Rules to Live By

by Lisa Henry

  “On your back, Thomas.”

  Oh God, that didn’t help. Gabe’s voice played with my nerves like a tongue down my spine. I turned over as ordered, and he sat on the bed next to me. “I’m going to put the leftovers away. You cook too well to let that go to waste.” He traced fingers over my shoulders and down my trembling chest, though his gaze never left my face. I couldn’t look away from his eyes. “Then I’m going to come back in here and fuck you until you come again.”

  “Not sure I can.” Though every inch of me tingled, including my cock. How was that even possible?

  “You can.” Gabe leaned over and pressed a kiss to the center of my chest, his lips warm and soft. He nipped at my skin, then licked a line down to my navel before murmuring against my stomach. “I want you to.” Gabe stroked his hands down my thighs, pushing them flat to the mattress.

  His breath warmed my cock even as the skin he’d licked cooled. I shuddered when his lips grazed the root of my dick, and I felt myself stir.

  “While I’m gone, I want you to lie here, just like this, and think about how it’s going to feel to have me inside you.”

  The little whimper echoing in my ears? I’d made that sound. Fuck if I wasn’t as thoroughly turned on as I’d been when he’d sucked my dick down his throat.

  Gabe stood, ran his thumb over my lips, then sauntered out of the bedroom, taking his smirk and his beautiful blue eyes with him.

  I tasted his skin in my mouth, and my body still prickled where he’d touched me. Gabe inside me? Not like I hadn’t contemplated that before and come all over myself while jacking off to the thought of being stretched wide by his cock thrusting deep into me. I exhaled in a long, slow shudder and forced myself not to move, not to reach for my hardening dick. Despite the clacking in the kitchen as Gabe cleaned up from dinner, I had no doubt that he’d know the instant I touched myself. While a part of me yearned for discipline . . . tonight I’d obey.

  I wanted to know exactly what it felt like to be breached and fucked by Gabe. I curled my toes as another storm of pinpricks ran down my skin. This couldn’t be happening. Could it?

  “Well now, there’s a beautiful sight.”

  It took every effort not to turn my head toward Gabe. He hadn’t said to stay still per se, but I didn’t want to take the chance of disappointing him. Footsteps creaked against the floorboards, and Gabe came into view. He dropped something—God, I hoped it was his duffle of rope—on the floor by the bed and took a seat again.

  He folded his hands in his lap. “Condoms and lube?”

  “Nightstand.” I indicated the closer one with my head, and Gabe slid open the drawer, found what he wanted, and placed the bottle and the foil strip within easy reach.

  He took one of my arms and moved it above my head, then the other. I couldn’t help arching when he caught my wrists in one hand and pressed them down. “I don’t even need to tie you down, do I? You’d stay exactly like this if I asked, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yeah.” I swallowed and the world started to recede, tunnel down to Gabe.

  “Sometime soon, we’ll try that.” He leaned over the edge of the bed and came back up with a coil of rope. I couldn’t help the moan, or the shudder when he flashed his teeth in a grin. “I’ll take that as consent, then?”

  “Fucking hell. Yes.”

  Gabe let go of my wrists, then set about tying my hands together. I closed my eyes and savored the soft pull of the rope, the ever-increasing constriction of movement as Gabe wrapped my wrists, and the warmth of his body as he leaned over me. Heaven.

  “Thomas.” Gabe’s voice nudged me out of the warm haze I’d been in. Fingers brushed against my forehead and down the ridge of my nose. “You in there?”

  I opened my eyes. “Hi.”

  “Bondage really is your kink, isn’t it?”

  “Mm-hmm.” It really, really was. I yanked at the bonds. He’d lashed my wrists together and tied them down, probably to the bottom rail of my headboard. After all, that was why I had bought the thing.

  He huffed a laugh, slipped from the bed, then stripped his T-shirt off, and I sucked air in at the sight. Lean and ripped—and that tattoo. Blue tongues of fire started up near his left nipple and flowed down the side of his slender frame right into his jeans. I stared at Gabe’s waistband. “Where does it go?”

