I could admit to myself that I wanted him. A purely physical reaction.
At least, that’s what I managed to keep telling myself until we walked out of the club and Alix had gone and done something sweet. There’d been a pair of young women in their mid-twenties giggling and swaying as the doorman flagged down a taxi, and Alix had asked me to wait for him as he went over to the cab. He’d leaned down, giving us all an eyeful of that firm ass and a strip of tanned skin at his waist, and spoken with the driver for a few minutes before straightening and coming back to me.
When I asked what he’d been doing, he almost seemed embarrassed but had still told me that he’d given the cabbie some incentive to make sure the two women arrived at their apartment safely. Naturally, I asked how he’d know if the guy followed through on his promise, and the look he’d given me said it all. Alix was a man who was accustomed to people doing what he asked – or what he ordered.
As I walked into the studio, my stomach twisted into knots, only easing when Alix appeared, his expression showing a strange sort of relief, as if he’d been afraid I wouldn’t show.
“I have your contracts for you,” he said, gesturing toward the table. “You can sign both or just one.” He gave me a lopsided smile that spoke volumes about how uncertain he was. “I’m just hoping you’re not here to tell me to shove both jobs.”
“I’m not,” I promised, meeting his eyes. “I’m planning to sign both.”
The statement surprised me more than it probably should have. Until that very moment, I’d still been debating the merits of modeling for him.
After I signed and initialed all the places marked out in both contracts, he spoke again, “May I ask what it was that made your decision for you?”
“Last night, when you paid the cabbie to make sure those girls arrived home safely,” I answered honestly, “it reminded me of something my brothers would have done.”
He gave me an odd look. “So, you agreed to be my model because I remind you of your brothers?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Not exactly.” I leaned against the counter. “One of the reasons my family didn’t want me to come to the States was because they were afraid I wouldn’t have anyone to look out for me. I’m the baby in the family, and with one older sister and six older brothers, that’s an awful lot of looking out for.”
“If I had a sister, I can’t say I wouldn’t feel the same way.” His eyes didn’t meet mine though, and I wondered exactly what was going on in his head.
“I came here for school,” I continued, “so I was barely eighteen. Mam has cousins in the city, so that was the only reason she and Da didn’t raise more of a fuss, but after visiting them a few weekends, I decided it was better worth my time to work rather than going out to see them. They’d all been born here and had a much more American way about them.”
“I’m guessing that’s a bad thing.” He sounded amused.
I rolled my eyes. “I only mean that my parents had wanted me near family so I didn’t lose sight of where I come from, and my cousins didn’t exactly meet that standard.”
“I’m not following how this connects with what happened at the club.”
“I’m getting there. Don’t be getting your knickers in a twist.”
The teasing note in my voice had his eyebrows shooting up. Or maybe that had been my unintentional reference to his underwear. Either way, I liked that I’d surprised him.
I kept going with my story. “About two weeks after the last time I’d seen my cousins, I was working as a receptionist on the night shift at an office building downtown. One of them, Nigel, is a couple years older than me. He came by one night at the end of my shift, asked if I would get a cup of coffee with him. It was late, but Nigel and I had always gotten along, so I went. Turned out, he just wanted to borrow money. I didn’t have any, which I told him when we were standing outside at three in the morning. As soon as I said it, he hailed a cab. I walked to the subway.”
Alix’s hand curled into fists. “He left you alone at three in the morning while he took a taxi home?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t think of it as putting me in danger, I’m sure. He doesn’t have any sisters.”
Alix took a step toward me, eyes blazing. “I don’t give a damn if he has sisters or not. I’m an only child, and I would never leave a woman alone at night, especially one...” His voice trailed off.
I looked up at him, pulse taking off at a gallop. “Especially one what?”
His gaze locked with mine, and I could fairly feel the electricity between us. I wanted him to finish the sentence, but at the same time, I didn’t. If he said it was because I was like a little sister, or because he thought I was in more danger due to being a girl...
I wanted him to be angry because it was me. Because I was special to him.
He reached out, brushed the back of his hand down my cheek. “I’d never leave you alone like that.” He took a step back. “No decent man would leave someone stranded like that.”
I ran my hand through my curls and tried to get my thoughts back on solid ground. “Seeing you take the time and money to get two strangers home safely just confirmed what I already knew.”
“And what was that?” His voice was soft, but I couldn’t exactly call it gentle.
I didn’t trust myself to do anything more than glance at him as I answered, “That I could trust you to keep me safe.”
My hands were above my head, wrapped from elbows to wrists and attached to the chains hanging from the ceiling. The ribbons were purple, the exact same shade as the bra and panty set Alix had given me to change into. I hadn’t asked how he’d known my measurements. He was a photographer. And he’d had his hands on my body. I couldn’t forget that.
Not even if I tried.
He was kneeling behind me now, his hands on my ankles as he positioned my feet. At first, I’d been surprised that he hadn’t put me in heels, but then his fingers had trailed over my calf as he explained why he wanted me in my bare feet.
