Page 36 of Minha Dona

Caitlin stood.

“Turn around. Slowly.”

Caitlin turned, and Helena watched her, the dress, the bare arms, the curve of her hip, the line of her neck where the necklace chain caught the light. She’d lost a little weight since before. Helena could see it in her shoulders, in the slightly sharper definition of her collarbones. She wondered how much of that was the aftermath of Zoe, and how much was the stress that must come with being a newly minted partner.

“Face me again.” When Caitlin completed the turn, Helena stepped close. “I want you to know something before we go any further.”

“What?”

“I will never punish you for being who you are. I will never make you feel smaller. I will never use your surrender against you.” Helena held Caitlin’s gaze, making sure every word was heard and understood. “What happens in this room is because you choose it, because it gives you pleasure, because it makes you feel powerful in your surrender. The moment it doesn’t, you tell me and we stop. That has always been my rule and it always will be.”

Caitlin’s eyes were excited. “I know. That’s why I’m here.”

“Good.” Helena’s hand went to the front of Caitlin’s dress. “Now, take off your clothes. Slowly. Let me watch.”

Caitlin reached behind her back and unzipped her dress, her gaze fixed entirely on Helena. It started to come loose and she held it to her front, taking her time, a little smile twitching across her lips. Helena watched, unable to look anywhere else even if she’d wanted to, as Caitlin moved one hand to her waist, undoing the fabric belt that was tied to one side around her middle. When it was loose Caitlin slowly, ever so slowly, let the dress fall forward off her shoulders to reveal an expensive looking bra underneath.

A memory came to Helena, how Caitlin had told her in Houston how she liked to wear expensive lingerie every day, her treat to herself and her armour against the world. She wondered whether Caitlin had worn it today for only that reason, or also because they were meeting for their drink. She nearly asked but caught herself… as the dominant, she didn’t need to fish for compliments.

The dress fell away completely to sit around her ankles, and Caitlin stepped out of it, leaving her standing in only her heels and her lingerie. She was breathing quickly, watching Helena watch her. She was magnificent.

“All of it, Gatinha.” She tilted her head. “Except the necklace. Keep that on.”

Caitlin unfastened her bra and let it fall. Then the underwear, sliding it down and stepping out of it, and the shoes. There was a confidence there that had been missing in Houston. Whatever the aftermath of her relationship with Zoe, Caitlin had clearly become much more comfortable with her role as a submissive. The thought triggered a hint of jealousy for Helena, but much more than that it triggered excitement… excitement at the possibilities that came from a Caitlin who was experienced, who knew and understood her role so much better.

Helena looked at her and, for a moment, was speechless. Caitlin was beautiful, she always had been, but tonight she was something more. She was a woman who had set out to discover what she truly wanted and, as befitted such a force of nature, had pushed her boundaries to find the answers. She knew exactly who she was now, and she was standing naked in front of the woman she’d been measuring everyone else against. The vulnerability and strength she was showing were breathtaking.

“Perfeita,” Helena breathed. Perfect. “Perfeita, Gatinha.”

Caitlin smiled, and the smile was somehow both shy and fierce at the same time. “I’ve been waiting too long to hear you say that.”

Helena closed the distance between them and kissed her again, one hand on Caitlin’s bare waist, the other in her hair. Caitlin’s naked body pressed against Helena’s clothed one… Helena loved the power imbalance, the clothed dominant and the naked submissive, and she knew from that wonderful week before that Caitlin did too.

Helena pushed Caitlin backwards towards the bed, her lips moving from Caitlin’s mouth to her jaw, her neck, her throat where the necklace chain lay against warm skin. She kissed along the chain, felt Caitlin’s pulse hammering beneath her lips.

“Lie down,” Helena whispered. “On your back. Arms above your head and hold on to the frame.”

Caitlin obeyed, lying back on the hotel bed, stretching her arms up and holding on to the frame. She looked incredible… dark hair against the white pillows, her body long and lean, flushed with arousal, her eyes fixed on Helena with a desire that was almost unbearable.

Helena stood at the edge of the bed and looked down at her. She wanted to remember this… the exact way Caitlin looked in this moment, the way the lamp light played across her skin, the way her chest rose and fell with each rapid breath. She wanted to sear it into her memory so thoroughly that it would overwrite all those months of imagining.

“Don’t move your hands,” Helena instructed. “Keep them exactly where they are. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes, Minha Dona.”

Helena climbed onto the bed and knelt beside Caitlin. She reached her hand out and placed it on Caitlin’s sternum, feeling the rapid heartbeat beneath her palm. She held it there for a long, long moment, feeling the life in her, the want, the trust.

Then her hand began to move.

She went slowly… agonisingly slowly, she knew, but deliberately so. Her fingertips traced from Caitlin’s sternum down between her breasts, along the line of her ribcage, over the flat of her stomach. She revelled in simply experiencing the body that she’d dreamed of and hadn’t known if she’d ever experience again. Caitlin’s skin was softer than she remembered. She was more sensitive around her ribs, too, a sharp inhale when Helena’s fingers skated over them speaking volumes. Her nipples hardened before Helena even reached them, straining upwards, and when Helena finally brushed one lightly Caitlin pushed back into the mattress with a gasp.

“Still,” Helena commanded gently, pressing her other hand against Caitlin’s hip to hold her. “I’ll get there. Patience, Gatinha.”

“It’s been nine months,” Caitlin said through gritted teeth. “Patience is in short supply.”

Helena smiled. “What’s a few more minutes then?” She grinned. “Maybe hours, if you disobey me.”

Caitlin tried to pout but it dissolved into a moan as Helena continued exploring, her fingertips tracing every contour, remembering the landscape of Caitlin’s body. Down over her hip bones, along the curve where her thigh met her torso, down the outside of her thigh and then slowly, torturously, up the inside. Caitlin’s legs parted instinctively and Helena could see quite how desperate for her Caitlin was before she got anywhere close.