by Abigail Grey
“You can stand now,” Matt said in her ear, and he cupped her elbows in his palms until she found her footing. Claire leaned back into him, even when her feet were steadily under her again. “Would you like more?” he inquired.
She nodded, feeling her hair rubbing against his shoulder as she did. He drew out another bundle of rope then bent to the floor. He worked his hand around her ankle, and she could track his movements to know it was the same tie as the one that was around her waist. He grabbed yet another bundle and repeated the action on the other side. Standing and drawing the tail of one rope up with him, Matt warned her, “Be ready. I’m going to pull up one of your legs.” He did so, slowly, so to ensure she had her balance. Tying the end to the ring alongside the other knots, he stepped in close beside her. “Move your leg. Try bending it, rotating it. Feel how the rope allows you to have so much freedom, even though you’re bound.”
Claire followed his instruction, bending her knee to draw her foot in, then extending it. She rotated her hip, realizing she could spread her leg to the side and even backward. Through the exploration, she could feel Matt’s hand just below the rope under her breasts. She wondered if he could feel how hard her heart was beating with his palm placed that low on her torso.
“Leave it there,” he directed. Claire extended her foot behind her, feeling her body start to pitch forward as he bent to retrieve the other rope’s end.
“Do you trust me?” he breathed.
“Yes,” she answered immediately, rewarded by his throaty growl. He lifted her foot, putting her weight forward into the harness as he extended her other leg behind her and tied it. Claire gasped with her face to the floor, realizing there was nothing between her and the surface but ropes and Matt. She couldn’t see it, but she felt his hands skim up the backs of her legs and they parted as he stepped between her thighs. She felt his hand grip the columns of rope as the other curved over her hip.
“I could fuck you this way,” he commented lightly. His voice seemed raw, but the words sounded casual to her ears. He replaced the hand on her solar plexus, grinding himself against her. His hand pressed the back of her knee, making her bend them and letting him pull her body up vertical. “Your whole body is available for me like this.” His free hand covered one breast, giving a light squeeze through the material. Releasing that, he grasped the rope that bound her left ankle and he gently used it to guide her foot to the front, spreading her thighs even wider, so she sunk into the stretch. The strain got to be too much and Claire attempted to pull her legs together. They moved easily, shockingly so, and she was able to settle in a position like kneeling two feet off the ground. Matt stepped away and simply let her move. Claire kept her gaze intent on him as she let her legs move slowly—extending, bending, lifting and spreading. The connection between them got to be even hotter as she leaned back in the tie and spread her legs forward, wide, facing him.
He was quick to step back in, cupping his hands over her ass and lifting her into his hips. She could feel the hardness of him through the layers of clothes they still wore. Their lips met, tongues sliding against one another’s.
Claire felt a sudden pinch on her arm. Breaking away, she cringed. “I think down, please.”
Matt ran his fingers under the ropes at her arms again, alleviating the sharp sensation. He released her legs first, lowering them slowly, but keeping them from supporting her weight too heavily. The harness was undone from the ring, but she remained suspended with his grip on the rope.
“I’m going to lower you to the floor, Claire. It’s safer than giving weight to legs that might go pins and needles and make you fall. Just go with it, okay?”
She nodded and felt him release the rope slowly, like belaying in rope climbing. She let her legs fold under her until she laid on the floor. Only then did he remove the ropes completely from the ring. He made quick work of the knots at her ankles and behind her back, pulling the rope gently from where it had squeezed her limbs tightly. He rubbed his large hands down her arms and a blanket appeared mysteriously.
Claire looked up at the people that had gathered around them. Sitting nearby were friends and strangers in various states of undress. She blushed and hid her face. Matt put his arms around her and it felt as safe as the grasp of the ropes.
“You did so well,” he whispered. “You looked perfect.”
Claire snuggled into his embrace to the sound of scattered applause, appreciation for the skillful show from their spectators. The sounds of people leaving filtered in as Claire began to shiver, thankful for the blanket he’d covered her with.
