Chapter 28
The problem with causing trouble was that it had consequences.
They had wasted no time at all getting to the hunting cabin, hurrying back to Harper’s car, and driving the few minutes it took to get to the place. A small, secluded residence a couple of miles from the outpost.
It was one of several safe houses the Chains had established near the border. Though tiny, the place had all the necessary amenities. Bedroom, bathroom, electric heater in case working the fireplace was beyond your skill set.
Maya had explained how the safe houses worked on the short drive.
Other than the high-rise and a few other buildings, all Chains property was owned by human members of the Court.
Most supernatural creatures needed an invitation to enter a human residence, and since all members of the Chains were allowed access while outsiders were not, it effectively turned these safe houses into minor fortresses, fit with everything a supernatural creature might need.
Emergency field kits, a basement for vampires to wait out the day, and stores of various types of food—including bags of blood.
Maya hadn’t dwelled on those particular details, and Harper hadn’t pried. She hadn’t wanted to pry. She had been far too distracted by the allure a private, isolated cabin like this represented.
But then they’d stepped inside. And she was promptly faced with the consequences of her own actions.
“This is so not fair.” Harper had been kneeling on the floor, naked, for several minutes at that point. “I spent hours driving out here, and this is your grand plan? You could at least tell me how long this will last.”
“Getting bored already?”
Maya’s amused voice came from the corner of the room. Harper couldn’t see her, since the first thing Maya had done after stripping Harper out of her clothes was tie a blindfold over her eyes, but going by the chuckling and rummaging noises, Maya was busy going through the things Harper had brought.
“Yes, I’m bored.” Harper crossed her arms with a huff. “How long is this going to take?”
“I’m not telling you that. But I will tell you not to move. Otherwise, there will be consequences.”
Harper smirked. “What kind of consequences?”
“The inevitable kind. Since I doubt you can stay composed.”
Harper groaned. Why did Maya have to say it like that? An ‘or else’ would be far easier to deal with than a challenge; especially one that was phrased as though Maya expected her to fail.
Harper knew why she was doing it, too. Twisting an act of obedience until doing it felt like defiance. But just because Harper saw through her tricks didn’t mean they didn’t work.
She only had herself to blame for this predicament. She had known what she was inviting with that phone call, but it had been far too easy to ignore in the moment. Especially since she hadn’t thought Maya would have planned this level of payback.
When would she learn? Not anytime soon, most likely.
“Do you know why you have the blindfold on?” Maya asked.
Harper stiffened. Maya had sat down behind her, her soft voice right in her ear.
Harper hadn’t even heard her move. She’d appeared as silently as a shadow.
“Because you’re feeling mean?”
“That’s part of it. But it’s also because it’ll make this next step a lot harder.” Maya nipped at her earlobe, and a flare of heat shot through Harper’s body. “Hold out your hands.”
Harper jutted out her chin and kept her arms crossed. An act of defiance that was only allowed for a moment before Maya grabbed her wrists and forced her arms into the requested position.
She barely strained herself. And even though Harper pushed against it, Maya didn’t even tighten her grip. She just moved Harper’s arms out in front of her body, a metallic clinking following as something cold and hard was placed in her hands.
A chain.
“Now listen carefully. Keep it still—”
Harper shook her hands, producing a loud rattling. She stopped when Maya’s fingers went around her throat. Slowly and carefully, her touch not even firm. Not a grip, really. More like a reminder that it could easily turn into one.
“Listen,” Maya whispered. “Keep it still. Otherwise, I stop.”
“Stop doing what?”
Maya ran her hand from Harper’s throat to her shoulder. Then along her ribs, down her spine, over the side of her hip. Teasing the sensitive skin on the inside of her thigh.
“Touching you. That’s what you want, isn’t it? You were fantasizing about it last night when the thought of me doing whatever I wanted was so hot that you couldn’t help but get yourself off.”
Harper’s grip on the chain tightened. She hadn’t exactly been subtle during that phone call. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but at some point, Maya had flipped the conversation into one she was in charge of. Like she always did.
Harper almost lost herself to it right then. To the idea of letting Maya take charge. To falling apart under the fantasy of this woman losing control and enacting a punishment for all her previous behavior that involved fucking her until her vision turned spotty.
