CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Jude
It was anothernight of almost no sleep. But instead of dragging, I was energized the second I saw Marly over breakfast, wearing her antique choker. We ran lines and ate lunch, but something felt off. Like she was pulling away. Keeping me at arm’s length. And even though I knew that was for the best, it still unnerved me.
After lunch, I stood over Marly where she was lying on her bed, her wrists and ankles restrained at each corner. And thank God for the blindfold covering her eyes, hiding my intense erection. Even fully clothed in that position, she was the sexiest, most sensuous woman I’d ever seen. She wore a fitted t-shirt that was tugged up just beneath her breasts, revealing her slim stomach. Her tight jeans sat low on her hips. And the Victorian cameo choker rested at the base of her elegant throat.
She was beautiful. Sexy in an unassuming way. Funny. Smart. Talented.
And engaged.
And I am a total piece of shit for staring at a blindfolded engaged woman like this.
I cleared my throat, and tore my eyes away from her body. On the table beside the bed, I had laid out various sensory toys so that she could feel them—experience them in a blindfolded setting where her mobility was restrained. I’d gone through about half of them already, when I leaned down to grab the feather.
She had been so odd last night when I was brushing her hair and tucking her into bed. She seemed… lost. Lost in her own thoughts. Like she was hiding something. Had Ash noticed it last night? Did Ash tell her something about the lifestyle? About me?
I dragged the feather across her taut stomach, watching as her abdominal muscles twitched with the skimming sensation. Her mouth twisted, then pressed into a firm line. The restraints snapped as her hands jerked against them and she snorted, her chest bouncing with suppressed laughter that left me smiling right along with her. “Ticklish?” I asked.
She grinned wider. “A little.”
“Breathe through it,” I instructed. “In through your nose… out through your mouth.” After a few deep breaths, she seemed to calm down, despite the strokes of the feather across her belly. “Better?”
She nodded. “Yeah. It actually feels nice now.”
“Good.” I set the feather down and grabbed the candle that was burning on the nightstand. A wicked smile curved on my lips. Was she ready for this mind phuque? “I’m going to drizzle some hot wax next.”
If I thought her muscles had jerked with the feather, I hadn’t seen anything. All four of her limbs tugged hard against the restraints, but she took another deep breath and asked, “Will it hurt?”
“Only for a second and then the wax cools and dries on your skin.”
Silence. Maybe she wasn’t ready for this, yet. I set down the candle quietly onto the nightstand. “I also have a glass of ice water here in case it burns more than you expect and you need it.”
I waited patiently, enjoying the view as she thought it over. In a few days, she’d be back home with Omar. Even though our time together was only a slice of reality, a partial truth, being with Marly made me happier than I’d been in years. And in less than a week, I’d be back to my miserable self.
She was quiet for another long moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek before she finally nodded. “Okay. I-I think I’m ready.”
She was definitely not ready. I could see it in the way her fingers clutched the edges of the headboard. The white knuckled grip. The way her chest heaved with shallow, nervous breaths. “Trust me?”
She nodded in one sharp, succinct movement. “Yes.”
“Okay. I’m going to count down from five. I’ll pour the wax on one. Five…”
She transitioned from chewing her cheek to nibbling her bottom lip. “Four…” She sniffled, her toes spreading against the bottom of the bed. “Three…” Her knuckles turned an even ghostlier shade of white. “Two…” Her face drained of color, leaving her normally pink, freckled cheeks a sallow gray.
I lifted the glass of water. “One.” I tipped the cold water and drizzled it on her belly. She gasped, her lower back arching off the bed. It only took her a second to realize that it wasn’t hot wax and in that moment, her rounded mouth shifted into a surprised laugh.
“Was that ice?” she asked through her laughter.
“Cold water,” I said, leaning down and peeling the blindfold from her eyes. Then, leaning over her, I undid the restraints. “You didn’t seem ready for the wax, yet,” I added with a quick wink.
She sat up after being freed of the wrist restraints and I sat on the bed, undoing her ankles. Even though I kept them loose, she rubbed at her wrists and little red marks were angry against her alabaster skin. I grabbed some lotion from the bathroom and went to work massaging it into her wrists.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said. Sadness trickled into her voice… sadness and was I imagining guilt?
“I do, actually. It’s part of my job.” I applied pressure across her palms, massaging each finger. I grazed the engagement band on her ring finger, the lump in my throat dropping to my stomach.
“Yeah, but you’re not really my Dom—”
