Ties That Bind (Club Risque Book 3)

by Poppy Flynn

  7,300,000 results. Luanna went directly to Wikipedia, since that was a source she recognised. It was described as:

  Japanese Bondage

  This article is about consensual sexual bondage. For other uses, see Slavery in Japan.

  Kinbaku (緊縛) means "tight binding," Kinbaku is a Japanese style of bondage or BDSM that involves tying a person up using simple yet visually intricate patterns, usually with several pieces of thin rope (often jute, hemp or linen and generally around 6 mm in diameter, but sometimes as small as 4 mm, and between 7—8 m long). The allusion is to the use of hemp rope for restraining prisoners, as a symbol of power, in the same way that stocks or manacles are used in a Western BDSM context.[1] The word shibari came into common use in the West at some point in the 1990s to describe the bondage art Kinbaku. Shibari (縛り) is a Japanese word that literally means "Decoratively Tie".

  Skimming through the rest of the article, Luanna switched to 'Images' and was suddenly catapulted into a whole new world. Picture after picture showed huge swathes of rope tied around nubile young models, most of them women. Intricate knots were evident in every single photo; some seemed purely decorative, some artistic and posed, lots were roped for restraint, but just as many seemed to form some kind of…well, it could almost be described as clothing, in the very loosest sense of the word. Maybe 'fetish wear' was a more appropriate description. Some of the images were absolutely beautiful; others looked positively torturous. Every single one of them was intriguing.

  Luanna powered down her laptop for the second time that night and curled up, snuggled in her bed covers, wondering where Logan was at that precise moment.

  Was he striding around showing off that glorious physique with his sexy tat, watching some erotic act. Or was he caressing rope in his clever, long-fingered hands, eager to use it on some sexy, nimble submissive because he was suffering the loss of his currently forfeited passion and was even now craving that fulfilment.

  Luanna drifted off to sleep, her dreams filled with Logan and ropes and erotic bindings that covered her entire body.

  Logan stood and gave a small bow, acknowledging the applause from the significant crowd in front of him, before he exited the main staging area and passed the metaphorical baton over to Joel.

  Last week's opening weekend for the new Club Risqué had been more of a huge, long party, with membership requests being handled and everyone getting to know each other and the staff getting to grips with the reality of running the club. It had all gone fairly smoothly, but it had been all hands on deck. The opening of the club had been one of the two reasons why Joel and Desi had postponed their honeymoon. The other, obviously, being the merger of the two companies, which was the main reason for Logan's continued presence at the east coast offices.

  The rest of the week had involved reviewing all the requests and getting the new members signed up for the various courses and inductions insisted upon by their club protocol and making sure they were able to satisfy all of the requirements. Despite their experience in running the original Club Risqué back on the south coast, setting things up almost from scratch had been a huge amount of work. Of course, the BDSM Club, Perversions, which they had bought, had existed in a very similar context, but their standards for the Club Risqué brand were very much higher, which meant a huge review of all the existing membership as well as the vast physical alterations they had made to the property. It had been a huge undertaking and an intense week and a half to bring things to where they were now.

  This second weekend was all about reinforcing and sustaining their initial input, and as such, a high-quality programme of demonstrations had been scheduled, presented by those who were true masters of their particular skill. That had included himself, Joel and Desi, who had reverted to her submissive name of 'Daisy', while at the club, Connor and Laurel, who went by the pseudonym 'Fluff', and Joel's cousin, Jake, who was doing a whip exhibition with their assistant manager, Trinity, who had made the move from her previous position as an experienced club sub and bar manager at the original Club Risqué. Logan looked over to where the petite, pixie looking woman with her short, spiky bright red hair was preparing for her own demonstration scene. It was good to have some recognisable faces at this new venue, and Logan felt a lot more comfortable in the knowledge that they had a strong and familiar management team in place. Trinity and Micah Flynn, their new manager, who also had the benefit of a doctorate in Psychology, as well as being an old friend, would make an outstanding team, giving the new club the very best start.

  Logan, of course, was scheduled for a Shibari demonstration, and he had used Desi as his model, tying and suspending her, ready for her husband to take over the second part of the display with a flogging illustration.

  Right now, looking at the beauty of Desi's bound form, Logan couldn't help but wish that Luanna was here—that he'd been quicker in introducing her to the art of Kinbaku. The desire to see her here, to use her as his model and to ease the sexual frustration he currently felt after binding Desi and immersing himself in his love of Japanese rope bondage was almost overwhelming.

  Of course, he had chosen to take things steadily, to introduce her to BDSM, in general, and Shibari, in particular, rather more slowly than his impatient mind wanted to. He'd realised that it was important to him, and he didn't want to scare her off by moving too fast. Luanna was important to him, too, but Logan had come to the very stark realisation that he didn't want to have to choose between the two. Hence, the slow and soft course of action, which he hoped would help win her over.

  So far, she had taken well to simple bedroom bondage, but he hadn't really moved things on from there, wanting her to be accepting and comfortable with that before he introduced anything more intense and demanding.

