Mutual Release (44 page)

“Yes.” He gestured for her to move forward. She slipped out of her shoes. “Take off everything,” he said. “Lie down, here.” He sat on the edge of the large four-poster bed she’d purchased when James had her re-decorate the place. She did, mesmerized by the sound of his voice. “We had a nice conversation. He seems like a good guy. Happy to help me out and very glad to know I’d be meeting you here.”

She dropped her clothing and stepped closer.

“Very nice,” he said, running his hands around her breasts, to her waist, and hips. He waited as she climbed up on the bed. “So, obviously I had no time to collect all the supplies I required. But then I realized all I needed were five strips of silk, a candle, and some ice.”

She drew her knees up to her chin suddenly afraid. He sat, put the candle on the bedside table, and placed a hand on her knee.

“You will be mine tonight, Julie. But it could be a tough process. Please know this.” He put his face level with hers. “I realize how hard it is for you to let go. That’s important. And I admire you all the more for being willing to trust me. Or to at least try.” He pried her hands from their tight clasp, easing her back onto the bed.

“But…I want to touch you, too.” She whimpered as he drew first one then the other hand up over her head, securing them to two separate posts with silk.

“I know you do.” He ran a hand along her face, touched her lips, then let them trail downward, flicking at each nipple, teasing her between her legs as he eased them apart, and tied her ankles. “But you have to be punished, my love.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “And in the process, learn something about us.”

Then he was hovering over her still dressed, but between her splayed legs as if he were going to penetrate her. And she could not recall anything in her life she wanted more, right now. He let his starched shirt front and fine wool trousers graze her bare skin as he kissed her, probing her mouth, caressing it with his lips and tongue. Then he was seated beside her, holding one more strip of silk. He caressed her face, pulled strands of her long golden hair to his lips. She tried to lie still but the fluttering panic she’d felt when she realized he was going to secure her to the bed was growing; her chest hurt, and her stomach churned.

“Shh, be calm,” he said as he put the soft black fabric over her eyes, plunging the already dim room into a black hole.

“No,” she said, her voice loud and firm. She whipped her head around, trying to loosen it. But he knew what he was doing. The blindfold was staying on.

“Yes,” he said, kissing her, then disappearing.

Evan sat, still in dress shirt and trousers, watching as Julie’s firm gorgeous body fought the bonds, as her hair whipped around her face in her attempts to dislodge the silk over her eyes. Everything about the woman made him teeter on the edge of the most painful state of arousal he could ever remember. He put a chair near her head and settled in for a long wait.

She fought it, yelled for him, screamed a while, used a very creative string of curses associated with his name, then settled, her chest heaving with the effort, before starting all over again. He checked his watch, scratched the cat’s ears as the creature sat on his lap seeming to observe Julie with him. Once nearly an hour had passed and she was in a calmer state in between outbursts, he stood and picked up the candle while Buddy made a quick exit.

It was a big candle, with lots of pooled wax around the wick. He put a finger in it, wincing, and remembering how much this particular punishment had meant to him. But something about her made him wait. She was ready, her body was at a fever pitch of desire. The smell of her raw lust nearly brought him to his knees.

Fighting it, he took his seat once more near her face and studied her, fascinated and still a little in awe of the fact that she had dropped into his life. Their bond was so strong. He was more than a little intimidated by it. But recognized it for what it was and planned to take action – he had never felt more certain about anything in his entire life. It was as if all his convoluted experiences, from rejection of Damian’s abusiveness to all his crazy sessions as a sub, pointed him right in her direction.

“Evan…” Her voice cracked; her lips were dry. “Please. I don’t like it here. I need you. Come back.”

He leaned to her ear. “I’ve been here the whole time.” She flinched away from his voice, her skin pebbling. He bit back the urge to touch her. “That’s what you have got to understand. No matter what, when you think you’re alone, or scared, or even pissed off at me, I will always be here. Right here.” He brushed a strand of damp hair off her face.

“Sir,” she whispered, “please kiss me.”

“Tempting. But I have something else in mind.” He stood and picked up the candle again, then walked down to her right foot. Holding it in one hand, he massaged her instep, loving the play of her calf muscles as she tensed and relaxed at his touch. He tiled the candle and let a drop of hot wax hit the top of her arch. She hissed, and her skin flushed in the candlelight. He did it again. This time she moaned as he kept moving his hand along her calf and higher.

“Hurts, Sir.” He saw a tear slip down her cheek. But he knew it wasn’t that bad. Not yet, anyway.

“Safe word time, Julie. Tell me the word you will use when you absolutely want me to stop.”

“Francis,” she whispered, shivering as he let another tiny splash of wax hit near her knee.

“Perfect,” he said, moving up her leg and massaging as he dropped the wax on her skin. “I hate that word. So I will work very, very hard to never hear it cross your lips.”

“Oh, God,” she cried out, arching her hips when some of the wax hit her thigh and dripped down onto the silky duvet. “Yes.”

“Hmm…” He leaned in, still holding the candle over her stomach, and sucked her rock-hard clit into his mouth. He let some wax hit her belly as he kept teasing her with his lips and tongue. Then got up and started the entire process all over with her left leg, being careful to only drop tiny bits, not enough to blister her, all the way up until he was at her tempting sex once more.

He put the candle aside, scooped out a couple of ice cubes from the container he’d placed nearby earlier, and put one in his mouth before lowering it to her nipple. She squealed, writhed under him, nearly making him blow in his trousers.

Calling on every ounce of his training, both as Dom and sub, he forced his brain to rule his body and licked and sucked one huge strawberry nipple, then the other, until she was arching up and rubbing her clit against any part of him she could find. He dropped down between her legs again and watched as her body readied itself for him. Part of him was reluctant to keep her bound while he finished because of the trauma she’d experienced. Deciding to be straightforward, he removed her blindfold, marveling at the deep blue of her eyes in the candlelight. He sat, still dressed, cradling her face. She was calm now, settled nicely in her sub space just like he wanted.

