Chapter Eighteen
Tony stood at the counter, cutting the tiny green leaves off a fat strawberry. He pointed the end of the small knife at Adam. “I’m sure she was ready for anything after what you’ve told me.”
Adam grabbed another plastic container from the cabinet. “Goddamn she was hot today. I don’t mean like a good-looking woman you’d see in a bar hot. I mean primal, ready…so ready to be fucked. The way she moved when I put that sunscreen on her was amazing. She soaks up every touch.”
Tony dropped the strawberry into the bowl and picked another one from the pile. He tried to picture Lily all sprawled out on a blanket in the sun. It’d been too many months since he’d seen that image, and now it seemed like a fleeting dream. “You’re sure she wants this? I know I haven’t seen her in a while. Are you sure she’ll want to see me after I haven’t returned her phone calls?”
“Oh, yeah.” Adam took the tray of shrimp from the refrigerator. “She’s wanted this for a long time. She never had the nerve to ask us. Besides, I explained to her how you wanted to give us some space. Having me move in here was a great decision for both of us, but we’ve both had to make adjustments. It’s been nice having the two of us around. No offense,” Adam said as he placed another shrimp into the ice-filled plastic container, “we needed time to get to know each other outside the bedroom. Did you know she likes to do laundry?” Adam laughed. “Who likes to do laundry?”
Tony shrugged. He didn’t know Lily liked to do laundry. He knew she liked to cook and watch movies, but that was about it when it came to anything that didn’t involve her physical pleasure. Since Lily, he’d tried to take on two women and had failed them miserably. He hadn’t cared if they liked to listen to music, go to the theater, or jog naked with their tits bouncing up and down. He simply didn’t care. They’d ended up leaving to find doms who could care for them more regularly. Lily was special. Her gentle nature and feisty need for sex had drawn him in, made him feel powerful and in control.
She’d also made him feel like he wasn’t the one for her. He thought it was all about the submissives’ needs, their pleasure, their growth and awareness. He’d trained many over the years, always focusing on what they required. Maybe this was the way it was always going to be. He would come second in a one-man show.
One thing was paramount. Lily needed someone who could care for her in a way he wasn’t capable of anymore. Not on a permanent basis. Something wasn’t right. It didn’t fit. Damn if he knew why, but it was what it was, and there was nothing he could do to change that.
Renee had gotten tired of his relentless work schedule. The other two got tired of him. Tony turned the paring knife handle over in his hand, blindly staring at the pile of fruit. He needed someone who needed him—all of him. Someone who could tell him to go to hell when he was being an ass, who could make him want to take more vacations from work—a person who could see past the show he put on to understand why.
He needed someone to help him get to sleep at night. He needed someone.
“Are you ready for this?” Adam’s question broke through his pity party.
Tony tilted his chin up. “My friend,” he said, “I’ve been waiting for this since that first night on the back porch when I tied her up for you.”
Adam laughed and patted Tony on the shoulder. “Damn, she was sexy, wasn’t she?”
Tony started trimming the tops from the strawberries again. “Yeah, she was.” He recalled the beautiful way she knelt at Adam’s feet, the way she swallowed his long shaft. She had been his best student. She was hot, Tony thought, but the look on Adam’s face when he came was hotter. He wiped the image from his mind and finished cutting the fruit.
“Did you bring the condoms?” Adam asked as he pressed the lids onto the containers.
“Yes,” Tony said as he pointed to his black duffel bag in the corner. “I didn’t forget.” How could he have forgotten? He’d had the bag packed and was ready to fly out the door the day Adam called and asked him to participate in this little adventure. He was more than eager to have another round with his poppet—wait, he corrected himself, Adam’s poppet—and the fact that he was going to have playtime with Adam was just dessert.
“She’s going to be so excited to see you.”
“I’ve missed her too,” Tony said, giving Adam a firm slap on the shoulder. “But remember, I’m usually the one fucking someone else’s ass, so take it easy in the beginning.”