25. Gemma
Chapter twenty-five
Gemma
Rule #23: No sex in the apartment.
I kneeled naked in the middle of the bed, and a shiver from the cool night traveled down my spine. My skin had pebbled, and I felt my nipples already hardening. Knox had slipped a blindfold over my eyes before I'd even undressed, and true to his word, it was kind of hard to think about how my belly looked folded in a kneeling position or what the light was doing to my skin if I couldn't see anything. I heard the soft shush of the rope being uncoiled from the silk bag, and it whipped and slapped against the hardwood floor as he released the full length of it.
I had been nervous at first, but Knox was so inhumanly good at easing my worries, I didn't feel anything but anticipation now. Knox really cared about my comfort, about my feelings, about my safety. He cared so much that it was impossible to feel anything but confident that I would really enjoy this experience.
The bed dipped and then the scent of Knox's cologne and his warmth told me that he was in front of me. "Wrists a few inches apart," he said, his voice low and soothing. I remembered this from my failed attempt in the closet. I obeyed, holding my wrists out in what I approximated was four inches apart. Knox adjusted them so they were a bit wider, and then he looped the rope over my right wrist. "One of my favorite things about this art form," he said, his voice almost hypnotic in its softness and deep timbre, "is that we have time."
"Time?" I echoed. My heart had kicked up now that he'd started, but he calmly looped the rope over the next wrist. Nothing tight or painful. Yet.
"Mhm," he hummed. "It takes a while. Even practiced as I am, it's a slow process." He tightened the first loop around my right wrist and wrapped it around again. It was firm, and maybe a little scratchy, but comfortable.
"What are we supposed to do if it takes a long time?" I asked with some amusement. "Should we talk about the weather? I could tell you what I learned about keeping lambs in apartments."
He tightened the loop around my left wrist with a snap. It still didn't hurt, but it certainly got my attention. "Remind me of that critter at your own risk."
I grinned lopsidedly. "Yes, sir."
He paused for an infinitesimal moment before adding a second layer to my left wrist. "Careful, Gem. Don't give me ideas about what you should call me when you're in my ropes."
I shifted my thighs together restlessly. "Yes, Doctor."
He wound another layer over my right wrist. So
far, he'd made what felt like thick handcuffs on my wrists connected by one strand between. "What I like to talk about is what you're feeling."
My pussy gave a needy clench. That was both incredibly easy to pinpoint and impossible to say out loud. "I'm feeling… intrigued," I said finally.
Based on the way Knox was tightening the rope between my wrists, I guessed that he was working on some knots in the middle. It brought my wrists together and forced my forearms to touch. "Are you nervous?"
"A little." I swallowed. "But not as much as I thought." Every brush of his skin against mine fired through my thoughts like static shocks. I loved the way he smelled, the way he efficiently worked at the knots, and the feel of his arms around mine as they tied and then retreated. I loved that I could kneel there and that he could see me on display, but all I knew was his touch, his scent, his protection.
"I want you to be nervous." I felt his breath kiss the delicate skin on the side of my arm. He ran his lips up the sensitive area, and I let loose a contented breath. "And then I want to ease your fears away," he continued, kissing my wrists just above the rope cuffs. "I want you to abandon your fears and feel so much that you forget everything else."
My arms tingled pleasantly, and my shoulders sagged as I relaxed. Knox held my arms up as he weaved the rope around my forearms again, continuing the knots and manacles further up. I lost myself in the sensation of the scratchy rope making contact with my skin, wrapping around my forearms securely, and then being jerked tight by Rook's skilled hands. The soft sound of his breathing and mine mingled together, and I found myself entranced by the process.
"Alright," he said softly when he had finished wrapping my wrists and forearms. I couldn't see the configuration, but it felt like long vambraces with what I imagined was a ladder of knots between them. "Lean forward on your arms and put your knees apart."
I chewed on my lip. "Sorry, wait… with my ass in the air?"
Suddenly he was close, his lips brushing my cheek and his arms wrapping around my waist and shoulders as he drew me close to him. "Do you not want me there, Gem? Touching you?" He caressed my collarbone down toward my breast. "Teasing you?"
"Nng," I groaned incoherently, leaning into him and marveling at how secure and comforting the bindings on my wrists felt. "Point taken." He released me, and I leaned forward, putting my weight on my forearms and settling myself into a doggy-style position. I usually found this position a little impersonal, but then again, with the blindfold and the bindings, I could see how it might be interesting.
Knox ran a hand down my spine, shooting sparks through every nerve ending and giving me a satisfying shiver. When he reached my ass, he smoothed his fingers back up, and I realized he'd taken one end of the rope still attached to my arms and began wrapping it in a harness-style configuration around my waist and hips. "Are you comfortable in that position?" he asked.
I nodded. "It feels good."
