Blush (20 page)

M
addy was naked and standing in the middle of his bedroom.

Taking his time, Alex walked around her in a wide circle, keeping his pace deliberately slow. He wanted her to feel exposed and under his control.

His desire for this woman had permeated his entire being. He’d wanted, so badly, to bring her up to the penthouse the night before. If it hadn’t been his weekend with his daughter, Rae, he would have.

Against his better judgment, he wanted to introduce them. But he wasn’t going to introduce a new woman into the five-year-old’s life unless he was sure she was going to stay, and though what was between Maddy and himself was palpable and undeniable, he’d learned quite quickly that Maddy never did exactly as he expected she would.

Her eyes followed him until he frowned at her, shaking his head slightly. Maddy dropped her eyes to the floor, and Alex felt the rush of sexual pleasure that came with a woman’s submission.

“I took you to the club tonight to see many of the different aspects that can make up a BDSM lifestyle.” Moving to stand directly in front of Maddy, he undid the buttons of his shirt with care, swallowing his grin when she darted a look at his naked flesh and swallowed, hard.

“The things that we do, the things that we don’t do—that’s entirely up to us.” Unable to resist touching her, he grazed the knuckles of his hand over her cheek, savoring her shiver. “There’s one form of bondage, however, that you didn’t see tonight, and since I’m particularly fond of it, I want to show it to you.”

He heard the swift intake of her breath and shifted the caress of his hand to the hollow between her breasts. “Have you ever heard of
shibari
?” He enjoyed the way the word sounded, flowing off of his tongue.

Maddy stared up at him, wide-eyed, and shook her head.

“
Shibari
is a Japanese word that translates as
to tie
or
to bind
.” His cock rose at the mental picture of Maddy, laid out before him, the soft, triple-stranded hemp rope laced over her skin in an intricate pattern. “Though the correct Japanese term for beautiful erotic bondage is
kinbaku-bi
, most Western practitioners use the other term. Regardless of what it’s called, it’s a beautiful practice that binds the submissive in a beautiful way.”

“Is it . . . does it bind me more than handcuffs would?”

Alex could hear the trepidation in Maddy’s voice. He made sure to keep his tone firm and confident. He was an experienced Dom, and it was important for the growing trust between them that Maddy knew she could trust him to keep her safe.

“It can bind as much or as little as I choose. Since you’re still very new to this, I will bind your arms and your legs, but it will be in a way in which I can release you almost instantly if you feel the need to use your safe word. All right?” Her muscles visibly relaxed as he reminded her of the fact that she did indeed have a safe word.

“On your knees.” He simply gestured to the floor. He didn’t want her to have a chance to overthink it before he started.

Dropping to the floor, Maddy sat up straight.

Kneeling behind her, Alex pushed her knees apart and, with a hand splayed flat on her stomach, set her weight back so that she sat on her heels. “Hands clasped behind you.” Again, he guided her into the position that he wanted. “Don’t move.”

Alex rose and took a moment to look down at Maddy before he retrieved the coil of soft, thin rope from his dresser.

He’d had two somewhat serious relationships, and he’d had numerous casual affairs. None of the women had ever caught his attention and held it quite like Maddy had. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why she was so special.

She had more spunk than most, and was skittish, which was a trait that he wasn’t used to. It was more than that, though. And as a man used to having his own way, he highly anticipated the pleasure of her submission.

“I wish you could see how beautiful you look right now.” Again kneeling behind her, Alex started the binding by looping the end of the rope around Maddy’s ankle.

She started when he pulled the loop snug, then slid a finger between it and her skin to ensure that it wasn’t too tight.

“It’s all right.” He could feel the tension in her muscles. He’d used handcuffs on her, a scarf, but from what he understood, rope made a person more aware of their bonds.

With sure fingers, Alex wound the rope around Maddy’s naked ankle, then up and around her wrists. He secured the two together, ensuring that, while the ties would feel snug to her, he would be able to get them off quickly if it became too much for her.

“You’re so lovely.” For now this was as much as he intended to do for bondage, though one day he knew he would love to see her suspended while in his ropes.

