“Can you pick a pose that doesn’t keep my arms behind my back?” August asked, and Quinn could see he was nervous, but he wasn’t pulling away. “I don’t think I’m ready for that, but as long as you can do something else, I’m on board.”
Quinn wanted to kiss him. No one had so willingly agreed to participate before, and he really,reallydidn’t want to fuck this up.
“If you kneel on the bed, I can bind your forearms to your thighs,” said Quinn. “I won’t restrict your movement at first; we can keep it very simple, and I’ll focus on making the knots around your chest, arms, and legs before I actually pin you, if that’s okay? We don’t have to dive off the deep end; it would be irresponsible of me to do that with a novice.”
August fidgeted in place, gaze flicking between Quinn and the rope, but there was genuine interest there. When he finally made up his mind, August stood and removed his shirt, and Quinn could see just how far the blush travelled down his chest.
“If I get hard—I don’t fucking mean it,” said August.
Judging by the bulge showing in his sweats, he was already halfway there.
“I’m counting on it,” said Quinn, laughing when August’s attention snapped to him. “There’s a reason why I would only do this with a partner. You’re getting rewarded no matter how far we get with the ropes.”
That had August dropping his pants and climbing onto the bed with an abundance of excited energy, making Quinn chuckle at his antics. He would keep the knots simple today so he could test August’s tolerance, but if it was something they both enjoyed, Quinn could see them taking a day off together to try something more complicated. The end goal for his project was the knots that would take him several hours to bind August the way he wanted, and they were both too busy for that right now.
“The safe word is red light,” said Quinn. He held the rope up for August to see—again, giving him enough time to prepare for what was coming. “The second you feel uncomfortable,use it. Don’t tough it out, or you’ll make yourself too scared to try again. The trust has to go both ways, August. You need to trust that I’ll stop and free you, and I need to trust that you’ll tell me if you’ve had enough.”
“I get it,” said August. “Red light. Tell you to stop. I agree.”
Quinn raised a brow, wondering where all of August’s words had disappeared to.
“Idotrust you,” August tried again. “I swear that I’ll tell you to stop.”
With consent given, Quinn relented and began tying his knots, starting at the wrist. As he expected, the paleness of August’s skin looked beautiful in contrast to the bright red of the rope. All the hours Quinn had spent practicing on himself and going to classes made it easy to find the right pattern he was looking for, and as he moved up August’s arm, it painted an image better than he could have imagined.
“You really are pretty,” Quinn said softly, letting his fingers brush over the curve of August’s shoulder. “How do you keep your skin so soft when you play hockey?”
It was like August took regular milk baths and moisturized every day. Sparse amounts of hair covered his arms and legs, and even his face was smooth after a morning shave with no signs of regrowth.
“I use a lot of creams to keep it from drying out,” said August, sounding mildly grumpy about the praise. “I hate how itchy it gets, so I keep on top of it.”
Quinn hummed, fingers moving quickly to secure more knots. “Still okay?”
“Green light,” said August, giving him a cheeky grin.
Quinn kept forgetting how big August was. He had enough rope for today, but he would have to invest in more if he wanted to do his legs. Ideally, he would have August kneel on a padded floor so he could work more comfortably, but the bed felt more organic and intimate, and Quinn wasn’t shy about pressing chaste kisses to different parts of August’s body.
The muscles on August’s arms looked more impressive when emphasized by the ropes, and he didn’t do much with his back, but that wasn’t the main area Quinn wanted to draw attention to today.
“Fuck, you look so hot like this,” Quinn said, tracing the ropes knotted around August’s pecs with his index finger, and August flexed them when heaccidentallygrazed over a nipple. “How does it feel? Still a green light?”
August was breathing heavily enough to make his shoulders rise and fall with every inhale and exhale, showing the cracks in his composure. The cock standing proudly between his legs had gone untouched while Quinn worked, and it was leaking so much precum that it was beginning to make a mess on the sheets. Every part of August was flushed andglimmering with sweat, and his pupils had almost taken over the blue of his eyes.
Quinn had a feeling that he was enjoying this, but he needed to hear the words spoken out loud.
“Green light,” August said gruffly, giving his arms a small flex before settling back down again.
“How are we feeling about restraints?” Quinn dragged his finger lower, gliding over straining abs while thinking about how pretty they would look outlined in red.
“You can do it,” said August. “I feel safe.”
Quinn nodded and tightened the last knots across August’s chest, then rested a decorated forearm on August’s thigh—never breaking eye contact as he guided the rope around the solid curve of his leg to finish the restraint.
He paused. Waited.
Watching August’s face for the slightest twitch of discomfort.
Nothing.
