Speaking of reading material. Email me your list. It’ll help me think of ways to reward you if you’re good.
You know, you never did tell me what you wanted me to do the other night. What kind of reward were you picturing, Nina?
Nina was right in the middle of the Farmer’s Market when she burst into a round of raucous laughter loud enough to draw several curious glances. None of that seemed to phase her as she shifted her bags to one arm, stepped out of the walkway and thumbed out a text back.
I bet a full body massage from a physical therapist is pretty nice.
It wasn’t the first of the texts she’d exchanged with Jay during the week. He seemed to think that sending her increasingly steamy texts was going to get her to crack, which just amused Nina to death. She’d taken the opportunity to have a little fun with it, with teasing flirts and the occasional innocent selfies of her doing completely normal non-sexy things like lunch at work or her bedtime book. This challenge was turning out quite relaxing.
Once she’d sent him an updated version of her list (she liked his highlighting style, but went several steps further with multiple colors, a chart, and a few starred notes because could never seem to answer things with a simple yes or no), she resumed her leisurely stroll through the market, even pausing for a moment to send him a cheeky selfie in front of a candle vendor.
Hey. Do you like hot wax?
You know, just because I won’t date you doesn’t mean I won’t spank you.
Don’t make promises you won’t keep, Jay, that’s so rude!
Giggling to herself, she went ahead and picked out a couple of candles for her apartment. Not everything in her shopping bags were for Jay, but he didn’t need to know that.
If you think I don’t keep my promises, you don’t know me very well.
I’m glad because I’m looking forward to that d a t e.
Now stop distracting me or I’m never gonna make it there!
wait do you have good kitchen knives?
Nina completely forget to ask what was in his kitchen. She tapped her fingers to her chin plotting how best adapt, just in case the man had one of those empty college student style kitchens. She could at least grab a basic knife here at the market.
The answer was yes, as it turned out, and once Nina got to Jay’s place she had a feeling he was a lot more put together in general when it came to his home than she was.
First, he had an actual house. It wasn’t large–only one story–but it had a small yard with a privacy fence and a shed out back. When he answered the door, he was wearing the button-down again, and he ushered her in to a cozy, comfortable front room with a leather couch and rows of bookshelves around a generously-sized TV.
“Kitchen’s through here,” he told her, motioning her straight back. Once again, the kitchen was a bit cramped, but the fixtures were in good shape and he had an actual knife block with a full set, as well as a nice wooden cutting board on the counter.
“You definitely do know how to cook, right?” he teased, peering into her shopping bags once she set them down. “Will I have to use my first aid training?”
“Not for me, but if you fuss about my cooking you might need it for yourself.” She gave him a pointed look along with a wag of her finger before she shooed him away from her bags. The kitchen had more counter space than her apartment which was quite nice for Nina. Cooking was something she really enjoyed and in the past year it was something that had fell to the wayside as she worked on other areas of her life.
“This is a very cute house,” she remarked while pulling out bundles of herbs, leeks, among other veggies, and some fresh spiral pasta noodles. “I’ve been looking for something kinda like this, but maybe a little bit bigger. Or at least a lot more yard space so I can have a big garden.”
Out of another bag came a simple apron with a faded rooster print and she pulled it on to cover up the peach wide neck sweater and brown suede skirt she’d chosen to wear. Nina had thought about trying something overtly sexy just to be a pain, but she ended up opting for comfort since she actually wanted to enjoy cooking. Even her boots were flat instead of the fancy heels she’d been sporting at the club.
“Can you tie me up?” she asked, somehow managing a completely straight face as she held up an apron tie and pointed behind her.
“It was affordable and doesn’t require a lot of upkeep.” He shrugged. “I’m too busy for a large yard.”
Jay gave her a raised eyebrow, clearly not impressed with her joke, and stepped in close. Gripping her shoulder, he turned her slowly, then slid his finger down her spine to where the ties settled. He crossed them, then pulled them snug–a little snugger than was comfortable, though not enough to hurt.
“Good?” he asked casually.
