A Quartet of Pleasures Read online

  “I can do a trick here, too,” he said.

  She knew what he meant. He could slide the knot he was working on, adjust it so it rested right against her clit, or maybe even pinched her clit, but that would be too much. It would make her lose her dignity and beg him for animal sex.

  “Please…better…not…” She couldn’t speak good English right now.

  He seemed to understand she was reaching the limits of her control. He ought to understand. He was the one who’d pushed her there. He gave her a sympathetic smile and tucked the ends of the rope tightly into the belt circling the front of her waist.

  “You’re all tied now.” He led her over to the mirror so she could see the lines and patterns he’d made with the knots. “A pretty little package,” he said, rightfully proud of his handiwork. “You can move around if you like, test the bondage and sensations. You’ll feel a pull here and there, which is part of the excitement.”

  She didn’t know if she could take much more excitement. “It looks amazing, Ethan, seriously. It feels amazing.” She did as he suggested, squirming in the ropes as far as they’d allow. It became obvious she couldn’t undo any of the bondage, not without his assistance. She couldn’t even run her hands over the intricate knots, because her wrists were bound to either side of her waist. She arched her back instead, deliriously turned on.

  “I… I think…” Her legs trembled. “I think I might have to lie down.”

  “Sure. Let me help you down. Just…hold on.” He grabbed the coverlet from the bed and spread it on the carpet. He guided her down, and she flowed onto the floor like water. She was that wet. She laid still, feeling the rope hold her, bondage and comfort in one.

  “Are you okay?” He stroked her hair and traced her temples. “Does anything hurt?”

  “Nothing hurts.” She closed her eyes. “Everything’s wonderful. It feels good when you touch me. It feels really, really good.”

  “Do you need me to untie you?”

  “No. Please. Not yet.”

  He continued to caress her lightly, over the ropes, occasionally pausing to toy with her hair. She opened her eyes a few moments later and came out of her daze to find him leaning over her. His earlier amusement was gone, as was his gentle concern. The look he wore now was something else. Pleased. Predatory. Part desire and part threat.

  “Why haven’t you ever touched me before now?” she asked, drunk on the sensual game they were playing.

  “I’ve wanted to. But we were too busy with Mozart and Tchaikovsky.” He let out a soft breath, like he’d been holding it. She’d never seen his eyes look so intense. “Want me to touch you some more?”

  “You said no sex.”

  “Of course, no sex. Touching isn’t sex.”

  His touching felt like sex, but she wasn’t going to argue with him. “Please touch me some more, Ethan. It feels so good. This all feels so incredible and good.”

  He stroked her hair back from her face, which felt impossibly gentle and sensual. She wanted him to kiss her, but he was Ethan, her quartet friend. Workplace romance was a minefield. What was happening between them? Should they stop?

  She didn’t want to stop.

  He traced her neck next, and she thought of teeth and biting. His lips moved like maybe he was thinking of it too, then he trailed his fingertips down to the rope crossing her chest. Her nipples actually pulsed as his fingers circled her breasts. She lay trembling beneath him, a breathless victim.

  “It wasn’t fair of me to do this to you.” He touched the twists of rope that stimulated her nipples. “I knew the effect it would have.”

  “I guess I trusted you.”

  Their eyes met and held as his fingers moved down the lattice of knots to the belt at her waist. If he caressed any lower…

  She couldn’t let him touch her down there. If he realized she was soaking through his rope, even though she had on her damn llama panties, she’d never get over the embarrassment. She shouldn’t have let him tie her below the waist. Now what the hell was she going to do?

  He was tracing her hips now, that soft but sure touch of a top in control. He was so in control, and her hands were tied, along with everything else.

  “I understand now,” she said, clenching her thighs together. “I get it.” She could hardly breathe, she understood so hard.

  “Should I stop touching you now?”

  “Maybe you should. Not because I don’t like it, but because I like it too much, and I’m thinking about crazy things.” She sighed, squirming in the rope. “Really crazy things, but there’s the quartet and everything.”

