“Shut up and climb. If I wanted a head-shrinking session, I would’ve booked a spot with Dr. Phil.”
Jamie chuckled and his hand slipped from the hold. “All I’m saying is seeing only one woman isn’t all bad. You should try it sometime.”
“Whatever, man. Might work for you, but your kink isn’t my kink. Just ’cause I’ve seen her more than once doesn’t mean anything’s changed. I’m still the same ol’ Sawyer.”
Jamie shook his head and kept climbing, but Sawyer could’ve sworn he heard his friend mutter, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Chapter Thirteen
Kyla had never done suspension before and she was a tangle of nerves and anticipation as she waited in her car in the Cave’s parking lot. She could have gone inside, but honestly she was nervous about that bit too. The Cave had this almost mythical reverence when anyone she knew spoke of it. Membership was difficult to obtain since it was a private club. She was half afraid she’d get body checked by the security guard for being a poser wannabe.
Probably a safer bet to wait and go inside with Sawyer.
Of course, it had nothing to do with wanting to be seen on the arm of the most lusted-after dom in Vegas. She might have spent the last hour at work reading his Twitter stream, looking for any mention of their time together. Oddly enough, he had made no mention of any of their dates. Was that even the right word for it? It wasn’t like they were dating. They were just hanging out.
Honestly, it kind of hurt that she didn’t even rate a mention. Of course he didn’t talk on Twitter about everything he did, but he’d always had something to say about the women who he played with—nothing overt or scummy, but always something. So why nothing about her? Was she his dirty secret? Or maybe what they were doing wasn’t important to him. Her heart ached.
She was torn out of her thoughts by the sound of an approaching pickup truck. A moment later, Sawyer swung out of the driver’s seat and made for the club’s front door.
She took a moment to admire the sight of his leather-clad behind tense and flex. Shut the front door, that man could fill out a pair of leathers. And the gray bandana swinging from his left back pocket was hypnotic. She hopped out of her car to follow the kinky pied piper but froze when a gorgeous brunette approached him.
She could tell from their body language—the way he cupped her shoulder and how she leaned into him—that they were lovers. Another small pang pierced her heart. She tried to shake it off. After all, she didn’t have any claim on him.
We’re just hanging out.
Sometimes, she really hated that mocking inner voice.
Trying for a cool and confident air, she approached the couple.
“...love if you could swing by later tonight.”
Sawyer smiled at the other woman. “I’ll have to see how my evening shakes out. Speaking of which... Hey, Kyla.”
“Hi. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Yeah, right. “I was afraid to go inside without an escort.”
“And you thought the big, bad Sawyer would save you?” The slightly mocking tone from the brunette made Kyla cock her head. She’d never run into such blatant disrespect for another submissive. The woman could’ve just peed a circle around Sawyer if she was that desperate to mark her territory.
Sawyer must’ve noticed it too because he held up a placating hand. “Hey now, I’ll have you know I’m famous long and wide for my generous spirit.”
Kyla snorted. “You got the wide part right at least.”
Sawyer glowered at her.
“What? It’s true.” His cock was the widest she’d ever seen.
The horrified expression on the brunette had her hesitating. Had she gone too far? They’d never discussed the whole in-front-of-others part of their deal. It’s not like they were sceneing now.
“We’ll have a discussion about your attitude later.”
“And on that note, I’ll be leaving. Sawyer.” The brunette leaned over, bussed his cheek and nodded at Kyla before walking away.
Kyla stared at Sawyer. His dark, foreboding expression made her butterflies return with full force. Crap, he was mad at her. She wasn’t the rude one. Of anyone, he should’ve been pissed at the brunette.
Finally, his lips curled slightly and he let out a huge laugh. “Wide, huh?”
She ducked her head. What could she say? The man had quite the package. Not that it was news to him. She shrugged half-heartedly, even as her shoulders sagged in relief.
“What are you doing loitering out here? This is a great opportunity to get in there and meet some new doms.”
Her heart stuttered in her chest. Was he really in such a rush to get rid of her? She hadn’t realized she’d been hoping for something more, but Sawyer’s casual comment shoved her back to reality. “I, well, I haven’t been here before. I wasn’t sure if the guard would let me in...”
“Ah, poppet, there’s nothing to be afraid of here. At least, not yet.”
His wicked smile had her heart pounding, even as a tiny part of her soul hurt at his cavalier reminder of their temporary time together.
* * *
Kyla stood on the dais next to Sawyer. She really hoped there wouldn’t be a quiz later because honestly she couldn’t recall a single word he’d said. Instead, she’d spent the past five minutes watching the crowd and wondering how many women here Sawyer had been with. She really needed to stop romanticizing their time together. Especially since Sawyer had none too gently reminded her that their liaison wouldn’t last much longer. He was already eager to help her find her next dom.
Suddenly Sawyer grabbed her and pulled her close. “It’s most important to keep the connection between you and your partner. If you spend all your time worrying about how you look—if your audience thinks you’re looking cool—you’re doing it wrong. This is an extension of your bondage play. And it ain’t worth a damn unless you’re both into it. So hold them close. Feel their body and let them feel you.”
