Bound to be Tested: Emergence, Book 3 (19 page)

She didn’t doubt for a moment Jude had made himself an expert before strapping her to this table. In fact, her ears burned for a moment, picturing him doing this to another woman. Had he been with others while he’d been away from her? She hadn’t thought much about that before.

Jude circled her nipple with one finger and then grabbed the tender bud to pinch it harder than he had earlier. When he released it, he let the next stream of wax land on the tip. Lori screamed, not in pain, but because she almost came at the contact.

She panted and gritted her teeth. She’d never last a minute under this erotic torture.

“You okay, baby?” he asked.

She opened her stiff mouth. “Yes, Sir. But I’m going to come, Sir.”

He chuckled deep and low. “Already? You’re more sensitive to this than I expected. I’m just getting started, baby.”

She wasn’t amused.

She assumed he’d treat her other nipple to the same experience as the first, but instead he removed his hands from her skin.

“Just feel. You have permission to come. In fact, get it out of the way. You’re going to be here a while, and everyone would love to see you fall apart so they can move on with their evening.”

Lori cringed. Jude knew just what to say to keep her guessing.
Right. I have an audience. He’s going to make me come for them, more than once
.

Wax landed on her belly again and dripped down her side. In quick succession a stream hit her thigh, her navel, and then her other nipple.

“Be right back. I’m going to grab another strap.”

Lori stiffened. He was going to restrain her more.

Something landed on her waist between her belly button and her hips. Jude cinched it tight. Two seconds later a hot drip landed on her hip and ran toward her pussy. She bit back a moan.

The other hip was treated the same. The wax cooled as it ran down her skin, but the effects of each new placement were maddening. Heighted by the blindfold.

When a splash landed above her clit and raced in a trail around the exposed nub to stream around her pussy, she moaned.

He hadn’t been kidding. So erotic.

The hot wax hit her nipple again and then the other, immediately followed by a drop on her pussy that ran between her lower lips.

The next drip ran across her clit, and Lori screamed as her orgasm took over almost without warning. Her sex pulsed, the only thing touching her skin being the drying wax. The stiffening substance was more erotic than any direct skin-to-skin contact would have been.

“That’s it, baby. Let it go.” He stroked her inner thigh with one hand, coaxing the orgasm to its fullest.

When she began to breathe again, Jude resumed his decorating. Every drip brought her slowly back to fully aroused. She concentrated on each hot line running across her breasts and pussy. Her belly and thighs were treated in between with no rhyme or reason to the madness. There was no pattern she could follow. No way to know where she might feel the next heat.

Her skin would be pink, but she wasn’t injured. She felt each sharp bite that just as quickly eased into a dull ache. The pleasure/pain was hotter than ever.

“Your tits are so fucking gorgeous like this, baby.” More wax landed on first one and then the other. She knew by the lessening of the burn that they were almost covered now. Wax landed on wax to create a new sensation.

The same thing happened to her stomach and then lower. She gripped her pussy as he worked the hot wax around every crevice. And then nothing. Silence, except for the murmured voices around her.

A clicking noise made her flinch. Another. And then another.
He’s taking pictures
…

She swallowed.
He’s taking pictures and I have yet to see what he’s done
. Her breathing increased and she had to remind herself the photos weren’t nudes. After all, she was more “clothed” now than when they’d started.

“I’m going to take the blindfold off now, baby.” He lifted the dark material and she blinked into the dim light. He lifted her head so she could easily see.

“Wow.” The word popped out of her mouth unbidden. She was a rainbow of colors, like a giant mold had been poured over her made from every crayon in the box. It was breathtaking.

“What do you think?”

“I love it.” She smiled.

Jude set her head back down. He trailed his fingertips over the wax. She couldn’t feel him as sharply as she would bare, but the effect was impressive. As though her body craved more of his touch and wouldn’t be denied. And then he peeled the wax away from her upper chest and slowly removed the entire art form from her skin in one piece.

As her nipples were exposed, she moaned. The cool air made them pebble into their previous state.

He moved lower, peeling away from her belly and then her pussy. So much had accumulated between her thighs, she thought she might come again from the removal alone. Heightened awareness of her clit and then her sex made her squirm to no avail.

She let her head roll back and forth to give her something else to concentrate on. She saw several small pots lined along the side table, a row of little potpourri dishes, each with a different color wax dripping down the sides.

The wax disappeared from her body, but before she could relax, Jude pressed a finger into her pussy. “Again,” he commanded.

That was all it took. Lori came, gripping his finger and holding it tight, wishing she never had to let him go.

