by Rye Hart
She reminded me of a songbird that would stop in the tree outside my childhood home in Italy. The white bird, with its icy blue eyes, would sing a beautiful song, so clear and innocent. That bird always found a way of lifting my spirits during the worst times of my childhood. The song it sang would sink its talons into my heart, like this woman had somehow sunken hers into me as well.
“In the swamp in secluded recesses, a shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.”
I muttered the line as my eyes slowly grazed back up her body. Her picturesque beauty was something I could never have conjured in my wildest dreams. She was too pure for the sordid surroundings that encompassed her. Too innocent for the devious thoughts that existed in my head.
Her eyes widened as the line fell from my lips and I couldn’t help but be shocked when she responded.
“You read Yeats,” she said.
Even her voice reminded me of the songbird. Light and lilting, with low notes that rounded out such a full and heart-wrenching sound.
My little songbird, displayed to me for the taking.
I nodded. I read Yeats and other famous poets and philosophers as a little boy. Books of poetry were the only ones I had access to, with my father being the control freak that he was. When he enlisted me to hunt down my mother’s killers, the beautiful words would jump off the page, blocking out the horrid shrieks of the men I’d delivered to their maker.
This young woman wasn’t just a pretty face. She was intelligent as well. Her following me would be the best decision she’d made all evening. No man in that room could handle the beauty, grace, and intelligence that encompassed the woman standing before me. No man understood how to strum the strings of a woman who expected so much good from the world around her.
“My friends are out there,” she said.
“They will wait,” I said.
I reached over to the switch on the wall and slowly brightened the dim lighting of the room. She looked around and gasped, taking in the walls and the space that surrounded the bed she’d anchored herself to. I could tell she was staring at the expanse of it all. I’d taken up almost half of the hidden upstairs of this warehouse for my own personal pleasures.
It was like a sound stage with small vignettes. One corner was outfitted as my own personal stone dungeon; another was a sumptuous sitting area with ropes that were hidden beneath the opulent fabrics. There was another area that had a sunken in tub large enough for ten people and beside it was a massive, glass-encased shower. She had already become familiar with the expansive four-poster bed, but the light revealed beside it a sitting area that was designed with a modern black and white motif, complete with leather furnishings.
I watched her while she slowly walked around, taking it all in as the flawlessness of her skin finally broke. Goosebumps were raging across her arms and her stomach, carrying with it a healthy flush I would pull from her time and time again before the night was over.
I could tell she was taking things in for the first time. That everything she was seeing was new for her. She was a true innocent, something that twitched my cock and made it grow beneath my tailored trousers. I’d amused myself with women for years. Women who just wanted a little taste, and women who were so submissive, they wanted to be humiliated. I’d satiate my appetite with them for an evening before casting them out, never fully whetting my palate the way I wanted.
I’d never considered anything serious until this very moment and I knew, then and there, I would seduce her. I wanted her, more than I could stand. Her long legs and her flat, toned stomach. Her supple breasts aching for my lips and her long black hair begging to be wrapped up in my fist.
She turned and looked back at me with curious wonder in her eyes and the undercurrent wafting between us was unmistakable. Her eyes ran down my body, drinking me in, the way I had just done with her, and I couldn’t help the smirk that rose upon my cheeks.
She was wanton and I was ready to make her mine. This woman was special and I intended to treat her as such.
I just had to find out why first.
I walked over to her and held out my hand, silently asking for her consent once again. She took my hand without a second thought, and I slowly led her over to the sitting area by the bed. I held my arm out for her, allowing her to steady herself in her heels as she sat onto the full-leather chair, then I pulled up the ottoman and sat with my back straight.
I rolled my shoulders back and drew in a deep breath, expanding my chest as her eyes took in my every movement.
Then, I asked the one question that would start off a night I would never forget.
“Why are you here?”
Chapter Five – Rose
I felt like I had been hypnotized. As I sat there, staring into the eyes of the man every woman downstairs wanted, all I could hear was the blood rushing through my ears. My body was being tugged toward him, wanting him in a way I’d never experienced before. My nipples were painful peaks underneath my lacy bra and I could feel my underwear growing wet as I sat down into the leather chair. His movements were fluid. Languid. Simple. Caring in a way I didn’t expect with how Eli seemed to describe a dominant. His icy gaze held onto mine as my surroundings hit me with an unrecognizable force and, suddenly, I started to digest what was happening.
I was in a dominant’s lair as an inexperienced virgin.
Surprisingly, I didn’t give a damn.
I was surrounded by some sort of fantasy. A room designed to fulfill things people could only conjure up in their imagination. The shower looked absolutely decadent and the tub was something I could swim laps in. The dungeon was an avenue that shivered me with fear and yet the man before me wasn’t someone to be feared.
At least, for me he wasn’t.
I had to admit, I was titillated. My eyes kept darting around the room, taking in its wonders as I settled back into the leather chair. I could feel his eyes on me as he sat on the ottoman in front of me, his stature growing tall as he straightened out his back. I had no idea what type of world I was stepping into. Hell, I didn’t even know how much of this stuff was supposed to come into play. The ropes and chains that donned the walls and the toys that hung up on hooks were things I didn’t even recognize.
