Chapter 20
Lea helped Kallias tug her dress off, tossing it to the floor. Cool air rushed over her skin, but the grasp and slide of his hands made heat blaze all over her body.
Still sitting in his lap, she leaned forward to kiss him, but broke off with a gasp as his palms grazed her nipples. Sensation shot straight to her core, and she couldn’t help arching against him, her body bumping the tempting hardness already growing beneath his tunic.
His breath caught. “Lea,” he rasped. “Don’t do that.”
She moved against him again, sparking another pulse of yearning. “Why not?”
“Because it makes me want to do this.” He grasped her nipples in a hard, twisting pinch.
She hissed in pain, eyes fluttering closed.
“Did you like that?” He released her.
She nodded. In a strange way, pain like this soothed her mind, softening the sharp edges and forcing her to focus only on what she could feel.
There was a heady pleasure in being with someone she trusted enough to do this, to hurt without harming.
She’d never been sure what to make of her desire, but it felt as natural as having an affinity for a certain food.
“Tell me you liked it,” he said. “I need to hear you say it.”
She opened her eyes. He stared at her, his gaze dark and intense.
“I like it when you hurt me,” she breathed.
A tiny shudder rippled through him at her words, which pleased her.
“Get up,” he said, and she lifted herself off his lap. He rose, took her by the hand, and led her into his adjoining bedroom, closing the door behind them. Lea made for the bed as he lit a lamp, but he stopped her with a raised hand and pointed to the floor. “Not yet. I want you kneeling.”
She lifted an eyebrow, but did as he asked, sinking to her knees atop the thin rug that covered the stone floor.
She gave her back a slight arch and widened her thighs, trying to make herself look as tempting as possible.
At this point, she was eager to get on with the bedding.
Desire throbbed at her center, echoing the residual tenderness in her nipples, and she could feel herself growing slick with need.
Kallias, however, seemed to want to take his time. He finished lighting the lamp, then surveyed her. She wasn’t sure how he looked so cool, nearly disinterested, but the jutting stiffness beneath his tunic left no doubt of his ardor.
“Do you think you would like it if I bound your hands?”
She hesitated. The prospect intrigued her, sending a fresh pulse of heat to her core. It would mean trusting him in an even deeper way.
“No one’s ever done that to me before,” she said.
“I’ve never done that to someone before, either.”
“So how do you know you want to do it?”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Because it’s one of many, many things I can’t stop thinking about doing to you.”
The dark intensity in his voice sparked a new ripple of arousal. “All right,” she said, growing breathless. “Bind my hands.”
His smirk broadened into an approving smile. “Wait here.” He ducked back into his office, returning a moment later with a length of flaxen cord, of the type used to fasten the lid on a box.
He crossed behind her, then stopped short. “Lea,” he murmured.
With a start, she realized what he’d seen—the marks on her back, years-old relics of her life before becoming a gladiator. Last time, her back had never faced him.
Her fingers tensed where they lay on her thighs. The marks had been part of her for so long that she forgot how they must look to someone else. No doubt they would repulse him.
She pulled off the tie at the end of her braid and combed her fingers through her hair, shaking it out so it fell down her back, concealing the scars. “A story for another time, I think.”
“Very well.” The softness of his voice surprised her, easing the tension coiled within her.
He knelt behind her, took her wrists, and wrapped the cord around them.
It was secure, but not too tight. When he finished, she couldn’t help wriggling her arms. She figured she’d be able to get out of the bindings with little effort, but soon realized she couldn’t.
A thread of panic clutched at her. Without the use of her hands, she felt completely defenseless, vulnerable.
“Lea?” Kallias, still behind her, slid his hands down her forearms. “Is it all right?”
She released a long breath, trying to steady herself.
Her breath was coming fast and light, just as it did before a match.
She hadn’t expected to feel so helpless.
“Fine,” she said tightly. Her arms were still moving, fingers grasping, trying to see if she could reach any part of the cord to pull it loose.
“Lea.” His voice grew firmer. “I’m taking it off if you’re going to pull at it like that. You’ll hurt yourself.”
No, she didn’t want that—didn’t want this to be over. He wanted this, and she wanted it too, and she also wanted to please him. She forced herself to be still. “Don’t take it off.”
