Sweet Backlash

by Violet Heart

  She stopped in the middle of the room. "If you let me put this on you, I'll remove your cuffs."

  Hope brightened his eyes. "You win." He held out his hands.

  "I always win."

  She locked the neckband around his throat and attached the leader to the bar's runner cord. Her fingers trembled as she pulled a tiny key from her rear pocket, his nearness affecting her, making her want to touch him. She loved it. She hated it. After releasing the cuffs and unlatching the Dura-Loc, she tossed the shiny metal wrist restraints onto her abandoned boots.

  "Join me?" he asked, sitting cross-legged the setting his plate on his knee. His position provided a clear view of all his most interesting parts.

  The pressure began to build between her legs again. Sitting near him, studying his body, would heighten her anticipation of his reward. It thrilled her. After fetching her breakfast, she returned. She was about to embark on a new and exciting journey. It scared the hell out of her, and turned her on like nothing ever had. "Okay, but only because I need to talk to you about something."

  He picked up and sniffed a strawberry. "I'm fascinated."

  He seemed honest in his interest, and she took encouragement. Settling in front of him, copying his position, she gazed into his eyes and took a sip of coffee. "I have decided to reward you for your good behavior." She dipped a strawberry in her cream cheese and inserted the tip into her mouth. She wrapped her lips around it to catch any juices, and bit.

  He stared. His lids dropped slightly and his lips separated. His reaction filled her with a surge of power and told her she still maintained control. Lowering her eyes to his mouth, she licked her upper lip and said, "Delicious."

  "Yeah," he breathed, though he had not yet eaten a thing.

  She smiled despite herself. "Eat. You're going to need your strength."

  He arched his brows and ripped the green stem from his berry. He popped it in his mouth with gusto. When he swallowed, he said, "You've got my full attention."

  "We're due for some fun," she said, putting more cheese on her fruit. Her heart began to pound and her stomach fluttered, sapping some of her appetite.

  "I'm with you," he said with a nod, dunking part of his roll into his coffee.

  She repeated her performance with the strawberry and he froze, devouring her with his gaze. A shift between his legs made her glance down. His cock had lengthened. In the past, her partners had never gotten excited just watching her. She had to frighten them, inflict pain, or intimidate them to get a reaction like that.

  With her eyes on his hardening shaft, she whispered, "I want to taste you."

  Like magic, his penis doubled in size. "It's not fair that you get to see me but I don't get to see you," he said, his voice tight.

  What was that supposed to mean? "I want to touch you. Give you pleasure."

  "I want to see you," he insisted with quiet force.

  It hit her that he asked her to undress. "This is your reward," she reminded.

  "Then reward me by taking off your clothes. Let's be naked together."

  Definitely stubborn. "Give up, slave."

  His lips spread in a wolfish grin, and he ate another strawberry whole.

  "You're not going to protest about being called slave?"

  "As long as you don't change your mind, you can call me anything you like. Just come here."

  She barked a laugh without meaning to. Shaking her head, she said, "You make it sound so simple. But with me, nothing's simple."

  "I'm learning that. Tell me, why isn't this simple?" He took the other half of his croissant and dipped it into his coffee. His calm demeanor contradicted his obvious arousal.

  Not sure how he would take it, she took a deep breath and blurted, "I can't let you touch me. If we're going to do this, I have to have total control. That means I need to bind you."

  He filled his mouth with the rest of his breakfast and slowly chewed. She could tell she presented him a challenge. When he swallowed, he didn't speak right away. He stared at her through slitted eyes before asking, "You're giving me a choice?"

  "Of course." Once again, guilt sliced through her. He hadn't asked for any of this.

  "You want to hurt me?"

  "No. I want to pleasure you. I want to learn your body." He seemed so skeptical yet he asked questions, and that made her optimistic. He wasn't saying no.

  "How can you tie me up and not hurt me? I don't like the idea." He set his plate aside and moved his coffee at arm's length.

  Melony nodded. This was new to him. He didn't know about bondage. "I use a Japanese method called Shibari. The emphasis is placed on sensuality. The ropes caress as I apply them. My goal will be to provide you a feeling of freedom within the binding. You'll be able to move. Bend. I promise."