Sawyer’s expression told her he’d noticed her inattentiveness and wasn’t happy about it.
Screw temporary worries. Her relationship with Adam had taught her the importance of living in the moment. She was going to enjoy every single second she had with this man.
Sawyer lashed the rope around her body. She could hear the murmur of his voice as he explained the tie, but a rush of air filled her ears and she couldn’t make out a single word. The rub of the rope against her body, the warmth of Sawyer next to her, the feel of the audience’s enraptured gaze left her lightheaded. The ropes tightened around her body and suddenly her legs swept out from under her. She struggled, her legs churning. The rope above her bounced and she dropped a fraction of an inch until she could reach the ground with the balls of her feet.
“As I was saying, safety is number one but even for a split second, a mind fuck is so much fun.”
She glared at Sawyer.
Judging from the muffled laughter from their audience, she hadn’t been subtle at all.
Sawyer stepped up next to her. She tried to turn into his warmth but the position of her arms and the rope meant she had no control over what her body did. She bobbed and twisted slightly in the air.
Apparently this class was more of an exhibition than a learn-while-you-go kind of thing, so Sawyer didn’t go through the starts and stops like their first meeting. This time he moved fluidly from one position to the next. For the rest of the class, she let Sawyer twist and turn her body. Hanging her in all different configurations, one leg up, or arms over her head or bent over with her feet flat on the ground. The challenge of the positions fuelled her competitive spirit. And the texture of the rope rubbing against her skin, biting into her, had her excited in a whole other way. She really couldn’t wait to try some of these later when they didn’t have an audience.
Scratch that. I
f she learned anything from last week, it was the allure of being watched—or even the suggestion of being watched. She really wanted to try more suspension when she had Sawyer’s complete attention without any distractions. Plus the addition of his hard, pounding cock wouldn’t be out of the question either.
An exhausting half hour later, Sawyer finished the class and hung around to answer questions from the audience, while she sat on a folding chair and gulped water.
Once the trickle of questioners ran out, Sawyer turned to her and gave her a half smile. “How’d you enjoy your first suspension session?”
“Well, I was really enjoying it at first. Right up until the moment you pulled that little trick.”
“Sorry, baby. Had we been alone, I would have let you ride out the euphoria of the rope. My cock is still half hard from the expression on your face. But we had a job to do.”
Abashed, she bit her lip and looked away. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Heck, of all people I should know better. I do teach for a living, after all.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, sweetheart. It’s all right.” He cupped her cheek and leaned down for a toe-curling kiss. “Are you good to go?” he asked after he pulled back.
“Oh, yeah.” She tried for a smooth and confident tone when inside she was dancing. Wahoo! He was going home with her. Given the scene out front earlier, she hadn’t been sure. After all the lovely build-up and anticipation from the class, she was definitely ready on all fronts.
“Great, let’s go back to my place.” Sawyer walked over to his kit bag. But he couldn’t hide the wince he gave as he picked it up.
Kyla was at his side in an instant. “What’s wrong?”
“Ah, nothing. I’m just a bit sore from the class.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing to me.” She clucked at him while she pushed him over to the chair. “You sit there and let me rub all the pain away.”
Sawyer moaned under her pressing fingers. “Poppet, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you have wicked hands.”
“I’ve had practice. You can’t devote twelve years of your life to gymnastics without learning a thing or two about tense muscles and a healing touch. And after I screwed up my knee at the National trials, I spent a lot of time with chiropractors and ortho doctors.”
“Wait, National trials? Like for the summer games?” Sawyer twisted under her grasp to look up at her. “When? Did you make the team?”
She gave him a wry smile. “Hardly. And it was eons ago. I qualified at regionals but then torqued my knee during warm-up. Couldn’t compete that year. I wanted it though. God, how I wanted it. Making that team was my life for as long as I could remember. I lived and breathed it. But then it slipped through my fingers. And four years later, the combination of my knee injury and my age...I couldn’t hack it.”
“So Adam wasn’t the only important thing in your life you’ve lost.”
“Yeah. Sorry to have killed the mood. That was a long time ago.” Kyla laughed huskily. “A lifetime ago.”
“No, it’s a very important part of your life. It’s one of the things that made you who you are. You got past that devastating loss and you’re a stronger woman for it. Plus, you can do amazingly bendy things with your body. And that’s so hot.”
She rolled her eyes at him, even as she laughed. Trust Sawyer to find a way to bring the moment back from the brink.
“I can relate. Well, kind of—it wasn’t the summer games.” He turned and gave her a sardonic smile. “We’re not all as special as you. But when the housing market crashed, I almost lost everything. I’d built my business up to such a huge level—I had four house flips going at once and was leveraged to the hilt. It just couldn’t sustain the crash. The houses were worth less than half of what I paid, and that was before I spent money on contractors and cabinets and whatever. I had to walk away.”
Kyla sucked in a breath at the pain in Sawyer’s voice. “What did you do?”
