Fall Into You (22 page)

The sight of Colby’s lips moving over her skin and Grant’s long, tan fingers stroking
her breast was erotic overload. Her clit pulsed between her thighs, blood pumping
to all her most sensitive parts. Grant pressed his teeth into her shoulder until she
felt the snap of pain race through her. “You’re so goddamned responsive, freckles.
You’re getting me hard all over again.”

He licked the spot he’d bitten, then stepped out from behind her. His gaze branded
her as he took in the full frontal view of her naked and bound, another man sucking
her nipple to a hard, aching point. Grant reached out and pinched her other nipple.
She bit back another yelp.

He smiled and nudged Colby over a bit. “You have permission to come.”

The hot cavern of Grant’s mouth closed over the other aching bud, sucking and nibbling
without pretense of gentleness. Whereas Colby was playful and teasing, Grant was unrelenting
intensity. Her body bucked and her arms strained to reach out and grab the two men,
but the tie didn’t give.

Grant gripped her waist, steadying her. Moisture painted her thighs, her need for
all of him turning her inside out. If he would just touch her clit, slide his fingers
inside her, she’d be able to get there. She wriggled against his hand, trying to convey
that message. But he smacked her thigh hard. Then, the two men bit down simultaneously,
and every knotted part inside her came unraveled in one blissful moment.

She screamed, the combination of pain and wicked pleasure
launching her into orgasm. Her sex pulsed in time with her pounding heart, and her
breath came in sharp bursts. The sensation was different than a normal climax, sharp
and fast, a release that somehow satisfied and made her ache for more at the same
time.

The men switched to gentle licks and her knees wobbled beneath her.

“Grant,” she gasped, a plea.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall,” he whispered.

Colby backed off, and Grant gathered her to him. Her head sagged against his chest,
his words crashing over her.

I won’t let you fall.

If only he could truly guarantee that. She already felt her world tilting, and it
had nothing to do with her shaky legs.

Grant waited until Charli’s breathing returned to normal, then wrapped a silk robe
around her shoulders and kissed the crown of her head. She gave him a faint smile
as she tucked her arms into the robe.

“What’s that look for?” he asked.

She glanced at the doorway Colby had used to exit. “Nothing, really. I guess I just
never would’ve pegged you as the sharing type.”

“Is that right?”

She tied the robe’s belt around her waist and sent him a sly look. “You have spoiled,
only child written all over you.”

He smirked, though the words niggled a sore spot inside him. “I’m the eldest of four
actually. Two sisters and a brother. And though my momma tried, my daddy would’ve
never let her get away with spoiling us.”

She tilted her head, as if thrown by the revelation, and leaned against the wall.
“Wow, one of four. Never would’ve guessed that. Are you close to your family?”

“Nope.” He headed over to a large cabinet in the corner of the
room to dig for a few things for the demo and to avoid her inquisitive look.

“Is it because of this?”

He grabbed a switchblade sharp enough to cut through rope and hooked it to belt. “Last
I checked this isn’t interview time, Ms. Reporter.”

The little huff she made would’ve brought a smile to his face under any other circumstance,
but her line of questioning was sending him to that guilty place he didn’t like to
visit.

“So you can strip me naked and tie me up, but I can’t ask you a little bit about yourself?”

He turned around, pinning her with a fierce look. “Yes. That’s how this works. We’re
not on a date, Charli. This isn’t get-to-know-you time.”

Her jaw flexed, a wounded expression flitting over her features before she covered
it.

Ah, hell
. Now he felt like a dick. This is why he avoided pillow talk at all costs. It never
led anywhere good. But Charli hadn’t earned his ire. “Fine. Yes, sometimes I like
to share. Knowing someone is mine and I have the say on who can and can’t touch her
turns me on. But that’s not to say I’m not possessive.”

“Meaning?”

“When I’m with a sub, I expect her to be exclusive to me while we’re involved. Me
allowing someone else to touch her during play is different than her seeing other
guys.”

She nodded, a little I-told-you-so playing at the corners of her mouth. “So, I was
right. You
are
selfish.”

“Very.” He stepped forward and set his hands on her shoulders. “And as for your other
question, my family is happy and successful and better off without me as part of it.
Can we leave it at that?”

The sympathy that crossed over her face dug through him like a trowel. She wrapped
her arms around his waist and pressed her head to his chest. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t
have pried.”

He rubbed her back, enjoying holding her maybe a little too much. “You don’t have
to apologize. I should’ve expected it. You’re nosy by nature.”

“Hey.” She shoved at his chest, a laugh on her lips as she made a feeble attempt at
escape.

He grabbed her belt and pulled, opening her robe and pressing her against him. “Nosy.
And naughty as all get out, I might add.” He slipped his hands onto her bared waist.
“Likes to be shared, gets off on a little fear, and has a body that responds like
it was meant for this. You’re a surprise at every corner, freckles.”

“I’ve always been an overachiever,” she said with mock seriousness. “And clearly,
you’re terrible at reading people.”

He pinched her hip, earning him a delicious yelp. “Come on, smart-ass. Let’s get this
demo over with. If I have to wait much longer to get you in my dungeon, I’ll end up
fucking you in front of everyone out there.”