Carlton stood very still, rooted to his spot as he stared at Margaret. She leaned against the wall outside the room Jude had arranged for his scene. She bit her lip as she watched his performance.

She should be hurt, confused, angry even. He couldn’t blame her. Instead she had a forlorn look on her face. She cared enough for Lori to know she had to let her former Domme go it alone. Her strength was amazing. Jude was Lori’s master, body and soul. Margaret had no place in that equation. It was no one’s fault. And the woman clearly knew that.

She would step back and let Lori live her new life. Her renewed life. Lori might have switched, but she was no permanent Domme. She was a submissive through and through. Even Carlton could have told Margaret that. Instead he’d stayed out of Margaret’s business, and Lori’s, letting their relationship play itself through for over a year. He’d begun to assume his assessment of Lori had been wrong. Maybe the woman could switch from submissive to Domme. And that didn’t even touch the ideas he had about Margaret.

Margaret watched both parties with equal admiration. He saw the way her gaze shifted from Lori to Jude, sizing them both up as her shoulders drooped. She was jealous. Not angry. She wanted what they had.

She leaned hard against the wall, glancing down at herself and smoothing her hands down her torso. She wore a bustier and tight leather skirt. Red.

Finally Carlton couldn’t resist approaching. “You okay, Maggie?”

She turned and lifted her gaze toward him, not surprised by his appearance. She smiled. After all, she shouldn’t be surprised. He was the man who kept a diligent eye on each member of the club and their states of mind. “I’m fine.” She wiped her watery eyes with the back of her hand.

He narrowed his gaze. “You look like you lost your best friend.”

“I did, didn’t I?” She tipped her head higher to see his face.

He lifted one side of his mouth. “I suppose so. What are you going to do?”

“Our lease has another month on it. I moved back into the apartment when Lori left. I’ll find someplace smaller I can afford soon.”

Carlton nodded. “Let me know if you need anything,” he hedged. He wanted to say more, but nothing that came to mind was appropriate. Instead he tucked a long lock of her hair behind her ear and walked away.

Chapter Eighteen

Jude couldn’t keep the smile from his face. Normally he tried to remain stoic at the club. He was a Dom after all. Control was his middle name. But not tonight. Tonight he was chest-pumping proud of himself. And even more proud of Lori.

As he wrapped her in a blanket and held her tight against his chest, he kissed the top of her head. Spectators had dispersed when the scene ended and Jude was glad to have Lori more or less to himself. He lifted her from the table and carried her away from the scene.

He moved to a seating area and took a spot on a dark leather couch. A shiver wracked his body. God, Lori deserved more. Far more than Jude could give her after tonight.

Minutes passed. Jude stroked Lori’s back, her hair, her ass under the blanket. When her breathing returned to normal and she squirmed in his arms, he knew she’d come down from the subspace he’d taken her to.

“You okay, baby?” He tipped her head back with a finger under her chin.

She nodded and smiled. “Where did you learn to do that?”

He shrugged. “Lots of research and then the advice of a few Doms here. I needed to be sure I wouldn’t burn you. It’s not too hard. There is a temperature setting on the little pots.”

“Mmm.” She snuggled back into him.

Jude clasped Lori’s hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed every finger, memorizing each knuckle. His chest hurt. How was she going to survive this? He’d waltzed into town and taken away her support system. Now he was going to dump her in the dirt and walk away again.

Thank God he’d managed to bring Jason over to his camp, so to speak. Without that man’s support, he’d be a disaster right now.

Everything that had happened in the last few weeks was his doing. He’d made choices that affected several peoples’ lives and would forever alter their realities. He found it hard to dredge up a giant pile of guilt. He wasn’t sure he would do anything differently if given the time to start the last month fresh.

He’d had the most glorious moments with Lori. Hopefully the memories would last a lifetime for her, and she could find the strength not to let Jude’s absence tarnish her life.

Still, the pain he felt in his chest was real and powerful. He loved this woman so much it hurt. The thought of abandoning her once again with no explanation made him want to scream in frustration.

Except he’d already gotten that out of his system with the paperweight through the drywall in Jason’s office.

“Let’s go home,” Lori whispered as she set her palm on his bare chest. “I’m exhausted.”

Jude nodded. He stood, pulling her to his side and heading toward the dressing rooms so they could put their street clothes on.

When he emerged from the men’s side, he found Lori already waiting for him. She stood next to the front desk, Carlton frowning at her side, as was his customary facial expression. The man busied himself, not looking at Jude.

They’d been close years ago, but Jude had ruined that. It didn’t appear reparable.

Things with Jason were only marginally better, but at least the man seemed to understand and was on the same page now, or at least reading the same book.

