Nobody's Angel (37 page)

“It feels so good having you play with my hair, Sir.”

Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain his focus. “I’m not playing with it. I just need to get it out of the way before I can start.”

“I’m sorry it’s in the way, Sir.”

Damn
. Now he’d hurt her feelings with his gruff tone. He reached down for one of the rope bundles and unwrapped it until he found the end piece. How had he gotten into this situation again? To go from not touching her and barely interacting except for small talk at chow, to touching her hair and making her moan as if he’d touched her…somewhere else, was more than he could take.

With unnecessary roughness, he gathered her hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Unwanted images of pony play came to his mind. He’d never been into having a submissive act like a pony, although Joni had liked puppy play once in a while. His dick throbbed at the image of inserting a puppy tail plug into Karla’s… Adam’s hands began to shake. How was he going to get through the demonstration if he couldn’t even tie a fucking ponytail without nearly coming?

“Angelina, can you help by holding her hair until I get this hair corset started?”

“Yes, Sir.” Her impudent grin deserved some attention from a Dom, but Adam literally had his hands full with Karla.

With Angelina doing the job of a hair tie, Adam was able to make the lark’s head knot to anchor the rope onto Karla’s hair at the nape. “Thank you, hon.” Angelina nodded and took a step back, but continued to watch with rapt attention.

Marc surprised him by reaching down for a bundle of rope himself and began mimicking Adam’s moves, taming Angelina’s hair. She moaned, as well. What was it with women having their hair “played with,” as Karla put it? Joni’s hair had been short, so he’d never really thought much about it being sensual to have it touched. Joni just liked having it pulled. Adam wondered what it would be like to grab two fists of Karla’s hair while he…

Fuck
. Good thing he didn’t have to think while he repeated the same knot over and over, because his mind had gone south. Too soon, he got to the end and reached down for the paramedic shears to cut off the ends. Trust Doc to have all the right equipment.

“There.” He filled his lungs as if he’d just run a sprint. Now it was time to run a marathon.

“Thank you, Sir.” Adam heard the catch in her voice.

Aw, hell. She sounded as if she’d been crying. Feeling like a heel, Adam slung the rope over his shoulder and walked around to stand in front of her. This most likely was Karla’s first time in bondage of any kind and he wasn’t even treating her with the respect he’d show a favorite dog. Time to put his wants and needs on a back burner and focus on the wannabe sub standing before him.

He placed his finger under her chin, and tilted her head up to meet his gaze, but she kept her eyes averted. He cupped her cheeks and used his thumb pads to wipe away the tears. She must have found waterproof mascara, because there was no trail this time, as there had been so many times before when she’d cried. He grinned.

“Look at me, Karla.”

She blinked several times and raised her gaze.

“I apologize for speaking so harshly. This is your first time, isn’t it?”

Karla blinked again and her eyes opened wider. After a moment, as if understanding finally dawned, she nodded.

“Thank you for allowing me to be your first. I’ll do better binding your arms than I did your hair. I promise.”

When she smiled, the vise that had constricted his heart for nearly a decade began to loosen a bit. His groin only grew tighter, but he had enough control over his body not to let his dick rule his other head.

He knew he was supposed to be demonstrating for the others, but his focus shifted to Karla. Only Karla. Her big blue eyes looked at him with so much trust.

“As I’m tying, don’t let me pull further than your comfort level. If it hurts or is too tight, just say ‘yellow” and I’ll back up a bit. You understand that pain isn’t the goal here?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl.” Her smile quavered and he tried to keep his attention away from her lips. He stroked her bare arms in long, gentle strokes. “I want you to relax. Take a slow, deep breath and release all the tension from your body.”

Adam watched her breasts rise as she followed his instructions, visibly relaxing her shoulders and arms. He took a slow deep breath of his own.

“The technique I’m going to use is called Teppou. It means gun because, when I’m finished, the shape of the tie and the placement of your hands will look like a gun slung diagonally across your back. Now, are you ready?”

“Yes, Sir. Thank you.”

Her appreciation before he’d even started warmed some cold place inside him. “Good. I want you to embrace the rope. Find release through restraint. I think you’ll understand more as we go along. Give me your right wrist.”

