by Diana Hunter
Phillip did not feel as calm as the picture he projected. In fact, he was quite nervous. Ray’s finger-drumming wasn’t helping. Was he doing that because he wasn’t sure how things were going to go? Or because the man just had excess energy?
“All rise.”
Phillip stood immediately, watching the judge return to the bench, followed by the jury filing into place. He tried to read faces but they were as impassive as his own. He thought he saw a smile from one of the two middle-aged women who sat near each other in the line but didn’t dare count on it.
“Has the jury reached a verdict?”
“We have, Your Honor. We find the defendant not guilty.”
Phillip heard a small squeal from behind him but couldn’t tell if it was Sarah or Jill. He barely heard the words of the judge dismissing the case as Ray shook his hand. The prosecuting attorney approached and offered his congratulations. Phillip shook hands, hearing only the words “not guilty” playing over and over in his head.
And then Sarah was beside him. Sarah, the woman he loved, the woman he’d been forced to wait for. He swept her into his arms and right there in front of God and everybody he kissed her hard and long and deep.
Later, Sarah would remember the events of the next hour only in glimpses. Kissing Phillip, the joy in her heart, the race down the corridor to the judge’s chambers, the look on her face when Phillip asked her to marry the two of them right there.
Sarah had produced the paperwork from her purse, all signed and ready to go months before the untimely interruption. Jill and Will stood up for them and Phillip and Sarah officially tied the knot in the eyes of the law.
Chapter Thirteen
Bound
Sarah thought they’d never get home. Well, back to Phillip’s cottage, anyway. Now her home as well. With the sun already low on the horizon when they left the courthouse, it was full dark after their celebratory supper with the group Sarah was beginning to affectionately think of as “Phillip’s gang”.
Finally the two of them sped through the darkness to pull into the cottage’s long driveway. A bitter wind blew and the two hurried to the house, anxious to be out of the elements and in where it was warm and safe.
Her sigh was explosive. Sarah sank against the closed front door as she finally rid herself of all the pent-up tension she’d been carrying for weeks. She shivered and sighed again, blowing out the last of her worries as Phillip hung their coats.
Coming over to her, he gathered her into his arms, the small lamp on the side table casting alluring shadows over his face. “Come here, woman.”
She clung to him, breathing deeply of his cologne, caressing the heavy wool of his suit coat with her cheek. Her hands slid beneath his coat and around his back to pull him closer. Under her fingers, she could feel the warm broadcloth of his shirt and beneath it, the hard muscles that had wielded that cane long ago. That cane that had given her the most extreme orgasm of her life had also been the cane that caused them so much trouble.
Pulling away, she looked up with concern. “Sir, please promise me one thing?”
“What is it, slave?”
“Promise me you’ll someday use that cane again.” She put her fingers on his lips to stop his protest. “I liked it. It was a misunderstanding by outside people that the courts have now rectified. But I liked it.” Heat blushed in her cheeks as she admitted she liked the sharp pains that had blossomed into ecstasy and her voice trailed away in embarrassment. “I thought it was…fun.”
Phillip took her chin, pulling her face back up to him. “Fun? Interesting word choice, my slave.” But then he grew serious again. “Someday we’ll get the cane out again, I promise. Just not quite yet.”
Sarah saw a trace yet lingered of some phantom deep in his psyche. He had put her in danger and still hadn’t forgiven himself. She smiled and deflected his angst with a sexy waggle of her eyebrows. “Then I do hope my Master has some other wonderful activity planned for tonight?” She stood on her tiptoes so she could whisper in his ear. “Your slave wants to celebrate!”
Phillip’s laughter filled the room and happiness swelled inside her. She loved it when she could make him laugh. He stepped away from her, his eyes twinkling. “Show me how much you want it, slave.”
With only the small light of the lamp to light her, Sarah did a striptease worthy of Gypsy Rose Lee. Swaying her hips to imaginary music, she flung her hair back and tossed her head as her fingers slowly unbuttoned her blouse. The matching jacket she had taken off before putting her coat on and as she pulled the blouse out of the waistband, Sarah realized she’d left it in the car. Dropping her head so her hair covered half her face, she smiled coyly and decided it could wait until morning. Especially when Phillip raised an eyebrow at her antics and shifted, though not before she noted the growing bulge in his pants.
With a shimmy of her shoulders, she let the blouse fall, catching it neatly in her hands. She held it out to the side, then decided she didn’t really want to drop it on the floor of the hallway. Turning the situation to her advantage, she sauntered to where he now leaned against the archway that led to the living room. Waggling her eyebrows again, she tossed the shirt over his shoulder, making sure to bounce her breasts enticingly as she did so.
He didn’t move but his grin was all the encouragement she needed. Feeling brazen, she moved back only a little before turning and bending at the waist, her legs spread wide. She ran a hand from the back of her knee up her thigh, pushing the skirt up as she did so, letting him see the tops of her stockings and the garter that held them in place. When he shifted his weight against the doorframe, she knew she had scored.
Still keeping her back to him, she tossed her head again, looking over her shoulder and watching him watch her as she slid down the zipper of her skirt. The garters and stockings had paid off. Since it was a weeknight, she had dressed and gone to court from her apartment, her natural optimism hoping even then for the evening celebration they were about to have.
