Page 42 of Emma
But life wasn’t simple. Not for them.
She pushed up off the grass, dusted herself down, and gathered herself for the walk back to her car. She’d grab a quick shower at home and hold Vanessa close for a while. That, at least, was something shecouldcount on. The comfort. The warmth. The space to just breathe.
Vanessa heardthe front door click shut just after seven. She’d been upstairs for the past half an hour, half-reading a book she wasn’t retaining a single word of, her thoughts too preoccupied with Emma. Something had shifted lately. Not between them, and not in a way that Vanessa worried about her marriage, but within Emma herself. Vanessa could feel it each time Emma stepped through the door. The tension in her jaw, the silence that lingered too long between her responses, the wayher arms hung heavy by her sides as though she didn’t know what to do with them anymore.
She listened as her wife moved around the kitchen. She heard the fridge open and close, followed by the sound of Emma’s water bottle being filled, then the click of the kettle. Vanessa narrowed her eyes when the stairs creaked, but that’s all it had been. A creak. Nothing more. Emma wasn’t coming up yet.
Vanessa stood and slid her book onto the bedside table. She crossed the room to the dresser, her fingers finding the familiar leather handcuffs she hadn’t used in a while. Not because she hadn’t wanted to, but because Emma had needed gentleness, not structure. NotMadam.
Until now.
She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her expression was calm, but there was a heat behind her eyes she didn’t bother hiding. She held the handcuffs at her side and let them dangle from her fingers.
“Emma?” she called softly through the open bedroom door. “Come upstairs.”
There was a pause, just long enough for Vanessa to wonder if Emma was hesitating, then the stairs creaked again, and eventually, Emma came into view. Vanessa said nothing at first. She let Emma take her in instead. The robe she’d slipped into, black silk tied at her waist, her legs bare beneath.
Emma stilled in the doorway, her eyes darting to the handcuffs Vanessa held, her chest rising and falling slightly faster than before. “It’s, uh…” Emma cleared her throat. “H-have I done something I shouldn’t have?”
Ah. Emma was assuming that Madam only came out to play if Emma had done something to rile her up. Tonight, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Come here.” Vanessa held the cuffs up. “Now, Emma.”
Emma stepped into the bedroom and bowed her head. She didn’t need to ask, and she didn’t need clarification. The shift between Vanessa and Madam was something they both felt on a different level.
Vanessa reached for her gently and curled one cuff around Emma’s wrist. She fastened it in place, then lifted a hand to Emma’s jaw and coaxed her chin up. “You’ve been in your head all week.”
Emma’s lips parted, but Vanessa placed a single finger to them.
“You’ve been running yourself into the ground and avoiding what you feel. You’ve been punishing yourself for something that was never your fault.”
Emma visibly swallowed.
“You didn’t know you had a sister, and now that you do, you’re terrified that you don’t deserve her.”
Vanessa leaned in and kissed her. Not hard, not possessive, but just long enough for Emma to melt into her. To surrender. “Now, strip.”
Emma obeyed without hesitation, unzipping her hoodie and peeling off her shorts and T-shirt. When Vanessa gazed into her eyes, they’d darkened. There was now a hunger flickering beneath the vulnerability. Emma stood there, completely naked except for the handcuff hanging from her wrist, her breathing shallow.
Vanessa stepped behind her and slid her hands down Emma’s waist, around to her front, and brushed the soft curve of her belly. She kissed the back of her neck, lingering and enjoying that subtle scent as she said, “No punishment tonight. You’ve done enough of that to yourself.”
Emma sighed with relief, her body relaxing immediately.
“But youdon’tget to come until I say.”
That sexy little needy sound caught in Emma’s throat.
“Good girl.” Vanessa smiled as she patted her wife’s cheek lightly, turned her by the hips, and guided Emma back towards the bed. Emma sat when prompted, her gaze fixed on Vanessa as she lowered herself to her knees between Emma’s legs.
Vanessa ran her hands up Emma’s thighs, slowly…possessively, enjoying the flush that spread across her chest. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to the inside of one knee, then the other, wanting Emma to feel worshipped. Vanessa wanted to remind her wife that she was safe, that she was wanted, and that she was loved.
Vanessa slid her tongue across Emma’s inner thigh, smiling against the skin when Emma twitched.
“You’ve been so brave,” she said as she kissed higher. “But even the strongest people need to let go.”
Emma whimpered as her hands tightened in the sheets behind her. “B-babe…”
Vanessa spread Emma with her thumbs and dragged her tongue between her lips, pausing only to circle around Emma’s clit. Emma moaned. Vanessa knew exactly where she wanted her, needed her, but…not yet.
