I’d tried. I really had.

But from the moment I’d stretched her bound arms above her head, I’d known I was in trouble. Bondage was more my thing than punishment, but seeing that flogger resting just above the swell of her ass tempted me in a way nothing else had.

By the time I finished taking the last few shots, my cock had been hard and aching.

I’d thought talking to her about something simple and non-sexual would help, but all it had done was make me want her more.

So I’d taken the chance.

A shudder went through me as I claimed her mouth. The taste of her, the feel. She was so small, so fragile-looking, but I’d seen the strength in her muscles, felt it in her touch. I knew she could take everything I wanted to give her. And that she could give it back just as good.

I slid my hands down her back to grip her ass and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist, her thighs gripping me tight enough that I was able to raise a hand and bury it in her hair. I tugged on her curls, probably harder than I should have, but she moaned, grinding down on my painfully hard cock, and that just turned me on even more.

“Bad...idea...” Her mouth slid down my throat, teeth biting at the skin.

“Don’t care.” I slammed her back against the wall, letting my arm take the majority of the hit.

“Me either.” She put her mouth against my ear, her accent thick as it flowed over me. “Are you wanting to tie me up again? Or was there more you wanted to be doing to me?”

I closed my eyes for a moment. Was she fucking kidding me?

“Are you sure?” I couldn’t look at her as I asked the question.

I felt her smile against my neck, then she raised her head, those gorgeous eyes of hers sparkling.

“How else will you be making me behave myself?” She shifted her weight, rubbing against me.

“Fuck,” I growled as I grabbed her hips. “Stop.”

“Make me.”

I’d already learned that setting a challenge for her made her rise to the occasion, and Sine’s words touched on that primal part of me that thrived on control, prompting me to want to do exactly what she said.

Make her stop.

I spun us around, finding the couch with ease. I sat us both down, manhandling her until she was draped over my lap, ass in the air. The panties I’d chosen for her were the sort that left enough of those firm muscles bare to be distracting.

I ran my hand over the pale flesh, enjoying the freedom to touch her without an artistic excuse. She wriggled on my lap and looked over her shoulder at me. One eyebrow went up, and something inside me snapped at the challenge.

I brought my hand down, palm smacking against skin hard enough to sting. She gasped, eyes widening, and I waited. It was one thing to do a little light bondage. Spanking wasn’t exactly hardcore, but it wasn’t for everyone. I rarely did it, and it was the furthest I usually ventured into pain.

“Is that all you’ve got?” She grinned at me.

Two quick slaps to her ass made her whimper, but she didn’t pull away. Her hands curled against the couch, and I reached for the clasp of her bra. A flick of my fingers and I was pulling it off.

“Hands behind your back.”

She did as I asked without a moment’s pause, and I used the bra to bind her wrists. I ran my hand up between her shoulder blades, then buried my fingers in her hair again. The sound that escaped made me chuckle, and that turned into a full laugh when she glared at me.

“You sound like a fucking cat.” I moved my fingers, massaging her head, and bringing another one of those sounds. “Like you’re purring.”

She laughed, a rich, throaty sound that made me want to take her hard and fast until she screamed my name.

But first, I intended to leave her ass a beautiful shade of red before I finally buried myself inside that tight, wet heat of hers.

“If it gets to be too much, say–”

“Rugby.”

I paused with my hand in the air. “What was that?”

“Rugby,” she repeated. “Safe word, right? Not something I’d normally be yelling out in the heat of the moment.”

I chuckled, my heart squeezing for a moment. Sex had never been like this for me before. Something that had humor as well as arousal. Perhaps that was what I’d been missing, what made Sine inspire me. She possessed both the innocence and sexuality that had prompted my line, so it made sense that she had other seemingly contradictory characteristics.

“Let’s see exactly what I can get you to yell.”

The answer was a litany of curse words that I reasoned could be blamed on her brothers.

My hand was burning, but I doubted it was anywhere close to the heat she was feeling. And yet, when I slid my hand between her legs, her panties were soaked. I pressed my fingers against the wet cloth, increasing the pressure and friction until she cried out, body stiffening.

I took advantage of her post-orgasm haze to move her. I needed to be inside her, but I knew I couldn’t count on being with her again, so there was something I needed to do, something I’d been fantasizing about from the first time I’d tied her up.

The pillows and cushions I used as props offered her a soft place to lay while I changed her restraints. No longer were her hands tied behind her back. Instead, I bent her legs out to the side, a position that would’ve been difficult for someone without Sine’s background in gymnastics. I then tied her wrists to her ankles until she was spread open and exposed, her pussy glistening, pale pink nipples already hardened into little points.

