KNOTTED: The Manhattan Bound Series, Book Three

by Juliet Braddock

  “Maxine...”

  Maxine could see that smile peering out beneath the foam. “Punish me tonight?”

  “Nope!” Drew sat back on his heels and folded his arms across his chest. “No misdemeanors shall be issued this evening.” The disappointment in Maxine's wide eyes was almost too much for him to handle.

  “Not even...” she caught her breath. “Not even if I do this?”

  Within two seconds and the splash of Maxine's hands, Drew was soaked.

  “Huh-uh...” he stood his ground, his patience dwindling.

  Beneath the water, he could see her scissor kicking in anticipation. “Will you at least report me to Naughty Sassy Siri?”

  “Can't do that, Maxine—it's our wedding night.”

  Bouncing in the water with absolute disdain, she pouted, “Oh, come on!”

  “Come, did you say, Mrs. Mack?” he teased, leaning closer and dipping his hand into the water. “That we can work with...”

  “Ohh!” she called out suddenly as his fingers played her once again, circling her clit so quickly in their efforts.

  Tightening her thighs around his now slippery hand, she bellowed again, her voice filling the entire bathroom. Always a step ahead, Drew reached around her back to steady her. The last thing he wanted to do was spend their wedding night in the emergency room because Maxine clunked her head, mid-orgasm, in the tub.

  Now, he was damn near making himself crazy with need, but that was no reason to rush things along. As with most sexual practices in which they'd engaged, there was a delicate line between pleasure and pain. Relaxing her—making her feel safe—was tantamount to her enjoyment that evening.

  Suddenly, though, in the height of her all-consuming pleasure, Maxine grabbed at his arms, her nails biting through his wet shirt. He knew that if he didn't get some sort of handle on her, he'd end up in the bathwater with her.

  “More...”

  “Yes,” he whispered. “I'll give you more—much more. Just be calm for a moment, alright, my sweets?”

  “Yes, Drew...” she panted.

  Inching closer, his lips touched her forehead, his arm tightened around her back. For a very long moment, they simply clung to each other in that most uncomfortable position with Drew leaning over the tub to hold her. Giving her tastes of gratification was all a part of his master plan, driving her to the edge and allowing her delight to freely consume her.

  There were indeed times when pain was the focus of their amusement. That night, however, Drew knew that one slight move could hurt her to the point of mistrust. Just as when he first made love to her in her little bedroom back at the brownstone, this was yet another new experience for Maxine that he had no plans to sully.

  As he reached for the soft bath pillow perched on the tub ledge behind her, he whispered, “Rest your head, Maxine.”

  She leaned backward, with his hand to guide her, and puckered her lips. “Kisses?”

  Readily, he accepted her request just as her head touched the pillow. “Many...”

  “Oh, kisses...” she murmured against his lips, thinking back to all of his denials...and now reaping the rewards. Yet in leaving her longing, he redefined her need. Want was, indeed, such a significant part of their play—driving that feverish ache was what they both strived to accomplish...and to fulfill.

  Down his back, her nails danced as he reached for the shower gel and the velvety soft wash cloth hanging on the rack above them. All the while, he never stopped kissing her.

  He squeezed the peppermint shower gel onto the cloth, then pressed it against her neck. Maxine relaxed against the pillow and allowed the scents and sensations of his fingers to ripple along. That gentle touch of Drew's long fingers and those waves of warm water in the tub soothed her.

  As his mouth swept over one nipple, then the other, Maxine's wet fingers tangled through his hair. He wanted her still. He wanted her calm. But those lips, alternating between her breasts, pulling and sucking with reverence, left her mind whirling and spinning and spiraling out of control.

  He followed his lips with the washcloth, teasing her through the heavy wet fabric as he lathered her skin, scrubbing gently down her breasts and over her tummy. As he pressed the warm cloth between her legs, Maxine thought again of their first time—how he took such great concern to care for her and clean her up after he’d made love to her.

  Washing her gently from front to back, those fingers continued on with their not so subtle manipulation. A groan rumbled from her throat while she rocked against his hand.