She didn’t know how long they sat, but Claire began to feel drowsy. She lifted her head, watching Matt bend to press his lips to hers. “Come home with me?” he whispered.
She nodded, needing the night to not end just yet.
Chapter Fourteen
Matt opened the door quietly, hoping that for once his ridiculous housemate would be somewhere other than his video game perch. Claire followed, her eyes wide and bright with curiosity.
“Yo, Matt, we’re outta—” Jeremy skidded around the corner from the kitchen. He froze in his tracks, shirtless, with a container of ice cream and a spoon. He stared at Claire, his eyes looking down her outfit and back up before he glared at Matt. “Dude!” he spat. “Warn a guy.”
Matt rolled his eyes as Jeremy stomped off. He turned to Claire with an apology, smiling as he saw her trying not to laugh. He gestured up the stairs and preceded her to his bedroom.
With the door closed behind them, Matt once again gathered Claire close, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I can’t tell you how gorgeous you looked tonight.” He pulled back and cupped her face, searching her expression. “You’re still feeling all right?”
She smirked slightly. She lifted her hands to move his before she stretched up to lap at his lower lip with the tip of her tongue.
Grinning, glad to have that answer from her, Matt yanked her hips to his and backed her up to his bed. He trailed his fingers over the simple fastening of her corset-style top, fumbling through the unhooking. Once it let loose, he had to pull away as she pulled his shirt up and over his head. He groaned as she traced the line of his shoulder with her lips to his collarbone where she nibbled and scraped gently with her teeth.
He took his turn, lifting the long tunic shirt up. He urged her to lift her arms, and he tangled them in the shirt, keeping the collar under her nose and pinning her in place.
Claire laughed and struggled to dislodge the binding garment until his breath brushed her cheek. She parted her lips in response and tipped her chin up, waiting for his kiss. The power she gave him with that small gesture broke his resolve. Matt pulled the shirt free and swept her down onto the bed with their lips fused together.
The feeling of her nails raking on his back made him crazy and hungry for more of her. He feathered kisses down her chest and sucked one tiny pink nipple into his mouth. She gasped and dug her manicured claws into his shoulders. He shoved his fingers unceremoniously under the waistband of her leggings, delving under the brief satin panties he encountered. The coarse curls he encountered were sparse, then his fingertips skimmed over the most sensitive spot, if her reaction was any indication. The hiss she sucked through her teeth was loud and sharp as he did it again, strumming the pads of two fingers on the nub of flesh.
Her groan gave him a wolfish grin. “Matty, please. Don’t tease me,” she begged. She began tearing at the fly of his pants. He levered himself up onto his knees, undoing the buttons and watching her wriggle out of the black pants covering her own skin.
The solitary lamp at his desk was the perfect light. His view was a plane of hills and valleys, laid with a velvet golden skin and shadowed in all the places where he wanted to discover mysteries. Matt shook each leg to get the pants off and to the floor. He leaned over her, his arms braced so he could lower himself slowly and experience every delicious inch of her rubbing against him.
Her gaze was soft, the green fading in the stormy gray
that welcomed him. “Please, Matty. I want you. Please.” The gentle pleading was nearly his undoing. His dick had never felt so hard, and he repositioned it so the shaft rubbed her lips to feel the wet heat swelling them, but still he didn’t press into her.
“I’ve waited a long time, hoping for this, Claire,” he rasped. “You’re just going to have to be patient like I was.”
She moaned under him, wriggling her hips impatiently. “Too long, Matty. I’m right here. Come and get it. Please, please.” She lifted her hips o meet his and squeezed her thighs together, trapping his cock.
With an answering groan, Matt pulled away, tipping her hips to drive slowly into her waiting cunt. Her yearning cry filled Matt with a primal satisfaction as he started the slow movement of pumping in and out of her.
