“No.” She tugged again, but her hands barely moved. She was well and truly stuck. Amanda stilled. The mattress beneath her was soft as a cloud, the chilled air above her as soothing to her flushed skin as a lemon ice on a hot day. Her mind whirled, trying to interpret what it was she was feeling.
Relief. It was relief flooding through her veins. Tears welled behind her eyelids. She didn’t understand why, but being tied to Julius’s bed felt right.
Placing his hands beneath her knees, he spread her legs wide. “Shh,” he soothed, his breath hot on her belly. “You trust me. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ve nothing to worry about. No decisions to make. Just lay back and enjoy.” He scooped his arms under her thighs and grabbed her hips. His shoulders pressed her legs wide.
The first swipe of his tongue shocked her senses. He was supposed to be rutting into her like a bull. That’s what men did. Not touching her with his mouth. Why would anyone even think to do that? Her hips jerked, a futile attempt to evade the sensory overload. His fingers dug into her skin. He licked her again, slowly, leisurely, from her core up to her nub.
“Julius!” Her voice was a strangled cry. His touch was soft, wet, and completely inappropriate. It was the most amazing thing she’d ever felt. Dear Lord in heaven, a mouth on her intimate parts. Whoever thought of this was a genius. It must have been a woman.
Julius alternated between nibbling at her lower lips and lapping at her opening. He blew a cool breath of air over her damp flesh. “You taste amazing. Like honey and spice. Eating you is going to be my favorite dessert.”
She merely nodded, the knot at the back of her head tangling in her hair. She needed less talking out of him and more tonguing.
He didn’t disappoint. Slowly, he slid his tongue inside her core, and her nerve endings sang. His nose bumped against her clitoris, and she moaned.
Pressing a finger into her, Julius traced a circle around her sensitive nub with his tongue. Her inner muscles clamped down around his thick digit. A whisper of unease, a memory of a past intrusion, tried to invade her mind. She ruthlessly squashed it and concentrated on the here and now. She let her thighs fall wider, enjoying the feeling of being filled. And when he added a second finger, it was even better. She rocked her hips into his thrusts, excitement making her movements jerky.
He stilled his fingers and put firm pressure on her nub with his thumb. “You look beautiful tied to my bed, Amanda. Like a queen. I can see purple hemp knotted all around your sweet little body. You’ll be my canvas.” Sucking her clit into his mouth, he pumped his fingers hard.
She writhed beneath him. She wanted to call out, tell him how good it was, but her breath was locked in her throat. She panted for air. A vise closed about her body, squeezing her tighter and tighter. She pulled at her bindings, but she was still secure. Between her tied hands and her pinned hips, she could do little more than squirm.
It was the best kind of freedom.
Julius scraped his teeth over her inflamed flesh, and she was gone. Her neck arched, her mind blanked, and her body shattered. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed through her.
It felt an age before she could catch her breath. But while hers slowed, she realized Julius’s had only sped up. A low groan interrupted his heavy breathing.
“Julius?”
“You’re beautiful when you’re brought to crisis. I almost embarrassed myself just looking at you.” His chest brushed her breasts a moment before his lips whispered across her mouth. “I’m stroking myself while watching you. You’re so open for me. Just the sight of you brings me pleasure.” His teeth tugged on her earlobe before he whispered in her ear, “Do you like the idea of me watching you while I bring myself to completion? Does it make you feel wanton?”
The tips of her breasts tingled. The backs of his fingers drifted up and down her stomach, and she knew that the other side of his fingers were gripping his shaft. He was pleasuring himself mere inches away from her. She bit back a moan.
“You can … find your pleasure in me.” She spread her legs a couple inches wider. “It’s what I was expecting.”
The heat from his body disappeared, and the mattress dipped between her knees. “I know what you were expecting.”
He wasn’t touching her, and Amanda felt the full extent of her exposure. He was between her legs, so she couldn’t close them. Instead, she pulled them up, tucking her knees to her chest. “If you didn’t want to you needn’t have gone this far. I don’t need your pity.”
His laugh was harsh, pained. “The only person I pity right now is myself. Hard as a goddamn pike and too damn guilty to end my pain.”
“But I said—”
“I know, sweetness.” He pressed a kiss to her knee. “You are quite accommodating. And I am no saint. Another compromise, perhaps.”
Stroking his hands up and down her calves, he gripped her ankles and gently pulled her legs apart. Cool air caressed her hot flesh. She started, her arms jerking at their bindings, when his fingers brushed through her slit. He painted her thighs with her own moisture.
“What …?”
“You wish to bring me pleasure?”
She nodded.
He brought her thighs back together, his hot length trapped in between. Keeping her legs immobile, Julius slowly slid his shaft between her slickened flesh. “This will bring me pleasure.” He groaned. “Damn, you feel so good.”
