“Maybe.” Probably not. Just touch me.
Jonas rose and walked away. My gaze followed as he moved to stand at the bottom of the bed, his hands holding onto the posts. Nothing he did was without consequence, and my pulse went up as my mind guessed his plan.
“I’ve been thinking about us sharing this experience for a while. When I replaced the bed, I chose this one for a reason. I’d like to tie you down,” Jonas said.
My brows lowered. Yep. Tying me down. Something he had mentioned before, but we hadn’t done together.
I didn’t respond, but I watched as he left the room and returned holding a small black case. Sitting down on the bed facing me, he opened the lid toward me. Nestled between the inner black velvet castings were four leather cuffs.
“These two are for your wrists, and these are for your ankles,” Jonas said.
I absently picked up one. The padded cuff had some weight and a couple of belts on it that I gathered would adjust in size. There were also metal rings hanging off, I assumed for attaching to keep the submissive in place. I had seen as much from a few videos online. From what I saw, the acts that followed were acts that frightened me.
I dropped the cuff back on the bed and moved my legs up under my chin, my arms tightening around them. “You want to hurt me?” I said in a small voice.
“Please look at me,” Jonas said, moving the case away and tugging my hands down so that he could kiss the back of them. His eyes were soft when I met them. “I wouldn’t hit you, Lily. Not ever. Especially after what happened to you. You are so special, so precious to me. Do you honestly believe I would harm you?”
I said without hesitation “No…not on purpose. But why do you need to do this?”
He smiled at me. “I don’t need to, I want to. But only if you let me. Bondage, or binding you, isn’t to hurt you. It’s another way for us to connect and deepen our trust in each other. I won’t gag you, and I’ll remove them if you don’t enjoy it.”
I held his hands as he waited patiently for my answer. My mind circled over why he would want to try this now. I knew he cared for me, but this was a leap in trust. And, honestly, I didn’t know where I stood on it. But this, to Jonas, was a way to try. And I wanted to for him.
“I’ll try,” I finally conceded.
He kissed my lips tenderly. “Thank you.”
He didn’t waste another minute and started fastening the cuffs around my ankles and wrists. He then pulled something from under the bed that looked like leather straps and walked around the bed, hooking them on the posts, leaving a lead with a hook on the end from all four corners.
“Pull back the covers, and move into the center of the bed,” he instructed and I did. He set about hooking my cuffs to the lead. First he secured my ankles to the corners, making my legs open wider than I had ever been with him before.
I looked down my body and blushed. “This is too open. Can you adjust to close them more?”
Jonas’s face filled with amusement and he laughed, fitting a pillow under my body, baring me further still. “If this is my only chance at seeing you this way, no. I’m going to enjoy looking at your body completely open and exposed to me.”
I closed my eyes. My breath caught and I shuddered.
Jonas ran his hand over the bottoms of my feet and found a tickle spot that made me giggle and instantly relaxed me, though as he did it more than once, annoyance crept in. “If you’re going to do that, forget it,” I grumbled.
He kissed and caressed my instep until I squirmed a tremor that went up to my core. “Like that?” I moaned in response, though the swell of my breasts and wetness on my thigh gave him the answer.
Climbing off the bed, he moved to the headboard, securing my wrists in place next as he had done with my ankles. He checked and adjusted the restraints to make sure they weren’t too slack or constricted. My arms and legs were all open toward the four posts and secured to the bed.
“Try to move,” he commanded.
I turned my head and tried to pull against the restraints on my arms and couldn’t. I tried to move legs and my arms again and started to pant. He cupped my face and kissed me.
“Relax,” he whispered. He then massaged downward, starting at my head over my shoulders, and all the way down my legs until I was relaxed. “I’m turning off the water in the tub.” Jonas started moving away from the side of the bed.
“Jonas, don’t leave,” I cried out. I was trapped and completely at his mercy. What was he going to do to me?
