Breathe

by Lauren Jameson

  “But . . .” Samantha’s voice trailed off. Having her hands and wrists bound was one thing, but losing the ability to speak . . .

  It seemed like giving up so very much more control.

  “How do I use my safe word if I need to?” She glanced up at Elijah nervously. She trusted him not to push her too far—at least, she was pretty sure she did—but she wanted to have an escape route open to her anyway.

  “That’s what the squeaky toy is for.” Elijah ran the supple leather of the gag through his fingers, and Samantha had to admit that it looked pretty in the dim light. “Squeeze it once to tell me no, and twice for yes. If I can’t tell how many squeezes you’ve done, I’ll stop. If you drop it, I’ll stop. Okay?”

  Samantha’s fingers clenched involuntarily, and the toy emitted its high-pitched sound, making her jump. She giggled nervously.

  “Okay.”

  Elijah took a step toward her, the gag held loosely in his fingers. “I’m going to put this on you now. Then I’m going to ask you some questions before we start to play.”

  Samantha inhaled a deep, shaky breath and nodded.

  “Open your mouth.” Swiping her tongue over her lips first, Samantha did as she was told, parting her lips and stretching her jaw. Elijah gently worked the leather-wrapped metal ring into her open mouth, adjusting it so that her lips wrapped around it.

  He pulled the sides of the leather strap around the back of her head and secured them snugly, then rested his hand on Samantha’s cheek for a moment, watching her closely.

  She fought through a small wave of panic. There was something almost . . . claustrophobic . . . about not being able to close her mouth.

  You can do this. One look at Elijah reminded her of why she was putting herself in this situation. This is for him.

  “Good girl,” Elijah murmured as he watched her begin to relax. Reaching for the small plastic tub, he unscrewed the lid to reveal a thick white cream.

  Samantha, focusing on trying to keep her breathing steady with the ring in her mouth, wasn’t prepared when Elijah swiped his fingers through the cream and then slid them between her legs.

  Her breath whooshed out in a startled gasp when, with a sure touch, he pulled her teeny skirt up around her hips, parted the folds of her lower lips, and rubbed the cream over the hard nub of her clit.

  Elijah held the fingers that still showed traces of the cream up to her nose. The thick white substance smelled of fresh mint, and she furrowed her brow as she tried to discern what its purpose was.

  “Give it a minute.” Elijah chuckled as he screwed the lid back onto the tub, then placed it back into his bag. Samantha followed him with her eyes as he picked up the two small tweezer things, then turned back to her.

  “Feel anything yet?” Elijah asked, grinning down at her. She shook her head, still eyeing the tweezers, shifting instinctively away from them.

  The movement caused her thighs to rub together, warming the flesh, and then she felt it. Her clit, covered in the cream, began to tingle, reacting to the heat.

  She hummed through her parted lips, looking up at Elijah with wide eyes.

  “I thought you might like that.” Again without warning, he pulled the top of her bustier down, cupped her breasts in his hands, and rubbed his thumbs over her nipples.

  The dual points of pleasure had her shifting her hips and moaning. Elijah looked down into her eyes, and she saw banked heat reflected there.

  “This is going to sting for a moment.” Releasing one breast, he continued to cup the other, and with his free hand opened the tweezer.

  Surely he’s not about to put that where I think he’s about to put it.

  She whimpered as he placed the tweezer over the pointed tip of her nipple, then quickly repeated the process with the other.

  “Nipple clamps. They’ll feel good soon, I promise.” Elijah trailed gentle fingers over the sides of her breasts, then underneath, and the contrast of the soft touch with the pinch on the sensitive tips was enough to drive her mad.

  “Good.” With a last gentle squeeze of the soft flesh of her breasts, Elijah let her go. As if her gaze was pulled by a string, she followed his movements, not wanting to lose sight of him for even a second while she was bound the way she was.

  “Remember, one squeeze for no, two for yes.” Elijah’s hands strayed to his waistband, undid the button of his slacks, and Samantha felt her very core melt.

