Page 30 of Knots About You
‘And you’ll stop if I say?—’
‘Driftwood,’ I said. ‘That’s your word. You use it, and everything stops immediately so I can check in with you. We breathe. We take a beat. No hard feelings.’
She breathed out. ‘Driftwood.’
‘Do you want to pause?’
‘No, just testing the way it felt. If you stop now, I might actually cry.’
The rope made that quiet sound against itself that always steadied me. It had been too long since I’d used it for sensual intimacy. I took her wrists one at a time, and placed them on her back. I wrapped the rope and listened to her breath hitch. Not too tight. Just perfectly secure. A loop, a tuck, a perfect knot holding her arms there. Usually, I’d have wrapped around her chest too, but small steps. I checked the lay of every turn, checking her hands to make sure the blood still flowed.
‘Comfortable?’
‘Very.’ Her voice had grown huskier, and I had to close my eyes a moment to focus.
‘Too tight?’
‘No.’
‘Good.’ I stood there for a second and waited. Sometimes a little of nothing could do a whole lot. She shivered, then stilled.
I sat on the sofa beside her so that I could see her pretty face.
‘Tell me what you want.’ I wanted to hear her say it.
She lifted her chin a touch. ‘You know what I want.’
‘Say it anyway.’
A small, defiant smile and a flush of pink to her cheeks. ‘I want to see what it’s like to let you take charge.’
A wave of desire hit. ‘Then here’s what happens. You put your clever mouth away for a bit. You listen to me. I goslow. I tell you exactly what I’m going to do before I do it. You don’t rush at this like the last biscuit in the packet. You let go and enjoy.’
‘Bossy,’ she said again, but there was no sting in it. Only letting her nerves talk.
I ran a thumb over the paint-smudge on her shoulder. Applied the tiniest pressure causing her to inhale sharply. I traced up the line of her collarbone to her neck, to the place her pulse thundered. I didn’t kiss it, however badly I wanted to. To revel in the way her heartbeat danced under my touch. Leaning forward, I placed one hand on the rope holding her arms and whispered against her throat.
‘That’s it. Breathe.’
The room narrowed to that space between us. No villagers. No emails. Just the lamp’s small pool of light and the sound of the sea outside.
‘You’re being very restrained,’ she murmured, because of course she couldn’t behave.
‘I think you’re the one who’s restrained, Claire.’
‘Point well made.’ Her breath tickled against my temple as I revelled in having her all to myself. This fiery, funny woman giving herself over. Trusting me.
‘Tell me you want this, Claire.’
Silence.
I ran a hand up her throat, ripping her chin until we were but a breath from a kiss.
‘Iwantthis.’
‘Rules and all?’
‘Yes.’
