Silk in Bonds Read online

  “Ever been in here before?” Rafe asked as he moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her body.

  Chapter Two

  Silk’s chemise felt wonderful under his fingertips as he stroked up and down and across the front of her body. He could smell her arousal and wondered if it was the room, the punishment he had just administered, or just being with a dominant that had turned her on. When she arched her back and pressed her ass harder against his cock, he took a deep breath to keep down the groan of need that wanted to escape.

  He wanted her, more than he’d ever wanted any submissive in the club, but before anything further happened between them, they needed to talk.

  Moving his hands to her shoulders, he turned her to face him. She looked up at him, her arousal plain to see. The attraction he had felt for so long bubbled up, nearly overwhelming the dominant in him. Though his proper British upbringing screamed that he needed to take a step back and cool down, instead he bent his head and kissed the woman who looked as aroused as he felt.

  His lips brushing across hers shocked him, the air around them sizzling with electricity. Silk exhaled in surprise and he took her breath into his body then returned it on his next kiss. Their second kiss deepened quickly, and soon their tongues were dancing back and forth from his mouth to hers.

  When he teetered on the very knife edge of his control, Rafe lifted his head. His action earned him a kittenish whimper from the woman in his arms, who reached up with both hands and tried to pull his head back down to hers. Instead of cooperating, Rafe laid his hands on her shoulders and held her still as he stepped back.

  Clearing his throat, he massaged the tight shoulder muscles under his palms. He needed to get himself, and this situation, back under his control before it set the room on fire. “Tell me what you’re looking for in a dominant.”

  He couldn’t help but smile when Silk just blinked at him, her deep brown eyes focused on his lips. Giving her a little shake, he said, “Little girl, do you want another spanking?”

  “Wha…Oh, no, Sir. I’m just…well, uh…” And with that, her voice trailed off and she shrugged. “What was the question again?”

  Taking her hand, he led her to the side of the room near the gypsy wagon area where a pile of big, silky pillows sat just waiting to be used. He settled into the pile, feeling like a sultan in his tent. Once he was comfortable, he tossed a single pillow on the floor at his feet. “Kneel, wildcat, while we talk.”

  He was impressed that she was able to kneel on the pillow looking as graceful as a swan. Once she was settled with her hands resting on her thighs. She was staring at the floor, looking properly submissive. The problem with that was Rafe needed to see her eyes. As with most submissives, the eyes were the window to the soul, and Rafe knew Silk had been known to skirt around the truth on occasion if the occasion called for a little white lie.

  She couldn’t seem to keep her fingers still. They twitched and fluttered against her thigh. He supposed he should be pleased the rest of her was still, though he could see it was a challenge.

  Reaching out, he lifted her chin. “Eyes on me, wildcat. I need to see those beautiful eyes.”

  Her eyes mirrored her shock, then pleasure at his words. Then she blinked and he saw worry and anxiety enter the deep brown eyes.

  “Now, I’ll ask again, but if I have to keep repeating myself, someone is going to earn themselves a punishment, and it won’t be as pleasant as the little swats I gave you coming up here,” he said, working to keep the dark threat out of his voice. “What are you looking for in a dominant?”

  “Ummm, I’m not exactly sure, Sir,” Silk answered after a half-dozen heartbeats.

  Her answer surprised Rafe. “You’ve been coming to this club for five years and you don’t know what you’re looking for in a dominant? No wonder you haven’t been collared yet. All right, let’s try it another way. What kinds of things don’t you like when you’re playing with a dominant?”

  “Blood, bodily fluids, emotional humiliation, um, or anything that might leave a scar or make my family question why I’m moving like a boxer after a prize fight at the family’s Sunday dinner,” Silk answered, her words soft but rapid.

  “And you’ve learned this from experience?” Rafe had to ask, though he could see from her drooping shoulders that she had. The proud, confident, bubbly submissive who he had waved into the club parking lot earlier that evening was nervous and doubtful, beginning to question herself.

  “Yes, Sir,” she whispered.

  “Well, I think I can work with that. How do you feel about being tied up? Have you ever tried bondage before?”

  “I’ve been tied up, but I have a hard time staying still and quiet so the scenes usually ended badly.” Her eyes shone with the beginnings of tears of disappointment in herself.

  “Have you ever reached subspace before?”

  Rafe wasn’t surprised when she shook her head from side to side. “No, Sir. I don’t think so. What does it feel like?”

  “Would you like to find out? To learn how to be still and quiet your mind?”

  She swallowed hard before nodding. “I’d like to learn to be still, to slow my thinking, to be quiet when I need to be, but I don’t think it’s possible for me.”

  Rafe smiled, knowing where they would begin. He only hoped he could control himself long enough to teach the little wildcat about flying. “Stand up and place your back to the post over there,” he said, waving toward the far corner where what looked a stripper pole stood.

  The pole appeared securely fastened to both floor and ceiling. It was positioned just far enough away from the corner itself that Rafe would have no problem walking around it as he gave Silk her first lesson in bondage, subspace, and learning to be still.

