She nearly rolled her eyes, but then caught sight of the crop in his hand and decided to play along. “Yes, Henry.”
“Excellent. Good girls get treats.” He pulled out a small egg-shaped device and twisted it so it started vibrating. “I’m not strapping it on, so you’ll have to be very still if you want to keep it. Be good, baby.”
He placed the vibe right on the mound of her pussy, just touching her clit. Nell stopped breathing because it felt so, so good, but Henry was right. That playful vibrator was precariously perched. Any movement and it would roll off and she would be in trouble.
It shifted slightly, touching the top of her clit. The purr of the vibrator hit her already-stimulated clitoris, and she couldn’t help but moan. So close. Little spasms of heat electrified her skin, and the spark threatened to become a fire. Just a bit more. She could move it just a tiny bit closer. If she could wiggle just a fraction of an inch, she would have it.
And then it was gone, the egg rolling away. Damn it. Now she was cursing. She never cursed. Well, almost never.
“Oh, what a bad girl. She lost her egg.” Henry stalked back into the room. He’d lost the sweatpants and his glasses. He loomed over her, all predatory alpha male, every inch of his body corded with lean muscle. His cock thrust up from a nest of neatly trimmed dark hair. He held the crop in his hand, tapping his palm with it as he looked her over. “I believe I wanted that egg to be where I left it, Nell. You disobeyed.”
Oh, what was he going to do with that crop? He couldn’t smack her backside. “How about we negotiate? I’ll take half the blame and the egg can take the other half. I think it might be a faulty egg, Henry. Seriously, I’m planning a protest.”
A brilliant smile crossed his face. “I love to play with you. Well, my sweet sub, the egg has already had its punishment.” He drew the crop down her body, letting the leather tip caress her skin. He pulled it down until it sat just on the top of her clitoris. “That egg was so happy right here. It had finally found a nice spot to call home. So we’ll just move on to your punishment, Nell.”
Before she could protest that seemingly unfair circumstance, he tapped her clit with the crop. A quick slapping motion that made her scream. She could feel the plug in her ass as she clamped down. There was no real pain, just a jagged sensation that made her so deeply aware of parts of her body she’d never paid much attention to before. She was always so lost in thought that there was a beauty to the simplicity of being deeply aware of her own body.
He tapped her clit again, another jangly rush heating her skin.
“How wet are you, baby? Is this pussy getting soaked and ready for a cock? Or a tongue?” He slapped at her again, the sound worse than the sensation.
“I’m so wet, Henry.” She struggled with the bonds. She wanted to touch herself, to relieve the horrible ache that was building. The oil he’d rubbed into her clit had her throbbing and ready to beg for release, but he just kept up the slow torture.
“How about your nipples? Are they aching yet?” He flicked the crop across her breasts lightly.
“Oh, oh.” The words came out on a puff of breath. Her nipples were tight, so tight. The jewels vibrated as he touched them with the crop.
“I could leave you like this. I could sit down and get some work done safe and secure in the knowledge that you’re exactly where you should be.” He frowned. “Not off somewhere nearly being killed.”
She sniffled, tears forming because they were finally at the heart of the matter. She’d danced around the subject for days. She’d known Henry for a brief time, but she’d already learned that he didn’t talk about things until he was ready to. She’d had to be patient, to get him to a place where he felt safe enough to open up. He felt in control now. “I’m sorry, Henry.”
His jaw tightened, and he brought the crop across the fleshy part of her breasts. “I saw the tapes, Nell. The security camera watches the front gate. I watched that tape over and over again. You could have gotten away.”
She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t.”
“Yes, you could have, Nell.” He struck her thighs, the sound slapping, but the crop had a lot of play in it. Had it been a sturdier crop, Nell might have been screaming, but Henry seemed to know what he was doing. There was a sting and then a pleasant heat crept across her legs. “You could have run behind the security shed and called someone.”
She could have, but there was a problem with that scenario. “I would have left Kelly alone. I couldn’t do that, Henry.”
He slapped at her other thigh. “Yes, you could. You’re my sub. You do what I say and I say you save yourself.”
She wanted to hold him, but he likely wouldn’t allow it at this point. “Henry, I can be your sub here, but I always have to be me. I love you. I can’t tell you how much I love you, but you have to take me as I am, and I will always try to help. I could never walk away.”
“You were ready to give yourself up. After I had already fucking saved you.”
She still got cold thinking about the night. “But Seth was in danger, and I was the one Lyle wanted.”
“He would have killed you.”
“Not likely. You would have saved me again. I believe that. Henry, I know you think I’m naïve. I know you think half the things I believe in are stupid and silly, but this is who I am. I won’t allow someone like Warren Lyle the power to change the core of my soul. I won’t allow fear to do it either. If I had told you to kill him after he’d already been disarmed, I would have been reacting in a way that fear and anger shaped. I don’t want to spend my life reacting. I want to act. I want to act on all the good things I can be. I want to act on my impulse to be kind, to be positive.”
He stopped, his head down. “And if that gets you killed?”
“Then at least I lived the way I wanted to live.”
His eyes came back up, deep brown orbs that held her own. “I don’t understand you, but I don’t want you to change. Not ever.”
He tossed the crop away and climbed between her legs, placing his mouth right over her pussy. “God, I’ll never forget the way you taste.”
He licked her clit, his tongue rubbing hard, and there was no way to hold the orgasm back. It shot through her system like a wildfire, and she screamed out his name.
He stayed right where he was for a moment, licking and petting her as she came down from the high and then he sat up, gently releasing her legs from the spreader bar.
“What are you doing?” Nell asked, barely able to get the words out.
“I’m letting you out.” He grabbed the key Callie had left on the nightstand and started to release her hands.
Nell held back tears because she wasn’t ready for it to end.
She would never be ready for it to end.
Chapter Twelve
The key to the handcuffs snicked softly as Bishop released Nell’s wrists. He held her arm in his hand, checking to make sure the circulation was all right. Callie seemed to have done a very good job. There was no chafing or red marks, just Nell’s pure porcelain skin. He drew her hand to his lips, kissing her before moving to the next hand and releasing it, too.
He wanted to tie her up, to wind silk rope around her breasts until they stood up at attention. Bishop would take his time, the rope his art and Nell his canvas.
He needed more time. He needed time to do everything with her, to take her to a club, to spend hours and hours fucking her, only stopping for short naps and food he would give her from his hands.
He looked down at her breasts where the jewels dangled from her nipples. Her nipples were a nice ruby red, engorged with blood from the clamps. He hadn’t been as kind as Callie. Nell would feel the marks of those clamps for days. Every time she moved, she would feel the little ache as her nipples touched the fabric of her shirt. He knew it made him a bastard, but he liked the thought.