Cold Shoulder Warm-up ~ Ignite Story

Bria was mid-laugh when she noticed her husband parked in the drive outside her office and waiting for her. She could not hide her shocked expression as she quickly said goodbye to her coworker Mark, who had seen her standing alone and stopped to chat.

How did I not notice him? She wondered to herself as she hurried inside the passenger side of her husband’s black Range Rover. How long has he been sitting there watching us?

One glance at Ryan’s face and Bria knew that he was pissed at her. She bent over to kiss his clenched jawline then lightly rubbed off the strawberry pink satin left on his cheek. No matter how many times she tried to make him believe that she had no interest in Mark, just the sight of him with her still got him fuming.

“You may not have an interest in him, but he has an interest in you,” he would always say.

“It takes two, babe,” she’d reply. “Nothing will happen. Like I said, I have no interest.”

“Bria, you don’t know men,” Ryan would sigh, after which the conversation would dissolve.

She understood why Ryan felt uneasy about Mark, but by now, she thought he should realize nothing would happen between the two of them. There was just the slightest, most insignificant hiccup that happened three years ago at the office Christmas party under a sprig of mistletoe. After that, Ryan wanted her to have nothing to do with Mark—an impossible task because he worked alongside her on most of their firm’s marketing projects.

“How was your day?” Bria asked, attempting to lighten up the mood.

“Good,” he said, almost inaudibly.

“And the house showing?” she asked, remembering that he had put in a lot of effort preparing for the last few days.

“Good.” He barely mumbled the word as he turned his head in her direction to take the corner yet avoided eye contact.

She hated it when he gave her the cold shoulder, and he knew it. It usually took him hours, even days, before he finally forced himself to simply open up to her or vent. She felt a building frustration within her at the way he handled things. She hadn’t done anything to warrant such treatment. Ignoring his behavior, Bria went into a one-sided monologue about her day at work.

“We finally put the finishing touch on the graphics we’ve been working on,” she said as she rubbed her shoulders and moved her head in a slow circle, feeling the sense of relief as her neck muscles eased out. “Uh, I feel so relieved! I was afraid it would drag on longer since the team couldn’t seem to agree on any one format.” Bria rested her hand on his thigh near his groin and lightly stroked while she continued talking. “Meggy finally decided that the turquoise was a better choice than the dodger blue. Can you believe that, for three weeks, we argued about which blue makes a better presentation for a diaper campaign?” Bria laughed softly. “Oh, I am so glad it is almost over. Tomorrow we wrap up loose ends, and out it goes.”

Bria glanced at Ryan’s face. What a determined man. He had the stoniest expression in his stubbornness to keep his cold-shouldered disposition. She removed her hand from her husband’s lap and began unbuttoning her white button-up slowly and deliberately.

“So, what would you like for dinner?” She drawled the question as she unfastened a button with each word, exposing the sheer black bra with lace trimmings that cupped her voluptuous breasts. After she married Ryan, her body had bloomed all over. At first, her new weight gain made her feel uncomfortable, and she complained about it all the time. Her husband, however, loved it. He could not keep his hands off her. When they made love, he explored every curve, fold, and crevice in a way that made her grow to love her new body. Still, she exercised every once in a while to keep the curves in place and her endorphins high.

Ryan finally turned to face her, and his eyes dropped to linger on her breasts before returning to the road. But his crotch had already tightened with his erection.

“What do you want for dinner, Ryan?” She repeated, waiting for his response.

He turned to look at her again, then back at the road, and cleared his throat. She could sense the debate in his head over continuing to build up his brick wall versus getting in tune with the new rhythm.

“Whatever you planned is fine with me,” he finally said.

At least he got more than one word out. Bria slipped down her floral midi pencil skirt to reveal the matching sheer panties that left nothing to the imagination.

Ryan gave a quick double-take. “What are you doing, babe,” he said and rolled up the tinted windows.

“You know how much I hate it when you give me the cold shoulder, so I am shamelessly warming you up,” she said and placed her hand back on his lap, stroking it while her other hand fondled her right breast.

The air inside the Range Rover had become electric. Ryan’s desire to join his wife was so intense, he wondered if he should find a spot along the way to their house or floor it to get to the house as fast as they could.

Bria pulled her right breast from the cup of the delicate bra and began playing with her already taut nipple, relaxing into the tiny pleasurable waves pulsating through her body and down to her clit. She could feel the moistness between her legs, where the lace fabric of her panty teased her skin. Then the left breast got the same treatment, lifted from its lovely cage and caressed, and its nipple pinched and twirled between her fingers. She removed her hand from his throbbing groin and rubbed her moist clit through see-through lace covering it. Quiet moans of ecstasy escaped her lips as she enjoyed the flood of warm sensations.

Ryan couldn’t go another second without placing his hands on his wife. With her eyes closed, she hadn’t noticed that he’d parked the SUV in the parking lot of a shopping mall not too far from their home. When Ryan’s tongue first stroked Bria’s nipple, her breath hitched at the rising intensity of sensations. He greedily sucked her breasts and bit her nipples, sending painful prickles of pleasure down her spine.

