by Mia Caldwell
"Are you good?" He liked it, but he wanted me to like it too. It was important to him that I wanted the same thing.
And I couldn't believe how much I wanted it. The rope's gentle bite into my skin held me like an embrace. I felt like I would fall to pieces if he untied me now.
"I'm good," I breathed.
"You're more than good. " He wasn't looking at my face. His was taking in the work he had done, how the white rope crisscrossed my dark skin. I could feel his eyes. "You're beautiful."
I believed him.
He settled his head between my legs with a sigh and there was a moment of hesitation.
And then his tongue found my clit and it was like a bomb went off inside of me.
The sex last night was so good. But right now it was something more than sex. The way he devoured me with wild abandon - lapping, sucking, kissing - just losing himself down there, it was like he was making himself as vulnerable as he had made me.
I was the one tied up, but he was at my mercy.
The way he moaned and grunted, the way he used the knot at my breastbone to pull me down against his tongue, to fuck me deeper, to make it more, more, more, had me cumming in seconds. The orgasm crawled out from my core, an electric slide of pure bliss, and it was so intense that I couldn't take it. I pushed up with my legs, trying to squirm away, but Liam pressed his strong hand against my thighs. "No," he growled roughly, but it was still too much. I tried to arch away from him.
Liam laid a sharp smack across my uplifted ass.
The pain didn't shock me at all. It only made me moan harder as it dissolved into delicious heat, He spread his palm wide where it had landed and smoothed the sting away. But I knew better now. Liam wasn't going to let me get away from him until he had his fill.
He lifted his gray eyes. "Fuck. Look at you," he murmured, and then went right back to working magic with his tongue. When he slid his finger inside of me, catching the sensitive place Tre could never find, I exploded again. Falling to pieces so that only the web of rope held me together, I turned to jelly, Or liquid, spilled across his massive bed.
"I'm going to untie your wrists now. It might hurt a bit coming off."
I moaned. I wasn't sure I wanted him to free me. I looked down at the knot at my breastbone and he caught my glance. "No. That stays. I need it."
He knelt above me and unknotted the rope from the headboard. He was right, the sting of where the rope slid against me made my breath catch, but his lips were right there behind the pain, kissing it away.
He untied me, but he didn't release me. Holding my arms pinned above my head with one hand, he unbuckled his pants with the other. The jingle of his belt buckle had me practically salivating.
He gripped my hips and slid me down so that I was under his belly. Pushing his pants down over his hips, he freed himself and lowered down to my lips.
"Kiss it," he ordered.
When the silky head of his cock brushed my lips we both groaned together. He held my arms in place and lowered his hips. The head slid just in, and then just out of my mouth. "You like that?"
I nodded weakly, He was teasing me....and himself. Other guys, Tre included, wanted to jam it down your throat immediately. With Liam, I wanted all of him, but he wouldn't give it to me.
He dipped his hips again and I swirled my tongue around, tasting him. He tasted indescribable.
He pulled back when I did so, his eyes so dark with lust that they were nearly black. I knew all at once that the teasing was over.
He stalked to the side table and pulled out a condom. I shivered everywhere as I watched him unroll it. I wasn't tied to anything anymore, but I still held as still as if I were. I didn't want to move without his permission.
He moved back over me and gripped the knot at my breastbone. Lifting my ass to meet him halfway, he pressed himself just inside.
I moaned and squirmed, wanting all of him. I was so wet. I could feel the slippery slide down my thighs.
But when he pressed his thumb to my clit, my eyes flew open and I gasped.
"That's what I want to see," he growled and then thrust himself roughly inside. "My greedy girl."
He grabbed the knot tighter. Using it as leverage, all of a sudden he was fucking me. Deep and hard, each thrust as punishing and all consuming as he could make it. I could feel the power behind each stroke, the coiled up animal inside of him.
I was crying out each time he fucked into me. Over and over he slammed inside, overwhelming me with his thumb still on my clit.
"Wait," he ordered me as I felt myself start to shatter. "You come when I come. We're coming together."
He bent over me, burying his face in my neck and the anguish in his voice was almost like begging. "Wait for me."
I threw my free arms around his neck and clung to his back. He undulated his hips and his whole body went stiff. "Now, baby. Come right now."
I screamed as he pulled me into him. His hand on the knot, the other on my ass, he fucked me so deep I knew I would never feel full again.
Liam jerked over me, groaned my name into my neck. I felt him twitch inside of me, or maybe it was me twitching around him. I didn't know. I wasn't sure where he ended and I began anymore.
Chapter Twenty - Three
"You should stay the night."
I jerked awake, heart pounding. Liam caught me tight, and I suddenly remembered everything. "Did I fall asleep?" I groaned, wiping the drool away from my mouth.
