Beautiful? I’m about to combust and he’s telling me it’s lovely? “Touch me. Lick me. Fuck me. I don’t care which. It’s your choice but do something. Please.” Desperation. That’s what I hear in my voice.

I’m this man’s puppet and it isn’t the first time. Nor will it be the last.

I’m still on my back with a pillow under my hips. Not for long. He yanks it out from beneath me and tosses it aside. “Touch you, lick you, or fuck you. My choice, huh?”

“Yes.”

“I believe I’ll do all three.” He flips me over to my stomach and I make an unexpected high-pitched sound when I land on the mattress. Jack Henry finds it amusing; I can hear him chuckle behind me. Then he’s at my ear and his voice is breathy. “You’re gonna like this.”

His promise sends a thrill straight through me and it concentrates in my core. “Whatever it is you’re gonna do, I wish you’d hurry up and do it already.”

“No instant gratification for you, Mrs. McLachlan. It comes fast and is gone too quickly. I want you to enjoy the anticipation.” He slides his hand around to my stomach and then down to the cusp between my thighs. “This is me touching you.” He cups his hand over me and moves it up and down. “And this is me licking you.” His tongue starts at the base of my lower back and he drags it up my spine slowly. He gets about halfway up when my body bows uncontrollably, sending my bottom up from the bed, arching in response to the sensation. That’s when I feel him enter me from behind. “And this is me fucking you. All three at the same time.”

His weight presses my front into the mattress. I grasp the comforter and bring it to my mouth to bite so I can stifle my scream. All these sensations—touch, lick, fuck—are too much to bear at once. Each thrust forces a moan, sounding much like an animalistic grunt, from my mouth.

He does something new when he brings his palm down and smacks my bottom. It’s not hard enough to hurt but I jump because I wasn’t expecting it. And then he squeezes my cheek. Hard. It’s not something he’s done to me before.

How can he work the front and the back like this at the same time? There’s only one answer. Talent.

His mouth leaves my back and is next to my ear. He takes it in his mouth and sucks it hard. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna leave a hickey on my earlobe. “I’m so close, L, but I want you to come around me first.”

And as if he holds the power to control my body, I do. Big time. I fist the edge of the mattress and scream, “Ohhh!” Each of his last few thrusts propel me across the bed and I’m glad to be holding onto something so I’m not sent face first into the floor.

Gah, he likes it rough sometimes. Good thing I do too.

He stills and lowers his body to lie against my back, kissing across my shoulders. He’s so tender and gentle—a huge change from the man forcefully thrusting himself into my body just a moment ago. “I see that Mr. Hyde has returned to being Dr. Jekyll.”

I feel him press his face to my back. “You don’t like Mr. Hyde?” He rubs his hands up my arms.

“I most certainly do. A lot.”

He gives my shoulder one last kiss before pulling out of me and rolling to the bed. He lies next to me, and I don’t move when he gently dances his nails up and down my back. “It’s fucking ridiculous how much you turn me on. It’s like you have this crazy power over me and sometimes I feel like it takes over.” He strokes my lower back in a circular motion. “You know I’d want you to tell me if I ever do anything you don’t like, right?”

Is he talking about slapping and squeezing my ass? “I know, but don’t worry—I love everything you do to me. Especially this new triad of sensation—touch, lick, fuck. I hope you do it again soon.”

He lowers his fingertips to my cheeks and traces them back and forth, occasionally gliding one down my crack, but never close enough to touch the place that remains unexplored.

I wonder if he’s doing it because he’s toying with the idea of trying it. I think I assumed anal sex was something neither of us had experienced, but the truth is I have no idea what he’s done with other women. Frankly, I’m not sure I want to know, but the question eats at me and I’m afraid it’ll continue if I don’t find out. His favorite position is from behind. Does that mean he really wants it the other way but isn’t asking me for it?

“Do you think it would be a mistake to talk about sexual encounters we’ve had with others?”

His hand goes motionless. “I don’t want to know anything about you and Blake. I’m content with pretending the whole thing never happened.”

I’ve told him that Blake never made me come. Jack Henry’s the only man who’s ever done that for me, so he knows sex with Blake wasn’t good. I’m sure that leads him to think we didn’t do much exploring—and he’d be right. Sex with Blake was always missionary and it ended with him getting off as soon as possible. End of story.

“What if I wanted to know about the things you’ve done with the women before me?”

He sighs. “I’d say no good can come from talking about it.” He begins stroking my back again. “You are my wife. Nothing before you matters. Nada.”

But it does because it matters to me. I want to know if he’s fucked another woman in the ass. More importantly, I need to know if he liked it, so I’m going for it. I’m pushing all my chips to the center of the table. No folding for me. “Did you have anal sex with the others?”

His hand goes motionless again. “What do you hope to gain by talking about things that happened before I knew you?”

Shit. That’s a yes. Now I wish I hadn’t asked.

I drop my face to the bed but turn away from Jack Henry. I don’t want him to see how bothered I am. “I just wanted to know that I was the one to fulfill your deepest desires, not someone else who came before me.”

“L. That’s not my deepest desire.”

“But you liked doing it?”

“I didn’t say I’d done that with any of the others. I haven’t.” His hand returns to its previous motion. “I think all guys think about it. I know I do when I’m giving it to you from behind, but it’s not something you’ve done before. I figure you’ll tell me if you ever want to try it and we’d experiment, if it’s what you want. If you never want to, it’s fine.”