Nina cleared her throat, bracing her hand against her stomach and basically pretending that her ears didn’t feel warm. She’d forgotten that there was a huge difference between Jay’s flirty texts and the way he’d sneak up on her in person. Nina was just going to have to be wary. Obviously he couldn’t drive her to some sort of sex-crazed bender, but still!
“That’s not too bad,” she answered, successfully keeping her tone nice and even. “But don’t forget I might have to do some bending, though.”
“You’ll manage.” He smiled. “Now, what are we having for dinner?”
There wasn’t a lot of room in the kitchen, as she’d noted, and with him standing behind her, Nina was hemmed in fairly neatly between Jay and the counter. She had room to move around, but not without nearly brushing against him.
She wasn’t used to having someone in the kitchen with her, which was a little nerve-wracking with him so close and watching everything that she was doing, but kind of neat also because she got to share all the little details that went into what she was cooking. Nina pulled knives until she found the one she liked working with the best, and then she got to portioning out the vegetables that she needed for cooking with.
“All of the fall stuff is at the market now, so I have leeks and cabbage and red pepper and cremini mushrooms and these little tiny baby broccolinis that are super cute. Um. Hm, I need a broth pot and a big saute pan and–” She snapped her fingers suddenly and huffed. “I should’ve brought white wine.”
Nina leaned back, tilting her head until she bumped into him and could catch his eye.
“Pleeeease tell me you have white wine? I don’t need it, but it would be so much better!”
His lips twitched and she felt a playful tug on her apron strings.
“Lucky for you I don’t throw anything away,” he told her. Pulling away from her, Jay went to the fridge–which, unlike Nina’s, actually seemed stocked, from her quick glimpse–and pulled out a bottle of Chardonnay. Nina didn’t recognize the label but it looked nice.
“I don’t drink white wine so this has been sitting in here.”
“That’s because white wine tastes terrible all by itself,” she exclaimed. As if to prove it, she opened up the bottle and took a small swig, resulting in her making the most awful of faces, but nodding her approval when she set it aside.
When it came to putting things together, Nina was very methodical about arranging her work space. She made sure she had every pan she wanted, every utensil needed, even the dish to serve it in before she even started working with the vegetables. Her knife skills were on point and she tasted everything as she finished chopping it up, even offering Jay pieces as she went.
And because she’d never had someone in the kitchen with her before, she was a little too excited to explain all the details about why she cut the cabbage the way she did, how the red pepper was going to add this sweet savory taste, and how making a vegetable broth with her herbs and the left over mushrooms stems and leeks was going to be an awesome sauce base.
Once she had it all on the stove simmering, there wasn’t much else for her to do but keep an eye on it. Nina clasped her hands together, more than pleased with herself, and rocked on her heels.
“It smells good already, doesn’t it? Do you have any Nina drinks hiding around here somewhere?”
“I don’t have an open bar, sorry.”
Jay slipped past her to open a cabinet and take down a bottle of Kahlua along with a fifth of vodka, setting them down on the empty counter by the fridge. He shot Nina a considering look.
“I do have the ingredients for White Russians, but you might want to save that for later. As I recall you’re not the best at holding your liquor. How about tea?”
Nina laughed, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms.
“I don’t always have to drink things with weird names. Tea is good, I like tea.” Probably for the best too, Nina thought. One or two drinks, she’d be fine, but to be safe it was better not to have any liquor in her if she wanted to avoid that flip-switch that turned her into a randy dancing stripper.
“Can I take off my shoes, too?” she asked, looking down at her feet. They were comfortable enough, but if Nina could get away with not wearing shoes at all, she was happier for it.
Jay let out a huff of laughter.
“Are you more comfortable barefoot?” he asked, sounding like he already knew the answer, and for some reason it amused him. He was already grabbing a kettle and setting it on to boil. “Yes. Take your shoes off.”
“Shoes are just really cute torture devices, most of the time,” she insisted. Nina checked on her simmering food real quick, before she flounced out of the kitchen to the living room. If it were her apartment, she would’ve tossed her shoes and socks in any old direction, but here she set them neatly by the front door so she’d know exactly where they were.
When Nina returned she rinsed her hands in the sink, and flicked just a little bit of the excess water at Jay and giggled just for the fun of it.