  He unbuttoned and unzipped, then pushed both his jeans and whatever he was wearing under them down his hips, and there was my answer. Holy fuck. The tattoo ended high on his thigh, but one flame spiraled out at his hip and crossed his pelvis before it wrapped right around and onto the base of his cock.

  His very long, thick, erect cock.

  Gabe kicked his jeans out of the way and sat on the bed. “You like?”

  “I want to kiss it.”

  He laughed. “The tattoo or my cock?”

  I met his stare. His eyes were the same blue as his ink. “Yes.”

  I’ve never seen a man move as fast as Gabe did to straddle my chest. The next moment I was sucking the crown of his dick. Someone moaned, maybe me, maybe him. I couldn’t tell through the buzzing in my head and the fire in my body. Gabe gripped the top rail of my headboard and slid his dick farther into my mouth.

  God. He was bigger than I’d imagined. Thick and ropey. Musk and salt. Perfect. I took what I could and used every trick I’d ever learned about giving head.

  “Oh fuck!” Above me, Gabe threw back his head when I pressed underneath the crown. “Just—that! Keep doing that!”

  I did, and he fucked my face with long, slow strokes until his breath hitched. He pulled out and looked down. “There are so many things I want to do to you.”

  I wanted every single one. “Well, there’s always tomorrow.”

  He slid down and kissed me. “Your mouth is going to get you in trouble.”

  “You liked it well enough a moment ago.”

  “Hmm.” He moved to my ear and whispered, “That’s one.”

  So much for not acting up. “Sorry.”

  “No, you’re not.” He sat back, trapping my dick between his ass and my stomach. “You’re right though. We have time to indulge in all my pleasures.” If I had any doubt in my mind that Gabe was a Dom, was a bit of a sadist, that vanished when he smiled down at me.

  Thing was, I knew exactly who I was and what I wanted. “Yes, please.”

  Gabe tapped my cheek. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I take my CBT seriously.”

  So did I. I bit back the response, but not the smile. He chuckled and got up off me. “You do yoga, right?”

  He knew I did. Once a week. Wednesday evening. “Why?”

  Gabe pulled my legs up over my head until my ankles touched the top brass rail of my headboard. All breath left me.

  “So you’re nice and flexible, right?” He moved my legs again, dropping my feet to the middle rail and pushing them apart, not enough to hurt, but enough to tense my thighs. It also left my ass very much his for the taking.

  “Gabe.” A plea—I wanted what he offered, but to be tied like this? Open to whatever he wanted to do to me? Fuck. The exhilarating creep of fear up my spine wound around my lust. Please don’t do this. Please do this. My head swam. I’d never been so exposed.

  He probably sensed that. “Too much?” He stroked the insides of my legs that I held exactly where he’d placed them.

  Not really. Just a bit too fast. “No. I—just need to catch up.”

  “Good.” He took more rope from his bag and held it up. “A little more? For me?”

  For Gabe? I nodded. “Trust you.”

  He stroked my lips with his thumb, and I opened my mouth to him, let him thrust his thumb in and out. “I really am honored, Thomas.” Unguarded, raw. Like the joy in his smile. He removed his thumb, then he set about tying my ankles to the brass bar. I slipped headlong toward the dizzying flight I kept falling into every time he wrapped rope around my body. Scene in public? Hell, I probably wouldn’t even notice anyone there after a minute.

  Gabe ta
pped me on the nose however many minutes later. “We’re going to have to work on keeping you present if I’m ever going to bind you while you’re standing.”

  I’d fall over in about thirty seconds, probably. “Mm-hmm.”

  “You are such a delight.” He leaned down and kissed me, brushing his lips over mine at first, then deepening the kiss until he opened my mouth with his tongue. I moaned when he lowered himself onto me, his warm body heavy against mine, our hard shafts sliding against each other as Gabe rocked his hips. The ever-present strain in my arms and thighs reminded me how much I was at his complete mercy.

