Chapter 69

"Rhys we can't invite anyone here, we don't even have a couch." Pearl said, standing in the middle of the giant living room, admiring the beautiful stone fireplace.

"Well get your shit together and let's go. Time to get domestic all up in here. Let's go shopping."

"Right now?"

"Yeah? They don't have furniture stores here in town?" He joked.

"Of course they do. I've just never been able to just 'go get furniture' before on a whim."

"Well today you are." He said and shooed her into the bedroom to get ready. She heard him on the phone and when she came out, he said "I called the mover guys. They are meeting us at a place called Klingman's in three hours. They're bringing the big truck so we should be able to get enough stuff to have your friends over. Also, I want to invite my family over at Christmas so the sooner we get some things to sit on, the better."

"Your family? You want me to meet your family?"

"Pearl...you're going to be my wife. Yes I want you to meet my family", he said.

They walked into the furniture store and immediately Pearl found a chair she loved. It was twice the width of a regular chair and perfect for coffee and book reading in the morning. "Can we get this chair? I love this chair. I'll ask how much it is. Maybe I can buy it." She said. The salesman came over when he saw her sit down and Rhys told him "You'll need a pen and paper. You're going to need to make a list. This chair is at the top. We also need to furnish a living room, 3 guest bedrooms, a dining room, a breakfast nook, an office and a library. Oh and a guest house too."

The salesman nearly fainted like Pearl did and she could see sweat beginning to form on his bald head. "But we can start with just the basic furniture for now."

They bought a ton of the display furniture in the store and ordered several more things that would come in later. They had the truck loaded and the moving men said they would deliver it right away. As they got to their car, Rhys looked up and saw a small art gallery across the street. "Hey love, let's check that place out and see if we can't find a few things to put on our walls. I love to support local artists." This made Pearl very happy. It was a small gallery and there were painting and photographs all over, hanging on walls and in bins. That's when they both saw it. It was a photograph of Frank's book shop storefront at Christmas time, with lights and snow, blown up into a maybe a 24 x 36 print. They both just looked at it for a moment in silence. Pearl looked at Rhys and saw a tear rolling down his cheek. Then he said what they both were thinking.

"My god, you and I are absolutely meant to be", he said, smiling and still looking at it. "We will take this one", he said, wrapping his arms around Pearl.

"So can you you guys come over tomorrow night?" Pearl asked John on the phone. She had to plug her ear because of all the moving going on in the background. "Holy fuck, dude! Don't break your back! Let me help! Jesus Christ!" Rhys yelled from the stairs.

She opened the sliding door from the kitchen onto the patio to finish the conversation. "Of course! We'd love to come see the new place. Want us to bring pizzas?" John said. Pearl smiled and felt so happy to feel like her normal self again, just talking to him and thinking about take out pizza and not take out furniture. "Make sure everyone comes, but I want you talk to you first. It's important." She said and they hung up. She looked over a saw a hot tub tucked behind a wooden wall, draped with an overhang that also covered two outdoor chairs and a propane fire pit. It was private and looked amazing. Her mind flashed a dastardly plan, a way for her to thank Rhys for the day of shopping.

The moving men finally left and Rhys hung the photograph over the fireplace. He smiled at it with pride and asked Pearl how it looked. "It's perfect!" She said, blowing him a kiss.

"Hey. Can you run into town and grab a few things for tomorrow night? Like maybe some beer and wine and snacks. John and Janie are bringing pizzas. I'm going to take a bath. It's been a day" Pearl said, trying to sound convincing. "Sure! Anything else we need?" He asked. They made a small list and Rhys left.

She knew she didn't have a lot of time, so she ran to the hot tub and opened the cover. It was warm and clean and perfect. She turned on the jets and lights and went to the fire pit. It turned on! Her plan was already coming together. She went inside and found one of his button down shirts, a pair of his dress pants and a fedora. She dug in her boxes of clothes and pulled out the only neglige she owned. It was a black corset teddy with straps for thigh high pantyhose. She put it on with heels and the hat and looked in the mirror. She looked like she was going to work at a burlesque club. Good. She thew his clothes over it and ran to the kitchen to light some candles inside and outside and open a couple of bottles of wine and champagne. She knew there was some kind of stereo system in the house, so she turned on Bluetooth search on her phone and prayed for a miracle. She looked up a few songs, added them to a playlist and played the first one. To her surprise, the music played all through the house and to the outside speakers. She put some makeup on and waited to see his car pull up.

