by Lexi Blake
She shook her head and scrambled to get to her feet. “No. Sorry.”
Reid was there, lending her a hand. It slipped and found her hip and she sort of fell against the poor man. They were chest to chest, her head tipping up to look into his gorgeous eyes.
His lips curled up. “I think we should definitely tie this one up, Master Gideon. We wouldn’t want to lose her.”
The look on his face made her breath hitch, but he was doing it for show. They were basically performing a scene. He didn’t mean a thing by it. She took a step back and found her footing. “I’m ready, Sir.”
Gideon was the one who moved in behind her now. He was the one who whispered in her ear as he brushed her hair to the side. She forced herself not to shudder in pleasure at the touch of his hand to her skin.
“I highly doubt that you’re ready.” He breathed the words against her ear. “But I’m entirely impatient so we’re doing this anyway. Have I told you how gorgeous you look in nothing but your own skin? I lied. I lied to protect myself because you’re the one woman in the world who could truly destroy me.”
That bastard had done this because they were in front of an audience and she could choose to stand there and listen to him or embarrass the hell out of them both and walk away.
He wasn’t as impatient as he thought. If he’d done this to her the first day, it would have been easy to stomp off. She wouldn’t have cared what she looked like, but he’d let her enjoy the conference, let her start to know some of these people. She hadn’t met many of the Doms, but she genuinely enjoyed the friendships she was starting with the submissives. He’d let her get comfortable with the outer edges of the lifestyle and now she couldn’t do it. Now that she knew what she would be giving up, she couldn’t push him away.
What if he was telling her the truth? What if he’d woken up the next day and realized he wasn’t ready for another relationship?
She shook off those questions that were far too dangerous to answer and simply stared straight ahead.
He draped a length of rope around her neck. “I’ll take that as progress,” he whispered before raising his voice and getting back to professor mode. “I’m going to tie my lovely sub in a simple but effective design. If you do this properly, your sub could actually wear this under clothing and no one would be able to tell. No one except you and your sub. Trust me, this one will definitely be able to tell I’ve tied her up when I’m done.”
The rope draped down the front of her body, caressing the sides of her breasts. The nipple rings made her so much more sensitive.
“Normally you wouldn’t do this while standing behind your sub,” Gideon explained as he moved closer to her. “Normally you would take this chance to stand in front of her and watch her eyes as you form each tie. You would use it as a vehicle to intimacy. Rope can be an exquisitely intimate experience for the both of you.”
Like it had been that night. He was accurately describing how he’d tied her up that night they’d spent together, his eyes on hers as his hands worked the rope. His gaze binding her every bit as firmly to him as the ties around her flesh had bound her to his bed.
“But then you wouldn’t be able to watch the way I tie her. You would only get to see my back, and her front is so much prettier,” Gideon explained.
“He is not kidding about that,” Reid added, giving her a wink. “And you are doing spectacularly well, sweetheart.”
“I’m only supposed to stand here,” she replied.
“Yes, and you do it so well. It’s very important to understand your subs needs. Some enjoy humiliation play,” Reid continued as Gideon’s hands came around and he started making knots with the rope he’d draped over her shoulders. “This beauty here needs positive reinforcement. Sometimes Doms get confused and make the mistake of switching those around.”
“Reid,” Gideon said, his hands pausing. “I don’t think we need more commentary.
“You could have used it six months ago,” Reid replied under his breath.
“The first thing to do is a set of three ties.” Gideon seemed intent on ignoring his best friend. “One above her breasts, one between, and a third below. These knots should be loose because we’re going to use them later to further secure the sub.”
His arms were around her, encircling her with his strength. He had to stand right against her so she could feel his chest against her back, feel every muscle tight to her body. She was well aware her nipples were standing at attention, though he hadn’t touched them since he’d begun the actual scene.
There were a couple of questions that Gideon answered about the knots or “ties” as he called them. She kept herself still, though she couldn’t help but think about the rope he was still fiddling with.
“Now comes the fun part,” Reid said. “He’s going to want you to spread your legs.”
“It’s definitely time to spread those pretty legs,” Gideon confirmed.
She wasn’t sure why he wanted her to change her stance, but it wasn’t like the group hadn’t seen it all already. She stepped out and Reid knelt beside her, taking the rope in his hand.
“The next part of my sub’s fun comes from looping the rope between her pretty thighs,” Gideon explained as Reid passed him the rope.
God, Reid was so close to her core that all he would have to do to touch it was move an inch and his face would be right there. He could lick her and suck her and make her scream…
Why was she thinking that way about her best friend? He’d been such a good friend to her and she was…
All thought fled as that length of rope settled against her clitoris. He didn’t mean to leave it there, did he?
“Yes, now you get the picture, sweetheart.” Reid stood and looked entirely pleased with himself. He gestured to where the rope currently sat like he was freaking Vanna White ready to turn a letter. “The placement of the rope is very important and precisely why this particular design is more about pleasure than punishment. Let’s turn you around so they can see how this works.”
