Suddenly, she reaches up and grabs my arm.
“Please,” she whimpers. “Please…tie me up. Everything gets quiet…when you do.”
I furrow my brow and run a hand over her hair. “Are you sure? You really want that right now?”
“Yes,” she nods, her voice more forceful. “Yes, it’s what I want. Please, Jayce.”
I don’t hesitate again and scoop her up into my arms, cradling her against my chest as I carry her out of the bathroom. She clutches the front of my shirt as I take her to the playroom.
“Don’t worry, Starling,” I murmur, pressing my lips to her hair. “I’ve got you.”
She’s still shaking when I reach the room and cross to the bed to carefully set her down on it. Taking her trembling hands, I kneel in front of her and gaze up into her pale face.
“Do you remember your safe word?” I ask.
She nods. “Pirouette.”
“Good girl.” I rub my thumbs over the top of her hands in small, slow circles. “I’m going to tie you up, and I want you to just relax and give everything over to me, okay? I don’t want you to think about anything but what I’m doing. Nothing elsematters at this moment. If you need to focus on something, you focus on me.”
She looks almost relieved. “Yes, sir.”
I let go of her hand so I can brush a lock of hair behind her ear. Then, holding her gaze, I take hold of her blouse and carefully pull it up and over her head. She lets me move her as I need so I can take her pants off next.
“This isn’t about sex,” I explain as I continue undressing her. “Remember when I said this could be meditative?”
She nods. “Yes.”
“I’d like that to be our focus for this session. Is that all right with you? Do you want more than the ropes?”
She gazes at me a moment, seemingly mulling my words over.
At length, she murmurs, “Just the ropes.”
“Okay.” I help her step out of her pants and toss them to the side. “That’s what we’ll do, then.”
I leave her in her bra and underwear.
Standing, I gently order, “Stay right there.”
She doesn’t move as I make my way to the hidden panel in my wall and open it to reveal my collection of ropes and toys. I select several cotton blend ropes and return to Sutton again.
“Stand up.”
She turns her gaze to me as she gets off the bed and stands up.
“Face the bed and keep your arms at your sides.”
She obeys without hesitation. I take one of the lengths of rope and tie a knot, creating two large loops so it looks like a big bow. Slipping the loops around her arms, I slide them up to her bicep and slowly tighten them, pulling her shoulders back. Sutton lets out a shuddering breath as the rope presses into her skin. I create several more loops in the rope, wrapping them around her arms lower and lower, until her wrists are pressed togetheragainst her lower back. With each loop and new knot, I feel her body relaxing. Giving in. Surrendering.
And with that surrender, comes calm.
“Breathe,” I murmur at her ear as I secure the last knot at the back of the harness. “In and out. In and out.”
This time, she’s able to mimic me. She’s no longer struggling for air and her breathing grows even and steady. Quieter.
Her arms secure, I take hold of her shoulders and turn her to face me. She gazes up at me through hooded eyes, and I’m happy to see that some pink has returned to her cheeks.
“You’re doing so well,” I praise her, taking another length of rope and wrapping it around her torso. “You’re so beautiful, Starling. So brilliant and intelligent. So perfectly submissive and trusting.”