But this was enough to start.

From her wrists, Alex wrapped the rope around her waist. Looping it up over a shoulder, he wound it between and around her breasts, down over her other shoulder and back to her waist. He threaded it between her legs, making sure to tie a knot directly over the swollen nub of her clit, and then finished by securing the rope back to her ankle.

“Now three deep breaths, slowly.” Alex counted with Maddy. He wanted her to get used to the tightness of the rope, to understand that she could still breathe.

With the third breath, she appeared to notice her muscles relaxing just the tiniest bit. Acceptance, submission—it was beautiful.

“Have you ever had a cock in your mouth before, Maddy?” Standing in front of her, he slowly undid the button and then the zipper of his slacks. She jolted slightly at the question, but he saw her incredibly blue eyes widen with arousal as he fisted his cock.

Slowly, warily, she nodded, fixated on his naked erection.

“Open your mouth.” She couldn’t do much more than that, bound as she was. His cock was in line with her mouth, but he stepped closer, brushing the weeping tip over her lips, looking down at her as he did.

He enjoyed the way the pale ribbons of rope crisscrossed intricately over her rosy flesh. The bonds around her breasts held them up and out, and he could see that her nipples were fully erect.

Slowly he eased the head of his cock between her lips. She moaned softly around his flesh, her tongue swiping over the tip, and he felt a shudder pass through him.

It felt so good, to be inside of her without a layer of latex between them. Since Lydia—Rae’s mother—he’d always made sure to take care of protection himself. The feeling of Maddy’s hot, wet mouth around his erection was damn near the best thing he’d ever felt.

“Suck.” Clasping his shaft firmly, he allowed only the head inside her mouth. Slowly, tentatively, she began to pull, and he felt his testicles draw up toward his legs as the pleasure overtook him.

“Harder.”

Maddy hollowed her cheeks as she obeyed; as she did, she gasped and her body jerked.

Alex couldn’t withhold his wicked grin. She’d discovered what the knot of rope over her clitoris was for.

“You may move however you’d like to bring yourself to orgasm, provided you continue to bring me my pleasure.” He watched her eyes darken as she considered his words. He wondered if she would be brave enough to ensure her own release as well, or if she would stop with his.

As she worked him with her mouth, she tentatively moved her hips. He closed his eyes against the sensation as she inhaled sharply, a jolt of pleasure shuddering over her.

“That’s a good girl.” He stroked his hand up and down his own cock, a thin stream of precome falling onto Maddy’s tongue. She continued to suck, finding a rhythm with the rope between her own legs. Alex looked down through heavily lidded eyes, transfixed by the sight of her.

Her cheeks would hollow, and his fist would move up and down his shaft, slick with her saliva and his own excitement. Then she would tremble as small waves of pleasure passed through her body.

Mouth, fist, tremble. The rhythm continued, and Alex felt his release beginning to build in the base of his spine. Reaching down with his free hand, he cupped Maddy’s throat in his fingers, forcing her to rise up a fraction on her knees. It brought her into sharper contact with the knot of rope, and her body stiffened. She cried out as her release broke over her, her teeth grazing him as she shuddered.

It sent him over the edge. Taking care not to thrust himself down her throat, he emptied himself into her mouth, overwhelmed with pleasure when she swallowed, then laved her tongue over the tip.

“Babe.” Maddy looked up at him, and the pleasure and contentment he saw in her eyes reflected what he felt himself. Bending, he planted a kiss to her forehead, then ran his fingers lightly over her shoulders. He had to untie her, had to look to her aftercare.

He hadn’t set out to feel this way, and he knew that she hadn’t submitted to him, not fully, as he needed her to.

He was a man who liked a challenge.

And Maddy Stone was the most delectable challenge he’d ever faced.

•   •   •

A
fter, they showered in Alex’s ridiculously large bathroom. His bathtub was as big as a Jacuzzi, and with her muscles sore from Alex’s attentions, she had ached to soak in it.

Alex, however, had had other ideas. He had pulled her into his glass-walled shower. The four rainfall showerheads had been a new experience in luxury and pleasure, as had the smaller, handheld one that he had aimed between her legs.