  “Your name is Samantha,” Elijah said. He stared down at her, and Samantha furrowed her brow, not sure what he was getting at.

  He mimicked squeezing something with his hand, and she understood, quickly squeezing the toy twice.

  “You think I’m sexy.” Elijah’s lips twitched as he spoke. Samantha couldn’t smile around the gag, but rolled her eyes as she squeezed the toy twice. She understood what he was doing—training her, in a way, so that if she panicked and needed to use the toy, she wouldn’t forget what she was doing.

  “On the checklist you filled out at Pecado, there were several items you left blank. I’d like to see if you have answers for them now.” Elijah’s eyes darkened as he ran through a short list. Samantha remembered leaving almost all of the items blank, mostly because she hadn’t known what they were. Now she answered either yes or no with the toy as he ran through the list, not answering for the ones she still didn’t understand.

  There had been one item on the list, however . . . one item she’d left blank because she’d been embarrassed by her answer. This item, of course, was the one that Elijah left for last.

  “When the checklist asked if you were interested in a scene involving more than one man, you didn’t answer. I’m asking again, yes or no?”

  Samantha blanched, embarrassed.

  “I’m not going to judge you, Sammie Cat. There’s no shame in feeling what you feel.” Elijah’s voice was serious, his eyes hot but full of understanding. “I’ll only be upset if you lie.” He paused.

  “Now, I’ll ask again. Are you interested in participating in a scene with me and another male?”

  Slowly, Samantha squeezed the toy once . . . then stopped.

  Elijah fastened his stare to her face, nodding as if processing the information.

  “Are you interested in watching me with another male?”

  Samantha felt the flush start at the roots of her hair. She’d learned early on in life to control that blush, the curse of so many redheads, but once in a while it came on regardless.

  She knew the pink hue to her skin would give her away no matter what she did with the toy. Inhaling sharply through her nose, she squeezed the toy twice.

  She’d thought that it would be a big revelation, but Elijah simply nodded thoughtfully, the way he had with all of her answers.

  “Very good.” With swift, sure movements, he unzipped the fly of his slacks and pushed them down until they rested on his hips. His semierect cock escaped the elastic of his gray boxer briefs.

  His cock hardened fully under her stare, and she shifted, suddenly hot all over.

  “We haven’t been together long, Samantha, but I’ve already learned that you find freedom in bondage.”

  She raised her eyebrows, and would have argued if she hadn’t been gagged. But as he waited, ever patient, she felt a jolt straight through her body.

  It was true.

  “Right now I want you to imagine that you are fully bound. There are walls on every side of you, and you can’t move an inch.” Samantha closed her eyes, felt the sweep of her eyelashes tickle the heated skin of her cheeks.

  He was right. When she was bound, when she pictured being constrained even further, she ceased to be herself—the big sister, the one in charge. She had only to do what Elijah told her to do, and to feel.

  “I’m going to fuck your mouth now, Samantha.” The crude words excited her, and she shivered. “And you can’t do anything about it.”

  Impossibly, his words made her nipples in their clamps ache even more, and blood surged to her clit. If her mouth had
n’t been held open, she would have parted her lips for him, eager to do as he’d commanded.

  “Don’t move,” Elijah warned her as he clasped the base of his cock in his hand. He tangled the fingers of his free hand in her hair, urging her forward even as he pressed his hips toward her.

  The end of his cock slid through the ring and rested on her tongue. She moaned around the gag and pressed the tip of her tongue against the head of his erection, tasting salt and man.

  “Don’t do that.” His fingers tugged on her hair, and she hissed around the sting. “Don’t do anything. Do you understand?”

  She would have pouted if she could, but she settled for two squeaks of the toy.

  “I have to have control here, Samantha.” As he spoke Elijah surged forward slowly, his thick length filling her mouth. “If you do something and I come before I’m ready, I could choke you. Do you understand?”

