Monica started typing many pithy lines of love but erased them all.“I miss you.” “I want you.” “I’m overwhelmed.” “I don’t know what to do.”There was more than childcare and the IRS to talk about. Henry’s parents were visiting for a few weeks startingthat weekend, and Monica needed to know what the game plan was now that she was home and could focus on preparing for her monsters-in-law.All while working. God help me.
After she swallowed her last bite of dinner, she texted him,“I look forward to taking care of you.”She followed that with a heart emoji and a sunflower, their code for the kind of lifestyle they enjoyed together.
She had decided she needed it tonight.
Henry simply sent her a snowflake, indicating that he was receptive to whatever she wanted to do that night.
I can come up with a whole emoji code to use with my Dom, but can’t figure out how to keep my daughter out of trouble.Story of her life.
At least she knew what she was doing with the rest of her night. Henry would be home within the hour, which gave her enough time to prepare. God knew she needed it.
After telling Elson that she and Henry didn’t want to be bothered as soon as he came home, she secluded herself in her wing of the house. Monica laid out her bedclothes while running a bath. Stripping out of her day clothes was as refreshing as stepping into a cool breeze on a hot day. Or maybe that was the hot water of her bath welcoming her naked body for the next half hour.
IRS. My daughter. The in-laws.Monica allowed herself to dwell on that unholy trifecta before splashing the cooling bathwater on her face and forcing her brain to dump it all. Once she emerged from this tub, she was entering a completely different headspace. One that often healed her more than it harmed.
Especially that past decade, when she shared that side of herself with the only man she truly trusted with her heart – and body.
Wasn’t it sweeter than anything else right now… to think about her husband?
The way he speaks to me.Always kind, always reasonable.The way he touches me.Sensually, romantically.The way he is with our daughter.Fatherly and sweet.The way he treats the rest of our family.Sometimes the leash was too loose with his parents but with his black sheep of a sister? That was one of the things that told Monica she had finally found a keeper.
But Henry was more than a husband and father. He was a Dom, and he was more than agreeable to honoring Monica’s desires to be a lifestyler with her.
Granted, as the years had gone by, they had pushed aside the kink in favor of keeping a harmonious home and presenting as a vanilla couple for their daughter’s sake. Yet it sort of made their timetogethereven sweeter. Monica didn’t mind waiting for the perfect opportunity. She liked knowing a night just for them was on the horizon. By the rainy night sky, they made it count every time.
A lascivious montage of their greatest highlights flashed in front of Monica’s eyes. Water dripped from her fingers as she raised her hand from the bath. Her head leaned back. Her other hand was soon between her legs, remembering what it was like to be erotically charged in the comfort of her own home.
But she didn’t let herself get very far. She wanted to be ready, to enter that erotic space that consumed her whenever she let it.
The bathwater circled the drain as she took her time drying off and brushing her shoulder-length hair. She dabbed on a single fingertip of Henry’s favorite perfume and donned her baby pink silk robe with lace sleeves and back. Once she was happy with her appearance, she texted him that she was “ready and waiting to serve him” in the way he liked best.
There was no reply. He didn’t need to. Knowing that he had seen it was enough for Monica, who entered the sitting roomadjacent to their bedroom and stoked the fireplace to life. She poured a glass of Henry’s bourbon and left it on the table next to his favorite chair. By the time the fire was roaring and the pillow in the chair was fluffed, Elson stopped by to inform her that Henry was home.
“He says he has already eaten on the plane,” the butler said, “but will be visiting with Ms. Warren and Abigail before heading over for the evening.”
“That’s fine.” Monica didn’t mind waiting longer if Henry wanted to kiss his daughter hello and check in with his sister. It gave her more time to make sure everything was perfect for the man she calledhers.
She knew he was near from the way her body alit with electric alacrity.It knows before my brain does.When she glanced in the mirror hanging on the mall, she caught a glimpse of her husband’s dark blond hair moving through the hallway. He was removing his travel coat and shoes. Monica didn’t think about any plan. She simply smoothed out her robe, fluffed her hair, and stepped out to greet him.
“Welcome home,” she softly said, his back still turned to her. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Henry dressed down to his trousers and off-white shirt before greeting her. Almost immediately, Monica melted into his embrace as they shared a wordless, tender kiss in the hallway of their home.Just like I always dreamed of as a girl.Back then, she watched old movies of glamorous Hollywood stars pretending to be married, but Monica knew that was her future. She just had to find the perfect man to share it with.
It had been a long road of giving her heart to the wrong men, but when she finally met Henry? She had been ready. Everything she had trained herself for had been leading to that moment – to thislife.
“I’m glad to be home.” Henry followed her into the library, where the fire crackled and the bourbon was poured. Monica gestured to his favorite chair in front of the fireplace. Henry handed over his phone and had a seat, grasp already reaching for the sink.
Monica shut off her husband’s phone and placed it on the credenza in the short hallway between the library and the family living area. She closed the doors. Although they were not expecting anyone, least of all their relatives, Monica wasn’t taking chances. She enjoyed the sweet privacy closing and latching the doors to the library offered them, anyway.
“I hope your flight went well.” She spoke so softly as she came up behind him, that she almost worried he might be startled. Instead, Henry continued to drink his bourbon with one leg angled over the other. The more he settled into his chair and contemplated the fire, the more content his wife became. “I’m sorry to hear that you were delayed.”
“The rain is lovely to hear against the window when you’re sleeping in your own home.” He took her hand in his as she loomed over him from behind. She hoped to smell his natural scent or remnants of his cologne. What Monica got instead was the faint odor of cigars. Henry hadn’t partaken in years, but it signaled that some of his business associates had been smoking on the family plane.Well, that’s not allowed.Since their daughter’s birth, Monica had installed a no-smoking policy in any family-owned dwelling, and that included the Gulfstream.A discussion for later.“Not so much when you’re sitting on the tarmac at Pearson, waiting to get home.”
Monica kissed the top of his head. “I’m sure Abby was excited to see you. She’s been missing you all weekend.”
“You’d hardly guess since she was engrossed in a movie when I just checked in on her.”
“Your sister was gracious enough to watch her for the evening so you and I could have some privacy.”