  “Hmm.” A little of the heat left his gaze. “You’re right. It might not be good for the quartet, for us to take things too far.” His hand still rested on her hip, his big, talented fingers. “Not that there are any rules or anything,” he pointed out.

  “Maybe unspoken rules,” she said.

  “I wouldn’t want anything to come between us as artists.” He frowned. “Or as friends.”

  He started to untie her as she lay staring at him, at a loss for what to say. All he’d done was decorate her with some rope, and she was about to explode with arousal. What kind of magic was this? The same magic she’d seen at the kinky, joyous reception. She was grateful he’d helped her experience it for herself.

  Still, she felt mortified when he undid the soaked knot looped between her thighs. He didn’t comment; he was in businesslike mode now. As he undid the belt at her waist and pulled the remaining knots apart, he showed her the marks left behind. Even though the rope was gone, the marks still decorated her body. When he freed her hands from her sides, the first thing she did was trace the marks herself. Then she reached to touch his strong, wide shoulders.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “No, thank you,” he replied, helping her up. He lifted the coverlet from the floor and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Sit on the bed a minute while I get this rope organized. Let the whole experience soak in.”

  He’d probably used the word “soak” for a reason. If he was angry she’d permeated his rope with her rampant pussy juices, he didn’t mention it, just doubled the jute over and around until it was wrapped in the same neat bundle he’d had when he arrived.

  She waited, huddled in the blanket, as he jammed the rope in his pocket and put his shirt back on. When he sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulder, her heart melted again.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes. Everything’s great. That was fun. I know a bit more about…” She fussed with the blanket, unable to meet his eyes. “About why people like kinky stuff so much.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He pulled her closer, enveloping her in a hug. “I’m going to hold you a minute more, okay? Because we just did a trusting thing.”

  A trusting thing. He was killing her with his wonderful words. He held her against him, all wrapped up in a blanket. It wasn’t as sexy as being wrapped in rope, but it did much more of a number on her heart. She found a way to press her pelvis against the front of his jeans—she couldn’t help it. Yes, he’d apparently enjoyed their rope adventure too. Ethan with a hard-on, and she was sending him away because they played in a quartet together.

  “I’m so glad you had fun. I thought you would.” He released her with one last lopsided grin. “See you in the morning, Rube,” he said, standing up to go.

  “See you in the morning.”

  She closed the door behind him and rested her forehead against the glossy wood. Why was she such a coward? She could have let him keep touching her. She should have stayed in his rope, under his control, to see where things went. She should have trusted him.

  Shit, the rope was wonderful, but she wanted to do more than rope with him.

  She needed to do more.

  She threw on her clothes in record time and left, just remembering to grab her key. She knocked on the door next to hers, waiting for Ethan to answer. Waiting. Waiting. Was he done wit
h her for the night? She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the lock click. His face appeared. Beautiful, quiet, mysterious Ethan.

  “I want more,” she said simply. “I have to have more.”

  4.

  Ethan took her hand and pulled her into his room. As soon as the door was closed, he trapped her against it and pressed his lips to hers. His fingers threaded in her hair, then moved down to grasp her neck, not hard enough to choke her, but hard enough to make her press her hips forward with a moan.

  “Ethan,” she gasped between kisses.

  “Thank God you came to me.”

  “I had to.”

  He broke away and led her to his bed. Through the roaring lust in her brain—and pussy—she noticed the rope he’d so carefully bundled earlier was spread out in a tangle on top of the sheets. She turned to him, squeezing his hand.

  “What were you doing with that rope, Ethan?”

  He pulled her onto the bed, shoving the rope aside. “I was smelling it.” Oh wow, he’d just come out and admitted it. “I was about to get naked with it. You smell really good.”

  “You are kinky, aren’t you?”

  He laughed. “I think we’ve established that. But let’s talk about you. You’re here. You’re kissing me.”