“Julie, I need to be inside you, connected with you. I want to come so badly while you are climaxing all around me. I will wear a condom if you want me to, but I assure you I am disease-free. What I will not do is go bareback if there is any danger whatsoever you might get pregnant.”

Her dreamy-looking eyes sharpened and she turned to face him. “I’m clean. And I get a shot every three months for birth control.”

“Okay,” he said, standing to yank off his shirt, unbuckle his belt, and step out of his pants. “I release you from orgasm denial. We’ll start here,” he said, licking his way down her neck, sucking her nipples as he pressed a finger high inside her, aiming right for that sweet spot he’d found a week ago.

“It’s… oh…” Her soft, breathy words made him practically taste his own orgasm in the back of his throat. “Please. Sir, please…I want you inside me. Now.”

“I know, I know.” He stroked her hair, letting the tension build along his spine so he could force it back, control it. He touched the silk bond at her wrist. “But I won’t. Not if it reminds you in any way of being taken against your will. Do you hear me, Julie? I am not that man.”

She bit her lip, pulled against the bindings. “I want to try it like this. I feel… safe… with you,” she said, staring at the ceiling. “But listen for my word.”

“Always.” He sighed and knelt between her outstretched legs, kissing and licking his way back up the inside of one before lapping at the beautiful folds of her sex. Just as he sensed her on the verge once more, he propped his hands on either side of her head, positioning his cock right at her heat but leaving it there. “Slowly,” he whispered, shifting his hips so his head was just inside, then retreating so she could feel him against her clit. He had her bound tight enough she couldn’t maneuver much, not even her hips.

“Again,” she said on an exhale.

“Again, what?” He nuzzled one breast, reveling in her scent and responsiveness.

“Again. Please. Sir,” she ground out.

This time he stroked in deep, pressing his pubic bone to her clit and groaning low and loud at the sensation of her enveloping him, encompassing him, owning him as he owned her. He kissed her then, and his entire existence coalesced around this moment, this woman. Her body pulsed, gripped every inch of him as she broke from his lips and cried out his name into the darkness. He stayed still, letting her climax pull him ever closer to his own.

Then, when she had stilled somewhat, he pulled back and stared into her eyes. “You are mine now, Julie Dawson. It may not be obvious to you yet, but you are. I may piss you off at times, but I will never, ever let you down.” He kissed her again, plundering her mouth with his tongue as he thrust deep again and again.

She turned her head away, releasing his lips. Her body quivered under and around his. “Please, come inside me, Sir. I need to feel it.”

He smiled and released the tight hold he had, thrusting in once more with a roar of satisfaction that filled his own ears and was matched by her cries of delight. His hips kept moving as his vision went dark, then bright white, and the sweet release he’d been denying himself poured across his nerves. He stayed propped over her as his body and brain calmed, then pulled out with a sigh. A tug at each corner of the bed had her released, and he gathered her into his arms. She shivered, finally sucked in a huge breath, and sobbed.

It was the reaction he’d been expecting, after coming out of her first sub space experience. It didn’t surprise him. He sat on the edge of the bed, rocking her, stroking her hair, and kissing her tears away. Then he laid her back on the pillows and stood. “I’ll be right back.”

The huge tub filled quickly, and he poured some bath salts into the hot water before returning to pick her up and carry her into the bathroom. She kept her arms tight around his neck, her face buried in his neck.

“Let go, my love. Let me wash you.” He kissed her and she released him.

Smiling as she climbed into the hot water, he allowed himself a second of worry. Would they be too much for each other? Could their connection withstand her stubbornness and independence? He made a vow to himself then and there: it would be his job to make sure it worked.

She shivered, and tears kept rolling down her cheeks. “I’m s-s-s-sorry. I don’t know why I can’t stop leaking like a sieve.”

“It’s okay,” he said, as he used a soft cloth to wash her hands, arms, legs, feet, making her stand to get at every inch of her before lowering her back down into the water. “I love taking care of you. Mainly because I know it’s something you’ve never let anyone else do.”

She shot him an odd look through the hanging strands of her wet hair. He pushed them aside, touched her nose with his fingertip.

“Don’t worry, though. I won’t cramp your feisty style. It’s my second, or maybe third, favorite thing about you.”

“That was…” She shook her head and looked down into the water.

“I know. And that was pretty mild, actually. I had to wing it with the bonds and a candle I found.” They both looked up at the sound of fireworks, whistles, and yelling. “Happy New Year, Julie.”

She leaned over the side of the tub and kissed him. “Back at you. But I need to know one thing.” She laid back and stretched her legs out with a sigh.

“Hmm? What’s that?” He ran his hand over her nipples, his body already hardening again.

“Do I get to do some touching next time?” She turned her head and looked at him. A fresh jolt of desire spiked in his brain.

“Maybe,” he said, getting to his feet.

“Well, that,” she nodded towards his reviving erection, “will have to keep me going, I guess.” She stared at it, then up at him, licking her lips. “You let me know. I’ll be close by.” She sank under the water for a few seconds, then emerged and splashed water into his face. “C’mon in, Country Club, the water is fine.”

He grinned, climbed in, leaning back against the opposite end in the giant tub. “All right,” he said, putting his hands behind his head as she leaned over him and gripped him, “you can touch.”

“Good thing, since I already am.”

Chapter Twelve

Julie could not recall a night in her adult life when she had slept for a solid nine hours without moving. She rolled away from Evan’s warm torso and stretched, reveling in the utter perfection of the moment. A low hum of happiness made her smile, then nearly laugh out loud at the craziness of this whole thing.