It was too bad she wouldn’t pose nude for me because this image was pure beauty. Even as I thought it, a bolt of jealousy went through me. No. I didn’t want her posing like this for the camera. No one else should have the privilege to see this part of her. And it wasn’t just her body. It was the open look of trust she gave me as I bound her.

That was mine.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her as I stripped, and the way her gaze followed my every move assured me that I wasn’t the only one greedy to drink my fill. I shrugged out of my shirt, then yanked off my jeans.

My erection sprang free, throbbing and aching, but I resisted the urge to touch myself. I went to my knees, resting my hands on my thighs as I traced every line of her body with my gaze. I’d always appreciated the artistic view of the submissives I’d been with in the past, but Sine transcended them. There was no fear on her face, only desire and trust. A good sub would have those things too, but with her, it went beyond the physical.

“I’m going to go down on you,” I said matter-of-factly. “But don’t come until I give you permission.”

“How in the bloody hell am I supposed to stop from coming?”

The expression on her face made me chuckle. “Should we make it a bet?”

She glared at me. “What do I get when I win?”

Her question made me realize that I had a way to ensure that this wouldn’t be our last time together.

“If you win,” I said, “at a time and place of your choosing, I’ll give you no fewer than three orgasms.”

Her eyebrows went up. “That sounds to me like a reward for you as well.”

I lifted a hand and wiggled my fingers. “I’ll do it with just my fingers and mouth.”

“You’re quite certain of yourself, aren’t you now?”

“I am.” I maneuvered myself so that I was crouched down low enough to reach her with little effort.

“And what will be happening if I lose?” she countered.

I met her gaze as I slid my hands under her ass and raised her hips ever so slightly. “At a time and place of my choosing, I get to fuck your ass.”

Her mouth fell open, and I watched her expression for signs of disgust. When I didn’t see any, I flicked out my tongue and lightly traced the sensitive skin at the top of her mound.

“Do we have an agreement?” I asked.

She nodded, then let out a startled cry as I dove in. One day, I planned to take my time with her, slowly drawing out her pleasure until she was sobbing and begging for relief. Right now, however, I was determined to win, and my plan of action was to assault her body with so much stimuli that she’d be unable to compose herself enough to fight off her body’s natural response.

I held her in place as she tried to squirm, whether to get me closer or push me away, I didn’t know. Unless she used the safe word, I was doing what I wanted, and I trusted her to know when it got to be too much.

I used the flat of my tongue to lick her before moving my main focus to her clit. A lot of men, unfortunately, tended to focus on a woman’s vagina. Sure, a woman could experience pleasure from attention there, especially if a man knew how to find her g-spot, but the clitoris was the best place to work some magic, especially when it came to oral sex.

Her body rocked as I teased her clit, alternating tongue and teeth with just enough differing pressure to keep her from getting used to it. I felt her muscles tensing as she tried to move her legs and arms, fingers curling as they sought for something to dig into. When I was certain she realized that she had no way of controlling what I did – short of stopping things completely – I put my mouth over her clit and applied the hard suction that had always gotten me results in the past.

She was no exception.

“Fuck!” She practically screamed the word, her hips jerking. “Alix. Please!”

I hummed laughter and let the vibrations add to her torment.

“Oh fuck.” Her back arched, muscles spasming as she tried to fight back what I knew was inevitable. “Please, Alix.”

“Please what?” I asked, drinking in the sight of her flushed skin, her desperate expression.

“Please let me come.”

I pressed my mouth against her inner thigh, sucking until I left a mark. “Why would I do that?” I asked.

“Alix.” The word came out as a whine, but it was the kind of sound that made my neglected cock perk up and take notice.

“We made a bet that you could hold off coming until I gave you permission,” I reminded her. “But we never said that I had to give it as soon as you asked.”

“Bastard,” she growled at me.

“Let’s get back to it, shall we?”

After nearly two full minutes of garbled curses in an accent so thick I could barely understand any of her words, she came with a scream.

As much as I wanted to gloat, I needed to be inside her more. I straightened into a more comfortable position and adjusted my grip as I lifted her. I hesitated for a moment to give her the chance to say the word, but when she didn’t do anything more than moan my name, I slammed into her.

She cried out again, eyes flying open so that her gaze met mine. I held it as I wrapped my fingers around her shoulders. She was so small that it was easy for me to move her to meet my thrusts, each one hard enough to drive a burst of air from her lungs.

She came a second time, the ripples of her muscles around my cock sending me racing to the edge. I fought my body, determined to give her at least one more climax, but as she chanted my name, I satisfied myself with knowing that I was drawing out the one she was having now, and then I let go.

I clutched her to me as white-hot pleasure raced through my veins. I couldn’t say what I wanted from her, or even really what I felt, but the one solid thing I knew to be true was that the woman in my arms had knocked my world off its axis, and nothing would ever be the same.