  “I told you, I need more.”

  “What about the quartet?”

  She lifted her chin and met the challenge in his gaze. “I don’t care right now.” She reached for him, shivering as he pulled her closer. “I’m trying to care, but I can’t. Ethan…”

  He shushed her and held her so tightly she couldn’t move. It was like being bound again, only warmer and more exciting. She could feel his cock through his jeans, hard as hell, as hard as her pussy was wet. His lips fastened over hers a second time, and this kiss was aggressive, full of all the animal attraction they’d denied just minutes ago. He delved a hand between her legs, grasping her pussy through her clothes. She stopped kissing him long enough to groan. Yes, this was what she needed.

  “Do you have to tie me up again?” she asked, when he let her come up for air. “Do you have to tie me up to fuck me?”

  “If I don’t tie you up, how will you know who’s in control?” He nibbled her bottom lip. “But I might do a less intricate tie this time. Holy fuck, all these clothes.”

  He started undressing her. She helped for a moment, but then started undressing him instead, so their arms tangled as they wrestled with clothes.

  “Ruby,” he kept murmuring. “Ruby, Ruby.”

  She understood why, because she was thinking the same thing. Ethan, Ethan, I want you so badly. I’ve played intricate, beautiful music with you for years, but now this. This!

  “Look,” he said, when she lay naked beneath him. “They’re still there.” He ran his fingers over the pale rope indentations, souvenirs of their earlier play. “You look so beautiful in rope, Ruby. So beautiful without it, too.”

  She flushed at his words and took in his nakedness with wonder. Those powerful shoulders, that amazing chest, those abs, and…

  “Oh my God,” she burst out. “Ethan, that’s your penis.”

  He looked down, gripping it in his fist, a rough, masculine gesture. “Yeah. I’ve had it all along. All this time.”

  “It’s magnificent.”

  He smiled at her, then sucked in a breath when she gingerly touched the head. It was enormous. Very hard. Very beautiful.

  “You can hold it if you want,” he said.

  She wanted to do more than that. She leaned down to kiss it.

  “Jesus, you’re trying to kill me. No, don’t stop. Please don’t stop. No, wait.” He took a moment to reach for the rope. “Okay. Go for it, beautiful girl.”

  He didn’t have to tell her. She slid down the bed, fully obsessed with his cock now. After she licked around the head, she kissed up the entire impressive length, thinking Ethan, what in fucking hell have you been hiding in your pants!

  While she gave his cock the attention it deserved, she felt him lift one of her wrists and circle it with rope, but it didn’t freak her out. It seemed like the natural next step between them. As she licked and moaned, he bound her wrists into tight rope handcuffs, punctuating each knot with a groan or sigh, or another accusation that she was trying to kill him.

  When he finished with the cuffs, he guided her up to face him and stared into her eyes. The intensity of his gaze made her breath quake.

  “I’m going to tie your wrists to the headboard now.” He wasn’t asking, he was telling. “I’m going to tie you to the bed, and then I’m going to fuck the hell out of you. Sound interesting?”

  Words were failing her again. She finally got out a raspy “yes,” and a request that he use protection.

  “Of course I will,” he assured her. “Now, lay your ass back on the bed, because I need to be inside you.”

  She laid where he told her and raised her arms over her head, so he could loop the tails of the rope around the modern chrome headboard.

  “This is practically a bondage bed,” he said as he worked. “Bless Miami.”

  “There are bondage beds?” she asked. “I’m learning so much.”

  Oh, she was learning every astounding thing, like how arresting Ethan could look when he was tying knots to attach her to the bed. When he had her bound the way he wanted, he knelt back to take a look.

  “I’d love to leave you that way for an hour,” he said. “Just to look at you.”

  She tugged at the wrist restraints, arching her back. “No, please.”

  “Squirming makes it even better,” he warned, stroking her leg. “Even more tempting.”

  “You can’t leave me like this. Don’t you fucking dare.”

