“I won’t tie them so tight that you can’t get out of them if you really want to, or so I can’t easily remove them from you if needed. You’re never in danger.”
“I appreciate you reassuring me, Shawn. I’m not afraid. This is fascinating, and sexy. And I’m totally into it.”
He nods, and with my hands tied in front of me, leads me to the bed. He helps me lie down in the center of the mattress and lifts my hands over my head, tying them to the wooden headboard.
“Does this hurt your shoulders?”
“Nope.”
I’m not nervous in the least. I’m almost giddy with excitement. I don’t know what he plans to do next, but I’m ready for it. Every single thing Shawn has done with or to me since we started this physical relationship has been nothing short of amazing.
I can’t imagine this will be any different.
With my hands restrained above me, all I can do is watch as Shawn reaches for a ribbon that I didn’t see before. He drags it over my skin, across my nipples and between my legs.
The light sensation sends goose bumps over my flesh.
“You like that,” he says with a grin. “What about this?”
He leans over and takes my nipple into his mouth, sucks hard, and then nibbles it until it’s just this side of too much sensation.
I cry out and squirm beneath him. I want to touch him, but all I can do is wiggle in the restraints.
“You have a safe word,” he reminds me.
“Fuck the safe word,” I growl. “Just touch me. This is torture.”
The grin is swift and sly, and the next thing I know, his fingers are between my legs, strumming my folds as if he’s playing a guitar. He plucks them lightly as if the song is soft and sweet, and then his touch deepens, and I’m nothing but a ball of sensation.
We’re five minutes in, and I’m beside myself with lust.
“If you keep moving your legs like that, I’ll have to tie them, too.”
“I can’t stop moving,” I confess, panting hard. “I need you inside me, Shawn.”
“Sorry, Lex, that’s the wrong answer.”
Chapter 10
~Shawn~
God, she’s magnificent, sprawled out on my bed, writhing in wanton need. I’ll give her what she wants, but not quite yet.
I have some fun in store for her first.
I gently cup her ankle in my hand, tie it to the bedpost, and then do the same to the other side before standing back to take her in. She’s fully restrained with my red ropes knotted against her pale flesh.
It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my bloody life.
Her blue eyes are wide and focused on mine. Not a drop of fear. No, there’s nothing fearful about the way she’s watching me right now.
She’s absolutely turned on, which is precisely what I want from her.
“Do you know,” I begin as I step to her and drag my fingertip up the inside of her left leg, “how unbelievably sexy you are, Lexi?”
She licks her lips and shakes her head no.
“Always answer me with words, please.”
“No.”
“I dream about you,” I confess as I watch my finger tickle her navel. “And when I’m awake, I long for you, for your touch. I don’t think I can say that about anyone else I’ve ever been with. You’ve put some kind of spell on me, and I don’t think I mind at all.”
“I don’t mind either.”
I grin and lean over to kiss her nipples, pull them between my lips and play as my hand eases between her legs. The heel of my hand presses against her clit as I push two fingers inside her and watch as her back bows off of the bed, and she cries out.
“Yes!”
She’s slick and ready for me, but I hold back because once I start fucking her, I won’t stop until we’re both spent.
And I want this to last.
I send her up and over the first peak, and when she’s coming down from that initial high, I cover her with my body and kiss her shoulder, then up her neck to her lips.
She gives as good as she gets. If her hands were free, she’d be tugging at my hair and scratching her nails down my back.
She’s a bloody delight in bed.
“I can’t get enough of your tight, wee body,” I say, watching her eyes as I let my hand roam over her. “Your skin is like silk, and your voice is a siren’s call that I’ll never get tired of.”
“I love it when you talk to me,” she admits breathlessly. “That hint of Ireland in your voice is the sexiest thing ever.”
I smile softly. “It’s my accent you enjoy, is it then?”
Kicking it up a notch isn’t difficult.
I’m rewarded with a long, low moan.
Interesting.
“And what if I tell you, with this accent, that it’s savage how turned on I am when I look at you all tangled up in my ropes?”
“Good God, you just got hotter.”
I grin against her skin and place a kiss on her jawline. I can’t resist her any longer. I reach back and, with a flick of my wrist, release one ankle and then the other. Her legs immediately come up around my hips, and I slide inside her, stopping when I’m seated balls-deep.
“Christ,” I mutter, clenching my eyes shut as the base of my spine immediately tingles at the feel of her tight pussy wrapped around me.
With my lips on hers, I move my hips slowly.
“Are you trying to kill us?” she asks.
“What a way to go.”
She laughs, but when I grind the base of my cock against her clit, that chuckle turns into a moan, and I feel her start to spasm around me.
“That’s right, angel. Give in to it.”
Her head falls back, and she comes spectacularly, pulling me right along with her.
I reach up and release her hands, and she immediately wraps them around my neck, still linked together. The red rope falls between us, looped around her breast.
“Sexiest thing ever,” I mutter before kissing her softly. “Thank you for this.”
“Uh, you’re welcome. Any time. Really.”
