“Good. Do you know what this is?”
Wide strands of something soft skimmed her from neck to ass. Air filled her lungs as she raised up, trying to extend the caress.
“A flogger.”
“Deerskin, yes. Has anyone ever used one on you?”
“No, Sir.”
“Wielded properly, it’s not an implement of pain. Are you afraid?”
Of the flogger, no. But his intent was another story. If he’d gone out of his way to point out that the instrument didn’t have to hurt, she didn’t think he intended to test her pain threshold. And Sean had promised her a reward. Callie had a suspicion she knew where this was headed.
It scared the hell out of her as much as it made her yearn.
But she would give in tonight, see if she could separate her body from her mind in that floating paradise others called subspace. Just this once . . .
“I want whatever you’d like to give me.”
She sensed more than felt his approval. “Fine, then. Don’t count.”
The words had barely cleared his lips before the tails of the flogger struck the fleshiest part of her ass in a slow thud. Sean repeated the motion—full across her butt, in the low curve of her spine, up her back and down again. Never hard, never even making her sting. Rhythmic, sweet, lulling, the flogging was like a slow dance cradling her in its arms until she began to block out everything but the way he made her feel. Her heart beat in time with the tresses kissing her skin.
Callie didn’t have to work very hard to block out thoughts. Sean perfectly understood her body, exactly when, where, and how hard to work the falls over her.
Her head started to swim away from her body, and she let it go for a moment. She sank toward the abyss just beyond her, calling out to her. The sensation was like having a couple of glasses of wine, but heavier and more compelling. More alluring.
Darkness swam around her thoughts. Minutes might have passed. Or hours. She didn’t really feel her body anymore. The earth held her by the soles of her feet and her cuffed wrists, or she would have floated away to beautiful nothingness.
Vaguely, she felt Sean’s hand glide up and down her hot, sensitive skin, an acute rise of burn and sensation. Her head rolled forward. She felt every instant of her slow, deep breathing, almost like a waking nap—except the intoxicating euphoria. How wonderful . . .
“You look stunning, Callie.”
A drunk little smile curled her lips.
“This is what I wanted to give you, lovely, some respite from your head.” His lips slipped up the back of her neck. He wrapped his broad hand around her and under her chin until he tipped her head back. Then he kissed his way down her jaw. “I would give you more.”
Please . . . She didn’t have the strength to open her mouth and beg.
“But I need something from you. Come back to me just a bit,” he coaxed.
Callie frowned. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but the sweet splendor of silence in her head was too tempting. Complying took so much effort.
“Let me into your heart, Callie. Into your head. I’ve asked you for nothing since we began our journey together.”
And he’d given her so much.
“You draw me like no other. I want to know everything about you. I don’t want business to take me away from you before I’ve had a chance to learn you inside and out. Before I’ve had a chance to truly bind you to me.”
She sighed. He plucked at every one of her heartstrings, and she let him. Such exquisite words. How could she not give him a little?
“We’ll start small,” he assured. “Did you have a pet as a child?”
Pet? The first recollection to hit her brain spewed from her lips. “I found a kitten.”
“How old were you?”
“Not quite six. I couldn’t keep her. Mom was sick. I woke up one morning and she was gone. I cried. Mom died anyway.”