  “My precious little virgin...” His breath caught as he stopped to replenish the shower gel on the cloth, then carefully moved to her leg to wash. Circling her thigh from the outside inward, he watched her all the while, his eyes riveted on her open, quivering mouth. “Oh, Maxine...”

  Passionate intent played a leading role in their lives, but along the way, they both came to understand that sexual attraction wasn't the cusp of their relationship. Lust, while a strong component in their lives, did take a backseat to honesty, trust, and communication. Their shared love of kink was just the icing on the cake.

  “Turning you over, beautiful lady...” he whispered, his hands slippery against her skin as he helped her to roll over within the confines of the tub.

  Slick and tender, his fingers kneaded into her shoulders and neck, eliciting a playful growl from Maxine. His attention to detail never wavered, working those hands against her spine and plying every muscle in her back. This sated state was exactly where he needed her to be.

  Manipulating her further as he worked his way downward, he abandoned the washcloth to drop a mini-puddle of shower gel right on her bare bottom.

  “That's not bathing, Mack,” she observed with a jiggle that splashed him once again. “That's your finger up my ass.”

  “And when have you complained before, Maxine?” he countered.

  She only wished she could see those smirking lips from her vantage point, but thought gave way to the sensation of his tease. Gently rocking her hips, she enjoyed the slow build of an anal orgasm. They both had to work just a bit harder for it, and the challenge made her tighten around him as she shivered in delight. She couldn't wait to have him there...

  “Maxine, I want you to be comfortable tonight,” his voice gentled her once more. “I'm plugging you for a little while. Getting you accustomed...”

  “To bigger and better things?” she teased, kicking her legs in anticipation.

  Sometimes, her overly enormous appetite for sex just left Drew flummoxed to the point where he was only capable of chuckling.

  “Ah, you laugh at me,” she said with a mock sense of hurt. “What's next? Numbing lube?”

  “Numbing lube? Oh, hell no!” he finally managed, his voice almost panicked. “Where the hell would you get an idea like that?”

  Suddenly, she felt herself drifting just a bit away from subspace, as she scrambled to cover up the truth. Oh, Drew would shit bricks if he knew that she’d discussed their anal adventures with Ben! Instead of answering him, Maxine issued a challenge. “What's so bad about it?”

  “Because it does exactly what it says,” Drew explained, now merely tickling his fingers over her bare bottom. “If you're hurting, you won't be able to sense it. I need you to tell me if you're in pain. The point of this is pleasure...”

  “Mmm...”

  “Besides, little one...” he began, lowering his voice seductively, “don't you want to feel me back there?”

  “Keep talking,” Maxine retorted. “I'm damn near close to coming...”

  “It's our wedding night,” he reminded her, slipping a finger back between her legs, stretching until he reached her clit. “Come as you please.”

  “Oh, fuck...Drew!”

  Now, as pleasure gripped her again, she was sloshing so carelessly about in the tub once more, drenching her husband...the cold white tiled walls...the floor.

  “Such a dirty mouth...” He bent down, his breath warm on her neck, then nipped at he
r earlobe. He'd been wanting to do that—and a million other things—to her all day. “...for a virginal bride...”

  After waiting until Maxine had calmed herself once more, he clasped his hands on the rim of the tub and pushed himself up to retrieve a warm towel from one of the heated racks.

  Reaching out to take her hand, he said, “Come here, lady...” then wrapped her in the cozy folds of the thick, white velvety sheet. His mouth met hers once again, this time, probing gently with just the tip of his tongue, tickling the inside of her bottom lip in just the right spot with his all-knowing precision.

  “I never understood why people said that their weddings were the happiest days of their lives,” Maxine admitted, touching her hand to his cheek, “until today...”

  “Yeah...I get it now, too...” he said. “But I have a feeling that we'll have some days ahead that will be just as joyous...”

  Drew grabbed another warm towel, and Maxine watched as he draped it carefully over the cold granite vanity. “Time to plug you, Mrs. Mack.,” he said, with a nod toward the counter. “Bend over for me...”