  Right now, though, in the heart of his own special domain, surrounded by the very entity of his very personal fascination, he found himself impatient. He wanted the thrill and the satisfaction that the rope brought him. He wanted the lure and the attraction that Luanna brought him, and he wanted them both together now.

  But that was something he couldn't have, and the knowledge was eating at him. This past week and a half had been testing and taxing, and while the rest of his friends and fellow Dominants got to finally relieve all their pent-up excitements, Logan himself felt more wound up than ever. He had teased himself with the erotic lure of Kinbaku, but he had committed himself to Luanna, so there was no way for him to find the blessed release that his friends were enjoying. And, in truth, he had no interest in finding relief with anyone other than her. Just another example of how far and how fast he was falling for the woman.

  He was becoming addicted to her. Already, the forced distance between them of the last nine days was taking its toll. Logan only hoped that he could manage something close to control when he eventually got to see her, tomorrow, when he could finally warm her bed and sink into her hot, willing body while Danny was conveniently out of the way at football practice. Damn, he could hardly wait. He was rock hard just from thinking about her, and being here, at Club Risqué, surrounded by all the erotic allure and visual stimulation, was only making things worse. He wanted her more than he could ever remember wanting anything in his entire life. It was probably just as well that he would have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, gentle wouldn't even be an option. He was too tightly wound after practising Shibari and being immersed in the BDSM lifestyle. He needed to get a handle on himself before he saw her again and sent her screaming away in sheer shock of just what a caveman the quiet, mild mannered Logan Thornton could become when he seriously got his freak on.

  The following day, Logan got to Luanna's earlier than planned. His night hadn't finished until after 5 am, and he'd told her that he wouldn't be over until mid-afternoon, especially after burning the candle at both ends for almost two weeks solid. But he'd woken at 10 am, and despite only four hours of sleep, he found he couldn't wait to see her. Besides, he knew he had some fences to mend. Bigger fences than he had imagine
d if the very tentative greeting she gave him was anything to go by.

  Logan sighed inwardly. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and snuggle up with her, have a nice, lazy day catching up and making up for the time they'd spent apart. Okay, yeah, so he'd also imagined a not so lazy venting of his recent sexual frustration, maybe followed up with a more leisurely interlude of lovemaking, but from her stiff and rather withdrawn posture, Logan already knew those ideas might not go the way he planned.

  Suddenly, he felt tired all over again. This morning, despite the lack of sleep, he had been invigorated, excited to see her again, now that the upheaval of the last two weeks was behind him. It looked like that relief was going to be short lived. He couldn't really blame her, in all honesty. If he looked at things rationally, from Luanna's point of view, he knew he'd been less than forthcoming about his activities, but once he'd realised his mistake, there had never been enough time to talk it through properly. And it wasn't something that could be discussed quickly and without the opportunity to make sure it was properly understood.

  He knew he'd been colossally stupid to avoid giving her any kind of explanation until she had pushed for one. He knew that hadn't been fair to her; he just hadn't known what to say. Their relationship was so new, he didn't know how she was going to react to him telling her that he was going to be spending the better part of a fortnight attending a sex club, even if it was because he owned the place.

  But of course, that was something else that she didn't know, either. Very few did, in fact. It had been agreed between the four of them that their identities should be kept secret, in order to shield their private lives and any backlash on The Blackwood Corporation.

  She had caught him unaware when she had confronted him on his departures, which was incredibly short sighted of him, most certainly, but he'd been so busy, and he hadn't been able to get his head around how to explain the situation to her. She was always so level headed and reasonable that, if he was honest with himself, he had imagined she would just accept his excuse that he was working, without any question.

  And that made him feel really shitty, because he knew she deserved better from him than that. Small wonder that she was now a little hesitant and cautious.

  Going with his first instinct, Logan pulled Luanna into his arms and wrapped her up in his embrace. For a long while, he said nothing and just held her. He buried his head in the crook of her neck and breathed in the spicy vanilla scent that was so unique to her.

  Finally, he raised his head and looked into her eyes, hoping she could read his sincerity. "I missed you," he breathed. He bent his head and took her lips, and for a moment, she allowed it. But all too soon, she was extracting herself from his hold, and he instinctively knew his moment of reprieve was over.

  "Would you like a coffee?" she asked as she backed away into the kitchen.

  Logan took a deep breath and blew it out silently. "Thanks," he replied. "That would be great."

  He made his way into the lounge and flopped down on the sofa while he waited for her to bring the drinks. As much as he would like to have whisked her straight off to the bedroom, he was mature enough to know that they couldn't just hide any issues behind sex. Instead, he braced himself mentally and waited to hear what Luanna had to say.

  Luanna worried her lip as she prepared the drinks. She got the impression that Logan would be more than happy if they just carried on with their lives and their relationship as if nothing at all had happened over the past two weeks—as if he hadn't been gone without a word for days on end or cut short their evenings on the few occasions she had seen him.

