A Beauteous Flower Ch. 11

"That lasagna needs a few more minutes," Diane observed. "How about you and I get a breath of fresh air?"

Madison allowed Diane to gently steer her out the door onto the large wrap around porch. After a few minutes of silence and a few breaths of cool air, Diane spoke.

"Not quite the reception you expected, I guess," Diane allowed.

Madison wasn't quite sure what to say.

"I do love Daniel!" Madison protested to Diane. "With all my heart."

Diane smiled a smirk that reminded Madison of Daniel.

"I know. Don't take it too personal."

"Rosalina just told Daniel not to marry me because I don't love him!" Madison disagreed indignantly. "How is that not personal?"

Diane made a dismissive gesture with her right hand.

"Don't think too harshly of my mother, OK? It's her love for Daniel that drove her to say that stuff."

Madison shook her head a bit in disbelief, but Diane placed a hand on Madison's shoulder and gave her a mild shake.

"Think about it, Madison," Diane reasoned. "Do you think you can show up here after she has loved him with all her being for his entire life and convince her that you love Daniel with a few words and a promise? Your man is her son. Bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh. He's your man, he's my brother, and he's her son. Sure we all love him, but there is a difference. You chose to love him, and I learned to love him, but she loved him from the moment she first figured out he was inside her. Her love is involuntary and reflexive. In her mind no other woman's love will ever measure up. So it's not about you personally. As far as she is concerned, you're the other woman in his life and if you hurt him or leave him, guess who will welcome him with open arms."

Madison thought for a moment, but couldn't completely understand.

"Your mom hates me."

Diane patted Madison's shoulder.

"Well, not you personally. She hates the idea of you. It's the same for every mother. My youngest son is only three and the idea of a woman taking him from me makes me want to strangle every little girl his age. But that's just not how life works, is it?"

Diane's hand dropped to her side and she took a stride to the door.

"And it doesn't have to be permanent. God willing you'll have a lifetime with Daniel to prove yourself. If you know anything about Daniel, you know he keeps his own counsel on his personal affairs. Anyway, my mom make a mean lasagna and I've looked forward to it all week, so lets go in and sit down to dinner. Mom made the special meat sauce that her grandmother taught her and she only breaks that out on special occasions."

In spite of Diane's encouragement, Madison shook her head and wagged a negative finger in the direction of the kitchen.

"Oh, I can't go back in there."

Diane paused and looked at Madison slyly.

"Going to admit defeat so easily?" Diane challenged with a gentle smirk like Daniel's. "The first step to the good graces of an Italian mother-in-law is to quietly endure her wrath and compliment her lasagna. So c'mon. We're an Italian family and you're about to become a part of it. Consider this your baptism by fire. This kind of thing happens all the time. We fight, we eat, we forgive. It's what we do. Just always remember to eat between the fights and the forgiveness because pasta is love made into food and it's hard not to forgive when you have a belly full of love."

*****

Madison clenched her eyes shut and she screamed like she had been scalded. Her limbs tensed against the restraints that held her body to the bed and her head swam. If not for the gag, Madison's screams might have woke the dead. Instead they were muffled, but still left her short of breath. Mercifully, Daniel paused and allowed her to pant herself back from the edge of unconsciousness. While she panted, Madison checked the digital timer on the night stand next to her. Teardrops smeared the red numbers, but they finally resolved themselves to reveal there were ten minutes and thirty five seconds left to go. Madison sobbed in despair while Daniel stroked her hair and "shushed" her.

"You're such a good girl," Daniel rumbled deep in his chest. "That's my girl."

Madison blinked up at Daniel gratefully and he kissed her forehead. Madison took a firmer grip on the little rubber ball in her right hand and reminded herself that she could do this.

The ride home had started quietly enough quiet, but in the silence Madison began to cry. Actually, Madison started to cry when Daniel put the old pickup in gear and basically cried the whole way home.

"You're mom hates me, Daniel!" Madison cried through her tears. "You're whole family hates me!"

Daniel looked at Madison patiently.

"I love you," he assured her in a quiet voice, but it didn't help.

"But your family hates me!"Madison persisted hopelessly.

Daniel pursed his lips thoughtfully, but remained silent and that silence made Madison cry harder.

