of sensation swamping her.
“There you go, baby,” he said huskily. “Come for me.”
At his command, she cried out as the orgasm she’d been holding back burst free, shaking her to the core, and all she could do was ride the wave of ecstasy because the pleasure was so huge, so all-consuming, it devastated her senses and nearly made her black out from the intensity of her climax.
Mac watched her the entire time, his face etched with dark desire and satisfaction. Before she completely recovered from the aftershocks rippling through her, he stopped the machine and began unfastening all the cuffs and straps to release her. She was so wasted and boneless she could barely move, even when she was freed.
She groaned as Mac picked her up in his strong arms and carried her to a velvet couch in the room. He sat down with her curled up on his lap and wrapped her in the blanket they kept draped over the back of the sofa.
Sighing contentedly and completely sated, she snuggled into his bare chest, breathing in the musky scent of sex and Mac before he made her take a few drinks from the water bottle on the small table beside the couch to make sure she stayed hydrated. She dutifully ate the few bites of dark chocolate he fed her, having claimed that the oxytocin in the candy helped with the chemicals in her brain to keep her stabilized and relaxed after a particularly intense orgasm. And yeah, that release had been earth-shattering for sure.
But honestly, the reason for his attentiveness didn’t matter to her. She just always loved aftercare with Mac. The quiet intimacy of it. The closeness and bonding. How focused he was on her well-being and the affectionate way he held her in his arms. No other man had ever made her feel this worshipped and cherished.
“Sooo,” he murmured as he tucked his index finger beneath her chin and tipped her head back so she was looking up at him. “Still want to marry me after that? There’s still time to call off the wedding.”
He’d tried to inject humor into his comment, but Stephanie was smart enough to know that there was also a level of seriousness to his question. Despite the fact that she hadn’t used her safe word or the clicker—which meant she’d been a willing participant to what just happened—he was still worried he might have pushed her too far. And yeah, she wasn’t going to deny that she’d been initially nervous about his birthday gift, but there was something he needed to hear from her and accept so this was no longer an issue between them going into their marriage.
She understood that his ex-wife had messed with his head and had given him reason to fear that his extreme sexual preferences might turn Stephanie off. Those experiences made him vulnerable with her, and Mac was not a vulnerable man in any other aspect of his life. She didn’t ever want him to question her full acceptance of him. Kinky, depraved sexual preferences included.
She gave him a deliberately droll look. “Tell me . . . do I look traumatized by what we just did?” If anything, she was certain she looked disheveled, flushed, and well satisfied.
The corner of his mouth quirked with a semblance of a smile, as if she’d just asked him a trick question. “No . . . but—”
“No buts, Brent,” she said, cutting him off with the use of his real name and the press of her fingers to his warm lips. “Your but indicates doubts, and tonight is the last time you will have any uncertainties when it comes to me and you and our sex life, because I don’t want those worries to be a part of our married life. I’ve made it very clear that I already trust you. But now I need you to trust me to tell you if I have an issue with something you want sexually, without you being inside your head and obsessing about it. Can you do that?”
He exhaled a deep breath as she removed her hand from his mouth so he could speak. “Yes, I can do that.”
“I love you with my whole heart, Brent,” she said, resting her hand on his chest, where his heart beat steadily beneath her palm. “Unconditionally, in every way.”
“I know,” he returned softly, his eyes filled with emotion. “And I love you more than I dreamed I could love a woman.”
She smiled at him,