Hope might be petite, but she had curves. Pretty curves. Curves that made his dick throb. She had perfectly perky nipples. They tightened under his gaze. Her skin was a lovely shade of cream with dustings of freckles here and there. Later he would explore every inch of her, kissing each little spot and marking her as his. But for now he wanted to see more.
“Get rid of the skirt, baby.”
She took a deep breath before pushing the skirt off her hips.
“God, Hope, you’re beautiful.” James couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was damn near perfect. Her hourglass figure was made for a man’s hands. While she was short, she wasn’t tiny. She had hips he wanted to grip and shapely legs that would look good wrapped around his waist. “Turn around.”
She turned on shaky feet.
Her ass was glorious. Round and juicy. Yeah, he would be using one of those plugs on her. James pulled her hair out of her ponytail, and soft brown hair fell like a waterfall over her shoulders. She was beautiful, and she hid it behind dowdy clothes and a boring hairdo. But it wouldn’t matter now. She could wear whatever the hell she wanted. He would see her like this. He would see her with soft skin and sexy curves and those dark eyes that kicked him in the gut. She could gain or lose weight. She could wear sexy clothes or a potato sack. She could get old and gray, and he would see her like this.
“Face me.”
Hope turned back. She was biting that sexy lower lip of hers. She pushed her glasses up. Damn, he even thought those were cute. “Do you really think I’m okay, James?”
“Hope, I think you’re gorgeous. Look what you’re doing to me.” His cock was just about to push through his jeans. She smiled, a shy little thing that made him understand something about Hope. She didn’t think she was beautiful. He would use every tool he had to make sure Hope came out of this experience knowing that she was the sexiest woman in the world. He pointed to his brother. “Noah’s not any better. Look at that damn thing in his jeans. Though he’s not going to get a damn bit of relief for his.”
He didn’t want to remind her that Noah was even here, but she needed to know how beautiful she was.
Noah grinned and pointed toward his erection like a game show hostess showing off a brand-new car. He was dippy and stupid and dumb-ass, and James felt his heart twist because Noah was acting like the brother he remembered. Noah had been a goofball. A brilliant mind with a goofy, funny soul. Hope was bringing him back.
Again. Not his problem. This wasn’t about Noah. This was about him and Hope. And it was time to get started. “Eyes on me, Hope.”
She turned obediently, but he could see that his play had worked. She was far more confident than before.
“I want you to take my clothes off, baby.”
Her breath hitched.
“Your reply should be a ‘yes, James.’”
“Yes, James.” No hesitation now. She moved forward, and her hands were on his shirt. She smoothed it down before moving to the pearl snaps. Carefully, she unsnapped the buttons one by one. It was torture. He could feel those small hands moving down his torso. She pulled the shirt free of his jeans. “Can I touch you? I don’t know how this works.”
“This is for fun, baby. It’s a way of life for Trev and Beth and Bo, but this is just fun for us. If you’re not tied up and we haven’t agreed on a scene, then you can touch me all you want.”
She closed her eyes and placed both hands on his chest. He was pretty sure she could feel his heart pounding. He held still, letting her explore him. She ran her palms over his pecs and down to his abs, those small fingers making him shake on the inside.
“You’re killing me, baby. Finish what you started. Undress me.”
“I wouldn’t want to kill you.” The shy girl seemed to be gone, and a playful siren was in her place. Yeah, she was going to give him hell, and he would enjoy every minute.
She undid the buckle of his belt. She dropped to her knees, and he couldn’t help but hiss a little as she undid his fly and brought down the zipper. She unwrapped him like she was unwrapping a Christmas package. She licked her lips as his cock bounced free.
It was definitely time to start taking control, or she would unman him.
“That’s enough, Hope. Let’s start this little scene of ours.”
She frowned, but sat back on her heels.
James kicked out of his boots and got out of his jeans and boxers, deeply grateful to be free of the confines.
“Have you ever been tied up, baby?” He needed to assess just how little she knew. Hope seemed so innocent.
“No.”
He was deeply grateful. He wanted to be the first. He wanted to introduce her to how much fun it could be. “I want to tie you up. I want to restrain you so I have total control over your body. I don’t want to do this for me, although I will enjoy it deeply. I want to do it to bring you pleasure. If it scares you or makes you upset, then it isn’t doing what it’s supposed to. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“Hope, I want a verbal answer.” He would have to ease her into play. He might not be a full-time Dom like Trev, but when they were playing, he wanted respect.
“Yes, James.”
“Good. Then put your hands behind your back, lace the fingers together.”
She caught her breath but did as she was asked. She was beautiful sitting there, her breasts thrust out, her chest rising and falling with each breath. James walked to the wall Beth had so cleverly hidden and pulled out some thin rope made of jute. Trev, it seemed, was a practitioner of Shibari, or as James liked to call it, the fine art of tying up a lady.
He caught sight of his brother staring at Hope like he wanted to get to his knees and worship her. But it was James’s turn. He wasn’t going to call his brother in. He wasn’t going to have Noah hold her wrists as he bound her. He wasn’t going to have her suck his cock while his brother worked a plug in her ass.
He wasn’t going to do any of that.
He forced himself to get to his knees and bind her hands behind her back. He wrapped the rope around her wrists, forming a bowline knot. He tied it off, testing it to make sure it couldn’t cut off her circulation, and then leaned back, admiring the arch of her back and how it flowed to the globes of her ass.
“Spread your knees a little more, baby.”
Hope pressed her knees out. The dimples above her ass deepened. James couldn’t help but run his hand down the length of her spine. “Have you ever had a cock in your ass, Hope?”
She was quiet for a moment and then a hesitant, “Yes.”
He was a bit surprised, but he didn’t know everything about her. She was twenty-seven years old. She wasn’t a kid. “Did you like it?”
Her hair shook. “It hurt.”
“It’s not supposed to. How long did you wear a plug?”
“I didn’t. It…was a mistake.”
There it was. A tiny shake of her shoulders. She got upset when she talked about certain things, and this seemed to be one of them. Hope’s past was starting to be a mystery he had to solve. Someone had hurt her. The thought made him want to find that someone and beat him to death, but he needed to deal with Hope. “I want to play with you today. I want to show you that it doesn’t have to hurt.”
“Had many cocks shoved up your ass, James?”
He stifled a laugh. She was a smart-ass, and she’d just given him a very good reason to put his hands on her ass. “No sarcasm, Hope. Lean forward. Put your ass in the air.”
“I already got a spanking today.” Her bottom lip quivered sweetly.
“Well, you’re getting another one because you didn’t learn your lesson. It’s a count of twenty right now. Would you like to make it thirty?”
She huffed a little and leaned forward, her ass on perfect display.
“Well, hell, baby, Noah didn’t even leave a mark.”