“May I borrow a T-shirt and maybe some sweats to get home in?” Silence greeted Maddy’s words, and when she turned to see if Alex had heard her, she winced at his expression, wondering if she had somehow broken one of the unspoken rules of their new relationship.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of something bright peeking out from beneath the bed, something that seemed out of place. It was a bright orange rubber ball, its color conspicuous in the masculine room that was all done up in black, gray, and slate blue.

She opened her mouth to ask Alex about it, but the question promptly fled her head with his next words.

“I’d like you to stay the night, Maddy.”

Cautiously, she examined the idea and found she liked his invitation to stay with him. Her guilt was currently a small shadow lurking in the back of her mind—present, because it always would be, but for the first time since the accident, she was happy enough that it didn’t overwhelm her.

Maddy found that, at the moment at least, she didn’t want to retreat to the comfort of her own apartment. She wanted to be wherever Alex was.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go?” Perhaps he wanted her to stay the night because of the thing he’d called
sub care
. He’d described it to her as he’d hustled her off to the shower and held her in his arms beneath the steaming water.

A Dom was responsible for the care of his sub after an intense experience like the one they’d just had. Maybe that care extended all night.

She had now been to a BDSM club, but Maddy still had no idea about so many things in Alex’s world.

“I’d actually like you to stay the weekend. You have the next two days off, right?” Maddy nodded, her heart in her throat.

The entire weekend? She didn’t have any clothes. She didn’t have her toothbrush, or her comb, or the little bottle of her antianxiety medication that she used only as an extreme measure.

She could feel the tension growing in her body. Alex dropped his towel and moved closer, clasping the back of her neck and rubbing.

“Easy.” As always, his touch calmed her. “I’m not going to make you. But am I correct in thinking that you want to?”

Maddy considered, then nodded.

Yes. Yes, that was definitely what she wanted.

“So you’re worried because you’re not prepared?”

She frowned a bit. It wasn’t always the easiest thing, the way Alex seemed to have a direct line to her thoughts.

But . . . he was right. Again.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s anal. I just like having my things. It . . . lets me relax, a bit.” It sounded so stupid when she said it out loud. She wanted to hang her head. If Alex had been looking for some simple sex and fun when they’d met, he’d sure picked the wrong woman.

“Hmm.” He was considering. “Well, there are two options. You can give Declan your key, and he can go to your place and gather up what you need.”

“No way!” Maddy wasn’t sending the poor man off to Paradise, Nevada, to retrieve her toothbrush. He was probably in bed with his wife, his girlfriend, someone right at that very moment, and she wasn’t pulling him away from it.

“I thought that’s what you’d say.” Again, his ease at predicting her reactions caught her off guard. They hadn’t known each other for very long, but it felt, in a way, as if they’d known each other for their entire lives.

“So here’s the other option. I have toothbrushes. I have soap. I have everything you could need, or access to get it. They’re not the ones you’re used to, but they’re yours.” Maddy’s ever-softening heart wanted to read more into his words than Alex likely meant. “In the morning, I’ll send Declan to get you some clothes. Do you think you can make it until then?”

She looked up sharply. His face was sober—he wasn’t making fun of her. For that alone, she would say yes.

“I don’t have any pajamas.” As she whispered this, Maddy stood on her tiptoes, bracing her hands on his shoulders. He was completely naked, and she was wrapped in nothing but a towel.

Her heart began to race for a reason entirely apart from panic.

Alex grinned, then bent to press a light kiss over her lips.

“You won’t need any.”

•   •   •

“I
need a date.” At his words, Maddy looked up from her seat at Alex’s feet almost lazily. They had been in the bedroom for most of the lazy Saturday, with the exception of some business calls on Alex’s part. She’d finally called a time-out and as a precaution had dressed herself in the jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt that Declan had purchased from heaven knew where.

That morning, Maddy had woken up to find bags of new clothes, toiletries, and makeup at the foot of the bed. She’d protested—she’d thought that Declan would go to her apartment to get her own things.