  Two squeaks.

  “Good.” His voice was filled with tension as he continued to press forward, filling her mouth further. Samantha’s eyes widened as she tried to relax her throat, tried to take his entire length.

  For one long moment she felt herself gag, felt her eyes widen and her nose threaten to run. Then the muscles of her throat relaxed and Elijah surged the rest of the way, hitting the back of her throat.

  It took every ounce of willpower that she had not to swirl her tongue over the heated length of him, not to swallow down the musk and salt that played over her tongue.

  But the fact that she’d been given strict orders, that she knew exactly what she was and was not to do, allowed her to empty her mind of everything beyond the sensations currently taking over her body.

  The satin-over-steel sensation of Elijah in her mouth. The tight burn of the clamps on her nipples. The intense arousal between her legs.

  The only time she’d ever felt truly alive in her life was when she’d discovered the power of glass and flame. This, she realized suddenly, was just as consuming.

  “Samantha . . .” Above her, Elijah sighed out her name. Though his fingers were threaded through her hair and his muscles were tense with constrained need, his eyes were fastened on her, and only her. He watched every nuance of expression on her face, every shift of her muscles.

  To be the sole object of his attention was absolute bliss.

  “Fuck,” Elijah muttered as he surged deeper still, shuddered, then pulled himself free of her mouth entirely. She felt a strange sense of loss as he stood above her, his hand fisted around the base of his cock, looking down at her through heavy-lidded eyes, his breath coming in pants.

  “I wish I could do that all day. You have the most amazing mouth,” Elijah said, his voice both regretful and wicked. “I’ll just have to find a new game.”

  Samantha shuddered as the possibilities rolled through her mind. The look in his eyes was so wild, she half expected him to push her to the floor and take her then and there.

  Instead, he reached behind her head to undo the fastenings of the gag. Tossing it aside, he gently massaged the stiff muscles of her jaw, then pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.

  “Amazing,” he muttered to her as he signaled a passing sub, who then scurried back with a bottle of water. Opening it with those sure hands, he held it up to Samantha’s mouth for a sip.

  “Thank you,” she said. The act of drinking very narrowly saved her from the confused tears that welled up at the backs of her eyes.

  She hadn’t yet appreciated the tender side of Elijah, had been focused entirely on the dominant aspects of his personality.

  She willed her heart not to tremble as she came to understand how caring he could be as well.

  “You’re looking a bit too content there, sub.”

  Startled from her reverie, Samantha looked up to find Elijah’s eyes glittering with amusement and . . . Was there something else, some hint of what she was feeling herself?

  His hands found her breasts, and she lost track of the thought.

  “This should bring your mind back to matters at hand.” Elijah’s voice was smug. He cupped her breasts in his palms, weighed them, then jiggled them up and down. The heavy beads at the ends of the tweezer clamps bounced, causing sensation to flow through the blood-deprived nipples.

  “Brace yourself.” Elijah removed both clamps at the same time, his movements easy and sure.

  Liquid fire rushed to the tips of Samantha’s breasts, and she couldn’t hold back a scream.

  “Fuck. I can’t wait anymore,” Elijah said. Clasping her around the waist, he lifted her easily and carried her the few steps to a padded waist-high bench. He laid her across it so that the width of the padded leather cradled her from sternum to hip, her bound arms coming to rest on the small of her back.

  Her sensitized nipples pressed into the cool leather and her entire body shuddered at the shock waves of sensation radiating out from those dual points.

  “Have to have you. Right now.”

  Samantha rested her cheek on the cool leather, closed her eyes, and listened to the tearing of a foil wrapper. Her legs were still bound, her toes barely touching the floor, and she felt weightless, a puppet to be maneuvered.

  Elijah slid his fingers between her legs, making Samantha shift restlessly and groan.

  “So wet. So ready. Such a good little cat.” The smell of latex filled the air, and then Samantha felt the hard tip of Elijah’s cock position itself at her hot, ready entrance.

