"Carol, I'm home!"

Carol had just finished making dinner, and with rather convenient timing as well. She turned to the door and smiled at Therese from her sink of semi-washed dishes. "Hey, babe," she greeted with a smile. Therese set her work bag by the door, just as she always did, and left her winter coat on top of it. There was something new as well, a shopping bag without a logo. Carol finished with the dishes as Therese continued her after work routine.

After Carol's hands were dried, Therese motioned to her to get her to sit on the couch. The paper bag was laid at her feet and she seemed unusually chipper for this to be a simple purchase on the commute home. "What's whis all about?" Carol asked, but only after pressing a welcome home kiss to Therese's cheek.

"It's an early Christmas present," Therese explained as she handed the black bag to Carol, a smile that bordered devilish spread across her lips. Carol took the gift with one eyebrow cocked.

"An early Christmas present, you say? That's something,"Carol smiled, gently shook the bag for emphasis. "Couldn't wait until Christmas, now could you?"

Therese shrugged, though her smile remained. "I had some extras in my savings, so I thought I'd get you something nice. Get us something nice." She winked, only furthering Carol's curiosity. Spontaneous gifts were an occasional constant on Therese's part, though this was the only time that Therese seemed so eager to hand off whatever it was she had. "Take a guess."

Carol hummed and shook the bag close to her ear. She heard the rustling of something in there, though she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. "Hmm, can't tell. Can I open it?"

"Yeah," Therese said. Her smile grew somewhat sheepish, as though she thought this might have suddenly been a bad idea. In order to ease her nervousness, Carol made a grand show of putting the bag on her lap and drumming up a roll on her thighs.

"Alright, let's take a look-see."

Carol didn't look into the bag, instead pulled out the first item she could feel her hands reach for. It was somewhat rough, tightly packed. Carol pulled out the hemp rope, though she didn't understand why Therese had gotten her rope of all things until Therese began to ramble, awkwardly explain.

"We talked about restraints at some point, or at least you mentioned it, I think. I thought you might like to explore it with me, but I don't know…" Therese twiddled with her thumbs awkwardly, the tips of her ears pinkening with embarrassment.

Interesting. Carol weighed the rope with her hands, inspected the quality. At a glance, it seemed sturdy, strong enough. She smirked at Therese. "My, my. I didn't know that you wanted to be tied up so helplessly, Therese. What kind of person would I be if I didn't listen to your ever-so-darling requests?"

Therese stared straight up at her, eyes piercing right through Carol's—a fierce expression that Carol rarely bore witness to. Her tone suddenly took a sultry lilt as she inched ever closer to Carol, chin resting on her shoulder. "Oh, Carol, these aren't for me."

She couldn't help but to make a noise of surprise, staring with somewhat of an abashed expression. Therese pulled back with a grin and wink, mouthed 'gotcha', before gesturing to the bag. "That's not all that's in there, though."

That kind of initiative and drive from Therese was not so rare that it frightened Carol, but it served as a reminder that she was no longer the meek and people-pleasing girl she'd been when they first met. And, quite frankly, Carol didn't mind this side of Therese, not a single bit. She cleared out her throat. "Well, I can certainly see why you wanted to give this to me early," Carol quipped, though her body language was obvious. Her fingers moved apprehensively towards the gift and pulled out item number two, a harness and the lime green dildo that came attached.

"God. Lord in Heaven and Jesus H. Christ."

"I was thinking of you," Therese said, her smile only barely contained. Carol had been played a damn fool. "I've got the lube with it too, it's in our room already. There's one more thing, I think you might really like it."

Carol had not been prepared for anything. "Aren't you a devious little minx? If this is the early gift, I wonder what I'm getting on Christmas day." Nonetheless, Carol lifted Therese's final gift from the goodie bag; a bullet vibe in an attractive red.

"It's versatile," Therese explained, leaning into Carol's shoulder. Carol inspected the toy with her hands. She wondered if it showed on her face, the reddening of her cheeks? To say Carol was inexperienced was a laughable concept, no. She'd been around the block more than enough times to hold a full conversation about sex with a straight face. It was the combination of Therese's go-getter attitude, her knowing smirk and the thought that these would be used on Carol before anyone else was enough to get her going.

"You sure know how to please a girl," Carol noted with a steady nod.

"Ah, of course! I only learned from the best." Therese landed a solid kiss on Carol's lips before leaning back. "Let me know when you'd like to take these out for a test drive."

Carol considered it. She considered it for a while. Sex with Therese was oftentimes sweet, sensual and pleasant. She wondered how it would feel to try something on the kinkier side of things, with Therese holding the reins. She swallowed hard. "I think time could be made tomorrow. What do you think?"

"I—" Therese began to speak, moving back up, though not towards Carol's lips. "—think—" She could feel Therese's breath against her neck, and Carol shuddered involuntarily. "—that would be—" Carol's lips trembled with pent-up tension. She was practically mumbling the words against her skin, one of Carol's more sensitive spots. Therese was devastatingly attractive when she wanted to be. "—rather nice."

Absolutely devastating.