Chapter 3

When Todd came homethat night, Allison was busy baking. The kitchen was warm from all the use the oven had been put to, and there were several trays of baked goods on the kitchen island. She was decorating sugar cookies with homemade icing while she waited for her salted caramel butter bars to be done.Fortunately, for both her and Todd's waistlines, it was easy to get rid of baked goods. All she had to do was take them into work, and it was like vultures descending on a feast.

She'd come a long way from the days when she'd made chocolate chip cookies to help her relax.While she didn't consider herself a great cook or baker, she'd learned a lot, and enjoyed trying out new recipes—especially on days like today when she was upset. The more she thought about her mother's voicemail, the more upset she got. Considering how much her mother said ‘we,' her father obviously knew her mother was calling, although he wouldn't lower himself to talk to the daughter he'd cast out until she was back under his thumb.

Further incensing her was the complete lack of regard for anyone's desires other than their own.Somehow, she couldn't see Roger hiding his new relationship from her father, he was far too honorable and honest, which meant her father knew, even if her mother didn't, and at least one of them just didn't care.The absolute disregard for anyone's lives but their own made her furious, and she'd worked out that emotion, kneading bread.In fact, she'd gone a little overboard kneading the bread, and it hadn't come out very well, but at least she'd felt better after pounding the poor dough for almost an hour—until her arms were too tired to do anymore.

The fact her parents were trying to tempt her back into their fold with the promise of their love, rather than just loving and accepting her for who she was, was the worst part. Yes, we will love you, but only if you do what we say. That hurt the worst. Despite how they were treating her, Allison still loved her parents unconditionally, the way it was supposed to be. She kept telling herself they didn't mean it the way it sounded, but that's how it felt right now. Especially since she didn't feel like her arguments were particularly convincing.

Standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Todd looked damn good in his black suit, crisp white shirt, and the red patterned tie he was loosening from around his neck.Eyeing her almost warily, he draped his jacket and tie over the back of the couch before sitting at one of the stools at the island, next to a tray of pinwheel cookies.Poking at one, he found it was warm but not hot and picked it up as Allison gave him a little smile. She set down the cookie she was icing and picked up the next one.

"So, what's wrong?" he asked.

It was useless to pretend nothing was.Even if she hadn't told him about her penchant for baking when she was upset, Todd could read her like a book.The sheer amount of baked goods would probably tip off a much less observant man.

"My mom called today and left a message."There was an art to icing cookies.You had to hold the cookie just right, so it didn't crumble between your fingers, putting just the right amount of pressure on the knife, so it didn't break any pieces off, angling it just so to make the icing look its best.Almost two dozen cookies in, Allison was getting pretty good at it. "Wanted to know if I'm back together with Roger yet. If I am, they'll love me again."

Todd grabbed her hand as she set the cookie down before she could pick up another one.

"That's not what she said."

"Close enough."Allison blinked to keep away the tears that threatened. She refused to cry over her parents' intransigent attitude anymore. Talk about useless tears.He squeezed her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Allison clenched her jawand met his eyes squarely."It's fine. I'm just angry all over again."

He wanted to tell her, of course, her parents loved her, despite the way they were acting,but understandably, he didn't think shewould react well to that right now.Instead, he just stood and walked around to her side of the island, releasing her hand, so she could keep icing cookies, put his arms around her waist, and hugged her close. After a moment, Allison relaxed, sinking back against him, so herbody molded to his, her movements slowing as she iced the cookie she was holding.

"Want to go out to dinner?" he asked. "We can come back here for dessert." The blandness in his tone was more mocking than if he'd actually pointed out the giant spread of sweets she'd made.

Allison giggled, little more cheerful now that Todd was home and gently teasing her. Just being held by him was wonderful,knowing he loved her andwanted to make her happy.She was especially happy he wasn't going to pushthe whole contacting her parents' thing.Although she didn't think he could be any happier about the fact they wanted her to get back together with Roger than she was,she knew he was stubborn enough to not let go of the idea, she should make the first move toward reconciling with her parents.

"Yeah, that sounds nice," she said, puttingdown the cookie and icing knife. "I can finish these later."