  He thought for a moment. She held her breath, willing him not to turn her down. For her, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore her sexuality with a man she actually liked. Actually shared an attraction with. He offered her a chance to escape her past, and he didn't know it.

  "What if I don't like it? What if I change my mind?"

  She filled her lungs with coffee scented air. "We don't usually use 'don't' or 'no' because of role playing. But we're not role playing, so you can say 'stop,' 'slow down,' whatever. I'll listen and respect your wishes."

  He chuckled and shook his head. "You know, Melony, if a woman had told me she wanted to tie me up and have her way with me before all this happened between you and me, I'd have said no without hesitation. But you…" He shook his head again. "I don't know why, but I trust you. You're amazing with that whip. You're the sexiest woman I've ever met, and if I have to put up with some ropes to get your hands on me, I'll take it. Let's do this thing. How do we get started?"

  Suddenly shy, but not about to let him on to her discomfort, she maintained eye contact and asked, "You want to take a shower?"

  Chip leaned forward. "Like you can't believe."

  Trembling at the idea of setting him free so early in his stay, she scooted away. She pictured him coming out of the shower and grabbing her by the throat, forcing her to her room—.

  Don't do this to yourself. He's not like that.

  She forced the negative thoughts from her mind. If he said he trusted her to bind him, she could give him the benefit of the doubt. She had skill with weapons she kept in every room to defend against an attack. She wasn't naive and helpless anymore.

  "I'll release you from the bar and show you where to find everything."

  Chapter 8

  Chip let stinging hot water pelt his back. Freedom felt good, and he had to admit, he had a new appreciation for it after last night. Hanging his head, he tautened those stiff muscles to receive the best benefit from the therapeutic heat and pressure. He saw no hint of the welts Melony had dealt. She had impressive skill. Even after a night in cuffs, he had no marks.

  As the shower beat against him, he thought of his family. His parents, though busy with the Albemarle art gallery and custom framing shop, in addition to their charity projects, had worked hard to give him and his sisters the best upbringing. He pictured his dad, and the look on his face if he could see his son right now. No, he wouldn't understand.

  For that matter, Chip hardly understood. He'd never met anyone like Melony—all messed up and beautiful, vulnerable and unbending at the same time. He came from a close, well-adjusted family. Though they hadn't been rich, they hadn't wanted for much, either. All his friends and colleagues seemed to come from similar or better backgrounds, so Melony presented a mystery. A mystery he wanted to crack.

  Turning, he threw back his head and gave the pounding water access to his neck and chest. Aah. So good. As he began to truly relax, he wondered what Melony did while he bathed. Did she put clean sheets on her bed and light candles? Did she put on romantic music? Or did she get naked? She hadn't come right out and said she wouldn't. He imagined her kneeling on the bed, massaging her gorgeous breasts and waiting for him. His johnson sprang to lif
e and the sack underneath tightened with delicious pressure. Damn, the woman had him hot and ready.

  In a rush, he soaped, rinsed, and stepped from the stall to dry in a flurry. On the counter sat a toothbrush still in store packaging and an unopened tube of toothpaste. He smiled. So involved in the relief of the shower, he hadn't even noticed her come in to leave them. Not wanting her to wait too long and possibly change her mind, he got busy getting his mouth ready for serious kissing.

  Finally, he checked his reflection, used his fingers to put his hair into at least some semblance of a neat arrangement, and went to the hallway. A bedroom waited to the left, and he took a step in that direction.

  "Chip?" she called from out of sight to the right. "If you're finished, come to the living room."

  A public room? Interesting. Heading in that direction, he decided he liked spending all his time naked in her apartment. He almost laughed in remembering his mother telling him time and again about how much trouble she had with him taking his clothes off when he was a toddler. He guessed he hadn't changed much.