  * * * *

  Silk rose, hoping she didn’t look too awkward. Her mother had spent years hauling her to dance classes with the hope that she would learn to overcome her lack of focus and general gawkiness. Though she could dance, and even do a striptease that looked sexy, or so she’d been told, she still couldn’t seem to get off the ground gracefully.

  Once on her feet, she walked halfway to the post then stopped. Could she do this? Could she be the submissive this sex god of man required? Could he need her like she needed to be needed? Closing her eyes, she focused on breathing in and out, trying to find a stillness that she had never known before.

  But there was no stillness in her soul. There was no silence to be found.

  She wanted to do a celebratory dance that Rafe Carlton had chosen her to play with. She wanted to shimmy and shake and do a bouncy jig of excitement and happiness.

  “Wildcat.” Rafe’s voice cut through her exuberance like a hot knife through ice cream.

  Taking a deep breath, Silk went to the post and stood as instructed. As she stood, waiting for him to join her, she stared at the carpet and assured herself she could do this. She could be still and quiet.

  Even as she tried, she found herself bouncing up and down while her fingers played scales on the sides of her thighs. How was she ever going to impress upon Rafe that they were a good match if she couldn’t stop moving?

  “Eyes on me,” Rafe said softly.

  Silk lifted her eyes to him and found he was smiling. It wasn’t a huge smile, but at least he wasn’t glaring at her.

  “What’s your safe word?”

  “Pasta,” she answered quickly.

  Rafe raised an eyebrow, but did not comment at her choice of words. If he had asked, she would explain that while pasta was one of her favorite foods, it was a no-no since she’d lost twenty pounds just by giving it up last year. If she could only figure out how to lose the other fifteen she wanted gone without depriving herself any further.

  Rafe stood and then stopped moving, his feet shoulder width apart, hands on hips as he studied her, which made her more nervous, which caused her to bounce even more. She bit her bottom lip and locked her jaw, determined to keep from talking, because that would just take thing
s from bad to worse. Keeping quiet was not as difficult as holding still, almost, but she found herself grinding her teeth to keep words from tumbling forth. The other problem she had was the room was too quiet. No music, no talking, nothing but the sound of her breathing was audible to her.

  * * * *

  Silk was nervous, but he wasn’t sure why. Positioning her with her back to the post should not make her this jumpy, and she was jumpy, so much so that her breasts were bouncing under the bright red silk of her chemise. Her fingers were tapping on her legs like she was typing a thousand words a minute, and he could see her jaw was clenched tight.

  While a submissive should be nervous around a new play partner, this appeared to be something else, something more, but Rafe couldn’t tell exactly what.

  “Why are you so frightened?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Otherwise he did not move, though he was tempted to wrap himself around the woman until she settled. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, no, nothing’s wrong. I’m…um…just a little nervous,” Silk admitted softly, her dark eyes dropping to stare at his chest. Her bouncing grew more pronounced.

  “Would you prefer we go downstairs and talk some more? We don’t have to do this tonight, you know,” Rafe offered, though he really, really hoped she would not agree.

  He knew he could help her relax and learn stillness and focus, though his methods may not be the most orthodox. He would prefer to play here, but if she was this jittery just from being in the room with him, maybe they should take the scene downstairs. There was a post at the end of the bar he could tie her to.

  “No, no, this is fine. I’m just nervous about not pleasing you. You’re so still and quiet, and I can’t tell what you’re thinking,” she said.

  “I’m thinking that you’re so nervous you’re about to shatter,” Rafe answered as he slowly closed the distance between them. Instead of moving to stand in front of her, he pulled a length of black silk out of his pocket and walked around the post behind her. As he waited for her to respond, he pulled both her arms around the post and quickly tied them together, securing them wrist to wrist with her hands facing the opposite forearm. He was not surprised when her fingers wrapped around the flesh of her arms.

  “I’m just going to bind your wrists to keep them out of my way. I want you to focus on being physically still for the next ten minutes while I do some exploring.”

  He tied the scarf in a bow instead of a knot, but in a position she wouldn’t be able to untie herself. Patting his back pocket, Rafe confirmed his bandage scissors were in place, just in case. “Do you think you can be still for ten minutes?”

  Her soft, “I’ll try, Sir,” had him grinning.

  Since it wouldn’t do for her to see him smiling, as he was supposed to be the big, bad Dom, he leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Don’t try, do, or you’ll find yourself over my lap for another spanking.”

  “Yes, Sir,” she breathed as she dropped her heels to the floor and grew still. He watched for a moment, impressed, until he realized she was doing more than just holding still. Brushing a kiss on one shoulder, he turned his head and nipped her ear before he said, “You are allowed to breathe, wildcat.”

  A long, slow exaltation of air was her only response.

  He waited and watched as she began to breathe normally. Slowly edging around to stand in front of her, Rafe took a step back. Then he took a moment to just look the Italian beauty over.

  And beautiful she was, lush and round and curvy like a woman was supposed to be. Everything was proportionate, hips and breasts and a pair of shapely legs that he couldn’t wait to feel wrapped around his waist as he fucked her. Her shiny black hair hung in a thick braid over one shoulder that ended an inches below her full breast line. Her golden-brown skin glowed with health under the lights. He couldn’t wait to see what she would look like all messed up and sweaty.