But then my eyes fell on a line of paddles that were affixed to the wall just beyond the dark prince’s shoulder and I started to shiver.
The intensity of the moment was too much to bear. I could feel my entire body trembling in the leather chair as a chill shot down my spine. The intensity of the man before me, surrounded by the chilling intensity of the room he’d led me into, bubbled something in the pit of my gut I’d never felt before.
I wished I could define it but all it did was bring tears to my eyes.
“Why are you here?”
His voice ripped me from my trance and I paused, attempting to formulate my answer. My watery gaze connected back with his but, if he caught it, he didn’t show it. I felt a tear trail down my cheek as a shuddering breath left my lips and, for the first time in my life, I honestly didn’t know what to say.
Why in the world was I here?
“Well,” I said breathlessly. “My friend, um, brought me here.”
But all he did was stare at me and I got the feeling that my shaking sentence hadn’t been enough for him.
“She, uh… invited me to… to New York. To see her. For the weekend. I, uh, haven’t seen her since culinary school and I’d missed her. I’m from a small town near the Poconos and I don’t really get to the city often. At least, since I left school. After, well… after everything happened.”
I felt like an idiot, stammering on like a childish schoolgirl, while this poised man held his hungry gaze on my face. I felt my words trail off as another silent tear cascaded down my cheek and, in a split second, I felt his fingertips graze my skin.
This thumb was wiping away my tear trails before his hand cupped my cheek, bringing my gaze back to his.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Why are you h
ere now? With me?”
I felt my cheeks heat up with his touch as I involuntarily nuzzled into his palm. I had no idea why I was here with him, so I simply stayed silent.
“It’s very clear you’re inexperienced,” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
His hand rushed to my chin, clenching it tightly, and I yelped; not in pain, but in surprise.
“Never be sorry for something like that.” It was as if his voice had dropped an entire octave and I could feel a throbbing between my legs. I wanted him to use that voice again. I didn’t know why and I didn’t know for what, but all I wanted to do was hear those notes grace my eardrums again.
He released my chin and I let out the breath I was holding, waiting for him to say something else.
Anything else.
“Have you ever been spanked before?” he asked.
“You caught me staring at those paddles,” I said.
“You’ve been caught in nothing,” he said. “I’m merely studying you.”
I shook my head slowly, answering his question as that devilish grin reappeared upon his cheeks. I had to be honest with him. If there was anything this man needed to know, it was the secret I kept hidden away from the world.
The secret my friends constantly teased me about.
“I’ve never had sex, much less been introduced to any of this,” I said.
I heard him take in a sharp breath of air and my eyes flew back up to his. I’d folded my hands in my lap, ashamed of the woman he’d decided to waste his time on. No man of his expertise and his sexual appetite would ever want to be with someone who truly didn’t understand what they were doing, and I knew he would cast me out, consider me a lost cause, and force me to find my way back to the dance floor.
But the way his eyes held my body in its silent clutch, I got the feeling that my statement had intrigued him more.
“And yet you came here with me?” he asked. “Has your curiosity overwhelmed your sense of danger?”
He slid the rolling ottoman closer and I could feel his leg snake between mine. I felt his knee press all the way between my aching thighs as his face came closer and closer. My eyes fluttered closed, taking in the musk of his cologne while his breath pulsated upon my neck.
“Make no mistake, songbird. I am dangerous.”
I could hear a faint accent in the low notes of his voice as I leaned into him a bit farther. I could feel my chest lightly grazing his, my body trembling at the mercy of his voice. I clenched my thighs, feeling his knee lightly grind closer to where I wanted him to touch. This man was the sexiest man I’d ever seen.
No matter the danger he brought into my life, I knew in that very moment I wouldn’t leave without experiencing what he had to offer.
I felt his hands creeping up my arms, pulling goosebumps to the surface as I sighed into his shoulder. My forehead lightly touched him, and my body leaned into him as he slowly peeled the lace away from my shoulders. I could feel his warm lips touching my bare skin, pulling me closer and closer to his body. I felt myself scooting forward, his knee delving farther and farther between my legs while my thighs continued to clamp down around it.
His lips slowly worked their way up my neck, stoking a fire within me as my hands lightly rested on his thighs. My head fell back as his lips continued to brush my skin, ghosting along my naked flesh as I sighed in soft pleasure.
“Are you ready to obey?” he asked.
His voice ricocheted through my body, rattling my ribcage as his lips stayed poised above my skin. I wanted him to touch me again. To kiss me again. To allow this fire burning in my gut to rage all across my body. I wanted to burn this room down with the fire he kept kissing and stroking from me, but when I thought about the answer to his question I honestly wasn’t sure.
I wasn’t sure if I was ready to obey him… whatever that meant.
I wanted him, but I had to admit I was frightened. He was frightening. This control he had over me was like nothing I’d ever experienced. His black mask was teasing me out of the corner of my eye as mine sat in the hallway downstairs. I was completely exposed to him and yet, I’d only studied one half of his face.
