Chapter 6
SIX
"Where are we going?" I ask as Colt leads me through the crowd.
"Curious little thing, aren't you?" His fingers press slightly harder against my spine. "Patience."
We pass through a velvet curtain into a different section of the club.
This room is darker, with small seating areas arranged around a central space where a woman is suspended in an intricate rope harness.
Her body twists slowly in the air, eyes closed in what looks like pure bliss as a man circles her, occasionally trailing a feather across her exposed skin.
"Oh," I breathe, unable to look away.
"Shibari," Colt explains, his mouth close to my ear. "Japanese rope bondage. The rope master has been working with her for years."
I watch, mesmerized, as the woman's body responds to each light touch. "She looks..."
"Transcendent," Colt finishes for me. "That's what true surrender looks like."
He guides me to a small loveseat with a perfect view of the scene. As we sit, he casually drapes his arm across the back, not quite touching me, but close enough that I can feel the heat of him.
"Is that what you want from me?" I ask, my voice barely audible over the soft music.
His fingers find the nape of my neck, brushing against the sensitive skin there. "Eventually. But we start smaller."
Without warning, the vibrator springs to life again, this time at a lower, teasing pulse. I gasp, unprepared after the minutes of emptiness.
"Watch them," Colt instructs, nodding toward the rope scene. "And tell me what you see."
I force my attention back to the suspended woman, trying to focus through the building pleasure between my legs. "She's...completely vulnerable."
"And?"
"She trusts him completely." The vibrations increase slightly, and I grip the edge of the loveseat. "She's given him everything."
"That's right," Colt murmurs, his fingers now threading through my hair. "Total surrender. No masks, no pretending."
The woman arches as the rope master trails something across her skin—a crop, I realize. Her face contorts in a mixture of pain and pleasure that looks almost holy.
"Color?" Colt asks quietly.
The vibrator pulses steadily, keeping me on edge without pushing me over. "Green," I whisper, surprising myself with how much I mean it.
His hand tightens in my hair, just enough to tilt my head back so I'm looking at him instead of the scene. "Good girl."
Those two simple words send a surge of heat through me, more powerful than any vibrator. I've never wanted praise so badly in my life.
"Please," I whisper, not even sure what I'm asking for.
"Please what?" His eyes are dark, demanding.
"I don't know," I admit, trembling under his gaze. "Just... more."
His smile is predatory. "More what? More pain? More pleasure? More humiliation? You have to be specific, Tess."
The vibrations increase again, making coherent thought difficult. "More of you," I finally manage. "Whatever you want to give me."
Something shifts in his expression, a flash of hunger. "Be careful what you wish for, pretty toy."
The name sends another jolt through me, separate from the vibrator's steady pulse. I'm his toy. His to use, to play with, to control.
And God help me, I want it more than I've ever wanted anything.
"I'm not afraid," I say, the words tumbling out before I can stop them.
Colt's laugh is low and dark. "Maybe you should be."
The vibrations intensify without warning, and I bite down hard on my lower lip to stifle a moan. The woman suspended in rope twists gently in the air, her surrender complete and beautiful, while I'm coming undone on this loveseat beside a man I barely know.
"Focus," Colt commands, his voice a low rumble against my ear. "Tell me what you're feeling."
"I can't—" My voice breaks as the vibrator pulses harder, sending waves of pleasure radiating through my core. "Everyone will see."
His fingers tighten in my hair, not enough to hurt but enough to command my complete attention. "No one is looking at us. They're watching her." He nods toward the suspended woman. "And even if they were looking, you'd still tell me what you're feeling."
The vibrator switches to a pattern that makes my thighs clench involuntarily. My breathing turns shallow, each inhale catching in my throat.
"I feel like I'm dissolving," I whisper, the words tumbling out before I can filter them. "Like I'm not even me anymore."
Colt's eyes darken with satisfaction. "That's it. That's what you need."
He increases the intensity again, and my vision blurs at the edges. The suspended woman and her rope master fade into the background as my world narrows to the sensations between my legs and Colt's steady presence beside me.
"Please," I gasp, no longer caring who might hear. "I need—"
"Not yet." His denial is gentle but firm. "You're still thinking too much."
My hips shift restlessly, seeking more friction, more pressure, more anything. Colt places his free hand on my thigh, stilling me with a touch that burns through the fabric of my skirt.
"Be still," he orders, and somehow my body obeys, even as it screams for release.
The vibrations slow to an agonizing pulse, just enough to keep me desperate, but not enough to push me over. I whimper, a sound I've never heard myself make before.
"Look at me."