  He laughed and went for a condom. It seemed to take an eternity for him to put it on, but it was probably only ten seconds. He came to the bed and parted her legs with an authority that made her go wetter still.

  “Do you want me? You want this?” he asked, the stupidest question ever. She was about to die.

  “Yes, I want this,” she said. “Now.”

  He reached to tap the rope. “Don’t forget who’s boss.”

  She couldn’t possibly forget. He palmed his thick cock, positioning it at her entrance. A sensual movement of his hips, and he was pushing inside, and oh man. He felt so good, so big and powerful that she cried out his name.

  “Shh,” he said against her ear. “You have to be quiet.”

  “I can’t. I can’t!”

  “Shh.” Ethan stroked her hair as he bottomed out inside her. She moved her hips, squeezing his hard length and arching to slide her clit against his pelvis.

  “It feels so good. How does it feel this good?” She gritted her teeth so she wouldn’t yell again, but she was afraid she was still talking too loud. She clamped her lips shut and gave herself up to the incredible dual sensation of rope holding her wrists and Ethan fucking her like a freaking god. It was too much, combined with the excitement of struggling. Ethan gazed down at her, his lips set in a line.

  “Don’t pull too hard at the rope.” He reached to still her wrists. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “I care. Stop pulling so hard, or I’ll stop fucking you.”

  She didn’t understand how he could be capable of that, but he did stop inside her. She stared up at him, at his stern, handsome features. “Please, I’ll try to stop pulling. I can’t help it.”

  “I knew you’d be trouble.”

  He wrapped his hands around her wrists, driving into her again. When he was deep, all the way inside, he opened his hands over hers and held them, and kissed her. If she’d felt trapped before, she was really trapped now. It was one of the most blissful experiences of her life.

  “Ethan,” she cried, only to have his lips descend again. He captured her cries in his mouth as he urged her closer to orgasm. She was so aroused, so crazy-turned-on, she was almost in pain. Of course, if she’d learned anything that day, it was that pain coul
d bring pleasure.

  “I don’t want to come yet,” she said, struggling against his hold. “I don’t want you to stop fucking me yet.”

  “It doesn’t have to be a one-time thing, you know.” He laughed and let go of one of her hands to spank the side of her ass. She squeaked and squeezed on his shaft, writhing against him. “Oh, we enjoy being spanked, do we?” he teased. “Good to know.”

  He spanked her again, and then again on the side of her ass, fucking her all the while. She was definitely, definitely kinky. She gave up all efforts to delay her climax at that point and let her body shiver and shake through the most intense orgasm of her life. Her pussy clenched around his cock as she came and came, gasping his name.

  Halfway through her orgasm, she realized Ethan was releasing her wrists. Instead of yanking at the rope—and hurting her wrists—she was able to throw her arms around his shoulders and bury her face against his neck. She restrained herself from biting him, barely, as she enjoyed the spectacle of his orgasm. He twitched and groaned, and pounded her pussy so hard her legs flew to the sides.

  “Don’t let go of me,” she begged when he came to rest. “Not yet.”

  He pressed his cheek to hers. “No, not until you’re ready.”

  He braced himself over her on his elbows, which she appreciated, because she could hold him close without being crushed. He smelled so good, so familiar. That was the thing about fucking a long-time friend. She knew so many things about him already, and now she knew this.

  While she drifted in her thoughts—the main one being that Ethan was good at fucking—he kissed her forehead and her eyes, and her lips whenever he could get to them.

  “I knew you’d be trouble,” he teased.

  “I’m not trouble.”

  “Look at me.”

  She gazed into his eyes. The blue was so intense when they were that close. “I can’t look at you,” she said. “You’re too handsome.”

  He smiled and kissed her, a long, demanding, possessive kiss. “I’ve been handsome all this time, and you never noticed.”

  “Oh, I noticed.” She let him go, then flicked a glance down at his cock as he pulled out to remove the condom. “I just never knew the rest.”