"I'm going to go change into something more comfortable," he said, turning her aroundwith his hands on her hips.Leaning down, he kissed her deeply, passionately.Allison pressed against him, her tongue sliding against his.When he pulled away, he dropped a light kiss on her nose before heading upstairs.

It was amazing how just a few minutes with Todd could change her entire mood. she covered the icing and finished cookies with plastic wrap, thenpiled the unfinished ones in a Tupperware container. Just as she was finishing, the timer went off for the salted caramel butter bars. Taking them out of the oven, she set the pan down on a wire cooling tray, then headed to the bathroom to wash her hands and put on some makeup.She rarely wore any when she went to school, although she still wore it on days she worked.Toddliked the natural look on her, but she couldn't get over the urge toput some on when they went out.Was it something left over from her mother or just a girl thing?

She limited herself toeyeliner,lip gloss, and a light dusting of brown shadow on hereyelids, keeping the natural look, just enhancing her features a little.The eyeliner especially helped to make her eyes really pop. When she went into their bedroom, Todd was sitting on the bed, putting on his sneakers. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that hugged his legs and a deep green shirt with the sleeves rolled up and secured with a small band of fabric that buttoned onto the shoulder—casual but sexy.

Looking down at her own outfit, she disappeared into the closet

"What are you doing?" Todd called out from behind her.

"I just want to change my shirt."She'd been wearing the same thing all day. She was wearing a plain red long-sleeved t-shirt, and while it hugged her curves nicely, she definitely didn't feel like she looked as good as Todd did. Examining her options, she grabbed a black, purple, and grey Asian-inspired blouse with a V-neck and bell sleeves.It only took her a moment to change, and when she walked out of the closet, she was glad she had as Todd's eyes glittered appreciatively.

Sitting on the bed, he was completely ready to go, his hands clasped and hanging between his knees.He opened his arms so she could stand between his knees with her hands on his shoulders. Leaning over, she kissed him gently as his hands slid up the backs of her thighs and gripped her ass, then slid around to the front of her hips and gently pushed her back.

"You'd better stop that, or we're not going to get anywhere tonight," he warned.

"Ohhh... okay," she said with a little giggle as she turned away, then yelped when he gave her butt a sharp smack.

Grabbing her ankle boots, she quickly put them on, and they headed out the door.

* * *

Over the next few weeks,Allison wondered if her parent's desires had had more of an effect on Todd than she'd thought. He was acting particularly affectionate. He'd always been demonstrative, but it seemed like even in private, he was going out of his way to touch and cuddle her... and she reveled in it.They watched movies cuddled up on the couch, played footsie while they played Scrabble, and held hands everywhere they went. Some of it was a little distracting, like the back massages when she was trying to do homework, but she wasn't going to complain.

There was a special softness in his eyes every time he looked at her.It was enough to make her wonder if he was already thinking about the next step in their relationship beyond living together.Not they'd been living together for very long, but they'd settled in very quickly. Both of them were easy to live with, happy to change their patterns to accommodate the other.It helped they both were generally neat and clean people, although it was already becoming obvious, Allison was a little messier than Todd, mostly when it came to leaving clothing around the house. He'd bought a second laundry hamper to put in their bathroom. Otherwise, she just left her clothes on the floor until they piled up enough for her to notice, then she'd put them in the basket in their bedroom.

"Have you looked?" Diana asked when Allison shared her thoughts.

They were in Allison and Todd's kitchen, cooking dinner. Todd had to work late, so Allison had invited Diana over to hang out and help her make dinner.It kept her from being alone and also meant she got to catch up on her girl time.She missed having dinners with Diana now they weren't living together. Living with a girlfriend was completely different from living with her boyfriend.Not in a bad way, but she did miss some of the benefits of living with a girl—like gossip time.

"Looked for what?" Allison stirred the zucchini, trying to make sure each slice cooked evenly.Not exactly easy since the pieces kept flipping on top of each other. The pan was slightly too small for them to be laid out in a single layer of zucchini slices.They were almost ready for the parmesan cheese.

The kitchen smelled delicious.Diana was stirring the ‘homemade' spaghetti sauce, she'd created by taking a jar of Prego and adding red wine and extra spices.Slowly stirring it, she occasionally tested the flavor.She'd insisted on wearing an apron over hercasual blue shirt and dress slacks, not so much that she was worried about getting it dirty but because she liked wearing an apron when she cooked.Breaded chicken, stuffed with mozzarellawas baking in the oven, adding to the wonderful aromas.Home cooking at its best as far as Allison was concerned.Tasty, but most of all, easy.