"How can we get married if your family hates me?" she bawled at him in abject misery.

Daniel turned and looked up at her from under his eyebrows. Something about that look was terribly sexy to Madison, and that made her even more upset. It seemed no one, not her friends, not his family, not anyone understood that all she wanted was Daniel. She wanted to be with Daniel so much and now here at the finish line they might be kept apart. Unable to contain herself any longer, Madison launched into a full blown, open mouthed "boo hoo" ugly cry, complete with smeared mascara and messy hair matted to her cheeks.

"They don't hate you...." Daniel tried to reason with her.

"Yes they do!" Madison wailed.

Daniel bobbled his head.

"I love you."

Madison sobbed as if Daniel had just broken her heart and covered her face with her hands. Daniel reached out with his right hand and stroked Madison's hair to sooth her.

"Shhhh. I love you."

Madison blubbered and uncovered her makeup smeared face.

"You do?" she asked in a tiny hopeful voice.

Daniel flashed his trademark a half a smirk that made his face look so darkly sexy to Madison.

"Of course. I love you, Madison."

Raw relief bubbled up out of Madison's diaphragm and it poured out in muddled wail.

"AAAaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Shhhhhhh. I love you, Madison."

"I love you too," blubbered Madison. "Please don't call off the engagement!"

Daniel's eyes narrowed and he shook his head at her slightly.

"Of course I won't. I love you and I want to marry you."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"No, I'm not just saying that."

"What about your family; your mom? They hate me!"

Daniel placed his hand on Madison's left thigh and Madison felt a warm electric tingle run up her leg. Her emotions had run so high and raw that Daniel's slightest touch made her heart race. Madison shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I love you," Daniel repeated for her.

Daniel's dark right eye winked at her and Madison felt herself flush with desire for him.

"Daniel."

"Yes."

"I need you really bad right now."

Daniel tilted his head to the left and smirked a little.

"Can you wait a little bit?"

Madison sniffed and discarded what seemed like her thirtieth soaked and ragged tissue onto the floorboard of the pickup. She snatched another out of the tissue box and pressed it to her nose.

"No!" she pronounced in a petulant and bratty little girl voice. "Now!"

Daniel shot her a narrow eyed look.

"Now!" Madison insisted.

Daniel looked out at the road.

"We'll be home in fifteen minutes."

"Ohhhhhhhhhh!"

Daniel's hand caressed Madison's thigh closer to the goal. Madison sucked in a breath and went stock still, stunned by the warmth of sexual energy.

"Just be patient. I'll make it worth the wait. OK?"

Madison sniffed into the tissue again.

"OK," she mumbled with resignation.

When they arrived home Madison flung herself at Daniel as they got out of the truck. Daniel scooped her up and carried her into the kitchen while she bawled and kissed at his neck. A flight of stairs later and Madison found herself naked on the bed where she squirmed under Daniel's touch.

"Please, Daniel!"

"Not yet. Not yet."

"Ohhhh God! Please! Please! Pleasepleaseplease!"

Daniel sighed.

"You made a terrible mess in the truck you know. All of those tissues all over the floor."

"Please, Daniel!" Madison begged and strained towards him with her naked body. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"

Daniel's mouth flat lined and he shook his head.

"That was bad. Not very bad, but bad. And now you have to be punished, just a little."

"Daniel!"

"Shhhhh! It told you I would make this worth the wait."

And that is how Madison came to be shackled hand and foot to her new canopy bed. When she had moved herself into Daniel's home, the first room she had redone was the bedroom. Daniel quietly obliged her and his purchase power remade the room into the vision Madison requested, right down to the king sized canopy bed she had always wanted. It had four sturdy posts, one at each corner, that held up the canopy and a railing around the top that the curtains rode on. Much to Madison's secret delight, those posts also made very strong anchor points for the shackles Daniel had bound her with. Now, with the curtains drawn around them to block out the rest of the world, Madison lay helpless as Daniel teased her body with sensations that threatened to drive her insane.