“Trying to get my attention?” He leaned against the counter, watching her. “You know if you want something, you can ask. Use your words.”
“I could use that massage,” she pretended to ponder, tapping her chin with her fingers. “But that feels like a dessert kind of thing.”
After a quick grin, she pushed off from her spot to give her sauteing vegetables a stir. Satisfied that everything had browned up nicely, she went for the fresh pasta to dump in the pan and added a generous amount of the broth she’d been stewing. Once she tossed it all together, she held up both hands and all ten fingers towards Jay.
“Ten minutes,” she exclaimed. “What can we do with ten minutes?”
The kettle was just starting to whistle, and he took his time about turning to pour her cup of tea. When he finished, he set a saucer on top of the cup to keep the steam in while it steeped, and then moved to the doorway.
“Come here,” Jay told her, and led her through the house back into the living room, then down a short hallway. He opened the door at the end of the hall and showed Nina into a bedroom. There were more shelves along one wall, a large and neatly-made bed in the middle of the room, and a wooden trunk at the foot of the bed that was covered by a blanket.
“Skirt up or off,” he told her, going to sit on the edge of the bed. His elbows rested on his knees as he looked at Nina, waiting. “Your choice.”
The kettle was just starting to whistle, and he took his time about turning to pour her cup of tea. When he finished, he set a saucer on top of the cup to keep the steam in while it steeped, and then moved to the doorway.
“Come here,” Jay told her, and led her through the house back into the living room, then down a short hallway. He opened the door at the end of the hall and showed Nina into a bedroom. There were more shelves along one wall, a large and neatly-made bed in the middle of the room, and a wooden trunk at the foot of the bed that was covered by a blanket.
“Skirt up or off,” he told her, going to sit on the edge of the bed. His elbows rested on his knees as he looked at Nina, waiting. “Your choice.”
“Over here,” he told her, taking her hands once she got close enough.
“I told you I don’t make empty promises,” Jay said softly, running his thumbs over her wrists. He let go of her hands to cup her face, eyes holding hers. “You aren’t going to get away with being a brat, Nina. Better pick a safeword fast. Clock is ticking and you don’t want me to have to wait until after dinner.”
“Tow truck?”
For some reason it was the first thing to blip into her head while she was busy blinking wide-eyed at him and realizing her sassy texts had been a lot more effective than she’d thought. Not that she minded – Nina actually loved that she could have that influence on him – but now she was faced with that anxious curl in her stomach. She wasn’t about to balk now, though. It was on her list and she was way more curious than dubious.
“Make sure you remember that.” That was all the warning she got before Nina was seized about the waist and thrown over his knee like a naughty child, her face pressing against his bedspread and her apron bunching between her legs and his jeans. She felt his palm smooth across the curve of her ass over the fabric of her underwear.
“Do you know what you did?” he asked patiently. His fingers traced the leg of her panties, playing with the elastic. Jay gave a little tug and immediately let go; it snapped back against her skin, stinging the inside of her thigh.
Nina made a tiny little huff, mostly from having to catch her breath again and a little bit from wriggling her arms to a good position so she could lift her head. This was kind of embarrassing, but she was already there and was too interested to see where it was going.
“Well, I’m guessing you don’t like water being tossed on your one nice shirt,” she taunted, just to test the waters a little. Nina was probably going to regret it, but it seemed when she took risks, she went all in even though it kind of scared her to death.
is hand came down hard in answer, enough to make a cracking sound against the back of her thighs.
“What was that, now?” Jay pressed. His fingertips trailed gently over her still-stinging flesh. She wasn’t sure if the touch was meant to be soothing or teasing.
Nina yelped out an ow!, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth where a moment later a staggered giggle slipped out. The suddenness is what surprised her the most, and the ow was more of an automatic cry than an acknowledgement of pain. It did hurt a little though, not enough to hate it, but just enough to make her consider whether or not she still wanted to test the limits.
“You don’t like tie-up jokes?” she tried with a questioning hitch in her voice. It wasn’t quite clever, but that was hard to do when you were bent over someone’s knees.
“You’re getting warmer.” His knuckles brushed the inside of her thigh, nudging her legs just slightly further apart. “Still remember your safeword?”