I pulled back and looked deep into his eyes, my bare shoulders glistening in the pale lighting of the room as I raised my hand to remove his mask.
Out of nowhere, his hand rushed up. He grabbed tightly onto my wrist, twisting it as he pulled me up from the chair. He pushed it behind my back, pulling my chest out farther for him to behold as my breathing sped up. I was on my tip toes, my breath caught in my throat. His forehead laid itself onto mine as his lips hovered over me, taunting my desire for him as he looked deep into my eyes.
“Are you ready to obey now?” he asked.
His lips connected with mine and I suddenly felt as if I was melting. His kiss was gentle, yet domineering. He was making sure I understood who was in control of this situation. He kissed down my neck, holding my arm behind my back as he settled me back down into my chair. He kissed all the way down my chest, teasing my nipples through two layers of lace. My breathing became audible as I gasped for him, feeling him nip at my clothed skin as I tried to tug my hand free.
I wanted to touch him. To feel his skin underneath my fingertips.
I raised my other hand into the air to brace myself against him but he grabbed my wrist and pulled it behind my back as well. He held me in place, keeping me at his mercy as his large, strong hands encircled both my wrists.
“Are you sure you want this?” he asked as his face came back up toward mine. “Are you ready to submit to me?”
I felt near feverish with lust. My body was flushed with desperate want, and I was practically grinding into the chair to try and gain some friction. My chest rose and fell erratically, as I found myself panting, my lips parted, awaiting his tongue. I had no idea what I was about to get myself into but, as the fire in my gut slowly trickled up my body, it burned my lips as the word flew from them effortlessly.
“Yes.”
He stood, pulling me with him as I danced on my tip toes. He walked me over to an area that was completely empty except for a length of chain dangling from the ceiling. My eyes widened in curiosity as fear gripped my throat, and the dark prince suddenly rotated my arms until they were comfortably above my head. He chained me to that spot as my lacy dress hung just above my breasts, my toes barely touching the floor as I dangled there, helpless and at his mercy.
Slowly, he began to undress me. He pulled my lacy dress to the floor while his hands explored the whole of my body. He pulled my heels from my shoes, massaging my feet lightly before his hands grazed up my thighs. He pulled my panties from my body, exposing parts of myself to him that had never been seen by the eyes of another man. I trembled at his touch while his warm hands slowly worked the corset from my body and, suddenly, I was naked for him as his eyes swam along my pale curves.
I saw him reach for something before a piece of silken black fabric came into view. He slid it across my eyes, blindfolding me as he tied it behind my head. I whimpered at the loss of the view. The man was beautiful and he was robbing me of the sight of him. I felt vulnerable and exposed as everything fell silent and, for a moment, I thought he had left me.
But then, I felt it. The smallest fluttering sensation tickling my thigh. I twitched, giggling a bit as it tickled up my stomach. I jerked and danced, trying to get away from the sensation as a smile crossed my lips.
“I’m so ticklish, please stop,” I said, giggling.
The sensation was soon replaced with a prickling sensation that slowly started wheeling itself up the edge of my spine.
I stood desperately still as each prick dug a little deeper into my skin. My legs twitched involuntarily while my arms jolted. I had a sneaking suspicion the first object was a feather, but I had no idea what this pinwheel-type object was.
All I knew was that it was sharp and one wrong move could have me bleeding.
I breathed a sigh of relief when the sensation stopped, but the
n I heard two distinct snapping sounds and, suddenly, I felt fear cascade in my chest. I heard his footsteps growing closer, my body trying to pinpoint a direction to look toward. I turned my head this way and that, trying to see anything from beyond this piece of fabric wrapped around my head.
But the moment he cupped my pussy with what felt like a rubber glove, the words left my lips faster than I could process them.
“Please. I need something more. I just… your touch. It… I don’t know what it did, but please, make it come back.”
He paused, his finger slowly sinking between my slick folds. I could tell he was debating over my words and I whimpered when he pulled his hand away. Had I upset him? Had I scared him off? No, it wasn’t possible to scare a man like him off. I felt his presence wrap around me as the chains started moving, and soon, I was plummeting to the floor as my legs grew weak underneath me.
But just before I hit the ground, this strong, dark prince caught me in his arms and began carrying me somewhere.
I felt my back grace something cool and soft, and as I melted into the sheets, I could tell he’d set me on the bed. He lifted my wrists to the headboard of the bed, placing something fuzzy around both of them that rooted me to the spot. I moved my wrists around, trying to see if I could get free, but all the writhing I was doing was simply putting my body on display for him further.
“You are beautiful, my little songbird,” he said.
I stopped at his words, my back settling to the bed as the impact of his phrase echoed through me. Beautiful?
He thought I was beautiful?
His lips were on my body in an instant, the mask and the wetness of his lips bringing out the senses of my skin. I was panting underneath him; writhing and grinding against him like a small, helpless animal. I wanted more of him. I needed more of him. I wanted to experience everything he had to offer as his lips wrapped around one of my nipples. I arched into him, a moan peeling from my lips as his hands splayed out across my hips.
He held me to the bed while his tongue worked my breast, shooting electric sensations along the sides of my body as I called out for him.
