Like he reallydidtrust me.

Which was as humbling as it was thrilling.

I’d never had another person entirely at my mercy before him.

And this was twice.Twice, that he’d offered me such a gift.

Fifteen minutes later, I had his wrists trussed up with the rope June had given me. It was red, which was gorgeous when paired with the milky, sun-marred alabaster of George’s skin. It wasn’t shoddy work. I’d been a Boy Scout after all. I’d made sure I hadn’t tied it tight enough that I wouldn’t be able to get him out. I’d also been conscious of his burned fingers, and the bandages I’d reapplied that morning.

The burns were a lot better today but that didn’t mean I wanted to cause him pain. A little bruising? Yes. Just like he’d approved. But not anything serious. I refused to get even close to the line he’d drawn, clear as day.

My back pulled, the sting of the scratches he’d left behind tugging with every movement. A reminder that this was mutual. That he could inflict as much pain on me as I could on him.

“You hold the power here, George,” I murmured as I finished checking the knots. “I need you to know that.” He met my gaze, half gone already, and nodded. “Done.”

I stepped back, releasing him to admire my work.

He dropped his hands, embarrassed.

George was a vision with his wrists tied together, hands covering his cock.Covering the wet spot on his yellow shorts—I’d spotted it when he’d had his arms out for me to tie. The fabric had never gone fully see-through, even though I wished it would. It had, however, darkened. Sticky and slick enough it almost looked like George had already cum.

If I gave him shit for being wet later, he wouldn’t even be able to deny it.

It wasn’t a lie.

He was fuckingsoakingfor me.

“Christ, you’re beautiful, sweetheart,” I promised, taking another step back to get an even better view. The veins on George’s hands caught the light when my gaze dragged down his quaking chest to where they cupped his cock for a second time. “You don’t need to hide from me.”

George didn’t move his hands, and I didn’t make him. There was something submissive and downright breedable about howshyhe was currently acting. Like even though he knew this was going to end up with his pants around his ankles and my cock in his ass, he couldn’t help but cower.

It made me feel powerful to know that I could hurt him—but never would.

Aside from a few bruises and maybe some well-timed slaps to his ass—to make it as red as his sunburn, of course. Butneveranything lasting, marks on his soul, invisible but scarred all the same. I suspected he’d had that before, based on his request for kindness. He was the kind of person who was weak when it came to the people he loved. Would carve away pieces of himself to make them happy.

He wouldn’t have to worry about that with me.

That was the point of this, wasn’t it?

For us both to experience the kind of love we’d always craved without fear of heartache.

“Turn around,” I commanded, swirling my finger in a circle to demonstrate what I wanted. “Nice and slow. Wanna see your slutty ass in those goddamn shorts.” George did what he was told immediately—and god, what a power trip that was. He moved away from the wall enough he could spin. “Verynice,” I groaned when his perky butt was right in front of me. Sweat glistened at his back, a beam of sunlight creeping in through the windows above. “Bend over a little.”

George bent, and his tight ass flexed beneath the fabric of his shorts. Highlighter yellow, totally an eyesore, and yet somehow the sexiest fucking thing I’d ever seen, especially when paired with the sneakers and knee high socks he’d put on after we’d bathed off the sand. He was a jock’s wet dream—nerdy, trembling, and eager.

George wasn’t particularly voluptuous. His body was lean, rather than curvy. But that didn’t mean his ass wasn’t fucking delicious. If anything, it was his masculine angles that made him so goddamn desirable.

“Color?” I echoed, part of me still nervous that I was doing this wrong.

“Green,” George repeated, his voice this quaking, needy thing.

I reached down to squeeze my cock to ease the ache. “Alright, straighten back up.” I stepped into his space again, this time from behind, my dick brushing the top of his ass as I did so. “That’s my sweet boy.”

I caught George’s throat with a hand, pulling his head back with my grip on it, while simultaneously kicking his feet wider so I could settle between them.

“Do you feel that?” I asked, flexing my hips deliberately against him so he could feel how hard he’d made my cock. It twitched the second we made contact and I had to bite back a groan of my own. George nodded, a sharp jerky motion that was barely any movement at all.

“I’m so hard, baby,” I murmured. “Because ofyou,” I said against his ear, enjoying the full-body shiver that wracked his frame in response. “But you knew that, didn’t you? That you’re the reason I’m all hot and bothered. That I’ve been walking around for the last hour with my cock pointing right at you.” George nodded again, and I clucked my tongue. “Words, Georgie.”