Carlton seemed far less willing to let bygones be bygones.

Jude held Lori to his side while they waited for the car. When the valet arrived, Jude tipped the younger man and helped Lori into the passenger seat.

She was quiet, pensive.

Jude gave her that, letting silence reign during the drive home. The scene had been intense. She would need to regroup.

When they were back home, he set his keys and the contents of his pockets on the front table and turned her to face him. Without a word, he leaned in and kissed her, gently at first, and then more passionately when she grabbed his biceps and demanded it.

Without breaking contact with her lips, he bent his knees and picked her up to carry her down the hall to the bedroom.

Still nibbling at her mouth, he set her on her feet and reached behind her to lower the zipper of her black dress. She wore nothing underneath, thanks to his destructive behavior at the club. It was easy to slide the thin dress off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor, leaving her naked.

She shivered.

He leaned back, finally breaking contact with her lips to tug his shirt over his head. “You cold, baby?”

She shook her head.

Jude flicked on the low light next to the bed and then removed his clothes hastily, dropping everything on the floor with her dress and then taking her shoulders and backing her up until her legs hit the bed.

She climbed on top and he followed. Unlike any other sexual encounter they’d had as a couple, he wanted normal tonight. A deep desire to be with her in the traditional sense. Love her. Ensure that she felt that love even if he didn’t say the words. He feared he’d be too choked up for sentimental.

Her eyes were wide as she met his gaze. He lowered her onto her back and leaned on his side against her, nestling his knee between her legs. He stared down at her perfect body and traced a path over her skin with one finger, barely making contact.

He smiled when goose bumps rose in his path. Her skin was pink from the hot wax, some spots with slightly raised lines that would fade tomorrow or the next day.

He almost felt sad to know his marks would disappear. Would his mark on her life fade also?

Jude caressed her body slowly until she squirmed and a tiny sound escaped her lips. “Jude…please,” she murmured. She reached for him with the arm not trapped between their bodies, but he shifted his position, took her wrist and lifted the arm above her head to trap it there in his grip with his bottom hand.

He resumed his perusal, touching her everywhere. Memorizing her body, every nuance, each place where she flinched or squirmed. Some spots were almost ticklish, and he reveled in her responses. When he tapped her nipples, they jumped to attention and she arched into him.

He moved on, stroking under each breast until it swelled with need. Lower still he caressed her thighs. She spread wider of her own accord, and he desperately needed to see her, taste her, breathe in her essence. He released her hand and moved between her legs, opening them farther to his view. “Put your other hand above your head, baby. Keep them there.”

He was going to love her all night long, but he was still in charge.

Jude pulled her folds apart and inhaled her scent, a moan escaping his mouth as she shivered beneath his touch.

“Jude…”

He leaned in closer and licked a path through her pussy and across her clit.

Lori bucked her hips.

Jude wrapped his arms under her knees, pulled them wider, and set his palms on her hips to steady her. He flicked his tongue over her clit repeatedly until she writhed and her breathing came heavier. He didn’t want her to come yet. But he wanted her hot.

He pressed his tongue into her pussy and stroked inside her for a moment, not long enough for her to get too close to the edge. He licked her folds, sucking her everywhere he could reach until he was sure she couldn’t take more.

“So smooth.” He rubbed his cheek against her pussy.

Finally he crawled up her body and reached for a condom on the bedside table. He lifted off her only far enough to don the latex and then lowered himself between her legs again.

Jude stroked his palms up her arms from her armpits to her hands, where he entwined their fingers and held her tight. He didn’t have to tell her to look at him. Her eyes were saucers meeting his gaze as he slid into her heat. Her mouth fell open on a sigh and then a moan as he reached the deepest point.

Jude made love to her. Slow. Easy. Perfect. He didn’t rush, though he knew she was doing everything she could to keep from coming too soon. When he finally stiffened inside her and held himself as deep as possible, he said the word: “Come.”

Lori obeyed, shattering around him as he filled her. He would never forget this tender moment, etched as it would be in his mind forever.

Lori smiled into the pillow as she felt Jude’s finger trailing up her spine. They’d made love late into the night and then fallen asleep. Apparently he was ready to go again and she wasn’t about to argue. His desperation fueled her own. They’d spoken little. Words weren’t necessary. What mattered were the memories they created.

One finger became two and then four as Jude stroked her back, easing lower with each pass. He brushed the sheet aside, exposing her ass, and swirled his fingers around both cheeks until she thought she’d have to beg him to reach lower. She drew her knees up slightly, giving him space to reach her pussy.

He didn’t take the hint, or if he did, he ignored it. Finally, one finger landed in her crack and trailed between her cheeks. He circled her tight hole and then moved lower, reaching under to tease her pussy.

