Anniversary Surprise
by Jonathan Reddoch
Larry arrived home late with a big bottle of warm budget champagne in hand.
“Van, I’m home!” He entered their modest one-bedroom apartment to find a trail of rose petals leading to their boudoir.
A hundred yellow candles surrounded their marital bed.
“Babe!” he called, “You outdid yourself. So romantic!”
Vanessa called from the bathroom, “Put the hood over your head. Take off your clothes, and lie on the bed!”
He did as bidden, stripping out of his suit and putting the black bag over his head. He opted to keep just the necktie.
“You ready for me?” she asked.
He felt her nude body straddle his hips. Her cold fingers took his hands and strapped them down with rough cord, then his ankles.
He chuckled. “Kinky stuff, babe.” He felt Vanessa lean in.
She breathed: “Happy anniversary, lover!”
“You too, babe.”
She tightened his tie like a noose.
“What’s the safe word?” he choked out.
She hissed, “To correctly pronounce it, you’d need to split your tongue in two.”
Jonathan Reddoch is co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing. He is a father, writer, editor, and publisher. He writes sci-fi, fantasy, romance, and especially horror. He’s a prolific flash fiction author, but also writes poetry and short stories. He has been working on his enormous sci-fi novel for over a decade and would like to finish it in this lifetime if possible. He’s from southern California but lives in Salt Lake City. Notable works included in Deluxe Darkness, Darkness 101: Lessons Were Learned, and This Isn’t the Place. Find him on Instagram @JonathanReddochAuthor or at CTPfiction.com
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