From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10) - Lexi Blake Page 0,47

little subspace, Sir. That’s all I need.”

“I doubt that very much.” His hand eased over her. “Remember what I said about the safe word. I want you to use it if you need to. If I give you too much, pull me back. I can be intense. I think I’ll be quite intense with you.”

A shiver went through her. “I’ll be fine. You’ll understand that I’m not here to hurt myself.”

“And you’ll understand what it can be like when you get what you need.”

She had to take a deep breath because that had sounded like a promise to her. Or a challenge. All she knew was she couldn’t fake her way through this. Now that Kai had questions, he would seek answers, and if he wasn’t satisfied, she would find herself on someone’s damn therapist couch revealing all her secrets.

Or she could give him this one.

She forced herself to remain still though her heart thudded in her chest.

“I’ll teach you the knots later,” Kai said. “Watch me now. It’s important to get them tight but not too tight. You want to make sure her circulation isn’t cut off. You also want to make sure that she feels bound, that she understands there’s nowhere to go. Tell him what you like about ropes.”

Kai used the word “him” referring to Jared, but she knew that man. He was asking the question for himself. Now that he had her here, he couldn’t help but poke and prod and try to figure out what made her tick. It was part of Kai’s nature. “I like the feel of them. I like the fact that they hold me here. Sometimes, when the play is good enough, I feel like I could float away, give myself up. The ropes hold me. Metaphorically, of course. I think in a lot of ways, they keep me in the moment. When I’m bound and trussed up, I’m not thinking about how crappy my day was or what I should worry about. I’m only thinking about how the rope feels against my skin, how it holds me in like arms hugging me close.”

Even as she spoke, Kai slid the length of jute over her skin, winding it around her wrist and binding her to the bench. He was a master at this. Kai didn’t do things by half measure. He mastered them as an art form or he didn’t practice it at all. He taught a Kinbaku class here at Sanctum so she was bound quickly, the tension perfect. She sighed, her body relaxing as he tied her other wrist and moved on to her ankles.

“May I touch the ropes?” Jared asked.

There was a slight hesitation before Kai answered. “Yes, but if Kori feels uncomfortable, she’ll tell you to stop.”

Jared dropped to one knee, his gorgeous face coming into view. He reached out and touched the knots Kai had tied. His fingertips played along the curve of the rope, but he seemed careful not to touch her skin. “He’s jealous.”

The words had been whispered and it seemed Kai hadn’t heard. Jared stood up again and stepped away.

Kai wasn’t jealous. Certainly not in the way Jared intimated.

“I’m going to start with a crop.”

With Kai’s words, she braced herself for what was to come. Would he turn out to be all talk and no pain? Sometimes Doms thought they were badass when they were actually softies. It all depended on the sub. So much was subjective. Sarah thought some Doms were too rough when Kori found them to be easy on a girl. She never told them. It would be rude to tear a man or woman down that way.

Kai could be like that. He could call himself a sadist, but pain was in the eye of the beholder. Or rather in the flesh of their ass.

He flicked the crop. The sound cracked through the air, but the pain flashed and then was gone.

Damn it. He was soft.

Another three flicks. She loved the sound of the smack and then the sting that came, but he was using the flat of the crop, the leather part. It made a nice sound, but the sting was fairly ho-hum. She was sure it made other subs cry and quake in fear of his awesome cropping abilities, but she would likely take a nice nap.

He continued, laying out a pattern across her backside and thighs. He did all the right things—avoided her spine and kidneys, stuck to the fleshy parts of her body.

He was like the