Claire gripped the sides of his hips, her grasp digging her fingernails into his ass and spurring him to move faster. The fervent rhythm crescendoed, echoed by her moans and his groans. Matt bent his elbows to the bed, his cock buried deep inside her. Catching her eyes and matching the heavy panting breath that came from her lips, Matt groaned. “That’s right, Claire, give it up. Bring it home with me, Claire. Let it go with me. Come on.” He lowered his lips to hers, sliding his arms under her torso to squeeze her tightly as he ground his hips against hers.
She constricted her fingers and keened in the back of her throat as he kissed her, just before her pussy clamped tight around his cock. The intensity stole his breath as he felt her orgasm gush around him, and, a few short pumps later, he followed her over the cliff.
He opened his eyes as he came down from the highest launch he’d felt in ages. He rested his forehead on hers, listening to their heartbeats calm and even out. Her lashes fluttered, then she opened her eyes, looking at him incredulously.
“M-Matty? Wow. Um… Wow.” She blinked up at him.
“Ditto,” he muttered, laying a sweet kiss to her cheekbone. Carefully—reluctantly, he admitted to himself—he slid his dick from her warmth. Standing, he held his hand out to her to bring her up beside him. She wavered on her feet, and he steadily walked her to the door of his bathroom. “Just yell if you need something, okay?” He saw her nod and smile, then the door closed.
He heard the toilet flush and the water run before she returned, combing her fingers through her hair. He grinned at her then dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Right back,” he promised.
A trip with his toothbrush and a quick scrub up later, he returned to find Claire wrapped around one of his pillows, fast asleep. He couldn’t deny the glow that bloomed in the pit of his stomach at the sight of his Claire in his bed. Matt covered her with a sheet then curled into bed, spooning his body behind hers.
* * * *
Claire slowly became aware of her deep inhale. The scent of man—of Matt—filled her indrawn breath. He grazed a hand gently down her arm and back up again. Meditatively, Claire kept her eyes closed and allowed the air to hiss quietly out of her, then she looked up to meet his half-lidded gaze.
She couldn’t contain the soft smile that came to her lips. Seeing his smirk in response, Claire pushed up, putting herself in a seated position on the bed. The red glow of the alarm clock caught her attention—two-fifteen and all was well.
Matt, reclining on the pillow, was looking up at her with that sleepy grin. He twisted for a moment, reaching off the bed and fumbling, but he returned to the position with a length of that beautiful blue rope. He unwound the bundle deftly. Claire kept her attention on him, the sleepy fog in her brain drifting away. Matt sat up, lifting the rope over her head.
He rested the rope on the back of her neck. Claire closed her eyes and relaxed as Matt rubbed warmth into her limbs. He then pulled on the ends of the rope, letting the texture gently scrape at the back of Claire’s neck. She took another long breath in. The sensation of it rubbing at her skin would abrade after time, but the outcome in Matt’s hands was only a tiny hint of warmth where the rope now rested. Matt wound one end of the rope around her left wrist, encasing it simply before wrapping his arms around her, pressing close. He pulled her bound limb gently behind her and mimicked the act with the other half on her right. Claire felt the press of his chest into her naked breasts and exhaled slowly.
He bent her arms at the elbows, laying them together behind her back. He bound the wrists to the opposite biceps, the rope pulled tightly into knots to lock them in place. Claire took a sharp, surprised breath in as Matt stood and adjusted his position until he sat behind her on the large bed.
Matt stroked down her hair and neck, passing his hand over her skin lightly. Claire inhaled another deep, slow breath and tried to focus on the path of his fingers. He traced the shell of her ear, the dips and rises of her collar bone, down her sternum then across her skin until he cupped her breast.
Claire drifted. She was aware of the constricting wrap of the rope, but when her eyes opened, she could focus only on Matt’s grip and the disheveled bedsheets in front of her. His chest was pressed against her back, her bound arms between them.
Matt’s grip on her changed and she could feel him adjusting position behind her. She let him guide her position forward until she bent over, her cheek to the mattress. Claire loved the feel of his lips on her exposed back, lazy kisses laid on her skin from her shoulders down. Her bound arms impeded the path he took, but Claire could find no reason to care about it once she felt his fingers on her inner thigh.
