Free Kept by Carolyn Faulkner

me?" He could hear her teeth grinding angrily together, but she nodded. "Besides," he bent to whisper in her ear, "if we’re together for the whole five years, I can guarantee that you’re going to have earned every penny of it!"
    Reed released her with another solid crack to her rounded bottom that was sharp enough to have her rubbing the offended area as she descended the stairs. Jeez! Even if the man wasn’t a recreational spanker, he was a natural enough one to give her real cause for concern!
    When they were on their way back to his place, she asked excitedly, "So, when can I move in?"
    He caught her hand and put it on his thigh, covering it with his own. She was so happy she was practically vibrating. "Well, I want to have the place looked over by a friend of mine to make sure that it’s structurally sound – "
    "Of course it’s sound, Reed – it’s beautiful – the roofline is straight as an arrow and I didn’t see any evidence of water damage from roof leaks or anything – all it needs is a makeover." Trish knew she sounded whiney, but didn’t like the idea that he was going to have the property inspected. She could just see the guy finding something major and then she wouldn’t get the house.
    "Trish, I will buy the house as soon as Rob tells me in no uncertain terms that it’s not going to crumble around our ears in two years, and not before then."
    Trish was just glad she wasn’t standing within hand’s reach of him during this speech, or she had the feeling he might have accented it with a few more well-placed smacks. He was very used to ordering people around, and as time went on, she realized that just naturally extended to her.

    - 64 -
    BacksideOfLove.com

    KEPT
    The inspector liked the house a lot; it was older, and therefore better built than most newer houses. He mentioned that the roof would probably need to be replaced within the next three to four years, and the insulation could stand to be beefed up a bit, but the plumbing was all new, the furnace was only about three years old, and the wiring was fine. Rob recommended more smoke detectors, that the central air conditioning unit be serviced and, when it finally died, that it be replaced with a better made unit, but in general he said that the people who owned it before might not have been the best interior decorators, but they had taken care of the rest of the house very well.
    Trish was ecstatic, practically beside herself when Reed gave her her own set of keys and kept one for himself. She insisted that they spend the first night in the house, so Reed had just his bed brought over, muttering the whole time about it but smiling whenever he saw her face as she wandered through the rooms. He puttered along behind her, making note of what she was musing out loud about regarding the redecorating she wanted to do, but when Trish got to the Purple Room, he raced ahead of her and threw himself against the door dramatically.
    "No! You have to leave this room alone."
    Tricia poked her finger into his ribs, making him squeal like a girl, - she’d found out his one vulnerability – he was ticklish - but barely making a dent into his layers of muscle. "Not on your old lady’s tin-type, buddy boy. This room is the first to go."
    "No no no! I want to leave it the way it is. It’ll be fun –
    we’ll stick any company we have in here and they’ll go away faster
    . . . "
    She was giggling, and he loved it. He liked to think, egotistically, that she was happier since they’d been together. Reed knew she was sleeping and eating well, knew that she went to sleep every night exhausted by their lovemaking, and even so sometimes
    - 65 -

    BacksideOfLove.com

    Carolyn Faulkner

    he couldn’t help himself and he woke her in the middle of the night with his mouth on her eminently suckable nipples, or with his hands or his cock already between her legs. Exploring that warm, welcoming wetness was rapidly becoming an obsession, and he found himself