There it was. That flare of heat and fear lighting her eyes. The desire in him swelled,
feeding on it. It was a drug he could get used to imbibing.

She wet her lips, and he stared at her mouth, wanting to kiss her, to taste that need
from her. The thought punched him in the sternum—the shock of that old, now-alien
desire almost knocking him on his ass.

He didn’t do kissing. Beyond the occasional friendly peck, it was off limits. The
act always seemed too tender, too personal, a betrayal to the memory of the last woman
he kissed.

He cupped Charli’s cheek and brushed a thumb over her lips, but held back from putting
his mouth on hers. What was it about this girl that made him want to break all his
rules? He sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Time to get you trussed up,
darlin’.”

Grant led Charli out of the staging room and into one of the training rooms where
a small audience waited for them. Charli tensed beneath his grip when she stepped
into the spotlighted area.
He’d anticipated some fear and kept her close to his side. “Breathe, freckles. You
look beautiful. These people are lucky that they get the privilege of seeing you.”

She nodded, though he could feel the harried beat of her heart at her wrist. “Sorry.
The last time I was paraded onstage like this was when I was eight and my mother forced
me into a beauty pageant. I tripped, tore my dress, and all the other kids laughed
at me.”

Her tone was light, but the pain he could hear beneath it twisted something in his
chest. He halted her at the center of the small platform and pulled the tie he’d used
to bind her arms earlier from his pocket. He put his knuckle beneath her chin, keeping
her attention on him and not on the people in the crowd. “Charlotte, I’m going to
blindfold you.”

Her eyes widened.

“Trust me. This will help you focus on my voice and the sensations, and let the fear
go. Forget that the audience is here. It’s just you and me up here, okay?”

He watched her throat work as she swallowed. “But what if I mess something up?”

He frowned. Her desire to do everything exactly right was damn endearing, but he hated
to see the stress creasing her brow. “Relax, darlin’. Nothing you could do up here
will disappoint me. No one is here to judge you or laugh at you. You could safe word
the minute the rope touches your skin and everyone would understand. All right?”

She nodded, though doubt still lingered in her eyes. “Yes, Grant.”

“Good girl.” He stepped around her and tied the silk over her eyes, hoping the sooner
he visibly blocked the audience out, the sooner she’d be able to forget they were
there. After giving her a minute to adjust to the blindfold, he removed her robe.

She shivered, but to her credit, kept her posture proud.

He put a hand to her shoulder to ground her and guided her to a
resting kneel. “If at any time something goes numb, becomes painful, or makes you
feel panicked, use your words.
Yellow
means I’ll back off and check in with you. Say
Texas
and I’m cutting the ropes off and kicking everyone out. There’s no shame in using
either.”

She released a shaky breath. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

He kissed the spot on her shoulder where his hand had been, then straightened and
stepped to the side to face the audience. He started off talking about the lengths
of ropes, why hemp was usually preferred, how to soften the rope by boiling it. It
was all relatively dry stuff, but having Charli naked and kneeling in his peripheral
vision had his skin prickling with awareness. She looked so damn tempting, her color
easing slowly from the pink flush of embarrassment back to her natural freckled alabaster.
She was sinking into the zone he needed her in. Focused. Ready for whatever he needed
from her. Submissive.

He ran the length of rope along his palm as he answered a few questions from the audience.
What he wouldn’t give to grab Charli and take her somewhere private. Though he liked
a little exhibitionism and sharing every now and then, he preferred his D/s behind
closed doors, enjoyed the sacred space it created between the dominant and submissive.
And with Charli he was suddenly craving that more than ever.

He glanced over at his pretty sub. She’d lowered her head, shielding her face with
that silky red curtain of hair. A wave of possessiveness went over him, and he found
himself resenting the audience for being present. He wanted to tie her up for his
eyes only. He wanted to run the rope along her soft skin, sensitize her, have her
quivering and bound and begging for release. His cock pushed against his zipper as
the images flitted through his head.

But he wouldn’t give these strangers that gift. That would be his.

Deciding to cut the presentation as short as possible, he headed over to Charli and
began to demonstrate a few of the basic tying techniques, binding her wrists and ankles
in a few easy-for-beginners
options. Then he tied her arms behind her with a series of double-coin knots, making
a line down from her shoulders all the way to her wrists.

With each new knot, Grant could see Charli’s breathing becoming more shallow, could
feel her skin warming even though the room was cool. Some people panicked in rope
bindings because it could feel more restrictive than cuffs, more claustrophobic, but
Charli seemed to be having the opposite reaction. He could sense her sinking deeper
into herself, any lingering anxiety draining from her.

Pride ballooned in his chest. His little trainee was quite the protégé. Despite her
obvious issues with being exposed in front of others, she’d listened to his instructions
and blocked everything out. She was only there with him, no one else. He finished
the last knot and gave her shoulder a soft bite before whispering, “I can’t even tell
you how fucking perfect you look right now, sweet Charlotte. I’m the luckiest guy
in the joint.”

She flexed against her bindings, and her teeth dragged over her bottom lip.

“There’s one more binding I want to do, but that one’s going to be for my eyes only.
I’m done sharing you tonight.”