“What everyone else does. I dusted myself off and started over. I slept on a buddy’s couch and did more exhibitions and conferences in a year than I’d done in the previous five. And I’m back where I was. The business is making money again. Only now, I do all the work myself and I don’t get in too deep. I learned from it. I like to think it made me stronger. Sure as hell made me more frugal.”
Kyla laughed softly as he no doubt wanted her to while she kept rubbing his shoulders and thought over his words. Her defeat after years of training for a gold medal was soul-crushing at first. But the pain was more bearable the second time around. More bittersweet than soul-crushing. She’d thought at the time that had meant she didn’t want it as much, that she’d held back because she was scared to make it or scared to injure herself again. But maybe he was right.
“Feeling better?” she asked, still kneading his shoulders.
“Oh, yeah. Let’s get out of Dodge and head back to my place. I have quite a few things I’d love to do to that delectable little body. I wanna see tonight just how flexible you can be.”
Her heart picked up speed at his devilish laughter. “Can’t wait.”
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning, Sawyer rolled over and hugged the empty space next to him. Finding nothing but warm sheets where a naked and willing woman should’ve been, he blinked his eyes open.
Through the dim light spilling out from the bathroom, he saw Kyla in the corner, searching through piles of rope. No doubt looking for her clothes again.
“I put them away last night.”
Kyla jumped at the sound of his harsh whisper and smiled at him over her shoulder. “Sorry. I was trying to be quiet so you could sleep.”
“The noise didn’t wake me. It was the empty bed.”
Kyla laughed while she coiled the rope in her hands. “Well, it’s Saturday morning, so you know what that means.”
Sawyer lay back and considered her answer. He knew she was referring to her weekly breakfasts with her siblings and for the first time during their time together, a strange thought occurred to him. He wanted to meet her family. He wanted to see what they were like. His was a train wreck from hell, but she actually enjoyed spending time with hers. This was something he had to see for himself. Kind of like Jane Goodall and the gorillas. A happy family was a foreign species as far as he was concerned.
And maybe a small part of him was curious about meeting her family because it was Kyla. Not that he was all that comfortable with the admission, even if it was only to himself.
He threw back the covers and grabbed his jeans from the floor. After pulling them on, he gave Gaston a distracted pat on the head, then hobbled over to help Kyla in her search. “I put your stuff in this drawer while you were in the bathroom last night.”
Kyla gave him a weird look but pulled open the drawer he indicated. She grabbed her clothes and began to silently pull them on.
Uncertain over the sudden change of behavior, Sawyer grabbed a shirt from the closet and pulled it over his head.
Kyla tossed him another look.
Unable to take the silent treatment a second longer, he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. “What is going on?”
“Nothing.” After another searching look, she modified her answer. “I was wondering where you were going.”
Somehow Sawyer got the impression that was the last thing on her mind but decided to play along. “With you.”
An expression akin to panic swept across her face. “Uh, no. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Wait, I’m good enough to fuck but not good enough to be introduced to the family?” He was getting a kick out of the role reversal. It was a first for him. And those came along so very rarely anymore.
Why shouldn’t she want him along? He tried not to take it personally but he still felt insulted by her panicked look. He wa
s great breakfast company, dammit.
“And what am I going to tell them? They’re going to assume you’re a boyfriend and ply you with all kinds of annoying questions. Trust me on this, you don’t want to come.”
“Tell them I’m just a friend. Tell them I’m your gay best friend. Hell, I don’t care. Why should you?”
“Because they’re family, Sawyer! They won’t let it go. They’ll pick and pick and pick until you’re ready to throttle them. It’ll bug the heck out of you. You don’t want to come. Trust me.”
“I’m coming.” Sawyer gave her his best dominant, don’t-fuck-with-me face.
Finally, after a minute, she nodded. “Fine. It’s your funeral.”
“Great. Give a minute and I’ll be ready to go.” He walked into the attached bathroom and tamed his hair and brushed his teeth. When he came back into the bedroom, Kyla was next to the door, petting Gaston with a worried expression. “Ah, poppet. Trust me. It won’t be that bad. Relax.”
Kyla threw him a disbelieving look but still took his hand and let him pull her out the door.
* * *
Kyla stood in the waiting area of the diner with a silent Sawyer next to her. She had spent the whole drive over trying to figure out what was going on. First he gave her a drawer in his bedroom, and now he wanted to meet her family. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was commitment-minded. But this was Sawyer. The man broke out into hives the minute commitment was suggested. She couldn’t get a handle on their—for lack of a better word—relationship. She wanted to ask him but she was scared of what would happen if he got wind of her train of thought. She didn’t want to be the one to say the C word.
But she couldn’t figure him out. When she thought he would zig, he zagged. She was afraid to hope. Because when she was vulnerable, she almost always got hurt. Like with the National trials, then with Adam. And now Sawyer. He was starting to get under her skin. Make her feel again. Maybe she should just leave it alone and hope for the best. Whatever that was.
Up In Knots Page 12
