He sighed. “You’re right. That was my fault.”
Kellen lifted a hand and cupped her jaw in one hand. He traced her lips with his thumb. She could smell her sex on him. Dear lord.
“I’ll make you come harder next time,” he said. “You weren’t quite finished when I pulled away.”
She hadn’t been? News to her. She was just relieved that he seemed to want to continue. Because she definitely wanted to continue, even if he wasn’t willing to give her the deep penetration she craved. Maybe with time and patience he’d be able to make love to her. She was sure he’d be worth the wait.
She turned her face to inhale their commingled scents. “When do you get to finish?”
“I’ll finish myself when I need to.”
She imagined him touching himself, wishing he’d allow her to touch him there.
“Can I watch at least?”
“In the dark?”
“You could light the candles again,” she said.
“I’ll light them after I finish tying you,” he said. “I’m going to want to see how beautiful you look.” His fingertips slid lightly from her jaw, down her throat, stopping just shy of her breast. “And when I come on your skin, I’ll want to see that too.”
And she definitely wanted to see that. The sooner the better.
She hopped up on the closed lid of the piano and planted her feet on the keyboard to give herself a boost backward. Even though she should have been expecting the discordant sound, she jumped at the loud pang of the keys.
She heard the rope scrape across the floor as he bent to retrieve it. The storm had finally abated, and the silence in the house was unsettling. Or maybe she was just more sensitive to sound than usual.
“I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” he said.
“You didn’t.”
“I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to step back instead of pulling your panties aside and burying myself deep inside you.”
She crossed her legs and wriggled her hips uncomfortably. What would he feel like inside her? Did he make love to a woman gently or f**k her unconscious? Sad that she might never find out. “Kellen, don’t say things like that unless you mean to back them up with action. You aren’t the only one fighting for control here.”
His hands slid up the outside of her thighs. “Open your legs.”
Her legs uncrossed and popped open as if they had minds of their own. He stepped forward to stand between her thighs. She knew he was close, though the only part of him touching her was his hands. He caressed her hips and then her back. When his chest brushed the hardened points of her ni**les, she gasped.
He immediately retreated slightly, and she forced herself not to crush her br**sts into his chest. His terms. This had to be on his terms. He’d better make it worth her while.
“Lie back,” he whispered close to her ear. “I want to get to know your body.”
She obeyed. The cool piano lid was hard against her back and bu**ocks, but that mild discomfort was soon forgotten.
Dawn sighed as his hands slid slowly over her skin, bumping over curves, valleys, crests and depressions. No one had ever paid so much attention to her form. She thought it might make her feel self-conscious to be so thoroughly inspected from head to toe, but his attention made her feel beautiful. Appreciated. Cherished.
"I thought I'd have to remind you to relax," Kellen said, his deep voice drawing a shudder of delight from her.
"Did you assume that I was always uptight?" she teased.
His hands slid up her calves and gently kneaded her muscles until they were like warm butter. Her thighs fell open in complete surrender. The only part of her that felt any tension was the emptiness between her thighs. Her pu**y clenched against the building ache and even though he'd already warned her that this wouldn't proceed to him making love to her, she wanted it to.
Kellen massaged her ankles and the insteps of both feet. "You're not always uptight?"
"Most of the time, I am," she admitted, "but something about you allows me to let go of my inhibitions."
“That’s exactly what you need to do to fully enjoy this. Let go.”
Letting go was surprisingly easy to do with Kellen in control.
“I’ll try,” she said.
"This will be a bit different for me, doing this all by feel," he said. "I'll be careful, but if anything is rubbing your skin raw or pinching you, you have to promise to tell me where. Usually, I can see any hang-ups in my design, but I'm going in blind here."
Her heart thudded faster as she strained to hear the sounds of the rope running through his hands. When the first loop wrapped around her ankle, she tensed. He tightened it so that she could feel the soft cotton against her skin, but it didn't cut into her flesh.
"Dawn?" he said. "Are you sure you don't want to be naked? Once I get started there will be no way to remove your bra and panties."
But her panties were the only thing keeping her fluids from dripping onto the lid of the piano beneath her.
"Is it better with them off?"
"Do you want release or just pleasure?"
Yes! "Can I have both?"
"I'd like to involve every inch of your body in this." His hand slid up the inside of her thigh, and she nearly shot up off the piano. "I think you'd appreciate a series of knots between your thighs, rubbing against your bare clit, your opening, and your back entrance."
She tried to imagine how she could appreciate knots between her thighs, but came up blank. It sounded downright uncomfortable. "What do you mean, Kellen?"
"I'd rather show you," he said, "but they'll be placed in such a way that minimal squirming should allow you to get off."
It could? What a completely sheltered life she'd been leading.
“If I say yes, will you remove my panties for me?”
He didn’t wait for her to say yes. His fingers slid beneath the elastic at her hips and tugged. He paused so she could lift her bottom and he could pull her panties down over her butt. The piano clanged a protest as her feet pressed into the keys, and he slipped her panties slowly downward. His breath warmed her mound as he breathed deeply.
“You smell amazing,” he whispered, the little gusts of air from his words dancing over her highly sensitized skin.
Her eyes flipped open in surprise when the soft, wet tip of his tongue slipped down between her lips to flick over her clit.
“Mmm,” he murmured.
His tongue traced her inner folds and swirled around her aching opening. Dawn’s back arched off the piano and her hand dove into his hair—so long and silky and still damp from the rain. God yes, kiss me there. She forced his face closer, her legs wrapping around his back to urge him closer still.