Page 221 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

“Like I said... show her off.” Becca grinned.

After my eye appointment, a quick sandwich for lunch, a much-needed haircut, and a trip to the grocery store to pick up the supplies I needed for tonight, I finally went home. Alice had been texting me all day, sending me bratty memes, gifs, and being generally obnoxious. I suspected it was an effort to regain control over how submissive she’d felt the past few days because of our play.

When I got home, the first thing I did was kick off my shoes and attempt to find the correct ones that went to each pair. I stood in the entranceway with the door to the coat closet open, looking through my shoes and struggling to find any of the matches. After fifteen minutes of pulling all of them out and trying to find the right ones, I came to the realization that I was missing the right shoe of some pairs, and the left shoe of other pairs. And I couldn’t findanyof the missing ones.

“Alice!”

No answer. Damn, where had that little gremlin gone off to? I stalked through the entranceway into the living room, almost knocking into the end table on my way.

Okay, calm down. No knocking into furniture. You’re not mad, you’re excited.

I set the grocery bag down on the kitchen counter. There was nothing perishable in there, so I’d make her put it away when I found her. It would be fun to watch her squirm when she saw what I’d bought.

Leaving the kitchen, I searched the house for her. Her car was here, so she was probably hiding. I looked around, checking the laundry room, my bedroom, the guest rooms, her bedroom, the bonus room upstairs, even the dungeon, but she was nowhere to be found. For some reason, I was so damn focused on finding her, I kept running into furniture. Fifteen minutes in, I was pretty sure I was going to have a bruise on my thigh.

I decided to call her. She declined my call immediately, but not before I heard her ringtone from the living room, and a quiet curse. Storming down the hallway, I started looking under furniture. I’d forgotten how tiny she was; she was probably under the couch or something.

But as I started looking under the couch and behind the chairs, I noticed something odd. The carpet was freshly vacuumed, but there were pressure marks in the carpet next to all the feet of the furniture, as if the items had not been put back exactly as they were before. In fact, they were all shifted slightly to the left by about an inch or two.

“Alice,” I growled, and I heard a snicker from somewhere in the room. I whirled around expecting to see her, but she wasn’t there. “Where are you, little fox?”

Eventually I figured out what else looked different about the living room. The blankets I normally stored in the ottoman were draped across the couch. I lifted the lid, and there she was, curled up and grinning widely, holding her phone. She was naked except for a lacy thong and a crop top.

Her expression changed when she saw me. She grimaced, but she looked like she was biting back a grin.

“Come here,” I snapped, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her out of the ottoman. She giggled and laughed maniacally as I righted her, holding her firmly so she couldn’t squirm away.

“You little asshole,” I said. “I’m going to have a fucking bruise on my thigh!”

That just made her laugh harder. She was crying now, completely lost in the ecstasy of laughter at my expense. I shook my head in disgust, but then started laughing myself. There was something so contagious and pure about the way she laughed uncontrollably that I couldn’tnotjoin in.

Her eyes sparkled as she threw her arms around my waist. “Hi,” she said against my stomach.

I smacked her ass once and she yelped in surprise but squeezed me tighter. She stuck her ass out and wiggled a little.

“Stop that. Stand up, I’ll punish you later. I have a call in twenty minutes!”

“You’re so busy and boring!” She pulled away from me and rolled her eyes.

“Andyouare writing checks your ass can’t cash.”

“Bet,” she said as she walked away. Then she stopped, turned around slowly, and attempted to compose her face. “So, Mister Weston. How was your eye appointment?”

I sighed and held my forehead in my hand. God, I was going to enjoy delivering some sweet vengeance on her tonight, but first, I really had to focus and get on this call. It was important, and it was related to funding for Pathway to Peace.

Alice took my refusal to answer as an answer.

“Hah! I win! I knew it! You’re blind!”

“I am not blind! The doctor gave me a low prescription pair of computer glasses with blue light blockers for when I’m on the computer for more than an hour. I don’t needthemto see, they’ll just...”

“They’ll just help you not get headaches and wrinkles on your forehead from squinting at a screen. Because you’re anold man!”

I checked my watch. “Do I need to do something drastic to get you to behave while I’m on this call? Or can you stay out of trouble for two hours?”

“That is extremely unlikely. I’m on a roll, Sir.”

“Oh, I bet you are. What other naughty things have you managed to do while I’ve been gone all day?”

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