by Megan Hart
Surprised, she touched her hair self-consciously before forcing her hand to her side. Keeping her voice steady, she said, “You don’t have to to flatter me.”
“It’s not flattery. It’s a compliment, and a sincere one. But I apologize if I overstepped.” He said this formally, his gaze never leaving hers.
Oh, God. He was too delicious. Perfectly polite, observing a protocol they hadn’t discussed but which stemmed from his silent acknowledgment that she was in the superior position. She’d tied him up before, but not truly topped him, so she could have called him out for assumptions. The truth was, her place was above him. That was where she liked to be, as he liked to be below. She liked the fact that neither of them had needed to announce it, the way some did, with a label or extravagant display of protocol.
She liked him.
“It’s my first time here for an open play night,” she said. “You’ll have to guide me.”
Eric laughed self-consciously, ducking his head briefly before meeting her gaze again. “It would be my pleasure.”
“I hope so,” Madeline said.
He grinned at her and made a grand gesture to the room. “Anything in particular that gets your motor running?”
She laughed, charmed, and tilted her head to give him a thoughtful looking over. The first time they’d been together, she’d tied him up purely for the sake of demonstration. Tonight would be…different.
“Would you like me to tie you up, Eric?”
His shudder was almost imperceptible, but she noticed it. Also the way his dark eyes went heavy lidded for a second or so. His tongue slipped out to dent his lower lip before disappearing back into his mouth and leaving a small, glistening spot she wanted to lick away.
“Yes,” he said in a low voice. “Please.”
“Say it.” The command left her lips, surprising her with its force.
It felt good. Right. Sexy, she admitted. To command him. To watch the way his body tensed and straightened at the sound of her voice.
“Please tie me up, M…” he hesitated, looking to her for guidance.
She didn’t know if he meant to say Mistress, or Ma’am, or simply her name. Madeline nodded once toward him. “Madeline is fine for now.”
“Please tie me up, Madeline.”
They stared at each other for a few seconds, neither moving. Again, she nodded once. She looked toward the area with the ropes, then back at him, wondering if he would understand her silent order to lead the way.
He did. She followed, admiring the firm roundness of his ass beneath the khaki trousers. By the time they reached the other side of the room, she already had a design and a series of knots forming in her mind. She could feel it in her fingers already.
“I used to have such a lovely collection of my own rope,” she said as she looked over the club’s supplies. Madeline looked up to see Eric giving her a curious look. She’d said too much.
“Used to?”
She lifted her chin. “Yes. Quite some time ago. I left it behind and always meant to rebuild my collection but never have.”
“Why not?” He put the gym bag down.
“I haven’t had anyone to tie up,” she replied succinctly, without looking at him.
Eric didn’t reply to that. Madeline ran her fingers over the coiled rope before curling her hands into fists she released after a few seconds. She looked at him.
“Shall we?”
“Yes. Please,” he added.
“I’d like you naked tonight. If you’re comfortable with that.”
His eyebrow rose. A hint of pink tinged his cheeks, although surely he could not be blushing. The sight of it sent warmth flooding through her, all the way to her center. Arousal, unexpected but not unwelcome. Her nipples tightened against the fabric of her tee-shirt.
Eric definitely noticed, but cut his gaze so quickly it left her amused. He shifted from foot to foot before unbuttoning his shirt quickly and shrugging out of it. She’d seen his bare chest before, but hadn’t noticed the nipple piercing then, nor the dark lines of the tattoo on his inner bicep. A simple, minimalistic design, a single word.
Patience
“Is it a pun?”
He frowned. “Huh?”
“You’re a doctor,” she said. “Patients? Patience?”
Eric laughed and shook his head. “No. It wasn’t meant to be.”
“I have one.” She pulled down her collar to show the clean lines of her clavicle.
He leaned closer to read it aloud. We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness. A quote, but if he knew its origin, he didn’t say so. Madeline didn’t offer an explanation.