He stroked her arms in a soothing motion. She matched her breathing to the rhythm of his hands, and the frantic pulse of her heartbeat soon slowed.
“That’s right,” he murmured, pulling her into his arms as she relaxed. “Lean back. Let me take your weight.”
She allowed her muscles to release, her body to sag against his. Her head rested on his shoulder, and her eyes fell shut.
“That’s better,” he whispered. His hands moved to her front, passing over her stomach, then slid up to caress her breasts—gently this time. Her breath hitched. There was pleasure in being helpless like this, nothing she had to do—nothing she could do—but feel, sense, enjoy.
His hands skimmed downward, and she tensed in anticipation. Yes, this was what she wanted, what she needed. She shuddered, back arching, as his fingers delved between her legs.
He made a low, needy noise in the back of his throat. “You’re soaked, Lea.”
Her cheeks flushed. It was embarrassing to have her desire laid bare like this, nothing to hide behind. He circled her throbbing bud with one hand while the other drew light, teasing lines up and down the inside of her thigh. She bit her lip against a moan.
“Let me hear you, philé emé,” he whispered against her neck. “Don’t hold back. Show me what you like.”
She didn’t understand the Greek words he used, but she’d have to ask him later, as right now, her mind was fully consumed by the urgent need he was kindling between her legs.
Each touch, even the lightest brush against her skin, felt ten times more intense than it should have, as if her helplessness heightened her senses.
Still, she couldn’t fully abandon herself as he urged her to. Her breathing grew harsh, unsteady, but she held back another moan.
He pulled away his hand, and her eyes flew open. “Why—why did you stop?” she demanded, wishing she didn’t sound so plaintive.
“Well, I couldn’t tell if you were enjoying yourself,” he said innocently.
She growled in annoyance. Now, the loss of her hands frustrated her in a different way. Her body cried out for touch, for pressure and friction, but his hands rested demurely on her thighs.
“Besides, I had another question.” He raised one hand to her hair. “You like pain here…” He gave her hair a gentle tug. “And here…” His other hand tweaked her nipple. “What about…here?” His fingers slid between her legs, palming her sensitive flesh.
Her thighs snapped shut, trapping his hand. “No,” she said immediately, without even thinking about what he was asking. She liked pain, but…there?
“Have you tried it?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Would you consider trying it?” he asked. “Just once?” He gave her thigh a light, quick slap. “Like that. Nothing more.”
She shifted position, deliberating. Her initial reluctance was quickly fading, and desire brewed at the thought of what he wanted. “You—you think you’d like it?”
“Mm.” His voice rumbled in his chest. “Yes, I think I’d like it very much.”
That was all it took to convince her—the knowledge that it would please him. This was dangerous, this overpowering desire to please him, to give him what he asked for. It could make her do things she might never have wanted. But with Kallias, she knew he’d never take it too far.
She allowed her thighs to part once more. “We can try it.”
His low murmur of approval sent a flare of pleasure through her. Still, she couldn’t stop her body from tensing, preparing for pain in her most sensitive, vulnerable area.
“Relax, Lea.” He swept his hands up and down her thighs in a soothing motion. He curled one arm around her waist, gently drawing her body to lean back against him once more. She released a breath and let her body loosen, giving him her weight.
Then, his hand came down on her sex in a sharp slap.
She gasped. The shock of it was greater than the pain.
The light sting quickly diffused into warm, throbbing pleasure.
Even more heady than the physical sensation was the utter surrender she felt at allowing him to hurt her in her most intimate place.
It sent a rush through her that left her feeling dazed.
“Again,” she whispered.
He struck once more, a bit harder this time. The increased force intensified the pleasure left behind by the slap. She could feel her flesh growing even more sensitive, primed for further touch.
“So?” he asked. There was a breathless edge to his voice, evidence that he was as affected as she was. “Do you like it?”
She nodded. “Do you?”
“Gods, yes,” he whispered. “You don’t know what you’re doing to me, Lea.
It feels so wrong to do this to you, but I can’t help myself.
” He grazed his fingers over her. “In a matter of days you’ve turned me from someone who never dreamed of causing pain to another, to a man who’s coming undone at hurting you like this. ”
His words made warmth bloom inside her. She loved the feeling of being the one person he could show this side of himself to, just as he was the only person she trusted with this part of herself.
“Do it once more,” she ordered. “Harder this time.”