"An engagement ring."

"What?"

Diana rolled her eyes as she tasted the spaghetti sauce, dipping her finger into some of the sauce on the spoon she'd been using to stir.

"Have you looked around to see if he's bought an engagement ring? Then you'd know."

"I mean... it's just a feeling. He hasn't said or hinted at anything... it's just... this idea I get in my head sometimes lately. Not really enough to go snooping around for a ring."

"You don't need more than that to just look," Diana said persuasively. Allison bumped her hip playfullyagainst Diana's as she lowered the heat on the zucchini and began sprinkling parmesan cheese on the slices. The cheese didn't need much heat to melt, and it would burn pretty quickly if the pan was too hot.

"Let's say I'm right... he obviously wants it to be a surprise, and I shouldn't look," Allison said. "If I'm wrong, there's nothing to find, anyway." She turned off the heat on the zucchini now that the parm had melted just a bit. Yum. "Is the sauce ready?"

"Yeah." Diana glanced at the timer sitting on the counter to her left. "We have ten minutes left before the chicken's ready."

"That's okay, it just means the cheese on the zucchini will melt a little more."

"Good," said Diana cheerfully as she turned the heat on the sauce down to simmer. She flashed Allison a wicked little look. "That gives us time to search!"

"Wait!" squealed Allison, laughing and following as Diana took off, not even bothering to remove her apron."You don't even know where to look!"

"Always start with the bedroom."

Amused, Allison followed Diana up to the bedroom, watching as her friend quickly went through Todd's drawers. She didn't do anything more than feel around for a jewelry box, so it wasn't quite as invasive as it could be. Then Diana moved onto the closet, but unless Todd was hiding it in his shoes, there wasn't anything there to find. Allison didn't think it'd be in the bedroom. She went through Todd's drawers too often. She had a penchant for wearing his t-shirts around the house…. and his sweatpants. They were more comfortable than her own, and she liked the possessively pleased look he got when he saw her wearing his clothes.

"Have you done this before?" Allison asked as she watched Diana peek into the drawers around Todd's computer in the study."You seem to have a bit of a system."

"Oh, my parents used to hide Christmas and birthday gifts in all sorts of places," Diana said as she closed the last of the drawers and tapped her fingers thoughtfully on the computer desk."I definitely haven't searched Roger's place like this, if that's what you're asking. We're not at that point yet."

"Do you think things might go there?" Allison was genuinely curious.So far, she and Diana hadn't talked much about Diana and Roger's relationship.Sometimes, she wondered if Diana felt it would be too awkward, but she seemed completely casual about dropping that nugget of information.

"Maybe.He's the first guy I've ever dated I could see myself considering taking that step with."Standing in the middle of the study with her hands on her hips, Diana examined the room as if a hidden compartment with a ring box might suddenly jump out at her.

Allison put her hand over her mouth to cover her smile. It was funny that Diana was more interested in this search than Allison was, but truthfully, she was happy with what she had at the moment. Maybe eventually she'd want to get married... but it wasn't at the top of her list of priorities right now, not when she was concentrating on graduating in a couple of months.

"Is there anywhere else in this house that's just Todd's?"

"Ummm..." The toy room he was creating sprang to mind.Allison had honored her promise not to enter it, so if Todd was going to hide something in the house, that would probably be the best place.She had no idea what was in there. He sometimes received large packages in the mail or brought things home wrapped, so she didn't know what was going in there. Curiosity had almost gotten the better of her a few times, but she liked surprises. Plus, he'd probably blister her bottom for ruining this particular surprise.

"Where?" asked Diana immediately.

"Well... he's setting up a room for us to ah... play in," Allison said a little hesitantly. She knew Diana wouldn't judge her for whatever Todd had in there, that wasn't the problem. The problem was she was tempted to send Diana in there, even though that would definitely be pushing the boundaries of following Todd's orders.Still, it would technically be obeying him since she'd only said she would stay out of there.Nothing had been said about other people or friends. "I'm not supposed to go in there until he's completed it."

Diana's face lit up. "Oooh, that sounds promising! Where is it?"

