Unraveled (19 page)

Before she fully regained control of her brain cells, rivers of softness floated from
her collarbones to the skin between her hip bones. Another quick flick of his wrist
and the leather straps sharpened the impression of impatient fingers digging into
her flesh.

Earlier, in the stillness of the room, she had heard the sounds of their rapid breathing,
the clank of her chains, and the whisper of his footsteps. But now all Shiori heard
was the white noise in her brain as Knox overloaded her entire being with myriad sensations.

Again she jerked in the restraints when he pressed his skin to hers. The nipple clamps
dug into his chest and he spread his hands across her back, forcing their upper bodies
closer together.

His hard stomach muscles flexed against her belly when he nestled his cock against
her mound. “Tell me when you’ve had enough, Nushi.”

“Never,” she whispered. “I’ll never get enough of feeling your hands on me.”

Keeping her eyes closed, she blindly sought his mouth for a
kiss. A hot, openmouthed, frantic kiss that ramped up her desire. She shifted her
head, wanting a deeper kiss. A harder kiss.

Knox growled and ravaged her mouth with such hunger that if she could’ve rubbed her
legs together, she would’ve come.

This was what she wanted. This was what she’d been missing her entire adult life.
This unspoken connection with a man.

And without her having to direct him about what she wanted, Knox used his hands and
his mouth on the front side of her body. Lips and teeth and callused fingers mapping
every square inch of quivering flesh.

When she sensed he’d dropped to his knees, she fought the urge to look and see what
he planned to do to her next.

He swirled the flogger around her ankle and her knees buckled. But that didn’t deter
him. He just used his knowledge about one of the most sensitive spots on her body
to his advantage, and to hers.

She didn’t know how much more of this she could take.

Before she could ask him to release her restraints, Knox’s big hands clamped around
her hips. Then he settled his mouth on her pussy. No teasing licks. He just circled
his lips around her clit and sucked until she shattered.

Then he snapped open the cuffs on her ankles. His body brushed hers as he stood and
she moaned.

“It’s all right,” he murmured. He snaked an arm around her back, holding her close
as he undid the arm restraints. “I need to get you out of these before you bruise
this beautiful skin.” After he released her left arm, he pressed kisses around her
wrist. “I’m not overstepping my bounds, Mistress. It’s my responsibility to see to
your needs. You needed this.”

Shiori let him hold her up as he fiddled with the last cuff.

But before he did, he trailed his lips up the side of her neck. “You were right to
push me. I’ve never wanted to please anyone as much as I want to please you.”

Reaching up, she pressed her cool palm to the back of his neck. “You pleased me beyond
what I expected, Knox. Putting me in restraints was a great idea.”

She felt him smile against her throat.

Click
and then her arm was freed.

Knox didn’t move. He kept her upright until she found her balance.

When she slid her hand up his chest, she paused for a moment to feel his heartbeat.
Wildly erratic. Then she stepped back.

Knox’s face was flushed. His eyes were dark with lust. His cock poked out of the top
of his underwear. She sensed his impatience, so it meant the world to her that he
waited and gave her the lead.

Shiori took his hand and placed it over the nipple clamp on her right breast. “Remove
them. One at a time.”

He slipped his hand beneath the bottom curve of her breast and freed her nipple with
his other hand.

Sharp, stinging pain flooded her breast, and his hot mouth was right there, sucking
away the hurt until she sighed with relief. Then he switched sides, and while he tongued
her nipple and eased the sting, his thumb swept across her other nipple, keeping it
sensitive. When he pulled away, she noticed his smirk.

“I like how the clamps made your nipples such a rosy red.”

“Maybe I’ll use them on you sometime.” She snapped the waistband on his boxer briefs.
“Take these off and sit on the bench.”

No protest, but he did sweep everything off the bench and onto the floor.

She grabbed a condom from the bowl by the door and returned to the bench to hand it
to him. “Put this on and lie back.” As soon as he’d complied, she straddled him. “Hold
on to me or drop your hands to the floor. And you don’t come until I say.”

She loved that he picked the option where he touched her. Those big, skilled hands
settled on her hips like they belonged there.