When he first chained her up, he pulled out the timer he told her she would be punished for fifteen minutes. Then he had gagged her with an over the mouth type gag that forced her to breath through her nose and set the digital timer on her nightstand. Just as he had on the island vacation, Daniel placed the orange spongy ball in her hand and told her to drop it if she couldn't take anymore. Daniel assured her that he would stop and release her if she dropped the ball, but warned her that if she did drop it, she wouldn't get any sex. That made Madison's scalp tingle with worry. What did Daniel have planned for her? That thought and the realization of her helplessness made Madison's heart flutter with an mix of anticipation and fear.

With Madison properly restrained, Daniel set to work on Madison's naked skin with his usual observant and patient pace. First, he softly rubbed ice cubes on Madison's skin. It made her squirm and it felt like a million little tingly bites and the melted ice made little cold rivers on her hot skin, but it wasn't anything she couldn't stand. The first minute seemed to fly past and Madison's anticipation and confidence grew.

Next Daniel had produced a length of silk cloth which he dragged lightly all over her body. That made her stomach flutter and sent a shiver up her spine, but mostly it felt wispy like a silk camisole. Madison enjoyed that sensation immensely and the second minute seemed to fly by even faster. She allowed herself a small, confident purr of enjoyment. Her skin felt tight and tingly and deliciously warm, but if this was all Daniel had in store, enduring it was going to be a piece of cake.

And that's when Daniel produced the giant purple feather.

Madison wasn't sure where Daniel got that feather, but it must have come straight from hell. When she saw it in Daniel's hand she screamed in protest even though it had not even touched her yet. For a while, Daniel seemed content to merely threaten with it, but when it's downy softness finally did touch her skin, it gave Madison an electric thrill that sent her tickle reflex into overdrive. Everywhere Daniel touched with the feather, Madison felt a sensation that wrenched screams from the depths of her soul. Madison was ticklish all over her body, and Daniel had tickled her on occasion, just to get her attention, but this was something else again. This was tickle agony on a scale that made Madison question her capacity to bear it for twelve seconds, let alone twelve minutes. Just as she caught her breath the feather touched her upper arm, fluttered lightly down her armpit and on down her left side to her hip. Another muffled shriek exploded on the gag and Madison nearly dropped the ball and ended it right there. Daniel chuckled.

"Twelve more minutes to go, Madison."

Madison closed her eyes and wailed into the gag.

"All you have to do is let go of that ball," Daniel whispered in her ear. "Just let it go and it will all end and then you can go to sleep."

Madison shook her head.

"Just let it go, Madison, "Daniel tempted. "Let it go and I'll release you and put you to bed."

Madison looked into Daniel's eyes and begged him through the gag.

"Maybe I should just let you go right now."

Madison hardened her eyes in protest.

"Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnw!"

Daniel smiled and kissed her forehead.

"You looked like you were about to pass out. Are you sure?"

"Ysssssssssssssssssssssssss!"

Daniel waved the feather over Madison's stomach and Madison flinched with a whimper.

"Really now?"

Determination flared in Madison's belly. To be with Daniel tonight, Madison resolved that she would endure that feather for as long as it took. After the scene at his mother's house, Madison needed to feel his warmth next to her, pressed against her flesh... inside her. She would endure anything to have that reassurance of his love. Despite the gag she gave voice to the determination she felt.

"Yssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!"

Daniel smiled at Madison.

"Because the worst is yet to come," he promised.

Madison's eyes went wide with horror as Daniel moved the purple feather towards her feet. Her little feet were the most ticklish part of Madison's body and now the feather hovered threateningly over her toes. Daniel gave a chuckle and Madison glanced wildly at the timer. Ten minutes and forty two seconds left!

Madison tried to tuck her feet up, but the restraints held her in place. The best she could do was clench her toes and pray it was enough to blunt the feather's effect. For a long moment, the feather flicked back and forth between her feet while Daniel made up his mind which of them to tickle first. Madison steeled herself as best she could and drew deep breaths to try and calm her jangled nerves.

Her look of determination only made Daniel chuckle again and then he struck with practiced accuracy. The purple feather airily brushed the instep of her right foot and a scream erupted from Madison's throat as if she had been lashed. For the next horrifyingly ticklishly ten minutes and forty two seconds it seemed the feather was everywhere and she could hardly catch her breath. The timer stubbornly stood still as the feather scorched across her skin and the only thought Madison could fix firmly in her mind was, "Hold the ball!"

