by Janae Keyes
“Limits?” I asked.
“There are plenty of tools in my box that you’ve never seen or experienced. I need to know where do we stop, what is too much for you,” he expressed out of pure and loving concern.
Then I said those three words that would change everything for us and bring back the connection we’d previously shared. “I trust you.”
“Taylor,” Nate breathed.
“It’s true. I’m letting you back in, and I trust you. I know you don’t want to hurt me. I’m willing to try anything. I am.”
Nate caressed my face and gave me a grin. “Do you remember your word?”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad.”
Nate moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He took my hand and pulled me along with him. We sat for a moment in silence while he drew circles in the palm of my hand, I giggled at the ticklish feeling.
“I want to talk for just a second,” Nate said.
I groaned. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t need talking. I needed him and his body making friction with my own.
“It’s important,” Nate insisted, his tone serious. “I want to make you mine and fuck you in more ways than one, but we need to be a little more in depth about what you are comfortable with and not.”
“I told you, I’m willing to try anything with you. I trust you and your judgment on this stuff,” I expressed as I leaned into his arms.
The tip of Nate’s finger came under my chin and lifted it for my eyes to meet his. He bent to me and placed a chaste kiss on my lips.
“I still don’t know how I got someone like you. I understand that you know, but I want to reinforce the fact that I don’t want to hurt you. I only want you buzzing with all the pleasure I can give you. Therefore, I’d like to put a system in place with us. You have your word, but that is only if you can’t handle anything I’m doing and you want me to stop. I’ve told you before when you use your word, we stop and don’t continue.” I nodded in agreement, remembering the conversation we’d had at Branagan Manor.”
“There might be times you don’t want to stop completely, but maybe take a pause or move onto something else. I’m going to check in with you and ask you if you’re fine. I will ask by asking what your temperature is. If you’re fine and want to keep going, you are hot. If you might be a little uncomfortable, but relatively okay, you’re warm. If you want to stop and not continue with what we’re doing, but want to move onto something else to express an issue, you’re cold. Understand?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Perfect. Get ready Taylor. I told you before that I was going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before.” He pressed his forehead to mine, his eyes searing into my own.
“Mmmhmm.”
“Take that as your warning, my darling,” he whispered sending shivers down my spine and into my core.
Nate stood from the bed, leaving me sitting on the edge. I watched as he reached under the bed and pulled out something I hadn’t seen in quite some time. His toolbox, which was an old and worn wooden trunk. The sound of him unlocking the trunk reverberated through the room with a distinct click.
He lifted the lid and opened it. Right away, I saw the purple scarves he’d used to tie me up the first night he’d introduced me to his box of pleasure. Nate dug through the chest, moving various items out of his way. I saw feathers, something with leather looking tails, another thing that looked like a dog collar, and then he pulled something out. I’d seen it before as he’d used it on me once at Branagan Manor, a riding crop.
My eyes fluttered shut. I distinctly remembered the stinging I’d received from that tool. Biting down on my lip, I was already prepared and excited for the punishment I’d be receiving.
I’d missed this with him. The new world he’d introduced me to of pain and pleasure all rolled into one explosive experience. I would have never taken a step in that direction with anyone else, but Nate. I’d never trusted someone with my body and my heart the way I trusted Nate.
Maybe it would blow up in my face, and my heart would end up a shattered mess again, but damn it was worth it. It all fell apart until he drew me back in.
Nate took another object from his box before he stood. He held a metal bar in his hand and before I knew it, he’d opened it up to a longer bar. I wondered what he’d used that for. I was nervous but tried not to show him. I wanted to be brave enough to try. He wasn’t going to hurt me. I knew that, and the realization of that relaxed me.
“I think that’s it for now,” Nate muttered as he rose to his feet and stood over me.
“What’s that?” I asked anxiously as I motioned to the metal bar he’s produced from the box. “And what are you going to do with it?”
“Come here,” Nate whispered as he joined me on the bed. He laid me down and came over me. His hand gently caressed my face before trailing down my neck, chest, and arm. “That is a Spreader Bar. You will be cuffed to it. What’s your temperature knowing that?”
“Hot,” I answered in a whisper. A smile curved onto Nate’s face before he brought his lips to mine.
“Good girl.”
Nate planted kisses down my neck, slowly and tortuously. With each touch of his lips to my skin, his love for me burned through. He was going to care for me with each of his actions and show me his yearning for me through passion. I’d give it back in return, with my docility.
His kisses reached my already plumb and swollen nipple, Nate took it into his mouth, sucking and stroking with his tongue. My body hummed with his touch. Nate’s teeth took a graze at my erect peak, causing a groan to escape my throat before he moved along to my other side.
Finishing his assault on my nipples, he moved down my body, planting heat filled kisses. Nate’s hands gripped at my knees and forced them apart.
Teasing was over, as his mouth immediately delved into my soaking heat.
“Oh, fuck!” I gasped, my hands sliding down into his soft and still slightly damp hair. My hips moved on their own as they arched toward his tongue.
With each lick, I was driven closer toward the end. He sucked my clit into his mouth. I fisted his hair between my fingers, burning for more.