I roll us to our sides and pull her hands over my head so I can work on untying them. The knot I made on her wrists is different from the quick release ones I did on her feet and the bedposts.
When she’s free, she cradles my face in her hands and kisses me sweetly.
I could fall in love with this woman.
I’m not. But I could.
She stares at me with crystal-clear blue eyes. I can’t read the look in them. Maybe she’s thinking the same things I am.
“Do we have any ice cream?” she asks.
“Probably.”
“Excellent.” She climbs off the bed and heads for the door. “I’m getting some.”
“Naked?”
“Why not?”
I hurry after her. Why not, indeed?
“I’m not ready to go back to real life,” Lexi says the next day as I pull into the driveway of my house and cut the engine. “I don’t want our weekend to end.”
I don’t want any of this to end.
But I don’t say it out loud because that’s not the agreement.
“We can go back next weekend,” I remind her and take her hand in mine. I kiss her knuckles. “We can go back any time you want.”
“Okay. Next weekend works. If we weren’t working at the pub, we could just hole up there and finish the project.”
I nod, thinking it over. “If Keegan would get his head out of his ass and hire a damn full-time cook, we could do that.”
“It’s okay,” she says quickly. “I’m not complaining. I enjoy the pub.”
“You didn’t come to Washington to slave away in a hot kitchen,” I reply. “But I’m grateful you don’t mind going because I like having you there.”
“And I like being there, so it works out.” She smiles and then opens the car door. “Let’s get this stuff inside. Then maybe I’ll take a run on the beach. I can’t go far because I don’t have great run
ning shoes, but the sneakers I took to the cabin will work fine.”
“I can take care of this,” I say, waving her off. “Go for your run.”
“I don’t mind helping.”
We’re standing at the rear of the car, and I pull her to me, wrapping my arm around the small of her back as I kiss her long and slow.
“Go for your run, Lexi.”
She licks her lips. “Okay. Thanks. I won’t be long.”
“Be careful,” I yell after her, then start unloading our things from the car. It doesn’t take me long to get everything inside and put away, even getting the dirty laundry into the wash. I’ve just stowed my suitcase in the closet under the stairs when the doorbell rings.
Maybe Lexi is back from her run already. But why would she ring the bell?
I hurry to the door and open it to find not Lexi, but Taylor.
Fuck my life.
“Why are you here?”
The expression on Taylor’s pretty face falls into a pout. “Don’t be mean to me, Shawny, I just wanted to come and see you. Cheer you up a little.”
“I don’t need to be cheered up. I’m cheerful without you, thank you very much.”
I turn to walk away and shove the door closed, but she catches it and follows me into the house.
“What is with you?” she demands. “I’ve been throwing myself at you for years. I’m hot, I have a good job, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with me, Shawn.”
“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with you.”
“Then why don’t you respond to me? You could fuck me seven ways to Sunday any time you want, I’ve made that clear. And, nada. Nothing. Do you know how many men would love to get a piece of this?”
“Then let them have it,” I say, frowning at her. “Because I’m not interested. I tried to be nice about it for a long time because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but now I’m just fed up and embarrassed for you. I. Don’t. Want. You. I can’t put it any clearer than that. You’re just not for me. Go find one of those men who would kill to get his hands on you.”
Her lip quakes with anger. Her hands are in fists at her sides. She wants to hit me, to throw a fit, that much is clear.
But it won’t matter.
I don’t want Taylor.
“If you send me away now, I won’t give you any more chances.”
I laugh and rub my hands over my face in frustration. “For the love of God and all that’s holy, Taylor, go. Get out of my house and away from me. I don’t want any more chances.”
She stomps her foot like a four-year-old and then whips around to walk out the door. A minute later, the tires of her car squeal as she speeds down my driveway.
“Who was that?”
I turn at Lexi’s voice, surprised to see her standing next to me. She’s pulling earbuds out of her ears as she catches her breath. I’ve never been so happy to see anyone in my life.
“Taylor.”
She blinks rapidly. “Taylor the bimbo?” she asks.
“The same one.” I cross my arms over my chest. “I think she’s mentally unstable. I had to get mean with her, and I didn’t enjoy that. But she hasn’t taken no for an answer for five years. It’s fucking annoying.”
“If the roles were reversed, she would have sued you for harassment years ago,” Lexi says. “This is the same thing. Maybe getting mean is the only way to get through to her.”
I nod but still feel like a jerk. “How was your run?”
“Exhilarating. I only went about four miles, but it felt amazing. I think I’ll start jogging in the mornings before we work.”
“Good idea.” I reach for her hand. “I put your dirty clothes in the laundry. I hope that’s okay.”
“Did you at least separate them?”
“I’m not an animal, Lex. Of course, I did.”
“Then it’s totally okay.”
“How did you enjoy the cabin?” Keegan asks Lexi a couple of nights later as he pours us each a glass of whiskey. We finished a particularly difficult part of the screenplay today, so we decided to come to the pub for a drink and some food to celebrate.
