Unraveled (18 page)

It was tempting to tease him, to build the anticipation, but she snapped the first
blow on his nipple.

Sub Mike arched and gasped.

Nipples were good.

She stopped behind him. The way he was positioned, with his ass sticking out . . .
The next strike landed on his anus.

He released a low, sexy groan.

The base of his armpit.

The inside of his thigh.

The back of his thigh where his leg curved into his ass.

The last area of his body she picked was a no-brainer. The whip tip connected with
his balls.

Shiori met Knox’s gaze. He inclined his head and chose a
cat-’o-nine-tails and a flogger. Then he proceeded to whip the hell out of sub Mike’s
ass.

And that’s how it started. She’d finesse the marks, leaving them on sub Mike’s hot
spots. Then Knox would apply a lot of pain all at once.

It was a sensual tease between her and Knox. Circling sub Mike and each other. Trying
to see who could elicit the loudest cry.

Shiori wished Knox had taken off his sleeveless T-shirt so she could watch the muscles
in his back ripple when he swung. She wanted to see the sweat dampening his shirt
glistening on his skin.

Air teased the backs of her legs, and she realized Knox had snapped the flogger at
her but had purposely missed.

She retaliated, cracking the whip and connecting with the baggy part of his jeans
on the outside of his thigh. She smiled at his lifted brow.

They worked sub Mike until Master Mike said to stop.

Master Mike tipped his sub’s head back and saw that he’d reached that dreamy-eyed
look of subspace. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Knox and Shiori. “You
two are a helluva team. Thank you. This is exactly what he needed.”

“Happy to help.” Knox put the cat and the flogger on the table. “Anything else you
need, Master Mike?”

“No. We’re good.”

“Very good,” sub Mike said.

Knox followed Shiori out of the room. He slumped against the wall outside the door.
“Look. I don’t want to be a buzz-kill, but—”

“I know ‘providing your services’ doesn’t turn you on.”

“Did it turn you on?”

“Watching you was hot. But I get hot watching you move in class, so I’m a bit of a
whore where you’re concerned.”

He smiled. “Works for me.”

“I want to try something with you.”

Knox waited.

Shiori slid her hands over his chest, loving how the damp material of his shirt clung
to his musculature. She took her time touching him, especially at his neck and shoulders
where the muscles were tight with tension. “I’m taking you to my masseuse next week
to get some of these kinks worked out—and there will be no arguing.”

“Yes, Mistress. But I hope she doesn’t work all the kinks out. I’m kinda fond of kink.”

Her eyes met his, and she smiled at the devilish twinkle she saw there. “Me too. And
especially kink with you.” With her hand on the back of his neck, she pulled his mouth
down to hers. The kiss sparked her need to make something else out of this night.
Something good. “Come into my lair, my sweet,” she murmured against his lips, “and
we’ll have us some kinky fun.”

Knox eased back to look into her eyes. “Okay. Seems I’m a bit of a whore for you too.”

“Go into the room and get ready for me. Mistress rules. I’ll be right there.”

He walked down the hallway.

Shiori tracked down the closest security guy and asked where she’d find the items
she needed. He directed her to the empty pleasure den—a room she’d never been in.
She briefly explored the space and wished she could bring Knox in there, but the room
had a large viewing window that couldn’t be closed off.

She shoved the things she’d found in a satin pillowcase she’d liberated from the bed
and returned to the private room. She pulled in a deep, calming breath before she
walked inside.

Knox sat with his back to the door. He’d taken off all his clothing except for his
boxer briefs. Her rush of excitement stemmed from the sight of his nearly nude body,
not just his submissive position. Still. She had to wonder if this was the first time
he’d been in that position in the club.

After setting the sack of toys close by, she placed her hand on
the back of his neck. “Takes my breath away to see you waiting like this for me. Thank
you.”

He didn’t respond.

“Stand and face me, please.”

Knox rolled to his feet and turned toward her.

“We haven’t established a safe word. Would you prefer a word besides the universal
club word
red
?”

“No, Mistress. But I have to ask why we need a safe word at all.”