He slipped a finger into me, followed by another. Pushing into me, he knew exactly how to make me his, and he did it expertly.
“Shit, I’m coming!” I yelped as the heat that grew in me began to consume my body and dragged me into the flames. My nails scratched at his scalp, and I screamed out as he continued to work me through my orgasm.
My limbs went weak. I laid flat on the bed as Nate crawled over me. He took my mouth as his own, introducing my flavor to me. I kissed him back, showing him my appreciation and my need for more.
Breaking away, Nate slid off me and took the bar into his hands. I bit down on my lip, unaware of what to do. He reached down into his trunk and removed cuffs and began to attach them to the bar, one on each end and two in the middle.
“I’m going to connect your hands. What’s your temperature?”
“Hot.”
Nate placed the bar on top of me and began to cuff my hands to the two cuffs placed in the middle of the bar.
“I’m going to help you get on your stomach, and then I will connect your feet. What’s your temperature?”
“Hot.”
“Good, here we go.”
After a few seconds of maneuvering with my hands bound to the metal bar, Nate assisted in getting me to my stomach. Nate took one of my legs and pulled me to where I was on my knees almost with my arms flat under me. It was a little uncomfortable, but that made it all the more intriguing for me.
I felt Nate’s fingers on one of my legs. He attached the cuff to that leg before he moved around to the other side and did the other. My body was now completely bound. My hands and feet were tethered to a single metal bar.
“What’s your temperature, my darling?”
“Hot.”
“Now my darling, you know you need a punishment,” he growled. I loved this sound
of his voice when he was completely in his dominant personality. It was husky and strong.
“Yes, Lord Branagan.”
“Perfect,” he hummed.
Something cold touched the top of my back, just at the base of my neck. Cold and leather, it was the end of the riding crop. Gradually, Nate slid the end of the crop down the middle of my back, causing my back to arch. I moaned in a moment of enticement before the feeling was gone and with a smack, he’d spanked me with the crop.
“Mmm,” I moaned in a mixture of untarnished pain and pleasure.
“What do you say?” The husky voice of Nate asked.
“Thank you, my Lord.”
Again, the leather end of the crop came in contact with my ass. I yelped out in pleasure. Nate did it again and again.
“Fuck!” I hissed. “Thank you, my Lord.”
“Good girl,” Nate whispered before his cool hand came to my burning cheeks, rubbing away the pain. “What’s your temperature?”
“Hot,” I moaned as I felt the tickle of my fluids dripping down my thighs. Nate had heated me to a state of elation.
The movement of the mattress indicated that Nate had joined me on the bed. His hands on my hips and arousal pressing against my opening informed me of what he was to do next. I nodded, wanting it, wanting him.
“What do you want?” Nate asked. I could hear the mixture of amusement and satisfaction in his voice.
“I want you to fuck me, please,” I begged. “Please, please, please my Lord.”
“You know how much I love when you beg me,” he murmured before he filled me at once.
Nate’s hands gripped my hips, riding a sweet rhythm as he pounded into me continuously. My bound hands balled into fists, taking everything he gave me. This was never how I’d imagined sex could be. You could call me a freak if you wanted, but I loved every second of it.
My legs began to shake. My climax was near. Nate’s murmurs of my name indicated his was also very close. Suddenly, I felt one of his hands snake into my hair, gripping at it, giving it a yank. Fuck, he’d never done that before, and I never knew I would like it so much. That single action took me to my edge.
“Oh Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I screamed, and my body drove toward a consuming climax that came to me in rolling waves.
“Shit, fuck, Taylor!” Nate yelped as he joined me.
Nate rode out the end of his orgasm, while mine continued to hit me in waves, causing me to whimper.
His fingers neared my wrists, uncuffing me, followed by my ankles. I was free, and I collapsed onto the bed, my body withering and shaking.
“Oh my God,” I mumbled, tears filling my eyes as a chill engulfed my body.
“I’m here, my darling,” Nate whispered as his arms took me in and held me close to his chest. He worked to move the two of us under the blanket while he continued to hold me.
“Wha--what’s wrong--with me?” I stuttered.
“It’s normal. You’re coming down from the high. It’s okay. I’m here.” He placed a kiss on my temple and rocked me in his arms.
As the shaking and emotions began to subside, I buried my face into his chest, inhaling his scent. This was us, on again and more intense than ever. I was in love with this man, and I didn’t think anything would change that, though there was still his fiancée.
He’d seduced me, broken my heart, and here I was back in his arms, his mistress.
I took a moment to ask myself, was returning to my most vulnerable state and handing over my heart, body, and soul to this man worth it?
Yes.
TWELVE
Nate
PARTING WITH MY curly haired beauty was the hardest part of my morning. Taylor had allowed me in again. She’d once again placed her trust in me. I knew I had a grave responsibility on my hands, being trusted with Taylor’s heart and soul.
I loved her willing spirit. She knew exactly how to please me, and in return, I was able to give her everything. Our night together had been filled with much more of the passion we’d missed out on during our time apart.
Taylor understood my need to control our time in the bedroom. She allowed herself to submit to me in a way that no one had ever done before. She filled my spirit with the joy I’d lacked my entire life.
