"You were saying?" he asked.
She choked on a chuckle. "I wasn't sure . . . how you felt about it. Didn't want to push . . . or assume you wanted the same things."
"I don't." His mouth firmed. "You called him sir earlier. That fits him. Not me. I'm just Chris. I didn't think of it, Sam. Not really. But when I saw what happens to you when he tells you what to do, the way you reacted to the TV shows, little things like that, it clicked. Sometimes you don't know how much you can enjoy something until you learn more about it."
He touched her face. "Most of the time, dating is about the games, you know. Figuring out what a girl's thinking or what she wants you to think, to say. It's different this way. I feel like you're so open to me, so raw and vulnerable, and it makes me . . . I don't want to play any games ever again. Not those kinds. I don't understand all the other stuff, so I figured, it didn't matter. I'd just follow Geoff's lead, we'd both go out with girls, and it would be good enough. But once you have this, who could settle for good enough ever again?"
"No one," she said, her voice vibrating with her need.
His gaze returned to her face, her parted lips and eyes she knew had to be feverish with wanting him. She let out a little cry as his fingers slipped through the opening of the ropes and into her, scissoring in the wetness. "God, you're so worked up. It starts with the smallest trigger. When Geoff tells you to do something, or when I told you I was taking you to bed tonight, everything else closes down. There's like this diamond in the center of your soul and everything else around it darkens so it's all about the focus of that light, the heat of it. You lose yourself in it, Sam. It's like watching a wild animal take you over, beautiful and unconditional, no awareness of anything but instinct."
She was back to making small whimpers, her heart grown too large to allow anything but feelings to escape her throat.
"When I first saw it," he said huskily, "This part of me woke up and wanted to take you down, make you helpless and screaming, pull you into me and never let you go. Hold you fast."
She swallowed. "Chris . . . I don't have to call you sir to think of you as my Master."
He locked gazes with her, his lips pressing together. She couldn't tell what he thought of that, but after a moment he bent his head again, tracing the ropes along her thighs, around to her buttocks. "Seeing you helpless, wanting me this badly, drives me to my knees at your feet, Sam. It also makes me want to be a complete beast. I may not be him, but whatever it is inside him . . . maybe a part of it is inside any man who's given the gift of what you're offering."
His gaze lifted to hers again. "I want to let that beast loose and see where it takes us. All right?"
"Yes." Her voice came out a whisper. "Please."
"Do you remember the rules?"
She nodded, a quick jerk.
"All right, then." He circled behind her, using the other hand to caress, pinch. When he did it to her buttocks, she felt the imprint of the rope against her tender flesh more keenly. Dipping his fingers beneath her, he sank them into her pussy once more. She undulated in the bonds, like a caterpillar struggling in its cocoon as he thrust, scissored, withdrew. He parted her buttocks, fingers lubricated with her response pressing against her rim and easing into her. The feeling was different from a clitoral massage but just as arousing. He worked his way deeper while still stroking her rim. The two rings of muscles relaxed, letting him in.
"Sweet girl. You trust me. That means everything, Sam."
She closed her eyes as he worked his fingers back out. "You've thought about us being inside you at the same time," he said.
"Yes. A lot."
He chuckled, a tension to it that made her fingers stretch out, recurl. She wanted to touch him. He moved away from her, but only to go to the dresser, where he withdrew something he didn't let her see. When he came back, standing behind her again, she knew at least one of the things he had was lubricant. She heard it being uncapped and the tip of the tube was pressed against her rectum. As Chris put the heated ointment inside her, he spoke in a conversational voice, though the strain threaded through it suggested his reaction to having his hands on her this way.
"Geoff said he was going to make sure you remembered him while he was gone. He left this."
Withdrawing his fingers, Chris moved against her back, his arm pressing against her side as he brought his hand around to her front and showed her a lavender-colored butt plug. It had a slim tip that flared out to a medium-sized base. The flared end was embellished with a purple rhinestone the size of a quarter. Purple was her favorite color, and the gem had a thin silver border. While she'd noted things like that at Madison's shop, she hadn't expected the prettying up of that kind of toy to appeal to her. However, when she imagined it seated in her rectum, Geoff or Chris making her walk around naked so they could see how it looked, the faceted jewel with silver highlights nestled between her buttocks, she found the idea tantalizing.
