“Then howdidyou mean it? What was that?” The line moved steadily until she stormed towards the front, our diagram clutched in her hand like she was envisioning choking me. She slapped it on Professor Wright’s desk with more force than necessary, ignoring his cheerful, “Thank you, Miss Shaw!” and marched towards the exit.
I followed, catching up to her in the hallway outside the lecture hall.
“I can explain,” I started.
“Oh yeah?” She whirled on me, her bag swinging with the momentum. “Kind of like you can explain why you had a brand-new sex toy in your closet?”
I stopped in my tracks, genuinely confused by the conversational whiplash. “What?”
“The toy, Rowan.” Her voice pitched lower, conscious of students passing us in the corridor as we moved towards a secluded corner. “The purple one you so conveniently had available when I needed it. Care to explain that?”
This is what she is focused on?
“I do not understand what you are asking, Violet.”
She stepped closer, crowding into my space, her finger poking my chest with each word. “I don’t know what weird fantasies you had about picking up college students, but youneverexplained why you justhappenedto have an unopened toy ready to go.”
We were hate-whispering at this point, our bodies inches apart, her breath hot against my chest.
“That was two weeks ago. . .” I started, then reconsidered. “Never mind. Violet, do you really want to have this conversation right now? In the middle of a hallway?”
“Yes.” She crossed her arms, her jaw set in that stubborn line I’d come to recognize as immovable.
We were at the end of the corridor now, with enough space between us and other students that our lowered voices wouldn’t carry.
“For someone who is actually thirty-three years old,” I said, letting my voice drop to something dangerous, “you do realize that acting bratty in the middle of campus will not save your ass from a spanking when we get home?”
The threat did little to deter her. If anything, her eyes brightened with challenge.
“Says the guy refusing to answer my questions.”
Ha.
The truth was far more mundane and somehow more damning. I’d merely wanted to learn a suspension tie that incorporated toy placement, challenging myself to master the technical aspects. The toy had been a necessary component for practicing the tie’s mechanics on Marie Antoinette.
Now the image of Violet wrapped in my cerulean rope, unable to escape, helpless as she was brought to orgasm after orgasm, bloomed in the dark corners of my mind with vivid clarity.
“You think I am looking for potential partners when I am occupied watching abratty princessevery night?” I let skepticism color my voice.
“Your cock did not seem to mindthis bratty princesswhen it came all over your pants for me.” She deadpanned, rising to the challenge without hesitation.
Fuck, I loved this about her.
The verbal dance between us filled a hollow space inside me I’d never noticed existed until she’d crashed into my life. Her vicious words struck against my weathered defenses, my calculated responses catching her when she thought herself untouchable. Each clash left me feeling raw, exposed in ways I hadn’t experienced since my rebirth. When her hazel eyes narrowed, and her chin tilted upward in pure defiance, my chest seized with possessive hunger that bordered on feral.
“Fine.” I leaned down, bringing my mouth close to her ear. Near enough that my breath stirred the small hairs at her temple, close enough to smell her shampoo—floral and sweet. “I was working on suspension ties that require strategic toy placement for maximum effect. Happy now?”
She blinked up at me, her pupils dilating slightly. “You mean. . . with the rope?”
I nodded, letting my lips brush against the shell of her ear as I spoke. “Yes, Violet. You wrap the toy in rope and tie it directly against your clit where you cannot dislodge it. Then you are suspended in the air, completely at its mercy. Unable to move, unable to escape. Orgasm after orgasm until you are left a filthy, desperate mess of need and pain.”
I pulled back just enough to watch her reaction. Her breathing had gone shallow, her lips parted, a flush spreading down her throat.
“I was planning to get a larger toy for the full tie, but I wanted to practice with a smaller one first on Marie.” I held her gaze.
She nodded wordlessly, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. “And the girl?” Her voice came out smaller now, uncertain. “The blonde?”
I sighed, weighing truth against necessity. “She looked like someone I knew. Or perhaps not. I am not certain.” Mixing truth with lies, the way I’d learned to survive in my previous life.