He chuckled softly. I was covered up, in a soft, cloudlike comforter. The huge windows were dark now and outside the lights of the city twinkled below us. "You were exhausted," he said in that thick whisper of his. "Or maybe you passed out?" He sounded a little proud.
Sex with Tre, what I allow myself to remember anyway, was workman like. We followed steps through their logical progression and if nothing happened to me, well...at least we tried, hmm?
I had had more orgasms in the past twenty-four hours than in the entirety of my year and a half long disaster of a marriage. Liam had every right to sound proud.
I rolled to face him. "And you? Not tired at all after that?"
His eyes softened and the dimple appeared. "I may have...dozed." He touched my lips. "That was...intense."
His eyes were asking me was it as intense for you?
I kissed him. Yes. It was. Something had changed. Shifted between us. I snuggled down into his arms and the knot slid across my chest.
"I need to untie you," Lam said. He sounded disappointed. "I don't want you to get hurt."
He rolled me gently onto my back. "This is harder to untangle than I thought," he teased, staring at the knot. "I was in the zone."
"You can leave me like this," I told him.
His eyes blazed. "Don't tempt me." He shook his head. "Fuck, that's a nice thought."
It was a nice thought for me too, but if I let him keep me tied, I would never have the sweetness of the untying. He loosened the bonds, kissing away the sting, and massaging the marks from my skin. When he finally let the rope slid from the bed, I realized I was crying and I wasn't exactly sure why.
"Hey," he said, pulling me close. "It was good for me too, Shay. You were so good."
"I'm not," I sniffled, "even sure why I'm crying."
"I'm right here," he said.
"It was a shit day until now," I said into his chest.
"You said that. Anything I can do to help?"
The worries that had followed me to his place, lurking in the shadows but held at bay by his ropes, suddenly latched themselves onto me again. Once he untied me, I was no longer shielded from their assault. "It's just...," I looked around at the huge, designer apartment and wondered how I could even begin to explain being broke. "Money troubles."
He turned me to face him. "Full truth, Shay. You said it yourself. Don't tell me half the story."
I chuckled grimly. He had me there. "The landlord just upped the rent at the shop. Until they can secure a line of credit, they can't pay me." I blushed hard, shame traveling al
l the way down to my toes. "And I have a bill, an important one, that's past due."
He raised his eyebrows. Waiting. For the whole truth. "My lawyer." I waggled my naked ring finger. "My divorce lawyer."
He grabbed my hand immediately. "Shay, I'll pay your lawyer."
I shook my head. "I can't let you do that."
"You're not letting me, I want to. Besides, you've let me do a whole bunch of other things to you...for you," he grinned wickedly. "Money is something I have a lot of. Beautiful women who let me tie them up are much rarer. Let me do this." He smoothed my forehead. "I don't want worry lines marking up that perfect face.
He wasn't going to let me say no. I knew this. His eyes blazed just like they did in the bedroom. "Okay, Liam," I said, and as soon as I said it I felt the weight lifted off my shoulders. "Okay."
Chapter Twenty - Four
I walked out into the front of Liam's apartment. Mysterious Darius hadn't brought the car around yet. It felt strange to be driven. I felt like it would be faster to walk through the traffic snarled streets of Center City. But Liam was insistent.
As I stood there, a tricked out SUV slowed down in front of me. "Hey chocolate mama, you look cold, need me to warm you up?"
"What the fuck do they want?"
I didn't hear Liam come up behind me, but in an instant his hand in on my shoulder. Claiming me. Protecting me. Maybe because we had been spending so much time horizontal, but it surprised me all over again how tall he was. I was tall, but he was even taller, and he loomed over me possessively until the SUV rolled passed.
"They would have no idea what to do with you," he rumbled, with a hint of pride in his voice. And hunger. "What you need."
A warm deliciousness spread through me at the protectiveness in his voice. No one, not Tre, not even my father would have stood up to those catcallers. Both would have rushed me inside, blaming me for catching their attention in the first place. "No," I said, reaching upward for a kiss. "They wouldn't."
He kissed me long and deep. "This'll have to last me," he groaned. The black car rolled up and I could see Darius's scowling face inside.
"Have a good day," I told him. When he walked away, I felt like a piece of me walked with him.
"Good morning, Darius," I said brightly as he held open the door for me. I was proud I didn't slip up and call him Mysterious Darius to his face.
His scowl remained. "Good morning, Shay."
I sat down, momentarily dejected as he walked around the front of the car and slid into the seat.
No, I had too good of a night last night for him to ruin it with his surliness. "How are you this morning?" I called from the back seat.
He grunted as he pulled into traffic. "Can't complain," he glowered.
"Sure you can!" I smiled. "Tell me something that bugs you. Anything."
A yellow cab rolled up almost to our bumper and laid on its horn. "Cabbies," Darius rumbled. "Cabbies bug me."