I couldn’t remember what he said, but it’d been something artistic.
“A little farther.” He nudged them apart. “Arch your back a bit more. One more set and we’ll call it a day.”
I nodded, trying not to shift my weight as he stood and moved back. I closed my eyes and ran through everything I needed to do tomorrow morning in an attempt to distract myself from the fact that he was looking at my ass.
“Keep still.”
I felt him set something on the small of my back. It didn’t weigh much, but it wasn’t until the soft leather strips brushed against the tops of my thighs that I realized he’d carefully balanced a flogger on my back.
I let myself fall back into the quiet place where I waited for him to take the pictures he needed. It was a place where the discomfort in my body faded to the back of my mind, hidden under the heat of Alix’s gaze, under the sounds of him breathing, walking, under the clicks of his camera.
“Did you play sports back home?”
The personal question startled me, somehow more intimate than his prior touches. If it was all about the modeling, then it was easy to tell myself that he saw me only as a prop, an object in his photographs. Not in a bad way, but in a different way.
I heard his footsteps coming toward me, then the weight of the flogger vanished. His palm was hot as it slid over my ass and up my spine.
“You’re strong,” he continued. “I’ve photographed men and women both, all different body types and sizes. I haven’t only studied photography. I’ve taken several anatomy and biology courses, learning muscles and bones. Learning all about the body.”
“I was involved in gymnastics,” I said as he walked around in front of me, trying to ignore the way his hands felt on me. “And karate. I was always small, but I got into fights anyway. Da convinced Mam that if I was going to fight, I might as well know how to do it right.”
He reached up and touched something that released the chain. My arms fell, but he caught them, his fing
ers starting to work on the simple knots he’d used to bind me.
“I played football too.” I smiled as I straightened. “Soccer, I mean.”
His hands moved over my arms as the ribbons fell to the ground. The pins and needles feeling that rushed through my veins as my circulation returned to normal was hazy under the electricity of his touch.
“Did your brothers play too?”
“Most of them,” I said. “Callum preferred cricket.”
He’d reached my fingers but wasn’t letting them go. I raised my head until I was looking directly at him. Without taking his eyes from mine, he lifted my hand and kissed my fingertips.
“That–” I swallowed hard. “We talked about – we’re not supposed to – Alix...”
“You said that I reminded you of your brothers.” He slid a hand around my waist and pulled me to him until there was no room left between us. “I don’t want to remind you of them.” He lowered his head until his mouth hovered above mine. “Because what I want to do to you is most definitely not brotherly.”
“Fuck me,” I whispered as arousal shot through me.
“That’s the idea.”
15
Alix
I’d tried. I really had.
But from the moment I’d stretched her bound arms above her head, I’d known I was in trouble. Bondage was more my thing than punishment, but seeing that flogger resting just above the swell of her ass tempted me in a way nothing else had.
By the time I finished taking the last few shots, my cock had been hard and aching.
I’d thought talking to her about something simple and non-sexual would help, but all it had done was make me want her more.
So I’d taken the chance.
A shudder went through me as I claimed her mouth. The taste of her, the feel. She was so small, so fragile-looking, but I’d seen the strength in her muscles, felt it in her touch. I knew she could take everything I wanted to give her. And that she could give it back just as good.
I slid my hands down her back to grip her ass and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist, her thighs gripping me tight enough that I was able to raise a hand and bury it in her hair. I tugged on her curls, probably harder than I should have, but she moaned, grinding down on my painfully hard cock, and that just turned me on even more.
“Bad...idea...” Her mouth slid down my throat, teeth biting at the skin.
“Don’t care.” I slammed her back against the wall, letting my arm take the majority of the hit.
“Me either.” She put her mouth against my ear, her accent thick as it flowed over me. “Are you wanting to tie me up again? Or was there more you wanted to be doing to me?”
I closed my eyes for a moment. Was she fucking kidding me?
“Are you sure?” I couldn’t look at her as I asked the question.
I felt her smile against my neck, then she raised her head, those gorgeous eyes of hers sparkling.
“How else will you be making me behave myself?” She shifted her weight, rubbing against me.
“Fuck,” I growled as I grabbed her hips. “Stop.”
“Make me.”
I’d already learned that setting a challenge for her made her rise to the occasion, and Sine’s words touched on that primal part of me that thrived on control, prompting me to want to do exactly what she said.
Make her stop.
I spun us around, finding the couch with ease. I sat us both down, manhandling her until she was draped over my lap, ass in the air. The panties I’d chosen for her were the sort that left enough of those firm muscles bare to be distracting.
I ran my hand over the pale flesh, enjoying the freedom to touch her without an artistic excuse. She wriggled on my lap and looked over her shoulder at me. One eyebrow went up, and something inside me snapped at the challenge.
I brought my hand down, palm smacking against skin hard enough to sting. She gasped, eyes widening, and I waited. It was one thing to do a little light bondage. Spanking wasn’t exactly hardcore, but it wasn’t for everyone. I rarely did it, and it was the furthest I usually ventured into pain.