Sliding the skirt off and making sure he got a good look at her ass before she stood again, she tossed it over her shoulder, keeping it hooked on her finger. When she turned to face him, she dropped it in front of her, covering her shaved pussy from his view. Teasing him, she spread her legs and pulled the skirt slowly up through, pressing it against her mound as she threw her head back, closed her eyes and let her remaining inhibitions go.
Phillip watched her gyrate in the hall, his cock throbbing as she teased him with glimpses of her body. It didn’t matter that he knew every inch of her skin, that he’d taken possession of her pussy and her ass and her mouth. When they’d met, he’d been looking for a woman who would sexually submit to him, someone who would obey his commands and let him play with her body as he saw fit. He’d also wanted someone he could give his heart to, though he wasn’t sure he’d known that at the time. Standing there watching Sarah’s mind slip into her sexy, submissive state made him realize he’d found so much more than his fantasies had ever dreamed.
Her eyes had gone dreamy and when she threw the skirt over his other shoulder, he could smell the scent of her arousal all over the fabric. He remembered her first entrance into this hall, how scared and nervous she’d been because he had asked then for her compliance. And oh, how she’d given it to him that night!
As she wrapped her bra around his neck like a scarf, he grinned and wondered just who had trained whom. He’d opened the door for her but she’d embraced that part of her sexuality with a passion even he had never expected. His cock rose, pressing against his pants with increasing urgency.
“That’s enough, slave. Leave the stockings.” His voice was calculatingly rough, knowing the tone would settle her deeper into her role as his submissive. She didn’t disappoint him. With her foot, she pushed the shoes she had just kicked off to the side, then came to stand before him, her legs spread, her arms behind her head and her breasts pushed out in offering.
Her eyes still held a twinkle, a sprightly reminder of how much s
he enjoyed submitting to his will. Even as he watched, however, she closed those beautiful brown eyes and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, he watched her shoulders relax and her head bow. When she reopened her eyes and reset her gaze, the pixie she could be was gone, a waiting slave in her place.
Phillip’s cock moved in his pants. God, what this woman did to him! A simple act of submission and he was ready to throw her to the ground and take her right there in the hallway. He needed to master himself before he could Master her.
Turning on his heel, he gestured for her to follow him to the bedroom. Tonight would be special. He was a free man once more and intended to celebrate.
Bidding her to kneel in the doorway, he took a moment to blindfold her so she could not see the preparations he made. Phillip closed the curtains against the night and lit several candles around the room. Jarred candles, long tapers, short tea lights—all lent their flames to cast a magical spell over the room.
Finally done, he turned to survey his work before going over to Sarah—his slave, his pet—who waited on her knees in patience.
Phillip wasn’t making any attempt to be quiet with whatever he was doing but Sarah still couldn’t figure out the details. He moved several times from the closet, where she knew he kept whatever toys weren’t in use in the dungeon. But what he was getting out or putting away, she couldn’t tell. She could, however, smell the perfumed scent of the candles and she smiled. The soft light they spread around the room always made her feel as if she’d stepped back into another century.
She heard him approach and his fingers untied the knot of the scarf he’d tied around her eyes. Still without saying a word, he gave her back her eyesight and she blinked several times as her eyes adjusted. Amazing how well-lit a room could become just from a dozen or so candles.
Phillip held his hand out to her and she accepted his help in standing. The sheet and blankets had been stripped almost completely off the bed, forming a luxurious pile that cascaded over the intricate wrought iron footboard to puddle on the hardwood floor. Several coils of thick black rope lay in a neat row on the top of the bed.
He still held her hand and a gentle tug pulled her around to face him. There was nothing gentle in his look, however. Candlelight reflected from his eyes and in their depths, Sarah saw the hungry beast she knew he could become. Held in check now, she knew how he devoured her when the beast took control. Her eyes narrowed as the woman she kept caged stirred in response.
“I will bind you tonight in a special webwork, my slave.” Phillip’s low voice murmured a spell to enthrall her and Sarah followed willingly. She let his words hypnotize her, her desire to please him coupling with her deeper desire to be devoured by him.
He draped a length of heavy cord over her shoulders, letting the weight center her. “There’s magic in these black ropes, my love, magic that will take your breath away.” Another length of rope across her shoulders made her pull in a breath. “Magic that will bind your soul to mine.” A third length made her bow her head in submission.
“Yes, my Master.” Her voice, barely a whisper, gave him the title from the depths of her being.
“Kneel.”
The weight of the ropes around her shoulders pushed her down. Sinking to her knees, she absorbed the heaviness and used it to help her find the quiet places inside her mind. Only by stilling her thoughts could she let the cage open tonight. The touch of Phillip’s hand on her hair made her look up.
“I love you, Sarah.”
His tone, quieter, more serious than she had ever seen before, made her breath catch in her throat. Phillip stood before her, his psyche bared to the core. A core of quiet strength formed inside her, a core that understood she could do anything with him at her side.
“I love you, Phillip.”
