Chapter 47
Emmy
Priya gives birth to my beautiful niece, Ellora, two hours later.
Luke and I stay in the cafeteria, talking the whole time.
By the time we are summoned back to the maternity ward, we’re holding hands and leaning into each other like lovesick teenagers.
It’s totally over the top and I love every second of it.
I knock on the door and we grip each other’s hands tightly. This is the first test of this fledging thing between us.
Nick pulls the door open, eyes full of happy tears. He pulls us both into a bone crushing hug. It lasts way longer than usual.
“Congratulations, mate.” Luke claps him on the back and gives him a squeeze.
“Congratulations, Dad.” I grin, leaning up to kiss Nick on the cheek.
“She’s perfect, guys. She’s so perfect.” Nick releases us and steps aside so we can see Priya sitting up in bed, hair messy but face glowing, a tiny bundle cradled against her chest.
I cross the room in seconds and peer down at the tiny baby before me. My niece.
“Oh, Pri,” I say, my eyes filling instantly with tears. “Look at what you made!”
Priya grins and holds her out to me. “Want a cuddle?”
I squeal and hold out my arms as Priya gently transfers her over.
She’s impossibly small in my arms, her warmth sinking into my skin, the faintest flutter of breath on my collarbone. She gives a tiny stretch, her mouth opening in a silent yawn, and I swear my heart just splits open.
“Hello, beautiful girl,” I whisper.
Something so tiny and perfect, brand new in the world. Luke and I, we’re something new too. Fragile. Precious. Worth protecting. I snuggle Ellora close and breathe in her delicious new baby smell. Nick’s right: she’s perfect.
I glance over to Luke and Nick standing together. Luke says something I can’t hear, and Nick chuckles, shaking his head.
“If she’s got your personality, you’re in trouble,” Luke teases.
Nick laughs. “Honestly I’d be happy if she got Priya’s everything.”
It’s nothing dramatic, no grand gesture, but the cracks are all healed. All the jagged edges between them seem… smoothed over. Relief blooms so deeply in my chest I have to look away before I start crying all over the baby.
“You two finally got your act together then,” Priya says, looking between Luke and me.
“We did,” I say with a smile.
“Good,” she says, beaming at me. “Because I like seeing you two together. You’re a good match.”
Nick doesn’t say anything but he gives me a warm smile and I know that means he’s working on it. I’m sure the mental image of me naked in full Shibari ropes will take a little while to fade.
After Luke has a cuddle with Ellora, the midwives bustle back in for more newborn checks and we’re ushered out.
We leave Nick and Priya behind in their cocoon of new parenthood, stepping out into the night like it’s our own fresh beginning. The air is sharp with promise. By the time we reach Luke’s, I know exactly what I want to do.
“I think tonight calls for something celebratory,” Luke says, as he unlocks the front door.
I glance up at him, my lips curling. “Good. I’ve been thinking about something I want to try with you.”
“From your list or mine?”
“Oh mine. Definitely mine.”
His eyes darken, his smile dangerous.
“Now you’ve got my full attention, Ms Warner.”
“Just tell me if it’s too much, ok?” I whisper.
We’re back at Luke’s place and I’ve just produced a set of silky ropes from the stash in the bedroom.
Luke’s mouth curves, that slow, dangerous smirk I used to see when he was the one issuing the orders.
“Sweetheart,” he says, voice low. “You couldn’t scare me if you tried.”
I arch an eyebrow, stepping closer until we’re breathing the same air.
“Oh, I’m not trying to scare you,” I murmur, my fingers drifting down the open front of his shirt, brushing the warm skin beneath. “I’m trying to make you behave. You say stop and I’ll stop.”
I wink and he gives me an obedient nod. A flicker in his eyes says he’s remembering the first night he tied me up, the way I’d trembled under his hands, the trust it took. He relaxes slightly and I can see him fight the urge to cup my jaw and take control.