“You want my attention so badly, don’t you?” Maya muttered the words against Harper’s neck. “You’d do anything to get it, including acting out. But you don’t need to. I don’t have eyes for anyone but you.”
This should not be as effective as it was. It was just touching. Innocent touching, accompanied by words that were barely dirty talk.
Despite it, Harper’s heart was racing. And Maya’s touch, despite being so light, felt like it left fire in its wake.
It was the blindfold. Her vision being gone heightened everything else. Every sound, every touch, every whispered word.
Yeah. Yeah, that was definitely it.
“Is this all it’s going to be? Just chatting?” Harper asked.
“We’ll stop chatting soon. But it’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this. I need to reacquaint myself with all your buttons.”
Maya pinched a nipple, and the sudden touch made Harper stiffen.
The chain clinked.
“Did you just move?”
“No,” Harper said, a little too fast.
Maya brushed her lips over Harper’s shoulder. “No, what?”
Harper took a deep breath. Though the chain wasn’t heavy, keeping her arms extended made her muscles burn.
“No, Sir.”
How was Maya this fucking patient? She had to want this, too. Had to be dying for it as much as Harper was, even though she was doing a great job of staying composed. If Harper poked at her a little more, she might get frustrated enough to give in to it.
But the alternative was too risky. That she would just stop, and instead of using this window of privacy as intended, she might just rile Harper into a frenzy.
Though, she was already doing a great job at that.
“Can I ask about these?” Maya traced a finger over Harper’s shoulder. Along the flowers wrapped around it. “Your tattoos. Do they mean anything? Or are they just for decoration?”
“Some of them have stories. Most don’t. At least not very good ones.” She adjusted her posture. Carefully, so the chain would stay still. “I got those flowers mainly because they were free. I was dating a tattoo artist, and they asked to use me as a canvas.”
Maya followed the curve of the flowers down Harper’s shoulder. Then she went lower, circling a spot on her ribs.
“What about this one?”
Harper took a moment to map out what Maya was touching. Then she smirked. Her butterfly tattoo.
“That is covering up a mistake.”
Maya paused. Then chuckled. “What was their name?”
“Karina. She was the love of my life when I was seventeen. I got over it a few months after we broke up.”
Maya brushed a fingertip up her forearm. “What about these? Do they have a story?”
Harper tensed. She didn’t even need to think to know what tattoo Maya was touching. Six tally marks in a single line, nestled at the crook of her elbow.
She cleared her throat and sat up straighter.
“That’s just something stupid. It’s not important.” She turned her head, doing her best to glare at Maya through the blindfold. “Is this really how you want to spend our limited time? You like talking way too much.”
“Only because you’re involved. I love hearing your voice. Hearing your laugh. Your breathing, especially as it is now. With you trying, and failing, to keep it even.”
Maya’s hand eased between her legs. Harper held her breath as Maya pushed down further, pressing down on her clit ever so slightly.
Harper had to tense her whole body to keep from moving. She tried swallowing her voice, too, but it didn’t quite work. Part of a moan escaped, coming out as a low squeak.
“You look beautiful like this.” Maya started circling. Slowly and precisely. “Kneeling for me. A polite little plaything, and she’s all mine to enjoy.”
Fuck. The word ‘mine’ had no business sounding so goddamn enticing. The tension between her legs was growing at an alarming rate, and soon she wouldn’t be able to keep still, no matter how much she tried.
“Can I put the chain down?” Harper said tightly. Then she moaned when Maya started circling faster.
“No. You keep it there until I tell you otherwise. And it’ll be a long time before I do so, if you don’t start addressing me properly.”
Maya kissed her neck, lips pressing against her pulse point. So careful. Even though every inch of Harper’s body wanted her to not be careful. Wanted a sting and a moan to follow the touch.
Harper gritted her teeth. Her hands were trembling. A slight metallic chime underlined her breathing.
“Can I please put the chain down, Sir?”
“You have a habit of forgetting that title,” Maya mused. “Unless I’m fucking you hard enough that obeying me is the only thing on your mind. Then you’re very good at saying it.”
Maya flicked over her clit. Harper twitched, a rattling followed, before she forced her arms to still.
“I love keeping you here. Right near the edge.” Maya flicked over her harder. Faster. “I could ask you to beg. To moan my name until you went hoarse. Anything, and you would do it. Anything I want until I feel you deserve to come. Until you’ve earned it.”