Her skin was sensitive from the wax and the number of times he’d made love to her, but she still craved his touch.

Jude kissed a line down her back and across her ass. “Don’t move.” He reached away from her for the bedside table and returned.

A small pop made her flinch. Lube. She knew that sound. A moment later her suspicions were confirmed when the cool substance landed between her cheeks.

Jude toyed with the outer rim of her hole, rimming it and spreading the lube. When he finally pushed a finger inside her, she was more than ready. She actually craved the contact.

He twisted and turned, adding a second finger to follow the first. When she lifted her ass, he set his free hand on her lower back and held her down.

For long minutes, he scissored his fingers inside her until she writhed. She squeezed the pillow with both fists, wishing he would touch her pussy. Anything to alleviate the need she had.

Instead, his fingers disappeared. She heard the tear of the condom wrapper.

Jude nudged her legs apart and lifted her onto her knees, her face still resting on the pillow. “I’m going to take your ass now, okay?”

“Yes.” She sounded eager even to her own ears. Anything. She’d do anything to make this last.

His cock hit her hole, and he swirled the lube at the entrance before he pressed slowly into her tight passage. “Relax for me, Lori. Don’t resist. I’m going to make it good for you, baby.”

She eased her grip on his cock and took a deep breath. “Do it.”

Jude slid the rest of the way home until his torso met her butt. He held still. She didn’t think he was breathing. Finally a long exhale. “So fucking tight.” He pulled most of the way out and pressed back in on a moan. “Jesus, Lori. I…”

Again. This time he reached under her with one hand and stroked her clit. She almost collapsed. If he hadn’t supported her body with his hand, she would have.

She was at the edge of sanity in seconds, the strange new pressure inside her ass combined with the maddening strokes of his fingers, making her need increase.

She pressed back into him, engaging in the thrusting and helping set the pace. He met her speed and his fingers moved faster at the same time. When he pinched her clit, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She came hard and fast. Too many orgasms in less than twelve hours changed their quality. They were shorter and more forceful.

Jude followed her, his cock pulsing inside her ass. When he finally pulled out, she collapsed onto her stomach, breathing heavily.

He brushed her hair from her face and kissed her temple before settling against her side. “So beautiful, baby.” His fingers danced down her spine just as they had when he woke her up. “I love you.”

She turned her head to face him. He set a finger on her lips.

“Shhh.” He wouldn’t let her respond. She would have cried if she’d had the energy. Instead she gazed at him, memorizing his face. She’d told him already. He knew how she felt.

Doom filled the room. It was strange because it was absurd, but somehow she knew. Like a psychic skill or something. She could tell by his expression, the way he touched her, the look in his eyes. Hell, even the air was thick.

The clock ticked and they stared at each other as the sun rose higher and filled the room with a ray of light. They hardly blinked.

Jude stroked her face, her cheeks, her lips. He kissed her temple and nibbled a path to her mouth before setting a chaste kiss on her lips.

She remained unmoving, watching him. Soaking in his warmth, his obvious love.

Suddenly a phone rang. She should have flinched. She should have jumped and grabbed his cell from the bedside table and flung it across the room to make it shatter into pieces. She should have screamed. Fought.

She did none of those things. As though on cue, the ringing occurred to break into her picture-perfect moment and destroy it and her life.

Jude reached for the damn device, not breaking eye contact until the last second when he flung himself onto his back and opened the call. “Cavanaugh here.”

She couldn’t hear the person on the other end, and Jude lay still for long breaths, listening. It was so quiet she could almost believe it hadn’t happened. Or maybe the caller wasn’t really on the line. Maybe it had been a wrong number or a hang up.

“Okay.” When he finally spoke that word, she did flinch. It was so final. The only thing he said and then he hung up.

He turned his head to face her, stared for a second and then eased back into her side. Maybe it wasn’t what she thought. Maybe everything was going to be okay. He kissed her reverently on the lips and held her head to gaze into her eyes. “We have to go,” he whispered.

She nodded. There was only that for a response.

In the silence of the early morning, they rose, showered together quickly and dressed in street clothes.

She wasn’t his submissive now. She was his lover. She wouldn’t fight him on this. It was no use. Whatever issues Jude had, she couldn’t alter them. He would leave anyway and she wouldn’t see him again. To argue would only taint their last minutes together.

She gathered her purse and slipped on her shoes. She followed him to his car, leaving hers in the driveway. She knew where they were going just as well as she’d known about this doom.

When they pulled up to Jason’s house, Jude exited the car and circled to help her out. He held her hand as he walked her to the door.