Life Match

Day Six

I wake up alone. Riah is gone, but a nice jean skirt and blouse are laid out for me. I get dressed and go look for him. I find him in his office, wearing a collar shirt and khakis, a change from his normal jeans and t-shirt. He looks good. He looks up from his book and smiles, "Good morning."
"Good morning," I reply. The events of yesterday are still fresh in my mind, and I can feel a sort intensity between us.
"We have class today," Riah says, "Come on."
We go to the examination room and Riah hits play. A video starts of a woman tied to a bed, naked. A man, his face covered by a leather mask, swings a whip and it cracks against her skin. I blush and look away. Narration starts describing the scene.
"The man is hurting her, but don't fear for her, she is enjoying the pain. They are in a BDSM relationship, and she has asked for this."
The woman continues to scream and I watch Riah. He seems absorbed in the situation. The video goes onto describe what happens during a BDSM relationship. It states that in the Before Days most of these relationships often had written contracts, but now that the match system is in place, the women are already in submission to their men anyway, making it much easier for men to express their darker fantasies. It isn't until the film is over that I realize the relevance.
"You want that to be us, don't you?" I gape.
Riah nods, "Why do you think I punish you?"
I bolt up from my chair, "Riah, I'm not letting you do that to me! Tie me up and whip me like that!"
Riah stands as well, "Sage, chill."
"No!" I'm close to being hysterical, "Riah I'm--!"
He grabs me and kisses me, effectively calming me down, "We aren't going to do that. Not all the way, at least. I just wanted you to have a name for the things we might do together. Aside from punishments, I'll keep you in mind when we're together."
I exhale and Riah hugs me, wrapping his arms around me. I feel bad admitting how great it feels for him to hold me. How fast my body is adjusting. We separate and go downstairs for breakfast.
During the meal we are able to hold a conversation without fighting, or wanting to kill one another. We watch another video about child birth and the reproductive system (and by we, I mean ME because Riah conveniently steps out to take a phone call) and then go for a walk. Instead of last time, when I had limped behind him, this time I hold his hand and lean into him.
"I meant what I told you yesterday," he says, "I didn't mean to cause you all that pain when we were kids."
"And the pain you plan to cause me when we grow up?" I say, "Are you going to be sorry about that as well?"
Riah stops walking, "Are we going to go there?"
I turn to face him, "I'm sorry. I'm just nervous. You shouldn't have ever made me watch that. I liked my ignorance."
"We've got time before we get married," Riah says, "I'm not going to just dive in. We'll just ease into it, like a pool okay?"
That makes me feel better, but only in the slightest, "Thank you," I say. We head back to the house and hang out in the media room. Riah turns on his video game system and we begin to play one of his games. It isn't the one I'd seen him play. In this one, it's a war and you have to run around and shoot at people. It takes me a long time to get it right, but before long I'm winning. Just as I sneak in the back door to shoot Riah's head off, he turns it off.
"Sore loser!" I tease.
"We have dinner reservations, Love," Riah says, "We have to get dressed."
***
Riah lays out a tight black dress, on shoulder out, and black gladiator sandal style heels. He appears in an all black European-cut suit, aside from his white tie. His hair is out of his face, making him less terrifying.
"You don't look like a madman," I tell him. He smiles, "Is that you trying to tell me I'm handsome?"
I blush, "I never said you weren't handsome. I just think you're an ass."
"Well, you look quite sexy in that dress," he looks me up and down, "I dress you well."
I personally thought it was too short and was pulling it down as we spoke, but I didn't tell him that.
We get into the car and Riah drives us to an expensive restaurant, hence the outfits. Riah orders for me and we wait for our drinks.
"You seem different today," I state. I'm not normally a beat around the bushes kind of girl.
"Well, I thought if I was going to attempt to be pleasant, I might want to do pleasant things. SO I looked through your file on things you liked, and saw that you liked men who wore collared shirts."
Truthfully, I had only put that answer because Jericho often wore collared shirts, but this did not seem like the thing to say at the time. In fact, I kind of liked Riah's v-necks and jeans. He wore them well. "Thanks for the effort," I said instead.
Our food comes and I dig in, remembering to wait this time. "When we get to the estate," Riah says, "I want you to be patient with me okay?"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"I'm not always the same person, as you might have noticed."
"Is that a joke, Sir?" I tease.
He smirks, "You can laugh all you want, but you saw at the restaurant earlier the effect my family has on me at times. If I'm ever mean to you, please know that I'm not trying to be."
"It's okay," I say, "I understand."
***
We finish dinner and drive home. We make it home before sunset, and I rush outside to watch it.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Riah appears, out of his suit and in a t-shirt and sweats.
"Yeah," I say, "I've always liked watching them."
"That's where you and Jericho used to go isn't it? To the cliff to watch the sunset?"
I nod, "It was our thing. How'd you know?"
"It was mine too," he sighs and wraps his arms around me from behind.
"It can be our thing too," My mouth speaks before my brain comprehends.
He kisses me on the cheek, "That's the sweetest thing I believe I've ever heard you say to me."
I shrug, "I figured it was about time."
He chuckles and I turn around and kiss him. Our kiss deepens and I moan into his mouth, loving his taste and drinking in his scent. We pull apart breathless, the sun gone except for the bit of orange just over the trees.
I head inside and get in bed. Riah follows, lying down next to me.
"So you're going to sleep with me tonight?" He asks, pulling me closer. I kiss him on the nose.
"I figured it was about time." .