She presented her arm to him, a most precious gift, and he accepted it, taking her delicate wrist in his hand. Her skin was cool and he wrapped his hand around her tiny wrist a moment to infuse his warmth into her.

Taking the rope from his shoulder, he released her wrist and made a single-column tie, secure but not tight. He stepped behind her and lifted her arm until it was at a forty-five degree angle, her fingertips pointing toward the corner of the ceiling. He supported her outstretched upper arm just below her elbow, took the loose end of the rope, and pulled, gently drawing her wrist backward and down as if she were reaching behind her to draw a bow from a quiver. The gracefulness of the movement and the trust she placed in him touched him beyond words.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded.

Adam pulled her elbow out, away from her face, and bound her wrist to her upper arm. Her flesh trembled—or was it his own fingers? Once he had secured the tie there, he took her left hand and gently twisted it behind her back, extending it upward until it was directly below her other hand, separated by about six inches, with her palm facing outward.

“Are you in any pain or discomfort?”

“No, Sir.”

“If you become uncomfortable, what do you say?”

“Yellow, Sir.”

“Good girl.”

Adam pulled the end of the rope from her upper arm and wrapped it around her forearm and then around her upper arm. He adjusted the rope, pulling tighter as he repositioned her upper elbow to keep the line of the “gun” right, and made several more loops around the right arm around the elbow.

She had an incredibly flexible body, probably because she was still so young. She would make an excellent demonstration partner at the club.

Fuck. Like that was going to happen
.

He brought the rope back down to her lower arm, weaving it through the pattern numerous times and making quick work of the remaining loops. The sooner he finished, the better. He secured the end and his hand caressed the ropes and her hands. “Beautiful, pet.”

Realizing how he’d addressed her, he was shocked out of the scene. He circled around to stand in front of her. Her breasts were pushed out even more from the position of her arms, nipples hard, pressing against the bra cups of the low-cut top. If he’d thought this position would be less intimate, he’d been sorely mistaken.

“You did well, hon.” He cupped her cheek and she leaned into him, closing her eyes and causing his dick to throb.

Angelina whispered, “If I smoked, I’d want a cigarette right now. That was incredibly…hot.”

Adam turned in time to see Marc swat her backside and whisper, “Quiet,
cara
Don’t intrude on their scene.”

Adam cleared his throat. “It wasn’t a scene, just a demonstration.” He saw the hurt in Karla’s face, but needed to put some distance between them again. Stepping away, he said, “Marc, take a picture for Karla to see later.”

Because I don’t plan on having another
demonstration
with her anytime soon.

Chapter Twenty-One

Watching Adam tie Karla earlier this evening had been incredibly erotic for Angelina. She’d also loved Marc’s binding her hair, clearly an erogenous zone. His fingers combing through her hair had sent zings straight to her clit.

While Marc and Adam had shown her a much simpler technique for binding Luke’s arms and hands behind his back—they called it the hogtie—she hadn’t been as turned on tying up Luke. She’d been thinking about what it would be like to have Marc tie her up the way Adam had tied Karla.

She was so turned on by the time the gathering was winding down, after Karla and Luke had been untied, she felt as if she would explode. But Marc had only spoken to her as needed during the demonstration of the rope-bondage technique. Now he’d retreated into himself, as if he expected her to want to be with Luke.

But she wanted Marc. Hadn’t she made that clear?

“I think it’s time to get back to the house,” Adam said. “Karla and Angelina, are you about ready to go?”

Angelina looked at Marc, hoping he’d ask her to stay. But he just bent down and picked up the rope they’d discarded, ignoring her. Tears stung the backs of her eyes.

Luke came over to her and rubbed her back. “Angelina, I can give you a lift back to Adam’s, if you’d like. Might be a little crowded in the pick-up.”

“Thanks, Luke.” She thought it might be good if Karla and Adam had some time to themselves anyway, although Adam seemed to have retreated as far as Marc had.

Were all Doms this distant?