  Anticipation and panic twined together inside her. He was going to take her, right here, right now. They were going to have sex—in public. It seemed so much more intense than everything else they’d already done.

  Though her mind struggled to accept that this was okay, her body trembled with anticipation and heat.

  “Brace yourself,” he warned her, and she barely had a moment to inhale before he seated himself fully, pulled back, and slammed home again. His fingers dug into her hips, holding her steady as he set a fast, furious pace.

  Samantha could do nothing but close her eyes and let the sensations overtake her. Her nipples chafed against the surface of the bench, and with every thrust Elijah rocked her clit against the edge of the table, making her shake. When his pace increased and she sensed desperation in his movements, he slid a hand between her pelvis and the bench, his fingers seeking and finding the swollen nub of her clit.

  “Oh, fuck!” Samantha couldn’t hold back her scream—the first touch of his fingers on her clit set off an explosion. He continued to manipulate the engorged flesh, drawing out the pleasure as he seated himself one final time, his hip bones jutting into the soft flesh of her rear as he came with a shout.

  All Samantha could hear when the shudders subsided was their breath—his and hers, fast yet soft. He stayed inside her, covering her, protecting her, and she felt like a bottle emptied of liquid and refilled with bliss.

  Every thought floated from her grasp like a leaf in the water. She simply breathed.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “You live upstairs from a BDSM club?” Elijah heard the incredulity in Samantha’s voice as he carried her out of the club and around to the back of the building. She had been so completely relaxed—boneless, even—when he’d untied the pink silk scarves and helped her down from the bench that he hadn’t trusted her to walk.

  Not that he was much better. Her response to his commands had milked a release from him that he thought might take days to recover from.

  He chuckled at her sleepy question.

  “Of the three of us—Luca, Alex, and myself—I’ve always handled most of the day-to-day operations of Veritas. It makes sense for me to live here.”

  What he didn’t add was that he had moved in after his divorce from Tara . . . and that he’d never brought a woman here before. It had been easier to play down in the club, then to excuse himself and go home.

  No entanglements that way. No mistakes. And while he carried his toy bag back and forth, he didn’t have a dungeon in his place.

  With the pla
yroom of Veritas downstairs, he didn’t see the point.

  “I think you’ll find that you have everything you need here. If you don’t, just ask.” Elijah swiped his key card through the lock on the door, which led directly into an elevator. Originally an old Victorian home, the house was only three stories high, but he liked the speed and convenience of the private lift, which serviced only his place.

  “Pretty slick,” Samantha murmured as the elevator reached the top floor and a second set of doors opened on the opposite side of the elevator. He watched her eyes widen as she took in the entrance to his home.

  Letting the elevator doors close behind them, Elijah carried Samantha into the arched entryway. Without pausing, he moved down the wide, softly lit hallway to the very end.

  “Getting right to it, are we?” Samantha arched an eyebrow at him as he slowly slid her down the length of his body, setting her softly on the massive bed in his bedroom.

  Catching her chin in his hand, he squeezed once, gently. He enjoyed watching her eyes widen as his touch reminded her that, though they were outside the club now, playtime wasn’t yet over and she had rules to follow.

  He began to shed his clothing and watched as she looked around, her eyes curious and eager. He liked her curiosity, enjoyed the fact that she wasn’t passive about life.

  “Does it pass inspection?” he asked wryly as he stepped out of his pants. Then, naked, he took her hands and lifted her from the bed. He found the hidden zipper at the side of her bustier and unfastened it, letting it and the micro-miniskirt fall to the floor.

  His cock stiffened as all of that creamy skin came into view.

  She gasped as he picked up her naked form and, slinging her over his shoulder, carried her to the massive en suite bathroom.

  “Elijah!” Samantha was wiggling enough to make him contemplate pinning her against a wall and taking her again. “I can walk! You don’t have to go all Neanderthal.”

  He grinned and nuzzled his cheek against the curve of her hip.