31. Catriona #3
“You sure?” His eyes search mine.
“Positive.” I lay my head back on his chest and take up my new favourite pastime of finger drawing on a perfect washboard. I hum as Rian resumes his languid caressing of my hair. My eyelids grow heavy.
“Cat?”
“Hm?”
“Why didn’t you want to work that weekend?”
“What weekend?”
“You know, you said you had plans but then I spanked you to submission.”
I snort. Folding my arms on his pecs, I rest my chin on them. He grins at me, before using some classy ninja skills to swiftly turn me on my stomach.
“Rian,” I squeal as he scoots down and grips my butt cheeks with both hands.
“I spanked this arse into submission,” he mumbles and then a sharp sting that can only come from his teeth zaps my skin. I squeal again, all embarrassingly girly. “Did you have a date?”
“What?”
He licks the spot he bit and gently bites the other cheek. “Did you have a date?”
“Rian Kearney, are you jealous?” I laugh and wiggle underneath him.
Pushing his face into my cheek, he admits in a muffled voice, “Possibly…”
“It was my cousin’s birthday.”
He stills. “Oh. Which one? Eric or Daniel?”
“Daniel.”
“Oh, Cat, I’m so sorry. I’m such an arse.”
I snicker and glance over my shoulder. “Well, it was my arse you spanked to get your way.” Turning serious, I hesitate. “So…have you always…been this way?”
Warm lips kiss my bum. “This way?”
I swallow. “I mean, deviant from the norm…”
Rian crawls up the bed while manoeuvring me onto my side until we’re face to face.
He holds me tight and the tip of his nose touches mine.
I hardly dare breathe, this feels more intimate than anything else we’ve ever done.
He defuses the tension by making his eyes wide open, and with a mock serious voice, he says, “You mean, have I always liked to control women, to tie them up and spank them?”
I squirm uncomfortably and try to look away from his intense gaze. “Well, yes?”
He laughs softly and eases his grip on me. “No, I haven’t always been ‘this way’. I enjoy my fair share of normal sex. And still do.” His eyebrows wiggle. “If I’m not mistaken, I just did, five minutes ago.”
I snort but can’t hide my curiosity. “Then why?”
He huffs. “It’s been boredom, I guess. And something to hide behind.”
I stare at him blankly. It’s his turn to shift uncomfortably now.
“Well…I’ve never had any problems getting women, you know?
With my dad’s money, the name, the lifestyle, the famous and rich friends…
women have always more or less thrown themselves at me.
I learned early that they weren’t after me, but what they thought they would be a part of if they were with me.
I could have any woman I wanted, and I did, and it got boring.
” He sighs. “I know I sound like a complete tosser, but I just couldn’t be bothered with the complications.
If I slept with a woman, she expected to see me again, or she would start hearing wedding bells and everything got messy and annoying. ”
I’m listening quietly as he speaks. The words were forced at first but now the dam is broken, the words flow. I don’t enjoy the way he talks about all the women he has been with, though.
“I was chased instead of chasing. Maybe, as a man, the hunting instinct is ingrained? I don’t know. So, when at some point someone invited me to kinkier clubs, I was intrigued. It offered something different, something appealing. I blame my grandad.”
“Your grandad took you to kinky clubs?”
Rian throws his head back, his booming laugh echoing in the small room.
“Jesus, Cat. Hell no. My grandad Kearney used to take Knox and me sailing as kids. I enjoyed the sailing, but I was mesmerised by the different knots used on the boat. I had posters up on the wall and all. Then, years later, walking into a club in Nice that first time and seeing a woman tied up, and not only recognising some of the knots used, but also how badly they were done… Well, I wanted to do it. And better. And I liked it. I liked the dominant and submissive side of it all, the role-play. Being in control instead of batting off attention. And also, in the clubs, it’s free of all the complications.
What happens in the club stays in the club, kind of thing.
I’m not expected to commit to anyone. To a relationship. ”
Commit to a relationship.
I swallow hard, trying to keep my voice steady as I force myself to say, “So that way, you stay unattached until the day you and Alexandra finally get together as a couple.”
He tenses. Then admits in a raspy voice, “You might be right.”
My heart rips open. Rian rests his chin on my head. Maybe he wants to avoid eye contact. His hand makes soothing tracks up and down my back.
After an eternity, he asks, “Do you want to come to the club with me?”
“W-what?”
“You can experience for yourself what it’s like. How about this Friday?”
“Rian, are you saying that our first date will be at a bondage club?”
He laughs and kisses me deeply, and the awkwardness from only minutes ago all but vanishes.