“Lift your head and watch as I take you in.” Wrapping her
fingers around the base of his cock, she aimed the head at her opening. She lowered
onto him as slowly as her shaking legs allowed. “Feel how wet I am? You did that to
me.” One at a time she brought her legs onto the bench, squeezing his hips between
her knees. She pressed her palms on his pecs and leaned forward. “I want to kiss you.”
Her gaze fell to his mouth. “But I want to fuck you hard.”

He groaned a soft, “Yes.”

When she started to move on him, she expected he’d thrust his pelvis up. But he didn’t.
His hands tightened on her hips.

Since he’d tortured her—even at her own request—she opted to return the favor. His
ears were one of his hot spots, so she licked and sucked and breathed heavily into
both of them before she focused her attention on his neck. His skin tasted of musk
and salt.

She ran her tongue along his collarbones and tried to bury her face in his chest hair,
but the angle was wrong.

No matter how fast she bounced on him, he didn’t start pumping his hips. Yet she could
tell by the way his eyes were squeezed shut and his jaw clenched that it was taking
everything he had to hold back.

Slowing down gave him a breather and allowed her to grind the way she needed to. She
rocked against him, driving herself toward the edge, pushing harder when her midsection
tightened. Finding that sweet spot, she started to come for the third time. It wasn’t
as intense, but she loved having his cock filling her as her cunt muscles spasmed
around that hardness.

When Shiori blinked away the white fog and looked down, Knox said, “You’re so beautiful
and fierce when you come.”

She kissed his lips like she could suck the words into her soul. Before she released
that tempting mouth completely, she whispered, “Come whenever you’re ready.”

“Thank you, Mistress.”

They stared into each other’s eyes as she rode him. When he arched his neck and turned
his head away, she didn’t falter in her
rhythm. Their bodies were slick with sweat as they moved together, and Knox came with
a hoarse cry.

He looked pretty fierce himself.

Shiori stretched out on him completely, nestling her face into his neck and sighing
deeply.

His hands left her hips and trailed up and down her back, creating those delicious
goose bumps.

They remained like that until the sweat on their bodies started to cool after one
last kiss to his neck; then she rolled up and let him slip from her body. She stood
and gathered up her clothes.

For some reason Knox didn’t get up. He remained sprawled on the bench, staring at
the ceiling. He didn’t even acknowledge her when she picked up the toys he’d swept
to the floor.

Finally she said, “Knox? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just wrung out.”

But that wasn’t it. Something else was going on with him. “Are you sure?”

“Jesus, Shiori, let it go. I’m fine.”

Since they’d finished this scene or whatever it was, she ignored his use of her name.
But she knew if she stayed in here with him a moment longer, they’d end up in a fight.
So much for them continuing the fun and games for the rest of the weekend.

Every time it felt like she’d made progress with him, something had him pulling back.

Feigning confidence she didn’t feel, she swung the pillowcase over her shoulder. Without
looking back she said, “Clean up the room before you take off,” and walked out, leaving
him to his regret, because she suspected that was what he was feeling.

*   *   *

AFTER
leaving the club, Shiori went home.

She poured herself three fingers of scotch. Rather than sitting in the stark living
room with the incredible city view, she headed
straight to her bedroom. She stripped and flopped on the chaise lounge. The plush
sheepskin covering felt absolutely decadent on her bare skin. This was the only piece
of furniture she’d bought—the penthouse had come furnished—and she loved every freakin’
inch of it.

The smooth, smoky scotch did nothing to soothe her jangled nerves. She didn’t know
where to begin dissecting what had gone wrong tonight.

Maybe you don’t need to.

No. She had to figure out where she’d made her missteps with Knox—because it was obvious
she’d stumbled.

He’d submitted in every way she’d asked him to. Kneeling. Asking her permission. Waiting
for her signals. Last weekend when she’d taken two hours building his lust and his
stamina before she’d rewarded him with a hand job, after he’d come, he looked at her
like she was everything.

That’s what she needed from him. His understanding and acceptance that taking him
to his own blissful headspace was her joy, maybe even more so than his.

