Page 42 of A Worthy Opponent
“There it is.” He grins. “Can’t say I get tired of hearing it.”
“You’re insufferable.”
“Without a doubt.” He rakes me with a rough gaze I can almost feel. “Stay put.”
He moves behind me, and I can hear him rustling around in something, maybe the locked cabinet near the wardrobes. I poked at it a bit when I was initially doing my explorations, but there was no key in evidence, and even I draw the line at breaking open something that obviously cost a fortune just for curiosity’s sake. Especially when I already had a good idea of what it contained.
A few moments later, he reappears with a long length ofblack rope hanging from his hand. Hook raises his eyebrows at me, but I clamp my mouth shut before I can give him the satisfaction of a response. I love bondage as much as the next kinky asshole, but Shibari is something beyond slapping a pair of cuffs on someone’s ankles or wrists. It’s a study in patience and slow-roll foreplay. I’ve played that way once or twice, but there’s a lot more trust involved than people expect. If I need to safe out, it’s not as simple as unclasping cuffs. It can takeagesto get free, and Doms can be really freaking precious about anything that might damage their ropes.
My breathing picks up despite my determination to keep my reaction under control. Hook’s brows draw together, and now he’sreallylooking at me. “You’re not claustrophobic.”
“Not particularly.”
Another of those long looks, and he nods, almost to himself. “I see.”
I’m terribly afraid that hedoessee. I open my mouth, but can’t quite find the words. What am I supposed to say? That as much as I get off on exploring all the strange corridors BDSM can take a person down, that part of me is always held in reserve? When I worked at the Underworld, it was easy to hold back that final piece. I was just an employee, after all. A professional submissive who rose to whatever occasion the schedule demanded. Yes, I played for fun, too, but it was different.
Thisis different.
There are no cameras in this room, no emergency button to push, no team of security people to rush in if things get out of hand. We have nothing but trust to keep us from going off the rails.
I don’t know if it’s enough.
“Tink.” Hook’s firm voice stills my thoughts. The intense look in his dark eyes stills them further. He waits for me tofocus on him fully. “Would you rather I put the ropes away?”
A tiny, cowardly part of me wants to grab the escape he offers me with both hands. Easier to do that than take ownership of what I trulydowant. It would be so much simpler if he steamrolled over me. I could pretend I didn’t really want exactly what he gave me. How am I supposed to keep fighting when he carefully extracts my desires and lays them before me?
I clear my throat. As much as I want to look away, I can’t quite manage it. “No, I don’t want you to put the ropes away.”
He doesn’t move. Doesn’t give me anywhere to hide. “You have nothing to prove.”
“That’s rich coming from you.” I shake my head. Ihatethat he keeps orchestrating emotional confessions. We haven’t even fucked yet, and I can’t deny the way he builds intimacy around us. I feel seen. It’s not comfortable, not even a little bit, but there’s a part of me that soaks up his attention like the roots of tree long thought dead from drought. “The ropes…” Fuck, why is this so hard? “Most other scenes, I say my safe word, it’s over immediately, you know? The action stops, the curtain comes down, then it’s just negotiating the little bit of fallout. This kind of thing… Itcan’tstop that quickly. Saying yes to this feels like saying yes to more.”
“Trust.” He speaks the word like it’s fine wine on his tongue. Like it’smeon his tongue. “It requires trust that I won’t take us too far.”
“Yes.”
He still hasn’t moved. “If you’re not ready for that…”
I could kiss him. I could definitely kill him.
I run my fingers through my hair, but the little movement does nothing to quell the growing feeling in my chest. “If I wasn’t ready for anything you can give me, I would haven’t just crawled across the floor and begged for your cock. Yousaid a little fear is a good thing, so stop dicking around and give me that little bit of fear.” Ihaveto look away to say the next part. I can’t handle what I might see in his eyes. “I trust you, okay? Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
His low chuckle has me glancing at his face, and I almost whimper with relief at what I see there. The vulnerability is gone, replaced by the arrogant asshole I’m more familiar with. “Very well.” He loops the rope carefully around my neck and begins.
I only manage to stay tense for the first five minutes or so. I don’t know what I expected, but he’s fully concentrated on his work, his big hands winding the rope around my body and creating careful twists that slowly bind me. There’s no rushing this process. Subspace creeps up on me somewhere around the point when he finishes the ladder down my torso, a row of perfectly neat twists that start on my upper chest and descend to my waist. He checks each one and the tension before moving to guide my arms behind my back.
Only then does he begin to speak, to slowly, devastatingly, draw me back into my body as he binds my arms together. “One day, I’ll do both arms and legs and add one careful knot right here.” He brushes his hand against my pussy, right over my clit. “Every time you struggle, it will grind that pretty little clit against the knot. How many times do you think you’ll come before I release you?”
I lick my lips. “Maybe I won’t struggle.”
“Yes, beautiful girl, you will.” He does something that cinches my arms together more firmly. It’s not uncomfortable, but Hook still checks in with me just like he has at every other point during this process.
I pull on the bindings. I can’t seem to help myself. Logically, I know I won’t be able to just shrug these ropes off, but the physical reminder has my heart beating faster. My skintingles in a way that is entirely too pleasant, and I clench my thighs together.
“There she is.” His hands close around my shoulders, and he pulls me back against him. My hands brush against his hard cock, but with my palms pressed against each other, there isn’t a damn thing I can do about the proximity.
Hook palms my breasts. The ropes crisscross above and below, leaving my breasts to hang freely without restriction, but it suddenly feels like he put them on display on purpose. Of course he did.