  He broke the kiss, braced himself on my chest, then reached over to snag the condoms and lube off the nightstand. Didn’t say a word, just hummed like he had when he’d bound me to the dining room chair. The ripping of foil ran through me like a burst of electricity, as did the snap of the lube bottle. Then Gabe’s warm, slick finger pressed inside me, and I let out a thin moan. “Don’t need much—”

  Gabe grazed my prostate, and I lost the ability to think.

  “So you’ve said. But I’m enjoying seeing you like this.” He stroked that same spot inside me again and again, and I thrashed against the ropes that held me so tight and open to him. “Fucking out of your mind.”

  I groaned deep in my chest when he finally withdrew his finger, mostly because of the loss of him, but Gabe moved with the same speed he had before, and the head of his cock pressed into me.

  I probably startled the neighbors two houses over with the shout of pleasure that ripped out of me. God, Gabe felt unbelievable and unlike anything I had imagined. I’d never had a man with quite his girth and certainly not while bound tightly in a very kinky version of the yoga pose plow.

  He leaned over me, sweat beading on his forehead and shoulders. “You okay?”

  I took a deep breath. “Yeah. Best time of my life.”

  His smile was all tooth. “And I’m not even all the way inside you yet.”

  He thrust deeper, and I arched against my bindings with each stroke until he ground his balls against mine. I couldn’t tell his moans from mine

  “Fuck, Thomas.” He paused, my body trembling around his girth, his length. That glorious burn. So full of Gabe. “You feel so good.”

  “You too.” I could only whisper the words.

  His chuckle vibrated my entire body. “Sherri’s fucking loss.” He withdrew and slammed into me, and I was gone. Balls as tight as Gabe’s ropes. Cock aching, nerves screaming each time Gabe pushed back inside. Nothing languid about this. A deep, hard, harsh fuck. God, I loved it. Too much, though, because I was damn close to coming.

  “Gabe, please. Slow. I can’t . . .”

  He didn’t even pause. “Don’t you dare come. I’m not even close to finished with you yet, Thomas.”

  That command, those words, wrapped around my throat like a collar. If I could have done more than suck in gasps of air every time he thrust into me, I would have whimpered. I fought against my body, against the desire that whipped inside me as furiously as Gabe’s fucking—and rode that edge. Flew along it, bound by Gabe’s ropes and utterly his. I had no idea how long he pounded me. Minutes? Hours?

  Sweet pain with each stroke, pushing me higher and higher, then Gabe altered his rhythm, and I about lost it. Every inch of skin flamed, every tendon stretched like Gabe’s rope against my skin. Goddamn, I was in heaven and about to fall over into oblivion. I wanted—desperately wanted—to obey Gabe. Wasn’t sure I could.

  “Fuck!”

  I’m not sure which of us spoke. Gabe found my mouth, and there was nothing but harsh breathing, panting, and his tongue against mine. Everything about Gabe was desperate, needy, and hot. I wanted him to consume me, destroy me, then bring me back to life. He groaned, then broke the kiss. “Thomas, come for me.”

  My orgasm ripped through me and didn’t seem to end. My vision blurred, turned white, and I probably shouted. Couldn’t tell over Gabe’s cry. He kept moving inside me, pounding as if to get even deeper before he buried himself and collapsed onto my chest.

  “Holy hell,” Gabe muttered. He stirred, then pulled out of me. “Jesus. I need to . . .” His words were slurred a bit, his movements uncoordinated. “I’ll untie you. Just need to . . .” His hands trembled as much as his body “. . . come down a bit.”

  I ached. Every inch of skin, every muscle hurt, but in a strange, glorious way. If this was the way a flogging felt to someone who actually liked that shit? Well, now I understood. “I’m— I can wait.”

  I could, too. Wasn’t long before Gabe had me unbound, throwing the ropes off the bed as he went. Somewhere along the line he tossed the condom too, then crawled back on top of me. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those guys that needs to jump into the shower after sex.”

