Page 92 of Stay Wild Darlin’

I’d never seen anything so beautiful.

I stood behind her, heart pounding, sweat cooling my chest as I reached for the rope at her ankles first. My hands were rough, rope burned, but I worked slowly, unwinding the ties that had held her so perfectly open for me.

I kissed her ankle as the first loop fell away.

She didn’t move.

I moved to her thighs, her waist, unthreading the rope that pressed into her hips. Every time I pulled a knot loose, I kissed the skin beneath it—little red marks blooming across her body, marks I’d left, marks she’d given me permission to carve.

I undid her chest harness last, letting it fall from her body like a second skin peeling away.

When the final loop slipped from her wrists, her arms couldn’t catch her. Her body folded, and she sank to the mat in a heap. I dropped to my knees and gathered her up before she could try to move, scooping her against my chest and pulling her into my lap.

Silent tears tracked down her cheeks as she curled into me.

“Hey,” I murmured, rocking her a little. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, lips trembling. “I think . . .” Her voice cracked. “I think you’re the first person who ever actually saw me.”

Fuck.

My throat closed.

I pressed a kiss into her hair, held her tighter, and closed my eyes.

“I see you,” I whispered back. “I fuckin’ see you, darlin’,”

In that moment, we weren’t boss and nanny. We weren’t rope and rider.

We were . . . us.

34

Poppy

My entire body ached. Getting tied up twice in twenty-four hours wasn’t for the weak. I murmured something about going to my own room, but I was too tired to fight him when he helped me into the shower. I barely remembered him tucking me into his bed after.

“Five minutes and I promise I’ll get in my room.”

“No,” he said. “I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“What about Cora?” I managed, the words slurring on my lips.

He actually laughed. “She’s six months old. She won’t know where you slept, as long as someone goes and gets her in the morning.”

“I’ll do it,” I mumbled, already half out of it.

He kissed my forehead. “No. You have the day off tomorrow.”

I nodded, again not wanting to argue. My chest was heaving with an emotion so heavy it was hard to describe—thick and full and sitting right under my ribs like a secret I wasn’t ready to share.

“Poppy?”

“Mmm?” I rolled over so our chests were touching.

His hand settled low on my waist, fingers warm against the swell of my hip beneath the blanket.

“Sometimes I’ve thought about trying again with Brooke whenever she comes back,” he said quietly. “Not because I want her, but because I wanted Cora to have something steady. Waking up with both of us there. A real home.”