He came back to my side in less than a minute. Leaning over, he caressed my face and kissed me to calm me, then said. “I’m right here. I’m not leaving. I won’t keep you bound long. I’m going to touch, lick, suck, and fuck you. You’ll come for me. After, I’ll take them off and we’ll bathe. Then I’ll hold you the rest of the night.”
I quivered and moaned against the throbbing ache in my clit as his plan lit my senses. I arched my back in the restraints. He let out a groan as he stood up and moved to the end of the bed, removing his jeans and freeing his cock that was fully erect. His gaze was bold as it traveled over my body, burning everywhere it fell. “You look stunning,” he said, his voice rough. With the view of his ripped, toned physique, I could say the same about him.
Jonas climbed on the bed and settled between my thighs. He then rested back on his knees. His pupils dark. His lips parted. His chest heaving. Seeing me bound and open did it for him.
He moved his hands up to the crease at the top of my thigh and ran his finger across my clit. I arched. The barest of touch had me desperate for more. He let out a long hiss as he stroked over my folds, then commenced with light brushes on my clit again. He leaned close and inhaled as I arched, willing him to do more. But he moved back up and was now pumping my breasts in his hands, rolling the nipples and sucking hard on them. Pushing them together and pinching the tips. I was gulping air as they swelled. I mewled as a trickle of sweat passed close to my eye. Jonas looked up at me and wiped the sweat away with a cloth I didn’t see he had, then went back to my breasts. They ached.
“Jonas, please,” I rasped. He squeezed and licked the tips and I moved my head. I was still in my head. He finally let go and kissed down to my belly button, dipping his tongue inside. I quivered as the sensation went straight to my core. Fuck. I shook.
“You’re doing good,” he said and moved down to my mound, kissing then moving down to lay flat on his stomach. Placing his shoulders between my thighs, he ran his tongue over the hood and around the sides of my clit as I cried out and tried to arch. It felt good. Fuck. I grunted. He did it again and again. I shook, not being able to touch him or put him where he could finish me off and give me that orgasm that was rising and falling. He had me completely and I couldn’t do anything but take what he was giving to me.
“Jonas, please, make me come,” I pleaded as anger rose in me. He knew how to finish me off so easily, but he wouldn’t. He continued the slow, light licks and flicks of his tongue through my folds and held onto my shaking thighs. My mind faltered. But still he held on to my quivering form with the torturous strokes of his tongue, making me hotter and swollen. I felt desperate and started to beg again. “Jonas, please.”
“Let go, I’ve got you,” he whispered and went back to his light strokes. My teeth scraped my bottom lip. Sweat was covering my body and tears hurt my eyes. Never have I felt so desperate before.
“I. Need. To. Come,” I gulped between pants. He started lapping faster and fingering, but still it wasn’t enough. Climaxing was all I could think about now, and I felt about ready to burst. Then I fell.
I couldn’t think and I made incoherent words as my body trembled. I felt delirious with need. I was chaotic, incoherent left in his hands.
Jonas finally showed some mercy and drew on my clit, crooking a finger inside me right on my g-spot. I came, screaming. Climbing my body, he thrust his cock in all the way to the hilt as I contracted around him. His hips bucked against my pelvis as surges of pleasure filled
me.
“Ohhh, Lily. I love you,” he growled out as he moved faster, slamming hard and deep, brushing against my womb. I felt that sweet building again, knowing I was going to come once more. Through the blubbering mess that I was now, there was my Jonas. His gaze fixed on me. His smile. His love.
“Come with me.” He shifted, angling his hard strokes right up against my clit, and I exploded again in climax. I kept on screaming as Jonas moved his fingers down to press on my clit, dragging out my orgasm. He had taken every piece of me until there was nothing left, and that was when he came, filling me with his cum as he panted above me, his sweat dripping down my body. He leaned down and kissed my mouth as I continued to tremble hard in the restraints. He eased out, then freed my wrists first and massaged the circulation back into them. Then he repeated the action down by my ankles. I was too tired to move, and I didn’t need to. Jonas was here. Massaging my legs, arms, and shoulders, then picking me up gently and hugging me.