  I wrapped my arms around him. We were both sweaty and sticky, the air full of the musk of sex, but I didn’t give a damn. Sex was messy, wonderfully so. “No. ’Sides, can’t move.”

  He laughed and brushed my hair out of my eyes. “That was incredible. I’m so unbelievably proud of you.”

  Warmth ran through me and settled deep in my chest. It had been too damn long since I’d heard those words. Moisture pricked at the corner of my eyes and my throat tightened. “Thanks.”

  Gabe’s smile needed to be framed in a museum somewhere. So beautiful. “I should have jumped your bones on your first day.”

  I shook my head. “We wouldn’t be here now if you had. I needed . . .” Time. Trust. Friendship. All the things I hadn’t had with Sherri or with Dominic. “I needed to fall in love with my best friend.”

  Gabe tangled his limbs around mine. He kissed me with a passion that stole my breath and my heart. When we came up for air, he spoke.

  “I’m all yours, Tom.”

  I want to thank L.A. Witt for her encouragement while I was writing this story and Kerry Adrienne for brainstorming a title when I’d run out of good ideas. Because my bad ideas were very bad. Also many thanks to Sarah, Andrea, and Alex for making this story even better.

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  ANAH CROW & DIANNE FOX

  Driven to Distraction

  Going the Distance

  Drive Into Love

  Tatterdemalion

  Trammel

  Pit Road

  One Real Thing

  Escape Velocity

  CARI Z

  Changing Worlds

  Cambion: Dark Around the Edges

  A Blinded Mind

  Surviving the Change

  Pursued

  Different Spheres

  Camellia, with Caitlin Ricci

  LISA HENRY

  With Heidi Belleau

  King of Dublin

  Bliss

  Sweetwater

  He Is Worthy

  Tribute

  The Island

  Dark Space

  With J.A. Rock

  When All the World Sleeps

  Playing
the Fool series

  The Two Gentlemen of Altona

  The Merchant of Death

  Tempest

  HEIDI BELLEAU

  Rear Entrance Video series

  Apple Polisher

  Wallflower

  Straight Shooter

  The Professor’s Rule series, with Amelia C. Gormley

  First Impressions, Second Chances

  Blasphemer, Sinner, Saint, with Sam Schooler (in the

  Bump in the Night anthology)

  With Rachel Haimowitz

  The Burnt Toast B&B

  The Flesh Cartel serial

  With Lisa Henry

  King of Dublin

  Bliss

  With Violetta Vane

  Mark of the Gladiator

  Cruce de Caminos

  ANNA ZABO

  Close Quarter

  Slow Waltz

  Takeover

  Just Business (Coming soon)

  ANAH CROW writes contemporary, science fiction, and paranormal romance—mostly with Dianne Fox. When he isn’t writing, he’s reading, playing video games, arguing online, and coping with empty-nest syndrome.

  Anah’s favourite tropes include classics such as friends-to-lovers, accidental babies, and fake boyfriends. His first love, when it comes to genre, is science fiction, but the truth is he’s a bit of a tomcat: he’ll write anything he can get his paws on. His bookshelf is full of books on writing, science, warfare, and psychology as well as romances, poetry, and classic literature.

  He lives in southern Ontario with his partner and two dogs, and welcomes Dianne into his home as often as possible.

  You can find Anah at www.anahcrowdiannefox.com.

  DIANNE FOX writes contemporary, science fiction, and paranormal romance—mostly with Anah Crow. When she isn’t writing, she’s adapting to life outside the classroom, and spending her newfound free time reading, crocheting, and reveling in the wonders of mise en place . . . especially when someone else is doing the cooking.

  Dianne’s favorite tropes include friends-to-lovers, hurt/comfort, and enemies-to-lovers. Her first romance novel was a Zebra historical snagged from her grandfather, and she read her first contemporary in the back of a station wagon on a cross-country road trip. She reads every genre under the sun, fiction and non, but prefers happy endings. She’ll write anything Anah will let her get away with—but prefers happy endings.