I suck my bottom lip into my mouth to withhold a groan. I want to put her on all fours and fuck her until she screams, but I already made my plans for how I’d approach her when the time came, and the actual sex will come last. There are many things I want to do first.
“Such a pretty girl,” I murmur, approaching her with slow, careful footsteps, as if any loud noise or quick movement will send her running.
Which they might. I can sense the tension in the air, the uncertainty radiating from her.
She wants me badly enough to submit despite all the turmoil swirling around within her… and that deserves a reward. Not yet, though. No matter how much I want to be lenient, I can’t be.
I can, however, talk her through it.
“I’m going to bind you very tightly, because what I have in mind will make you move a lot—and I can’t have you moving much for it.”
Her next exhale shutters out of her, but she nods her agreement rather than voicing any protest.
“Up on the bed, Flame. Hands above your head, legs spread.”
She obliges, slowly and carefully. I wait for her to be in position, and then head to the closet. When I return, it’s with a fuckload of leather, rope, and a few implements that Ember stares at with furrowed eyebrows, like she doesn’t recognize them.
I drop everything by the foot of the bed and circle her foot with my hand. “Would you feel better or worse if you were blindfolded right now?”
She hesitates. “I… don’t know.”
“Do you want me to decide?”
Another, long pause. After a while, she nods.
I examine her expression. The fear mixed with interest swirling in her gaze. Her peaked nipples, her rapid breaths, and the glisten I can already see between her thighs.Nah. No blindfold for her—at least, not yet.
She offers her hands to me freely, which get attached to the headboard. Then, her legs, which go into spreader bar. She only gets nervous when I attach a leather strap to the ends of the bed, and tighten it right over her belly. I meant it when I said I needed her to be still—this way, the movements of her upper and lower body will be fairly limited.
“What are you being punished for?” I ask her, picking up the wand. It has a red body, tiny prongs at the tip, and a button on the black handle.
Ember stares at it with wide eyes filled with uncertainty. “Um… snapping at you.”
I press the button. A loudzapechoes through the air, and Ember jerks, realization dawning.
This is an implement I’ve only used a few times, because it’s pretty extreme. It delivers a sharp, stinging jolt of electricity to whatever partof the body it touches when the button’s pressed. I’ve tested it on myself—it really does hurt.
“Nope,” I say smoothly. “I don’t care about that. You’re allowed to have bad moments, especially after years of keeping everything in. I know the last weeks weren’t personal—though I won’t always be so lenient. But you know whatispersonal?”
I touch the end of the zapper to her leg. She jerks as if she’s been shocked, which she hasn’t—yet. I’m enjoying watching the fear and anticipation build in her eyes.
“The fact that you fucking left me,” I say. She jerks again at my tone, staring at me with wide, frightened eyes.
I release a dark chuckle. “Yeah.That. Remember it, Ember? The moment you wereorderedto come back, and instead, you walked right up to Dagon?”
“I—”
“Don’t fucking speak. You only part those lips to answer questions, moan, or scream. Got it?”
Her mouth snaps shut, teeth clicking. She gives me a terse nod.
“Are you sorry?” I ask curiously. “There’s only one correct answer here, Flame; that you’reextremelyfucking sorry. In case it wasn’t clear.”
“No,” she says softly. “I had to kill Dagon—”
“You nearly died,” I hiss. I press the button, holding the end of the zapper to her thigh; she jerks with a loud cry. I can feel her muscle spasm beneath the implement.
It’s gotta hurt. Right now, I’m feeling particularly sadistic.
