Page 8 of Binding Their Hearts

Her muscles locked with tension, her body rigid and clamping down on him in endless waves. He thrust deep as he came, owning every ripple of pleasure she offered him.

Time slipped into a haze as he bent over her and kissed the back of her neck, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. “It’s all right to open your eyes now, darling girl.”

“Mmmph.” She grumbled as her nose scrunched. “Sleepy.”

He couldn’t deny that she’d expended a fair amount of energy. As had he and Jay. Bed might be in order.

He rested within, loathe to leave her. Alice’s boneless slump wasn’t unusual after a flogging session—particularly not one with multiple peaks. He smoothed the hair back from her face. “Jay.”

Jay leapt to his feet. “Washcloth? Arnica?” Like Henry, he’d kept his voice low and soothing.

“Yes and yes, but turn down the bed, please. I’ll bring our sleeping beauty there for aftercare.”

“You got it.” He turned, and Henry lightly circled his wrist. “Something else?”

“Just this.” He pulled Jay close for a proper kiss, still joined with Alice, basking in the warmth and connection with both of his pets. A man needed no more than this to be contented. “That’s all. Off you go.”

Jay wore the cheery grin of his own contentment. “That’s a nice ‘all.’ Gonna keep that one.”

As Jay trotted down the hall, Henry slipped his hands beneath Alice and unbuttoned the dress shirt. Destined for the dry cleaners, certainly. He pulled it gently from her and draped it across the arm of the chair. The living room could be cleaned in the morning; not too much mess. The slipcover could use a turn in the washer.

Unable to delay the inevitable any longer, he slid free. Her grumble spoke for the both of them.

Quickly shuffling his pants to his ankles, he stepped out and kicked them aside with a silent apology for the mistreatment. Alice, he curled snugly against his chest.

He made careful progress to the bedroom, watching for Alice’s dangling feet. Their new home ought to have wider hallways; he would add it to the list. She stirred not at all, her breathing even and her face relaxed.

Jay stood in the bathroom doorway, freshly scrubbed, the evidence of their pleasurable evening erased from his face and chest. Except for the smile, of course—the most compelling evidence by far. “I’ll grab the clothes for the laundry, and water for the nightstands. Anything else?”

“No, thank you, Jay. You’ve anticipated everything I could have asked of you.” Truly excellent service. Jay had been more attentive than usual in the last two weeks. Hopefully the change was a realization of his desires and not an anxious need to prove his worth after the incident with his family. “You daily impress me with your thoughtfulness and care, my boy.”

A ducked head and a shrug came in response, but the happy hip wiggle gave away Jay’s joy.

Henry stepped into the bedroom, where the bedsheets had indeed been turned down, folded at the foot. He knelt at the edge and laid Alice in the center. His arms thanked him. Keeping up with his younger lovers might require a strength training routine.

“All right, Alice?”

Her unintelligible murmur matched his expectation.

As he bathed her with the warm washcloth Jay had left them, she pressed into his touch, catlike and stretching. The occasional sweet sigh passed her lips. Jay returned and snuggled close, holding her on her side while Henry smoothed the arnica cream into her thighs and ass. No welts tonight; he’d been careful to spread his strikes.

Alice dozed as they finished bedtime preparations, and pulled the covers up, and exchanged good-night kisses above her head. Soon Jay’s breathing slipped into the quiet, even rasp of sleep. Henry remained watchful, studying the sloping curves of Alice’s face and the twitches behind her eyes in the faint glow from the bedside clock. Under his fingers beat the steady thrum of her pulse at her wrist.

A good hour after they’d gone to bed, she surfaced. Her soft, unfocused gaze slowly sharpened, and a smile crept across her lips. “Henry.”

Relief loosened his chest as he lightly kissed her cheek. “Welcome back, dearest.” He kept his voice low, pitched for her ears alone. “I confess, when I commanded you to keep your eyes closed, I hardly expected you to obey for quite so long.” He pushed warm amusement, rather than his underlying concern. Many players experienced extended euphoria after a pleasurable scene. Alice’s deep relaxation was cause for celebration, not anxiety. “I’m very pleased to see sense in your eyes.”

“Felt happy,” she mumbled. Her gaze traveled as she touched the sheets and then him, her fingers a tad cold against his chest. He laid his own hand overtop to warm them. “In bed?” She blinked twice. “Time?”

“Almost midnight now.” About three hours since she’d begun her extensive pitch for their friends’ happiness. “Answer a few questions for me, and I’ll let you return to your slumber.”

She nodded, and he took a brisk but tender spin through her recollection of the night’s events, her comfort level with the scene, and her current needs. All well and good, with no cause for concern. When he finished, she rubbed a knuckle against the tip of her nose. “I have a question.”

“Ask.” He grasped the edge of the covers, anticipating the request to slide past him for the bathroom.

“So you agree?” She propped her fist under her ear, reclining on her elbow. Her hair formed a tangled curtain behind her. “About Santa?”

He barely held his laugh to a puff of air, lest he wake Jay. Of course his dogged engineer wouldn’t have forgotten her purpose this evening, regardless of how incoherent he’d made her in the hours between.

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