Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
CRAWL TO ME
Ryder
I knew when I walked into the dining room an hour and a half earlier that I would be going home with her.
My confidence in the outcome wasn’t the result of cockiness or some toxic, masculine bravado. Before the doors had opened, I was worried she’d throw me out of the room altogether. That she’d rather call Stephen and Miles and tell them she refused to work with me than spend another second alone together. I hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but with Caroline and her steady silence, I didn’t know what to believe.
No, what had changed my attitude from hopeful skepticism to excited certainty was the look in her eyes when she saw me. Her own excitement was skillfully hidden but plain as day to me. Years of studying the woman sitting at the end of the table gave me invaluable insight.
Her blonde hair swept up in a clip, it showed off the long line of her neck and the subtle cleavage beneath her lilac satin top. The first few buttons were open, and I wanted to undo the rest with my teeth, taking my time to tease and taste her skin. But it was th e fucking skirt that made me want to drop back to my knees and crawl to her if I had to.
When I said I’d do anything she wanted, I meant it.
Which was how I ended up parking my car in her garage as she’d instructed. The door quickly closed behind me, and the room was pitched into darkness but for the dim overhead light.
I wouldn’t have needed to park in the garage and hide my car from my mother who lived down the street if we’d gone to my apartment. But it was inconveniently across town, and I didn’t want to make her drive all that way. Besides, her house was the Ritz compared to my one-bedroom.
I stepped out of my car and surveyed the tidy garage as I headed toward the door leading into the house. I reached forward, but the door swung open before I had a chance to try it.
Caroline only stood in the opening long enough to see I was there then she disappeared down the hallway. I hurried inside, quickly closing the door behind me in enough time to see her push open her double bedroom doors and peek at me over her shoulder.
I was already walking toward her, but the bold, wicked glint in her eyes made me move even faster. I stepped over the threshold to see her drop into a dark leather chair on the opposite side of the room near the sliding glass doors that ran the length of the wall behind her.
The late-afternoon sun cast a golden glow across the large cream rug and the king-sized bed. But my eyes didn’t linger on the finer details of the room when Caroline reached behind her and unclipped her hair, letting it fall in loose, waves just past her shoulders. She set the clip down beside her and let her eyes settle on me.
I took a step, and she raised her hand. A silent command, not a request, which I heeded.
“If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it my way. And to be clear, this doesn’t change anything,” she said.
I didn’t think before I said, “Of course. ”
Her eyebrows rose, and her eyes slightly widened. “Really? No argument at all?”
I nodded. “When I said whatever you want, I meant it.”
Her smile was sweetly devious and made my muscles twitch with the need to move. The desire circling around us was heady.
“Good boy,” she purred, and I muttered a quiet curse. I’d never heard those words before, but they sounded really good coming from her lips. I wanted this to be good for her. I wanted to be good for her. “Now, stay right there, and take off your shirt. You can ditch the shoes, too.”
I dropped my keys on the bedside table and emptied my pockets before I tugged my shirt over my head. It fell to the floor as I toed off my shoes. I watched her watch me as I walked along the side of the bed and stopped at the end where she could see that I’d followed her instructions perfectly, left only in my jeans.
She appraised my appearance then said, “Belt, too.”
In a few swift motions, I whipped my belt off and let it fall to the floor, leaving a trail of clothes in my wake. I reached for the button of my jeans, but Caroline shook her head. She crossed one leg over the other, and her skirt fell open at the slit, showing off the length of her smooth tanned leg up to well past her mid-thigh.
“Now get on your hands and knees and crawl to me.”
It took several seconds for my mind to comprehend what she’d just asked me to do. Crawl to her. She wanted me to crawl to her . Every imaginable emotion made an appearance, but the one that was most potent and sank its claws in so deep I couldn’t shake it was the same emotion I’d been feeling all day—an unbearable, unwavering desire.
So, not for the first time with Caroline, I dropped to my knees. Then I planted my hands, and the only sign that Caroline was surprised was the slight widening of her blue eyes.
“Any other instructions?” I asked before I started moving. She shook her head, her chest rising and falling quicker as I began traveling across the rug. The thick pile wasn’t necessarily kind t o my palms, but the slight scrape against my skin only amplified every feeling and sensation.
My eyes remained trained on Caroline as I crawled across the floor. Every inch closer made my heart beat faster, like I was willingly offering myself to her. The power she held over me was intoxicating. I loved the way she wielded it, and I wanted more. My erection pressed against my briefs and was begging for relief.
I kept a steady pace until I realized there were a few feet left, and I wasn’t ready for it to end yet. My movements slowed, and the seconds stretched. The entire time I kept my eyes on her. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and she licked her lips, trapping her lower lip between her teeth and finally allowing her attraction to show.
I stopped at her feet and settled back on my knees. Caroline didn’t move. I waited for further instruction, but when it didn’t seem like she was going to provide any, I lifted my hand. It was torture to be so close and not touch her. My fingers brushed against her knee, and although my intention had been to take it slow, I couldn’t resist moving higher. One touch, and I couldn’t stop. My hand slid up her thigh where her skirt was parted, and the soft fabric was nothing compared to the feel of her skin.
Goose bumps appeared, and I leaned forward, sweeping my lips over them just inside her knee. A moan lodged in my throat, and I parted my mouth for a taste, but Caroline quickly said, “Not yet.”
