Guts, Rearranged {INCOMPLETE}

Chapter 15 =Safe Word=

Steavie looks out their bedroom window and into her beautifully illuminated garden below. The sun was setting and her plants were bathed in a perfect warm orange, reminding her of summer. The birds outside were growing quiet, settling down for the evening as house cats were being called back inside and dogs were being walked. It was beautiful to watch fade, despite the sadness at it leaving, there was always the hope that it would give her a special extra half hour just so she could watch everything in the comfortable evening orange.

"Is everything okay, beautiful?" Richard asks, looking up at her from the bottom corner of the bed where he was crouching. He'd seen her doing this more and more recently, staring away outside, a gentle frown like she was looking for something. It was concerning, especially when he'd catch her doing it without her glasses. He loved her with everything he had, adored her every breath but she was as blind as a bat without those glasses. He hated the idea of her simply staring away and giving herself a headache. She looks down at him and gives him a smile.

"Everything is perfect, Rick." She hums.

He glances at her occasionally as he works at undoing his particularly well-tied knot. Her body was perfectly sprawled on their soft sheets. Her smooth skin practically glowed despite the red rope-marks decorating her here and there. Her perky breasts raised and lowered with her calm demeanour, unafraid of the wide window next to their bed that they knew their neighbours could see in to if they tried. She enticed him with how exciting that aspect of their bedroom was, saying that she enjoyed giving people a good show if they were to ever look in. He introduced her to this world, and she fell in love with it, eventually being the one to introduce aspects of it to him as well.

The master knot finally comes loose and he unloops her ankle, smiling as she immediately bends her knee close and her bones pop softly. He moves to the opposing bottom corner, pulling the rope leading to the master with him and unlooping her other ankle, her reaction identical. He pulls the rope along farther and stands in front of her view of the window as he unloops her wrist, pride filling him as he sees that red ring a lot bolder than the ones on her ankles. He sighs and crouches to meet her eye level, bring his hand up to brush the hair away from her face as he looks at her lovingly.

"Is this about the invites again?" He asks, making her small smile fade. He caresses her cheek gently; the topic had become more and more common recently. She smiles sadly and stays quiet. Richard had an important party coming up in a few days and everyone he found Steavie to be upset that she couldn't offer an invite to Ann Marie anymore, despite her having hated doing so in the past.

After their last party, Richard had an interest in Carlton's gourmet food more than he'd ever had. The party was arranged to be a tasting of sorts and he had made another large purchase with the business, buying more than he needed and closely following their last intake of stock to jump ahead of the que. It was an attempt to get Carlton and the butcher to show personally and he had been rather excited to hear from Carlton that the two had heard of his underlying plans and simply told him to invite them "like a man". He'd called them earlier that day and formally invited them through voicemail, a common way customers would communicate with the business, and received confirmation of their attendance. He'd brought up to Steavie how she could invite Maggie for him, at first to cheer her up but later realising it'd be a good business move to show the two that they had mutual friends that weren't customers.

"I don't think it's a good idea for Maggie and I to attend." She says softly, resting her free hand on her soft stomach. Richard rises and thinks as he leaves her side to go to the ensuite, she watches her naked lover as he moves. He thinks hard, the idea of Steavie going to Maggie's house during the party was off the table for him as well as Maggie not showing entirely. He needed that in for the two, to buffer himself as he tries to establish a more personal relationship with them.

As he returns, a cup of cold water in hand, she sees his eyes light up with an idea. She moves and sits up on the bed, her long slender legs tucked beneath her. She gratefully accepts the glass from him and he clears his throat while beginning to work away at the last knot.

"I've had an idea." He starts.

"How about, while the party goes on, I set the first floor living room off limits, we bring in a TV from one of the guest bedrooms, a mattress for the floor or something, and you and her have your own little space?" He unloops her wrist and takes her hand in his, kissing the bright red ring before gently running his thumb over the dent.

"That way, I know you're safe in the house, you have company, and I can come in and bitch to you two for a few minutes before I have to deal with Brenda or something." She giggles at the last part, and he smiles.

She takes a sip of her drink as he admires her naked figure adoringly, he found it hard to believe that a knockout like her would be interested in an older man such as himself. What had started out as a one-time fling became a no-strings relationship and not long after, he had left his wife and they devoted themselves to each other. He'd loved his wife but after they discovered that they were both having an affair, they had agreed marriage wasn't for them anymore. From what he heard through the grapevine however, his prize was significantly more valuable after his ex-wife found her lover to have been more into having male company. He'd never adored anyone as much as he adored Steavie, she was the centrefold of a playboy for him, and he never grew tired of seeing her. She'd found it cute how he did so, catching him ogling her at every chance he got, even talking about her to his colleagues was obvious as they'd stare when she came by his office to visit or simply drop off his lunch. Her eyes landed on him and she leans in to kiss him on the nose, a favourite token of affection between them.

"Thank you for thinking of me, baby." She says seductively, her voice making him contemplate if putting the rope away for the evening was worth it.

"Promise me you'll tell me if things aren't okay, alright?"

"I'll promise you anything, sweetness." She says with a smile as he takes her glass from her and leaves to fill it up, making sure to get a good view of what she caused before he turned around.