“Thank you for trusting me, my beautiful Tiger Lily,” he said.
My eyes were heavily lidded but fixed on him as he lifted me up and carried me into the bathroom, where he eased us both into the warm foamy water in the tub and held me in his arms.
He was whispering soothing words as I relaxed in the lavender-scented bath. With my back against his chest, he kept an arm around my waist as he lathered up a sponge and quickly washed me. I was too exhausted to be of much help, so I silently drifted in his arms, surrendering to the intimacy of his support and care.
After rinsing me off, he lifted me out and set me down on a large bath sheet and dried us off, then carried me back to bed and placed me on top of his chest and cuddled me.
“Jonas, how long can I stay with you,” I mumbled, my eyes closed.
The words forever floated through my mind as I slipped into the most peaceful and contented sleep.
“YOU HAVE BEEN leaked to the press,” Jonas said.
My eyes popped open and I sat up with a start. With the blinds drawn, the bedroom was dark, though my internal clock placed the time at early morning instead of night. The bedside lamp flared to life and so did my mind as it sought to understand just what Jonas said to me.
“What was leaked exactly?” I asked and held my breath.
“Our relationship. The press is linking our trip to Miami and the end of my fake engagement to Melissa,” he handed me some clothes to put on. “I’ve set up an emergency meeting in my office now. We’ll be discussing how we will communicate our response and introduce you to the world.” Our eyes met then. His were dull, though he looked handsome as ever in a dark blue suit, pressed shirt, and tie.
I also wanted to be covered before we went any further with this conversation. As if he was able to read my thoughts, Jonas gestured toward the dark blue shirt and matching A-line skirt he had given me, along with dark lace lingerie and silk stockings.
I quickly put on the undergarments and went into the bathroom, where I cleaned up before returning to put on the remainder of my clothes. The whole time, Jonas stood in place, though his eyes followed me. After I brushed my long hair and put on a smidge of gloss, I came back to stand before him. Our outfits went together. Like us, right?
The way Jonas was staring at me had me fidgeting now. I knew he had something he wanted to share with me. “What is your plan, Jonas?” I asked.
He gave me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “My plan is to announce you as my girlfriend,” Jonas said, his voice steady.
Girlfriend. We gazed into each other’s eyes and our connection flared between us. Wasn’t it only a week ago that I reveled in the title of Jonas Crane’s girlfriend? Jonas had said the title didn’t express the depth of his feelings for me or mine for him. Not after all we had shared together. I truly believed in my heart I was his, and he was mine.
“I thought we were going with calling me ‘mine’ and I could call you ‘my man’?” I teased.
His arms went around my waist. “We’ve been public anonymously, but now you’ll be in public with me. Things will change for the both of us. But in private, and to those that are close to us, everything will stay the same. You’re mine,” Jonas said.
“And you are mine,” I replied. His lips crushed against mine possessively and I gave myself over to the kiss, feeling the same need to seal our bond in that moment. When we broke apart, I placed my hand in his and we walked down to the office.
Jonas didn’t stop holding my hand even as he headed over to the head of the table and had me take the vacant seat next to him. A small group was seated around the conference table. The ones I recognized were Ian, Samuel, and Diane. The others, I didn’t. There was a deeply tanned male with highlighted blonde hair and light blue eyes and a female with a prominent widow’s peak and close-set brown eyes.
Everyone was similarly dressed in the latest designer business wear, making me feel comfortable in my selected style of clothing. They sat in uniform, briefcases at their sides and folders at their place settings, with only a slight difference in their choices of pastries, fresh fruits, coffee, and juice from the platters in the center of the conference table.
“Lily, you know Ian, Samuel, and Diane,” Jonas said. “I have also asked Ava Mills and Patrick Stollwater, heads of my Public Relations and Communications, to attend this meeting.”
He paused for a minute, smiled, and said, “This is Ms. Lily Salomé, my girlfriend.” Ava and Patrick’s four eyes assessed me as we briefly greeted each other.
“Reports on the leak?” Jonas asked, addressing the group.