"Since most days he's a walking dick in a fancy suit, I told him you wouldn't have any problem remembering him once you saw this."
She strangled out a half chuckle. "You're terrible."
"Just the truth." He began to return to his position behind her, but she tried to follow, pressing against him.
"Can you hold me a moment?"
Both arms folded over her, and the plug pressed against her side where he still had it clasped in his hand. Brushing his lips over her temple, he constricted his grip so she was held even more securely by his arms than the rope. She drew in a breath, an erotic sound as he shifted and the head of what she assumed was the plug pressed against her rear opening, all while he was still holding her. "Ever put anything in here, Sam, while fantasizing about us taking you?" he asked.
"Yes. Small things. So I'd know how to make it work."
"Good. Because it's not my usual area. I don't want to hurt you. Tell me how to do it."
"Like you did it with your fingers. Ease it in and I'll push against you and . . . there." The man was a quick study. The plug was bigger than what she'd used on her own, but he'd worked it in so easy and slow, lubed it up so well, the discomfort and burning were minimal. The response from her body was instant, nerve endings between cunt and anus starbursting. He kept his body against hers but his hand between them, playing with the toy. Her hips lifted, a moan breaking from her lips.
"Yeah, you like that. What if I did . . . this . . . too?"
The moan increased in volume and range as he moved his other hand between her legs. Her rectum contracted on the plug, and she could imagine Geoff taking her from behind while Chris thrust into her pussy. Then they'd change places, or eventually both take her mouth. She wished she could put both of them in her mouth at once. Not really possible except in theory, but the very idea of it increased the moisture between her legs as she thought of how their thick lengths would stretch her lips . . .
"Fuck, this makes you hot. Doesn't it, baby?"
She was beyond speech. She liked that they both called her baby in more intense moments.
"He's going to be the first one to take you back here, but he wants me inside you when he does it."
So they had talked about this kind of thing. Like when she'd had the tomato in her mouth and she'd been unable to speak while they conversed so casually about how they wanted to use her body. "When . . . when did he say that?"
"Last thing he said before he left tonight." Chris paused as if there'd been more to it than that, but he adjusted the ropes so one was over the flare of the plug. "That should keep it in place. You can imagine that's Geoff there when I'm inside of you. Understand?"
She nodded, vehemently. "Chris, I need you inside me. Please."
He moved in front of her. As her avid gaze clung to his every movement, he pulled off his shirt, presenting a wall of heated male muscle before her, rippling with his movements. His burning gaze was locked on her face. "Keep telling me that. Tell me how much you need me. I've been on this side of the wall a long time, Sam, wanting to be balls de
ep inside of you, pinning you and never letting you go. Your legs wrapped around me, your breasts rubbing against my chest. Part of walking in on you two in the shower was hurt and a bunch of emotional shit, but there was a part that was just pure rage that he'd had what I'd wanted for so long."
It startled her, but he wasn't done spiking her adrenaline when neither fight nor flight was an option. His hand snaked out and clamped around her throat, making her swallow uncertainly at the look in his brown gaze, a little more animal than man. "So tell me how much you want me," he growled. "Beg."
"Please . . . need you so much. Want you now. Chris . . ." She bit back a wail as he stepped back. Putting his hand to the button of his jeans, he slipped it, pulled open the zipper. She licked her lips, a nervous gesture that curled his mouth in a lazy, dangerous way. She wanted to bite his lips, taste them. She wanted him to bite her, demand everything from her. It was a good thing the hammock was holding her up, because her legs wouldn't have.
He got rid of the jeans and the rest of his clothes, revealing his powerful, large body from head to toe, every small nick and scar, the areas of paler skin her private pleasure to enjoy. His cock was hard and high, the shaft and head flush with blood, his balls drawn up tight against his thighs. He drew closer as her gaze returned to his face.