  Looking deep into her eyes, he could no longer hold back his grin. “So, my sweet wildcat, are you ready to begin your lessons in being still?”

  Chapter Three

  Silk stared at the big man, her entire body growing twitchy. It had only been a minute since he’d tied her and her skin had already grown itchy, her muscles tensing. Everything in her wanted—no, needed to move.

  “Begin?”

  “Begin your ten minutes of stillness,” Rafe said, sounding all strong and Dom-like.

  “I thought,” she began, then stopped herself before she began to whine.

  She watched as Rafe made a show at looking at the big, chunky black watch on his left wrist. “All right, your ten minutes begins in three…two…one…now.”

  The clock starting only made the itchy, twitchy need to move worse. Closing her eyes, she couldn’t see the disappointment in his eyes as she said, “I don’t think I can do this. I need to move. I’m sorry.”

  “Open your eyes, wildcat. Look at me,” Rafe said, his voice low and stern.

  She was surprised at the tears that overflowed and rolled down her cheeks when she opened her eyes. As she did, she began tightening muscles, not enough to move so he would notice, just squeezing them in a need to do something with the excess energy she couldn’t ever seem to rid herself of.

  “Talk to me, wildcat,” Rafe ordered as he stepped close enough to touch her when he lifted his hands to her shoulders.

  “What do you want to know?” she asked as his hands settled on her shoulders. A moment later, he began to massage the muscles there. It took everything in her to just keep breathing as he forced the muscles to relax.

  “What did you do today?” he leaned in and kissed one corner of her mouth and then the other.

  When Rafe brushed a kiss over her lips, her brain short-circuited and all she could focus on was the smell of man and spicy cologne that wrapped around her, the touch of his lips on hers, the sound of his deep voice. She swallowed and licked her lips in an effort to stall for time. The tip of her tongue brushed against his lips, adding the taste of man to her sensory overload.

  A hard hand connecting with the side of her left ass check jolted her and she squealed in protest and pain, but brought her brain back online. What had she done today?

  “I helped my mother get her tax paperwork together for the accountant. Dominic needed me to help at the restaurant for the lunch rush because someone was out sick. This afternoon, I took my niece to the doctor for her six-month checkup because her mother had to take a midterm. Then we went home and she helped me clean my room and do some laundry.”

  “Sounds like you had a very busy day doing for everyone else. When do you take care of you?” Rafe’s kisses trailed down and along her jawline to her ear, which he took between his lips and nibbled on.

  Silk frowned as she thought about his words. “I don’t know what you mean,” she admitted softly, her head dropping back to rest against the pole.

  “When do you take time for yourself? It doesn’t have to be anything more than contemplating your navel, but you when do you do something just for yourself?”

  Silk thought but couldn’t come up with anything that might fit into the category he seemed interested in hearing about. “I come here every Friday night. I guess you could call this my ‘me’ time.”

  Rafe pulled back and looked at her. “We’re going to have to do something about that. I know, you’ll join the sunrise yoga class I teach. It will not only help you find stillness, but it will be something special you can do for you.”

  Silk frowned as he decided what she was going to do with her sunrises. “I don’t do sunrise,” she said.

  His hands stroking down the sides of her body send shivers through her. Since he didn’t mention it, she refused to bring it up.

  Rafe didn’t speak. He just leaned back until he could look in her face. His serious expression set her insides to quivering with need. His eyes blazed with a heat she could feel spread through her body as one hand slid to the hem of her chemise and touched her inner thighs.

  “Spread your legs.
”

  Shifting her weight, she moved first her left leg and then her right to the side, parting them so his hand easily fit between them. His hand was warm where it covered the tiny silk thong that covered her mons. The fact that everything between her legs was drenched with her excitement had nothing to do with it, or so she told herself.

  As he kissed his way down her neck to then trace along her collarbone, her ability to focus on staying still began to fragment. The room was too quiet. Her entire body trembled, but he didn’t seem to notice. She couldn’t stop a gasp when Rafe jerked at her thong, popping the delicate lace before pulling it from her body and dropping it to the floor.

  A moment later, a single finger slid up and down the valley between her lower lips, mapping the territory though he barely touched her tightly knotted clit. Silk knew she was about to start moving, arms tied or not. She needed more. He needed to either get her off or distract her, and she really wasn’t picky about which.

  “What about your day?” she asked, her words soft and breathless.

  “It wasn’t nearly as interesting as yours,” he said after pulling back from licking his way down her sternum to the top of her chemise. “I woke up, worked out, met with a couple of clients, ran a few errands, and came to work.”

  Silk had to close her eyes when Rafe’s finger stroked from pussy entrance, around the side of her clit and to the top of her slit. Then she had fight her hips’ need to shift so it would stroke over her clit. The realization that it would only take a few strokes to reach her peak shocked her.

  That sent her thoughts spiraling out of control and suddenly she could no longer fight the need to move, but before she could fit action to thought, Rafe pulled back as if he could read her mind.

  “Open your eyes, wildcat,” he murmured. “Look at me.”

  Her eyes popped open and she lost herself in the gray fog of his eyes.