For a moment, Jay waited, his hand rubbing a slow and feather-light circle across her backside.
“Still looking for an answer, Nina,” he said finally. “Are you going to admit you’ve been bratty all week?”
The worst part was not knowing if he was going to do it again and she was slowly kicking her feet back and forth waiting for it. No, she was wrong. The soft touches on the inside of her thigh were the worst, because it sent this warm feeling up her spine and making her toes curl up. Nina could think of a whole bunch of better places he could be putting his hands right now and it was sucking all the air right out of her lungs.
“I do remember and maybe I’ve been a little tiny bit bratty because you were asking for it,” she finally mumbled out.
Smack! His hand struck her again, this time higher up. His fingers caught the curve of her upper thigh, dangerously close to her pantyline.
“Apologize nicely and I’ll stop.” His fingernails clipped a slow trail across her raw skin. Jay’s other hand slipped into her hair at the nape of her neck, winding the strands around his fingers. “Unless you don’t want me to stop?”
This time she made a little umf sound and there was no giggling involved, though she did kick her feet a little bit and bury her face in the bedspread. She liked this. It was hard to pinpoint exactly why with the flurry of things going on in her head, but stubbornness wanted her to refuse to apologize (because she definitely wasn’t sorry) and kick up a fuss.
Practicality, though, still lingered in the back of her mind, chirping about a burned dinner and if she let it go too far, Nina was going to pounce on this man in his own bedroom and lose her challenge.
She made a soft annoyed sound into the blanket when she realized she didn’t need any fancy drinks to help make her slutty. Apparently she was just a closet tart.
Nina finally lifted her head and spoke, not any less breathless than before and just went with the honest truth.
“I’m not sorry and I don’t want to stop but I don’t wanna burn dinner either!”
“Well then you know what you’ve got to do, don’t you?” Jay ran a teasing hand between her legs, not touching anything important in the process but flirting close enough to cause sparks. “Because I’m not letting you up until you say it.”
“Jay.” she warned, though it probably wasn’t all that effective considering she was over his lap with nowhere to go and couldn’t even turn enough to glare at him. Nina could practically feel him grinning too. She was so sure he was delighted with himself and she mentally cursed his uncanny ability to always keep her unbalanced.
Of course, she could easily tap out with the safe word, or even just roll off him right onto the floor if she wanted, but that wasn’t the point.
“I’m not gonna lie, Jay! I am definitely, certainly, absolutely not sorry!”
“No lying? Fine.” The fingers in her hair yanked experimentally, just hard enough for her to feel it. His other hand brushed a warning over her ass. “I’ll also accept begging, if you can’t apologize.”
Now Nina knew she was in trouble, because she felt it all the way down between her legs enough to squirm and though she was stubborn, she wasn’t too proud for begging. She just couldn’t decide if it were to beg him to stop or to beg him to to do more.
“Holding dinner hostage is really unfair,” she complained first and foremost, if only because she knew she had just a little time left. “I think you ought to know that.”
“I know. I really don’t want to have to let it burn.” But I will, she could hear the silent threat. He tugged again on her hair, a little firmer this time, his other hand stroking down the back of her thigh. “Come on, Nina. What do you say, sweetheart?”
Nina made a pained sort of sound, both her hands moving to cover her mouth as she kicked her feet again. She’d circled back to embarrassed again, giggling to herself and being frustrated all at the same time. Finally with a rush of breath she gave up, because damned if she’d let a good meal go to waste just because she was a filthy monster that liked poking bears.
“Just one more, please, and then can I go save dinner!” she squeaked through her fingers.
He huffed in amusement, and then his palm struck her again–and if she thought he’d hit her hard before, she’d been mistaken about how much he’d been holding back. His hand lingered where he’d spanked her, rubbing, and then he pulled her upright on his lap.
“Good job,” he told her, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose and tucking her mussed hair behind her ear. She could feel his grin more than see it. “Skirt stays off until after dinner.”
“Oh my god,” she hissed through her teeth. That one had hurt but he went and kissed her on the nose and all worry about it had been obliterated. Her head was flying and she could’ve used a lot more of the holding, but dinner was in peril. Nina gave him a quick peck on the cheek and scrambled out of his lap for the door, nearly toppling in the threshold because her knees felt like jelly, but inevitably making if safely to the kitchen.