She saw the lights and ran to the door to meet him. He was carrying a lot of bags and she hid behind the door, following behind him as he carried them into the kitchen. "Pearl, I'm home", he called out. "I know" she whispered on his ear from behind him. She hit the light and started her music. He turned around and looked at her. "Pearl, what is this?" He asked. She handed him a glass of wine and walked him out to the patio. It was chilly out but the fire pit put out a lot of heat. She sat him on the chair and pushed him back into it. Lana del Rey's "Yayo" started playing. Dancing to the music, she moved slowly in front of him, she turned around and bent over, dropping the pants to her ankles and stepping out of them. She dropped to the ground and opened her legs, slowly moving and dancing. "Let me put on a show for you, Daddy...." Lana sang in the background. Rhys was clearly enjoying the striptease. He didn't move. He didn't blink. She wasn't sure he was even breathing at this point. She unbuttoned her shirt and turned around, grinding on his lap, moving her arms up and down her legs and dropping to his crotch. She could feel how excited he was. He reached out and grabbed her ass as she bounced on top of him. She stood up and turned, facing him. "Let me put on a show for you, Tigggggerrrarrr, let me put on a show...." the song was sexy. She felt sexy. Empowered. She took off the shirt and stood there in her corset and heels and his fedora. His eyes and face were no longer his. He looked like a wild animal, watching her. She took off the hat and threw it, shaking her hair free. That was it. He couldn't take anymore. He stood up and grabbed her, ripping the bodice of the corset open and biting her neck, hard. He picked her up and carried her to the side of the hot tub and ripped her panties off, leaving her heels and thigh highs on. He opened his pants, not even taking them off, and entered her. Fucking her hard, holding her head over the bubbling water and laying her from one side of stairs to step down into the tub to the other. Water was splashing all over her, soaking her hair. He kept pounding into her and then he pulled out and took his clothes off, while she laid there, spread open for him to see, and he was looking directly at her as he pulled his pants off. He flipped her heels and pantyhose off and lowered her into the tub, still wearing her torn teddy. He lifted her up, facing him and slid inside of her again. Fucking her relentlessly, he pulled her hair and pushed her into him. They didn't say any words out loud. He lifted her up onto the side of the tub, and pounded into her. Harder and harder until she felt the wood on the side of the tub enclosure cutting into her back. His elbows were raw too, and she could I see he was bleeding. He didn't stop. She felt him tighten and knew he was going to cum. She wanted to please him. She wanted him to do whatever he wanted to her. And he was. He was brutalizing her in the hot tub and it turned her on so much. She looked at his crazed eyes and instantly felt her climax coming over her. He pounded his orgasm into her and kept pounding even after he came. He didn't want to stop. He turned her over and ran his finger down her ass. She knew what he was doing, and she was ready. "Yes..." she whispered. With that, he put his fingers inside her and moved the wetness to her ass. He slowly slid inside and Pearl cried out both in pain and in pleasure. He quickened the pace and played with her clit and slid his fingers into her while her thrusted himself into her backside. "I'm going to cum again, Pearl." He moaned and she felt the warmth fill the inside of her. It was so erotic and it made her body feel like it was on fire. She came again, too. He slid out of her and pulled them both back into the hot tub. She laughed hard at how they probably looked. His hair was all over the place, sticking up, his elbows were bloody and his neck looked like a lion scratched it. Her makeup was all down her face and her hair was half wet and knotted with a ripped up teddy and bloody back from the decking. She laughed even harder.

"What? Rhys said, opening a bottle of champagne and taking a drink straight from the bottle.

"We are a hot mess." Pearl covered her mouth, trying not to laugh harder.

"We are but damn, woman, I love it. I lied again. THIS is the best sex I ever had."

"I have a feeling you're going to be saying that a lot", she said and took the bottle from him.