Page 116 of The King's Maiden

My arms were lifted, guided by the ropes he’d used to secure my wrists. Bound in a complicated technique he’d calledShibari,he attached them to something above my head. A gentlenudge eased me forward and into a wall, flattening my breasts against the cold wood and making me shiver.

A foot kicked my legs apart.

Widening my stance, slow and soothing circles brushed over the skin of my ankle. But almost as if he’d suddenly realized what he was doing, the touch retreated.

How appropriate given his similar emotional one-eighty in the last twenty-four hours.

I would’ve commented on it, but whatever he’d put in my mouth made it impossible to speak. At least, not without drooling. And I was pretty sure choking to death on my spit wouldn’t be a good look.

Probably frowned upon for an aspiring Maiden, or a sign I needed to be punished. He’d mentioned that again last night. A bit too seriously, given the way he’d reverted to the cold, aloof version of himself I first met.

But I still had my safe words and my new safe signals—non-verbal cues I could use—if needed. With something in my mouth, I had to make three quickahsounds and shake my head from side to side if I needed him to stop. He made me practice, too.

So fun.

The time to reflect on why I hadn’t used them yet—or why I let him shackle my ankles to the wall—would have to be later. Most likely, when this was over. In the discomfort of my therapist’s office, where I examined all my questionable life choices.

And learned nothing.

I sure as hell wasn’t going to examine my behavior while I stood spread against a wall with something that felt suspiciously like a riding crop brushing my bare ass.

I fucking should’ve examined it right then.

But the second he ran the supple leather up my swollen pussy and swatted it lightly against my clit, he drowned out any hope for rational thought.

All I could do was feel.

Landon removed my headphones halfway toward my first orgasm.

The flicks of the riding crop against my bare thighs, my ass, and my pussy drove me quickly toward climax. Combined with the sensory deprivation that forced me to let go, I prepared to come fast and hard the second he placed a vibrator over my clit.

My breathing hitched. Legs and arms tightening against their restraints, it pitched through me like a tidal wave, pleasure coursing out to my fingers and toes before driving back toward my core. But right as the crash into oblivion hit, Landon cut off the vibrations.

When I cried out, he swatted my ass with his palm. The reverberations from even that mild spank almost pushed me over the edge. My whole body shuddered.

“Unghhh.”

“Quiet, Maiden.”

I cut off the garbled moan and forced myself to take deep breaths in through my nose. I waited for more to come but nothing did, not until my lungs finally got their shit together and pulled in breaths normally. The gag made it difficult to breathe through my mouth, but if he gave me enough breaks, I could drag in enough air through my nose to keep my panic at bay.

And like he’d told me twice before, Landon did knowexactlywhen to ease up.

My body sagged against the wall while he circled the room. My heart rate picked up when his footsteps came back toward me. A lightwhooshof air and a loudthwacktightened every muscle in my body.

But the sting of the crop didn’t follow.

Still blindfolded, I had no way to prepare for what came next other than sound, and Landon made that gift feel like a curse. Because for the next several minutes, each time the whoosh-and-thwack sound warned me of an impending swat, it didn’t come.

Sometimes, he touched me with his hand, combining the harsh sound with a gentle stroke over my tender ass.

That felt fucking heavenly.

But I couldn’t even savor it because the same warning always followed. Reminding me that eventually the blow would come. Eventually, he’d make it hurt.

“Do you get it yet, Maiden?”

I didn’t respond, panting hard as he stepped closer.

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