It took a tremendous amount of effort not to kiss her anyway. I took a deep breath and sat back on my heels. She leaned forward in her chair, and her heels hit the carpet. My cock throbbed at the sight of her. Her blue-gray eyes were dark, and she scanned my face.
A small smile slipped across my lips. “Did you like watching me crawl to you, pretty girl?”
Her mouth dropped open, and a similar smile appeared on her li ps I wanted to suck and bite until…no not until. I didn’t want to stop.
“Yes, I really did,” she said. “Now, on the bed.” I stood immediately. My knees were sore, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. It was far from the most important thing on my mind.
Spinning, I strode to the bed and sat on the edge, staring out the wide windows.
“Stay there,” Caroline said, walking the opposite direction and back toward her bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”
I glanced over my shoulder and watched her disappear into her bathroom. I gripped my thighs and squeezed. Each second felt like an hour waiting for her to come back. I was waiting to hear the click of her heels again against the tile, but she must have ditched them in her closet because she appeared before me without any warning.
Unfortunately, she was still dressed, but as I suspected, her heels were gone. I eyed her pretty little light purple toes, but then realized her hands were tucked suspiciously behind her back.
“We need to talk about safe words and limits,” she said, and my eyes jumped to hers.
“Do you plan on doing something that warrants a safe word or a discussion of limits?”
She shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. “Whether I plan on doing something or not, it’s important to talk about anyway. Preferably this conversation would have happened before, but it didn’t. So, tell me.”
I thought for a moment and ran a hand through my hair. “I haven’t found anything that I’m really opposed to. No watersports or other bodily fluids except spit. And I’m not a fan of extreme pain, but I do like some.”
Her eyebrow quirked as did her lips. “I noticed,” she whispered. “Anything else?”
I shook my head. “Your turn. ”
“Also, no watersports. No touching my feet, and I’m not going to touch yours either. Almost everything else is on the table, to an extent. You can pick a safe word we can both use, if needed.”
“Lilac,” I blurted before I could think about it. It was the color of her top and her toes. She wore it often, and I knew it was her favorite. And it wasn’t something either of us would unintentionally mutter during sex.
She rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Okay, now that that’s out of the way. Lay down on the bed. Put your head on the pillows.”
Without moving her hands from behind her back, she motioned to the top of her bed with a slight dip of her head. Excited about where this was going, I climbed up the bed and fell back onto the white comforter.
“You’re so good at following instructions,” Caroline muttered as she followed on her knees. Whatever she had in her hands had disappeared because when she reached me, they were empty. She settled next to me and ran her hands down my arm, circling her fingers around my wrist and tugging it upward.
I didn’t realize what was happening until a black piece of fabric replaced her fingers around my wrist, and she was velcroing it in place. She slipped her fingers beneath the cuff to test how much room there was then didn’t hesitate to crawl over me and reach for my other hand.
I’d never been tied up before or restrained, just like I’d never crawled across the floor. It was an afternoon of firsts for me, but I didn’t stop her when she fastened the second cuff around my wrist and repeated the same motion, checking that it wasn’t too tight, and there wasn’t a chance it would cut off blood flow.
Curiosity got the best of me, and I tested the strength of the restraints. I tugged hard on each but neither budged. If I really, truly wanted to, I could have probably slipped out of them, but it would take some time to wiggle out.
However, I didn’t want to. I hadn’t expected it, but I enjoyed the idea of being restrained. My arms splayed out and above my head, I was completely at Caroline’s mercy. And based on the glint in her eye, I knew I would love each and every thing she had planned.
She threw a leg over my waist and straddled my hips, giving me a sweet flash of the black panties beneath her skirt. The warmth of her cunt immediately seeped through the denim and cradled my cock. My eyes lowered with the sensation, and my hips bucked of their own accord.
“How does it feel?” She dragged her nails down my chest and over my stomach. My throat went dry as I watched her fingers dip beneath my jeans and tease the edge of my briefs.
“Good,” I panted. My thoughts weren’t on her question. I was more focused on trying to will her fingers to push lower or silently wish her hips would move against me.
But her nails were sharp when they scratched my skin, and I gasped at the pain. “Try again, Ryder. Tell me how it feels to be tied to my bed.”
With a breath that did little to calm my racing heart, I looked up at her. She was a goddess, and I was her fucking throne. “Fuck, I like it. So much.”
“Good,” she muttered. “Just one more thing.” She reached behind her back and pulled out a piece of satin cloth. She smoothed it between her fingers and held it up where I could see exactly what it was.
A blindfold.
A wry chuckle jumped from my lips, and I shook my head, looking back and forth from her hands to her eyes. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t kid about this, Ryder.”
“You’re going to withhold the view of you from me. That’s torture.”
A shadow appeared over her eyes, and her smile turned cruel. “Sure, but it’s the best form of torture. If you don’t want the blindfold, you know what to say.”
She ran the fabric between her fingers and watched me consid er her proposal. But there was nothing to consider. Although I’d never been blindfolded, I heard that it enhanced every other sensation and feeling.
“I’m not saying anything, pretty girl. Do your worst.”
She didn’t hesitate to slip the blindfold over my eyes, and I savored my last glimpse of her on top of me. I leaned my head forward off the pillow, and she tied the ribbon just tight enough that it wouldn’t easily slip off.
And then everything was dark.