  He slowed as he passed through a corner of the kitchen and stopped before touching the carpet of the living room. She'd been busy. The sofa stood open, its bed made with the finest cinnamon-colored linens issuing from its innards to fill half the conservative space. Over the back, two coils of rope, one russet and one brown, draped in menacing promise. An exotic, pleasant aroma perfumed the air from two large, unlabeled candle jars sporting dancing flames. A quiet, sweet, lilting melody from oriental-sounding instruments seeped into the ambiance, enhancing the mood.

  As if thrust into a dream, Chip passed onto the carpet and entered a sensory experience. The fibers under his feet cushioned with silky softness. Running fingertips across the turned down sheet, he discovered crisp, rich cotton of excellent quality. He closed his eyes and actually imagined he stood in a luxurious Japanese palace boudoir he had once seen duplicated in a Chicago museum. This was turning out to be some reward.

  "You look good enough to eat." Her voice pulled him out of his imagination and into his real-life fantasy.

  She came to him from the far corner, the sight of her stealing his breath. Her hair, freshly brushed, cascaded past her shoulders in shining, golden waves that begged for his touch. She wore black eyeliner that gave her deep brown eyes a slanted, oriental appearance, and her full lips seemed even fuller under cherry red gloss he wanted to taste. Exhibited on a black, satin shelf bra, her white breasts swelled upward, the fabric only covering the bottom half and allowing her nipples to peak over the edge. His balls tightened uncomfortably, and he ached to slip his dick into her lovely cleavage.

  Delicate ribs tapered to a tight, tiny waist he could span with a single hand. To his near undoing, glistening, golden curls beckoned to him, framed by black lace suspender pantyhose. Her bush held his attention to the point where he barely noticed the four-inch steel-spiked heels gracing her shapely feet.

  He flexed his fingers. "I can't wait to get my hands on you, you gorgeous thing."

  She stopped and wagged a finger side to side. "Uh-uh-uh. You're not to touch me. Remember?"

  Reluctantly, he tore his gaze from her and glanced at the ropes. He didn't thrill at the idea of her subjecting him to bondage, but he wanted access to her stunning body. She'd said he could move in the binding, and he intended to take advantage to do what she said he couldn't—touch her. Once he gave her the pleasure he suspected she secretly craved, she wouldn't tell him to stop.

  "You still want to do this?" she asked.

  "Absolutely." He gave her a once over, soaking in her beauty and loving that she stared at his cock like she wanted to suck it dry.

  "Turn around," she instructed.

  Chip spun to face a tan pleated shade over a window. What would she do first? Melony came beside him, her velvety breasts brushing his arm when she reached for the russet rope. Biting back a groan, he fought the urge to reach out and test the firmness of those heavenly globes. He didn't dare, and scare her. After all, she had freed him far before his prediction of dinnertime, and he had no intention of going back into her torture chamber.

  She laid a pinkie on his collarbone and traced it with a feather-light stroke that made his skin tingle. Leaning close, she blew air along the same path, and the tiny hairs along his neck and arms stood on end. Then she used the frayed tip of the rope. The appearance of the cord told him it would feel rough, but the fibers, smooth and soft, activated every nerve ending.

  With slow care, she repeated the process along the other collarbone, around his shoulders, down his spine, and across his chest, until he shook with need. Not touching her proved one of his hardest tests of self-control. To keep from making a mistake, he dug his fingers into his thighs and clenched his jaw.

  "How are you doing?" she asked, her voice low and sultry.

  "I like it so far," he said, his voice cracking on the last word. Nice way to sound macho, Chipper.

  "I'm going to tie the first knot. Are you ready?" Melony gave him a coy, flirty smile and ran the tassel-like end over his abs in a figure eight.

  "I'm ready if you are," he replied, his voice more confident. Gripping his leg, he tried not to think about sending a finger between her thighs. So close. So tempting.

  Placing her hand on his shoulder, she lightly grazed fingernails down his arm and brought his wrist between them. She snaked the line around it, then tied a looping tongue knot. "Is that too tight?"

  Twisting his hand, he frowned. "No, it feels too loose."

  She tried to wedge her thumb underneath, but couldn't get it in past the cuticle of her nail.

  Impressed, he said, "You make the boy scout in me proud."

  She exhaled a single, quiet guffaw. "You were a boy scout?"