But he hadn’t allowed her to reach that part of him tonight. How could she convince
him to let go every time?

Maybe it wasn’t Knox’s issue but hers. She’d never had to break down a sub before.
So how did she go about breaking down Knox’s walls without breaking him?

Frustrated with her lack of insight, Shiori grabbed her phone and checked the time.
It was just before noon in Tokyo. She scrolled through her contacts and selected the
name.

The phone rang almost a dozen times before it was picked up. “This had better be an
emergency,” the gravelly voice warned.

“It is. I promise.”

“Shiori-san! Is that really you?”

She smiled. “Yes, Mistress Keiko, it’s really me.”

“While I am happy to hear from you, I would prefer a call later in the afternoon.”

“I’ll be sleeping by then.” Shiori sipped her scotch, savoring the delicious spread
of warmth down her throat. “I’ll get straight to the point so you can return to your
beauty sleep.”

“Ha.” Fabric rustled in the background. Mistress Keiko spoke to someone in a soft
and sweet tone. “Sorry for that. Now that I’m up, I’m sending Muja to make my tea.”

“Muja lasted more than a month? I’m surprised.”

“Muja is my only submissive these days,” she chided gently. “If you’d been here even
once in the last year, you’d know that.”

“It’s not like I’m avoiding you. I’m still in the United States.”

“Permanently?”

“No.” That sounded more definitive than she’d intended.

“So what can I help you with?”

That was all the prompting Shiori needed. The situation with Knox poured out of her.

Mistress Keiko remained quiet for quite a while after Shiori finished talking. Then
she sighed. “You know what I’m going to say.”

She braced herself.

“You need to cut him loose.”

Her stomach flipped. Her heart ached. An automatic denial sprang to her lips. “Give
me a really good reason why you think that’s my only option.”

“Because even if he truly accepts what he is, you can’t keep him without harming him.”

“So I should set him free before he withers and dies in my captivity?”

“Your
temporary
captivity,” she corrected. “Proceed with caution, Shiori-san. From what you’ve told
me, I suspect he’ll be submissive to only one woman—the first woman who breaks down
his walls. Say that woman is you. You’re there now, but you don’t intend to stay.
What happens to him then?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do,” she said sharply. “Be honest with me, but most of all, be honest with
yourself.”

“I leave him here with an awareness of what he is and no Mistress to guide him or
give him what he needs,” she recited with a bitter edge.

“Exactly. So you put the crack in his walls. Let some other Mistress knock them down
the rest of the way and put him back together as she sees fit.”

A spike of jealousy caused her to snap. “So I just say, ‘Thank you for giving me your
trust, but I’m done playing with you now’ and walk away?”

“Yes. Do it as soon as possible before you lose any more control of the situation.”
Mistress Keiko sighed. “Your job as a Dominant is to set the parameters to suit yourself,
not to suit your submissive.”

Bullshit. Maybe at first she believed in Keiko’s philosophy; be a rigid Mistress,
act all-powerful and all-knowing at all times. But now Shiori realized she didn’t
have to follow anyone’s rules but her own. “Thanks for the reminder, Mistress.”

“You’re just saying that to placate me,” Keiko complained. “You are stubborn and you
will do whatever you want regardless of the advice I pass on.”

Shiori laughed. “True.”

“Then why did you call me?”

“You’re my mentor, and I wanted to make sure I was on the right path.”

“I
was
your mentor, and you’ve gone off the path completely. But I can’t fault you for that.”
She paused. “Trust your instincts and he will too. Good luck.” She hung up.

A sense of melancholy washed over her. Then her thoughts rolled back to her conversation
with Merrick and how he viewed her. After Mistress Keiko had cut her loose, as Mistress
B she’d found freedom and confidence in herself, even if she did nothing more than
strut around proclaiming her status as a Domme.

That jarred her.

Had she only been playing a part and that’s why she’d always heeded her mentor’s advice
and rules?

No. She was a Domme. She hadn’t needed her own rules because she’d never ventured
outside the club scene—which had its own rules. Now she had the submissive she’d been
searching for. From the very start Knox had given her everything of himself, everything
she’d asked for.