My girl slept soundly as I worked to get ready as briskly as possibly without waking her. I left a kiss on her bare shoulder before leaving her with a note on my pillow. She’d continued to sleep like an angel, my perfect angel, until I took my final step from the bedroom.
The office was in its usual buzz, and as I stepped from the elevator, as always everyone suddenly began to do what they were supposed to be doing. The employees of the London headquarters weren’t used to me being in so often.
I’d never admit it to Taylor, but I only braved coming down and actually utilizing my office instead of being locked away in Branagan Manor because of her. Taylor was in London, and I had to be near her in hopes of having her, I’d succeeded.
There were so many meetings on my agenda for the day, and the only thing I wanted was to be back in bed holding Taylor’s delicious and naked body. Of course, that would be too much of a good thing.
Around 10 AM, I sent Taylor a text message. I needed to see her, and luckily the headquarters of Branagan Shipping wasn’t terribly far from The Tate, and she could get here relatively quick. I wanted to spend just a few moments with her. Therefore, I invited her to my office for lunch.
My mind was busy. Luckily, it was mostly filled with Taylor, though there were a few other subjects at hand. One was Miranda, the fiancée I was desperate to get rid of. Next, and coupled with Miranda was my parents. I knew what went into solidifying my union with Miranda and it wasn’t as easily breakable as I would hope. A lot rested upon our upcoming nuptials, yet I couldn’t let us get there.
Tonight was Penelope’s birthday party. My middle sister was turning thirty-five, and my parents were throwing her a party as they did with all of us. I’d managed to skip most of my parties, except my thirtieth that brought on my engagement to Miranda.
I also wasn’t able to weasel out of Penelope’s party. My parents were practically stalking me and making me attend as many parties as possible with Miranda on my arm. She’d gone to stay with her parents in the Midlands for a couple of days but was cutting her trip short to return to London for the party.
A knock came at the door before it was pushed ajar. The head of my assistant popped through. She was my fifth assistant this year. I’d never found anyone to keep everything in the proper order I liked it, but so far, she’d done a decent job and would stay on the payroll for the time being.
“Yes,” I said looking at the blue-eyed girl who stood in the doorway, teetering nervously on her high heels.
“Lord Branagan, your logistics meeting is due to start soon,” she informed me. I sighed in response.
“Thank you, Leanne. I need you to take care of something for me.”
“Yes, sir.” she’d pulled out a notebook and was awaiting her instructions. That action alone would get her a small raise and I wouldn’t be getting rid of her anytime soon.
“I have a friend coming for lunch around noon. Taylor Walker. If I am still in my meeting, please see that she is escorted in here. Can you order food from that Pakistani place near Hyde Park? The name is slipping me right now.” My assistant, Leanne, stood taking notes of everything I asked of her.
“Salloos?”
“Yes, that place. A nice spread for my guest and myself will do.” I stood from my desk and grabbed the portfolio I needed for the particular meeting I was about to attend.
“I will take care of it, Sir,” she said as she took her final note. “Anything else?”
“No, that’s all for now.”
As soon as I finished, Leanne was sprinting from my office to get her task done. I took a breath and glanced out of the floor to ceiling windows and peered at The Thames. The day was a particularly dreary, drizzle on the windows and a fog lingering in the atmosphere.
Turning from the window, I abandoned my office for the confines of the conference room. The moment I arrived, the chattering voices hushed due to my presence alone.
“Good morning,” I noted to everyone in the room. The rest of the room muttered their nervous hellos as I took my seat.
Gazing at the clock in the back of the room, It was 11:15, I only had to survive forty-five minutes until Taylor was to arrive and I hoped they would zoom by quickly without much delay.
Listening to executives of my company drown on and on about logistics numbers was nearly numbing, but it was a requirement. I ran one of the largest shipping companies based in the UK and I’d done with enough competence to have taken a tiny postal firm and made it a global player in the logistics market.
My eyes wandered to the hall that was clearly visible through the glass that made up the wall of the room. I’d seen Leanne carrying a large brown paper bag that I knew contained the lunch I’d had her order for Taylor and I.
Not soon after, glancing at the clock, it was noon, and only moments later I saw Taylor following Leanne, the two women in light conversation. Taylor was the most refreshing sight in my office. Her hair was pulled into a bun on the top of her head. Her body hugged by an orange and blue dress. I took in her milk chocolate legs, long and delicate and she stepped through the hall.
My concentration was snapped away from Taylor as someone in the room was clicking their pen. My eyes looked around at everyone at the table until I spotted the perp, the assistant of one of my execs. She appeared to be bored out of her mind and sat continuously clicking her pen.
The continuing of the clicking drove me insane. The eyes of the others all seemed to go to where mine were focused, on the absent-minded assistant. Those who worked with me knew how I was and knew I was not a fan of that type of behavior. It had taken her moments before she realized everyone was focused on her.
“Sorry,” she squeaked in embarrassment.
“I think we’ve had enough for one day,” I said, standing. “Have the meeting minutes emailed to me as soon as possible and Mr. Charles, please check in with my assistant to schedule a meeting for the Singapore project.”