By now, Bria’s panty was slipped to the side, her juices running down her legs as Ryan stroked between her moist, delicately silky folds. Her hands cupped Ryan’s head as it alternated from right breast to left, sharing the pleasure-pain between them.

“Ah,” she gasped as his fingers invaded her walls with a quick thrust. He kept them deep and massaged with his fingers as she writhed in rising, delicious pleasure.

“Oooo….” she moaned in sheer bliss, her head thrown back, not caring of who could overhear her in the tightly packed parking lot. Bria’s hands went up and down her husband’s broad, musclebound back, as she enjoyed every sensation surging along the expanse of her skin.  At this point, she had lost awareness of her surroundings, and her moans got louder and louder. She opened her legs wider and raised her body, wanting more, but Ryan kept his hand steady and teased her from the inside with his rhythmic finger strokes.

Ryan knew she was close; her cries and moans had become more intense and savage. He continued the gentle stroking massage of his fingers inside her warm, dripping cunt and felt her muscles tighten around his fingers as she let out a scream of ecstasy and squeezed his head. His tongue now gently stroked her sore nipples. Then he removed his dripping fingers from her, put them into his mouth, and sucked her juices from them.

“Fine, you have succeeded at warming me up. Now will you be a good girl and allow me to get us home?’

Bria looked into his dark brown eyes, gave him a sultry but satisfied smile, and silently nodded her head in agreement. He wasn’t done with her yet.

Once they entered the house, Bria never got a chance to remove her black peeped-toed stilettos. She never got to wipe up the dried juices on her thighs or get a much-needed glass of cool water to lubricate her dried up larynx. Ryan immediately bent her over. In only her lace bra and panty set, she held onto the back of their brown leather couch, feet apart, ass up. Bria heard Ryan slowly unzip to avoid hurting himself, and then the thud as his khaki-colored trousers with dark leather belt still attached hit the floor. Waves of both anticipation and excitement radiated through her as Ryan gently slid Bria’s panty down her legs.

What is he about to do to me? Bria wondered to herself. It didn’t take her long to find out.

Ryan went down on his knees, his hands holding firmly to Bria’s fleshy round ass, and thrust his tongue inside her—moving it in and out, stroking her. Bria began bouncing to the rhythm of his strokes until he stopped and said firmly, “Don’t move. No matter what I do, stay still!”

Ryan stroked the folds of Bria’s moist pussy, teasing her clit with his tongue in a circular motion. Everything he did down there sent surges of intense, tantalizing pleasure up her clit, and she couldn’t help but grind back and forth on her husband’s face. Ryan slapped Bria’s left ass cheek, and she felt it bounce.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay still?” he said in a voice that should have scared her. But why did it get her juices flowing and her pussy crying for more?

He went back to stroking, licking, and caressing her silky folds with his tongue, sending a whirl of ecstasy throughout her system. Bria trembled, trying so hard to stay still, desperate not to move. And she succeeded—but not for very long. She started bouncing and grinding on her husband’s face again, moaning as the pleasure consumed her very being.

SMACK! Bria felt Ryan’s hand flat on her ass. She could tell that he was holding himself back from hitting her hard enough to cause her pain, but he used enough force to give deep pleasure.

“You never listen,” he said, getting up from his knees. “I know what you need.” He thrust into her with one deep, unexpected stroke, sending shockwaves through her body. She lost her balance, but he held her in place with his arm.

Bria gasped in shock at how fast he kept thrusting inside her. She moaned and cried out. He never stopped. His intense desire ravaged her from the inside out, leaving her weak, more engulfed in passion with each stroke. Bria held herself steady, her black stilettos firmly planted on the floor—to keep her from falling from his quick thrusts and to let him know that she could handle it. She could hear him moan as his warmth erupt inside her and drip down her legs.

He pulled out of her, panting, and turned her around to kiss her deeply, their sweaty bodies pressed together.

“I love you,” he said. “I never want to see you talking to him again.”

“I love you too.” She decided to ignore the totally unnecessary comment and instead bask in the afterglow.

********

Bria, Mark, Meggy, and Stace walked out of the final meeting triumphant. Their clients had found the finished product fresh and innovative. After months of mentally and emotionally strenuous deliberations, the team felt like they desperately needed to celebrate.

“What about that beer-and-chicken place tonight? There are karaoke rooms! What do you think?” asked Meggy, always ready for a chance to hangout.

“Sounds good. Should we go over there tonight or maybe later on? I know Bria has to get permission from her warden,” Mark said, turning to face Bria, who was already seated at her desk and focused on her laptop, trying to avoid the conversation.

“Please don’t,” Bria said, annoyed at the comment about her husband. “I won’t be able to join you anyway because I’m busy.”

“Are you serious?” Meggy exclaimed. “It’s just for a few hours, Bria.”

“Serious note: before you got married, you never had a problem hanging out outside of work. No wonder your husband has been dubbed the Warden,” added Stace, as she rolled her feminist eyes to the back of her head.