Gideon gently turned her and she was looking up into his perfectly gray eyes. He had the sweetest grin on his face as he stared down at her. “You are really doing well. Don’t clench.”
She understood what he meant two seconds later when Reid pulled the rope between her butt cheeks and she gasped. It sent a light joy into Gideon’s eyes. Despite the fact that she hadn’t completely forgiven him, she couldn’t help but like the fact that he looked happy. He so rarely was open and happy. There always seemed to be the weight of responsibility clinging to him.
“He’s going to draw the rope through the loop around your neck and we’ll continue,” Gideon explained. “Are you green?”
They’d been using the stop light system. If she got scared she would tell him she was yellow. If she couldn’t stand whatever he was doing, she would simply say the word red and everything would stop. But she was fine. “I’m perfectly green.”
“You’ve come a long way in a couple of days,” he murmured, taking the ends of the rope and turning her around again. He started weaving the rope around her, using the holes he’d left in the knots on her torso to make a design that bound her breasts.
She sighed and let the sensations flow over her. Gideon and Reid kept talking but she let the words they were saying go and concentrated on what she was feeling. It was what she was supposed to do after all. They were teaching how to send her into subspace. She was finding that getting her ass all bound up kind of really did make her subby. It was like they’d found a button and pushed it to bring out this part of her that didn’t need to think constantly, the part of her capable of trusting and giving over.
It was a nice feeling. So were their hands on her. They weren’t being careful about how they touched her. Gideon cupped her breasts when he wanted to show off how he was wrapping his ropes around her. Reid ran his hands over the globes of her ass to demonstrate how the rope there stabilized the whole design.
And she felt it all, allowed herself to f
loat on a wave of sensation and arousal.
“How can you tell if this is doing anything at all for your submissive? I don’t like the idea that I’m boring her and I worry if I ask she’ll tell me what I want to hear.” She thought it was Master Joe asking the question.
Jessica heard Reid chuckle. “I can smell her arousal from here. Trust me. If I tug on the rope in just the right way, she’d come in a heartbeat.”
Now there was a plan. If Reid didn’t want to provide the tug, she could probably do it on her own. She was so aroused, it wouldn’t take long. Jessica’s muscles felt like jelly as Gideon turned her around again so she was facing the wall and her backside was toward the audience.
He brushed his fingers across the rope that held her. “As you can see, my pretty submissive is now all trussed up and ready for some more serious play. This is an introductory design. It’s easy to learn and doesn’t take long. It can lead to more elaborate designs.”
“And it’s perfect for a butt plug,” Reid explained. “The rope helps a newbie sub hold that sucker in and not get in trouble when she unclenches briefly and sends a well-lubed missile across the dungeon.”
“Reid!” She felt her whole body flush with embarrassment.
“Don’t think it hasn’t happened before,” Reid replied with a grin. “It can be truly dangerous. I remember nights when I had to be quick or I could get tagged by those suckers.”
“Could I get a chair?” Gideon asked and immediately one of the Doms from the front row offered up an unoccupied one. He turned the back to the side of the “stage” and gestured toward it. “Jessica, if you would grip the back of the chair and give me a flat back, please.”
“He’s going to paddle you now.” Reid’s eyes practically sparkled with joy.
Those words should have had her running, but she was smart enough to know she would probably enjoy it. Over the last few days, she’d gotten used to trying new things, and it was with a breathless eagerness that she moved toward the chair.
And gasped because the rope slid against her clitoris and sent sparks of pleasure through her.
“Like that little knot, huh?” Reid asked.
She nodded.
Gideon’s hand gripped the rope at the small of her back and tugged sharply, eliciting a whimper from her. “It works a lot of ways, love. This is a very versatile design. Reid, this chair isn’t the most stable of ways to secure her.”
“I’ve got it.” He swung a leg over to straddle the chair, weighing it down and placing himself where he could look into her eyes.
It was incredibly intimate and she glanced down.
“No, love.” He gently brought her chin up. “You’re connected to Gideon by the paddle he’ll use on you. This is how you connect with me. Let me see everything you’re feeling. Don’t hold back on me.”
The first smack of the paddle hit her ass and she felt her eyes flaring. It moved the ropes, causing them to slide along her most private of parts, and tears welled in her eyes.
Reid’s hands came up, cupping her face. “Yes, give it all to me.”
He rested his forehead to hers as the smacks came hard and fast, blooming from pain to pleasure.
She held on to the connection, to the sensation of being between them, and she’d never in her life felt so free.
Chapter Five
“I thought I was supposed to mix and mingle,” Jessica complained as she watched Reid get dressed. She lay back on the big bed in her suite, trying not to think about what had happened the afternoon before. She could still feel Gideon’s hands on her, still feel the deep connection she and Reid had formed as he’d grounded her for Gideon’s discipline. They’d been perfect gentlemen since then, politely escorting her around. Just an hour before, he and Reid had shared a lovely dinner with her.