  "Mm-hmm." He used the moment to sneak a feel of her. Running the back of his thumb down her cheek, he said, "But I quit well before I made Eagle Scout."

  She glanced at his extended arm, but didn't pull away. Looking into his eyes, she teased, "Quitter."

  He trailed his finger from her jaw down her neck, wishing he could do the same with his lips.

  "I may be top, but I get to say 'stop,' too." Her words sounded sure but her face told him she loved the caress.

  "Top?" he asked.

  "I'm doing the tying. I'm the top," she said on a heavy exhale. "You're being tied, so you're the bottom."

  He continued down, traversing smooth skin until he outlined the tops of her breasts. So firm, so silky soft. "Melony, you're breathtaking."

  "Stop," she whispered. She hitched a breath and closed her eyes. She didn't sound like she really wanted him to, but he let his hand fall to his side.

  Keeping her gaze averted, she moved behind and folded his arm across his lumbar. She wrapped the rope over his shoulder, grazing his sensitized skin as she went, and increasing his excitement.

  After securing the length around his middle, she gave the rope a tug. "Okay. See how that feels. Can you still move some?" She sounded more in control. Damn.

  He tried to swing his elbow out and found he had a comfortable amount of movement, though he couldn't pull his hand out from behind his back. "It's good."

  "To add to your pleasure, massage your back as we go. And be sure to let me know if you start getting stiff, or if your hands begin feeling cold or losing sensation. Okay?"

  "You bet." Now come back around so I can look at you, gorgeous.

  She came to stand before him, a long portion of remaining rope still draped over her arm. In a strange way, the line connected them, bridged a gap on an emotional level he couldn't quite comprehend.

  Staring at his hard-on, she said, "I see you like this."

  "I like you." He took a chance and brushed a tendril from her temple, letting his knuckles linger on her forehead.

  Her eyes still on his cock, she licked her lips.

  He grew harder and let his hand fall to his side.

  "It's darker," she said, and reached for it.

  When she se
nt a tentative touch from the tip to the base, he closed his eyes. Her pliant fingers wrapped around him, and he opened his eyelids to find her watching his face. She looked innocent, curious. The pressure built and he had to hold himself in check to keep from coming in her hand. The only way he could prevent a surge toward orgasm was to turn his focus to her.

  Maintaining eye contact, he cupped her pussy.

  Chapter 9

  Melony melted. Her blood screamed through her veins, thundering in her ears, and her heart threatened to explode out of her chest. Chip didn't just touch her, he brought her to life.

  Stop.

  His hand cupped her, his fingertips brushing her pubic hairs back and forth and creating a maddening pressure along her slit.

  Stop.

  Moving her gaze from his intense, pleasure-brightened eyes, she glanced to her hand wrapped around his rock hard cock. Her need increased. A tightening she had never felt before began at her opening and traveled into the very center of her belly. With a heavy sinking sensation, moisture flowed from that tightening and slicked her inner thighs. The throbbing became so intense, her knees threatened to buckle and the reddish-brown rope slipped a bit on her arm, reminding her of her purpose.

  His finger slipped between her swollen lips, the relief instantaneous.

  Stop.

  Biting back a moan, she sank her teeth into her bottom lip and willed her legs to hold her up. He pushed his finger into the thick pool of her juices then brought it forward, deep within the folds. His breaths came in short pants. Hers did, too. Back and front, back and front, he stroked her with a rhythm that soothed yet excited.

  Stop.

  The pressure he had relieved a moment ago, started to build again. This time, it consumed her entire body. She tensed, her hand gripping his penis as if she held a lifeline. He groaned and slid his finger through her slit to the nerve bundle at the front. Oh, God, he would make her come. Why was she letting him do this?

  She trusted him.

  He skimmed her clit and she gasped, her legs giving way. She sank to her knees, and he accompanied her to the carpet. He skimmed it again and she fell against his chest and closed her eyes. He smelled good, clean. Adding pressure, he flicked the nub with his nail and she jerked with a jolt of pleasure-pain. It grew hard. Hard, like his cock.