“Is it still tender?” Madeline stepped closer, indicating the nipple piercing. “May I touch?”
“Ah…yes. Yes, please.”
She pressed her lips together against her smile, keeping her expression neutral. Her fingertips stroked the skin around the silver metal. She tweaked the nipple, knowing it could be sore and watching for his reaction.
Eric tensed. His lips parted. He hissed out a sigh. His dark eyes got even darker as his pupils dilated.
Oh, how she wanted to hurt him.
She did not do anything of the sort, of course. They were not intimate enough for that, and while there might be many, Eric possibly included, who had no problems playing that way with near-strangers, Madeline had never been that comfortable unleashing her desires without getting to know her partner. She withdrew her hand.
“You like that.” It was not a question.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“The pain,” she clarified.
“Yes. I like the pain.”
She thought about this as she studied his body. He was naturally lean, although thicker in the belly than seemed to be his normal. He took care of himself, but had fallen out of the habit, she thought, and wondered what had changed his habits. Still, while he might seem a little self-conscious about it, she would take great pleasure in using a body like that. Causing him to react. A small thrill coursed through her, and she met his gaze.
Possibilities.
“I want you naked,” she told him.
“Yes, Madeline.”
Six
Naked, Eric knelt on the soft foam pads placed on the floor specifically for this purpose. They could be easily cleaned and disinfected, but also prevented his knees from aching. He was glad for that. Liking to get hurt didn’t mean he liked all pain, and his jacked-up knees aching would definitely take away the pleasure from Madeline’s exquisite rope work.
She’d laced him around the thighs and torso, binding his arms behind him. They bent back at a strict angle so that he was forced to keep his back straight or really start aching. Already, his shoulders tingled from the position.
His cock ached, too.
Hard as iron. He didn’t look down at himself, but he felt the slick heat of precome dripping from the head. She hadn’t touched him, not there, but every time she touched him somewhere else, drawing the final cords around him, intricately knotting them, his cock tensed. Twitched.
Madeline had adorned him with nipple clamps that bit cruelly into his flesh before she’d added so much as a single knot. Pain radiated from the clips in increasing circles. Hot and cold pulses of ecstatic agony made him shiver, but Eric did his best to stay still.
Her hand curved over his shoulder, her fingers gripping firmly. Madeline leaned close to brush her lips over his ear, to whisper. “Shhh.”
Eric went as still as he could. If he closed his eyes, he couldn’t see her, but he also was having a hard time keeping them open. The red haze of arousal overwhelmed him. He wanted to lose himself in it, inside the swirling currents of desire filling his body and his mind. He blinked rapidly, but let himself sink into the daze.
Madeline’s fingers gripped again, while her other hand tugged unexpectedly at the clamp over his pierced nipple. He cried out, jerking. A slow surge of heat filled his balls. His asshole clenched. His cock throbbed.
“Look
at me,” she said.
He did.
The hand on his shoulder slipped around to the back of his neck. Her fingers dug into his hair and tugged his head back. Eric’s mouth fell open with a groan.
“They’re watching us,” Madeline said into his ear. “We’ve managed to secure quite an audience. Why? Because you are so beautiful right now.”
His entire body bucked, but the ropes and her grip kept him mostly still. God, if only she would touch him. Just a touch, a feather light stroke, he would explode. He wanted it. He wanted her to make him come with everyone watching.
Again, she tugged the nipple clamp, then the other one. When he cried out, she put a hand over his mouth. He breathed against the scent of her skin. If he let his tongue touch it, would she taste of salt? The thought nearly did him in again.
He never felt this way with Kurt. With the other man, it was about being bound, restrained, mostly for the sake of practice. Kurt was bi and made no secret of it, but Eric had never been into guys that way. Playing with Kurt was out of necessity, no other options, and they both knew it.
This…this was nirvana.
“And all I’ve done is tie you tight, pretty like a package. I’ve only barely hurt you. My goodness,” she breathed. “You are perfect.”