I turn to find his eyes locked on mine, studying every micro-expression on my face. Something in his gaze makes me feel utterly exposed, like he can see past my skin to all the secret, shameful parts of me I've kept hidden.
"You're doing so well," he praises, his voice softer now. "You're starting to let go."
Am I? I try to focus on his face, but it's becoming harder to concentrate on anything beyond the pulsing need between my legs. My thoughts feel fuzzy, disconnected, like I'm watching myself from somewhere slightly outside of my body.
"Color?" he asks, his thumb hovering over the remote.
"Green," I breathe, "So green."
His smile is slow, satisfied. "Good toy."
The praise washes over me, and I feel myself sinking deeper into whatever this is—this strange, floating place where nothing matters except pleasing him, earning his approval, taking whatever he gives me.
The vibrator suddenly jumps to its highest setting, and I cry out, my back arching off the loveseat. My fingers dig into the cushions as waves of pleasure crash through me, building toward a peak I'm desperate to reach.
"Not yet," Colt reminds me, his voice the only anchor in a sea of sensation. "You don't come until I say."
"I can't—" Tears prick at the corners of my eyes. "Please, I can't hold back."
"You can," he insists, his hand moving from my thigh to cup my face. "Because I told you to. Because you're mine to control."
The possessiveness in his words sends another surge of heat through me. I'm trembling now, my entire body vibrating with need.
"Tell me what you are," he demands, his thumb brushing across my lower lip.
"Your toy," I gasp, the words flowing easily now, no barriers between thought and speech. "Your pretty toy."
"And what do toys do?"
"They...they please their owners." My voice sounds distant, dreamy, like it belongs to someone else.
"That's right." His approval is a physical thing, washing over me in waves. "And right now, you please me by waiting. By staying right on that edge until I decide you deserve release."
I nod, unable to form words anymore. The world has narrowed to this moment, this man, this overwhelming need. Nothing else exists or matters.
Colt leans closer, his lips brushing against my ear. "You're slipping into subspace, Tess. Do you know what that is?"
I shake my head slightly, not trusting my voice.
"It's where you belong," he murmurs. "Right here, mindless with need, completely at my mercy."
The vibrations push me over the edge without warning. The world fractures into white-hot pleasure as my body betrays me. I come hard, waves of ecstasy crashing through me while my mind registers what's happening in delayed horror.
"I'm—I can't—" My words dissolve into a broken moan as my back arches off the loveseat. My thighs clamp together, my body shaking uncontrollably as the orgasm rips through me.
Colt doesn't stop the vibrator. He tucks my head into his chest, letting me moan into his shirt while he watches me fall apart. Only when I collapse back against the cushions, trembling and spent, does he finally turn off the vibrator.
The sudden silence feels deafening.
He clicks his tongue, the soft sound somehow more devastating than if he'd yelled. "Look at you."
I can't meet his eyes. Shame burns through me, not for the pleasure, but for the failure. My first real test, and I couldn't even follow one simple rule.
"Couldn't even hold back for me." His voice drops lower, edged with disappointment that cuts deeper than anger would. "What a greedy little slut you are."
My cheeks burn hot with humiliation.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, the words feeling pathetically inadequate.
"Sorry?" He laughs, a low sound without humor. "You're not sorry yet. But you will be."
His fingers grip my chin, forcing me to look at him. His eyes are steel, piercing through every defense.
"Did I say you could come?"
"No." My voice is barely audible.
"No?"
I swallow hard. "No, you didn't give me permission."
"And you did anyway." His thumb traces my lower lip, the gentle touch at odds with his hard words. "Took what wasn't offered. What does that make you?"
"Disobedient," I whisper.
"That's right." His fingers trail down my throat, resting lightly where my pulse hammers beneath the skin. "And what happens to disobedient toys?"
A shiver runs through me that has nothing to do with the aftershocks still trembling through my body. "They get punished."
"Very good." His approval, even in this context, sends a perverse thrill through me. "At least you understand the consequences of your actions."
He leans closer, his breath warm against my ear. "I'm going to punish you now, Tess. Not because I'm angry, but because you need to learn. Because you're worth the effort of teaching."
The words sink into me, triggering something deeper than fear or arousal, a recognition that this isn't just about power or pleasure. It's about being seen, being valued enough to be corrected.
"Yes," I breathe, surrender washing through me anew.
"Beg me for it." His voice is dark and commanding.
I meet his eyes, no longer hiding from what I want, what I need. "Please punish me."
A slow, dangerous smile spreads across his face. "Good girl. Now let's go upstairs and teach you a lesson."