Page 52 of Healing the Heart

Chapter 15

Digging a Little Deeper

A LOUD CLATTER JOLTEDher awake, shattering the peace of her dreamless sleep. Worse, the bed shifted beneath her, and she lost the furnace-like heat molded to her body. Fiona rolled over and squinted at the morning sun streaming in through the windows. Noah’s broad, muscular back blocked the harsh light momentarily as he reached for his phone on the nightstand.

As he checked the message, she silently cursed whoever was on the other end for disturbing them. Despite her less-than-charitable thoughts, she asked in a measured voice that carried a hint of huskiness from sleep, “Anything important?”

He turned, his gaze shifting from her face to her chest as a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. Her eyes followed his, curious about what had captured his interest. The sheet pooled around her waist, leaving her bare breasts exposed. Blushing like a virgin, she tugged it up, releasing him from his trancelike stare.

“Nothing that can’t wait,” he replied, crawling toward her. And just like that, the sheet was at her feet. The blast of crisp morning air didn’t bother her because he moved on top of her, his larger body keeping her nice and toasty.

As Noah’s weight pressed her into the plush mattress, his lips found hers in a hungry kiss, and Fiona felt an instant resurgenceof desire. While his tongue explored her mouth with a fierce intensity that made her head spin, his warm hands traced the contours of her body, leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake.

Moaning softly, she ran her fingers through the short, soft bristles of his close-cropped hair and reciprocated his passion. At the same time, she arched her back, reveling in the delicious friction of her nipples against his chest.

Suddenly, his hands banded her wrists, pinning them above her head with a firmness that sent a thrill of excitement rushing through her. She gasped as he trailed his mouth down her neck, his teeth grazing her skin.

“You like being restrained.”

“I do, sir.”

“Tell me what you want,” he demanded, his voice low and husky.

“More,” she breathed, her heart pounding.

He chuckled, and ordered, “And you’ll have it, kitten. Don’t move a muscle.”

Rising to his knees, he reached for the headboard. As his chest hovered above her, she couldn’t resist running her fingers through the dark-blond curls dusting his chest and then across the ridges of his abdomen.

He glanced down at her. “Where are those hands supposed to be?”

With a disappointed pout, she snaked them above her head, arching provocatively as she did so.

“Not to worry. I have something to help with your compliance, naughty kitty.”

She heard the clink and looked up to see him pull two lengths of chain with cuffs attached at the ends, from between the mattress and headboard. She didn’t like the fact that they were there, at the ready, and that some other sub had been bound tohis bed before her. But he was forty-three, hardly a boy and far from a saint. She wasn’t either, but it had been ages since she had anyone in her bed, and she didn’t have restraints bolted into her headboard.

When he wrapped the leather cuff around her wrist and buckled it in place, Fiona’s entire body tensed. Another time, with a different dom, one who wasn’t as kind or forgiving, flashed before her eyes. Amid the roar in her ears, she heard his laughter, felt the searing pain like a fireplace poker burning her bare cheeks, and, worst of all, she couldn’t get free or call for help because he’d bound and gagged her.

Panic washed over her when a second band slipped around her other wrist and further restrained her. She pulled hard. The cuffs held firm, and the chains rattled but didn’t give.

“No! Stop! Red! Red!” she screamed.

“Fiona, what the fuck?”

“Let me go. I used my safeword. I said red!” she cried, her freak-out escalating.

But he was already doing what she asked, what protocol and decency demanded. Unlike with Jordan, she was immediately free. She sat up, her hair wild around her shoulders, and she hugged herself, rocking.

“Talk to me,” he insisted.

“I was back at the club that awful night...with Jordan.”

He cursed violently, making her jump. “You said you weren’t having flashbacks or dreams.”

“I quit the club. No one has cuffed me since then.” Her voice broke on the last word as tears overflowed.

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