“Is that all you’ve got?” She grinned at me.
Two quick slaps to her ass made her whimper, but she didn’t pull away. Her hands curled against the couch, and I reached for the clasp of her bra. A flick of my fingers and I was pulling it off.
“Hands behind your back.”
She did as I asked without a moment’s pause, and I used the bra to bind her wrists. I ran my hand up between her shoulder blades, then buried my fingers in her hair again. The sound that escaped made me chuckle, and that turned into a full laugh when she glared at me.
“You sound like a fucking cat.” I moved my fingers, massaging her head, and bringing another one of those sounds. “Like you’re purring.”
She laughed, a rich, throaty sound that made me want to take her hard and fast until she screamed my name.
But first, I intended to leave her ass a beautiful shade of red before I finally buried myself inside that tight, wet heat of hers.
“If it gets to be too much, say–”
“Rugby.”
I paused with my hand in the air. “What was that?”
“Rugby,” she repeated. “Safe word, right? Not something I’d normally be yelling out in the heat of the moment.”
I chuckled, my heart squeezing for a moment. Sex had never been like this for me before. Something that had humor as well as arousal. Perhaps that was what I’d been missing, what made Sine inspire me. She possessed both the innocence and sexuality that had prompted my line, so it made sense that she had other seemingly contradictory characteristics.
“Let’s see exactly what I can get you to yell.”
The answer was a litany of curse words that I reasoned could be blamed on her brothers.
My hand was burning, but I doubted it was anywhere close to the heat she was feeling. And yet, when I slid my hand between her legs, her panties were soaked. I pressed my fingers against the wet cloth, increasing the pressure and friction until she cried out, body stiffening.
I took advantage of her post-orgasm haze to move her. I needed to be inside her, but I knew I couldn’t count on being with her again, so there was something I needed to do, something I’d been fantasizing about from the first time I’d tied her up.
The pillows and cushions I used as props offered her a soft place to lay while I changed her restraints. No longer were her hands tied behind her back. Instead, I bent her legs out to the side, a position that would’ve been difficult for someone without Sine’s background in gymnastics. I then tied her wrists to her ankles until she was spread open and exposed, her pussy glistening, pale pink nipples already hardened into little points.
It was too bad she wouldn’t pose nude for me because this image was pure beauty. Even as I thought it, a bolt of jealousy went through me. No. I didn’t want her posing like this for the camera. No one else should have the privilege to see this part of her. And it wasn’t just her body. It was the open look of trust she gave me as I bound her.
That was mine.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her as I stripped, and the way her gaze followed my every move assured me that I wasn’t the only one greedy to drink my fill. I shrugged out of my shirt, then yanked off my jeans.
My erection sprang free, throbbing and aching, but I resisted the urge to touch myself. I went to my knees, resting my hands on my thighs as I traced every line of her body with my gaze. I’d always appreciated the artistic view of the submissives I’d been with in the past, but Sine transcended them. There was no fear on her face, only desire and trust. A good sub would have those things too, but with her, it went beyond the physical.
“I’m going to go down on you,” I said matter-of-factly. “But don’t come until I give you permission.”
“How in the bloody hell am I supposed to stop from coming?”
The expression on her face made me chuckle. “Should we make it a bet?”
<
br /> She glared at me. “What do I get when I win?”
Her question made me realize that I had a way to ensure that this wouldn’t be our last time together.
“If you win,” I said, “at a time and place of your choosing, I’ll give you no fewer than three orgasms.”
Her eyebrows went up. “That sounds to me like a reward for you as well.”
I lifted a hand and wiggled my fingers. “I’ll do it with just my fingers and mouth.”
“You’re quite certain of yourself, aren’t you now?”
“I am.” I maneuvered myself so that I was crouched down low enough to reach her with little effort.
“And what will be happening if I lose?” she countered.
I met her gaze as I slid my hands under her ass and raised her hips ever so slightly. “At a time and place of my choosing, I get to fuck your ass.”
Her mouth fell open, and I watched her expression for signs of disgust. When I didn’t see any, I flicked out my tongue and lightly traced the sensitive skin at the top of her mound.
“Do we have an agreement?” I asked.
She nodded, then let out a startled cry as I dove in. One day, I planned to take my time with her, slowly drawing out her pleasure until she was sobbing and begging for relief. Right now, however, I was determined to win, and my plan of action was to assault her body with so much stimuli that she’d be unable to compose herself enough to fight off her body’s natural response.
I held her in place as she tried to squirm, whether to get me closer or push me away, I didn’t know. Unless she used the safe word, I was doing what I wanted, and I trusted her to know when it got to be too much.
I used the flat of my tongue to lick her before moving my main focus to her clit. A lot of men, unfortunately, tended to focus on a woman’s vagina. Sure, a woman could experience pleasure from attention there, especially if a man knew how to find her g-spot, but the clitoris was the best place to work some magic, especially when it came to oral sex.