“So you have a choice in what I plan to ask you to do.”

His eyes darkened.

“Pick up the bag beside you. Take everything out and line up the items on the bench.”

He kept his back to her as he took out each item.

Shiori stood beside him and examined the offerings. A set of nipple clamps. A vibrator
with remote control. Fur-lined handcuffs. A flogger comprised of buttery-soft leather
pieces and strands of fluffy feathers. A blindfold. A paddle lined with rabbit fur.

When she touched his arm, he flinched. “Sorry. Just seeing this stuff makes me jumpy.”

“Why? I’m not going to use it on you . . . You’re going to use it on me.”

Knox’s head whipped around. “Excuse me?”

“We’re mixing it up tonight. So of all the items on the bench, you get to pick one
to use on me, and I get to pick one for you to use on me.” She kissed his biceps.
“I’ll even let you go first.”

He didn’t hesitate in his choice. He picked the nipple clamps.

She smiled and walked to the other side of the bench, deliberately picking up every
item although she’d made her choice earlier. She curled her hand around the feather
flogger and lifted it. “This one.”

“Mistress. You know that I don’t—”

“Knox. This is not a real flogger. Look at it.”

That stubborn chin jutted out. “This is why we’re using safe words. Because you knew
I’d refuse.”

“I’m not so sure you are refusing. And I think if you truly want to keep your Mistress
happy, you’ll see this is an instrument of pleasure. Not pain.”

“Say I use it on you. And next time you bring in your bag of tricks, will you include
a regular flogger? Will you keep pushing past my boundaries and comfort zone just
to see how far I’ll go in the name of obedience?” he said with a hint of anger and
panic.

She curled her hands around his face and pulled him down until they were eye to eye.
“No. I’d never do that. Never. And this isn’t about obedience or pushing boundaries.
This is about how hot it made me seeing your skills with a whip. I don’t want pain.
And when I look at the feather flogger? All I can see is that you would know how to
use it in such a way that you’d drive me out of my mind with pleasure. Does it feel
like soft breath? Does it feel like I have dozens of sets of hands teasing my skin?
Does it feel like your hair tickling me? You can use it on me any way you want, Knox.”

He studied her for so long that when his lips parted to speak, she feared she’d hear
the word
red
.

“I’ll do it if that’s truly what you want, Nushi.”

Relieved, she pressed her mouth to his for a kiss and then dropped her hands. “It
is.”

“At what point do I stop?”

“When I beg you to fuck me.”

His gorgeous smile appeared. “Okay. One other thing.”

“Name it.”

“I want to restrain you. That way I can access both sides of your body. Anytime you
want me to release you, just tell me.”

The idea of being chained up had always been one of her sticking points as a submissive.
It’d never been an issue as a Domme. But she had to show Knox she trusted him as much
as he trusted her. If he was willing to let her push him past his comfort zone, then
she’d let him push her past hers too. “All right. But only as long as you
don’t get the idea you’re in charge, sub. I’m allowing this because it pleases me
to do so.”

“Thank you, Mistress.”

Shiori circled her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck. “Get the
restraints ready while I get undressed.”

She purposely gave him her back as she ditched her clothes. When she walked to the
part of the room where the chains dangled from the ceiling, Knox quit fiddling with
a wrist cuff and drank her body in with very thirsty eyes.

“As always, the sight of you naked makes it hard for me to think of anything else.”

She slid her heels into the marks on the floor and closed her eyes when Knox snapped
on the ankle cuffs. His footsteps made a soft
shush-shush
across the cement when he moved to stand in front of her.

He kissed the insides of her wrists before he placed the cuffs on. Then he cranked
the pulley system, lifting her arms into a T formation and locking it there.

Panic set in. Why had she agreed to this? In this vulnerable position, he could do
anything he wanted to her and she’d be helpless to stop him.

Knox’s strong arms circled her. The heat from his body and the gentleness in his embrace
calmed her.

Shiori turned her head and breathed him in. Then she trailed her lips down the cord
straining in his neck, letting the taste of him on her lips and tongue stir her desire
and extinguish her fear. He’d sensed her mood shift, and without a word, he’d given
her exactly what she’d needed. After several long moments, she whispered, “Thank you.”

