gaze drifted down to Aaron again. After a moment, he exhaled. “We would’ve kept looking, definitely. And if there was just no chance of it happening, we’d be all right.” He looked at me again. “None of this was a deal-breaker for us. I don’t know what solution we eventually would’ve found, but we’d have found something.”
I nodded slowly. “Okay. Okay, good. I just, uh… I don’t…”
“You don’t want to feel like our marriage is hinging on things working out with you?”
“Exactly.” I laughed nervously. “That’s a lot of pressure, you know?”
“I know. And we don’t want to put that pressure on you or on ourselves.” He bent and kissed the side of Aaron’s head. “It admittedly kind of seemed like it in the beginning, but I think we’ll be all right either way.”
“Good,” I breathed. We fell quiet for a moment, and I studied Aaron, who I realized hadn’t moved or made a sound in quite a while. “Is… Is he asleep?”
Will craned his neck a little, and a sweet smile came to life. “Yeah. I’m not surprised.” Lifting himself up, he nodded toward the door. I returned the nod, and we both got out of bed, moving slowly and carefully to keep from disturbing Aaron.
I glanced at him. “It won’t bother him if he wakes up alone and we’re not there?”
“Oh God, no. As long as I’ve brought him down out of subspace, he’ll be fine.” Will must have seen the uncertainty in my eyes, because he smiled, put an arm around my shoulders, and gently led me toward the bathroom. “Meanwhile, we both worked up a hell of a sweat, so…” He started the shower.
I didn’t object. He knew his submissive, and we both really had worked up a sweat. Good thing I’d learned long ago to bring a change of clothes when I was going to play with someone.
We stripped and stepped into the shower. The hot water felt good. Will’s chest against my back felt even better.
“Aaron will be fine,” he murmured in my ear. “Which means now I can focus on you.”
“On me?”
“Mmhmm.” He gently turned me around to face him, and as he wrapped his arms around me, he murmured, “Aftercare isn’t just for the one who was taking the flogger.”
As our lips met, I closed my eyes and leaned into him. His hands slid all over my back, but there was nothing erotic about this. I mean, it was sexy as hell, but it didn’t feel like he was trying to wind me up. His touch was soft, his embrace warm and sheltering. The way he kissed me felt… God, was that affection? I hadn’t been on the receiving end of that in so long, it was jarring. And so, so nice. Jesus, I’d missed actually being held. This was absolutely not something they’d put in their ad or we’d discussed via chat or on the couch, but hell yes, please, more.
Still holding me close and letting the water massage my back and shoulders, Will met my gaze. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m good.” I ran my hands up his back. “It was fun. And he enjoyed it. Right?”
Will’s smile made my knees weak. “Oh, yeah.” He ran a gentle hand through my wet hair. “I know we kept it pretty tame tonight, but how do you feel about working up to more?”
“I mean, that mostly depends on him, doesn’t it?”
“Mostly, yes.” He caressed my face, and I couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched me so softly. “But you still need to be able to trust me as a Dom, and you need to be comfortable with him as a masochist. You know what Aaron wants, but there’s no rush to get to that level overnight.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled, relieved that he’d said it out loud. I’d known it, really, but hearing it was reassuring. Because he was right—we did need to work up to it, and not just for Aaron’s safety and well-being.
Will pulled me in a little closer and let my head rest on his shoulder. Ahh, this was one of my favorite parts of being a submissive. There were few things better than a Dom who was this soft during aftercare. This alone made me more confident that the three of us would get to the level Aaron needed. We both prioritized Aaron after he’d been in subspace, but Will didn’t neglect me. I hadn’t expected him to, I didn’t think, but it was deeply reassuring