Page 77

“Very much so.”

Those sorts of words brought felicity to Monique’s heart. “I’m glad.”

Helen caught her hand on its next trek down her chest. “I’d be happier if you sat in my lap.”

“Whatever you desire.” The thought made Monique happy anyway.

Helen’s arms wrapped tightly around Monique as she walked before the chair and sank gently into her Mistress’s lap. Her legs drew up over Helen’s, and her chest, barely clad as it was, leaned into it while Helen’s nose nuzzled the top of her girlfriend’s head.

“I’m sorry for any ill feelings I have caused you,” Helen said, arm pushing up Monique’s robe and touching her outer thigh.“Understand that I did what I thought best… I talked to my sister. She understands that woman isn’t allowed…”

“What woman?”

Helen pinched her lips shut. “No one in particular, Princess.”

“I like it when you call me that,” Monique said, her demeanor demure but her heart crashing into her ribcage. “You make me feel special.” Better than what Jacqueline used to call her. She was nobody’s pet anymore. She liked the feeling of being exalted whenever Helen spoke to her.I may serve, but I’m still my own woman. I’m still important.“Now I want to makeyoufeel special.”

She kissed Helen, the only overt act of dominance she would take that night. Not that Helen seemed to mind. From the moment their lips touched, happily rejoining after so much time apart, Helen gripped Monique’s flesh and bruised her from how hard they desired one another.

“You always make me feel special,” Helen murmured on Monique’s lips between kisses. “It’s me who will always fight to make you feel as good as you make me feel.”

Monique pushed farther into her embrace, enthralled with the way Helen held her, brought her closer, and nudged her with the slight movements of their bodies.How long has she thought of me?Monique wasn’t vain, but she was pleased to know Helen had such a quick reaction to their reunion.

“Is there anything else I can get for you, Mistress?” she asked, hand wrapping around Helen’s neck as she leaned into her. “Your wish is mine to grant.” She once said that to Jacqueline, and she laughed, saying she sounded like a horny genie.Stop thinking about her.

Helen did not move. “Sometimes the best subs are those who don’t need to be told what to do.”

Monique understood. She slipped off Helen’s lap, touch lingering on her skin as she placed one foot after the other ontothe floor. The ties to her robe happened to catch on her nail, untying before Helen’s eyes and revealing the lingerie beneath. It was a good night to be wearing a pushup bra.

She took Helen’s wineglass to her wet bar by the window. The sleeves of her robe fell down her arms, allowing Helen to gaze at the softness of her skin as she poured something not wine, but bourbon, the kind of sophisticated drink she liked to have on hand for moments like these. I’m a woman who gets off on fetching slippers and the newspaper.There were words for women like her. “Bitch” came to mind, but Monique didn’t like it. She was still a human being.

One who poured a mean glass of bourbon and looked hot doing it.

She knelt beside Helen’s chair and offered the drink. Helen took it, smiling, her visage gentle and kind but her lips twisting with a bite. When her other hand began stroking Monique’s hair, she pushed into it, cheek rubbing against her Mistress’s palm as her eyes closed.

The room was quiet. The fire crackled. Ice clinked in Helen’s glass. Monique heard her own breath in her ears. Or perhaps that was her heart thumping wildly in anticipation. As much as she lived for this kind of life, she was still aroused enough to wonder how it would end.

“Would it be so bad?” she asked, her voice a sweet whisper. “To spend the rest of my life doing this?”

Helen regarded her with a concerned look. “You are really deep into the life.”

“I don’t think I am.” Monique turned, her back leaning against the chair as her hand touched the back of her leg. “People tell me I am, but what can I say? It makes me happy. I like to know that my Mistress is pleased. I like knowing that she can come home to a sanctuary. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a part of it.”

“Don’t you want to do anything else?”

She thought about it. She liked her business, most of the time. There was art in matching patron and woman. Joy in watching them share their moments. Love in hoping it could last forever. “I’m not saying that I want to do nothing but hide in a room for the rest of my life where I’m treated as a sex doll.” Monique looked up. “Maybe only half the week.”

“And your Manoir here?”

“I don’t know.”

Helen’s fingers felt like Heaven’s touch on Monique’s scalp. “You deserve happiness, Princess. What you want hurts no one else.”

“What if I want you?”

It was the closest Monique had come to saying she loved her.My chest is on fire. Flames burst from her heart, licking at her bones and caressing her sinew. The heat extended to Helen, who placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head before leaning back in the chair again. The glass of bourbon was empty, placed on a table within arm’s reach.

“You need only ask.”