"You'll be stuck like that once I do this," he warned. "Give me a light color."
"Green," I replied confidently. "Still green."
He tightened the knot he had tied at my hip, "Alright. Tell me if you get uncomfortable." He slid his hand down my leg and toward my knee. "You look so fucking good like this, Gemma." His strong, confident hands looped the rope above my knee, and I realized that once he tied both legs, he was absolutely right. I'd be stuck like this unless he helped me up. "You have smooth, beautiful skin," he murmured, kissing my lower back as he expertly tied knots around my leg, "and your ass is criminally gorgeous."
I groaned, already aching between my legs and ramped up from being touched and teased by the rope and his fingers. The fact that it took a little time to get me bound up in the right position only heightened the experience for me. Once Knox had the other leg secure, and my wrists were attached to the harness-like structure around my waist, which then secured my legs apart, I felt strangely exposed but safe at the same time. Yes, I was on full display for Knox, but I had no control over what happened next, and there was a certain kind of release to that realization.
I loved it.
Because he was so much taller than me, so much bigger, Knox easily covered me on all fours and dropped a kiss between my shoulder blades, up to my shoulders, and then to the back of my neck. His hand smoothed down my back again, and this time, as he followed the curve of my ass, he lightly ran his nails up and down my inner thigh. He was so close to my pussy, I lifted my ass to meet him. He chuckled, kissing the other side of my neck, and his fingers brushed my aching flesh. "What do you want, beautiful?"
"You," I groaned.
"Light?"
"Green," I replied easily. "But I'm going to see red if you keep teasing me."
I felt his smile against my shoulder. "I'm sorry, but who's in control here?" He dipped his fingers into the moisture at my center, and I gasped in gratification. "I need to hear you say it."
"You are," I gusted. "God, yes. You are."
He hummed in satisfaction, and his first two fingers circled my clit, causing my pussy to clench, before he swirled back down to my entrance. Slowly, he eased his fingers inside of me. The sensation took my breath away, and I let my head hang between my arms as I relaxed against the fullness of his fingers. He twisted his fingers back and forth, sliding against my G-spot, and I gasped, picking up my head. An intense jolt of desire rocked through me, causing me to clench around him and moan out loud. Knox pumped in and out of me, kissing down my back. "Did you like that, Gem?"
"Yes," I moaned. "Do it again. Please."
He fucked me slowly with his fingers, taking his time before pressing against my G-spot again, which felt swollen and extra sensitive. "A little extra pressure from a full bladder is a little-known secret for great sex."
I had assumed as much, based on the way it felt, but ye Gods , I didn't know it made that much of a difference. I made a mental note of that before my brain went numb with pleasure as he wrapped his left hand around my bound waist and began slow circles with perfect pressure around my clit. I let my head fall again, this time pressing my face into the mattress to stifle the ridiculous noises that were threatening to come from my throat.
In and out, he worked me with his fingers, brushing against that sensitive spot, and with his other hand, he massaged my clit in gentle, sure strokes in the exact same way I'd shown him I liked. I came so close to an orgasm, I clenched my bound hands and my toes curled. But then he slowed, removing his left hand from my clit and pulling his fingers out to cover my aching sex with his flat hand. "Give me a light."
"Green," I moaned into the blanket. "So green. Keep going, green."
He tapped his flat hand against my pussy, just hard enough that the sting eased my need for relief. "Keep going? I want to fuck you so hard, you see stars behind that blindfold, Gemma. You look so fucking beautiful."
"Fuck me," I growled, arching my back as liquid slid down the inside of my thigh. "Please, Kno—Rook."
Suddenly, he was at my entrance, and I could feel that he'd put on a condom this time, which I found rather laughable after he hadn't bothered with it before. But I supposed that taking chances wasn't the smartest way to continue forward, either. He pulsed against my exposed opening, his hands coasting over my ass before grabbing the rope that tethered my waist to my knees on either side. Pulling me up to meet him, he gradually eased his cock into my needy pussy, and I groaned again, pressing my forehead to the mattress. He felt so good . Huge and long and filling me just right, and I knew in that moment he had positively ruined sex for me with anyone else.
In this position, I couldn't reach my clit, but the extra pressure from my bladder on my G-spot was doing magical things to the way Knox slid in and out of me. Knox started slow, stretching me and bottoming out to the point of pain, and then releasing again. Uninhibited by the blindfold and the ropes, I moaned loudly, moving my hips against him and silently begging for more. He obliged, filling me completely and then slowly withdrawing, but it wasn’t fast enough. It was just slow enough to drive me wild with need without providing a chance for release. I wanted to rip off my blindfold and glare. I wanted to wiggle out of my restraints, push him to the bed and ride him hard and fast until I came so hard, it took my breath away.