In response he placed a tender kiss below her ear.

She missed his solid presence after his arms fell away. She concentrated on keeping
her shit together. Counting during each inhale and exhale.

So his wet mouth sucking on her right nipple tore a soft groan from her. She felt
the tip tightening into a rigid point; then a sharp pinch followed.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped.

A smug smile danced on Knox’s lips. “Forgot about the nipple clamps, didn’t you?”

Yes, dammit. “No.”

“Oh, then no need to go slow for this one.” His warm lips briefly teased her left
nipple. As soon as it puckered, he snapped the clamp on.

Fuck. Ow.

“I like how that looks on you,” he murmured, rubbing his thumb beneath the section
of skin where the clamps bit down.

Shiori opened her eyes and watched his face as he touched her.

“Too tight?”

“No. I’m okay.”

He dipped his head and dropped a kiss on the sensitive sweep of flesh between her
neck and shoulder. Then he picked up the flogger and ran it back and forth across
her breasts.

Holy shit. That felt good.

Knox moved behind her and seemed to hesitate. Just as she was ready to command him,
that first lash landed between her shoulder blades.

It wasn’t a hard blow, it didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t what she’d had in mind either.

His breath teased the nape of her neck. “Like that?”

She angled her head and rubbed her face against his. “No.”

He stiffened.

“It didn’t hurt, but it’s not what I expected either.”

“What do you want?”

“Tease me with it. Drag it across my skin. Just because you’re using that doesn’t
mean you can’t use your hands and your mouth. Drive me crazy, Knox.” Her teeth found
his earlobe and she tugged
on it. “Make me arch my back. Make me writhe and rattle these chains. Show me you
know exactly how to please me.”

A beat passed. Then he sank his teeth into the section of her neck that made her knees
weak and pressed his hot, bare chest to her naked back. His deep, gravelly voice teased
her ear. “You are so fucking hot. But, baby . . . remember you asked for this.”

When Knox stepped back, she almost whimpered at the loss of contact of his body against
hers. But then he started using the flogger. Sweeping it across her upper back and
arms. A slow drag and then a quick flick that felt like the pressure of fingertips
on her shoulders. A ghostly caress over her ass cheeks and down the insides of her
thighs.

Just on the first pass he’d turned her entire body into a mass of gooseflesh. Her
heart raced, sending the blood pumping faster though her body, making her nipples
throb.

Then the flogger disappeared, replaced by Knox’s big hands. His fingers traced the
delineated muscles of her biceps and triceps. The underside of her arms. His callused
finger teased the valley between each of her fingers and around the cuffs on her wrists.
The chains shook when he grabbed on to them above where she was restrained. He fit
his damp chest against her back and pressed his groin into her ass, rocking into her
so she could feel his hard cock through the fabric of his underwear.

Heat spread throughout her core. She moaned and let her head fall forward.

Knox took that as his invitation to attack her neck. Torturing her with tiny nips
and sucking kisses. Doing that pause thing that caused her to tremble. His hot breath
floated across her nape as he built her anticipation of where his mouth would land
next.

His hands slowly slid down the chains, then over her arms, then followed the curves
of her body from beneath her armpits all the way to her calves.

When the feathers and leather drifted over her skin again, she jumped.

This time the tease lasted longer. The repetitive nature of his strokes brought awareness
to every nerve ending on the back side of her body.

His warm, wet tongue licked up her spine, starting at the top of her butt crack and
ending with a sharp nip of teeth at her hairline.

Shiori gasped. And trembled. And found it hard to catch her breath when she had no
idea what he planned to do to her next.

Knox’s voice, sweetly seductive this time, reverberated across her scalp. “Please
keep your eyes closed, Mistress, while I switch positions.”

He slid the braided end of the flogger handle between her legs, dragging the nubby
leather from her clit to the pucker of her ass. Back and forth, building that need
for release in her until she shook like a junkie in need of a fix. And then he sent
her soaring, rubbing furiously on her clit as she came undone.