“Our sources informed us that Melissa Finch is responsible for your flight and location leaks,” Diane said. She passed a report to Jonas. “This is from one of our private investigations into the announcement. Press at the airport and your home are all linked.”
“Here are the latest newspaper articles. The one on top is the only one with leverage,” Ava said as she pulled out folders for Samuel to hand to everyone in the group. “Unfortunately, Ms. Salomé’s disguise at the airport plays into Melissa Finch’s jilted, ex-fiancé story, which has grown legs since our press release stating you were never engaged.”
“Surprised Phil chose to embarrass himself,” Ian said, his eyes scanning the article. “We could get him for nondisclosure and privacy violations.”
“Everyone knows Phil’s done,” Jonas replied.
Phil? I opened the folder to a newspaper clipping of a tabloid article. There was an enlarged portrait of Jonas and Melissa together. Someone had Photoshopped a jagged rip between the two images, with currency burning in the gap. Below the flaming money was a photo of me in the flight uniform at the terminal building and one of my graceless crawl through the driver’s door of Jonas’s car. The last image was one of Jonas getting out of the same car. The blood drained from my face as I continued on to the tabloid headline: Mile High in Miami: Mysterious Mistress Revealed. My stomach soured as I read the article.
Our exclusive story on why heiress Melissa Finch was ditched by billionaire Jonas Crane. “Jonas introduced her as Lily Salomé, his personal secretary,” said Phil Keane, head of KeanexTech Studios, who watched the secret lovers attend a ‘business meeting’ at his company. “Jonas had never flown in a ‘secretary’ in all the years of doing business with me,” he revealed, giving us rare inside scoop on New York’s most eligible divorcee.
A source says Jonas and the lush Lolita stole intimate moments in an office before jetting off to their secret love nest in Tribeca, New York, ‘without mentioning’ his leaked engagement announcement by blindsided ex, thirty-nine-year-old Melissa. “I feel sorry for her,” Phil said when asked.
KeanexTech recently parted ways with Crane Holdings.
Phil using me to get back at Jonas for closing his company wasn’t surprising after what occurred between the two of them at KeanexTech. I wasn’t sure any news of closing would have come across better. Still, Jonas had known Phil for years, and the man he had helped in business had turned on him. That alone mu
st hurt. Reaching under the table, I squeezed Jonas’s thigh, wishing we could be alone so that I could hold him.
His eyes shifted to me and he leaned over to my ear. He understood and said the only thing he could in his meeting, “Thank you.” Then he cleared his throat and addressed the group. “Samuel?”
Samuel picked up the small stack of papers in front of him. “I have created a profile on Ms. Salomé.” He handed it out to the group.
My face heated as everyone looked over the few sentences that captured my life history, mostly revolving around my parents. I made a vow then and there to do more with my life.
Lily Geneviève Salomé
Mother: Jane Schafer, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Occupation: Marymount First Grade Teacher
Father: Randall Salomé, born in Auteuil, France. Immigrated to Quincy, Massachusetts. Occupation: Principal Viola Player for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Both deceased from tragic car accident.
B.A. in Anthropology at Boston University, Magna Cum Laude. Honor Student.
Publishing Assistant at Arch Limited.
Head of Love Legacy Program, a cross-cultural youth art program.
Recent recipient of grant from Arthur Finch and Jonas Crane Joint Partnership in Annual Finch Fanatic Fundraiser.
“Ideas?” Jonas asked, addressing the group.
“We can introduce Lily Salomé as a hardworking, independent Bostonian. We say her tragedy touched the heart of Jonas through her Love Legacy Foundation. We can tie in your presentation at the Finch Fanatic Fundraiser last month,” Ava suggested.
“Maybe photos of the two of you together at a local event?” Patrick suggested.
Samuel shuffled through his e-pad. “The New York School of Business How to Succeed panel Wednesday afternoon.” His voice dropped an octave. “There is also the New York Art Alliance Auction at Killian Gallery Wednesday evening?”
Tiger Lily: Part Three Page 20