  Usually, those very words indicated that he was about to spank her, but Maxine knew that was quite unlikely that night. Still, though, there was something absolutely electrifying about that order—to render herself helpless at his complete yet protective mercy.

  She opened her eyes, watching Drew in the mirror. Meanwhile, he tended to his next task of drying her off before reaching for the lube that sat beside the large white plug. Carefully, he filled the applicator with the slippery liquid, but not before he stole a brief slither of his own finger into her virgin hole. That old familiar twitch between her legs pulsed once again.

  “You love watching me do this for you, don't you, Maxine?” he asked, unable to mask his amused smile as he glided the long, plastic syringe deep inside her. Pleasure teased her again as the rush of that clear, warm liquid filled her, tickling her in the most intimate of fashions.

  “Actually, yes,” she said, while he worked the plug against her then slowly pressed it deeper inside. “I think it's beautiful—the way you take such good care of me.”

  Her words, so heartwarmingly genuine, enraptured him. Just a few months ago, he was so intrigued by this beautiful young woman with big green eyes. She possessed an air of purity that constantly seemed at conflict with her curiosities. So unlike anyone he'd ever known with her tenacity and her ability to find the hilarity in all of life's hills and valleys, Maxine unwittingly made him fall for her by her tender brand of devotion.

  He pulled a deep breath into his lungs and held it for a long moment.

  “Come here, Mrs. Kirk-McKenzie,” he turned her around to fold her into his arms. “One last little kiss...and then we both have things to do for a bit...”

  “What things do you have to do?” Maxine asked, puckering up.

  Returning her kiss, he winked. “Things, Maxine. Now, get ready for me, little one. I can't wait to see what you'll be wearing...”

  In seconds, he had disappeared, and Maxine just smiled as she shook her head at herself in her reflection.

  What a truly beautiful day it had been—picture perfect. She stopped to remember that moment when she took her dad’s arm and began her walk down the aisle...and seeing Drew, so serenely certain of his love for her, waiting for her arrival. They were surrounded by their dearest family and friends, but for Maxine, there was no one else there but the two men she loved the most—one passing her over to the other for safe keeping.

  They'd celebrated to the fullest but never lost sight of their love for a single second. Even the unexpected shock of Jillian’s pregnancy had its own special place in the day. Soon there would be a child in their lives to draw them even closer as a family. That little baby had no idea how lucky—and loved—he or she already was.

  The night, while not so young, still held so much promise. The bride and groom were nowhere near finished with their own private celebration.

  And there was no happier woman alive that evening than Maxine Kirk-McKenzie.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Oh, this day just got a little more special, Maxine...” Drew grinned from his spot on the floor near the hearth of the old stone fireplace.

  In a mere half hour, he'd managed to shower, light a fire and several candles, prepare the champagne, and make the floor comfy with a few large decorative pillows he'd grabbed throughout the cottage.

  In the glow of the fire, she could see that face that she recognized so well—the delicate etching of both tenderness and frivolity that he always wore before they played which gave him almost a boyish air. He sat with his legs just slightly askew in nothing but a pair of navy blue boxer briefs, with a flute of champagne raised to his lips. Suddenly, she felt a bit overdressed.

  Ever frisky, Maxine stood as tall as she could in just her white stocking-clad feet with her shoulders back. She stepped with cautious grace through the small living room, toward her husband on the floor. Her hair was perfectly pinned into a bun, just as he'd requested, and she'd returned her collar to its rightful place around her neck. They weren't scening that night, but the significance of commitment rang loudly and clearly between them as those intoxicating blue eyes surveyed her from head to her French manicured toes, peeping through the fishnets.

  When at last Maxine severed the distance between them, Drew reached out his hand and said, “Pinch me...”

  “Pinch you?” she asked softly, feeling the heat—from the fire and from her husband’s appreciative gaze—warming up her barely covered skin.

  “Either I've died and gone to heaven...or this is all a dream,” he chuckled. “But I think you can do a marvelous job of waking me up...”

