“Of course I will, Ella. You two just took me by surprise. Hold on while I get your father on the phone. Mark!!!!!!” she screams in our ears. “Ella’s on the phone.”
We hear footsteps and then his voice speaking to her. “She has her phone on speaker because she’s with Ian. “Okay. Hi, honey.”
“Hi, Dad! So Ian and I called to let you and Mom know that we’re getting married in June. I want to be sure that you’ll be able to travel to Portland to attend.”
“Married? Wow. That’s a surprise. Of course we’ll attend, sweetheart; I’ll mark it on the calendar right now. What’s the date?”
“The twelfth, Dad.”
“Mr. Strong?” Ian pipes up.
“Ian?”
“Yes, sir. I just wanted to let you know that I would have called you first to ask for her hand but she wouldn’t give me the number.”
“It’s true, Dad. He can be ridiculously old-fashioned at times.”
“Well, I like that about Ian. You have my blessing, young man, but I hope you two aren’t rushing things… or do you need to?”
“Dad! Of course not. Sheesh, it’s a sad day when a girl can’t even call her parents with good news without them thinking something terrible.”
“Hey, a shotgun wedding ain’t so terrible,” my father says happily. He’s referring, of course, to his own wedding since my mom was already pregnant with me when they married.
“Okay, well, glad your calendar is marked. If Mom can come out earlier to help plan it, I would be ever so grateful.”
“Have you two told Ian’s parents yet?”
Ian answers, “We’re heading over there today to deliver the good news in person.”
“Oh? Good. Ella, I’ll put your mother back on now. All my love, sweetheart, and congratulations on your engagement.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Ella? Dad just handed me back the phone. So… I’ll try to come to Portland next month. That will give us two months to have everything in place. Will you wait for me to shop for your dress?”
“Mariah and I are going to start this week but if you’d like, I won’t make any decisions until you get here, Mom.”
“If you find the right dress, you can snap it up, Ella. There’s always the other dresses I can help you select.”
“True. Okay, Mom. We’ll talk soon. Love you.”
“We love you, too, baby. Have fun and give your Ian a big hug from us. I can’t wait to meet him.”
I smile, hoping it goes through the line. “Bye, Mom.”
From behind me, Ian starts kissing me up and down my neck, and tickling me all over. “Haven’t I ever mentioned that I hate to be tickled?” I shout between bouts of hysterical laughter.
“I’m sorry but I can’t hear you over all the din. Noisy fiancée, you know. What did you say?”
I’m laughing so hard I begin to choke. “Stop right this minute or I won’t marry you, Ian.”
He spins me around and we kiss, long and deep. “Mmm, want to have a tryst in the bedroom?”
I look into his smoldering eyes, wondering if mine are as easy to read as his silvery beauties are. “A tryst sounds perfect. Should we shower first?”
“How about we have a tryst in the shower? Multitask, you know.”
“I love multitasking,” I breathe, barely audible. “When will you call your parents?”
“Afterward. I’m big on priorities, you should know.”
“Oh. Thank you for the edification: information is always helpful.”
As we conduct this silly conversation, he is propelling me backward toward the bedroom. When we get inside, he kicks the door closed and pushes me down onto the bed. “Straight or kinky?” he asks, a devious gleam in his eyes now.
“Let’s see, last time it was pretty straight… so I do believe it’s time for kinky.”
He disappears into the closet for a few moments and comes swaggering out with cuffs. “Let’s try something new, shall we?”
“In here? Or in the dungeon?
“Are you ready to go back in there again?”
I shrug nonchalantly. “Last time it was fun.”
His eyes spark as he sweeps his arm open and says, “Then, by all means, lead the way.”
When we enter the room, he turns around to lock the doors and barks a command at me: “Strip.”
It’s only one little word but it does insane things to my body because of the promise it holds. I instantly begin to obey him, removing my clothes but I take my time. He shouldn’t have everything so easy, should he?
Once the clothes are gone, he has me kneel and he leaves the room. I’m supposed to keep my eyes down when in this position but I don’t, of course. I’ve never been completely obedient in my whole life—why start now? I watch for him to return. It seems to take forever but it’s probably about four minutes before the door opens again and my eyes dart down to the floor.