"Chris," she whispered. He traced her parted lips, and she nipped and licked at his, little crazed movements. She thought she might come the moment he pushed into her. Hell, if he simply ordered her to do it, she might come right now. As if sensing how spun up she was, his touch gentled, slowing them down. Her throbbing body needed him, but her soul drank in the words he spoke just as greedily.
"I want it to always be like this between us. I always want you to speak to me straight from the heart. I've wanted that for so long."
"Chris . . . oh God. Please . . ."
Curling his fingers in the hammock at her hips, he lifted her and positioned himself between her spread legs. Slowly, slowly, he eased into her opening. She spoke his name again, a plea, as he worked himself all the way inside. Her hands fluttered and clenched, her body helpless and spasming from all the desire spiraling through her.
Yet there was one thing that didn't fit. "Chris . . . can you take the other out? It's like you said . . . I want it to be real."
The emotions he'd stirred inside her told her it was the right decision. As sexy as her initial thoughts had been about the plug, it had no place here. Not right now. The only way this could be any better was if Geoff was here, too, but if he wasn't, the force of emotion between her and Chris was the only acknowledgment of their third partner needed or wanted.
He understood. He dropped his hand to grip the base of the plug and remove it. Her muscles relaxed, but her rim was stimulated by the slow removal, such that when he dropped the toy and started thrusting into her in an easy, torturous rhythm, she let out a surprised groan at the sensations that rocketed through her. His jaw tight, Chris measured her every response as he moved in and back, slow and deep. He had his arms threaded through the ropes and was lifting and lowering her as well, adding to the sensation as he controlled all of the movement. "Do you like this?" he murmured.
"Yes." Her gaze clung to his face, the tight muscles that told her he was close as well. "I never want it to end."
"Good. Let's draw it out, then."
She bit back a half laugh and a desperate protest that bordered on a shriek as he withdrew from her, but he dropped to a knee and framed her breasts in his hands, pressing the rope around them as he took one nipple in his mouth and began to suckle. She shrieked in earnest now, writhing as much as her bonds allowed. Her head dropped back on her shoulders and she was lost in a swirl of shadows, heat and candlelight, the twig-shaped butterflies and birds flitting across her vision.
He took his time, moving from one to the other, until her mind was breaking up like radio static, only fragments of words getting through. Never. Need. Love. Help. God. The restraints added to it in a way she couldn't explain. The more helpless she was to what he was doing to her, the more she felt like she was flying, all while still holding on to him with every shred of her heart.
Coming back to his feet, he reached though the ropes to grip her hair, the back of her neck, holding her head in that tipped-back position. When he shoved back into her with force, anything else she could hope to hold on to, beyond him, was lost. He covered her mouth with his, kissed her with all-consuming purpose. His cock created erotic friction, inside and out, and everything started to spiral up, fast. She could barely get the words out. "Chris, I'm so close . . ."
He wrapped his other arm around her waist, using the force of his hips and the band of his arm to maintain the momentum and power of his thrusts. Her mind shattered, carried away by the birds and butterflies. Her lips drew back in a near snarl. "Oh God . . . please . . . Chris . . ."
"Come, Sam. Come now, for us."
She had no choice. The position, the psychological impact of the rope, the friction of Chris's cock inside her, shot her off the edge, into the type of climax that was a searing knife edge, far into a realm where she'd never stop wanting or needing them to take her like this, in a dozen different ways. She screamed like a banshee, but Chris covered her mouth with his, probably saving them from a 911 call by the neighbors. She might need an emergency call, though, because the climax felt like it was pulling her apart, tearing everything loose and leaving her in a web of ropes that she never wanted to leave, even as she longed to wrap herself around him and never let go.
He came then as well, grunting hard, his brow pressed against her temple, the hammock jerking with the impact of their bodies. He held her tight through his release, and she felt so full of everything that made sense, everything that she could want.
"Chris . . . Chris . . ." She was panting his name.
