I’ve always done something similar when masturbating, but Bas has the pervy equivalent of advanced degrees in orgasm manipulation.

And I have been his eager student.

Once he’s naked, he kneels between my legs and covers my body with his big, heavy warmth. His mouth covers my nipple and he sucks on it. The long, hard pulls combined with the low hum of the vibrator push me ever closer to the edge, but I want him inside me when I come.

“Bas, please.”

He crawls a little farther up my body and the tip of his erection presses against my entrance.

He grips my jaw in his hand. Gentle but firm, and his expression is the same. “Ask me nicely. And make it filthy, little one.”

I smile against his touch. “Please fuck me, Bas. Hold me down and take me hard.”

“Perfect,” he growls as he pushes the head in. And oh, that ache, immediately, because my bottom is still rudely taken up by that plug he loves so much. Before I can adjust, he snaps his hips forward until his entire length is buried deep inside my body. Another gasp, so good, before he’s withdrawing and plunging in again.

Each thrust briefly presses the vibrator harder against my clit, then drives deeper against the plug, and I was a good girl. I got myself close.

So it doesn’t take long for him to push me over the edge. As his rhythm picks up, my orgasm rips through me. And he’s right behind me. Just as the final tremors subside and I turn to a puddle of happy goo, Bas finds his own release deep inside my body.

I’m vaguely aware of him moving away, then coming back, but it’s not until he begins to unlace my boots that his voice penetrates my sex-drunk haze. “Come on, little one. I promised you a bath and it’s ready and waiting for you.”

When he’s done undressing me, he lifts me into his arms and carries me to the bathroom. The last thing is a gentle removal of the plug, which he washes in the sink as I look around.

There’s a bottle of red wine and two half-filled glasses on the small table next to the tub. This giant ensuite bathroom with a soaker for two was another brilliant modification Bas made when we combined the two apartments.

He climbs in first and I follow, settling between his legs and leaning against his chest while his thick cock presses into the small of my back.

He hands me a glass of wine, then picks up his own. His free hand lazily strokes up and down my front, occasionally cupping my breast or tweaking a nipple.

I may be used again tonight.

He might wring me out completely.

I smile and close my eyes. I’m such a lucky girl.

If you enjoyed this story, read Ellie and Gavin’s story in Prime Minister, currently available! And coming soon, Bull of the Woods, Addison Greer’s story. Turn the page for more about those books, and the other stories in the Cards of Love 2018 series!