“Why, Max?”
Leave it to her to get directly to the point. He smiled. “Because you will enjoy it, and it will give me great pleasure.”
She thought about that for a moment, then met his gaze once more—and nodded.
His cock damn near jumped off his groin.
Struggling for control, Max was pleased to note his hands didn’t shake as he tied the cravat around Kitty’s head. She lifted it so that he could make sure the knot was snug and comfortable, and then lay back, unmoving as she acquainted herself with this new situation.
She was doing everything he could have hoped for and more.
Gently he leaned over her and licked one taut nipple.
She jumped, letting a tiny squeak escape from her throat as she gasped.
“As you see, Kitty, I shall be touching you as I please, using your body as I please, and arousing us both. You will have to listen, to feel, to use your other senses at this time. It’s a game of sorts, I suppose, but it is also in my control. You are now mine. Completely mine. You will do as I say, and you will remain silent, as before.”
She nodded, a brief movement, but one that reassured him she understood.
He slipped out of his robe, not daring to remove his nightshirt. Not yet. He knew she’d feel the bed dip as he clambered onto it, positioning himself at her feet.
He touched them, resting his palms on her ankles, gently rubbing them, massaging her feet, slipping his hands up her calves and then back down again.
It wasn’t hard to tell she was enjoying this touch; her muscles were relaxing as he caressed her.
He smiled.
Then he grasped her ankles firmly—and pulled them as wide apart as he could.
Before she could cry out, he leaned over and thrust his face into her tender flesh—and growled.
Chapter Ten
The vibrations of a man growling into one’s most sacred and private areas were enough to shock an ordinary woman into permanent hysteria.
Fortunately, Kitty was possessed of more than ordinary resilience, and managed to avoid fainting, screaming or leaping from the bed—any of which actions might have been forgiven the aforementioned ordinary woman.
Instead she shivered and shuddered, and then forced herself to breathe, to truly feel every tiny little tingle and twitch caused by Max’s mouth and the sound he made against her body. It was as if his voice was lighting a pile of kindling within her lower belly, a fire that caught in an instant and started to spread its warmth outward to her toes and fingertips. She wanted to scream with it, to release that damned cord, rip off her blindfold and watch him, to see his head between her legs and know it was a real man with a real tongue who lapped his way around her sensitive skin.
She’d enjoyed his fingers playing there. She had no idea how magnificent she would find his tongue.
He moved a little, sliding his arms beneath her thighs. She felt the cotton of his nightgown like an abrasion against the silky skin, and wished he’d take it off so she could feel the warmth of his bare arms against her. Then, to her surprise, he lifted her, forcing her legs to bend and her knees to rest on his shoulders. She was so widely splayed for his pleasure, that she realized it was only the blindfold that stopped her from trying to conceal herself.
She couldn’t see what was happening, only feel it. Those feelings were so seductive, so sensual and pleasurable, that she forgot about modesty or anything resembling appropriate behavior.
“Let your body take over, Kitty,” he commanded. “Obey your own desires.”
His breath fanned the flames, drifting over hot, wet flesh. She struggled to understand what he meant, but after a moment she realized her hips wanted to move. To thrust upward, to seek his mouth, his tongue, and urge him to do more of what he was already doing so well.
“Good girl.” His praise thrilled her and helped her relax even more.
She was open to Max, both physically and emotionally, an encouraging word making her joyous, and eager for more. She let her back arch, her hips shifting, moving slightly in response to his tongue. She loved the sensation of being held so firmly; Max’s hands held her thighs tight, and she clung to the cord as if it was a lifeline holding her down on the bed.
One fierce thrust of her tongue and she moaned, a growing sense of urgency tightening her limbs.
“Not yet.”
Max withdrew his head and it was all she could do not to cry out at the loss.
“You will come when I allow it, Kitty.” He let her legs fall from his shoulders. “Not before.”
A frustrated fury built up inside her. “Damn you,” she hissed, her body quaking in need. Silence fell, and she realized what she had done.
“Release the cord.” It was an order, calm and expressionless.
She did as he told her, wondering if she’d angered him.
“You spoke. I had forbidden that, of course, and you knew it.” He removed the blindfold.
Blinking, Kitty nodded, not sure if she should risk any more speech at this point.
“Such transgressions must be punished,” he said. “But since this is our first night, the punishment will be mild, and take into account the fact that you did obey my other orders.”
He sat on the side of the bed. “Come here and lie over my lap please. Your stomach on my thighs.”
She frowned, unsure of his instructions.
“Here, Kitty.” He patted his lap. “I wish you to lie over my legs, face down. Now.”
She looked at his face. He betrayed no expression, but his cheeks were a little flushed and his eyelids heavy as his gaze wandered over her naked body. It was reassuring to know she might well have affected him a little. Her body was quivering with desire, so it was only fair that he felt something as well.
Lifting her chin, she turned onto her knees and inched toward him, finally reaching a point where she could lie over him. It wasn’t terribly comfortable, but once she got her belly onto him and let her breasts rest on the bed, she managed to lie still.
“That’s better.” He stroked her for a few minutes, from thigh to shoulder, pushing her hair aside to bare her spine. “You please me, Kitty. Your body, your responses—I am most pleased with you and the way you have behaved so far. Except for your one transgression, which we shall now address.”
The thought of pleasing him made her smile. Until she felt a quick draft, followed by a loud, hard smack on the curve of one buttock.
She managed to hide her squawk in the mattress, but her eyes welled up at the sting. Dammit, that hurt.
~~~~*
The bloom from his hand rising on her white skin was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever imagined seeing.