As she watched Karla, Adam, and Luke head for the stairs, she glanced over at the bed and wished Marc would finally make love to her. But clearly he wasn’t interested in that kind of relationship with her. Participating in BDSM scenes didn’t necessarily lead to having sex. He’d only agreed to the BDSM stuff this week.

Well, she’d take what she could get. She walked over to Marc and looked up, forcing him to return her gaze. “Thanks for everything. It’s been a lot of fun.” His sad smile took her by surprise. Nothing ventured… “If you want to play tonight, I’d like to stay.”

He stroked her cheek. “No, pet. I have a trek out on the mountain tomorrow, so I’d better get some sleep.”

His wilderness trek hadn’t kept him from playing the other night, but she didn’t point that out. “When will I see you again?” She could barely get the words out from the tightening in her throat.

“This one’s an overnight, but I’ll be at the club Wednesday night. Maybe we’ll give that medical room a try.” Her butt clenched at the reminder of the anal play he’d promised her. Even though they were alone, he bent down and whispered, “Wear the next size plug for four or five hours tomorrow, then move up to the last size on Wednesday, if you’re ready.” His scratchy whiskers brushed against her skin as his lips planted a very chaste kiss on her cheek.

“Yes, Sir. Good night.”

Angelina turned and walked toward the stairway to follow the others.

“Angelina.”

Hope swelled in her chest as she turned around to look back at Marc. Had he changed his mind? Did he want her to stay, after all?

“Take the leftovers with you. They’ll go bad before I have a chance to eat them.”

Tears welled in her eyes and she turned as she nodded, unable to say anything. She held onto the railing so she wouldn’t miss a step, then ran into Luke’s chest as she walked through the door into Marc’s bedroom. When he wrapped his arms around her, she let him hold her for a moment, then brushed the tears away and pulled back, not making eye contact.

“You okay, darlin’?”

She nodded, unable to speak. Taking his hand, she walked with him to the kitchen. Adam and Karla were nowhere in sight. She went to the refrigerator and pulled the dishes of leftovers out and set them on the counter.

“Marc wants us to take these over to Adam’s.” After determining that Luke didn’t want to take anything to his place, she picked up her purse and carried one dish while Luke took the other and they headed out the door. The nearly full moon bathed the driveway in light and made it easy to walk to the SUV and put the leftovers in the back. Feeling someone’s eyes on her, she looked up to find Marc’s silhouette in the window of the tower. Then he was gone, but the feeling of his watching her remained, a little niggling at the nape of her neck.

Luke opened the passenger door for her and she got inside. Her mind played over the events of the night. What had been one of the best nights of her life certainly had ended on a sour note.

* * *

Luke walked around to the driver’s side of the Landrover, feeling a bit like manure on a boot. Clearly, Angelina wanted to stay with Marc. But his friend had been pushing her at him all night. Not that he didn’t appreciate the effort, but Luke had begun to realize pretty damned quick Angel was made for Marc. He didn’t know what Maggie’s dream had meant, but, as much as he’d like her to be, this woman wasn’t his angel.

He got behind the wheel and glanced over at her, but she kept her gaze out the window, looking up at the tower. Was Marc standing there? Luke was pissed that Marc would treat Angel so badly, but didn’t expect to have a chance to talk with him about it. He’d be out on the mountain until Wednesday afternoon.

Luke wished he knew what to say to her to make her feel better, but he didn’t understand Marc’s behavior. Why was he running hot one minute and cold the next? The man loved women. Angel was what every woman should be. Was he blind? If she’d been anyone but Antonio Giardano’s daughter, he’d have…

That was a dead horse. He turned the engine over and backed out of the driveway and onto the darkened street. No lights out here. Funny how Marc managed to find a place so close to the city, but close to the wilderness, too. Out of nowhere, a vehicle came up behind him, it’s headlights on high beam. Jerk. So much for wilderness.

Luke looked over at Angel. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just tired, I guess. Thanks for taking me back to Adam’s.”

“Not a problem.”

They drove for a few miles and then Angelina broke the silence. “The Shibari was pretty amazing. How did you like being tied up?”

He laughed out loud. “I think I prefer being on the other end of the rope.”