He shut his eyes again, knowing she might order him to open them. He had to close them so he could keep himself from jetting, out of control. It wouldn’t be embarrassing to ejaculate here, with an audience, but something warned him that she would not approve of him doing it without permission.
“Open your eyes,” she told him again, but her tone was kind.
He did. Their area was in a spotlight, so he could see only shadows watching them. Madeline moved to stand directly in front of him. She put both her hands on his shoulders and looked deeply into his eyes.
“I do not approve of cutting off the circulation or anything like that. You must tell me if you notice anything like that.”
“Yes. I will.”
She nodded. “Good. Now, I’m going to show you off. Is that all right?”
“Yes. Please,” he said through a throat gone thick.
Her lovely mouth quirked into a smile. The idea that he’d pleased her was better even than the pain had been, better than his hard cock and throbbing balls. Eric smiled, too.
“Sit up straight. Let’s see that pretty cock, nice and thick and hard.”
He braced himself for her stroking hand, but Madeline didn’t touch him. She stepped back and turned toward the watching audience. She gestured at him, describing the names of the knots and the patterns of rope she’d used. Someone asked a question, although Eric could not pay attention to their words. Everything had become this moment, and although he was firmly settled on the floor, he was still suspended. Hanging. Drifting.
His cock softened, even though his arousal didn’t wane. He imagined the puddle of clear, sticky fluid on the mat beneath him, and it stiffened again. Madeline’s voice rose and fell, and he listened for his name, hoping to hear it in that melodic accent. She didn’t use it, but every now and then, her fingertips brushed his shoulder, chest, back, wherever the rope wound around him.
Time passed. He wasn’t sure how much, and it didn’t matter. Eric was willing to stay bound by Madeline for as long as she wanted.
He came back to himself when she put a hand on the back of his neck and slid her fingertips down the indent of his spine. He felt the tug of her hands on the last knot she’d tied. It came free and slowly, slowly, so did he.
“There,” she said when he was fully naked in front of her and the coils of rope were on the floor. “There, now. There’s my good boy.”
The room lights were coming up, signaling the end of the night. Eric relaxed his arms, noting the ache in his shoulders and back. He didn’t get to his feet immediately, but took the bottle of water Madeline handed him. His skin goose pimpled — he wasn’t really chilled, but now, naked and not aroused, he was feeling the cool air more than he had before.
“I’m going to get a hot drink from the snack area. Are you all right? Do you need anything?” She glanced at the floor in front of him with a small smile. “I’ll be back to tidy up.”
Looking down, Eric saw there was indeed a puddle. A flush of heat curled through him. His cock twitched, but he did his best not to get completely hard. Not now, not when they were finished. His balls, heavy without the release his body had been craving, ached worse than his shoulders and thighs.
“I’ll take care of it,” he told her. “But I’ll see you in the lobby, if that’s okay?”
“I won’t leave until you come to say goodbye,” she promised.
Relieved, he watched her walk away with that casual, graceful stride. She paused to speak briefly with several club members, inclining her head as though accepting praise. Working out the kinks in his body, Eric quickly dressed, wincing at how tight his briefs were on his tender sack. He cleaned up using the disinfectant spray and cloths, following club rules about fluids, then tossed them in the laundry basket. In the bathroom, he washed his hands and ran damp fingers through his hair, trying to smooth it into something that didn’t look like he’d spent the night under a bridge.
Might be time for a cut, he thought and scraped a hand across his bristly jaw. A shave, for sure. He studied his reflection, wondering what the hell was keeping him from hauling ass to the lobby. She wasn’t going to wait forever, no matter what she’d promised. There was no reason for her to, and making her wait was just inconsiderate, if not downright rude.
Still, he couldn’t quite bring himself to head out there just yet. The sooner he said goodbye, the sooner the night would end, and for the moment Eric was still trying to hold onto the feelings that had filled him by being bound with Madeline’s expertise. When the bathroom door opened, he pretended he was still washing his hands.