"The room across the hall."

Diana scooted out of the office with Allison following close behind. As Diana turned the doorknob, Allison positioned herself next to the door frame, facing the opposite side of the hall, so she wouldn't even be able to see inside.

"What are you doing?" Diana gave her a strange look."Don't you want to see what's in here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course, I do, but Todd told me not to look. I'm pushing it by letting you go in there."

"You're such a goody-goody sometimes," Diana teased as she practically pranced into the room. "Oh, holy crap!"

The unfeigned awe in her voice nearly broke Allison's resolve not to look.

"What?"

"I'm not going to tell you." Diana giggled. "After all, this is supposed to be a surprise. Damn. Now, this is a sex room. Hmm... here's some drawers... Maybe there's a ring in here.... Oh, my..."

Now Allison was pretty sure Diana was saying things just to get a reaction from her. Although there was also honest delight and surprise in her voice, so maybe there were some really good goodies in there.Shifting foot to foot, Allison reminded herself she would eventually get to see everything in there. More than see—she'd be using everything in there.

Faint insistent beeping downstairs sounded down the hall, just as she heard the front door open.

"Diana! Todd's home! Get out of there!" she hissed before rushing down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. Todd home and the chicken ready—well, at least her timing when it came to cooking was getting better. She could hear Diana following her down the stairs.

Todd stood in the entryway, looking up at them with amusement.

"Hello," she said with forced cheerfulness. "Dinner's ready! Perfect timing!"

She gave him a quick, hard kiss before rushing away to the kitchen, hoping he didn't see her guilt. Diana engaged him in conversation, hopefully distracting him. The damned man was usually way too good at reading Allison's emotions for her comfort, especially in situations like this, where she was feeling too flustered to cover up anything she didn't want him to see.Diana managed to keep him from coming into the kitchen long enough for Allison to get herself under control and start filling up the plates with dinner.

It was a fun meal once she managed to get her heart rate under control.Despite the fact Diana still had the urge to constantly prod Todd, trying to get reactions from him, the two of them had worked out a pretty amicable friendship. In fact, they acted more like siblings than anything else, with Diana in the part of the annoying younger sister, who wanted to get her brother's attention.No set-down ever kept her down for long.

Todd told them about a new project he was assigned at work. He wasn't in charge, but he was the second in command, and the guy who was in charge was acting more as a mentor than a lead. Her heart swelled with pride as she listened, knowing exactly how hard he'd worked to get into this kind of position. Even if some of the details were incredibly boring, she thought it was really cute how excited he got about all of it and knew it was a really great opportunity for him, showing upper management, he was ready to move on to bigger and better things within the company.

Since she was only working part-time, Allison had hit the ceiling for how far she could go in her own position, which was okay because she wasn't sure she wanted to stay in Human Resources. It was great experience, but she'd really prefer to do something in communications. Not like Todd did, with his flair for marketing, but something like writing out the explanation of someone else's ideas or copy-editing.

Fortunately, that was something she didn't really need to decide until closer to graduation, although she would be putting in applications before she was done with school. Todd had suggested it, and she thought it was a good idea. Although she'd like at least a week between the end of school and starting a new job, it definitely didn't hurt to try to get a jump on things.

After dinner, he offered to do the dishes, but Allison and Diana sent him upstairs since he'd already had a long day of work and hadn't had a chance to change out of his clothes. Plus, it gave them more of a chance to continue their own whispered conversation under the cover of running water and clinking dishes. Tonight, more than once, Allison had seen that look in his eye and wanted to know if Diana had seen it, too.

"Allison."

Todd's deep voice, laced with more than a hint of steel punctured the air. Even though he hadn't spoken loudly, there was a great deal of menace in his tone. Allison shut off the water and turned to face him.He only used that particular tone when she'd done something wrong, and when she turned and saw the expression on his face, she knew he knew. She just didn't know how.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice wavering.

For once, the irrepressible Diana seemed to be unsure of what to do. She shifted her weight next to Allison, shooting little glances at Todd, the way a gazelle might look at a lion on a faraway hill, wondering if the lion was hungry and if running would make one safer or just attract attention.

"Would you like to explain to me why the door to our… ah… special room was left open?"