I laughed nervously. "So, Liam tells me you've been working for him for as long as he can remember. How long is that, exactly?"
He made a growling noise, like a dog warning off someone from stealing his bone. "Don't really recall."
"Well, how old was Liam?"
"A baby."
I sat back for a second. Liam was twenty-four. He'd worked for them that long? "A baby?" I echoed.
"Baby, kid, something like that."
"You really don't know for sure?"
Darius looked over his shoulder as he was changing lanes. "No ma'am, I actually do know. To the day. But it's not something I feel comfortable sharing." He gunned the engine, cutting off a SEPTA bus in the process. "Here you are, Shay," he glowered, throwing the car in park. "I'd get out, but I'm in a bus zone."
"Ah, okay, sure, I'm capable of opening my own door." I slid across the seat and pushed the heavy door open with a slight grunt. "Have a good day?" I called, pushing the door closed.
He peeled out before it even had time to latch, leaving me standing confused on the sidewalk.
*****
"Maybe he's working deep undercover," Kit ventured after I told him the story of my ride with Mysterious Darius. "Or he's in witness protection and can't talk about his past."
"Something like that," I nodded dispiritedly. "And you know what the worst part is?"
"It means something and you can't figure out what it is?" Kit deadpanned.
I threw a pen at him. "Well of course, that goes without saying. But beyond that, he just straight up doesn't like me and I have no idea why."
"You represent a security risk," Kit said immediately. "You want know about Liam's past, you're in his life, you're asking questions...."
I shot a look at him. "Damn, Kit. I think you might not be too far off on that one. He definitely doesn't like me getting close to Liam. It's like he's afraid I'm going to find something out."
"Dun dun DUN dun Darius! Mysterious Darius!" Kit sang his theme song in minor key, waggling his thick fingers spookily. "If you suddenly disappear, I'll find you, lover, don't you fret."
"Gee thanks," I laughed. "You've set me completely at ease.
Kit looked at me suspiciously. "I think that might be the first time you've ever lied to me, Shay," he nodded. "Well done."
Chapter Twenty - Five
When forty degrees feels balmy, you know it's been a rough winter.
I stopped three blocks from Jasmine's place and unzipped my jacket with a flourish. The weak winter sun hadn't yet slipped behind the tall buildings. It was setting later.
There was no mistaking it, spring was on its way...eventually.
Liam had texted me five minutes before I locked up Young's. "I'm taking you to dinner tonight. We're going on a damned date."
"How fancy should I dress?" I texted back.
"Don't care. You look best naked anyway," he replied immediately.
"I'll wear my best rope for the occasion," I typed, grinning from ear to ear.
"Holy fuck, I might love you," he replied.
I wasn't going to second guess it. I wasn't even going to ask him to clarify. He "might" love me?
Might I love him too?
My heart banged in my chest as I hurried back to Jasmine's and rummaged through my suitcases until I found a skirt left over from my corporate days. It was slightly wrinkled, but it would have to do.
I pinned my hair back in a twist, slicking down the curls as best as I could. I curled and mascara-ed my lashes, then smoothed on some gray, kohl shadow, winging out the edges. The change in weather had me feeling frisky, so I blended in some creamy coral blusher and dug through Jasmine's makeup case, testing lip colors until I finally settled on a vibrant orangey red.
There. The woman Liam Graves might love smiled back at me in the mirror and she looked gooood.
If the bathroom mirror wasn't enough confirmation, the way Liam looked at me as I stood on the sidewalk was even further proof that I looked as good as I felt. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him right there on the sidewalk.
"Everyone at Vetri is going to be jealous of my date," he murmured into my throat. "All those eyes on you, I'm not sure I like the idea."
"Are you being possessive?"
He pulled back and touched my bright red lips. "I don't think anyone could blame me."
I grinned. "Well I'm yours, so don't worry about it," I soothed as he helped me into the car.
"You've got it backwards," he clarified. "I think I'm the one who belongs to you."
The words were right there on the tip of my tongue, ready to leap out into the world. I love you. Holy shit, I love you. I had to press my lips together tightly to keep them inside, but the full feeling inside of my chest made it hard to breathe.
I was so damn happy my heart hurt.
Liam slid back into the seat with me and laid his hand possessively on my thigh. "All set, Darius," he called to the front.
I leaned into Liam's shoulder, nuzzling him, just enjoying the way he smelled.
His phone buzzed.<
br />
He pulled back and shot me an apologetic grin. "You know, I'm really starting to hate that thing," I told him as he pulled it from his pocket."
His eyebrows knitted together. "It's Dahlia. I'm so sorry." He held it up to his ear. "Yeah," he grumbled.
I leaned away from him, trying not to eavesdrop, but failing. I caught snatches of her voice, the voice of the woman I had never met but who loomed so large in my relationship, larger even than the mysterious Lily herself.