From the other side of the room, Dan chuckles. ‘I might have guessed you’d make me the villain. If it makes it easier, I aim to please.’
Stepping closer, his eyes flick to my collarbone made prominent by my position and the intricate tying of rope.Wrists tied to elbows behind my back—an elegant not-quite bra making my nipples hard.Despite the initial feeling, and despite his beautiful handiwork, maybe I’m not quite ready for this.
This isn’t pretty silk tying my wrists to the headboard. This was... real in the rawest sense.
‘How are you doing?’ he asks amiably. We’d discussed how he’d untie me immediately. All I had to do was say the word. True, the first twinges of discomfort have turned to aches, most tellingly in my shoulders. I exhale a rush of air. Yes, I’m a little uncomfortable, but I want to see where he’ll take this. And I hate giving in. Hate losing. Hate being second best. ‘Ready to tap out?’
‘Not yet,’ I reply. Forgetting the rope for a moment, I relax my elbows, causing the rope to chafe. I wince, my body tightening again.
‘My poor darling, does it hurt very much?’ His mouth makes a teasing moue, not that I’m buying his sympathy. His eyes burn too bright for one thing.
‘Would it matter if I said yes?’
‘You with your pained expression and such wide, innocent eyes. Anyone would believe you didn’t want to be strapped down.’
‘I don’t think I want to be. Not like this.’
‘No? I hardly forced you to comply. You could—can say—stop at any time.’
This much was true, but I’d been up for the experience. Truthfully, I still was. I wanted to know where he was going with this. If he’d just get to the point of my release—yes, that kind of release. Before untying me, that is.
‘Remember, this is a punishment. I bought you a gift and not only did you forget to bring it along, but you also rubbished it.’ His jeans are back on, though barely. Buttons popped, they ride dangerously low on his hips. It was hard not to see his bulge. Any other time, I’d have a quip at the ready, but presently, my mind is filled with other things.
‘How was I supposed to know you’d want to use them tonight? And just so you know, this fucking rope burns.’
‘It isn’t afuckingrope, silly. It’s a tying one. If only you could’ve seen your expression when I’d pulled it from the drawer. It was like Christmas, right there in your eyes. That wasn’t shock. More like delight.’His hand reaches out to touch my right knee, drifting farther to mid-thigh. ‘I know you like the cuffs, but rope brings another dimension; rope hurts to resist. Twine makes you more mine.’
‘You’re a poet—’ Would never know it? I don’t get to finish as he pinches my inner thigh.
‘Ouch!’
‘I can be the devil, the villain of this piece—of your piece. So long as when it hurts, you remember I am so, that Ido soat your behest.’ His eyes glitter dark and sexy, his voice hoarse and strained. ‘It’s ironic, isn’t it?’
I frown, familiar fears sprouting at the truth in his words. No one normal wanted their sex like this. Who wanted to be tied like a partly trussed pig? Pain and embarrassment and sex hardly go hand in hand. Which means I’m an aberration, not normal. I’m—
‘And there it is; the first flickering of doubt.’ Hands on either side of my waist, he pushes me onto my back, leaning forward and kissing me full on the mouth. ‘The flame that blisters. The blaze that bites.’ Then he does the same, taking my bottom lip into his mouth.
My sigh is libidinous, and softened by his attentions, I become almost malleable, sinking into his biting touch. What was the use of overthinking when he knows the inside of my head better? Stiffening at the sudden realisation, my arms ache as my knuckles press further into my back.
‘Every little movement, each tiny twist of rope against your flesh, reminds you how helpless you are.’ Coming closer, Dan’s whispered words touch my skin, his body an elegant arc over mine. I close my eyes to the intensity in his tone, anticipating the weight of a body that doesn’t come.
‘Every hint of discomfort, every degree of disquiet, pushes you closer to that edge. The rope may secure you, may keep you in place, but it’s the questions that keep you hanging there.’ His lips hover over mine as though to remind me of his point. ‘It’s not what I’ve done that excites you. It’s the thoughts running through your head. The endless possibilities. The scenarios your mind creates. Now that I’m helpless, what... will... he ... do... next? He punctuates each word with a kiss. My forehead. My cheek. My mouth. And then, as an encore, he presses his teeth into my bottom lip.
A sigh stutters from me, my thighs widening and opening as though this is enough to bring him to me. I want him—crave his body and touch.
‘Thisisa pretty invitation.’
I moan loudly as his fingers sweep along the slick seam between my legs. I push my hips from the bed to get closer, and in an instant, he slips his hands under my shoulders, edging my head to the side of the bed. Strands of hair cover my face, and Dan tilts my chin, brushing the strands away. I smile up at him and, for some silly reason, wink. But then he sighs in that protracted, long-suffering way. It’s a sigh that saysit pains me to do thisorthis will hurt me as much as you. Whatever the idiom of his choosing, I don’t have to wait long to see what he’s up to.
My smile falters as his sadistic one grows as his hand tightens at the nape of my neck, rolling me unceremoniously onto my front. My chin hanging over the bed, I can’t see much for my hair again, though this position is way easier on my arms. As I contemplate the sisal carpeting, my heart jolts at the distinct descent of his fly. My heart rate dances a tango, the beat seeming to match the solid pulse between my thighs.But then my hair in his fist at the base of my skull as he whispers, ‘Could have been worse, you know.I could’ve used the cable ties instead of a bit of limp hemp.’ Then he tilts my head up and back. It’s then that his plan makes sense.
‘That’s right, my lovely Louise. Open wide.’
Suddenly, discomfort doesn’t seem such an issue anymore as I widen my jaw to comply.
Chapter Sixteen
DAN
