Lorelei James - Bound

Amery blinked at him. “Why would you think I wouldn’t be interested?”

“I never assume.” Ronin brushed his cheek over hers. “You agreed to try it. That’s it.”

“And I liked it,” she blurted. “A lot.”

“Good to hear. I have plenty more ideas on how I’d like to bind you.”

She shifted her head and saw the red marks on her skin. All over her skin. Would the marks still be visible in the morning? Would her friends and clients recognize rope burns on her wrists?

He tipped her chin up. “Hey. Where’d you go?”

“Just worried about”— what other people will think? jumped into her head before she blocked it out. “How long will the rope marks show?”

“They’ll be gone in a few hours. But you’ve got to expect to have marks every time I bind you. It’s physics. Something coarse rubs against a soft surface and it’ll result in a mark.” Ronin dragged a fingertip across the red line above her left breast. “Some who are tied want the marks. In fact, the more marks the better. It’s a badge of honor for them.”

“But they don’t have mainstream jobs where they have to face, say, the church camp counselor, who’s picking up promotional materials and she sees the graphic artist with rope burns on her arms, wrists, and ankles.”

“Amery, I’d never put your livelihood in jeopardy. But there will be times when the marks won’t fade as fast as tonight. It depends on the size and type of rope, what pattern I’m attempting, where I tie you, if I use suspension, and even if I fuck you when you’re bound.”

“So maybe the question is, how often do you want to bind me? Every time we’re together? Will you demand it? Do you need it?” Sitting on the bed, naked, talking about bondage specifics should’ve made her feel sexually free, but mostly she felt confused and exposed.

Ronin gathered her into his arms.

Almost immediately, she relaxed.

“One thing at a time, okay?”

She nodded.

“There’s no need to set a schedule, like I’ll bind you on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and Wednesdays and Mondays are no-tie days. Kinbaku can be spontaneous. But I can also plan to practice a specific binding on you several days in advance. So I’d let you know, like tonight, that we’ll be in a more formal situation. Does that work for you?”

“Yes.”

He kissed her temple. “You can ask me to tie you. If you ever want to look at pictures of possible poses you’d like to try, let me know. Will I demand that your body becomes mine to play with? Sometimes. But you can always say no.”

“I heard about safe words and—”

“We won’t need one because if you aren’t in the mood, all you have to say is no. If you have a panic moment while you’re bound and you want me to untie you, I’ll probably first determine why you want to be released, and if it’s not a health or safety concern, chances are good I can just talk to you to figure out the issue, okay?”

“Okay.”

“As far as me needing to bind you . . . that’s a trickier answer. Obviously I like the way you look when you’re bound. Working with ropes centers me in a way nothing else does. And like with any other skill, if kinbaku and shibari aren’t practiced regularly it fades. So it falls somewhere between a compulsion and a skill for me.”

She said, “Oh, I get it,” even when she didn’t, but she was trying. “If I decided I’m not into the kinbaku aspect of our relationship anymore?” Amery felt him smile, as if he didn’t believe that’d happen.

“Then we’d have to revisit a few things in our relationship.”

“Such as?”

“Such as you understanding that I would be binding other women. Which leads to my next question.” He shifted to look at her face. “I’m a teacher. I give demonstrations. Would you be willing to be bound in public?”

Amery shook her head. Vehemently. “No way.”

“Which is fine, just as long as you’re aware that I will use other models in public venues and possibly in private when I need to practice.”

Jealousy stabbed her in the gut.

“I won’t fuck them, but I will touch them in a sexual manner.”

She noticed he didn’t ask her permission. The thought of him touching another woman . . . made her want to try out a few of the choke holds he’d taught in her self-defense class on said women. She had to act mature—even if she didn’t feel it. “I wish I had the guts to bare myself like that, but I don’t. It’s been enough of a challenge baring myself to you. I won’t give you false hope that I’ll ever ‘get over’ it either.”

“I’m not asking you to.” Ronin softly pressed his lips to hers.

“As long as we’re discussing expectations, there’s something I’d like to talk about.”

“Shoot.”

Amery rolled to face him, placing her palms on his smooth pectorals, secretly marveling at the perfection of his chest. “You’re at the dojo late most nights, which doesn’t allow us much time together during the week. So I’m fine with hanging out here or at my place in the evenings. But on the weekends, I want us to go out and enjoy the Denver area. That’s the only aspect of being part of a couple that I missed.”

“Doing couple things?”

“Yes. It isn’t like I’ve been sitting at home, letting life pass me by while I wait for that couplehood. It’s just some activities are more fun when you’re sharing them with another person.”

Ronin smiled. “I couldn’t agree more. So do you have things planned for us?”

She exhaled a quiet relieved breath. She hadn’t been sure how he’d take her suggestion. “Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park?”

“Cool. I haven’t been up there in a while. What else?”

“I’ve never been to the Coors Brewery Tour in Golden.”

“I’m always down with drinking beer right after it’s been tapped.” At the word tapped , he patted her ass. “These are great ideas. Keep going.”

Encouraged, Amery rattled off her next set of ideas, which included a visit to Tiny Town, Colorado, and attending an ice-skating extravaganza at the Pepsi Center. “I don’t want to overly plan so we have time for spontaneity.”

“Good. As a matter of fact, I’m feeling spontaneous right now.”

She squealed when he lifted her up, straddling her across his groin. “But you’ll be doing the work this time.”

“Yes, sir.”

THE sidewalk was wet when they exited the theater out the side door to avoid the crowd. The rain had left a chill in the night air. Amery snuggled into Ronin and he wrapped his arm more securely around her shoulder.

“So? What did you think?”

“Interesting. Never heard a Christian death metal band before.”

She laughed. “Most people haven’t.”

“How did you hear about them? And more important, how does this correlate to your upbringing? Because I took you to kabuki theater last weekend and you took me to a rock concert.”

They’d spent the last two weekends doing couple things. But it hadn’t cut into Ronin’s plans for her—just seemed to reinforce his constant desire for her. He’d bound her standing up, similar to the tree pose in yoga: her heel pressed into her thigh, her arms above her head, hooked to the ceiling. He’d made her come three times before he fucked her like that.

“See? You’re quiet because you can’t justify it.”

“I took you to a Christian rock concert,” she corrected. “And it correlates because the lead singer and I are from the same area in North Dakota. We attended some of the same church camps. He always wanted to kick up the youth worship services with contemporary music to make it more relatable. You can imagine how well that went over. Rick left town, moved to Minneapolis, and started this band. I’d lost track of him over the years, so when I saw how popular they’ve gotten in the Christian music scene and were playing in Denver, I thought it’d be fun to check it out.”