“It’s not because of my husband,” Bria replied defensively. “I’m just tired and would rather celebrate my freedom from the campaign with sleep and warm sheets.” But even as she said the words, Bria knew that they weren’t entirely true. She had always enjoyed their late-night gatherings with food and entertainment, which she had let go of since her wedding. At first, she only skipped a few nights, but after the incident three years ago with Mark, she had to entirely abandon evening outings with her colleagues.

The fact that she was the only married person in the group didn’t make things any easier for her. She often found herself in situations that she should not entertain. Her “forever single and ready to mingle” coworkers could not fathom why she could not merely accept free drinks from a random stranger or dance requests from a handsome man who couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Simple, invisible rules seemed to them like an unfair restriction on her privilege to be an individual.

“Then call the Warden,” Meggy said.

“Excuse me?” asked Bria, a bit taken aback.

“If he isn’t the reason, call him and let him know that you’ll be home a bit late since you will be chilling with us for a few hours.” Meggy stared straight at Bria.

“Guys, don’t push it. You know he won’t let her go. Let’s just drop it,” said Mark, raising his hands up as if surrendering on her behalf.

Bria could not figure out why, but the situation had started to grind at her. Before she knew it, she heard herself say, “Fine! But only for a few hours.”

“Really! Are you sure? All jokes aside, I wouldn’t want you to get into any trouble with your husband,” Mark said.

“I would not get into ‘trouble’, Mark. I am not a child,” Bria retorted. She sensed he was using his niceness to cloak an insult toward either her or her husband, and that left Bria subtly but unshakeably annoyed. She already regretted making herself available to go to the gathering.

“Well, finally! It’s been a while,” Stace said. “See you later!” She flashed Bria a smile before she and the others left her desk.

Bria waited for them to leave before she pulled out her phone to message her husband. She composed and balanced the message in her mind before typing it.

“Hey, babe, the team decided to go out for something to eat after work to celebrate, so I will be a few hours late.” She sent the message and awaited his reply.

“Okay, let me know when you need me to pick you up,” he replied to her relief. She smiled to herself. My husband isn’t a Warden.

“I love you so much,” she sent.

********

The chicken was crispy on the outside and juicy and flavorful on the inside. She opened her eyes after savoring what must have been her third piece to see Mark staring at her.

“What?’ she said, grabbing a paper napkin to get any crumbs off her face.

“Nothing. I just like watching you eat. It’s like a live mukbang,” Mark replied with a smirk. His lingering eyes started to make her feel uncomfortable.

The restaurant section was packed with customers, so the four of them decided to get a karaoke room. Stace and Meggy started singing “Dancing Queen,” obviously already tipsy.

“Are you going up next?” Bria asked Mark.

“Nah, I’ll leave it to these two. They are enjoying the stage way too much for me to interrupt,” he replied as he took a deep gulp of his beer. “This is really good.” He poured some into her glass. “You should try it.”

“No, thanks,” Bria said quickly. “I’m okay with my soda.” She picked up her phone to check the time. It had been two hours, and she was ready to leave. Being around Mark didn’t excite her; something about him grated.

“What, the husband already needs you?” he asked. Then he noticed how she looked up at him from her phone and quickly added, “You just can’t take a joke anymore, can you?”

With that comment, Mark had thoroughly annoyed her, and she was ready to leave.

“Hey, babe, I’m about ready to leave. Can you call when you get outside?” SEND.

“I’ll call you in a bit,” Ryan replied.

“Okay, Bria, it’s your turn!” Bria lifted her head from her phone at the sound of her name. “We’ve even chosen your song,” said Meggy.

“Don’t Speak” by No Doubt started up, and Bria sang along with the girls, finally starting to have a little fun.

“I really enjoyed tonight, guys,” Bria said as she got ready to leave.

“Bria, can’t you stay for one more song?”

“No, I already called Ryan, and he’s waiting outside.”

“I will walk you out,” Mark said, following her outside.

“No, Mark, it’s not necessary.”

“I insist,” he said without a pause.

Oh, Lord, help me.

Mark followed Bria to the Range Rover and opened the passage door to allow her to enter.

“Ryan,” he said to her husband with a wave, “have a good night.” Then he turned around and went back into the restaurant.

“Sorry about that,” Bria sighed. “I told him I didn’t need an escort, but he insisted. I know you hate seeing him around me.” Then she paused. “To be honest, it would have been more fun with just the girls.”

“Did he try anything?” said Ryan, tight-lipped. His white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel evidenced his jealousy.

“No! No,” she assured him. “He was just irritating. But you know that if he ever did, I would turn him down flat, don’t you? Don’t you trust me?”

“With him?”

“With anyone! You know I’m yours and yours alone, don’t you? No one else could ever make me feel the way I do with you, and I would never let them try. I belong to you.”

“But that once…”

“Yes, I know. After he kissed me at that party, you’ve doubted me, and it kills me. But you saw how I handled that, and I’ve avoided situations like it. You can trust me. I want and need only you.”

Bria took his hand and placed it over her heart. Ryan’s eyes dropped to her chest and watched as his thumb absently stroked her nipple through her blouse, and soon that need and want swelled and curled through her.

She had only one request. “Take me home.”