Chapter 7 Josie #2
“Want to hop up here and see how it feels?”
Ares pressed his palm to the small of her back and she nodded, awkwardly getting herself up on the table. Above her there was a bar, and she noticed there were restraints attached to the table.
“A bondage table with many uses. You said you didn’t think you liked pain, but what about rope?” He stood next to her, his gaze roaming over her body.
“I’ve always wanted to, but I don’t think that’s for me.”
“Why?” Ares cupped her chin in his hand and stared at her with those gorgeous green eyes. This moment was so intimate and for the hundredth time, Josie wondered what she was doing here with him.
Josie stared past Ares up to the brushed bronze ceiling. “In all the photos I have ever seen of rope bondage, the women and men are gorgeous. I’m not.”
“You are stunning, Josie.” Ares glided a fingertip along her cheek.
“No,” Josie closed her eyes, wishing the words to express how she felt were coming easier. “I’m not fishing for compliments. Those models I have seen in the ropes…they’re perfect. They don’t have anything wrong with them.”
Ares’s blond eyebrows drew together, he tilted his head. “I think you’re gorgeous, Josie. I don’t think there is anything wrong with you. You are perfect as you are.”
A pool of liquid warmth spread through her chest and the voice of her ex telling her that he wished she would hide her limp better whispered through her mind but grew smaller, nothing that had come before mattered. She wiped away the tears gathered at the corner of her eyes.
With a thrill racing through her veins, Josie reached up and pulled Ares’s head down to hers.
She kissed him as hard as she could. His murmur of laughter vibrated through her mouth.
He took control of the kiss, deepening it and stroking her tongue.
The way his mouth felt against her made wetness pool between her legs. She was so damn hot for him.
“I should take you to Club Bandit so you can see that you don’t have to be a model to enjoy kink.”
Josie blushed. “My friend Cecilia told me about the holiday party.”
“Sounds like a date,” Ares flashed that gorgeous smile.
“How did you discover all of this?” She sat up to survey the room.
“My first girlfriend asked me to tie her up and introduced me to this world. I had never met anyone like her before or knew anything about kink.”
“How long did that first girlfriend last?”
“The first two years of university. When she realized how much time Xander took up, it was too much for her. His anxiety wasn’t always easy to deal with. But the next relationship lasted five years and ended the same way.”
Ares gave her a small smile, as if he was apologizing, but Josie didn’t mind how loyal Ares was to Xander.
“What would you do if I asked you to tie me up right now?” She didn’t know why she felt so brave with him, so forward, but curiosity drove her to throw the question out there.
“I would ask you what your favourite colour is.” Ares trailed a gentle finger along her jaw, to her neck, stopping at the top of her cleavage.
“And then we would discuss if there are any parts of your body you want me to avoid. I’d ask you to pick a safe word.
We would talk about what else would happen in rope and we’d have a good time. ”
“What do you mean, what else?” She brushed her fingers along his arm, her pulse beating rapidly.
“If you’re open to having insertable toys used on you, for example.
If you want to be blindfolded, if you wanted to explore other toys, like maybe a soft brush along your body, or if this was just the experience of being in rope, which can be a scene by itself or if you wanted to pretend to be captured while I torture the information out of you.
” The air between them was so filled with anticipation, heat crackled between them.
“I want to do all of that.”
“Good.”
She yawned in the next second and both of them laughed.
“Sorry, I’m kind of wiped out tonight.”
“We have lots to look forward to for the second date.”
“Maybe even the hot tub?” Josie grinned.
“I haven’t forgotten,” Ares leaned down, brushing his lips against hers, then his hand floated over her breasts, and he kissed her as if he was sealing the promise.
And suddenly, Josie didn’t feel tired. She wanted him. She grabbed a handful of his crisp shirt, pulling him to her, and she kissed him back, melting at the very touch of his lips against hers.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing your bedroom before we call it a night.”
“I wouldn’t mind showing you,” Ares pulled her tight to him and eased her off the table, his mouth sealing over hers as he walked them to the door. His hands roamed over her back and finally, she touched his chest, feeling this smooth plane of muscle below his shirt.
Laughing, they kissed and slowly walked to the door. She couldn’t get enough of how he tasted, of the silky feel of his tongue.
“I can’t wait to get you upstairs,” Ares held the door open for her. Josie stepped ahead of him to the hallway.
“Oh!” The cry of surprise ripped from her and she stumbled back against Ares’s hard body.
Seeing Harper naked, wearing silver nipple clamps and a gag in her mouth, her long hair wrapped around Xander’s fist, startled her.
“Xander really?” Ares asked.
“What? I didn’t know you were down here. You’re usually in your wing.”
“That’s convenient for you.”
“Sorry, Ares,” Logan’s deep timbre cut through the tension.
Josie stared at the floor, not wanting to see Logan’s sculpted naked body again. Or Xander’s sleek muscled form. It felt very wrong to see her friends naked somehow.
Ares stepped out of the way, Logan held the door, and Xander led her friend in, tugging on her hair. “Here we are, Angel. Forgive the interruption.”
“I’m so sorry, Josie,” Ares pressed his hand against the small of her back. “Can I get you a drink?”
“You did say there was never a dull moment around here,” Josie tried to give him a smile, but her voice wobbled.
What was the big deal? So she saw three people naked? Why was she thrown off by it?
“I did.” Ares gave her a small smile, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes.
“I think I want to go home.”
“Next time, I’ll make sure we have the place to ourselves,” Ares squeezed her hand.
“Okay, it’s not your fault.”
But she needed to get out of here and didn’t know why she felt unsettled.
In a far corner of her mind, she could see this as amusing, Ares being cock-blocked by his brother after finally being on a date with her but right now, all she wanted was to get as far away from all of this…
the intensity, the gorgeous dungeon, in a gigantic but kind of cool house, the man that looked at her with heat and desire, the naked men and woman she’d known for years.
“Here, let me help you,” Ares held out her boot to her, as Josie balanced with one hand on the wall.
“I can do it myself.”
“Josie, sit down.” The way he growled out the words made her sit on the chair without protest.
“This wasn’t how I wanted the night to end, but I am not going to stop caring for you, because of my brother’s thoughtlessness.” Ares held her boot, and she slid her foot in, then he held out the other one and it made her feel cherished.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Ares held out his arm, and she grasped it with shaky fingers. She didn’t know what to think of everything that had happened, but she knew this evening had changed everything between them.