The pressure of his touch again guided her, telling her silently what he wanted. Claire lifted her hips, giving Matt easier access. She could feel the pulse of her inner muscles as she began to imagine how his fingers and cock would feel from this angle.
Matt didn’t disappoint. He trailed his fingers slowly over her outer lips, bringing her to a high level of need, then he slid his finger into the warm channel of her cunt. She gripped one finger tightly, and her pussy throbbed again when he pressed in a second. She released a quiet moan, the first sound uttered past their breathing. Matt curled his fingers inside her, hitting a sensitive spot that made Claire shudder.
“Matty,” she breathed. “Please, Matty?”
Positioned the way she was, Claire couldn’t see his movements, but she hoped and prayed in that moment that he wouldn’t tease any longer. She exhaled on another long, soft moan as she felt his cock slide smoothly between her lips. She wriggled her hips impatiently, earning a quiet chuckle from the man kneeling behind her upturned ass. He indulged her hunger and pressed into her pussy from behind.
His rhythm started slowly. He drew his cock out until he had only the tip resting inside her, then slid in on a slow stroke. Claire began to breathe in rhythm, her eyes closing to savor the gentle torment of taking it slowly. She inhaled as he pulled away and let the air sigh and moan out of her when he filled her.
Matt’s fingers were at the rope again. He ran his fingers under the ties, adjusting them until he had made himself a spot to hold. His knuckles were on her skin where he gripped the rope. He pulled at the rope and pumped his hips. He smacked her ass harder and faster. He kept rubbing his cock over and over that spot he had curled his fingers into and Claire’s eyelids started to flutter and her thighs began to tremble. The sound of their breath mingled in hisses, grunts and groans, then Matt spoke.
“God, Claire, I can’t,” he growled. “Can’t hold on.”
The desperate need in his voice sent Claire off. The orgasm hit and every muscle in her body shook with the delicious tension. She heard his muffled shout as well, just before the pulsing of his dick inside her matched the throb of her pussy.
The panting synchronized as they both came down. Claire made an effort to move, but she was stopped by Matt’s grip on her hips. He reached down and began loosening the knots. The process was slow, but Claire could still feel him inside her, even as his hands worked. She smiled into the sheets and let her breathing calm—deep in and slow out—while she focused on the unwinding rope. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the tight grip of rope and the steady feel o
f Matty.
Chapter Fifteen
Claire wrenched her eyes open, panicked thoughts tearing through her mind. The sheets were a mess! Where was the other pillow? Did she have a showing today? Did she have time to fix the bedroom? As clarity began to rear its head, one last thought crept in. Who was the body spooning her?
She only moved her eyes, taking in the visions in her sightline. She relaxed slightly as she realized she wasn’t in one of the showroom apartments she lived in while trying to sell them. The memory of the previous night came back, and she allowed herself to dwell in the warmth of Matt’s embrace, feeling the sensation sink into her bones.
Her panic returned shortly, though. She needed her phone. She had to get back. The deadline was looming, and she had barely a week to find a buyer. She wriggled out from under Matt’s arm and scooped up the clothes from the previous night, retreating to the bathroom.
She returned, dressed and armed for the battle she expected to find. Instead she found Matt seated at the desk, a pair of jeans pulled on and two mugs of coffee on the surface.
“Morning,” she greeted him, wincing at the stilted sound.
He turned with a grin for her. “Good morning.” He offered her one of the mugs. She took it with a brief nod of thanks, enjoying the heat and brisk wakeup from the caffeine. Matt turned back to the oversize pages, his arms folded as he considered them. Claire peered over his shoulder.
She was no stranger to blueprints and the shape he had drawn was all too familiar. “Isn’t that—?”
Matt nodded. “Parker’s place. I’ve made a few changes, of course, but it’s just always been in my head.” He pointed. “Here… The kitchen’s a little more modern. I kept the two staircases, and I added pocket doors for partitioning off private areas. There are fewer bedrooms that I made bigger. I never understood why three people would need a seven-bedroom house. I don’t even remember what the other rooms were.”