She couldn't help it.Even though she wasn't trying to pass the blame, she glared at Diana.Seriously?!

Diana winced. "Sorry." She looked at Todd. "Allison didn't go into the sex room, just me."

Rolling his eyes as if asking for patience from the heavens, Todd let out a sigh, but Allison also saw his mouth twitch when Diana called it a ‘sex room.'

"Following the letter of the law if not the spirit. Why am I not surprised?" It was amazing how Todd could make her feel like a naughty little girl with just a look.Allison bit her lip and shifted from side to side. "Stay here." Turning on his heel, Todd walked from the kitchen, his stride worryingly purposeful.

Allison and Diana shared a look.

"What do you think he's doing?" Diana whispered, actually sounding worried.Considering how curious she'd been about the room, Allison had a feeling the best punishment Todd could have devised was not letting Diana know what was going through his head. Unfortunately, she didn't have any better idea than Diana did. She'd never seen Todd react quite that way.

"I have no idea. Come on, let's finish the dishes."Maybe being industrious would give her a bit of a reprieve.

The little Asian suddenly scowled as she helped Allison with the dishes.

"He'd better not think he can do anything me just because he spanks you. Roger would throw a fit."

Despite herself, Allison felt a stab of jealousy at the idea of Todd punishing Diana.

"Does Roger spank you?"

To her surprise, Diana's cheeks got a little red. With her slightly darker skin, that meant she was really blushing.

"Once or twice."

"Did you like it?"

"Yes." Diana looked over her shoulder to make sure Todd wasn't there to overhear. "Although he's nowhere near as rough with me as you've told me Todd is with you. But I think he might be headed that way, eventually… He really liked it."

"At least he's doing it at all."Allison was having trouble picturing gentle, loving Roger as a disciplinarian.Sure, he'd shown flashes of wanting something rougher, of being a dominant alpha male when they were together, but he'd been fighting against that part of himself.While she realized he must have changed a little in his new relationship—because that's what Diana wanted and she wouldn't have stayed in it otherwise—Allison was still having trouble picturing him doing it. On the other hand, that was probably for the best. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to picture what Roger and Diana got up to in the bedroom.

Silence fell over the kitchen as they finished the dishes, each lost in their own thoughts. Diana kept nervously glancing toward the doorway where Todd had disappeared as if she doubted whether or not he might punish her. For herself, Allison was pretty sure Diana wasn't in trouble with Todd, although she was and had no doubt, whatever discipline he chose, it would be creative.

When Todd finally strode back into the kitchen, both girls were more than a little on edge. If he had meant to make them suffer by waiting for the blow to fall, he'd definitely achieved that. Diana looked even more anxious than Allison felt—it was pretty obvious, she wasn't very used to waiting for anything.

A smug smile curved his lips as he looked at Diana."I hope you don't mind, Diana, but I'd like some quality time with just Allison this evening. Also, Roger is expecting you at his place within the next half hour."

Diana's jaw dropped, and she gaped at him. "What?"

"Roger is expecting you at his place."Leaning casually against the kitchen island, Todd resembled a cat toying with a mouse, it wasn't particularly interested in eating, only tormenting. "I believe he wants to have a... chat with you about respecting other people's privacy." His dark eyes seemed to pin Diana, and Allison watched with fascination as her friend's cheeks turned an even darker red. Todd glanced at his watch, then gave her a wicked grin. "I would hurry if I were you, I don't think you'd want to add tardiness to the things he wants to talk to you about."

Looking both excited and uneasy, Diana allowed herself to be ushered from the house, giving Allison a quick hug as she went out the door.

"Sorry," she whispered in Allison's ear as she hugged her.

"It's okay," Allison whispered back. "I could have stopped you."

Rather than apologizing to Todd, Diana just tilted her head back and gave him a particularly unrepentant look.Of course, her haughtiness was ruined by the way she then swiftly hurried to her car.

Watching Diana flee with an amused smile on his face, Todd slowly closed the door as the taillights of her car receded before turning to Allison.His dark gaze was filled with a wicked glee that made her want to back away slowly.As much as she might enjoy rough sex and being spanked, that didn't mean it didn'tsometimes hurt, especially when Todd was disciplining her.

"Let's go upstairs," he said in a low voice, anticipation thrumming through it. "There's something I'm ready to show you."