I nodded, licking my lips with anticipation. The wire, the inability to get away, the fear associated with helplessness, all forgotten.
He kissed the corner of my mouth then trailed a path to my ear and sucked on the lobe. “I kiss you, there is no going back. No changing your mind.” He shifted and I could feel his hard cock against my inner thigh. “You’ll never be able to leave me, London.”
Breathless, I said, “Is that a threat?”
He chuckled. The gravelly sound sank into me and goose bumps rose. “I don’t need threats. Just truths.”
His hand shifted into my hair to the back of my neck and fisted. “But with me, you’ll have to be stronger than you’ve ever been. I’ll do things you won’t like and ask of you what you can’t understand, but you need to trust every word that passes my lips.”
Could I do that? Could I trust Kai so implicitly?
He’d never lied to me. He’d always told me the type of man he was right from the beginning. He’d given me choices. He’d given me the most important thing back—myself.
But I knew the answer. I knew without a doubt that being with Kai was dangerous, but it was also the safest place I could be. And the only place I wanted to be.
I arched toward him. “Kiss me, Kai.”
His grip tightened on my hair, and then he groaned before his mouth came down on mine.
It was owning.
It was a judgment.
It was the final knot binding us together.
Our mouths melding became a permanent tether that neither of us could break.
“Fuck, London.” He pulled back a second to look at me as if making certain it was real, and then our mouths crashed again, his tongue caressing, tasting, taking. I met his urgency with my own, pulling on the wire that kept me from wrapping my arms around him and bringing him closer.
There was no sweetness as he kissed me, but it was slow and determined, as if he was making certain I understood what all this meant. My body ached and soared, quivers of desire racing through me as I forgot about the wire around my wrists and gave in to him. Gave in to what I needed from Kai.
Everything.
He pulled back as his fingers went to the buttons on my shirt. I wanted him to rip it open, watch as the buttons popped off, and then have his hands on my breasts, but Kai wouldn’t do that.
Despite the fire burning in his eyes, he took his time and meticulously undid each little white button. His fingers trailing down between my breasts as he did it.
He smiled and paused. “What do you feel, London?” His fingers moved away from my skin and he merely held the next button between his fingers, not undoing it.
“Desire,” I whispered, breathless.
“Specifically, please.”
Jesus. I pulled again on the wire, a reminder that I was helpless, yet it was also a reminder that I wasn’t. I’d chosen this.
I’d given him my everything.
“Heat. I feel heat all through my body.”
“Mmm. What else?”
“A tightness in my chest like… I can’t breathe unless you touch me again.” He still refused to touch me so I continued, “And tingles between my legs… a vibration of electricity. And wet. I feel wet.”
He smirked. “Oh, there is no question you’re wet, baby.” He undid another button, but this time, he avoided touching my skin before he pushed the material away from my body.
“And a little scared.” He nodded as if that was what he’d been waiting to hear.
“Why?”
I thought about it. I was tied up in a bed with a man on top of me and I was completely helpless like I’d been for years, but it was a different kind of fear.
“Because I trust you so much. It’s terrifying.”
He let go of my shirt and lowered his body until his lips lightly brushed against mine. “I’ll never hurt you. But, baby, you know that already.”
His mouth lowered to mine and he kissed me again. It was urgent. Bruising. Harsh. His one hand pulled on my hair while the other slowly glided down my body to between my legs.
“Oh, God.” Arching my back, I broke from the kiss when his heated palm cupped me. He didn’t move his hand, merely rested it there. Claiming. Owning.
“Please,” I begged.
He trailed kisses down my neck to the crease between my breasts. He was slow and casual about it, taking his time as his heated breath and moist lips tasted and explored until he finally reached my nipple and drew it into his mouth.
He was gentle at first, the velvet surface of his tongue playing with it back and forth. I wiggled my pelvis trying to get him to move his hand that still cupped me. But his patience was resilient as he just held his hand on my sex with the slightest pressure, causing the anticipation to build.
My nipple slipped from his mouth. Then, he sat up and traced the red surface with his finger while his other hand inside my panties twitched and sent a wave of desire through me.
“Kai. Please.”
He unraveled me. Everything he’d done by bringing me here, the ice water, the belt, even tying me up, it was all to bring me to this point. There was no turning back for me now. I wanted only him.
“Pull on the wire, London.”