And then the beast was back, his eyes darkening with hunger she knew only she could feed.
“Down on all fours.”
Willingly, she went down, her rear pressed against the bed, the ropes draped like a scarf across her shoulders. Phillip stepped back and Sarah’s gaze fell on his shoes—black shoes with the laces neatly tied—just peeking out from the hem of his cuffed pant leg. The slow smile spread across her cheeks as she reveled in the symbolism.
If he’d hoped to humiliate her, it hadn’t worked. The woman on all fours before him was a fiercely independent woman who graciously bowed to his commands because she chose to. His cock, which had grown soft as he made preparations, stirred again to see her bow to his will under the ropes he would bind her with tonight.
He turned the growl that formed in his chest into a clearing of his throat. Tonight was not a night to rush. Capricious as they sounded, he had intent behind his commands. His voice deep, he now moved her to yet another position with but two words. “Stand, slave.”
She trembled as she did so but Phillip did not offer his hand to steady her. Once she was standing, he removed the weight of the ropes, one by one laying the coils on the bed until she stood nearly naked again before him, only dressed in only her garters and stockings.
That was soon to be remedied. He still wore his tie and now he undid it, pulling it through his buttoned-down collar. “Put out your hands,” he instructed her and was pleased when she brought them forward, palm to palm, without needing to be told. She was learning.
With quick, deft twists, he tied her wrists together, then threw the remaining length over the top support of the four-poster. He pulled her arms up so that she had to stand on her tiptoes, yet he wanted her comfortably so. All he really needed was to get her hands out of the way for the next part but forcing her up a bit would help her mental journey that was all about control.
He noted the warmth of her skin, running his hands down her arms and over her breasts. The last thing he wanted was an unforeseen chill that would ruin his work by bringing her mind back to mundane matters. He left her and went to check the thermostat in the living room. For good measure, he nudged it up a few degrees.
Phillip paused in the doorway, blessing all the powers in the universe that had brought Sarah into his life. She hung there, patiently waiting, her even breathing making her breasts move in the most enticing manner.
“Are you ready to be bound, slave?”
She looked at him with a steady gaze, understanding the question’s many levels. Her voice quiet, she gave the one reply that would answer them all. “Yes, Master.”
Phillip wasted no more time. Picking up a coil of black rope, he passed one end around her body, tying it just under her raised arms. Satisfied the knot wasn’t too tight, he wound the rope around and around her body, pulling it taut and snug against her skin. Bit by bit her breasts were flattened under the rope’s unceasing descent.
“With each circle of the rope, I ensnare you further.” Phillip wound another length. “Feel how the rope becomes a second skin, both a corset that binds and a garment that covers, giving not even a glimpse of your skin underneath.”
Sarah closed her eyes as Phillip continued to encircle her with black rope against her white skin. Her mind reeled and she relaxed into her bondage, feeling the tie bite into her wrists.
A sharp tug of the rope made her eyes fly open, however and sent her up on her toes.
“Do not go to sleep on me, slave.”
“No, Sir…just enjoying it.” Feeling dreamy, she thought she smiled but couldn’t be sure.
Phillip had run out of rope but tied another length to the first, or was it the second? Her breasts were tight to her body now, the nipples purposely pinched between two coils. Heat darted from those two points straight down to her pussy. She wanted to rub it—her pussy, the heat, her nipples—all of them. Phillip had been smart to tie her hands out of the way.
“Deep breath in.”
She took in as much air as she could but the coils didn’t give her much room. Phillip quickly passed the rope around her waist several times as she held the breath as long as she could. And when she exhaled, she discovered she couldn’t pull in an
other deep breath. The ropes forced her to breathe in shallow draughts. Her pussy twitched so violently, she was afraid she’d come right then and there.
Phillip tied the end off, bringing the last coil tight against her skin. With a deft pull on the tie that held her hands, he released her, letting her pull down her arms unfettered. The change in pressure around her midsection as she dropped her arms to her sides made her feel as if her shoulders floated on top of the rest of her body.
Gesturing to the long pier mirror that hung on the wall opposite the foot of the bed, Phillip directed her gaze. Sarah gasped in pleased surprise.
The candlelight softened the lines of her body, casting shadows that complemented her curves. The stark contrast of her white skin against the thick black rope astonished her almost as much as the beauty her figure took when pressed into such an hourglass shape. She ran a palm over the corded corset, feeling the bumps made by the tightly packed ropes. Like being encased in tight corduroy, she thought as she turned sideways and examined her reflection.
From this angle, her ample breasts all but disappeared. Phillip had wound the coils tightly across her chest, forcing her breasts to stretch downward. A small gap showed where her nipples jutted out, supported by a half-moon of flesh the rope had rolled away from. Experimentally, she ran the palm of her hand over her nipples, delighted at the tingles her touch produced.
As she twisted and turned to get a good view of Phillip’s binding, the ropes loosened a little and she found she breathed easier. Either that or her body was simply getting used to its new condition. Whichever way it was, the ropes felt like a second skin. Delighted and feeling naughty, she turned to face Phillip, standing with her feet apart and her hands up behind her head in an attitude of submission she thoroughly enjoyed.