Lexi is particularly fond of the nachos.
“It’s absolutely wonderful, and not a cabin at all,” she says with a laugh. “When Shawn said he was taking me to the cabin, I pictured something much more rustic than what’s up there.”
“It’s a nice place, and that’s the truth of it.”
“Not that he knows, because he’s never been,” Maggie says as she brings us our food. She places a basket of fish and chips in front of me and the nachos in front of Lexi. “We can’t get him to leave this damn pub.”
“I leave it,” Keegan says with a frown.
“When was the last time you had a day off?” I ask him and grin when he flips me the bird.
A man walks into the bar and sits on the other side of Lexi, orders a Guinness, and then turns to my girl and gives her a wink.
“Hello there,” he says.
“Hi.” She pops a tortilla chip into her mouth. “Maggie, these are fantastic.”
“Of course, they are,” Maggie says with a wink before returning to the kitchen.
“You recommend the nachos, then?” the stranger asks. He looks like he’s in his mid-thirties with tattoos covering his left arm. His dark hair is cut short, and right now, he can’t take his eyes off Lexi.
“So good,” Lexi confirms. “Get extra jalapeños. You’re welcome.”
“I’ll take that,” he says to Keegan, who nods and walks into the kitchen to place his order. “What’s your name?”
“Lexi. And you are?”
“Lane,” he says with a smile. “Do you live around here?”
“No,” Lexi says, shaking her head. “I’m from the Midwest. I’m here for work.”
“Same. Well, here for work anyway.”
I glance up to find Keegan watching me with a raised brow. I shrug. What am I supposed to do? It’s just friendly conversation. He hasn’t touched her, and she hasn’t done anything wrong.
So, why do I want to bust in his face, then? Because I’m suddenly a territorial ass, that’s why.
I calmly sip my whiskey, but the fire burns in my gut. I want to pull her away from this jerk. I want to tell him that she’s with me, and that he can go flirt with someone else.
It’s true. She is with me. But she doesn’t belong to me.
And that’s the part that doesn’t sit well with me.
“If you’d like a ride home, I’d be happy to give you one,” Lane says. Now, I do lean over and give him a cold smile.
“I’m her ride,”—inwardly smiling at the double-meaning of the word—“but thanks.”
Lane frowns. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”
“I mean, I’m sitting right next to him,” Lexi says with a shrug. “So, I’m probably with him. But good luck, Lane.”
I expect the other man to say something rude, or to make a scene. But instead, he just laughs and takes a sip of his Guinness.
“You’re right. I should be more observant. I guess I just saw a beautiful woman and got tunnel vision.”
“Well, I can’t fault you for that,” Lexi says, and that’s about all I can take.
“Hey, Lex? I’d like to talk to you for a moment.” My voice is light and jovial, not giving anyone any idea that jealousy is raging in me like a living fire. Lexi nods and hops off her stool to follow me.
I lead her to the storeroom in the back, turn on the light, and lock the door behind us.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
Rather than answer, I scrunch her skirt up in my fists and boost her up against the wall. My mouth is on hers in an instant, hard and demanding as I fumble between us to unfasten my pants, set myself free, and slip inside her.
She gasps, digs her fingers into my hair, and then hisses, “Yesssss,” as I pound into her repeatedly, her back against the wall of the storeroom.
It only takes a brief minute before I fall over the edge into a h
ard and fast orgasm, and when I’m finished, I set her down and tuck myself away.
“Well.” She swallows and straightens her hair. “I don’t know what just got into you, but that was damn hot.”
“I guess I have a jealous streak,” I mutter. She grabs my arm before I can unlock the door and leave.
“What in the world are you jealous of?” I glance down at her, and her eyes widen with recognition. “Lane? That weird dude out there?”
“I didn’t say it was warranted. But, yes. I didn’t like it.”
“I even pointed out that I’m with you.”
“I didn’t like it,” I repeat. “And I know that beyond the next week or so, I don’t have a claim on you. But for today, you’re mine. And I guess I just needed to remind us both.”
“Well,” she echoes from earlier then rubs her hands down her thighs. She’s trying to look stern, but a smile flirts at the corners of her mouth. “I might need reminding again later.”
And with that, she sashays out ahead of me and heads for the bathroom.
Chapter 11
~Lexi~
Why did I ever stop doing this?
“Because I’m an idiot,” I mutter to myself as I run along the beach, the wet sand firm under my feet. It’s a chilly, misty morning, with fog hanging low over the water. One thing I’ve learned while being in Washington is that the weather is a fickle thing. Sometimes, it’s clear and gorgeous. Warm, even. And other days, it rains as if the heavens are weeping.
Today, it’s just overcast with fog. Mother Nature is moody.
But I don’t mind. I’m on mile five, with three left to go, and I feel fantastic. This is my third run since we returned from the cabin, and the muscle memory has kicked in, my lungs are getting used to the exertion, and I love every step I take, despite having to get back to my old normal form, stride, and recovery from the effort.
Imagine With Me: A With Me In Seattle Novel Page 10