  And why was that? she asked herself. Was it because he was doing something he didn't want to admit to, or was it because he was the type of man who felt it totally reasonable to live his life any way he liked without explanation to anyone else in it. Neither option filled her with confidence.

  For the first time, she wondered if they had rushed their relationship. They had jumped in with both feet, without really taking the time to get to know each other before they fell into bed, except that wasn't really fair to either one of them. They had been work colleagues for almost half a year before they had taken the plunge. So, they may not have spent much time together outside the workplace, but still, it was enough to gain a realistic insight to each other's character. Enough to accept that there was attraction and also respect. In reality, this was the time, right now, when they found out about the deeper qualities and traits. That was what dating was all about.

  Walking into the living room and placing the two steaming mugs on the coffee table, Luanna let go of all the negativity that had started to mire her mind and allowed her innate serenity to wash through her. Logan was here. There was little point in winding herself up by second-guessing the situation and torturing herself with conclusions that might be way off base. Better to just confront the issue head on and get it resolved.

  She sat down next to him but kept a discreet distance between them so she could keep a clear head and not allow Logan to distract her. She was nobody's fool, and she didn't plan on starting down that path now.

  Picking up her coffee cup, she looked at him over the rim as she took a sip. "I missed you, too," she admitted. "It's not been the same without you here. Funny how you can get so used to something as major as another person sharing your life in such a small amount of time that it feels like there's a gap left behind when they're gone, even though they really only just arrived there," she mused.

  Logan reached over to take her hand, but Luanna leaned forward and offered him his mug. Logan accepted the diversion, for the moment, taking the drink and breathing in the distinctive aroma.

  Settling back in his seat, he let his eyes wander over every inch of her features—the tall, curvy frame with that knock out chest, the dark red hair, gently waving just past her shoulders, the moss green eyes, so frank and serious and that pale, silky skin that would make such an amazing foil for his ropes. Yes, she was the total package. Add to that, her unique character, calm, unflappable and infinitely patient, and there wasn't a woman he'd ever met who could hold a candle to her. He knew she would never tolerate fools and needed to ensure he didn't behave like one. Sadly, he knew he'd already started. Now, he had to redeem himself. Quickly.

  There was no bitterness or resentment in Luanna's manner, but he knew her well enough now to understand that didn't mean she was blithely accepting of recent events. She was a hard woman to read, since she didn't resort to anger and recriminations or tears and manipulation. She just sat there, calm and stoic, waiting out a situation until she could assemble all the details, construct a conclusion and come to a decision. It was slightly unnerving, in truth.

  "I'm sorry I wasn't more forthcoming about my movements, these past few days," he began, trying not to wince at how lame he sounded. "The truth is I had obligations I needed to honour that had been in place for several months."

  Luanna nodded and wrapped her hands around her mug, leaning back into the corner of the couch and crossing her long, shapely legs, which were encased in a form hugging pair of shiny lycra yoga pants. Her feet were bare. Why did that turn him on?

  Logan gave his head a little shake and mentally slapped his cheek, forcing himself to concentrate on the conversation and not her lush body.

  "I don't have a problem with the fact that you have other responsibilities, Logan," Luanna remarked reasonably. "It would be entirely unfair of me to expect to monopolise all of your time. I do understand that you had, and still have, a life that, until very recently, didn't involve me."

  Logan held her frank gaze. "It sounds like there's a 'but' there."

  "I do object to being treated like an afterthought, like I'm not significant enough for you to go to the bother of providing an explanation—as if I'm just some distraction who can be picked up and put down when it suits you, without so much as a thought in between."

  Logan sat forward and put down his mug then grabbed the hand that wasn't holding her
own cup and rubbed it between his own. "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way," he offered sincerely. "That truly wasn't my intention; please believe me."

  "I do believe you, Logan. What I don't appreciate is the lack of consideration on your part."

  "I did consider you, Luanna. But our relationship is so new, I just didn't know how to explain everything," he admitted.

  Luanna sat back, perfectly calm, and stared him straight in the eye as she queried, "Is that because you spent the last two weeks at Club Risqué?"

  Chapter 6

  Logan stared at her, speechless for a second, eyes wide with that 'deer in the headlights' look.

  "I-I…how did you know that?" he finally demanded, looking stunned.

  "I guessed," Luanna admitted. "It wasn't a huge leap to work it out, given your interest in BDSM and the fact that you told me you were helping out some friends at a club opening."

  She pursed her lips. "And of course, the fact that there was only one club opening locally last weekend was a bit of a giveaway." She could almost laugh at the look on his face right now, if she didn't feel so unbalanced by the situation and its possible implications.

  "I don't know what to say," Logan admitted, feeling all kinds of a fool. Luanna was smart; he should have realised she would work it out. Now he felt even worse for having kept everything from her. Instead of him coming clean about his movements, she had discovered his whereabouts for herself, and damned if that didn't make him look all the more guilty.

  "I find the truth is always a good option," Luanna stated drily, still looking him dead in the eye.

  Logan rubbed a hand over his face and sighed out loud this time. "You're right; I'm sorry."