But I couldn’t. I wasn’t in control—Knox was. And he was drawing out my pleasure stroke by stroke, holding onto the ropes at my hips and slamming hard inside of me before pulling out torturously slowly, only to do it over and over again. “Knox,” I begged, my face pressed to the coverlet.
He spanked my ass hard, and I gasped, lifting my face. He smoothed his hand over the sore cheek. “What’s my name when I’m fucking you?”
Around a groan, I growled, “Rook.”
“It doubles every time you forget,” he warned.
The way my ass was growing pleasantly warm and tingly, I thought maybe that wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Was it a thing to want punishments? I was pretty sure it was. “Rook,” I tried again, my fingers holding fistfuls of blanket and my legs trembling with need. “Please. I’m begging you.”
“Begging me for what?” he asked, his voice tight.
Ah, so he was tormenting himself, too. “Please, go faster.”
“But then I will be done, and your stunning body won’t be mine anymore,” he teased softly. “Give me a light, Gem.”
“Green,” I reluctantly admitted. “But Knox, I swear to Go—”
Smack. Smack. Knox delivered a spank to each cheek, and I gasped. “Still green?”
“Yes,” I groaned, moving my hips and begging for him to fill me again. He did, and I moaned an incoherent plea for release. “ Rook . Please, I want to come.”
“You want to come, pretty girl?” he echoed, and as he did, he suddenly sped up, holding the ropes at my waist and filling me so deeply, so quickly, all my thoughts slipped from my mind like mercury.
“Y-yes,” I panted. “Please.” Then, with startling speed, I found myself climbing up to a leg-shaking orgasm. "Rook, I can't," I gasped, my toes curling again and my thighs tensing. "I can't. I'm there. Please."
"Come for me, baby," he encouraged, picking up his pace and urging me to cross the finish line.
My core tightened, clenching so hard that I let out an involuntary gasp, and then I shattered into vibrant shards of ecstasy. Fireworks of color burst behind my closed, blindfolded eyes, and the sensation of Knox fluidly moving inside of me and finding his own completion wrung the last of my orgasm from my shaking body.
I wanted to melt into a puddle of post-sex bliss, but the ropes kept me upright and kneeling. I'd never felt so out of control and yet perfectly safe and cared for in my life. Like Knox had wrapped me up in a kind of refuge, using his capable hands and soothing words. Nothing I'd experienced before compared.
Breathing hard, Knox reached over me, and one-handed, on each side, he deftly undid the knots around my knees and flicked the rope away from them. I sat up, and he helped me, pulling me back to rest against his chest as he settled his weight against the headboard. We both sucked in air, breathing hard in tandem, and I rested my head back against his strong, muscled shoulder. "Knox," I panted.
He kissed my cheek, working at the knots around my waist. "Gem."
"That was… awesome," I breathed. "Seriously."
"Mm," he said, pressing his lips to the juncture between my shoulder and neck, his hands still working to undo what I now saw was a beautiful harness along my belly and hips. It was perfectly geometric and almost like jewelry in its construction. "I am relieved to hear that."
"You seemed worried," I observed as he finished undoing the lovely harness along my middle and moved to untie my wrists.
"I was," he admitted. "Shibari isn't for everyone."
"And you really enjoy it," I said, understanding where his thoughts must be going. If I didn't love it, then he would be disappointed, and if I knew him—which I felt I did after several weeks together—he would definitely give it up if he still wanted to be intimate with me. Rook was like that, I'd noticed. He seemed marble and uncaring on the outside, but his actions revealed his inner nature far more than his words did. He was selfless. He cared how others felt.
"I do," he agreed. "And if you didn't, it would have been fine. But," he unlaced the beautiful, perfect ladder of knots between my arms with quick precision, "if you do enjoy it, then all the better."
I turned my head, looking up at his chiseled jaw and the attractive intelligence in his eyes as he focused on the rope. I wanted to ask him if he wanted to continue this, but I didn't want it to sound like a "What are we?" sort of question. Those had never gone well for me in the past. Men didn't appear to enjoy labels for things, whereas I craved them. I needed expectations. I needed to know how attached I could become or have a heads-up if I needed to guard my heart. "Well, I enjoy being with you," I said, so softly I wondered if he'd heard me.
Knox finished unwrapping me, and tossing the rope aside, he rubbed the little pink indents from where the rope had spiraled up my arms. He kissed my temple. "I don't just like being with you, Gem." He moved away just enough that we made eye contact. "I am yours. However long you want me, I'm yours."
Warmth suffused my chest, and I fought back a prickle of tears at the corners of my eyes. "I want you, too."
He kissed me softly, squeezing me against him and then settling back again so I could snuggle comfortably in his arms. He closed his eyes, letting his head drop back against the headboard before he released a contented sigh. "Good. You're not getting away from me now. Don't even try."