She lifted her lashes and focused on me. “What’s the deal with you and fire?”
I smiled at the nervous uncertainty on her face. “You’re about to find out.”
36
MAIA
Now
* * *
“So you having a fire fetish isn’t just a made-up rumor?” It was out of my mouth before I could stop myself from asking. The rumors about his fire fetish weren’t exactly mainstream fodder. They were discussed in the places on the internet dedicated to worship of him. The ones I’d stooped to reading on the occasional lonely night, hiding my phone screen from Nate.
“Yeah...” He said it with no hesitation, like it was an obvious and reasonable fact. But the twinkle in his eyes told me he knew exactly where I’d read about it.
I covered my embarrassment by asking, “What about it turns you on? It’s pretty and dangerous…but you can’t fuck it. Can’t really use it during sex either.”
Desire flashed in his eyes when he looked up at me. “Can’t you?”
He snapped his fingers and nodded in the direction of the bedroom. I rolled my eyes, but followed him.
He sat on the edge of the bed and patted his lap, so I straddled his hips. He’d taken his jacket off and rolled up his sleeves, but kept the rest of his clothes on. Now that I knew what he had under them, the nipple piercings and gorgeous tattoos, I wanted to peel the clothes off of him, but this was his show.
Still pondering what he liked about fire, I said, “I mean…sure. Wax play or the sensation of a flame close to your skin. Are you telling me that’s what you’re into?”
He put his hands on my hips, tracing his thumbs across my sides as he stared at me thoughtfully.
“I’m not judging,” I clarified, seemingly unable to stop babbling, wondering why he was being so quiet. “Want me to tie you up and pour wax on you or something?”
He flipped us so quickly I was pinned to the bed before I could even squeal, his hips holding mine down.
He held both of my wrists in one of his hands as he lightly bit the sensitive skin under my ear. “Have I done anything in all the time you’ve known me that would give you the impression I had any desire to be tied up?” He worked his way down to my nipple, biting it just a little harder than he’d bitten my neck. “Any hint that I might want you to be in control with hot wax?”
I was panting, a helpless puddle before the commanding growl of his voice. “No…but—”
“If you want to play with fire, baby girl, you just have to ask.”
A thrill zipped through me. I didn’t know what he meant, but I knew when he looked at me like that my boundaries were about to be pushed.
“Okay, I’ll bite. Show me what turns you on about fire.”
“Don’t move,” he said, flashing that devastating grin.
He started rummaging through a bag and returned with a piece of cord and a hard-sided container. He began tying the cord into what looked like cuffs. We’d never done any kind of bondage before, so it was unexpected.
“Planning to tie me up so I can’t get away when you light me on fire?”
Arrogance dripped from his smile. “Fuck no. You’re going to lie there willingly and let me do it. I’m just giving you something to hold on to.”
Holy goddess, why do I like it so much when he tells me what to do?
“Why?” I asked, not understanding what the handle was for.
He looped the cord over one of the bedposts. “Because your lizard brain is going to send crisis signals telling you to push me away or put the fire out. But I’m not going to restrain you because trust turns me on.”
Nervous energy pulsed through me. He was serious. I’d been loosely connected to the kink scene for long enough to have heard fire play mentioned, but I’d never actually seen it. I sort of thought it was one of those things people mostly talked about, but never really did.
He layered multiple towels across the bed, clearly worried about making a mess…but with what? Fire? Burnt flesh? At this rate, pissing myself was a strong candidate based on how jittery and a little scared I was.