  With a nod toward his boxers, Maxine looked down upon him, the tease evident in her eyes. “I don’t have much work to do...”

  Naughty Sassy Maxine was indeed out and on the prowl that evening. Her confidence soared as she stood before him in her Bordelle Bondage Bride dress, a configuration of white satin strips accentuated with eighteen karat gold fasteners and rings that sculpted her body in all of the right places. While comfortable, to the naked eye, she did indeed appear to be...restrained.

  “This...” he said, plucking one of the garters holding up her stockings, “could easily do it, Mrs. Mack. But you certainly made my job difficult today with the buttons…and now all of these little hooks! Oh, little one, turn around....”

  Placing one hand on her hip as she puckered her lips, Maxine did just that, shifting as she modeled for him, flaunting all the while.

  “Ahhhh...” he sighed. “A zipper down the back. But what amusements we can entertain before we get to that?”

  “You approve, Mack?”

  As he spun her around to face him again, Maxine noted his slackened jaw in the shadows of the candlelight and fire. “Oh, yes,” he said quickly. “Very much so...”

  “Thank you…”

  “Why don't you just sit in my lap for a bit?” he suggested. “Have a glass of champagne with me?”

  “The honor would be mine...” Clutching his shoulders, she slunk down to sit on his thighs with her legs wrapped around his waist. “Get me drunk and have your way with me...”

  “I fully intend to...” After passing her a full flute, he raised his crystal glass to hers. “Happy wedding night, little one...”

  Tapping her flute to his, Maxine said, “Happy wedding night to you, my Kindest of Sirs...”

  Entwining their arms, Drew remembered the night they’d done just that, right in the kitchen before his mother’s party. It was just another one of those small but tender moments that made him fall so hard for her.

  “Yummy…” Maxine said, her tongue lolling about her lips.

  “Not quite as yummy as you look tonight...”

  He allowed them both the time to finish the champagne before abandoning the flutes at the corner of the hearth.

  “Excited about our honeymoon?” Drew whispered as he pulled one of the straps aside at her na
val and gave a lingering lick. Maxine's bellybutton was one of the most delicate spots on her body, and he prompted a little squeal.

  “Excited that I get to spend time so absolutely alone with you,” she answered. In truth, a fancy vacation didn’t matter in the least. Adventure seemed to follow them wherever they went—even if it was just a trip downstairs to the Dungeon.

  “You'll love Paris,” he told her. “It has this old world charm that just draws you in and sticks with you long after you’ve left.”

  “I'll love Paris because you'll be there with me...”

  The bra had pushed Maxine's breasts up so very high, accentuating her curves. With the tips of his fingers, Drew outlined her bare skin between the sweetheart neckline from right to left. In his lap, she twisted a bit and placed her hands on his shoulders.

  “I love playing tourist with you,” he admitted, his finger retracing his path in his return. “Just these last few months in New York with you—seeing the city for the first time again through your beautiful eyes—I’ve come to a new appreciation…”

  Now, she faced the growing difficulty in collecting her thoughts, which was always a challenge her with her husband's slightest touch.

  “These last few months,” Maxine managed, “have been the best of my life…”

  “Ah, yes,” Drew murmured, daring to dip his finger just inside that pure white band, prompting her to tremble in his wake. “For both of us…”

  Maxine's lips quivered as she looked down and watched his daring finger threading between straps and treading ever so closely to her nipple. “You’ve been the perfect guide...”

  “Why, thank you, little one,” he whispered, touching his forehead to hers, allowing his lips to just linger next to hers without kissing. “You’ve been the perfect—and I must say most willing—accomplice...”

  Hooking his thumbs through the golden rings along the garter straps that held her stockings in place, he gave a little yank, releasing the fasteners without Maxine even taking notice.

  As his hands grazed further beneath, stretching the girdle to reach her hips, Maxine shifted, feeling the tightness of the plug. Soon, she reminded herself, Drew would be there. She could feel the dribbles between her legs and the pull within. Another orgasm gripped her without warning, and Drew’s hands were at her waist to brace her.