Chapter 23

Rick led us up the stairs to his bedroom. Outside the door, he hesitated. “Ah, before we go in, you should know that I’ve been planning to get back into the scene, so I’ve been prepping a bit. It was the only thing that made sense for me after Corinne died. You guys will be the first to step foot in here since then.”

The interior was a luxurious den that made my eyes widen in amazement. The king-sized bed was a work of detailed craftsmanship, with hand-carved posts that sported silver rings at varying heights. Midnight-blue paint covered walls that were draped with richly patterned silk and velvet. Along the walls were heavy wooden cabinets and racks displaying all manner of objects, few of which were familiar to me.

“Jesus, did you build that?” Max asked, pointing at the bed.

I was more interested in the trailing ropes that hung from several heavy steel rings in the ceiling. White silk lengths like the ones Rick had bound me with the day before hung down and trailed along the floor. I reached out a tentative finger and hooked one of the ropes, letting it slide through my hand.

“How do you use these if they’re attached to the ceiling?” I asked.

“I can show you.” Rick’s warm hand rested at my waist, sending a thrill through me. “It’s a little like what I did with the ropes yesterday, just with you suspended in air.”

I could only nod, my mouth having gone too dry to speak the way my heart was pounding. My nipples pricked up beneath my shirt.

“That might be a little advanced for you, Case,” Max said, coming up behind me with a concerned look on his face. Beneath his frown, however, was an eager look.

“You’ll make sure we go slow, though, won’t you?” I asked, giving him a smile.

“Let’s get you naked then,” Rick said, tugging at the hem of my sweatshirt.

My skin felt flushed when I stood there a moment later in all my glory between the two of them. Rick tugged at a dangling rope, pulling it free from the hoop.

“Kneel down here,” he said, resting his hands on my shoulders and guiding me slowly to the soft rug that covered floor beneath the ropes. His touch was gentle but firm as he restrained my hands behind my back and began to slowly wrap my torso in the ropes so that my arms were held snug against my sides. The slide of the ropes over my skin set me ablaze again, like they had the day before.

He’d grilled me during our talk earlier on things I would or wouldn’t be okay with, so I trusted him to be careful with me. Right now, all he was doing was tying me up, which was something I’d expressed was on my list of “hard limits of things I want”.

“Spread your legs a bit more,” Rick said. I did, and was rewarded by the soft tug as he passed several cords between my thighs and his fingers gently positioned them on either side of my bare pussy. He adjusted them until they were snug, leaving me feeling oddly spread open.

“Feel good?” he said in a rough voice, letting his fingertips slide along my exposed flesh between the ropes again, the contact making my core ache and the low burn of need deep in my belly grow even hotter. I closed my eyes and only barely managed to blurt out an affirmative that ended with a sharp gasp when he flicked lightly at my piercing.

Max sat on the end of the bed, watching intently while Rick worked. Soon my entire upper body from shoulders to crotch was almost covered in knotted ropes. Only my breasts were exposed, slightly squeezed at the top and bottom so they stuck out more prominently. Rick came around to the front with the end of a rope in his hand and paused long enough to drift his gentle touch across my breasts, flicking at my hoops idly.

Pleasure shot through my nipples, so much more acutely sensitive now due to the bite of the ropes into my skin. The touches came more frequently as he worked, some gentle and seemingly accidental, others more deliberate—a teasing stroke between my ass cheeks followed by the tickle of a rope over my shoulder or between my thighs. Every sensation layered upon the last one until I felt not only cocooned in silk ropes, but also in pleasurable touches.

“Are you comfortable?” Rick asked. He tilted my chin up and looked into my eyes earnestly.

“Yes, sir,” I said.

He smiled. “I didn’t ask you to call me ‘sir’ but I like it.”

“I thought since you’re a dom…” I started and stopped when he shook his head.

“I’ve never been a fan of that level of obeisance in a scene. If you enjoy it, by all means do it. My pleasure comes from simply restraining you and controlling your pleasure. I don’t want to control your mind.”

“Then yes, I feel really good, actually.”

“Good,” he said. “Now time for your legs. You’re going to feel a little like a string puppet, but that’s part of the fun. Just make sure to say so if anything hurts in a way you don’t like.”

He moved behind me again, and again the slide of the ropes worked its way over my skin. As he worked he attached ropes to my sides and strung them through the rings above me, gradually pulling them taut as he went.

“You’re going to feel yourself lifted in a moment. Just relax and go with it. If I’ve done my job everything will feel comfortable.”

“Okay,” I said, having learned that a verbal response was preferred, where it was possible to give one.

My eyes met Max’s and I smiled nervously. He returned the smile with only a nod as he stood and removed his shirt. He came toward me, his dark eyes intense. I had to crane my head up to look at him when he paused in front of me. He let his hand drift down over my head and cupped my cheek. I was acutely aware of the tight bulge that strained at the front of his trousers—the very idea of tasting him again made my mouth water.

“Can I have you in my mouth again?” I asked. The question provoked a small smile from him, but he shook his head.

“No, baby. I have other plans today. Are you in the mood for pain, too?”

If it was coming from him, I definitely wanted it. “Yes, sir,” I said.

Rick moved behind me and my skin tingled when his hands slid down my arms again, gently checking the knots so far. A moment later I felt a tug at the center of my shoulders and at my hips, and the ropes around my torso tightened just slightly. I gasped at the odd feeling of weightlessness as I was lifted slowly off the floor, my legs unbending as I rose. A sense of vertigo hit as my shoulders dipped forward for a second then were pulled upright again with Rick’s hand gently guiding my shoulder. The lifting continued until my feet dangled just above the floor. My ass felt suspended and stretched and I struggled, panicking at the lack of control I had over my own movements

A warm and rested on my back and Rick said, “You’re fine, just relax. Does anything hurt? Anything too tight? Close your eyes and breathe, Casey. It’s important for you to be aware ~now~ because you won’t be in a few minutes.”

In spite of the swaying vulnerability of my position I closed my eyes and tried to focus. Rick’s hands were the first things I was aware of, holding my hips.

“I can feel you, where’s Max?” I asked.

“Here, baby,” he said. “I’m going to blindfold you, all right? You’ll be more aware of your body if you’re blind for a bit.”

I opened my eyes just long enough to see his face before he wrapped a length of fabric around my head. Oddly, the blindfold let me relax a little. I couldn’t see, so it let me focus on everything I could feel, and what I could feel felt amazing.