"I'm here. It's all right, baby. I'm here." As he held her close, she thought his legs were shaking, but she knew he wouldn't leave her without his warmth and strength. His hand slid around to her rim and teased her there, two fingers sliding in slowly, her tissues contracting over them. The aftershock, as strong as a miniclimax, had her bound arms straining as she tried to hold onto something, a plaintive cry tearing from her throat.
"You know he'd want to have the last word," Chris said, making her choke on a laugh even through the tide of feeling.
"Oh God . . . Chris."
He pressed even closer. Her fingers could touch his thighs. "I'm here. Let's get you out of this."
He unhooked the end of the hammock and shepherded her carefully out of the ropes, shifting and supporting her body to take her down to his mattress on the floor. He joined her there, wrapping himself around her and pulling a blanket around them both. It was only when they were in that position she realized why he was suddenly being so protective. More than usual, that is.
As the climax had ebbed away, she'd begun to shake again, so hard that her teeth were actually chattering. He held her, rubbed her over the blanket, kissed her brow, her mouth, put his bare leg over her hip, surrounding her. "It's all right. Geoff said this kind of thing happens. You're fine. Just nod if you agree with me."
The concern in his voice recalled her enough she managed a quick nod. Subspace. This was like subspace. She'd felt the promising hints of it with Geoff, but the deeper the three of them moved into this, she suspected the more likely it was to happen. Flo had said some subs never really got there because it was a combination of triggers, and had a lot to do with the relationship between Dom and sub, how deep it was, how much the Dom understood about the sub. Sam didn't think anyone in the world had ever understood her the way these two did.
"Okay. Just relax. Easy there." He kept rocking her until she evened out, came back to reality. When she at last nuzzled his throat with her lips, he let out a relieved sigh. He had been worried. She loved him for that, as well as a million other things.
"You've never called me baby before today." Her voice was raspy.
"Yeah. I get mus
hy after sex. It's like the I love you, man beer buzz." He smiled against her brow.
"That was . . . amazing. In every way."
"Mmm. Same goes." His hand slid down her spine, fingers tracing the valley to the seam of her buttocks, playing there. "I think I'm warming up to the idea of spanking you, Sam."
The unexpected segue gave her a hitch. Not an unwelcome one.
"I thought I should tell you," he said. "In case I gave you the wrong idea about that earlier."
"You seemed . . . averse to it then."
"Yeah. I know what Geoff is, and I've thought about the things he might do with women, but for some reason I'd never applied those things to you. And when I did, at first, it felt wrong. Maybe because I wasn't entirely on board with Geoff's preferences. Yet, it's like I said. Watching how you respond, and finally turning the mirror on myself, thinking about it . . ." He gave a half chuckle. "I had this really hot dream the other morning."
Curling her fingers in his chest hair, she smiled against his flesh. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." He kept up that tantalizing rubbing motion over her ass, grazing her upper thighs and returning to her lower back.
"We were in the kitchen, and you dropped a plate. You said you were sorry and were all blushing and upset about it. I told you I'd fix it before Geoff found out, but first you had to drop your panties and bend over, because you'd been a bad girl."
He shifted, a sheepish note entering his voice. "Sounds kind of silly, but it was a dream. I couldn't control it."
"It doesn't sound silly." Far from it. "If it was never your thing, I was okay with that. Totally okay. But if you are . . . I have thought about you doing something like that as well."
"Oh yeah?" When he raised his head so he could look down at her, she tucked her head farther under his chin, making him chuckle. "So now you're going to be the shy one."
"Well, it's easier to talk about it when I'm not looking right at you."
"Okay." He rubbed her back some more. "So how have you imagined it?"
"Which version?" she asked, and earned another laugh.
"Tell me a current favorite."
"Well, with Geoff, I imagine a cause, kind of like how you did. I do something 'accidentally' to piss him off and he decides to punish me. He has this way about him . . . It makes me want to play it out like that." She paused. Men tended to be competitive, and she didn't want to imply that because Geoff brought out different feelings in her, they were somehow better than what Chris could inspire. But she realized she had to proceed under the assumption the men wouldn't compete that way. Because if they did, this wasn't going to work, was it? She'd be exhausted by keeping the balance.