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She still smiled over thesuch a wonderful surprise for her He’d taken her on a reenactalow set out over the water Same honeymoon bed They’d spentout to eat or to play in the water

But in the last two years there’d been no time for such frivolities They still ate at the sa it had been off to work for hi a sh of relief He wasn’t late She wasshe’d take a quick trip to the ladies room to double check her appearance, she rose and hurried to the bathroom

She’d paid extra attention to her makeup and hair and had donned a sexy, slinky dress she kneould get a rise out of Tate With any luck he wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off her during the entire s he’d do to her once they arrived holoss and patted her upswept hair Little curly tendrils floated carelessly down her neck and against her cheek She kneithout falsethat Tate would be at the table when she returned, she closed her clutch and rushed back, her heart sinking when she saw his chair still unoccupied She slowly retook her seat, scanning the interior to see if he was arriving

She’d just let out a heavy sigh when her cell phone vibrated Hoping it was Tate, she opened her clutch and lunged for it As she glanced at the inco name she saas indeed Tate

"Tate? Where are you?" she asked breathlessly, trying to keep an accusing note froirl" His deep-tiot a delicious thrill every tiht up in a last-minute client call but I’ on traffic and I’ll o ahead and order for us You know my preference By the time the food is served, I’ll be there"

Chessy couldn’t help the frown that curved her lips doard That wasn’t the way things worked in their relationship Not at all Tate was her Dominant Not just her Dominant but her lover, her husband, the man she adored--and trusted--with all her heart

He always ave a guilty twinge She was acting like a petulant, pouty two-year-old He merely didn’t want to hold up their dinner, but still, there was a s frequency, he’d drifted away from the dominance he’d always held over her More and more she was forced to act on her own Make the decisions that Tate alwaysin fro her own decisions and was soly ceded power to Tate in their relationship He made her feel safe Cherished Utterly adored because he took care of her every need Or at least he used to

Their relationship--their lifestyle--was her choice Perhaps the biggest choice of her life She was an intelligent, s what she was capable of But she chose to give up power to her Dominant, and submissiveness wasn’t for the weak Not at all She knew she wielded every bit as e to Tate as he did Just in a different way

"I’ll take care of it," she said softly "Drive safe I can’t wait to see you so we can kick off our anniversary and have an entire weekend to ourselves It’s been so long, Tate I can’t tell you how thy pause and she cursed herself for already putting a daan It was as if he had no idea what to say in response to what amounted to a plea

"I love you See you in a htly, to cover up the aardness caused by her passionate, needy sounding outburst And, well, the words were truth She did need him She needed her husband back, even if it was only for one weekend before things went back to the saruffly "Be there as quick as I can"

When she ended the call, her stoh it had lead in it And she didn’t understand why He was only going to be twentyit at all When the phone had vibrated, she’d fully expected hi had cohts

Was this what theirthe worst? But in her defense, that’s precisely what she’d gotten over the last two years Ever since his partner had bowed out and Tate had to take over the entire client load, Tate had been deterle client

To date, he’d only lost one and he wanted to keep it that way Whichcalled out at all hours of the day Clients wanting tohim in panic after a bad day in the stock , Tate had wanted Chessy to accompany him to his dinners with his clients Had wanted her to play the consummate hostess They’d even had sed with Joss’s help since Joss was such an a cook

But lately? He hadn’t asked her to acco He’dtoo much for her and that he didn’t want his job to consun of his caring That he wanted to take care of her and not put her in high-pressure situations But e was all about partnership, wasn’t it?