“Sit,” I say, pointing to the desk chair. We’re in his home office, where a series of designs and drawings of Salt adorn the walls. “Hands behind your back.”
There’s a pause, three deliberate seconds where his eyes lock on mine, testing me. Then, like he’s granting me the world’s most delicious favour, he lowers himself into the chair, knees spread, gaze steady and unblinking.
I loop the first length of rope around his wrists. “I might have watched a few YouTube videos,” I confess, twisting and knotting the rope. “They're not Shibari but they should be strong enough.”
He leans back, mouth twitching. “Think you can keep me here?”
“I know I can.”
I finally finish and he sits before me. Open.
Exposed. Mine. I trace my fingertips down his pecs and he shivers, goosebumps following in their wake.
His breathing shifts; it’s deeper now, more deliberate.
And I can feel the way he’s holding himself back from taking control, the way his muscles are coiled under my hands.
“Comfortable?” I ask sweetly.
“Not even a little.” That delicious smirk again.
I lean in close, my lips brushing his ear. “Good. Because you’re not going anywhere until I’m done with you.”
I spend long minutes teasing him, dragging my nails over his chest, lips grazing his jaw, hovering just above him without giving him what he wants. Every time he strains against the rope, I murmur, “Uh-uh. Behave.”
“You’re enjoying this way too much. Who knew you had an inner sadist? I like her.”
I then begin a slow strip tease, removing one item at a time and dropping them to the floor. He watches me like a predator. Like he could step right out of his bonds and devour me if he chose to.
I preen under the ferocity of his hungry gaze. Finally, I am fully naked and he groans as I dip two fingers into my core and lift them to his mouth. He sucks obediently and I feel a heady rush of power. I guess I’m a switch after all.
“Good boy,” I whisper, and his eyes flash. His muscles bunch as if he’s about to break free. For a second, I think he might. But then he exhales hard, eyes locking on mine. He stays. He obeys. And fuck, the power of that undoes me.
“Emmy…” His voice is hoarse.
I lower to my knees and look up at him through my eyelashes before licking the head of his cock with a decadent swirl of my tongue.
His body jerks at the contact and he groans as I tongue the slit at the top before taking him fully in my mouth.
He’s practically panting by the time I finish working him, and when I finally climb onto his lap, the sharp inhale he makes is almost a growl.
I cup his jaw, forcing him to look at me. “You’ve been so good for me tonight.”
The sound he makes in response – low, guttural, utterly undone – goes straight to my clit.
I tear open a condom and roll it down his shaft, giving him a squeeze that makes him groan.
Then I sink down onto him slowly, deliciously, until I’m stretched and full of him, and his head tips back, eyes closed.
“Eyes on me,” I order, and when they open again, the heat in them is almost enough to break me.
I ride him slowly, then faster, feeling every tremor in his thighs, every flex of his arms as he tests the rope. His muscles strain, his breath comes faster, but he doesn’t break the rules.
When I feel him getting close, I lean forward, pressing my lips to his ear. “Come for me, Luke. Now.”
And he does, with a sound that’s half-growl, half-moan, his body arching into mine as I follow right after, grinding my clit against his pubic bone and riding it out until I’m trembling.
By the time I untie him, his skin bears my rope marks, and his hands go straight to my face, holding me there like I’m the only thing in the world.
“You’re dangerous,” he murmurs, smiling in that way that still steals my breath.
“Oh, you have no idea,” I say, kissing him slowly, luxuriously.
I run the bath for us both and we sink into the heat together. I wash his hair and he relaxes in my hands like putty. I can really see the appeal of performing aftercare. A scene like that takes a lot of trust and I know that he was out of his comfort zone.
It wasn’t a test but I knew that giving up control would be a really great sign that he’s doing the work in therapy.
My heart feels fit to burst.
“Hey, we ticked something off my list too,” he says, twisting to look at me. “Enjoy a romantic bath together.”
He gives me a shit-eating grin.