Nina plucked a hot noodle out of the skillet and popped it directly into her mouth, shaking her burning fingers and sucking in some air over her singed tongue as she turned off the stove. It was a quick fluid motion of giving everything in the pan a toss with some grated cheese and sliding it into the serving platter. Then with her only real concern taken care of Nina could process.
She bounced softly on her toes, her arms straight at her sides where her fingers were wiggling. She was still tingling where he’d smacked her and her knees were still wobbly but she felt so light and floaty and warm. Nina hadn’t thought she’d really enjoy anything that involved pain, despite being willing to try it, but she hadn’t expected the mix of different feelings to be so… invigorating? Nina was jazzed up in all the ways she really wanted to avoid right now!
“Do you need help getting that to the table?” Jay asked as he entered the kitchen behind her. She’d expected smugness, but he looked for all the world like they hadn’t been up to anything naughty at all and this was a perfectly normal dinner. “It looks good. Thanks again for cooking.”
“I’m so mad!” she declared, though it was easy to tell that she really wasn’t and that Nina was just fussing out loud to herself. She did nod and gesture to the food, stepping out of the way still with that wide-eyed bewildered look on her face. When she remember her tea, she paused her bouncing to claim the cup and swallow the entire thing in four gulps. Normally she would’ve added a ton of sugar but Nina just needed something so her mouth wouldn’t be so dry.
How hard would it be to convince him to have sex with her right now on the kitchen floor? What did she even need to prove with this challenge anyway! That was her libido talking, though. Nina was certain they could have something special, she just needed to ride it out.
When she finally got her heart to stop thumping against her chest, she took herself a seat at the table. It was only a little awkward sitting, more mental than physical and since she made dinner so Jay could handle everything else.
“I underestimated you,” she did remark giving him that squinty stare again. “You’re sneaky. These better be amazing books.”
“You’re the one who decided to come cook at my house,” Jay reminded her, serving her a helping of pasta. “You could have just let me lend you the books.”
He disappeared to the kitchen and returned with a glass of ice water in each hand. Taking a seat across from her, he handed her one of the glasses and then tipped a portion of the food onto his own plate.
“Let me know if the seat’s too rough,” he said, eyeing her carefully. “…How are you feeling?”
That warmth in her skin never left, so when she lift her hands to press against her cheeks she could still feel it burning.
“Not what I expected,” she admitted. “I thought it might be humiliating or feel kind of mean, but it’s not like that at all.” Nina tilted in her seat this way and that and didn’t find herself too uncomfortable. It still stung, but it wasn’t any worse than her scalded tongue and it’d fade pretty quickly.
Now that she wasn’t mad anymore (and all the spiciest feelings had tapered off enough) Nina was pretty excited to talk about it.
“I want to do things now. It’s like- It’s scary waiting for that pop but then it’s this sharp thrill and now I feel like I’ve had three cups of coffee and I am definitely putting it on the green list.”
“Yeah, that’s subspace for you.” Jay took a large swallow of his water. “I hope you don’t need to rush home, because I can’t let you leave now. Driving like this is like driving drunk.”
“Subspace?” There was a new word for Nina. She could understand the drunk feeling, though. Of course she wasn’t mentally impaired or anything, but she did nearly fall on her face in the hall after what was probably some pretty tame spanking. It’d take her a little bit to come down from her pleased little bubble, no doubt for the more intense sessions it’d be so much worse. Or better, depending on the perspective.
Of course that meant spending more time in the danger zone with Jay, but now that she’d gotten past the time to sex now moment, she’d be alright for the day.
“I guess that means more Versace for us,” she shrugged. Nina finally took a bite of her food and had to cover her mouth when she sighed. Yeah, she was definitely on a high. Even food tasted better than usual!
After dinner, they cuddled in the living room and watched Netflix. Jay insisted she spend the night on the couch–it was a sleeper–because of something called a “sub drop”, and in the morning he was already gone to work but he’d left a note telling her where to find the spare key, and breakfast for her on the kitchen table.