“You mingled plenty at dinner, love.” Reid smoothed the cashmere of his sweater down. He studied himself in the mirror, carefully fixing his hair.
“I did not. I talked to three people, all of them subs like me. Anytime a man tried to talk to me, Gideon suddenly found something important to discuss with him.”
Reid shrugged. “We do a lot of business at these seminars. There are influential people here. I, for one, would love to be their lawyer on retainer.”
“One of the guys is a stripper,” Jessica pointed out. “He takes off his clothes for horny bachelorettes. I scarcely think he needs a lawyer on retainer.”
Reid turned and wagged a finger at her. “Shows what you know. Do you not read the tabloids? All of those scandalous boys and girls have a lawyer by their side. I think I would look good telling the press ‘no comment’ concerning my stripper client’s tell-all book. Let’s face facts, if one of us is going to be on television, it should definitely be me. With these pores, not even HD can hold me back.”
She threw a pillow at his perfectly coiffed head. “All I know is I’m striking out. No one seems interested in me. All that stuff about a lack of female subs is complete bullshit.”
Reid frowned and sat down beside her. He let his hand find her thigh. She didn’t think anything about it. He was a tactile person. “You’re beautiful, love. How can you doubt that?”
She huffed. She knew she sounded like a brat, but she was so frustrated she couldn’t help it. “I can doubt that because I can’t get a date in what amounts to a sex club. It should be like shooting fish in a barrel, but my aim is off.”
“Gideon wants you,” Reid pointed out.
Jessica managed a humph.
“He’s trying to woo you.” He gestured to the table that held a stunning arrangement of lilies. “Did you like the flowers he sent?”
The card attached had asked for forgiveness. She could forgive him, but she wasn’t sure she could ever forget. The hurt ran deep. “I love lilies. You told him, right?”
“I didn’t have to,” Reid replied. “He already knew. Can we talk about it now?”
She was well aware Reid had wanted this discussion since the morning after her and Gideon’s personal Armageddon. Since it looked like she was going to be friends with Gideon again, it was probably time. “I suppose so. It’s been six months.”
He growled to show his frustration. His hand played idly at her knee. He ran it up her pajama bottoms so they were skin to skin. “You’re the most frustrating thing. Do you know what he was doing the morning you resigned?”
“Of course not.” She assumed he went into work and breathed a huge sigh of relief when he realized she was gone without a big scene.
“You would if you had been brave enough to face him. But no, you had to give me your letter of resignation and take the coward’s way out.”
She sat up, irritation flaring. “He made it plain…”
“I’m talking now.”
She settled back down. When he used that tone, she tended to do what he wanted. When he used that voice, she started to think of him as something more than a friend. “All right.”
“He was hurting. Anna had just broken up with him. It was so much worse than a broken engagement, but he needs to tell you that story. He was hurting. He was afraid, too.”
“Of getting hurt again?” There was an empty feeling in her gut. She hated how jealous she’d always been of the blonde socialite Gideon had planned to marry. Anna had been everything Jessica wasn’t—slender, polished, sophisticated. She and Gideon had made a gorgeous, golden couple.
“You don’t read the papers much, do you, love?” Reid’s fingers drummed against her thigh. “Everything would have been easier if you read the freaking society pages.”
Now he was losing her. “Why would I read that crap? I don’t care who showed up wearing what.”
“How about the lavish descriptions of weddings some people seem to love?”
She reached out and grabbed his hand as she finally got his point. “Anna married someone else.”
“Yes,” Reid sighed as though weary. “Anna Michaels is now the golden girl of Birmingham society.”
Her hear
t seized. Tears welled in her eyes at the humiliation Gideon must have gone through. “She left him for his brother?”
Reid nodded slowly. “Gideon hasn’t been welcome in his family since then. He wasn’t in love with Anna. Of that I am absolutely certain. But losing his family hurt him quite terribly. Even though they weren’t good to him, they were his.” He turned to her, looking her straight in the eyes. “I’m going to say the things to you I should have said then, but I was terrified you would leave me, too.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She cupped his face in her palms. “I love you. I would never leave you.”
She couldn’t imagine it. He was her best friend, her secret fantasy. Beyond any of that, Reid was the foundation of her world. He’d been that for years.
“Never say never,” he muttered under his breath. “You left Gideon pretty damn fast and when you cut him out, you didn’t look back.”
“That’s not fair. He wanted me to leave. He said he didn’t want me.”
“Yes, I’m sure he said a ton of things that were awful and hurt your feelings. Did you think about the fact that it was completely out of character for him to treat you that way? Had he ever treated you that way before?”
A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Gideon had never spoken to her that way before. Gideon had fired a contractor for being rude to her. Gideon walked her to her car at night. Gideon was a gentleman until that day. Now she thought about the desperation in his touch that night. He’d fallen on her like a starving man. “No. You know he was always protective of me.”
“He was your friend. Why did you run away? I don’t want to hear that bullshit about making it easy on him. You didn’t run away to keep the peace. You ran away to punish him.”
“That’s not true.” Except, maybe…