“Hey, man. That was nice tonight, you and the new woman. What’s her name?” Clark moved to the sink next to Eric and began washing his hands as he studied his own reflection. The other guy was into fire play, giving and not receiving, and now he smelled faintly of the isopropyl alcohol he used. He scrubbed at his hands and glanced at Eric.
“Madeline,” Eric said. “Thanks.”
The club rule was that no shaming was allowed, no matter your personal thoughts on someone else’s kink. Non-consent, bestiality, necrophilia, and pedophilia were forbidden, but play surrounding fantasies of those fetishes were allowed even if they grossed someone else out. That said, Clark was the sort who identified strongly as “Dom” with the capital D, and he tended to be sort of patronizing to anyone who was submissive, whether or not they were submissive to him.
“She’s hot,” Clark said.
Eric nodded. “She’s beautiful. Yes.”
“You and her…?” Clark made a twirling gesture and raised his eyebrows.
“We just partnered for tonight. We aren’t seeing each other.”
Clark grinned as he headed for the stall at the far end of the bathroom. “Too bad for you.”
“Yeah,” Eric agreed.
That interaction was enough to get Eric moving out of the bathroom. In the lobby, he spotted Madeline at once. She sat on one of the black leather couches, a mug of steaming tea in her hands.
She looked up as he approached and smiled warmly, then moved over so he could sit. “Hello, handsome. I wasn’t sure you were coming out.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” He wanted to ask for her number, but she’d already turned him down once before. He wanted to ask her if she’d be back next Friday, but that felt equally as presumptuous. He decided for truth, though. “I really enjoyed tonight.”
“Did you come here hoping to get tied up? Or were you thinking you might play in another way? With someone else?”
Eric shifted to turn a little toward her. “I work long hours and can’t always make it for free Fridays. So to be honest, it was a last-minute decision. I came because I’m not seeing anyone right now, and I had the nigh
t off. I didn’t have any real expectations.”
“I see.” She sipped at her tea.
“But I’m glad I did,” Eric said.
Madeline smiled at him again. “So am I.”
“Why did you come tonight?”
“Perhaps for similar reasons. I’m not seeing anyone right now. I had the night free. I don’t know many people in the area, and I find it’s always nicer to meet friends who you already know have similar interests. Some people join book clubs. I joined this club.”
He laughed. “Yeah. I get that. Saves a lot of explanations, sometimes.”
“Hi, you two!”
Eric and Madeline both looked up at the sound of the perky voice. The woman in front of them had her blond hair tied into pigtails, and she wore a pinafore dress, knee socks and saddle shoes. He thought her name was Bitsy, although that was likely to be a nickname.
“Daddy asked me to see if either of you wanted to buy raffle tickets. Five dollars each, five for twenty. The prize is a year’s free membership.” She grinned and held out the brightly colored raffle tickets. “We’re a couple thousand dollars away from getting the new nursery fixed up.”
At Madeline’s furrowed brow and confused expression, Eric explained. “Andy just leased some more warehouse space attached to this. He wants to make it into a nursery for Littles. Sure, I’ll buy five.”
“Oh. I suppose I could do that as well.” Madeline leaned to put her tea on the sofa table.
Eric waved at her as he pulled out two twenties from his wallet. “I got it.”
He took the tickets and separated them into the halves Bitsy would keep and gave the other halves to Madeline. Madeline demurred, shaking her head. With a grin, he placed them in her lap.
“My treat,” he said. “It’s a good cause.”
“Thanks, guys!” Bitsy skipped off.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Madeline said, “but thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. While hours were flexible at U4ia, it was nearly one in the morning. “I really need to get going. I work tomorrow morning.”
They both stood at the same time. Madeline reached for her tea mug, but he got it. This time, she made no show of even a small protest when he put in the dishwasher for her.