"Come."
I followed him to the kitchen where sunlight streamed in the windows over the sink. Past the island that looked out into the open living room on the other side. Down the shadowed hallway to the back of the house. As soon as I saw our soft bed, my body seemed to groan that it was ready to sleep. For days.
Drake set the suitcase on the duvet. "Unpack and go downstairs."
"Yes, Sir."
I didn't dawdle with putting everything away. The sooner I was done, the sooner he'd get done. Which meant the sooner I could crawl beneath the cool sheets and slip into dreamland.
But I did groan as I realized that we hadn't used a single thing in this bag on our trip, so I couldn't toss any of the clothes in the hamper. I had to hang them up or make sure they were folded properly in the dresser drawers. He would notice if I tried to take shortcuts. He always seemed to know.
When I was finally done, I toed off my shoes and retreated down the hall, my bare feet sticking slightly to the hardwood. I sighed as they touched the cool tiles of the kitchen floor. Then I shivered at the cooler air as I descended to the basement.
Drake was sitting on the couch in one corner of the room, his head in his hands. He was still fully clothed except for his socks and shoes. I stayed in the doorway, as was our procedure, and I just watched him. His slouched shoulders made him look overly fatigued. As if the world was weighing down on him. This trip had been harder on him than I had imagined.
I knew nothing of what he did every day. He didn't talk about work, and I didn't ask. He left it at the office. He paid all of our bills and took care of whatever needed to be fixed. He made sure I had money to buy groceries and to meet any of my wants or needs. Plus I had some income of my own from modeling jobs. He took very good care of me. I had no reason to complain or be concerned.
It wasn't like it was with Jimmy. I was free to go wherever I wanted with whomever I wanted for the most part without getting approval. While I did go for drinks occasionally with some of the other models, I preferred to stay in and keep up the house. To cook Drake dinner when he got home. He didn't ask me to, I just felt that I should. It was my contribution, my thankfulness for what he did to provide for us. To give me the life I had now. Besides, I was his wife. It's what wives did, wasn't it?
Drake let out a big sigh and lifted his head. He jerked back as he saw me standing there. But he regained his composure and smoothed back his hair with one hand before he stood. In his other hand was the black, leather leash I'd presented to him at our collaring ceremony. He approached me without a word and linked the leash to the D-ring on my collar.
He led me across the expanse of the basement and stopped before the locked door to our secret room. I knelt at his feet, sitting back on my heels. He hung the loop of the leash on a clip next to the door and punched in the security code. When the lock snicked, he turned the handle and propped the door open.
I waited silently as he flicked on the light and adjusted it until it was just a dim glow, leaving most of the room in shadows. I could hear him opening drawers in the metal tool cabinet he'd converted into our private toy chest. I forced myself not to yawn, to not give away my exhaustion. I couldn't imagine how he could be up for this. He needed to rest as well.
It was several minutes before he returned to lead me to the brick platform in the far corner.
"Strip. All of the way," he said.
My fingers trembled as I removed my pants and then my shirt, the latter impossible until he released the leash from my collar. As I unclipped my bra and slid my panties down my legs, I bit my lip to silence a whimper. I didn't know what he had planned. Would I be punished? Or just fucked? Or both?
I heard his footsteps slapping on the hardwood as he departed. Then I felt the heat of his body as he stood behind me again, his fingers quickly gathering my hair and braiding it into a long plait. My eyes downcast as was my usual stance when we were in here, I saw his bare feet and jeans as he stepped in front of me. His chest was naked now above his waistband.
My eyes rose slightly, focusing on the silver key at the end of the black band swaying slightly against his defined pectoral muscles. I resisted the temptation to lick my lips. I may be tired, but that didn't always quell the desire I had for my sexy man.
"Up."
I stepped past him onto the rounded platform, the texture of the bricks rough beneath my feet. As I walked the three feet into the alcove with bricks lining the wall on either side of me, the temperature seemed to decrease even more, making me shiver in my nakedness. Ahead of me, the two walls came to meet in the corner where a single column of bricks were set vertically from floor to ceiling.
The platform was mimicked above with a metal grid on the ceiling. Silver eye-bolts were embedded into the grout lines between the bricks at various positions in the wall, and carabiner hooks hung from the grid above. It looked like a slice had been cut