Then just when she thought it would never end, it did. Daniel gently released the restraints and collected her hyper stimulated body in his arms and kissed her so sweetly it stilled her racing heart. When she calmed down a little, Daniel, ever a man of his word, did indeed make it worth the wait. All of the tickles made Madison's body hyper reactive to Daniel's gentle attention and when he made love to her in his gentlemanly way it soothed her tortured flesh and brought satisfaction from deep down inside her. In Daniel's warm embrace Madison lost track of time and eventually, with all of her tension spent and the horror of his mother's confrontation forgotten, Madison drifted off into a pleasantly exhausted and blissful sleep.

A few hours later Madison lay naked and wrapped in sheets moist with a combination of sweat and love juices. The memory of the exquisite agony of the tickle torture and their subsequent volcanic lovemaking warmed her from her stomach outward. No doubt she would have some bruises on her wrists and ankles, and her nether regions felt a little chaffed, but Daniel had been as good as his word. It had all been worth the wait. Totally.

Again Madison wondered how Daniel had divined her darkly kinky desire to be restrained and punished, albeit he stuck to soft punishments. If anyone but Daniel that had that information, Madison would have felt completely awkward and exposed and probably run out on the relationship. But Daniel's careful and studious nature and gentle pace made Madison feel safe and secure enough to explore that aspect of her sexuality without fear of exploitation. Daniel would never hurt her. She knew that for an absolute certainty and it made her feel bubbly and warm around her heart.

Madison turned her head to look at Daniel. He was on his side and faced away from her as he snored in that gentlemanly way she found so ingratiating and the sight of Daniel made Madison's heart all mushy in her chest. In that moment she felt jealously lucky. Madison would have Daniel's cute snore all to herself and no other woman would ever lie next to him and hear him softly snore into the depths of night. His sleep was a tasty little secret that only she knew. Full of fuzzy feelings, Madison snuggled in close to Daniel and kissed him lightly on the shoulder. Daniel murmured, but did not stir. That was fine with Madison. She could enjoy her little secret a little longer.

Daniel was too large for her to "big spoon" properly so she pressed her naked body against his bare back. Even in his sleep he radiated safety and strength and warmth and his slight snore sounded kind of like a cat's purr. Madison enjoyed a deep inhale of Daniel's post sex scent full of musk, sandalwood, and the heady aroma of their mingled sweat. This was the best thing that had ever happened to her and as that thought chimed merrily in her head, she closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

Daniel loved her and was going to marry her.

*****

The bedroom was awash in warm spring light when Madison woke up. Daniel had pushed aside the curtains on the bed and opened the French Doors to greet the early spring morning. Out on the balcony, he stood clad in gym shorts and the orange sunrise. The sight of him surrounded by the morning corona stirred Madison from the bed and she tip-toed nakedly across the floor and hugged him from behind like a belt. He was no longer just her man. He was her fiance and soon to be her husband. That might have been the sexiest thought Madison ever had in her life, so she squeezed him tightly. Daniel caressed her clasped hands then gently turned in her embrace.

"Good morning, Madison."

Madison beamed up at her fiance Daniel.

"Good morning, fiance!"

They had never gone in for pet names. Madison had tried out "Dan" "Danny" "Honey", "Sugar" and a few others, but none of those suited Daniel. Daniel had never called her anything except "Madison", but her name sounded so savory in his chesty baritone that Madison didn't complain. The way he said her name sounded so seductive with a firm accent on "Mad", a sensuous hiss of "s" in the middle and a crisp buzz of "n" to finish it. Sometimes Madison pretended not to hear just so Daniel would repeat himself and she could savor the sound of her name on his lips again. And late at night or early in the morning, when he spoke her name with a sleepy growl in his voice, it made her knees weak. Madison kissed his chest lightly and clutched herself closer to him.

How it was that Daniel was always so warm? No matter what the temperature, Daniel's body always gave off a comfortable aura of warmth. Madison was always cold, so Daniel's warmth was a boon to her. Before she had moved in, she always missed the sensation of his warmth around her when she slept in her own bed. Now all she ever had to do was reach out and Daniel would be there to warm her for the rest of her life. Madison sighed at that joyous revelation and Daniel kissed the top of her head.

"It's passed time I got to work. Gandalf will wonder where I've gotten to."

Madison looked up at Daniel and smiled.